Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Chapter 1:

A/N: HELLO! READ ME!

Hello, I am Appah, the original writer of the Rising of the Apprentice Heroes. Nice to see you guys again. I know it's been a while, and I am sorry for jumping off the face of the Earth. No heads up and no warnings. Well let me tell you what's up and what this is.

So I recently had some... problems, stuff that I won't go into, but to sum up in that time I orphaned my old account and took a much needed break from writing and stuff. Well now I am about to begin college and I am right now doing a bit of a rewrite.

Now for all those who read onward, and have read the old story you might notice that it looks a lot like the old story. Well that's because I copied over the chapters and rewrote some of the scenes and did a spell check for them. So while most of it may be the same it will have some differences. So while it may be small, it is something.

Anyways, for now I am back and I hope to be around for a while.

Be sure to comment and leave kudos because those are some of the best things I love to see. Also remember if you bookmark this story, write something funny I do read those from time to time and seeing a little something makes me smile.

NOW! I left the old Authors Notes in tact and will do so for the next few chapters. I hope you all have a good day and I will see you later

Good morning/afternoon/evening whatever! It is I, Appah, am here with the reboot of Rising of the Four(Five) Heroes!

So for all of you who took part in nominating your favorite characters to be part of this, thank you! Sadly I couldn’t put in all of them, with a space for only 4 characters. So I picked on four things, if they were from the same world(I’m sorry but none from the same world), one nomination per person, if I knew the character, and out of those I picked based on if I was somewhat confident enough I could write them. Now! Here are the results in order of how much sense it would be for them to be teleported!

The Apprentice Bard Hero: Ibuki from Danganronpa! Honestly, I want good things for Ibuki, who doesn’t. It’s Ibuki. So, I have made MULTIPLE ways for her to get sent to the Shield Hero world. Where is she taken from? Pre-Despair? During Despair? During Danganronpa 2 Goodbye Despair? After Despair?! You’ll just have to read, but it comes fast, so don’t worry! So thank you Animus_Melodiam!

Next! Apprentice Monster Tamer Hero: Now, this one was an easy choice, between her and anyone from the Pokemon world, only because I’ve seen every episode of this series, congrats to Wolfpix for nominating Lucy Heartfillia, from Fairy Tail! Reason being, I can see her getting caught up in something, trying to hide by reading, and then getting slapped by an Isekai stick. That and I don’t play Pokemon games… I know some of you are judging me for not playing Pokemon, and you have every right to, and before you say Ash. No, I refuse to put a kid who never ages in this.

Next was a bit of a hard one, the Apprentice Mage Hero, now this was between three characters, one being Wolfpix who won the Monster Tamer selection. Now, the choice was hard, between Megumin from Konosuba, Mustang from FMA:B and Akko from Little Witch Academia, which was hard, since Akko is so bad at magic and Megumin is doing something stupid as well! Because you know, IT’S KONOSUBA! So I had to debate, but in the end it went to Mustang, since I know the PERFECT moment when to take him from cannon to get him to the Shield Hero world so congrats to HYPERCONCENTRATED_BACON, for the character!

LASTLY THE BRAWLER HERO! This one was hard, I don’t want to have someone win two spots, EVEN IF I KNOW THE CHARACTER! So sadly, no Shizuo Heiwajima! No Hiyori! Also sadly, I don’t play enough Honkai Impact 3rd, so no Fu Hua, even though from what I learned, she’s pretty badass. This one goes out to DoctorTouch, for non intentionally nominating someone who’d make sense.  No it isn’t Shirou(From what I can’t say! Fate? Log Horizon?! NO GAME NO LIFE?!) Instead, it made me think, hey what is white? Then I also thought what is a good fighter? The thoughts came together to make me remember the name “Shirone,” also known as Koneko from High School DxD. So congrats, you somehow made me think of this.

For our final list! HERE ARE YOUR HEROES, in accordance with age! 

Mordred: Apprentice Knight Hero(However old she is when she first gets mentioned in Arthurian Legend)

Roy Mustang(29): Apprentice Mage Hero

Lucy Heartfillia(18): Apprentice Monster Tamer Hero

Abigail Wilts(18): Apprentice Gun Hero(es)

Ibuki Mioda(17): Apprentice Bard Hero

Shaun Sarto(16): Apprentice Gun Hero(es)

Koneko Toujou(15): Apprentice Brawler Hero

Ruby Rose(15): Apprentice Reaper Hero

Klee(9): Apprentice Bomber Hero

Now! Let’s get going!

P.S. THIS IS IMPORTANT! READ ME! Just because this has a DxD tag and character in it, doesn’t mean it will have smut, if anything the most you’ll get is some making out and implied stuff, but nothing explicit, now if I were to make smut, it would be somewhere else, not here.

Okay, NOW! Let’s get this rolling! Lights! Cameras! ACTION! 

“We did it! The summoning was a success!” a man in robes spoke. Excitement in his voice seeing the four newly summoned heroes that were before them.

“Oh brave heroes, please save our world!” another man in robes said, presumably the leader of the robed men..

The four in the circle were in a confused state, not understanding where they were or why and how they got there. 

“The story behind it is long and complicated. But suffice to say that, you are the four Cardinal Heroes. And you were summoned using an ancient ritual,” explained the man. “Our world is in a most fragile state and teeters on the brink of destruction. So we beg you, oh great heroes, please lend us your aid!”

The hero in a green tracksuit and a shield attached to his arm, Naofumi Iwatani, didn’t see anything wrong with the possibility of hearing them out. As for the other heroes. 

“Forget it,” the boy in blue, Ren Amaki, quickly shot the idea down. Then the green eyed blond in a greenish yellow uniform, Itsuki Kawasumi, followed up. And like the others, the one in a red jacket and with long blond hair also joined, Motoyatsu Kitamura.

“You brought us here without our consent. Don’t you feel the least guilty about it?” Ren asked, pointing his blade at the leader.

“Not to mention, if you throw us out as we restore peace, we’d have done all that work for nothing,” Itsuki added.

“How willing are you to accommodate our request? Depending on your answer, we may end up as enemies rather than allies,” Motoyatsu said.

“Good sirs, before I say anymore, we’d like you to have an audience with the king of Melromarc. You can negotiate your reward with him directly, so please,” the leader of the robed men said, gesturing to the door.

“Alright, fine,” the sword hero accepted.

“I suppose we’ll consider your offer,” Itsuki followed suit.

“Sure. Doesn’t matter who we talk to, our demands won't change,” and like last time Motoyatsu agreed with the other two. That left Naofumi there who followed suit, though less of wanting a reward or something from the king and more of staying there would do him no good.

The robed men and the heroes made their way to the door, leaving the dimly lit room. But when the last person exited the circle where the heroes had been summoned, the room lit up, and not because someone with a candle walked on by.

“What the?!” one of the robed men.

The blue hero, Ren, turned his head to the leader, “What is happening? Is this normal?”

“No! Whatever is happening should not be,” the leader spoke. He turned to Naofumi with a glare, who was also in awe and surprise at what was happening. “You, Shield Hero! You were the last to leave it, what did you do?!” he demanded to know.

Naofumi quickly put his hands up in defense, “I didn’t do anything! Honest!” he replied, not understanding why he was the one being accused, he just got here and was still processing all that was happening.

“Liar!” one of the robed men yelled.

“AHH!” a sudden yell was heard, eyes brought back to the circle. Then a loud crash of something metallic hitting something.

Stuck in the ceiling was a sword and a set of armor that seemed to have someone stuck inside it. Then the suit fell, planting on the ground with whoever inside it didn’t seem conscious. An orange gem embedded at the center of the armor was hidden in the rubble of the stone beneath them.

Then another person got shot out of the circle, but instead of the sealing it was the right wall. A small girl with black hair and red tips wearing all black, her clothes almost having a gothic look. Laying next to the girl was a scythe embedded into the wall. A silver gem on the heel of the blade.

Next was a man in a blue overcoat, pants, and black boots, his hands were covered in gloves with a circle with something inside it, but it wasn’t visible enough for it to be seen properly due to the hole in them and the still wet blood coming from them. At his hip was a metal rod, no, a wand, it was gold and silver, a dusty gray colored gem was at the very bottom of it.

Soon a small girl with snow white hair and in a white and pink school uniform soon came out, flying and hitting the same part as the person in the armor, and like the one in the armor, she soon fell right on top of the body. On her hands were two silver gloves with a dark black gem embedded on each of them.

Another was shot out, well not another more like two. Both being shot in the same direction. One a boy with messy black hair and glasses and the other a girl with long brown hair, both wore clothes similar to the first four and both wearing blue facemasks. In the boy’s hands was a sort of flintlock pistol in each and in the girl’s hand was a bayonet blade. The dark purple gem was split into four even parts, on each armament they had on them.

Then a blonde girl, wearing an orange t-shirt and red skirt came out, shooting out in a manner that had her sliding on the floor and hitting the wall with enough force to crack it. Wrapped around her right arm was a long chain, and in her hand was a collar attached to it, a dark blue gem with small specks of white, almost like stars in the night sky, located itself on the collar.

The circle activated one last time, this time shooting two more people. First was a small girl in the direction of Naofumi. Not being prepared for the incoming body he was knocked down almost immediately. A small girl with pointy ears wearing a red jacket and hat. On her backpack was even a cute little fluffy rabbit plush. Then launching herself in the same direction was an older petite girl. She wore a schoolgirl’s uniform, her legs covered by black thigh highs with a bone design, one pink the other blue, her hair being a mix of black and highlights in pink, blue, and white. Her hair has been done in two horns. In her hands was a silver and gold lyre.

“Owwie…” the little girl managed to let out before joining the other four in their little nap session.

The leader of the robed men turned to one of his men, “Go to the king, inform him we will have an unexpected development. And please find someone to move these people from here and properly rest.”

The four heroes looked at the nine newly summoned people. A single thought ran through their minds.

“What the hell.”

“Tell me about it,” a small voice from the white haired girl as well as the multi-colored haired girl could be heard as they pulled themselves up. 

(The Knight Hero)

Mordred was tired. Something a Servant should not normally feel. But no, she was tired. Her Master had taken her and a few of the other Servants out on a “little” grinding session. And by little she meant hours on end of farming materials!

As Mordred entered her room, she was greeted by her best friend, who she didn’t really acknowledge at the moment, wanting to lay down on the bed.

“Hmm,” one of the Servants in a white wedding outfit, red hair, and what some would jokingly call a unicorn horn, ground. Introducing Frankenstein’s Monster, Berserker class.

“Heya Fran, just got back. I don’t want to do anything.”

“Hm,” Fran let out a disappointed grunt. Mordred rolled over, looking at the head down Berserker.

Mordred wanted to protest and tell the Berserker that she was too tired to do anything, but seeing the person you spend the most time around down in the dumps after a long day of grinding materials didn’t seem like something she wanted to add. Plus, Fran could be petty at some of the worst times, so Mordred decided to not upset the Berserker too much.

“Fine! How about I get a book and I can read it to you?” she asked, which got the Berserk happy like giving a puppy a new toy to play with. “Alright, give me a sec, nothing good to read here.” she said, patting Mordred’s head as she walked past her.

And so Mordred went to their library. Hopefully she doesn’t encounter the annoying playwright.

So Mordred went to Murasaki’s Library. Hopefully she finds something good for Fran.

“Let’s see, no. Boring. Read that. That one is on Gather. Well that’s clearly smut. Nope. Na ah,” Mordred said as she looked through piles of books, throwing them behind her into the air and sloppily into a pile she made..

The Saber class Servant let out a groan. “Nothing good is ever here!” she growled.

Then something caught her eye. A shiny book. Now, Mordred won’t complain, shiny things sometimes mean it’s important or interesting.

“Maybe it’s Master’s Dairy?” she muttered to herself. It would be rude to read, definitely, but it was always something that made most of the Servants curious. What was the thought process and machinations of their orange haired Master.  “Oh well, if it is, then it’s her fault for leaving it here.”

Mordred pulled the book out of the shelf, and sadly it wasn’t her Master’s diary. Instead it was some book about the “Four Heroes,” which made Mordred chuckle. So just to make sure this wasn’t some historical textbook or whatever, even with that title, she wanted to make sure she knew what she’d be reading to Fran.

The story itself. It was boring as all hell. Honestly most stories about heroes were lackluster to Mordred when she had fought in Holy Grail Wars against actual heroes. And it was odd since it only had four classes in it. Out of the four, three were the knight classes, Saber, Lancer, and Archer, and the last was an extra Shielder. An odd roster for sure. Did not help that the mere mention of a shield reminded Mordred of Mr. Goodie-Goodie Galahad and his dump shield.

Overall, 5/10, might read again. Though it worked for her purposes for Fran. Just to be sure though, Mordred kept reading on, and when she reached the part where she’d read up near the climax of the story, the pages were blank, and everything past that was blank.

“What the fuck, printing press not have enough ink- OH DWHAT THE-!” Mordred began yelling as the book lit up.

And as Murasaki went to tell the knight to be quiet, the place where she would be was empty and filled with tossed aside books.

(The Reaper Hero)

“My baby girl!” Taiyang squeezed his daughter.

“D-dad!” Ruby struggled against her father. “You’re crushing me! Y-Yang! Help!” Ruby cried, trying to get her sister’s aid, stretching out for a hand to grab, only for her to be filming the scene.

“Na, Rubes. This is just too good!” Yang managed to get out, laughing like a hyena.

“Traitor! What happened to sisters before misters! You fiend!” Ruby shouted in pain.

Taiyang let go of his youngest daughter. “I’m sorry, but you’re getting into Beacon so early, my baby girl is growing up so fast!” he said, acting as if he was shedding tears. “I don’t think I was mentally prepared enough for you to leave the nest already!”

“Gah, Dad! You’re being embarrassing!” Ruby said, waking off. “I’m going to my room to pack,” the young Reaper left a tad embarrassed of her father, but before she could forget. “And Yang, don’t you dare send that video to anyone!”

“Yeah, not going to happen,” Yang said dismissive

Ruby let out an annoyed sigh as she left for her room. The two blonds of the house could hear as she got to her room by the sound of stomping boots and Ruby tried to slam her door, only for it to fail. Then she tried again and again before loudly grunting and giving up.

The young Reaper plopped herself on her bed, face down and face in her pillow. Rolling in her bed, Ruby looked at the shelf in her room. Filled with books, little mini inventions she made at shop class, and her collection of little Grimm figures, not dolls as Yang claimed.

“Maybe I could read something, wait for them to settle down,” Ruby muttered.

Ruby walked over, looking for something to read. “Hmm, The Four Maidens, The Two Brothers, The Girl Who Fell Through The World. Wait, The Four Heroes?”

Ruby raised an eyebrow, not recognizing the title. Figuring it was a new book gifted to her by her dad, sister, or uncle. Uncle Qrow had not visited her for a while but she did remember him saying he would send her something. He was the best that way. “Well, might as well read it.”

And so, Ruby opened the book. Ruby soon realized she wasn’t a big fan of the book, especially the girl who would jump from hero to hero. Yet, Ruby couldn’t seem to put the book down. The ones that seemed to draw Ruby’s attention the most of the four heroes were the Spear and Bow guys. The Spear guy seemed to have the right idea but did not seem to question anything. Then the Bow guy just seemed like a bit of a jerk.

 She was over three quarters of the way through the book and flipped to the next page, and it was empty. “Huh?” Ruby raised an eyebrow as she wondered what was up with the empty page.

Then the book lit up. “Huh?!” she let out as the light enveloped her.

The room was left empty.

(The Bomber Hero)

“Why, hello Klee,” Lisa, the Librarian of the Knights of Favonius, greeted the small and young Spark Knight. “I see you’re out. What are you up to?”

“Hello!” the young child, Klee, greeted Lisa. “Jean said I could come out of solitary confinement but also told me to get a book. She said if I can make a good book report she’d join me to blow up some fishies!”

Lisa let out a small chuckle, knowing this was the Acting Grandmaster’s way of keeping Klee busy and not blowing things up for a bit. “Well then. If you want some help I’ll gladly give you a hand.”

Klee nodded, running off downstairs to find the subject of her report. The Spark Knight hoped she could find something on bombs or anything with explosions, those were her favorite kinds of books.

Klee looked. And looked. And looked. She checked every shelf, even those annoying ones where she had to go onto her knees to look. No books on anything that’d make a big boom!

She didn’t give up though, she wanted to blow up fish with Jean. Maybe even Albedo would come along!

So Klee decided to pick the first book she laid eyes on. And she saw it, “The Four Heroes,” it had on its spine.

“What do you say Dodoco? This one?” she asked the fluffy doll her mother made her. Of course there was no response, but you never fault a child for having an imagination.

Klee sat down, placing the book down and opened it.

A couple of pages in, it became apparent to Klee she’d need help from Lisa to explain some of these things.

“Hmm, I don’t really get this, why is the girl keep going from each one of the heroes,” Klee muttered to herself, putting her hands to her head to exaggerate her frustration and confusion of the book.

The Sword and Shield Heroes seemed interesting though. The Shield Hero was liked by people with animal traits like Diona and Sucrose! That sounded the best! Though the Sword Hero did get her attention too. They were serious, but maybe she misread something or skimmed a bit too much and did not know what a few words were, but the Sword Hero seemed lonely.

The sun seemed to begin to shine down in the library in a blinding light as the sun seemed to begin to set bellow Mondstadt’s walls and the sleep Spark Knight Klee decided to power through, maybe the book would explain more, even if Klee might not understand, only to find a blank page. She was close anyways to making it to the end and big girls can read a lot! Like Jean, Lisa, and Sucrose!

“Hmm?” she tilted her head.

As she flipped through the pages the book began to light up, catching Klee’s attention making it stop.

“Lisa, what’s this?!” Klee asked.

“Hmm?” Lisa got up from behind her desk, looking at the source of the voice, only to find an empty spot. “Klee?”

(The Mage Hero)

Colonel Roy Mustang stared at the man who he once respected, the man who once held the title of Fuhrer of Amestris. The homunculus in human clothing.

He was pinned to the ground, with Bradley’s blades in his, keeping him there as Pride’s shadows moved around, making a transmutation circle around them. The lightning of the circle glowed as the circle began to activate.

“Well, Colonel Mustang. Looks like you’re our fifth,” Pride said, looking down at Mustang. “I was really hoping I wouldn’t have to resort to this,” the homunculus with the appearance of a child looked down at Roy, “but there is no choice. We have run out of time now.”

The look in Bradley’s eyes were dark, if you looked from a distance, you wouldn’t have been able to see them, only a red gleam from his once covered eye. “Whether you like it or not, we are going to force you to open the portal, prepare yourself.”

“N-no,” Mustang struggled, “I won’t do it.”

“As I said, it doesn’t matter if you want to,” Bradley said, “Pride has just assimilated an alchemist with knowledge of human transmutation,” he explained, a muffled voice could be heard from the man held up above them.

Black shadows wrapped themselves around the colonel’s throat, “He’s safely pinned, move back Wrath. Now,” Pride told the homunculus.

Taking his blades out of Mustang’s hands, Bradley walked out of the glowing transmutation circle, leaving Mustang there.

Let out a cough, the man turned homunculus turned to the man he had pinned, “I wonder. What will be taken from you in exchange?”

Those were the last words Roy Mustang heard before yelling in pain, the light from the transmutation circle glowing, letting out a tremendous amount of light that enveloped everyone.

Roy only saw white. Be it the floor or the sky, it was all white.

That was except for the black that seemed to radiate off of the human silhouette, and the door that it stood in front of. The body first had no features, no nose, no hair, no mouth, no ears.

Though it seemed to be talking to someone, not paying him any mind.

“Are you sure? You want him?” Truth asked no in particular. “Well, if you keep up your deal, I’ll allow it, this once.” Truth turned their head to Roy, no eyes looked at him but the Flame Alchemist could feel himself being watched. They said nothing, only a line appearing at its lips as it showed its teeth, smiling far wider than a normal human could.

Behind Truth was the large door. The door cracked open, revealing the black void behind it.

Roy looked in horror at the empty void. A large eye appeared, looking back at him.

The man soon disappeared from the white void.

(The  Brawler Hero)

Koneko Toujou: Kuoh Academy’s Mascot, Rook under the peerage of Rias Gremory, heir of the house of Gremory, and younger sister to the Satan class devil, Sirzechs Lucifer. The small petite girl didn’t bear much emotion in her daily interactions, usually keeping a stoic face and monotone voice.

The only real exception when she got annoyed was when three idiots tried peeping in on her and the other girls, but even then, she only needed a swift punch and they’d be out like a light for at least a couple hours, depending where she hit.

What was she doing now? She was passing her time watching a livestream on DeviTube of a new MMORPG that came out.

It looked decent enough, great graphics, smooth combat, the voice acting fitting, if it wasn’t for one problem that she, and many of the streamers noticed, it was how biased the game was toward attack focused classes.

First the person she was watching chose a Shielder, which wasn’t so bad, Koneko preferred playing damage dealing classes which often left her a glass cannon, but she digressed. No, the problem was how unbalanced the game was!

First it was the ridiculous attack stat of the Shield. It was only one attack damage! Any multipliers the guy got did jack all to their attack because it was always just one!

And second was how biased the players were to the Shield players! Koneko didn’t particularly care for who were dicks to her online, it wasn’t a big deal, she’d just mute the chat. But what she was seeing was plain cruelty, if it wasn’t P.K.ers, it was just plain verbal humiliation on that chat, and since it was live the whole chat saw what was being said.

It got so bad that the streamer changed classes just to be able to do anything!

To say Koneko was peeved was an understatement.

“My, Koneko. You seem to be worked up,” a ravenette spoke from behind her. Queen of Rias’ peerage, Akeno Himejima.

“Nothing,” Koneko quickly snapped, not admitting her frustration at the game devs as she turned her phone off. “Anyways I got a pack to do, so I’ll be going now.”

“Alright, whatever you say,” Akeno said, a small smile on her face.

Walking over to a clear space of the room, Akeno extended her hands, a circle appearing beneath her. Once the circle was complete, she stepped out, gesturing for Koneko to go on.

Not wasting any time, the small teen got up and walked over to the circle. Once she got to the center she looked over to Akeno, “Tell Rias I’ll be out, see ya,” the girl said.

The red light enveloped her. And like so, she was gone.

 Her pact was never fulfilled.

(The Monster Tamer Hero)

Acnologia shot himself out of the water, letting out a fierce roar. The members of the Fairy Tail guild were exhausted from their fight, but still wasn’t enough to kill him.

As the dragon loomed over them all, he drew a breath, wind coming to his mouth as magic stored itself up for a breath attack.

Those there looked up in terror at the dragon, charging up an attack that would destroy the entire island.

“There isn’t anything we can do,” a blonde mage cried to herself, hiding herself behind her hands. “Th-this is it? Are we all going to die here?”

“Defense magic users, bring out your most powerful spells,” Erza called to the other mages.

Freed clenched his fists, “I don’t have time to write an enchantment!” he said, worried for his guildmates.

Levy came to his side offering a suggestion, “Script magic has plenty of defensive spells that we can use right now,” her words were heard, getting Freed’s and the others' attention.

Calling everyone over, Lisanna yelled, “Everyone concentrate all your magic on Freed and Levy!”

“Everyone hold hands,” her older sister instructed.

The blonde in tears looked up at the pink haired dragon slayer offering her his hand, “Come on Lucy, we are not going to go out crying!” he told her. As she started to extend her hand, Natsu grabbed it.

Still with tears in her eyes, Lucy channeled all of her resolve. “Fairy Tail never gives up the fight!” she stated as Gray took her other hand.

One by one, the members of the guild took each other's hands, all the way down to Laxus and Makarov. As Laxus extended his hands to his short grandfather who was starting to cry himself.

“Okay kids,” their guild master said to them all “Let us all go home together.”

A light in the circle began to form as they channeled their magic and as Acnologia readied his attack.

He then fired. His attack was so strong that it made a light so strong that it could be seen for miles.

Once he finished the crater of what was once Tenrou Island was all that was left.

No one seemed to notice a small barefoot girl with long blonde hair hovering above the water. Nor did anyone notice that another blonde mage disappearing as the light consumed them.

(The Gun Hero(es))

Shaun looked at the books for the Nth time. Was there anything that stuck out to him? Nothing, or at least not yet.

“Seven Deadly Sins? Wait- Nagatoro? That shouldn’t be there,” he muttered to himself, taking the manga out to put it where it belonged. Though as soon as he found its spot he went back to scouring for something that stuck out to him.

“Oh, is that Hellsing?” he said to himself, surprised.

Though he wasn’t the only one in the bookstores manga section. A brown hair girl looked through, trying to find something. “They don’t have the next book yet? That sucks,” the girl muttered to herself.

Getting over her disappointment rather quickly the girl, Abigail, decided to look for something else.

In her mind she thought about the kind of thing she wanted. A comedy like Nichijou? Maybe a light novel like Another? Or how about a romance like Horimiya? Oh, Cells at Work was educational and fun at the same time.

Then her head went to a certain isekai manga that was a hot topic a year or two ago.

“Rising of the Shield Hero. I’ve heard of it… But it has an anime. But the manga is mostly better than the adaptation,” Abigail thought aloud to herself. “Plus, I know I’ll just not want to buy the manga afterwards, I’m that kind of person.”

Deciding to go with the isekai trope for her choice in what she’d be getting.

She reached out for the only copy they had.

But her hand was butted out by another person reaching for the same thing.

Both Shaun and Abigail looked at each other. “Are you going for it?” he asked, pulling the book from the others.

Abigail gave him a nod. “Yeah, but you can have it, I don’t know what it’s about anyways,” she said, waving it off.

Shaking his head, he held out the book, “Na, don’t worry, I already know the plot, just want to get an actual copy, go ahead,” Shaun insisted, giving it to her.

“Oh, thanks,” she said, taking it.

“No problem,” he said before going back to looking.

Abigail looked at him as he pulled out a red book titled Hellsing, even heard him mutter “Bitches love cannons,” he said and chuckled looking at the cover.

“That’s from the abridged series!” Abigail on instinct said that. It wasn’t often she met someone who quoted Hellsing Abridged randomly.

That also got his attention. “That it is,” he said with a smile. “Funny series, right?” he said excitedly.

“Yeah it is,” Abigail said, chuckling to herself. “Hey, got a question for you.”

“Hmm?” he hummed.

“You said you read this, right?” she asked, holding the Shield Hero manga, which got a nod. “Mind telling me about it? I haven’t seen the anime or done much research on it, the only bit I know is from what I’ve heard from things like memes and snips from YouTube.”

Shaun got up, putting Hellsing down, “Yeah sure,” he said shrugging, taking the book from Abigail.

He explained the basic premises of the first book with them being summoned, them being from parallel worlds, the false accusation, and the raccoon girl.

“It’s a pretty good read and the story is between the grim mood Overlord has and isn’t a comedy like Konosuba,” Shaun said, flipping through the pages, ending up on a page with a blood covered Raphtalia with her first kill.

“Hey, why are the bubbles empty?” Abigail asked, looking at the book, asking the same question in Shaun’s head.

“I don’t know,” Shaun said, as he flipped through a few more pages, all of which were empty. And then, a light began to shine.

“Huh?!”

“What the hell?!” both said at the same time.

Then the book hit the ground.

(The Bard Hero)

Ibuki Mioda, Super Highschool Level Light Music Club Member, felt complete and utter despair. The sight in front of her was horrible. It almost made her burst into tears.

“This is so unfair! I keep on dying! And I have the most defense out of everyone!” Ibuki yelled out as she gripped her controller harder as she, Chiaki, Hiyoko, and Maharu looked at her, all amused at Ibuki’s actions.

“It’s your fault for pulling too much of their agro, you have to keep some on you but not all, and you are under leveled, I told you we should have kept grinding,” Chiaki said, killing the leftover monsters that got Ibuki.

What were they doing?

Playing a console game that Chiaki bought for them.

It was a fantasy game that could be played with four people at a time, with four different classes. Chiaki chose the sword, Hiyoko chose the spear, and Maharu chose the bow. That left Ibuki with the shield.

“Well it’s not my fault that killing monsters is so boring when I can’t do any damage!” Ibuki shouted out.

“I can understand your frustration Ibuki,” Chiaki nodded her head, putting her controller down on her lap. “Games that heavily favor other classes aren’t always the best kinds, they make it hard enough for defense focused players to get a start when they aren’t lucky to get good gear early game, but it gets worse when they have it in co-op and they need to rely on every class but you can’t because someone else is having such a hard time leveling due to the way the class was designed!” the usually friendly and quiet girl shouted, getting a bunch of stairs from the others. Quickly gaining her composer, she coughed into her hand. “A-anyway, it isn’t your fault Ibuki.”

“So the class is just unbalanced,” the Super Highschool Level “Light Music” Club Member, muttered to herself. “Well then I guess Ibuki will need to keep grinding and looting chests!”

“Alright, you do that,”  Hiyoko said, getting from her sitting position. “I’m getting tired, so I’m going to get going.”

Letting out a yawn, Mahiru stretched her body. “Yeah, me too. I think I’m going to call it quits for today.”

Chiaki looked out of the window, seeing the sun begin to set.

“I suppose it is getting late, huh,” Chiaki said, getting up, stretching her legs.

“Alright, you guys go!” Ibuki said, fiddling with the controller. “I’m going to keep playing, going to get some more levels,” she said, hunching her back, focusing on killing monsters.

The other girls looked at one another, but Chiaki shrugged, knowing the feeling about wanting to get stronger in a game. “Alright Ibuki. Just don’t stay up too late, alright?”

“Yeah, yeah, sure,” Ibuki said offhandedly. Focused on killing monsters.

Stars illuminated the night.

It had been hours and Ibuki was tired as she finally reached her goal.

Raise her level by five.

Yes. Three hours of hard work alone made her level 26 now. Not much, but for someone who had such a miniscule attack, the rocker wouldn’t complain.

“Finally! It’s done! I think I’ll get this chest and I’ll head out,” Ibuki said, looking out the window seeing the night sky. “Yeah… definitely stayed out later then I should,” Ibuki scratched the back of her head, a tad embarrassed and ashamed in how she let time fly.

Deciding to finish by looting the chest, she walked up to it and it opened.

Nothing was in there, nothing happened for a moment as a buffering screen appeared.

“Oh, come on! No, don’t crash on me like this!” Ibuki yelled at the screen, only for it to show a cut scene of her character opening the chest. “Oh, a cut scene, this won’t be that bad. Maybe I unlocked a new quest? I should ask Chiaki.

The character opened the chest, and inside was a book. Written in English, Ibuki could only read it a little, but luckily the voice over read it out so she wouldn’t have to think. Opening the book, the voice began.

“The Legend of the Four Cardinal Heroes is known throughout the land. Heroes brought to save the world.

But who are the ones to help and aid the heroes? There are the eight vassals who  shall help aid the Bow, Shield, Spear, and Sword, but there are times when that isn’t enough. Times when the world knows they won’t be able to help them.

In times like these, the eight apprentice heroes are summoned.

The Apprentice Hero of the wand, the Mage. A wise warrior, the oldest of them all, one who has mastered their arts both physical and magical. Someone who is devoted to their friends and allies but also stubborn to move, even if it may lead to actions most heinous.

The Apprentice Bomb Herp. Explosive in passion and personality, with the constant energy of a child. Someone who’s life so far is just the first spark of a large flame, destined to burn long and strong. They may be the youngest, and often rely on others for guidance, they shall do what they know is right, feel remorse for what is wrong, and aid however they can.

The Apprentice Reaper Hero. A sickle in hand used to reap the souls of the deceased. While some may say death is a cruel fate, for taking those who were loved away, but worry not. The Reaper shall escort your loved ones safely, giving them peace. A role not fitted for the faint of heart. They keep flames of the soul safe from all who dare to snuff it out, taking the hits for them. A job only for those dedicated to protecting, but tread a fine line, doing a job that may lead to a loss of faith.

The Apprentice of the collar and chain, the Apprentice Monster Tamer. They may not be the strongest, but they do not need to worry, knowing their beasts always have their backs. They may have a collar and chain like a master and a slave, but that isn’t always the case. They keep the things that dare to ravage the innocent at bay, but also give them a reason of purpose. Giving them home, food, shelter. A family. The Monster Tamer brings in the strays, giving them a name and family, all in return wishing for someone to keep them safe. They work in a partnership. One aids by protecting and the other aids in nurturing. But remember this, they are always animals first, treat them like slaves and over exert them and then they will not obey any longer.

The Knight Hero. Armed with a sword and clad in armor, they are the most experienced in combat out of them all. With enough ambitions and strength to become one of the strongest, some may say they could one day become a king. But with such strength doesn’t always mean that they are the wisest. Stubborn, hard headed, and sometimes cocky, is the Knight Hero. So be careful, the Knight, while fiercely loyal, can also rebel and bring down entire kingdoms.

In terms of pure strength, the Apprentice Brawler is by far the strongest, but has no defensive abilities. So in compensation, the Brawler is closed off, but underneath it all is a person with much care. But be their comrade, they shall fight tooth and nail to aid. Keeping their fellow hero and adventurer safe, despite their lack of defense. When they finally let their walls crumble and let the dust settle, they can fight at their full strength, but if allowed to keep their walls up, it will gradually keep the person within from properly becoming the person they were destined to be, withering away.

The Apprentice Gun Heroes, a Gemini of the other, always in sink allowing for complete trust in the other. There is a legend that their eyes are so sharp that they could see alternate versions of the world they reside in. Having the chance, they could change events anyway to meet their desires for the future all on a whim. That being said they are always acting in whatever interest would be best for the other. They are however the most inexperienced. So actions that they decided could benefit them may also result in the inadvertent harm to another.

The Bard Hero-"

The screen began to buffer again, loading as Ibuki was just getting into it.

“What?! Oh, come on! They were just at the last one!” Ibuki yelled.

The buffering screen stopped and was soon replaced by a new loading screen, a white background as twelve images popped up.

On the top were the four class pictures from her gaming session with the others, but underneath them were eight new pictures. A wand, a chain, a helmet, a glove, a lyre, a detonator, a scythe, and a pair of guns. As the screen finished loading the room began to be enveloped by a light.

“Huh? What the hell?!” Ibuki swore as the light became blinding.

As the light began to die down, the room became empty.

The door opened, a janitor looking around the place. “Damn ultimate pains in the ass,” he muttered as he kept working.

All eyes looked at the people as some managed to pull themselves together, some more dazed than others.

“Shield Hero, what have you done?! Who are these people?!” one of the robbed men yelled at Naofumi.

“Hey! I told you I didn’t do anything, I don’t know why you think I did something, but I honestly have no idea!” Naofumi yelled back, angry that he was being accused of something he had no idea what happened.

“Ugh… it might be the headache from looking at a screen in the dark or me hitting my head on the ground, but Ibuki doesn’t feel that good,” the multicolored haired girl grounded, dusting herself off. “Hey, where am I?’

The one dressed in a blue uniform began patting himself down, as if looking for something, “No idea,” he said, “I’m assuming it’s similar for you all?”

All eyes went to the others, the small girl trying to help the one in armor out of the ground they were stuck in. The girl in orange and the boy with the face mask trying to wake up the girl with bayonet blades.

The small girl seemed to be trying to help the girl get her scythe out of the wall, both struggling, much to the older girl’s annoyance.

“Eh hem,” the man with his head uncovered coughed into his hand. “W-while your appearance was very unexpected I think we can help, please follow us. Our king would like to meet you.”

“Your king?” a few of them muttered, some raising eyebrows.

“I’ll go,” an annoyed voice from the one in armor said, placing her sword on her shoulder. “Only to meet the bastard that took me here.”

“Hey watch it,” Ruby shot Mordred a glare, “There is a kid here,” she indicated to Klee, who looked confused about what the word meant. “Though I do have to agree, I want to see why we’re here,” she said, awkwardly fidgeting with the new looking scythe.

Letting out an annoyed groan, Roy Mustang nodded, “Yes, it seems that would be the easiest way to get answers,” he said. His tone was more angry than annoyed. Looking over at the others, “I suggest you follow too, there might be something useful for us.”

Naofumi couldn’t help but smile a little, thinking about how much more willing these guys were to meet the king then those he was summoned with. Though as he looked around he noticed how two of the eight seemed to be freaking out, the two in blue masks, especially the boy. Naofumi couldn’t pick up on most of what he said, but he heard something about Shield Hero, which perked his interests.

“Wow…” Naofumi looked out the window. Seeing the vast new world he was in, taking in a deep breath, “This really is a different world, even the air around here smells different!” he said in amazement.

Stopping right behind him, the punk girl looked out and also took a deep breath, “Wow! It does…” she said amazed. “It looks so much like Four Heroes Story… talk about Isekai. Freaky.” she whispered only loud enough to barely be able to be heard by Naofumi, thinking back to the game she was playing.

“Don’t tell me you guys haven’t been outside of Japan before?” Itsuki asked both Naofumi and Ibuki. Him, Ren, and Motoyasu both literally and figuratively looking down at the two of them.

“Judging by the breeze, I’d say this is your fairly standard Mediterranean climate,” Ren said.

“Y-yeah, I knew that. Just forgot the words is all,” Naofumi replied, not making anyone believe him.

Motoyasu turned to the others, raising an eyebrow, “What about you all? Ever been outside of Japan before?”

“Japan?” a couple of them asked, confused.

“Bold of you to assume we’re Japanese Mr. Ponytail,” Shaun shot at Motoyasu. A snicker coming from the girl next to him. “Though, I can't say I’ve been to a castle like this…”

“Meh, I’ve seen better,” Mordred said. Walking on ahead of the group, “Keep moving, I am still debating on trying to wreck this place or not.”

“H-hey, let’s not do anything crazy,” Lucy said, trying to keep some form of peace.

“Shut it blondie!”

Shaun and Abigail watched the interaction between the one in armor and the one with the chain and collar. “Um… they seem interesting,” both of them said at the same time. “Ha! Jinx! Owe me a soda! Hey! Jinx! Double jinx! Triple jinx!” they said, trying to one up the other. “Hey come on!” they shouted.

The sound of giggling seemed to stop the two of them from continuing their jinx war, the two turned and saw the silver eyed reaper giggling at them. “Wow, I haven’t seen that before!” Ruby said, looking at Shaun and Abigail, her Scythe resting on her shoulder. “Um.. Hey, I’m Ruby. This is weird, huh?”

Both Abigail and Shaun looked at one another and then at Ruby, “Yeah,” Shaun said, "I'm Shaun by the way,” he introduced himself with a handshake and Ruby accepted.

“And I’m Abigail,” Abigail said, “And that’s an understatement if I’ve ever heard one,” she said, looking outside.

Ruby winced, “Yeah… but maybe we can get some answers! Let’s not fall behind, okay?” Ruby said, smiling at them as she began running in place to try and catch up with the others, a trail of rose petals falling behind her as she caught up behind the others, leaving Abigail and Shaun shocked.

“Was that…”

“Ruby Rose?”

“Thought so…”

As the thirteen newly summoned individuals filled into the throne room, all of them looked around, some amazed, others for the nearest exit. Though all of them had questions, especially the nine unintentionally summoned.

“Greeting Heroes and company!” an old man sat on the throne, a long gray beard and dressed in royal garbs under his purple robe with white fur around the edges. “I’ve been made aware of the incident that has occurred, and for that you have my humblest apologies. I am Aultcray Melromarc XXXII, king of Melromarc. Now if you would, please let me know your names.”

Stepping forward, Ren went first. “Ren Amaki, I’m a high school student, and I’m 16 years old.”

Next was Motoyasu, “I’m Motoyasu Kitamura, college student, 21.”

“I suppose I’m up next. Itsuki Kawasumi, still in high school, and I’m 17.”

“And I’m Naofumi Iwatani, a college student as well, 20.”

Standing up next, Roy took center stage. “Colonel Roy Mustang, State Alchemist of Amestris, I am 29.”

“State Alchemist?” Motoyasu raised an eyebrow, “Think he’s cosplaying and playing a bit of roleplay?”

“Probably,” Ren said, whispering over to him.

Moving on, the punk girl went next, “Yo, I’m Ibuki Mioda! Seventeen, and I’m the Super Highschool Level Light Music Club Member at Hope’s Peak High School!”

“Hope’s Peak? Super Highschool Level Light Music Club Member?” Itsuki asked, confused about her words, “Forgetting the second part, I’ve never heard of it.”

“Huh?!” Ibuki acted in shock, “How do you not know?! It's like the most elite school in the world!”

“Yeah… never heard of it,” Motoyasu said, scratching the back of her head. “Anyone else?”

“It’s pretty much a school for people with super talents! Like you don’t go to them, they go to you kinda deal,” Ibuki said, twirling her fingers before pointing to Motoyasu.

“So it’s a school people with talents,” Ren surmised, “and I’m assuming that means you are skilled at playing light music?”

There was a moment of silence before Ibuki said anything, “Yeah. Among other things.”

Taking a step up closer to Abigail, Shaun whispered to the girl, “Do you know Danganronpa?” he asked and got a nod from Abigail, “Do you think that she’s pre, during, or post despair?”

“Don’t know, but we can find out later,” Abigail said in a hurried whisper, “Now shush, it’s our turn.”

“Oh, is it?!” Shaun said in a bit of a surprise, looking around, “Um… Hi! I’m Shaun Sarto, 16, and I’m still in high school.”

“Hey, Abigail Wilts, I just turned 18, and same as this guy,” she said, pointing at Shaun.

“I guess I’ll go next,” Lucy stepped up. “I’m Lucy Heartfillia, I’m also 18, and I’m a member of the Fairy Tail guild.”

“What now?” Ren raised an eyebrow. He did not really fault people for playing into their character but everyone else was being sincere right now so now was not the time for little acts. “Another roleplayer?”

“Probably…” Itsuki muttered. 

A fit of giggles seemed to stop their whispers as Klee got to be center of attention, “Yay! It’s my turn! I'm Klee! I’m 9 years old, and I’m the Spark Knight of the Knights of Favonius!”

“Excuse me but did that little girl say she’s a knight?” Lucy asked, a little concerned.

“I’ve met a boy who joined the military at 12, but still this seems a tad young,” Mustang spoke out, receiving a few horrified looks at him. “What? Not like anyone forced the kid.”

Itsuki glared at Mustang, yelling “That’s your concern?!”Roy shrugged, not saying anything.

“Mind if I go now?” Koneko asked, looking at everyone. “ Name’s Koneko Toujou, 15 and I’m a high schooler. What does it do?”

“Oh my God, she’s adorable!” Motoyasu cheered, wanting to run to the small girl and scoop her up. The only thing stopping him was a feeling of dread he got when he even humored the idea.

“I’ll go next, I’m Ruby Rose, I’m 15 as well, and I just got boosted to go to Beacon. So… yeah.”

Roy looked around, everyone but Shaun and Abigail seemed to not know what Beacon was. Said two people seemed to be their damned hardest to hide their inner fanboy and fangirl squeal.

All eyes then turned to the last person who had yet to introduce themself, Mordred. “Saber, my age doesn’t concern you, I’m just a knight, that’s it.”

"Saber?” Abigail raised an eyebrow. There was a theme here and she and Shaun were the only ones not fitting in. Oh please let him be right. “LIke… the Servant Saber?” she asked, an awkward laughter coming out. Praying she was right.

Mordred eyes went a little wide, since the girl in front of her knew what she was. She nodded. “I’m a Servant of the sword.”

“Wow, your parents must not have been that creative with names,” Motoyasu said, he only stopped when Mordred looked his way, making him stop before she went to look at Abigail.

“You know them?” Ibuki asked, who was standing next to Abigail. 

“I think I have an idea…” Abigail said, which seemed to get Mordred’s attention. The Saber

After a quick debriefing of what was originally meant to happen by being told of the Waves of Calamity which brought destruction whenever they occurred and how the Four Cardinal Heroes were summoned as a way to fight back against them.

Unfortunately nothing was known about the sudden arrival of the nine extra summoned individuals. There were however questions relating to the new armaments that they could not be away for a few seconds.

[Abigail Wilts: Apprentice Gun Hero]

[Shaun Sarto: Apprentice Gun Hero]

[Mordred: Apprentice Knight Hero]

[Koneko Toujou: Apprentice Brawler Hero]

[Lucy Heartfilia: Apprentice Beast Tamer Hero]

[Ruby Rose: Apprentice Reaper Hero]

[Klee: Apprentice Bomber Hero]

[Roy Mustang: Apprentice Mage Hero]

[Ibuki Mioda: Apprentice Bard Hero]

Each of the nine extra summoned individuals were heroes, or apprentices of some kind. Why or how was still in the air, but for now it at least allowed the mages, king, and those around them to know what to do from there for now.

They would have to help defend the country from the Waves of Calamity and defeat them to grow stronger, and when that was done they would be allowed to return to their home worlds. To say there were some cries of anger and confusion from the group was an understatement.

Klee seemed to not entirely understand the predicament they were in, but could at least tell by the scowl on Roy’s face and the fact Mordred was literally shaking and growling at the king made it clear to everyone to both not touch the Saber and the mood of the situation.

There was some optimism in the group however, Ruby trying her best to see the bright side, hoping that there must have been a reason for them to have been summoned. There were also those who had little reaction like Lucy who seemed to be keeping to herself.

In some sort of way to try and defuse tension, the king offered them a feast for them to eat before he would send them out to grow stronger in the world. A way for them to get to know one another, so the Heroes could find who they worked best with.

Abigail and Shaun sat next to one another, both of them sending each other side eye glances and then looking at the people around them. They were not alone, as while everyone seemed to be eating, with the exception of a brooding Mordred and Klee who was happily eating, everyone seemed to be looking at one another.

“Alright! I can’t take it anymore!” someone shouted. Motoyasu clapped his hands together as he looked around the table. “I don’t like the silence! Why don’t we go around the table and say what we were doing before we got here!” He laughed, trying to get a conversation rolling.

“Hmm, an ice breaker, huh? I suppose that’ll be a good idea,” Roy said, tapping the table. “Well since it was your idea, why don’t you go first, Mr. Kitamura.”

“U-um…” Motoyasu scratched the back of his head, “Well it’s a bit embarrassing, but… you see there is this girl who liked me,” he began. “You see I started seeing her.”

“Bad breakup?” Ibuki asked, shoving a piece of meat in her mouth.

“It keeps going… then there was this other girl, very shy and the like.”

“Oh! Not taking rejection well. Yikes,” Abigail said, snapping a finger.

“Will you stop interrupting!” Motoyasu pleaded, “Now… I did not reject her.”

“You double timed them, they found out, and they both got you?” Ren budded in at last, Motoyasu was about to tell him off for interrupting only to lower his head and nod. Seeing the depressed look on the Spear Hero’s face, Ren gave his back a pat and apologized. “Well if it makes you feel any better I got stabbed by this serial killer who was in the area who tried to kill my friend. I think they caught the guy, everything was really fuzzy near the end.”

“At least got to go out heroically, I got hit by a truck,” Itsuki said, and got a cringe from the group.

“Ouch, getting hit by infamous Truck-Kun, sorry to hear dude,” Abigail offered her condolences and got a few chuckles from those who understood the joke, while confusing others.

“Glad I fit the stereotype,” Itsuka said, a little annoyed at his back death. “What about you Naofumi? How’d you end up kicking the bucket?”

Naofumi’s eyes widened and he seemed to sit up as he registered Itsuki’s words. “Kick the bucket? Sorry, but I was in the library when I found a book that glowed and suddenly I was here.”

“Really?” Motoyasu said, feeling a little annoyed that the last of the Cardinal Heroes ended up not having to go through the pain of death like the rest of them.

“Sorry I didn’t die,” Naofumi shrugged.

“Well you’re not alone with reading a book,” surprising everyone Mordred budded in and began her story. “I just got back from getting some stuff for my Master's with a few others and my friend asked me to read to them before the day was over. So I went to my work’s library and found a book. Some cheap stories about this Saber, Lancer, Archer, and Shielder, like you idiots, and next thing I know I got sent here and stuck in a ceiling.”

“Oh! Oh! Same here!” Klee said, jumping in her seat. “Master Jean sent us to the Knights of Favonius Library and I found this biiiig book!” Klee extended her arms to emphasize the point, unintentionally being the cutest thing in the room and stealing hearts. “It was also about Heroes and-and the Waves of… of Catastrophe.”

“Calamity,” Roy corrected. Seeing it was his turn “Well… I suppose I can share some details,” he thought as he tapped his chin. “So I got involved in taking down this… let’s say it’s a big event that happened in my country that would hurt a lot of people. Well… in an attempt to stop it I got sent to this other plane of existence and I think I met what is essentially God and next thing I know  I’m here.”

“Wait, you’re saying you met God?” Ibuki asked.

“Hmm, I don’t think they're God. This little twerp I know told me about them, called them Truth. Something about one is all and is one or something like that. Look, all I know is that I was sacrificed for something, woke up in a world of white with a literally blank individual, they smiled at me, and now I’m here,” Roy said exasperated. “I’d rather be back home, but I don’t have any options here. What about you, Mrs. Mioda?”

“Just call me Ibuki!” the Ultimate Student said with a grin, “Anyways! I was playing this video game with some of my classmates, I chose the Shielder character and dude, the game was so unbalanced! I had great defense and everything but no attack!” Ibuki cried. “Took me hours to level up, I tell ya! Hours! Well at some point I was doing this quest by myself, since it got late, and after some cutscene I hit a wall, gotta say, top three weirdest things to happen around me.”

“Well gotta say, hard to beat getting sent to another world.” Ruby chuckled.

“I don’t know… I mean my classmate, this super lucky guy, he planted a bomb in a school gymnasium and some weird hijinks got three upperclassmen expelled, destroyed the gym, and somehow only got suspended!”

“What the hell! How does that even happen?!” Mordred shouted.

“He is really lucky… oh, I also think he mentioned something to do with laxatives or something, don’t know what that was for,” Ibuki shrugged, not paying much attention to the cringed and shocked looks around her.

Getting over the topic quickly, the devil in the room went next,  “I was watching a video game with a pretty similar setting to this world on my phone,” Koneko said, playing with a pea on her plate. “Well I was headed out for… a job and when I was about to leave I got sent here.”

“That’s rough buddy,” Shaun said. “Abigail and I were just looking around in a bookstore and when we picked up a manga we got sent here, nothing grand.”

“Wow, a lot of us got sent here with books,” Ruby said, scratching her cheek. “I was sent here the same way. By a book I mean, I just got back from the police station after stopping a robbery and then getting accepted into Beacon. I then went to my room, saw a book and… you know the rest…”

“Magic glowing book sending you who knows where?” Koneko said, and Ruby nodded. “Relatable.”

“Jeez, man. Is it only Me, Itsuki, Ren, and Roy, who died?! That’s so unfair!” Motoyasu threw his hands in the air.

“I don’t think I died,” Roy said, only getting ignored.

“What about you Lucy?” Ren asked, looking over to the last of the Apprentice Heroes. “You get sent here by magic book, random teleportation, or by death?”

“Um… I think death,” Lucy said, thinking back to everything that happened. “I was on an island with my guildmates, and a giant dragon appeared. We could not defeat it and the last thing I remember was it using this large attack that would’ve killed us all,” she remembered Acnologia and her final moments on Tenrou Island.

The mood seemed to sour as Lucy just seemed to look down, and soon it brought everyone else down. Ruby, being one of the closest to Lucy at the moment, gave the blonde mage’s back a rub, trying to show her condolences.

Roy tapped his finger on the table. It seemed this was not doing anyone good, what might have been bonding was more depressing when thought about it. Away from loved ones, in a new strange world. Maybe things were different in their world then his, Klee had pointy ears, that might have been something.

Looking at his hand, Roy did take note that his gloves seemed to be repaired, no blood, no holes. He then looked around and saw Lucy’s hand.

“Hmm,” he hummed. “I can do this,” he said abruptly, snapping his fingers loud enough to get everyone's attention, his hand surrounded briefly by blue lightning and suddenly a bright flash and above them the Fairy Tail emblem made of fire appeared over their head for a few seconds before it disappeared. Everyone got an eye full of the sudden flames before they went away.

“Wow!” Ruby and others gasped. The two Apprentice Gun Heroes clapped their hands together. Klee seemed to be the most excited of all.

“Wow! Roy, you didn’t say you were a mage!” Lucy said, suddenly surprised.

“Magic? No, this is just alchemy. I changed the oxygen molecules in the air to become flammable, and when I snap my ignition glove it creates a spark, setting it on fire,” Roy said. He could not help but feel some pride in the reaction he got from the group. “Back home in Amestris, I was titled the Flame Alchemist.”

“Amestris?” Ruby asked, “Which of the Kingdoms is that in? I’ve never heard of it.”

“Kingdom? It's its own country,” Roy said, confused by Ruby’s statement.

“I’ve never heard of it? Is it somewhere in Europe?” Itsuki suggested.

“No, as far as I know, there is no country called Amestris in the world,” Ren said.

“What’s Europe? I may not be the best with geography but I don’t think there is any country called that near Fiore on Earth Land,” Lucy asked, confused by the sudden name drops.

“Wait, Earth Land?” Koneko raised an eyebrow.

“Yeah, the planet?” Lucy said, starting to feel out of place.

“I’m from Remnant…” Ruby said.

Some gears seemed to be turning at the table. Everyone is starting to piece things together.

 What would follow was everyone trying to get an idea of what the differences were from each other's worlds. A majority of the group seemed to be from some form of Earth. Abigail and Shaun had a pandemic going on in their world, Naofumi and Motoyasu came from pretty standard Earth as well, though Naofumi’s world seemed to be a few years ahead, but with no major changes. Itsuki was the first to show any real differences, with his world having ESPer, or superhuman abilities. Then Ren seemed to be from a world so far in the future they had full dive technology. Roy came from a world that was pretty far back, close to the 1920 or 1930s and people had the ability to learn alchemy. Ibuki’s was also pretty standard, but the heavy emphasis on her school’s importance seemed to be something noteworthy. Mordred was pretty cryptic, but did mention some magic existed in her world, not going much, if any, detail. Last of all people from Earth, Koneko did not say anything supernatural, just that it was normal.

Then there were the three others who came from non-Earth worlds. First there was Ruby, from a world filled with dangerous monsters called Grimm and those who fought them, Huntsmen, and how she was training to be one before getting summoned. Then Lucy came from a world filled with so much magic it was near impossible to know someone who had never heard or seen it.  Then finally Klee, who did her best to describe things. She came from a world called Teyvat, which was ruled by the Seven Archons, seven gods who resided over a specific element, and she was from the Anemo Archon’s country, Mondstadt, and had herself a Vision, something given by the Gods for those with strong ambition.

After what seemed like going through a mountain of information, the groups of heroes decided it would be good to call it a night, thinking it would be best to get some rest before the next day when they went out and started an adventure.

The nine extra heroes walked down the hallway to the direction their rooms were. The group either walked in silence or talked with one another. The two Apprentice Heroes whispering with one another.

“So should we tell them?” Abigail whispered.

“Tell them what?” Shaun asked, looking at the group.

“That we know them from other things,” Abigail said, “I mean, I feel like that is something important we should tell them.”

Shaun took a moment and then looked at the group and then back at Abigail. “I don’t know… how would we even say that?” he asked, scratching his head.

“Well you know about this world, right? After we explain how we know this, you can explain the best way for us to go about things, how does that sound?” Abigail said, Shaun gave it some thought before sighing and giving a thumbs up before breaking away. “So… Lucy, how are things holding up?” she asked, walking next to the mage.

“Oh,” Lucy seemed to have been in thought and was startled by Abigail’s sudden appearance. “Um, good I guess. With everything happening, it’s a lot to deal with.”

Abigail nodded, “Yeah, I can imagine. But, hey, it’s not as bad as you think. Your guild mates are fine.”

Lucy seemed to stop for a moment and turn to Abigail, confused by what she just said. “What?”

“Your friends, Fairy Tail, the S-Class trials on Tenrou Island, they're safe,” Abigail said, loud enough to get everyone's attention during the conversation.

“I didn’t mention S-Class trials,” Lucy’s eyes widened at that, but Abigail shrugged.

“You didn’t,” Shaun stepped in. “Um, everyone listen up, because this does include you guys as well,” he said, “We know you all from shows, games, or books.”

“Hey! Talk being subtle,” Abigail wacked Shaun’s arm. Sighing and rubbing her head, “Okay, yes we know you from various media, we thought it would be a good idea to tell you this now and sooner rather than later.”

“How much are you talking that you know of us?” Roy was quick in recovering from hearing what Abigail said and raised an eyebrow.

“I’m assuming you were pulled into the Gate of Truth after Pride and Wrath forced you to do Human Transmutation? Well, long story short we know you from a story that follows the midget-”

“The pipsqueak?!” Roy’s reaction was quicker than anyone expected. Realizing he let that outburst slip, he coughed into his hand and recomposed himself. “Ehem, sorry.”

“No worries,” Shaun waved it off, “Well, if it makes you feel any better, you are a really loved guy by fans,” he said. “And Lucy, your guildmates in Fairy Tail are fine. If everything went well, they are in suspended animation in a spell called Fairy Sphere.”

“Fairy-what now?” Mordred asked.

“It’s a very powerful shield spell,” Abigail summed it up. “Look, the point is, that we know all about you guys.”

“Even me!?” Ibuki raised her hand, a giddy smile on her face.

“We know about the time Saionji did to Teruteru’s food,” Shaun shrugged. Abigail could not hide her laughter and commented on the scene, not going into much detail. Ibuki on the other hand had to try and hide her blush, she knew all too well about that. 

“Oh! Sounds like a story,” Ruby could not help but laugh at the contagious laughter, though Ibuki’s mortified face said otherwise. “So you know about all of us.”

“In no particular order, some want to be heroes, some famous, some have family issues, some want to prove their worth, some people want to commit what to make big bombs, make new government, and find that one true friend who wants to head bang with you,” Abigail said, listing off some of everyone's basic goals.

“That’s nice and dandy that we are fiction in your world, but what’s the point in telling us this?” Mordred asked.

“There is a point to this actually,” Shaun stepped up. “You see, you guys are not the only ones we know from books, manga, and whatever.”

“Oh my-” Mordred hit her helmet. “The other Heroes?” Shaun nodded. “That king?” He nodded again. “This world?!” Shaun nodded.

“Yeah, I know this place, or at least I think I should, but the main reason I wanted to tell you is so we can prepare for tomorrow when parties get split up. Also, it gives us some time to look  at our stats, because I have a strong feeling we might need to explain some things to people.”

“Oh please, like any of us needs help,” Mordred said dismissively.

“Really now?” Shaun raised an eyebrow, “Everyone find your help menu and look up restrictions,” he said to them all. It took a moment, but soon almost everyone found it. First it was himself, then Koneko, Ibuki, and Ruby, followed by Lucy, Abigail, and finally Klee, which left Mordred and Roy confused looking at their status screens.

“Where the hell is it!” Mordred shouted at her screen, tapping at air as she tried her best to find it.

“It says now that I cannot apply to new states that I have not unlocked yet, is that it?”

“No, it’s not, that’s you trying to use locked weapons,” Ruby said. “Look for a book.”

“I am looking at a book!”

“Well it’s clearly the wrong book! Gah! You’re like my dad when he tries using a computer!”

“I don’t even know what a computer is,” Roy said, confused by the statement, only knowing what she said was rude to him. Turning to Shaun, “Okay, start talking.”

Shaun nodded, “Okay, so, let’s start with some skills you have now, so we can plan out who goes where.”

Yawning, Ibuki stretched as she and Abigail entered a room they were given to share. Apparently the castle staff had a bit of a rush order to make rooms ready for the extra heroes, so some of them had to bunk with others. Ibuki was fine bunking, plus it was with someone who knew the future, neat!

“Cool, they gave us pajamas,” Abigail said, holding up a nightgown that was neatly folded on her bed.

“Awsome!” Ibuki said, beginning to pull her school uniform off and get changed. Turning her head around, Ibuki turned to see Abigail, the Ultimate student undid her hair as she looked at her current roommate. “Hmm… you have a pretty nice butt.”

Abigail, who was in the middle of getting changed, seemed to freeze for a moment before she turned her head around, her eyes wide. “Excuse me what?!” she shouted.

“Ibuki’s just making observations and conversation,” Ibuki said in a sing-song voice as she pulled her nightgown down as she giggled. “So, you and Shaun seem to know a thing or two, right?” She asked, “about everyone I mean, right?” Abigail nodded. “So, Ibuki was wondering…  if you could tell her about the others.”

Abigail seemed to return to her senses and her cheeks stopped feeling hot. “The others?”

“Yeah! Like why is Saber so mysterious and everything. Oh! Or how Mr. Colonel does that fire thing!” Ibuki said, plopping herself down on her bed, kicking her feet as she talked.

Abigail scratched her cheek, “Um… I don’t think I’m the one to be saying those things,” Abigail said, “I mean, I may know you guys from this stuff, but you guys don’t know each other, so it feels kinda like a breach of privacy,” Abigail explained. It felt wrong, airing out what might have been secrets that were not meant to be shared.

“Hmm, Ibuki gets it. I know I would feel weird if someone went around sharing my personal stuff. Gah, makes me feel all squirmy inside thinking about it,” she said, holding her arms as if she was shivering. “Hmm, okay… well what about Ibuki?! I mean, it’s from my world, right?! So what’s the harm in knowing a little?” 

Abigail seemed to go pale, or maybe it was the lack of light, it was hard to tell.

“Um… are you sure you want to know?” Abigail asked, her voice uneasy, which did not seem to go unnoticed.

“Yeah, I mean, it's not that bad, right?” Ibuki asked. “Oh?! Is it some sort of comedy? I mean, aside from Teruteru doing some weird stuff, the class has been pretty eventful!” Ibuki said. “Oh! What about romance! I know for sure that Peko and babyface are totally sketchy!”

“You sure it’s not just him being a gangster,” Abigail jokes, though she was weighing her options, Abigail could tell the truth or lie. Hope or despair one might say. “Ibuki, um… listen, your thing, it isn’t entirely happy,” Abigail said, “Actually it gets pretty depressing.”

“I’m sure I can handle it,” Ibuki said with entirely too much optimism.

“Even with murder involved?” she asked.

“Huh?”

“Look, Ibuki, I’ll be blunt and say, something bad happens in your future, like really bad, it isn’t comedy is what I’m saying. If you want I can say what happens, but if you want me to stop, I’ll stop.”

The tone in her voice was all to clear what she was doing. Warning her. Ibuki’s smile seemed to dip.

“How bad is it?”

Ibuki gave her answer and Abigail nodded. “Want the full in depth story or the parts you're involved,” she said.

“Um… let’s go with part’s I’m involved with for now.”

Nodding her head, “Okay, well to start this off, we’ll need to introduce our main antagonist, Junko Enoshima!”

“The model?!”

“The model,” Abigail said blandly.

Yawning Shaun walked next to Ruby, who seemed to have way too much energy for this early in the morning.

“So you really had to spend another half hour explaining to Roy how the weapons work?” Ruby said, not envying the time spent on teaching older people computers.

Shaun shrugged, “It isn’t the worst, he was pretty quick on the uptake once he knew what he was doing. Actually we managed to unlock a few new weapons while we were up,” Shaun chuckled, pulling out his bayonet and switching it to the [Phone Bayonet] “It’s a phone weapon! I can call people!”

“Phone? What’s that? Like a scroll?” Ruby looked up to Shaun who nodded. Ruby couldn’t help but look amazed, “Wow… Oh! Let me see if I can do that! How’d you do it?!” she asked as she fiddled around her pocket and got her scroll out.

“Put your scroll on the gem of your weapon. You should be able to get it back from your inventory, so it isn’t lost,” he explained.

Doing as instructed, Ruby was hesitant to give her weapon her scroll. The idea of losing something she had memories saved in made her worried. Taking a quick breath, Ruby let her weapon absorb her scroll.

[Communication Series: Unlocked]

[Scroll Scythe: Locked {Not High Enough Level: 15}]

[Equip Bonus: +6 Electric Damage, Allows the User to Communicate With Others With Communication Series Weapons.]

“Huh, it’s locked till level 15!” Ruby said, distraught. Such a useful tool locked behind a level! So unfair!

“Huh, mines till level 5, weird,” Shaun said, somewhat surprised.

“Probably has something to do with the model and how advanced it is,” a voice came from behind the two made them both jump. “What it do,” Koneko greeted as she tapped on a screen being displayed just above her hand. “I had a flip phone, it gets unlocked at level 3,” she said.

“Hmm, that’s good to know,” Shaun said as he looked at his weapon and at Ruby’s new scythe. It looked super futuristic, almost like it didn’t belong here with its blue slightly glowing blade.

“Hey, what’s your number,” Koneko asked, tugging on Shaun’s arm, “I can’t use it right now, but I can still add your numbers,” she said, showing the screen that hovered just above her hand.

Ruby and Shaun looked at it and then at one another. Happy to have more contacts to their devices and able to communicate with others, both quickly added their contacts to the others device.

The three were some of the last three to appear with the other apprentice heroes, the last being Ibuki who still looked like she needed more sleep.

“Alright everyone, ready to get going,” Roy said, looking at the eight of them. “Remember what we talked about yesterday?” he asked, getting nods and confirmations from everyone. “Good, let’s get this started,” Roy said, pushing the door open to the throne room. The King, guards, adventurers and the four Cardinal Heroes standing in the center.

“Morning guys!” Ruby cheered as she walked in, her scythe resting on her shoulders as she came walking in, the other apprentice heroes followed behind her. In front of the four heroes were twelve adventurers.

“Hey Ruby! Hope you got some good sleep,” Motoyasu gave her a wink, trying to be charming, though the context she and the others were given didn’t make it charming to Ruby. “Are you ready to get started on our adventure?”

“Yeah, can’t wait,” Ruby said, a little half heartedly

Shaun gave Ruby a small pat on the back and a thumbs up, as he, Abigail, Ibuki, and Koneko stood behind Naofumi. Behind Motoyasu, Roy and Ruby stood. Behind Itsuki was Klee and Lucy. Lastly behind Ren was Saber.

“Hey, why does Naofumi get four when we have two, and Ren only gets one?” Motoyasu asked, his voice not curious but rather irritated. “Don’t you think we should split it equally?”

“Both Ibuki and Koneko don’t have high defense, that’s why they chose to be under Naofumi. Shaun and Abigail decided to go under Naofumi because they wanted to ensure that no one gets overwhelmed,” Roy explained to Motoyasu.

“We spent some time discussing who we should send with who, so don’t think we did this on the fly,” Lucy told Motoyasu, at least trying to keep things civil.

In his chair, the King had to hide his scowl. Coughing into his hands he got their attention. “Now heroes, we’ve gathered the finest heroes in the land. These brave souls will fight the Waves of Catastrophe with you,” the king announced. “Now go! Begin your journey!” he ordered them, the men and women all walked forward, going behind each hero.

In Ren’s line there were five new people in line.

In Itsuki’s there were three.

Motoyasu had three new members.

Naofumi had only one.

A red head at that, much to Shaun’s horror.

Mein Sophia, also known as Malty S. Melromarc, the bitch princess of Melromarc.

“Shit…” Shaun dragged out.

Chapter 1 of the Rewrite of The Four(Five) Extra Heroes is complete! Thank you all for the support!

Once again sorry to those who couldn’t make the cut! But that being said I’m happy that some of you wanted this! So with that I’ll begin this new story, I hope you all enjoy it! Also sorry if there are any grammar mistakes. 

Now, with that being said, see you all next time! and be sure to comment!

Chapter Text

The city of Castle Town was growing darker, lights began to flicker on inside the many still open businesses and homes of the city. In one such business, a bar, the nine Apprentice Heroes all sat in a round table, all tired from their day with their hero. 

Shaun banged on the table with his head, as if he had a gavel. “Okay, the Apprentice Hero meeting is now in session. Our topic of the day is how we thought our party was as well as the hero they went with? Anyone want to go first?” he asked, pointing a finger up.

“UGH!!!” a loud groan that got everyone’s attention came from their table.

“Thought as much,” Shaun wanted to nod, but if he did he might not be able to move his head up to even do the gesture. “Thoughts on the heroes?

“Motoyasu is by far the most annoying person I’ve been with, and compared to Fullmetal, that’s saying something. At least he’s tolerable, this guy’s just a skirt chaser!” Mustang growled, annoyed memories came flashing to him. “I mean, I don’t mind myself flirting here and there, blowing off work is an art form, but when priorities are to get ready to adventure and not take dates, you need to be organized.”

“Now that you mention it, I think I heard my Uncle Qrow say something like that,” Ruby nodded along. “Honestly all those stories he told me do tend to blend in together after a while and I cannot even begin to remember how many times he mentioned a “beauty behind the counter” or something like that,” she said, nibbling on a carrot stick she got on her plate and shivered.

“Didn’t you say something about tiny mini skirts once?” Abigail questioned, Roy only looked to the side, a faint blush coming onto his face as he was called out.

“That was a joke,” Roy said, though the looks both Apprentice Gun Heroes were giving him made him regret ever saying that.

“At least your guy’s party and everyone around you wasn’t openly racist to a child,” Lucy groaned, gesturing to a still sniffling Klee, her ears pointed down. “Only one person besides me wasn’t rude to Klee! And the worst part of that is it wasn’t even Itsuki at all! He kept preaching about justice but he barely did anything to help Klee.”

“I want my mom,” Klee whimpered, getting a back rub from Lucy to comfort her.

“Hmm, mine was such an edge lord and didn’t even absorb any of the lessons I was trying to teach,” Mordred muttered, a tired groan coming from him. “Even the Assassin I know is less edgy! And he keeps yelling about how he’s actually a “Man-Slayer,” if that makes any sense!” Mordred groaned, lifting her helmet enough to take a long drink from her cup before lowering back down, not showing her face. “I mean I even gave him pointers on how to properly use a sword and he kept whining, ‘Eh, Saber, let me hit you.’ ‘Eh, Saber, I got my butt kicked 20 times now, let me rest. ‘Eh, Saber, I think I'm going to puke, stop hitting my gut!’ I know at least two squires who could take more beatings than him.”

“You know… the more you went on there, the more it sounded like you’re the problem…” Lucy said, and while she did not see Mordred glaring at her, she knew for a fact that Erza could never have made so many hairs on the back of her neck stand up.

“Knowing, Saber, that’s pretty par for the course actually. Gotta say, not the coldest thing they’ve done,” Shaun shrugged. 

“Hmm,” the devil of the group hummed. “Shield guy was nice,” Koneko said, taking a bite from her food. “But that Myne girl, she reeks of trouble, obviously trying to seduce him. Plus, she strikes me as a bitch.”

“Preach it!” Ibuki groaned, her face planted on the table. “I’m just saying this now, I think I saw her try to cut my hair, she came really close with her sword! My hair is awesome! All my fans love it and no one in my class complained!”

“Well… it’s definitely unique,” Roy said, he was honestly not sure how to deal with someone like Ibuki.

Shaun groaned, placing his head on his head. “It’s good to know your opinions,” he muttered. Readjusting himself, Shaun asked a question he was sure to boost some people’s morale with the temptation none could say no to.

“So who had the worst new party members?”

“ME/WE DID!” they all yelled at once, then proceeded to glare at one another.

“I guess we should all state our case, Mustang, Ruby, you first.”

(The Spear Hero)

“Um… Colonel Mustang,” Ruby looked up to the older man, fidgeting with her scythe as she followed behind Motoyasu’s party.

Look at the reaper, Roy let out a sigh, “If it is making you uncomfortable just drop the colonel,” Mustang told her. “Anyways, what is it you wanted?” he asked.

“Um… did you notice it at all? That way Shaun looked at that red head,” she looked around, making sure the other party members didn’t hear them, which luckily they didn’t, all too focused on trying to seduce Motoyasu, who was eating up the attention.

Mustang let out a hum, nodding his head. “Sarto seems to have a clear understanding of how this world works, if given the time I imagine he’d tell us everything. But from what I can tell, something about the woman scared him. Hey said he knew this world from an… anime? Yes?” Roy used the foreign word, getting a nod from Ruby. “If it follows basic storytelling, that might mean she might be an antagonist.”

“Maybe… but what is she going to do?”

“Your guess is as good as mine,” Roy muttered, tapping his chin, thinking of something he could say. “Say, kid. Remind me again of your abilities, just want to cover my bases,” he asked, casting a grin to Ruby.

Ruby seemed to brighten up a little, maybe it was a tad vain of her, but she would be happy to share her skills she learned. “Well, I’m already pretty good with my scythe, and not to brag, but my baby, back home, she destroyed my other classmates back at Signal!” Ruby grinned, twirling her scythe around in an impressive display by it almost looking like a fan as she swung it entirely around her, the only noise it made was the sound of wind being cut. “Then there is my Aura, which shields me and does some healing stuff too, but my coolest ability is my Semblance! Watch, I’m here!” she said before zipping around in front of Roy, “Now, I’m here! Pretty fast, right!”

Roy let out an impressive hum, despite how reckless Ruby was for swinging her scythe in public, her skills were still above steller from what he could get for someone her age. Plus the idea of Aura was interesting and he would have to ask more about it, and her Semblance was impressive. “You can just turn into rose petals? Interesting. What about your skills with the scythe? I don’t imagine it’s something you see a bunch of 14 year old girls fighting with every day.”

“Hey, for the record, I’m 15. Also, my Uncle Qrow! He’s this super kick butt and takes names kind of guy! Super awesome, he taught me everything I know! I was totally garbage before he taught me, now I’m like WAAA! HIYAAA! HOO!” Ruby made some goofy noises as she made karate moves. It managed to get a chuckle out of Roy, though suddenly when Ruby stopped making noises he took notice. Turning around, Ruby’s hair seemed to cover her face, but he did not see her smile.

“Hey, kid. Are you alright?” he asked.

“Huh?” Ruby seemed to snap out her thoughts, “Oh, sorry. I just… it’s still hitting me that I won’t be seeing my family for a while. I was expected to go off to Beacon with my sister, it’s kinda like college, but for Huntsmen. I thought I’d be spending the next four years being around her, seeing my dad and my dog Zwei… they don’t even know where I am.”

Roy nodded, it was understandable. A kid taken away from their family. Hell, he was willing to bet most of the heroes thought something along those lines.

“Well kid, Ruby,” he said her name, which caught her attention. “I’m sure you’ll see them again,” he said to her, placing a hand on her head and ruffling it. “All us heroes plan to give those waves hell,” he chuckled. “Now, to kill some time, do you wanna hear the story of how I incinerated an immortal wench who crippled one of my men or the time I almost killed a shapeshifter who killed my best friend.”

“Almost?”

“They committed suicide,” Roy shrugged, “Now take your pick.”

“Um… the first one!” Ruby said, kicking a rock as she kept walking with a bit of a sip.

“Okay, I gotta say, one of the more… interesting events in my life. It involves me cauterizing a wound with my flames, making an alchemy circle on my hand and a used lighter,” Roy said with a grin and to Ruby’s wonder.

As they continued to follow behind the others, taking varying stops along the way. Some food venders, others we clothing stores. Throughout each stop, despite the two of them talking with one another, some stories about an annoying midget who did not like milk and others about a girl who ran too fast and ended up crashing into a wall and almost breaking their nose, both of Apprentice Heroes could not help but notice how none of their funding was being used on actual gear for Motoyasu.

That being said, the two didn’t spend their time doing nothing, instead opting to ask around where they could, finding those who might have been adventurers, getting information on where to get gear and good places to go fight monsters.

“Hey, Ruby,” Motoyasu walked up to the girl, not really paying attention to Mustang. He had a smug and almost flirty smile on his face, bending down to meet her eyes, and gave her a two finger salute. “How about you? Everyone else got a chance to pick where they wanted to head, now what about you?”

Ruby felt a shiver run down her spine, and not the excited kind. No it came from more of a feeling of disgust. “U-um… well, me and Mustang-

“Mustang and I!” Mustang corrected.

“Right,” Ruby nodded, correcting herself, “Mustang and I were talking around and heard there was a good place to get armor, so we thought it’d be a good idea to get you some gear.”

Motoyasu got up from his position, genuinely thinking about it, “I suppose you’re right. Alright, come on ladies, let’s get going!” Motoyasu winked at them all, and while they offered him a smile, when he turned around, they glared at the backs of Mustang and Ruby. 

“Little bitch.”

“Ruining our date.”

“Couldn’t even qualify as an actual hero, why do we need to listen to her.”

“Probably plans on using that older guy to get things done for her. Maybe seducing him.

“She’s such a tramp.” 

Mustang could hear their words, and noticed how Ruby heard her as well. Placing a hand on her head, giving it a small pat. “Don’t pay them any attention. Let’s get going.”

“Right,” Ruby reassured herself as she kept moving. Her hands on her scythe grew extra tight and she just walked on ahead of the group, hoping to get as far away from those women.

“Hello! Welcome, what is it you’re looking for in my fine establishment, anything specific or just browsing?” a burly bald man asked, extending his arms as he welcomed them into his shop.

Roy let a small smile form on his face, it was nice to have someone be so welcoming, even if it was the first time they met. That and Ruby’s face was also entertaining.

“Oh. My. God!” Ruby turned into a burst of petals, surprising everyone. “These swords are so beautiful! And- oh my god! This armor!” she squealed as she kept on flying all over the place, leaving a trail of rose petals behind.

“Well now, looks like someone has an eye for good work,” Erhard, the blacksmith, grinned. “And what can I do for a little lady like yourself?”

“Oh, I’m a member of the Spear Hero’s party, and I heard you made good armor, so I brought him here!” Ruby explained. “And before I say anything else, you are a master of your craft, they are so beautiful!” Her voice was almost like a mouse with how high it squeaked, but the man behind the counter could not hide his laughter.

A prideful grin appeared on his face, holding himself high. “Well thank you, I don’t consider myself a master at my craft for no reason,” he said, letting out a hardy laugh. “So I take it based on your weapon, you're the Reaper and… I want to say Mage Apprentice Heroes? Your friends in the Shield Hero’s party came earlier, getting themselves armor.”

“Oh, so you saw Naofumi and the others?” Mustang said. “So they came here as well.”

“Yep! I’m quite the lucky man, getting not only two Cardinal Heroes but as well five of the Apprentice Heroes. Rumors about you guys coming have already begun to circulate around the city.”

“Really now?” Mustang grinned. “Alright, but now we need to talk about business, we’ve wasted enough time now with pleasantries. We’re here for armor for the Spear,” he said, pointing to Motoyasu, who was currently holding another spear in his hand.

“Hmm, alright. But what about you and the little lady?” he questioned, looking them over. “You both aren’t really wearing armor.”

“My uniform is fine, I’ve worn it to war before,” Mustang told Erhard, which got the attention of everyone in the room, “as for Ruby…”

“I’m good!” Ruby chirped. “My Aura will protect me and I can tell when it’s broken, so that’s a good way of telling when it’s time to call it quits.”

“Aura?” Motoyasu asked, wanting in on the conversation.

Ruby nodded, “Yeah, Aura. It’s kind of like a force field made from the user’s soul, anyone can have it, even plants, I once even activated my dog’s Aura when I was little,” she giggled,  “it also heals minor scratches and allows me to use my Semblance, that thing I did with the rose petals,” Ruby explained to Motoyasu.

Motoyasu let out a hum, “So it wasn’t some sort of hack? It’s a skill I can get?” Motoyasu surmised. “Well then I don’t need armor then, do I!”

Ruby shook her head, “Um… no. My clothes are actually pretty durable and made to take hits, even my cape. It isn’t just decorative,” Ruby explained, putting her hood up and flapping her cape for emphasis. “So getting your armor is still very important. And you’d still need to learn how to use it. If it was a one and done deal, everyone would have it where I’m from.”

Taking her hand in with both of his, “Then let’s have quality time,” he said, flashing her a flirty smile, once again sending an uncomfortable shiver down Ruby’s spine. Neither realizing what the blacksmith was doing with his monocle, looking up both Motoyasu and Ruby’s clothes.

“Hey,” Erhard called to Motoyasu. “The little lady gave you some good advice. Her clothes by themselves are actually as durable as some high end leather armor, while you're… not even close to comparison.”

Mustang couldn’t contain his grin, letting out a smile and a laugh at Motoyasu, who looked rather annoyed.

“Fine, then give me something as strong as her clothes,” Motoyasu pointed to Ruby.

“Your wish is my command,” Erhard said sarcastically, grumbling about Motoyasu’s attitude.

As Erhard was in the back, Motoyasu went back to paying attention to Ruby. “So Ruby, you said I could have the same ability as you? Yeah?”

Ruby gave an unsure shrugged, “Maybe? I mean I don’t know if you can even use Aura but also no we won’t have the same Semblance. Each is unique to the individual.”

Motoyasu let out a small defeated sigh, “Well then I hope I get something similar to yours, that way we can go as fast as one another,” Motoyasu said, giving her a wink.

“You do know you’re hitting on someone six years younger than you, right?” Mustang said in both a mix of annoyance and disgust.

“H-hey, I’m not!” Motoyasu stammered out, “I-I’m just being confident for her! You know, being a good example.”

Mustang rolled his eyes, wishing he hadn’t chosen to be in the same group as the Spear idiot. “Well you're coming off like a playboy,” Mustang said to him, giving him a small glare.

“Okay Mr. Soldier,” Motoyasu said, waving his hands. “So you’re a war hero or something? What was it like?” he asked.

Mustang looked at him, “A war hero? I’ve been called that,” Mustang thought back to the Ishval Civil War. “But that isn’t a title I want. Not for the things that happened during that time.”

Ruby saw the sad look on Mustang’s face, it wasn’t the serious face he put up during their time here, but a much more sad one. The only thing Ruby could think of was offering him a pat on the back, which the officer did not let go unnoticed and gave her a smile in return.

“Here,” Erhard came out, breaking the silence. “It’s good quality leather armor, I’m willing to sell it to you guys for thirty eight silver, what do you say?” the man offered.

“Thirty eight silver for leather armor?” one of the female companions, a mage like Mustang, raised an eyebrow. “Decent leather armor only really sells for at most twenty five silver, and that’s a stretch!”

Erhard could understand her, but still felt a little insulter, as if she was claiming he was trying to hoodwink them. “Now listen, I can agree most leather armor isn’t this expensive, but your hero here asked for armor that is just as good as the little lady’s so I got it. Honestly I could get the chainmail, but that’s more expensive, so I went with this. It’s lightweight as well as highly enchanted. So you wont find any leather armor this good anywhere else in the country.”

“Hmm,” Motoyasu weighed his options. “I suppose I’ll take it.”

“Great doing business with you!” Erhard cheered. “Now, I hope you and your party have a prosperous adventure! Come back any time if you ever want any custom made armor or weapon!”

“Thank you!” Ruby thanked the man, who gave her a thumbs up in return.

Roy Mustang had to hold himself back from punching Motoyasu in the head, which one was up for debate. He also wanted to wack Ruby upside the head as she was oblivious to what Motoyasu was doing.

“No, you’re holding the thing wrong!” Ruby chastised Motoyasu as she placed her hand on his, leaned up against him, and slid it up the pole. “There, now your stance is still too narrow, so widen it. You can easily be knocked down like that.”

“Like this?” Motoyasu asked, barely adjusting from his last position.

Letting out a frustrated groan, Ruby went on one knee, using her hands to spread his legs further. “Like that!” she said as she got up. “Your stance is strong so you don’t fall over and your grip looks good… alright! You should be set!” Ruby clapped her hand. “Now, why don’t you try using your spear in actual combat, I’ll make sure you don’t hurt yourself.”

Mustang rolled his eyes, taking his wand and fired out at the balloon. A notification popped up in his vision.

[+15 EXP]

He honestly didn’t understand his wand. It didn’t drain his MP which apparently stood for Magic Points, which didn’t make sense to Roy. As an alchemist he was used to the laws of equivalent exchange, give one take one, but nothing seemed to be taken from him when he used common attacks. Which didn’t add up.

Roy continued to let out some of his pent up anger on a few balloons.

[+15 EXP]

[+13 EXP]

[+14 EXP]

Mustang kept on shooting till he leveled up, leaving a trail of balloon scraps in his wake

Level Up!

Congrats on reaching level 10!

+5 to MP

+5 to AGL

30 More Levels till you unlock the Heroic Quest system!

[Help!]

Heroic Quests are quests that gives materials to unlock Heroic Series Weapons

Gather them all and you can upgrade to full hero.

Warning: Granting others your rewards from your Heroic Quests may result in a penalty.

Mustang didn’t know who to feel about those new notifications, though the mention of unlocking something to make him a full hero did make him curious. It was something that he should tell Ruby’s and the others.

Deciding enough monsters had died at his hands, and picking up some of the scraps, he went looking for the young reaper.

When he got back on top of the hill, he saw Motoyasu at the bottom, killing balloons as well as being found by one of the girls who threw themselves at Motoyasu. Though Ruby and the others were nowhere to be seen.

Making his way down, Roy looked to Motoyasu for answers. “Kitamura,” Mustang called to him. “Have you seen Ruby by chance?”

“Hmm? Oh, Rubes?” he said, calling her a nickname. Something Mustang could easily figure out he decided to call her whether she liked it or not. “She and the others went into the forest, said they wanted to talk with her. I’m sure they’re having a good time,” Motoyasu said, oblivious to the curses and glares they sent at Ruby.

“Alright, see you later. I got to tell Ruby something.”

“Alright, I’ll be doing some grinding,” Motoyasu said to Mustang’s back, even though the colonel had no idea the context of the word, instead thinking he meant something else.

“I think you should do that somewhere not so public,” Mustang said, his face red.

“We want you to stop taking Sir Motoyasu’s attention,” one of the women who were throwing themselves at the Spear Hero pushed Ruby against a tree, and being the lower leveled person, Ruby couldn’t fight back.

Ruby looked at them at first a little scared, but then confused. “What do you mean by getting his attention? I haven’t really been doing anything,” Ruby told them, still confused.

“Oh, don’t pretend we don’t know,” the other one scoffed. “The way you were touching him, feeling him up!”

Ruby looked even more confused, not knowing what they meant, “What? Like when I was adjusting his stance and grip? They had obvious flaws that would leave holes in his development later on, if I didn’t do it now he’d have to relearn something he’s been doing for ages, and it isn’t fun!” Ruby spoke up.

A small growl came from one of them, pushing Ruby closer to the tree, which was an uncomfortable position. “Listen here, Red. You can lie about you trying to seduce Sir Motoyasu, but we know what you’re doing. So stop acting like a little tramp and bugger off with the boy scout.”

“I’m really not doing anything!” Ruby insisted. She did not understand this. She 

Having enough of this discussion, the first adventurer readied her arm, “Shut it you bit-”

“ARRRGH!” a loud roar muffled the words of the adventurer. All eyes went to the roar. A large black bear looked at them.

[Level 23]

Ruby was only level four right now, and when she looked at the bear she had felt a hint of fear overcome her.

Sure she could deal with a large pack of Beowolves at home, but that was before levels had to be factored in. Now she was much weaker than the monster. She probably could not even take on a single Ursa right about now.

“We gotta get going!” one of the adventurers yelled, running away, leaving Ruby and the other still there.

“RAAAAAH!” the bear roared, choosing to go after the one who was running.

As it ran past, Ruby felt her legs suddenly go flying. No thought was put into the action, she only knew she needed to act and get the first adventurer out of there, even if they were jerks. The reaper burst into a flurry of petals and got close to the girl and turned to her, “Go and help your friend, I’ll keep the thing distracted!” she told her, ignoring what was happening before the bear.

“R-right!” the other adventurer nodded. But her voice was not heard as Ruby’s ears were filled with wind.

In a flurry of red petals Ruby got on top of the bear and swung her scythe down only for it to bounce off. It did not even dent the hide of the bear, only seeming to annoy it like stubbing your toe.

“RAH!” the bear growled, turning to see her on top.

Ruby looked down, letting out a small and weak laugh. “Nice bear…”

“RAHHHH!”

The attention of the bear was switched, going after Ruby instead. Going on two feet, it attempted to make Ruby fall off its back. Ruby jumped off the back, getting ready to keep fighting the stronger monster.

“Come at me!” she yelled at the bear, as it let out a roar of its own. Both charging at one another.

Roy had been looking for almost half an hour. He was tempted to turn back and go to Motoyasu and the others, assuming Ruby was with them.

But he did not, especially when he overheard something. The sound of grunts and roars filled Mustang’s ears.

“Ruby?!” Roy yelled, calling the young girl’s name, speeding up his search, becoming more worried.

“RAAAAAH/AHHH-UGH!” a roar as well as a yell came closer, followed by the sound of something hitting a tree.

Following the sound, Roy looked around, finding a bear standing over Ruby, raising their claw for a finishing strike.

“GET AWAY FROM HER!” Mustang roared, in a quick instant, Roy put away his wand and snapped his fingers. A quick blue spark came from his hand and a burst of flames went forward. Unfortunately as soon as he snapped his fingers a stinging pain came from his hand cutting his focus and making the flames stop.

“GRA!” the bear turned its attention from the beaten up Ruby, from the side of her head, a line of blood painted her face. Its fur was slightly burnt, but it was otherwise unharmed. The focus of the beast's attention switched from the downed girl to the man clutching his hand.

“Grrr, what the hell? What was that,” Roy said silently as he regained his bearings.

[Legendary Weapon Rule Violation]

[Heroes are not allowed to use other weapons aside from their assigned legendary weapon]

“Ah shit,” Roy swore as he heard a loud thump as the bear started running.

As the beast ran up to Mustang he kept firing his shots till it got close enough. Once it got within a certain range he pulled out his wand from his hip, turned around and started running and shot a few simple magical blasts at it.

He needed an idea, something. He could not just keep running with this thing on his tail. Huffing, Mustang narrowed his brow, running back from the beast, keeping his distance, drawing it away from Ruby. He kept firing attack after attack, each one not doing a thing to scratch it. Mustang let out an annoyed growl as it kept running after him.

“Damn, wish I could use my flames, then I’d be able to roast this guy,” Mustang groaned to himself. But he for whatever reason was not allowed to use them anymore, since they were restricted, he was out of options.

It annoyed the crap out of him.

If only he had something else he could do.

Mustang kept running, shooting small white shots at the bear.

“GRAHH!” The bear roared as it kept gaining ground on Roy.

The flame alchemist used his terrain to his advantage, using the trees to hide and use as obstacles for the monster behind him.

“Come on ugly! Can’t get little ol’ me!?” he taunted.

As he began to get some ground on the thing, Mustang began to climb a tree, trying to catch his breath. As he climbed the tree he placed his hands in front of his mouth, letting out a long breath.

“Oh God!” Roy began to pant, breathing in and out, his voice tired from running for his life.

As the bear began to follow him, Roy let out a groan, “Damn, why can’t this damn thing do more to hurt the bastard,” Roy scowled. “If only I could use my alchemy, I’d be able to crush the bastard at the very least!” Roy threw his hands up into the air.

He suddenly froze. A realization hit him as he looked at his hands.

“Please tell me I’m right about this,” he muttered, jumping from safety getting ready.

His jump alerted the bear as his boots hit the sticks and leaves. The bear turned to the alchemist, getting ready to start attacking by running up to Roy.

Roy clapped his hands, mimicking the pipsqueak and hit the ground. Blue lightning began to emit from the ground as it began to part.

If he could not use a different weapon, he would just have to use a natural skill. Huh? Thank Truth apparently.

Not being able to slow down in time with all its momentum, the bear fell into Roy’s trap. It stuck there. It was Roy’s victim now.

The alchemist looked down, he noticed how high the level on the monster was, and while he knew jack shit about video games, he could easily tell the higher the level the higher the reward.

Still not used to using this new way of alchemy, Roy clapped again, blue began to glow in the area as he placed his hands down and began to crush the beast till it was no more.

Once he finished seeing the high amount of Exp, he ignored the multiple level up bonuses he got, instead he went to the injured Rose, who looked really tired.

Once he got there he tried comforting her, making sure she was okay. “Ruby, stay with me, okay kid.” he spoke to her, getting a small nod from her. He gave her a quick once over, besides her head, her arm had been cut as well, it wasn’t life threatening, but would require medical attention.

 Bringing his hands down, he scooped her up, and carefully moved her to his back. “Try to hang on.”

“Yeah… okay,” Ruby muttered.

Mustang did not bother finding and cleaning up the monster, seeing the younger girl’s injuries more important he left in a hurry, going to the city.

“What was that thing? Where were the others?” Mustang questioned, looking over his shoulder to see Ruby.

“High level bear appeared… I fought off. Gave a chance to let the others escape,” Ruby managed to say as she tried to keep conscious.

“Brave but also stupid of you, good thing I was able to kill it or everyone could have been in danger,” Roy chastised her, “What about your Aura? Didn’t you say it’d protect you?”

“The thing destroyed it as soon as it hit me once,” Ruby told him. “If you didn’t step in, I don’t think I would have made it…”

There was a moment of silence as the two kept heading to the city.

“Your welcome kid. Just don’t be stupid like that again,” Mustang told her. He only received a weak nod from the girl in exchange.

The two did not bother going back to Motoyasu. Seeing as the stop would waste time.

By the end of the day Ruby managed to get treated quickly, getting bandaged up, covering the top of her head.

“So that explains the bandages,” Abigail said, now knowing the full story. “Still killing a level 23 monster when you w eren’t even level 15 at least, damn you guys are ballsy.”

Ruby had a sheepish expression while Roy had a much more tired one. “Yeah, lucky I remembered that pipsqueak’s technique when transmuting things without a circle.”

Koneko nodded, she had faced her fair share of strong enemies in her life, so she could agree what they did was both dangerous and ballsy, but still understood their actions, they both had good motives behind them.

“So we heard about Colonel Mustang and Ruby’s story. Lucy, want to go next?” he asked the celestial mage.

“Alright!” Lucy nodded, “I know for sure we had the worst experience!”

“Bet,” Koneko muttered as Lucy began.

(The Bow Hero)

Lucy kept Klee close to her, not wanting the child to get lost. Both their hands interlocked. Though the small child did have a skip in her step as they made their way through the city. She had an entirely happy go lucky smile on her smile face as she took everything in all at once. The small girl did however keep close to Lucy and did not stray too far. As for the rest of Itsuki’s party, they crowd around the Bow Hero as they made their way to get gear for him.

“There is a fine weapons and armor shop this way Sir Itsuki, it’s both cheap and quite good,” Mald, a large man in armor said, pointing in a direction.

Itsuki nodded, following Mald as they made their way through the city.

As they made their way to the shop, Itsuki looked away from the other companions, instead walking to the mage and bomb expert. A few questions were on his mind as he looked back at them.

“Lucy, Klee. Mind if I ask you something?” He went back to them, walking next to Lucy and Klee.

Lucy turned to him, curious what he wanted, same with Klee, who stopped skipping and also looked up to Itsuki. “Yeah Mr. Bow Man?” Klee asked.

“How dare that demi-human address the bow hero like that,” Mald muttered under his breath, but was loud enough for Lucy to notice as well. Before she could say anything to him, she saw blonde hair and a spear seemed to be scolding him.

“Call me Itsuki, Klee,” the boy said, keeping a smile on for the child. “Anyways you both said you come from worlds where magic is a thing, right?”

Both girls nodded, “Yes, but from what I understand our worlds operate under separate systems in how they work.”

Itsuki nodded, seeing why they might have different ways of using magic, “It’d make sense, for the four heroes, we came from alternate versions of the same world, so a world with different magic system than the other makes sense,” he said, getting a shrug from Lucy who didn’t really understand. “So then how do you use yours if I may ask?”

Now, never let it be said that Lucy Heartfilia did not like to show off. May it be her writing, her body, or her magic, and this was an excellent opportunity to show off what she had. A large grin appeared on her face as she placed a hand on her hip.

“Well, I’m glad you asked, Itsuki. I come from a world where magic is pretty much commonplace, and there are groups, called guilds, where wizards come together. I’m part of the most powerful guild in all of Fiore, Fairy Tail!” she said, showing off her pink guild mark on her hand. “Anyways, there are two kinds of magic, holder and caster magic. Caster magic comes from the wizard themselves and the holder comes from magical items. I use holder magic, specifically Celestial Spirit Magic!” To show off even more, Lucy grabbed hold of her keys to show them. “I summon spirits through my keys and when I do they fight for me or help me out at stuff, the typical summoning stuff.” While Lucy was having a nice time explaining her magic, she didn’t seem to notice Itsuki’s expression becoming annoyed at her.

“So like us, you summon them without consent and have them do your work?” Itsuki said bluntly, looking at Lucy with a plain look.  “We are supposed to be heroes, you shouldn’t be doing stuff like that. You have to be different from the people who brought us here. Not plucking them out of their lives at your convenience.”

Lucy looked at Itsuki for a moment, a flabbergasted look on her face as she tried to process what he had just said.

“But I don’t enslave them…” Lucy finally said, still confused. “Celestial Magic follows strict rules both the caster and the spirit both agree upon, after that the wizard can summon them on the days agreed upon afterwards!”

Itsuki kept glaring at her but seemed to be ignoring her before he switched his attention to Klee. “What about you? What about your world’s magic?”

Klee looked at Lucy who seemed upset but still jumped up and down as she started to explain. “Where I’m from you need these colored marbles called a Vision!” Klee said, “I was given mine by the god Barbatos, the God of Freedom. That’s how everyone gets their Vision by each country’s God. That’s what Acting Grandmaster Jean said anyways…” Klee put a finger to her mouth thinking about Jean’s words.

Itsuki proceeded to look at the Vision on Klee’s back, letting out a hum. “It is very pretty,” he complimented the girl. “If it was given to you by a god of freedom then that means he must be a good god. Make sure to follow a path of justice, and don’t do bad things. Use this god’s gift to fight for justice, a hero of justice. Not like certain bad people,” he told her, cocking his head to Lucy, not explicitly saying her name, though that message was missed entirely by Klee.

Mordred, who was taking a drink from her drink, her helmet still hiding her face suddenly got very wet along with Ruby’s face and cape.

“HERO OF JUSTICE!” Both Mordred and Shaun yelled as they began to laugh hysterically.

“Hey! I was in the middle of telling my story!” Lucy glared at Mordred, “What’s so funny anyways.”

“Oh all knowing gun guy! Tell them what’s so funny!” Mordred insisted, having eyes going to Shaun.

The boy who was still trying to breathe managed to get himself together, if only barely. “O-okay! S-so there's this guy, let’s call him Archer. He once wanted to be a hero of justice, but he also for a time hated the dream so much he’d try and literally kill past versions of himself. And let’s just say compared to his past self, Itsuki sounds like he’d make it to the top of his shit list!”

“DAMN RIGHT!” Mordred yelled, cackling like a mad man. Holding on to her stomach trying to keep from falling over.

Both ended up laughing harder at the thought. But that was quickly ended when someone, the laughing Gun Hero. got punched in the gut by his neighbor, the quiet and reserved Koneko.

“Shut it, I want to get to our turn,” Koneko glared at Shaun. She then turned to Lucy, “Continue.”

“R-right,” Lucy stammered, looking at the hunched over Shaun, the only thing he said was a weak groan.

“Alright!” Klee giggled.

“So if it is okay, can I try absorbing it into my weapon?” Itsuki asked, “I’ll give it back, don’t worry. I’m just curious what it’ll unlock.”

Klee looked at Itsuki, then at her backpack. Thinking for a moment. “Alright…” Klee was cautious. “But promise to give it back! Promise! Ms. Lisa told me that if you are separated from your vision for too long bad things happen!”

Itsuki didn’t seem to pay much attention to her warning. Only paying attention to the red vision which looked like a flame in the middle of it. Placing it by his bow it got absorbed by his weapon.

What happened next was not something he expected.

[ERROR!]

[ERROR!]

[ERROR!]

[Substance of higher authority is prohibiting weapon absorption!]

[Vision Series Not Accessible Due To Requirements Not Obtained By The Bow Hero!]

[Vision User Not Detected]

[INCORRECT: {VISION USER ID:Klee} NOT DETECTED!]

[PUNISHMENT BEGINNING IMMEDIATELY!]

Itsuki saw his screen go red. The red crystal flew out of his bow and back to Klee’s hands as Itsuki’s own bow began to emit a violent red electricity. Itsuki tried throwing his weapon but his hand didn’t seem to budge, then the punishment happened. The electricity shot out of his bow, wrapping around Itsuki, then tightening. Once tightened, Itsuki couldn’t move. Then a large shock hit him not once. Not twice. But five times.

Everyone watched in horror as Itsuki fell on the ground. A small amount of smoke coming off his now burnt clothes.

“Sir/ Itsuki!” Everyone yelled, worried for Itsuki’s health and safety.

As they rushed over to Itsuki, the red head under the hood got out a potion, putting it to his mouth and letting him drink it. The burn marks on Itsuki’s face soon vanished as he coughed.

“W-what was that?” Itsuki muttered.

Mald sent a glare to Klee, the small girl also seeing his look took a few steps back, standing by Lucy. “It was that demi-human!” he growled, “What did you do to Sir Itsuki you filthy demi!” he growled. Storming over to Klee and grabbing her by her collar, her feet dangling off the ground by a few feet.

“GAH!” Klee cried as she dangled over the air.

“Tell us what that thing really was! Are you trying to harm the noble bow hero?!” he glared at Klee, scaring the girl enough to make her tear up with how strongly she was clenching her eyes close.

Lucy went up to Mald, trying to bring his arm down to let Klee stand normally. The small girl was scared as she was being held up. All Lucy could do was try and push his arm down and let her down, but her struggle amounted to not.

“Mald, you’re being too extreme, she’s just a child. I don’t think she meant to hurt the Bow hero,” the same blonde.

“Get off me!” He shook them off. “It’s obvious that this filthy demi-human tried to have the bow hero killed!” He then proceeded to shake Klee some, scaring her as tears began to form.

“Asshole! I said let her go!” Lucy yelled, lunging one more time at Mald.

But she didn’t touch him, since he was already falling.

Klee however didn’t fall with him, instead a hand picking catching her held the bomber hero. Both girls looked over to the one who hit Mald, and to Lucy’s shock it was a quite large bull-like figure.

“Taurus?” Lucy looked at her spirit who had summoned himself into the world, much to Lucy’s shock.

“I heard from the little guy you were somewhere strange without your guild mates, and being in the good moood I came out till I saw that,” Taurus glared at Mald, holding Klee in his large arms. “You okay little lady? Does this man have any past beef with you?” he asked Klee, making his cow puns as he asked.

Klee shook her head, whipping her tears. “N-no… I don’t think so…” she sniffled.

Mald didn’t seem to get up, the blonde adventurer went to check on him, and to her surprise he was knocked out. His body was now snoozing and mind in dreamland.

“I so do not envy the headache he’ll get,” the blonde adventurer muttered. “Um… Thank you… Mr. Bullman.”

Taurus turned his attention to the adventurer, seeing hearts in his eyes. Putting Klee down gently he got down on one knee.

“My! Are yooou are a beauuutiful sight to behold!” Taurus told the girl, much to her embarrassment. Before he could say anymore his gate was closed by Lucy, much to her embarrassment.

As Itsuki and anyone who saw the sight started, Lucy just bowed down, and offered a quick apology as she patted Klee’s back and closed Taurus's gate.

“So you got accused of being a slaver, then Mr. Hero of Justice Jr. tried absorbing a… Vision?” Ibuki turned to both Shaun and Klee who both nodded, “but it rejected him or something, then one of the guys scared Klee, followed by getting his lights knocked out by a giant bull man!”

“Pretty much,” Lucy nodded. “Mald was giving us all the stink eye the rest of the day, and I think Itsuki doesn’t really like being around Klee anymore.”

There were a couple nods seeing how that would come to be. Since Klee’s Vision caused some unknown reaction that even Shaun was completely clueless about.

“Wait, that explains partly why Klee is upset, but why is she still sad? That happened in the morning,” Ibuki asked as she was rubbing Klee’s head. Comforting the poor girl.

Lucy winced a little, thinking back to the event.

The adventurers were tired from a long day of grinding levels, the sun in the sky was hidden behind the walls of Castle Town, making a beautiful scene if you looked at the wall at just the right place.

Both Lucy and Klee were a little worse for the wear. Both looked tired and felt hungry as they walked through the street.

Lucy had gotten a new set of clothes with a leather breastplate and a blue tunic, her legs were covered with long black thigh high socks and brown boots, wrapped around her left arm was the chain and collar that she was forced to keep on hand. Klee kept her normal attire, saying she’s been right by explosions in it as well as fought Hillitrolls in it as well, always keeping her safe. Which held up to be true as the balloons and Usapil didn’t seem to do anything to her when they attacked and when Klee threw a few bombs she didn’t seem to be shocked by the loud noise or by the small fire she set.

The older of the two had decided to separate from Itsuki’s party after they cashed in their monster drops, Lucy took her share, twenty silver coins. She planned to get food for her and Klee and then meet back up at the inn near the adventurers guild. If she was being honest it was a good way for her to clear her head after how annoyed she was with Itsuki and the rest of their party.

They had all been giving them both looks since the Vision incident. Itsuki not even hiding his glares at Lucy when she used her Celestial Spirits, especially Virgo, though she couldn’t fully blame him on that one, when she asked for punishment that made everyone except Klee go red.

As for now, Lucy just wanted to get something to tie her over for now.

“Hey! Pass it over here!” she could overhear a kid giggle passing a ball back and forth to one another. As she kept walking her arm moved back as Klee stood in place, watching the kids.

Lucy looked to see Klee looking a little jealous of the kids, seeming wanting to play.

Lucky for Lucy though nearby she saw a cart near the kids with a pile of balls in it. A smile on Lucy’s face formed, bending down to Klee’s level, “Hey, do you want me to get you a ball too?” she asked the bomber.

“Really?!” Klee’s eyes lit up, her ears also perking up as well. Lucy couldn’t hide the giggle that came out. Giving a Klee a small nod. “Wow! Lucy you’re the best!”

Lucy got up and took Klee to the stand. She paid the person with the cart a silver coin and got fifty copper coins back in return. The mage handed Klee a red ball and the girl looked at it with shining eyes.

As they made their way looking for food, Klee bounced the ball through the street, having fun as they made their way around the city.

Eventually Lucy would come along a grilled fish stand, deciding to get some she offered enough copper food.

“Thank you again lass, pleasure doing business with a pretty lady like yourself,” the man said, handing over the food.

Lucy let out a giggle, taking both fish on a stick, “Thank you, maybe I’ll come by another time,” she winked at the man as she began to head back.

“Hey! Give me my ball back!” Klee cried, jumping up to try and get her ball from a group of boys passing the ball around each other, and just as Klee reached the one with the ball they’d throw it to another.

“No way, messing with you demi-humans is too much fun!” one of the boys laughed.

Lucy couldn’t believe it. These three boys were loudly making fun of a small girl who was just playing quietly with herself and found it fun to mess with her. The only thing that annoyed her more was the fact that no one seemed to be doing anything about it.

Well she couldn’t let this be as is! That wasn’t the Fairy Tail way.

“Hey! Knock it off!” Lucy yelled at them. Walking up to Klee she glared at the boys as they got together, in the middle of them was the one who currently had Klee’s ball. “What is wrong with you, bullying a little girl like that?”

“What? That filthy demi-human? My dad said they’re no better than the monsters outside, I mean look at her ears! That’s not normal!” the boy said, pointing at Klee’s ears. The small girl cupped both her pointed ears, hiding them. “What is she your slave or something? You shouldn’t be treating those things like people.”

Klee shrunk in her spot hearing the boy’s words. Lucy on the other hand only got more furious. “Who are you to decide how I treat people!” she growled. “And she is a person, regardless of any extra traits she may have.”

The boy in the middle let out a tch as he rolled his eyes. “Whatever, this is getting boring anyways, we’re leaving,” he said as he and the other boys turned around to leave.

“Hey! Come back here with her ball!” Lucy yelled at them.

Instead of giving it back the boy threw it into a random direction as he and the others sprinted off.

Lucy quickly went to grab the ball, it had bounced off a wall and landed in the middle of the street. As Lucy returned to Klee she saw the red bomber girl still covering her ears, her head facing down as she let out small sniffles.

“Hey Klee. Are you alright?” she asked, placing a hand on Klee’s cheek.

“I-I’m fine!” Klee tried to insist. “I’m not crying, big girls don’t cry,” she said weakly.

Lucy’s face dropped into a frown, seeing that Klee was not doing well. “Those boys didn’t hurt you, did they?” she asked, getting a small shake from Klee. “Is there anything I can do for you?”

Klee finally whipped her face of the tears fighting to flow free. “I-I…” Klee sniffled. Finally the dam broke. Her tears flowed freely. “I want to go home!” she cried, going to Lucy’s and hugging her.

All the Celestial Mage could do was offer Klee someone to cry on at the moment. They could meet up with the others later.

There was silence among the seven other Apprentice Heroes. Each thinking one of two thoughts.

“I suppose her reaction isn’t out of the norm for someone her age after being taken from their home,” Roy rationalized. “Still, that kind of racism is being taught to people at such a young age. It seems these demi-humans might have a hard time in this country. Shaun, have a reason?”

Shaun was deep in thought before snapping himself out of it, “Oh sorry, I was plotting the hiding of bodies, but that can wait,” he said casually mentioning his plan to track down and silence these brats. “Yes, Melromarc is a human supremacist country, which means Beastmen and Demi-humans are seen as the same tier if only a little higher than monsters. Which allows them to be sold as slaves in this country, and the vise can be said for countries like Siltvelt, a Demi-human supremacist country.”

“That’s really depressing and wrong, how could people do that” Ruby muttered, a sad look in her eyes.

Shaun nodded, “It is, especially for some people. That being said, it’s hardly something we can stop, not immediately anyways. An extreme example would be trying to make music illegal, it might work, but there will be those who hate the idea.” he said, his eyes drifting to Koneko, who definitely saw him, in response she quickly looked away.

Roy let out a small hum, having experienced war before. “It seems so…” he trailed off. “Well let’s see, Saber, want to share your story?”

The knight let out a small hum, raising her helmet one more time to finish off her drink. “Hey! Can I get another one here?!” she yelled over to get someone's attention, as a barmaid came soon grabbing her mug as they went to get Mordred another drink. “Alright, I think I’m buzzed enough to tell my story,” Mordred said, concerning the group a little, “Let’s see. It was just after we started out of the wall.”

(Sword Hero)

“So!” Mordred tapped her sword on her shoulder, “you’re supposed to be the sword hero? Have you ever used a real sword before?” she inquired, being a real knight and adrenaline junkie she  was, she wanted to test to see if the Sword Hero could even pose a possible challenge to a Heroic Spirit like her.

“I have in the VRMMO I played, the concept is the same,” he said, Mordred cocked her head to the side, showing some confusion. “I have used one in an online simulation.”

Now that was something Mordred knew. “So you’ve never used a real sword then, just say so,” Mordred shot at him. “Despite being a knight, I worked for a super advanced place before, I know what video games are.”

Rolling his eyes, Ren looked at Mordred, “So what, I don’t think you’ve ever used one either, right? You don’t have to keep up the whole knight roleplay while we’re here. This is a game anyways, just like from my world. Don’t think your cocky attitude will win you over with me, I don’t need people dragging me behind,” he told her as he began walking away. Mordred stared at the boy, looking at him like he was stupid. 

Taking her sword, she threw it before it returned into her hand.

A notification appeared in front of each one of the party member’s screens.

[+13 EXP]

[+17 EXP]

[+15 EXP]

Ren looked at the notifications in shock, then up at Mordred who held her sword in front of her, planted in the ground.

“Oh, I forgot to mention! I was one of the elite knights who served right by my king,” Mordred told Ren as she walked past him, her shoulder bumping into Ren, making him stumble a few steps to the side. “And this being a game world? You really are more stupid than I thought,” she muttered, annoying Ren. “Come on, we didn't go all day. I’ll see what this game of yours taught you then see what I can fix.”

Ren stood there stunned for a moment, but soon shot Mordred a glare, though it wasn’t seen by the knight, and if it was, she did not even bother to respond to him.

Seeing the Hero’s annoyance, the green haired girl dressed like a monk tapped on Ren’s shoulder. “Um, Sir Sword Hero, it’d be a good idea to follow Sir Saber, if he really is a knight then he’d be a real good help learning how to become stronger.”

Ren thought about it for a moment, while Mordred seemed brash, cocky, and he could tell she’ would annoy him, but he could not deny that if Mordred helped him with his sword, then he’d be willing to put up with the Saber for now.

He grumbled a “Fine, as he went along after the Servant, following Mordred.

Ren did not understand what he had signed up for when he did. It hadn’t been more than an hour and yet he was getting sick of Mordred. The constant shouting was giving him a headache.

“A green knight has more elegance with the sword than you do in their little thumbs!” Mordred yelled as Ren had killed another batch of balloons.

Ren sent daggers to the masked face of Mordred, though that quickly died when he felt a shiver of fear run down his spine, not knowing it came from Mordred’s gaze.

“You said you’d help me but you’ve done nothing but yell at me,” Ren spoke, keeping his composure. “Were you even telling the truth? I bet you weren’t even that good of a knight.”

Mordred stopped breathing for a moment. The stupid comment had to settle in. Once she got herself together she took a few steps back before walking over to the trail that stood tall above the long grass.

Putting her hands into a rectangle like she was looking through a camera, Mordred stood there thinking, tapping her foot as she got a mental image ready.

“Alright,” Mordred said.

“What is he even doing?” the green haired adventurer questioned.

Without another word, Mordred jumped into the long grass, cutting the grass with each swing. The balloons hidden in the grass didn’t stand a chance as Mordred kept swinging. Anything she hit immediately got cut in half or died.

To the others eyes each wondered what the knight was doing, having made what looked like so many unneeded strikes. Ren had a smug smile as Mordred seemed to be making a fool out of herself.

“Die!” Mordred yelled, throwing her sword one more time, popping a balloon. Leveling up again during her lawn mowing session.

[+12 EXP]

Level Up!  

Congrats On Reaching Level 6

Mordred smirked under her helmet, making her way back to the others. “Am I awesome or what?”

Ren also had a smile, not wanting to waste any time kicking Mordred off her high horse. “But weren’t you the one who kept yelling about not taking unneeded swings? Then what was all that?”

Mordred looked a little confused, tilting her head. “All my moves were done with purpose though.”

“Oh really?” Ren smugly smiled.

“Hey, is that a menu in the grass?!” a voice caught all their attention. All eyes went to Ibuki who was with the rest of Naofumi’s party. Her, Koneko, and Naofumi all looked out, seeing in the grass a bunch of words written in their native language. It was the entire Chaldea cafeteria menu. On the top was “Today on Emiya’s Kitchen.”

“Oh… all this looks so good!” Ibuki drooled. “Man! Ibuki’s hungry now!” the Ultimate student complained.

With a look of disbelief Ren stormed over to where they were, and to his surprise there was an entire menu of food to choose from in front of them.

“H-h-how?!” Ren cried out. “Hacks! I call hacks!”

Mordred grinned under her helmet, so wishing he could see her face, “It isn’t called hacks,” she cackled. Man, maybe this was something that would win father’s approval? Not picking violence but the petty option instead. No, that sounded almost like her mother. It still worked, and that was all that mattered to Mordred, “As my Master once told me, it’s called getting good.”

That only made Ren more infuriated. Mordred went to talk with the other Apprentice Heroes for a while, talking about food. "Whatever, your party trick won't do us any good in real combat," he glared at her.

“HOLD IT!” Abigail shot up from her seat. “You’re saying, the reason why the others left us with that bitch was because you went to get food?!” she yelled.

Ibuki looked away, letting out a shy laugh. Koneko didn’t have any regrets, she just shrugged and went back to eating.

“Oh… that’s just mean,” Shaun looked down, “You guys didn’t even get us anything.”

“I-in our defense, we had to sneak back fast so we didn’t spend much time looking for snacks. We got the potions at least,” Ibuki said, scratching the back of her head, a little embarrassed.

“You snooze you loose,” Koneko bit into her food, she saw how the two deflated, letting out a sigh, “But we can get you some next time,” Koneko told them, which made Shaun and Abigail come back to normal.

“Anyways, let’s see where did I leave off?”

“Wait!” Ibuki shot up, “I have a question.”

Mordred sighed, looking at Ibuki with a glare, “What?”

“Are you a guy or girl?” the Super Highschool Level Light Music Club Member asked. “Because I’m not really sure.”

“Mioda, isn’t it obvious?” Mustang raised his eyebrow, getting a nod from the others.

“Saber’s a boy/girl,” the answer was split, everyone but Shaun, Abigail, and Mordred herself said at the same time.

Shaun and Abigail immediately let out a wheezy laugh, bursting into laughter.

“What do you mean guy?! Saber is obviously a girl!” Ruby extended her hand, gesturing to Mordred.

“What do you mean? Saber acts like a guy, has the body of a guy, and sure his voice is a little high but still!” Lucy stated her counterargument.

“Hmm… Shaun, Abigail, the answer? Tell us,” Roy turned to the two gunners, who tried containing themselves.

“Sorry, can’t say anything yet, it’s too funny seeing you guys confused,” Shaun simply said, not giving anything away, much to the others annoyance.

"It is really funny," Abigail nodded along.

“Alright, are we done talking about my gender?” Mordred asked, getting a nod, “Good, now… I think it’d be good if I skipped ahead a bit when we were having lunch.”

“With Ren?” Shaun asked, a little curious. Once he got a nod, he chuckled. “I hope you scared him.”

“Fuck yeah I did,” Mordred grinned.

“Language!” Lucy and Ruby yelled at the same time, both reaching over to cover Klee's ears.

“What does fuck mean?” Klee asked, to everyone's horror.

“It’s a magical word that means-GAH!” Shaun didn’t get to finish as Koneko punched him in the gut, his body falling to the table.

Koneko let out an annoyed sigh, “Idiot,” she muttered.

“Alright, then let me continue,” Mordred began.

“Sloppy!” Mordred yelled, she and Ren had been fighting for god knows how long to the dark boy.

“Rah!” Ren yelled, running again at Mordred who deflected his attack. “Stop moving damn it!”

Mordred was getting irritated by Ren’s actions. He kept on using the same types of attacks, his stance was continually bad even his swings were that of a novice swordsman at best.

Swiping her foot, she made him fall on his butt.

Again.

For at least the twentieth time.

Maybe.

Honestly, she had stopped finding this funny after the eighth time. After that she was just feeling pity for the poor Sword Hero. Ren was also feeling similar discomfort. Annoyance and a massive headache, though that may have been due to his head hitting the ground one time to many.

“Um… Sir Saber,” the green haired adventurer budded in. Grabbing her attention. “Don’t you think you’re being a bit too rough with Sir Ren?”

Mordred raised an eyebrow under the helmet, “What do you mean? I haven’t even gotten serious with him,” Why was it so hard to find a whipping boy who would take a proper beating?!

“That wasn’t serious?!” Ren said in terror.

“No!” Mordred shook her head, “Hell, if I could use Clarent and had my normal armor I’d be so much stronger!” Mordred groaned, “Now I only do this!” Extending her hand, she summoned Clarent.

The sword immediately started to spark in her hand while Mordred embedded it into the ground, the sword drawing the attention of the party.

“How did you…” Ren tried to ask, but his attention was drawn to the sword. “Is it okay if I see it upclose?” he immediately asked. Mordred not seeing any harm gave him a go ahead with a shrug.

Touching the sword, Ren wanted to see if he could copy the  weapon.

[Unknown Weapon Detected]

[Searching]

[Searching]

[Searching]

[Weapon Match Found]

[Weapon: Clarent Rarity: Mythic Weapon Type: Noble Phantasm Owner: M%£dred]

[Error: Has Occurred]

[Unable To Copy Weapon, Release Noble Phantasm Before Punishment Is Administered]

Ren, not wanting to see what would happen, let go. Upset because he could not copy the weapon. It was a rare one too. His game may have not emphasized rarity, he knew for a fact things with a mythic rarity were supposed to be strong weapons. But he noticed something else.

The name of the owner didn’t seem to match up with Saber’s name, the number of letters as well as from what was visible.

Something did not rub Ren the right way about Mordred.

“How did you get this?” he asked, “And how did you do that?”

Mordred shrugged, “It was an old family heirloom,” Mordred said, a lie straight from her mouth. She didn’t need to tell him the truth. “Anyways let’s get back to work, we still need to level you up. Let’s go.”

Ren stood there, tightening his grip on his sword.

Something about the Apprentice Knight Hero was suspicious to him. He wasn’t too keen on trusting them. He followed behind only to be with the admittedly stronger fighter.

“He did what?!” Shaun stood up from his seat. “You let him touch your Noble Phantasm?!”

“Her Noble what?” Ruby questioned, not knowing what he was referring to.

Pinching the bridge of his nose, remembering not everyone knew what he was talking about, “Long story short, VERY powerful weapon! I mean super duper! Anyways, you let him copy it?!”

“What do you mean copy my Noble Phantasm?” Mordred asked, starting to get up.

Shaun hit his head, annoyed at himself. “Of course, how could I forget about the weapon copying system!” he groaned, ruffling his head. “Basically we can copy weapons of the same kind if we hold them, since he is the hero of the sword who held your sword…”

Mordred shot up from her seat. “Does that bastard think he can just copy my weapon?!” the knight asked in a bit of anger. “Shaun, you’re coming with me!” she growled as she stormed off. “The sheer nerve! He is not even related to the king!”

The knight left them, dragging the male gunner behind her. “Gah! Saber! No! My food!” He struggled to fight back, trying to wiggle free from Mordred’s grip but only failed.

The seven Apprentice Heroes watched as Shaun and Mordred made their way to Ren.

“So… is it our turn?” Koneko questioned, raising an eyebrow.

All eyes turned to Abigail, each person wondering if it was okay not to worry for Mordred. “Mo-I mean Saber will be fine, kicking some asses and making sure Ren doesn’t do anything stupid.”

“So our turn?” Koneko asked again, getting a nod from Shaun, Koneko nodded. “Alright.”

“Oh, let Ibuki start!” The rocker raised her hand. “I think we should begin when we went to Erhard’s shop, the guy placed his swords in front of Naofumi, not knowing about the apparent penalty when holding them.”

“Oh God! Saber, no!” a distant cry came from Shaun, but it was ignored as the story began.

“AHHH!” somewhere the sound of Ren crying out in panic could be heard but was ignored.

(Shield Hero)

The group of heroes and one princess in hiding had gone to Erhard’s shop, in the search for new weapons and armor. Their time there was quite pleasant as they looked around and introduced themselves to the shop owner.

Erhard himself was quite happy to have not just the Shield Hero doing business with him but also with the newly heard of Apprentice Heroes, rumors about them had spread all across the town by the morning they set out.

As for now Naofumi was looking for swords while the others were browsing, but as he had them in front of him, Shaun turned with his eyes wide in horror, having realized he forgot something.

“Wait- Naofumi don’t!” Shaun called out, but it was too late as the shield hero picked up a sword.

“Wha?!” Naofumi looked in confusion as the sword in his hand flew out after blue electricity. Came out of nowhere.

Naofumi looked confused, instead of asking Shaun what he was going to say, he went to pick up another sword. He however didn’t make it to the sword as Koneko punched him in the gut.

The Shield Hero swore that her punch did enough damage to actually bring his hit points down a little even with his already high defense.

“Dumbass,” Koneko sent a small glare to Naofumi.

“Sir Shield Hero!” Myne knelt down checking to see if he was okay. “What was that for you little brute?!”

Koneko’s eyebrow let a little twitch pass. “He was going to do something stupid so I stopped him,” Koneko told her. “Dumbass here doesn’t know that we aren’t allowed to use weapons outside our class, apparently there is a penalty if we do, and that was it,” she explained, getting a small “Oh” from Naofumi and Erhard, both of whom were intrigued by the new bit of information.

“Shaun, was that what you were going to say?” Naofumi asked, getting a nod from the American. “Oh, sorry.”

Shaun shook his head, but Abigail spoke, “No, it’s ours. We didn’t check with you beforehand about the information you have on the world. So the fault for making sure you don’t do anything dumb is on us.”

Getting up, holding his stomach tight, Naofumi looked to the others, “Alright. Well, before we set out how to exchange information we have on this world, it’d be good if we had as much information as possible.

“Sure, Ibuki agrees with that, but before we do that, let’s get some armor. I don’t know about everyone, but I don’t want to end up bleeding everywhere because I was underprepared for what is out there.”

“A cautious girl,” Erhard spoke, giving Ibuki a hard slap on the back. “If it wasn’t for the hair I’d say you had a strong head on ya!” he laughed as he went looking for good beginner armor.

“Hey! Ibuki’s hair is just fine!” the rocker yelled, glaring at the shop owner. “And at least all my hair didn’t migrate to my face!!”

Erhard stopped what he was doing, taking a moment to stare at Ibuki.

Ibuki stared back at him.

The room was tense as the two glared at one another.

“Heh,” finally a sound came from Erhard. “Hahahaha!” he began laughing. “I like ya kid, even with your weird hair! Alright, give me a minute.”

“If he charges us extra it’s on you,” Abigail glared at Ibuki, who shrugged.

Placing different sets of armor on the counter, Erhard smirked. “So, if you each can’t use any other type of weapons, I picked out what seemed to suit you the most in both appearance as well as functionality,” he told them, “And before you ask, don’t worry, I value the functionality over cosmetic look, but I know how to make it work.” He handed each of them the folded up armor, and pointed them each to the changing room.

Once they stepped out, each had simple leather armor covering their vitals as well as matching light red colored clothes under it, they had been given a set of boots as well to replace their normal shoes, lastly a neat trinket Erhard threw in for them was a holster for each of them. While they couldn’t put their guns in with their bayonets on them, it still helped free up hand space.

Next was Ibuki. Erhard had also given her a new shirt that was also blue, though a lot darker, almost a navy blue. She wore a breastplate over her new shirt, and over that was a heavy new coat, that was something that caught her by surprise when she first got the clothes and armor and like the pair before her a new set of boots. The man apologized, saying that it seemed she’d need the extra protection and also gave her directions to someone who could make some better clothes.

Koneko was next. Since she was so small Erhard didn’t have much on hand her size. So he gave her brown and red clothes that dangled just above her knees, along with that she got the same pair of boots, all though a good few sizes smaller. He also threw in a fresh pair of gloves with sharp knuckles on top of them. The small girl smiled at that thought and held them, to her surprise she was given the option to copy them, agreeing to it she received an exact copy of the gloves she was gifted. The man also told her to come by if she wanted anything custom made for her that’d fit her size.

Lastly was Naofumi, instead of leather like the rest of his part it was chainmail, a fair bit more expensive but it is what it is. Along with that Erhard threw in the additional clothes and boots, having them all ready for their adventure.

“Alright, I think that’s all!” Ibuki cheered, “So how much do we owe ya?”

“Well normally it’d be close to 350 silver,” Erhard thought about it, making everyone look at him hoping for him to add a “but” to that sentence, and to their luck he did, “but, since you’re heroes, and most of you are still kids,” all eyes went to an annoyed Koneko, “and I like you guys the lowest I’m willing to do is 260, what do you say?”

“Cool, I think that works out pretty good for us,” Naofumi nodded, taking the pouch out and paying the man.

“Great doing business with you heroes! I wish you the best of luck during the waves!” Erhard said his goodbyes.

“Bye Bossman!” Shaun gave him a two finger salute as he exited.

“Bye! If you see a small girl with pointy ears, a silver eyed girl with a scythe, a man in blue, a blonde with a chain and collar, or a guy in a suit of armor who seems like they’ll tear your guts out if you talk to much smack tell them we said hi!” Abigail waved back to the man as she left walking backwards.

“You know, now that I think about it, didn’t Motoyasu pick up a few spears in Erhard’s shop?” Ruby raised an eyebrow, only for her eyes to go wide as a thought shot through her mind, “Wait! Does that make us criminals? Did we steal?!”

Abigail sighed, only shrugging. “I think, but not criminals? Maybe at least pay a fee or something to copy weapons,” she muttered. “Okay, Ibuki continue!”

“Did we miss anything?” Shaun and Saber came back, taking their seats back.

“Nothing much, now then. Oh! I know the best place to continue!”

“Mioda better win us bragging rights,” Koneko looked at the rocker. "Now tell them about after we came back.

"Oh right..." Ibuki nodded, "There was one serious thing that Shaun brought up to us," she thought back to their conversation.

“On your eight!” Abigail yelled, taking a shot behind Koneko.

The Devil girl jumped up into the air, getting a quick view before falling back down. Her fists had the first impact as she popped two balloons, both red. The exp notification popping up.

[+23 EXP]

[+21 EXP]

“Thanks,” Koneko told the gunner girl who gave her a quick two fingered salute.

In both her hands were the guns she and Shaun used, their gems only a quarter of its full size. As for the other parts of the gem, they were in the bayonets Shaun was using to protect Ibuki as both he and Naofumi were defending Ibuki.

“Hey, Mioda!” Naofumi called over to Ibuki who was rocking out to the sound of a lyre, how it was possible he didn’t know, but what he did know was the skill she was using was drawing too much attention.

“She isn’t listening!” Shaun yelled, stabbing an orange balloon. “Hey! Abigail! I need a gun!” he yelled over to her.

“Yeah, I need a bayonet in exchange!” she yelled back.

Shaun absentmindedly tossed his bayonet to Abigail, as if it wasn't throwing a blade. Similarly to Shaun, Abigail tossed her gun up in the air to Shaun.

As both seemed to not notice their action, they didn’t see the look of pure horror that even caught Ibuki’s attention, as Shaun caught the gun by the handle in his hand while the bayonet fell into its correct spot in Abigail’s, both of them proceeded to shoot the balloons and stab the balloons in front of them.

“Okay first, that was sick as hell,” the rocker said in shock, “Second, did you both throw your weapons at each other then catch them like it was nothing?!” Ibuki yelled in horror.

The two, after killing two a few more balloons finally seemed to realize what they did, both their eyes in shock.

“Oh my God! Are you okay?!” Shaun ran up to Abigail, worried he accidently hurt her.

“You threw the bayonet at me!” Abigail yelled. 

“You threw your gun at me!” Shaun yelled in return. “Wait no… I’m probably in the wrong here still.” 

“Ya think?!” she yelled.

As the two made sure they weren’t injured and yelling at each other, Koneko watched them. She had to admit that when she saw them move in sync, it was quite amazing. Not even her and Kiba could do something that precise when they first started to kill stray devils. Which was odd because from what she could tell the two never had been in combat before.

“Come on, stop fighting. We still got work to do,” Koneko told them, getting them to stop yelling and push them back to the others.

As they went to the others, Myne finally went up to them, a smile on her face. “Well done Heroes! Especially you Sir Shield.”

The three heroes who were doing all the damage looked at Myne, annoyed looks on their faces as she rubbed up against Naofumi’s arm. “U-um… sure,” Naofumi stuttered, “But the others did more than I did,” he looked over to Shaun, Abigail, and Koneko, all of whom were glaring at Myne, ignoring them.

“Oh, you Apprentice Heroes did excellent work too,” Myne told them, also smiling at them, but even Ibuki could tell she was faking it.

“Sure…” Shaun awkwardly responded, “Hey, listen. I was hoping to do some testing with Koneko and Ibuki for a bit, why don’t you… um… why not try bonding with Myne? We’ll meet up in a little.” he told Naofumi.

“Now- Sir. Gun-” Myne tried stopping them only for her to be interrupted.

“Yeah, sure,” Naofumi nodded.

Shaun gave him a thumbs up, “Alright, we’ll be back!” he waved to them as they began to split up, but after a few steps he turned back around. “Um… hey, Naofumi,” he called to him.

“Hmm?”

“Um…” Shaun paused looking at him then Myne. “Be careful, okay?” he told Naofumi.

The Shield Hero smiled, giving Shaun a nod, “Alright, don’t worry, I have Myne with me so I’ll be good!” he replied to Shaun.

Shaun let out a small, disappointed, sigh, “Alright, just be careful.”

“Come on Sir. Shield Hero, let’s go and level you up, show them what a true hero can do,” Myne tried dragging Naofumi along. When she was no longer looking anyone in the eye she let her smile down, an annoyed look forming on her face.

The four Apprentice Heroes all went on a quick walk, killing a few balloons on their way out and picking up a few scraps they dropped.

Once they had gotten far enough Shaun and Abigail let out a large breath.

“God! Being around her is both mentally and apparently physically draining!” Shaun groaned out.

Ibuki nodded, leaning on a tree, “I’m not normally one to talk about someone behind their back, and that is good joke material, but I understand what you mean…” she slumped her shoulders. “Hey, Ibuki was wondering, she’s supposed to be the antagonist of the manga you were reading, right?”

“For the first part, yes,” he nodded. “Her and also the Church, but we might not have to deal with them for now,” he told her, though his eyes landed on Koneko, seeing the look on her face, Shaun went to her, giving her a pat on the shoulder. “No need to worry, it’s not the catholic church,” he told her, making Koneko become a little more at ease. “Also you’re not a little boy named Timmy, so you’ll be fine as well for now.”

“PFFT!” if the girls in the party had water, they all would have done a spit take.

Ibuki and Abigail immediately fell into a laughing fit and Koneko had a small smile at a dis that was directed at the church.

“Dumbass,” Koneko shook her head, though the small smile on her face did show some sign of approval. 

“O-okay!” Ibuki began collecting herself, “So, Ibuki wanted to ask what exactly we need to worry about. Like what will she be doing?”

Shaun nodded, figuring it’d be good for them to know. “She’s going to accuse Naofumi, and I fear possibly me, of raping her,” his tone was filled with worry, scared about the possible situation. “Along with that, she will after the third wave, to us the second wave, try to kill her younger sister, the true heir to the throne, and works with the Church to kill and or sully the Shield Hero’s name,” he told them. “The sister lives and Myne’s crimes get exposed to the kingdom, as for her ultimate fate, it depends on what you read. I hear in one she ends up dying or two her body dies and her soul lives, I’m not sure.”

Interrupting the story, Mordred slammed her fists on the table. “You’re saying the daughter of the king accuses a innocent person of rape for the hell of it?” the knight growled. “Someone who could do that has no right to be an heir of any kind!” Mordred yelled.

“Well actually it’s because the kingdom doesn’t like the Shield,” Shaun said weakly.

“Saber, calm down,” Ruby tugged on Mordred’s arm, though her grip stood no chance when Mordred tugged her way out of it.

“Forget it Ruby,” Abigail told the reaper. “Let’s just say, things related to becoming king and royalty are really personal to Saber.”

“Why? Is Saber a… no way!” Ibuki piecing things together, looking at Saber with wide eyes. “No way! Saber, you're a prince?!”

Mordred seemed to calm down and shook her head, speaking through gritted teeth, “I am the son of my Father, the very best king there is,” Mordred spoke in a reminiscing tone. “If I only had one wish, it'd be to prove myself worthy of being king as well.”

“I guess your ambitions are quite similar to mine,” Mustang chuckled. “Back home I wanted to become Fuhrer of the country, but as you can see I can’t quite do that right now,” he thought. “I hope the others are doing okay.”

“I’m sure they’re fine,” Shaun tried to assure him.

Mustang sat there, looking down for a bit, “You’re probably right,” he thought about it. “We’ve digressed enough though. You’re saying that Myne is the king’s daughter and will be part of a conspiracy to kill the Shield Hero?”

Shaun nodded, “But they can’t do it directly, Siltvelt and Shieldfriend would probably destroy Melromarc if they did it so obviously as something like an execution so the most they’ll do is condemn him as a pariah as well as restrict him from gaining more levels past forty, which is the max till you class up, but that’s not important right now.” 

“But that’s the Shield Hero, what do you plan to do to not be accused?” Ruby asked, worried for the gunner.

There was a brief moment of silence, Shaun not saying anything.

“I am… I’m not sure what to do,” he muttered, not having a plan for what to do. “I was just hoping luck would be on my side on this one.”

There was a sad moment of silence as they all saw the boy who seemed to know who they were and how this world works and did not have an idea. Even Klee, who didn’t know what rape was, also became concerned, being able to tell something bad was going to happen.

“You should have told us about this shit earlier,” Mustang narrowed his eyes, annoyed at the gunner for withholding vital information. “We could have come up with something that would have saved your butt a lot earlier,” he told Shaun, who just looked down in response. “If what you said is true, Naofumi is the only one with something keeping him safe, you don’t.”

“You really are a dumbass,” Koneko told him. “You need an alibi for the time the crime is committed.”

“An alibi?” Ruby raised an eyebrow. “Maybe be with another hero? I know that Itsuki and Motoyasu will be here for sure, Ren was here… but,” the Reaper Hero looked at what remained of a destroyed table at the corner of the bar.

“Motoyasu will be here,” Abigail thought out loud. Suddenly she hit her palm with her fist, “I have an idea,” she announced to the table. “But it requires Saber to be a scapegoat.”

Mordred, who was partially listening, turned her head to Abigail, surprised, “Why the hell do I have to be a scapegoat?!”

Abigail sighed, “Because if you’re accused of rape I have a trump card I can use to help Naofumi!” she explained. “All I need you to do is get on the princess’s bad side.” she exclaimed. “If we can have Shaun with either Motoyasu or Itsuki then you can take the blame. Plus, they might not be able to even execute you.”

“That was your reason?!” Mordred shot up.

“I mean, your Spiritual Body should keep you safe from being caught,” Abigail said to Mordred, who glared at the girl.

Lucy also shot up, stopping Mordred from attempting to reply, an annoyed look on her face, “Wait, so you want to just replace Shaun with someone else? It’s like you’re doing nothing.”

Mustang was deep in thought, thinking over the half baked plan. Why would Mordred be the better person to take the fall? Why not say him or even one of the girls. Then it hit him. None of them besides Shaun and Abigail knew the knight’s true identity or appearance.

Meanwhile, Ibuki seemed to reach the same conclusion as well, her eyes going wide.

“Saber’s really a girl? Isn’t she?” Ibuki spoke out, though not loudly, not wanting to yell the realization.

“You figured it out as well,” Mustang looked at the rocker, a small smile on his face. “I get it now. You want to rely on the fact that to everyone else, Saber has the appearance and personality of a brash short male. The gamble is high, but it’s a good way to show the court that the trial is a lie.”

"Huh?! No way, they're wrong, right?!" Lucy turned to Mordred, Koneko and Ruby as well, all of whom thought that she was a he.

Mordred let out a small sigh, “Really?!” she let out a groan, “Fine, alright. But you owe me big for this, got it you little shits!”

“What’s a little shit? Is it good?” Klee asked, to everyone's horror.

“No!” they all yelled.

“Wait… so does that mean when that weird grown-up calls Kaeya a little shit he is being mean?” she reasoned, putting two and two together, which did get a chuckle out of Shaun and Abigail before everyone sent a death glare to Mordred, who admitted that she stepped out of line there. But that didn’t take away her meaning about them owing her.

“Sorry,” Mordred muttered, “You all still owe me Shaun! Give me your phone, I heard I could absorb weird shi-” everyone glared, “stuff!” she growled out, not liking the glares and having to censor herself. “So I want to see if I can get anything useful after I absorb your phone.”

Shaun nodded, it was the least he could do to start paying off the debate he felt he owed the Servant.

“Wait, there is one thing I don’t get in this plan,” Roy said, crossing his arms. “I get why Mordred is ideal for the little trick of yours, but I don’t understand how Mordred won’t be killed, wouldn’t the number of guards be able to overwhelm them?”

“Tch,” Mordred let out, “I suppose I can give you the long and short of it. Hey, blondie,” Mordred turned to the mage.

“Hey! I have a name,” Lucy scowled.

“Fine, Tits-Miggy, summon one of your spirit things, I need it for an example,” she said, snapping her fingers.

Lucy let out an annoyed sigh, but followed through, pulling out a silver key. Calling out to the constellation of the Canis Minor: Nikora. A small little Celestial Spirit that was more a pet than anything else.

“Oh my God! It’s Plue!” Abigail could not hide her inner fangirl.

“Yeah. Isn’t he cute,” Lucy said, hugging the tiny spirit, though it did not last. Mordred grabbed the creature by its head. “Hey!”

“This,” Mordred began. “Is a Celestial Spirit, look at it in its… shaky glory?” Mordred said, even with her holding it by the head, it was shaking so much she felt her hand vibrate. Placing Plue down, Mordred held up her hand. “Now, what is this?”

The table was silent for a moment, everyone but the two Apprentice Gun Heroes remained silent.

“Your… hand?” Lucy said.

“No, it’s nothing,” Mordred said, grabbing her hand and pulling it up, removing the armor around her hand and it revealed nothing. Only blue particles that began to reassemble to Mordred’s hand and the glove was placed back on. “That was an ability of a Heroic Spirit, a very important person to human history turns into a very powerful familiar afterdeath. That’s what I am in a very simplified nut shell. I won’t go much but something I can do is transform into non-physical entity that can’t be hit or touched or blah, blah, blah,” Mordred said, half reciting the summary of Heroic Spirits Emiya Archer was giving to the pseudo-servants. 

“Wait. So you’re dead?” Ibuki asked.

“No comment.”

“How important were you?” Ruby questioned, her eyes filled with wonder at the idea of something called a “Heroic Spirit.”

“No comment.” Mordred growled.

“Can I get an autograph?” Shaun and Abigail said at the same time and chuckled.

“Test me one more time! I dare you!” Mordred shouted, getting a laugh from the Apprentice Heroes around them.

“Hey, Naofumi. Me and the other Apprentice Heroes need four silver coins for rooms for us all, there being nine of us and all and I figured you can share a room with Saber, while I bunk with the Colonel.”

“Oh, um, sure,” Naofumi agreed, handing him a few coins.

“What the fuck is that?” Mordred swore, looking at Myne’s attire.

“My word, Sir Knight Hero, what do you mean?” Myne asked in genuine confusion at the abrupt words.

“Your armor,” Mordred specified, “Where did you get this?”

“At Erhard’s why-” Naofumi was cut off by Saber hitting him upside the head.

“You either got ripped off, or you are an idiot who can’t tell fiction from fantasy. This kind of armor is garbage.

“Why Sir-”

“Nope,” Mordred shot her down, “This is armor for hunting wild game, and that’s stretching the term, it isn’t suited for high stakes battles at all,” Mordred got closer to Myne’s face only to be pulled back by Shaun. 

“Sorry about Saber,” he quickly apologized, taking the coins to his pocket and pushed Mordred along, “How about I go get you your keys?”

“Sure,” Naofumi nodded, “Honestly I was getting pretty tired,” Naofumi yawned, stretching his body as well in the process.

“Alright cool,” Shaun nodded.

The trio got the keys to each of the rooms with two beds. Klee and Koneko shared a bed in the same room with Lucy and Ruby who also shared a bed, in another room  Abigail and Ibuki shared a room, and to their surprise also shared it with Roy and Shaun who bunked in the same bed. Lastly it was Saber and Naofumi who were left in a room with only one bed.

Shaun and Roy Mustang didn’t however go straight to bed, instead after handing everyone their keys he went outside, talking to both Itsuki and Motoyasu. Their plan is in full motion.

Sadly no one won bragging rights as the slapped together plan to save Naofumi from Myne took more precedence over that. A much more concerning situation having been plotted out.

“Come on Shaun! Colonel guy!” Motoyasu called out, and to Shaun’s surprise he wasn’t in Naofumi’s stolen armor.  With a dumb smile as they were in his room, playing cards. “You have to admit that the other Apprentices are total babes.”

Shaun and Mustang both debated if the plan was worth it.  Having to deal with Motoyasu was a form of torture on its own.

“First, call me Roy or just Mustang, second I’m 11 years older then the two legal adults us Apprentice Heroes, I have no comment, ask Shaun.”

Motoyasu’s gaze went to the American, expecting an answer, “I-I won’t deny that they are attractive,” Shaun blush madly, clenching his eyes shut, “but don’t you think it’s at least a little rude to be saying that.”

“Oh come on! This is bro talk! You Americans are so stiff!” The spear wielder slapped Shaun on the back. 

“Hey!” Shaun shot up, glaring at Motoyasu. “First, blame puritans! Second, don't say Americans are stiff when you have someone in the same room from a German like country who was in the military!” Shaun pointed to Roy.

“What is a German?” Mustang raised an eyebrow. “And how is Amestris like this German…? What was it called?”

“Germany,” Both Shaun and Motoyasu said at the same time. Only Shaun continued.

“They have a Fuhrer for a leader! And I’m willing to bet they write in German! You know what?! Where’s a pen and paper?!” he yelled looking around.

His voice was almost so loud that they almost missed the panic banging on the door.

“Sir Motoyasu! Please!” a woman's voice cried out in terror. “Open up! Sir Motoyasu!”

All eyes went to the door. Motoyasu, being the one who was called, went to it, and opened the door.

“Hey, what’s going on?” Shaun called out.

The woman who was banging on their door, Myne, was in tears, her clothes missing in exchange for a bed sheet, and her hair a mess. “S-sir Heroes…” Myne said in an almost surprised voice, but it was quickly and subtly changed to a more scared whimper, seeing the two extra heroes.

“Myne? What are you doing here? Where are your clothes?” Motoyasu asked, a blush on his face as he looked at her.

“I-it’s terrible, the S-shield Hero and Knight, they tried to raped me!” her wet eyes turned into full on tears, falling to her knees.

“Myne!” Motoyasu caught her. “It’ll be okay, we are here for you, one of you, go alert the guards,” he instructed them, if Shaun didn’t know any better he’d be impressed.

“No, sir heroes!” Myne told them, which was an odd move, “Please wait till morning, there will be more knights to apprehend them!”

“Are you sure about that?” Roy raised an eyebrow, putting on the best act he could. 

Myne nodded her head, telling them it’d be for the best. Motoyasu managed to move them to the bed, letting her rest. Myne asked for Shaun and Roy to leave, and to wait outside. The two gladly moved outside to guard the door.

As they let the door close, Shaun got out his gun, changing it to a much more modern pistol with a number pad on it. Punching in a few numbers he let it ring till he got a response.

“Was the plan successful?” Mordred’s voice was on the other side.

“Yep, she didn’t accuse us at all, we’re safe. The plan is working so far,” Shaun nodded into the gun phone combo. “I owe you so much.”

“Damn right you do! You know how hard it is to let a bitch steal money and not say anything? Now shut up and hang up, we can’t have you two as suspects!”

Shaun let out a small grunt and nod in confirmation. He didn't regret passing his phone around to everyone allowing for a variety of new weapons to be unlocked. The line cut as Mordred hung up, both annoyed but glad their plan was working.

Now all they had to do now was wait.

Chapter Text

Chapter 3:

A/N: Hey guys! This is the updated authors notes, the original is down bellow. Anyways, sorry for not u[dating sooner. I had this chapter ready to go when I uploaded the last chapter but honestly I kind of forgot. College is keeping me busy, what can I say. Anyhow! We are back with another, now back to our regularly scheduled fanfiction.

A/N: If the title doesn’t give it away, I don’t know what will!

Edit: Alright so I rewrote this chapter, most of the beginning is the same with an alteration with the trail forward. Hope you all enjoy!

Mordred had a fine list of do’s and don'ts when handling her. A real easy list!

Dealing with Mordred is easy, all you had to know was what not to do. Like don't insult King Arthur. Don't praise King Arthur. Don't treat Mordred as a woman. Don't be too obvious about treating Mordred as a man. Don't be too formal. Don't be infatuated with other Servants. Listen to what Mordred says. And somewhere between those lines, there is “Don’t wake up Mordred unless you have a death wish or have very urgent shit that requires her attention, if not bugger off and drop dead.”

So whoever was taking Mordred from the bliss of sleep better start talking.

“Saber! Wake up!” she began to open up her eyes as she began to get used to her surroundings. “I’ve got robbed! All my money and gear got stolen!” he yelled at the Servant. “Quick! We got to tell Myne and the others! Did you hear what happened?! See anything?!”

As Naofumi ran for the door, Mordred let out an annoyed sigh, slowly getting up and stretching. Her mind was still processing what was going on. She felt a little hung over from last night, but that wasn’t that odd, so once she was able to make a few somewhat coherent thoughts, she remembered what was going on.

“Ugh… today’s going to be a long one,” she groaned, her armored hand rubbing above where her nose would have been. “No Naofumi, I did not,” she said. Mordred finally got up, popping a few joints and stretching, she finally got up, following Naofumi.

“Myne! We got robbed! Myne! Shaun?! Abigail? Ibuki, Koneko?!” he called out to his party, yet no one answered.

Mordred, not wanting to deal with Naofumi’s constant yelling, sighed, pushing him to the side so she didn’t have to keep hearing him speak. She raised her leg up to the door, quickly checked if she wouldn’t fall over. Then she kicked.

“Myne!” Mordred yelled into the room. 

Taking a moment to realize what had just happened, the Shield Hero turned to Mordred, “What hell was that?!” he shouted, looking at the door only for when Naofumi actually looked, she wasn’t there. “Where is she? Oh no! Did someone kidnap her after they stole my stuff?!” Naofumi yelled, putting his hands on his head.

“There they are!” a gruff voice yelled as the sound of armored men ran up to them. “You are the Shield Hero and the Apprentice Knight Hero, yes?” the man asked them, an irritated look on his face.

“You’re knights?!” Naofumi sounded overjoyed, not realizing the look on their faces or the tone in the man’s voice. “Yes! Please help us, all my stuff was stolen and I think someone kidnapped my party memb-”

“Silence!” the man yelled, his face red with anger, gritting his teeth. “You both are under arrest for the crime of sexual assault! Come with us silently or else!” the man yelled loud enough to draw in the attention of other patrons of the inn as they exited their rooms.

“W-what? What do you mean?! My stuff was stolen and-” before Naofumi could go one and try to explain their situation, Mordred put a hand over his mouth and gave the knight a small nod.

“Good, now come with us!” he yelled, having his subordinates get behind them, pushing them forwards.

As they were moved, Mordred let go of Naofumi who had an irritated look on his face.

“Saber, what was that for?!” Naofumi glared at her, “Why didn’t you let me explain!”

Mordred under her helmet rolled her eyes as she looked over to Naofumi, matching his glare, which while unseen still managed to somehow affect Naofumi. In a hushed tone, “Nothing you’re going to say right now will be of much help idiot. If you notice their faces when you talk like you’re a victim, they believe that we did whatever they think we did, nothing will change their view. Don’t worry, I’ll make sure neither of us will get in trouble.”

Naofumi looked at Mordred for a moment, only to let out a mix of a sad, frustrated, and scared groan. “Alright…” he said in a low tone, not sure what was going to happen.

After being carted off all the way to the castle, Mordred and Naofumi entered the throne room, as they were reaching the center of the room, a knight stood behind them, hitting them both hard on the back of the leg to make them go down.

“Down you scum!” the one who knocked Naofumi down growled, as for the one who did it to Mordred didn’t get to say anything as when he hit Mordred’s leg the knight turned to him and while he didn’t see Mordred’s face, he knew he was about to piss his pants.

In front of them was the king on his throne and the other heroes on his right.

Naofumi looked over, seeing them all, “Y-yo King! What’s going on? What’s happening?!”

“Silence you scum!” the king growled at each of them. “Acting like you have no idea what you did!”

“No we don’t,” Mordred, still standing tall, looked at the king, and then the other heroes, while she was looking around she also noticed someone who didn’t belong, “Hey, you,” Mordred pointed at Myne, “What are you doing here? Why are you the only non-hero here besides the king and knights?”

“Gyah!” Myne screeched, “Keep him and the Shield Hero away from me!” she cried, hiding behind Motoyasu. The Spear hero shielded Myne by being between her and the two heroes on the ground floor. Beside him the other heroes were muttering something unable to be heard by the king or heroes.

Naofumi, seeing the reaction Myne gave them, called out to her, “W-what? Myne? What’s going on?! Where were you guys?!”

In a greater rage, “I said silence!” the king yelled. Slamming his fist onto the arm of his throne. Standing behind Lucy, Klee flinched at the king's sudden booming voice. “How dare you act like you don’t know what you’re talking about!” if looks could kill Naofumi would have been dead ten times over while Mordred would have been scratched.

“No, we don’t,” Mordred said in a broad tone, looking over to the other Apprentice Heroes, “Yo, mind filling us in? Because I honestly am not following without anyone saying anything.”

Not missing a beat, Koneko stepped up, “Word is around town that you and Naofumi raped Myne,” she said it loud and clearly so both could hear her.

“Koneko, step back from those criminals,” Motoyasu extended his arm, pushing Koneko back, though it was more of her moving back on her own then him actually pushing her.

“Yes,” Aultcray nodded his head, “It is as Lady Toujou says, you both are accused of the crime of the most unforgivable sin in this country!” in pure frustration he raised his hand again and slammed it onto the chair. “Myne, dear. Would you please tell us all the events that unfolded last night?”

With a wobbly nod, Myne came out, “Y-yes, a-after S-sir Saber and Sir Shield Hero checked into their room, I went to them, to make sure they would be okay since they had been drinking. B-but when I entered… The Knight Hero… H-He he pinned me down as the Shield Hero stripped me! I was lucky to be able to escape and find S-sir Shaun, Mustang, and Motoyasu in the same room to keep me safe!”

After finishing her testimony, Myne broke down into tears, crocodile tears, but enough to convince most of the court.

“Getting ahead of yourselves, thinking being Heroes grants you total immunity, so deplorable,” Itsuki shook his head.

Letting out a disappointed sigh, “And to think that Saber bragged about being an elite knight, must have done a lot of shady things to rise through the ranks,” he spoke.

“Imagine the corrupt kind of kingdom that’d allow someone like that to rise to power, his king must God awful at his job,” Motoyasu added on.

Now, Mordred was a nice girl, that’s what she liked to believe, but she had a few rules when handling her so much easier. Don't insult King Arthur. Don't praise King Arthur. Don't treat Mordred as a woman. Don't be too obvious about treating Mordred as a man. Don't be too formal. Don't be infatuated with other Servants. Listen to what Mordred says. See? Simple, right?

Well a certain blond fuck boy decided to break one of these rules, which meant you could blame Mordred if she broke something of his. 

Every bone in his body.

And you see, when someone breaks one of these rules, specifically about insulting King Arthur. Her sire, in more ways than one. Seeing red, Mordred let go of her plain steel sword in her hands as she opted for Clarinet, despite it not being allowed by her armor.

Red messages flashing across her vision as she kept running, red and blue electricity extending from her armor and wrapping itself around her body. The other heroes looked shocked as they saw Mordred holding the red sword.

“Take that back about father!” Mordred yelled as she ran at great speed at Motoyasu.

With little time to react, Motoyasu fumbled with his spear, trying to get ready.

Roy, Koneko, and Lucy, being the most experienced at dealing with intelligent enemies, got ready.

“Open Gate of the Lion: Leo!” Lucy called out, the sound of a doorbell echoed throughout the throne room.

“Sup Lucy,” Loke smirked, only for it to fall as he saw the Heroic Spirit in front of him.

Koneko got in front of Motoyasu in a fighting position, holding up both her fists while Roy clapped his hands together and knelt to the ground. Electricity sparked and before the Heroic Spirit could react the ground moved and Mordred’s feet sank into the ground.

“Saber,” Mustang called out to the knight, struggling to get out of the ground.

“Let me go! He insulted father, he needs to pay!” Mordred growled, stabbing her sword into the ground, though that had little effect as Mordred’s sword also got swallowed by the ground.

“Look at him, throwing a temper tantrum,” Ren looked down at Saber, there was almost some pity in his voice.

“Wait, did he call his king father? It makes sense why he thinks he can get away with something like this,” Itsuki muttered. Not paying the sound of an even more angry Mordred struggling to break free. “Probably the son of a corrupted tyrant.”

“All of you, shut it!” Abigail and Shaun yelled at the same time, slapping both Itsuki and Ren’ on the back of the head as well as both hitting Motoyasu at the same time. “Can’t you see it’s only making Mordred more angry?! Derailing this trial and making things seem more trouble than it is!” they both spoke at the same time, both having mirroring faces of annoyance.

Seeing the knight struggle to get out, needing some form of satisfaction from the three idiots, Koneko decided to turn around and gave each of the three heroes a little “tap” to make sure they stayed quiet for a little.

“Kya!”

“Gah!”

“Wait- wait- GAH!”

“This trial is stupid, let’s just keep going,” Koneko said, standing down. “Satisfactory for you?” she asked Mordred. 

The knight looked at the downed Heroes, and let out a small snarl before disappointing her sword, Clarent, and the blue electricity disappeared. “Fine, but if they speak another word about father, I’ll skewer them. I will throw my sword, Sword Idiot knows how far,” Mordred spoke last part in a low growl and for the first time in all the trial did Ren seem to flinch or show a bead of sweat.

“Noted,” Mustang nodded, “Your highness, continue,” he gestured to Aultcray who looked amazed at how Koneko managed to subdue three of the four Legendary Heroes while Mustang somehow managed to stop the Berserk Hero.

“Eh-hem,” the king coughed into his hand. “Y-yes,” he regained his composure, “For your actions I should have both of your heads!” he threatened, making Naofumi subconsciously put his hand by his throat, a little scared. “But as one of you is a Cardinal Hero I can’t do something so drastic in the face of the waves,” then he turned to Mordred, “but as for you, Sir Saber, no what was it the Gun Heroes called you? Mordred? For not only lying to us about your identity, raping the Shield Hero’s companion, and for making a mockery of this court! I sentence you to death!”

“What?!” was the collective consensus of the entire room who heard the man, even the other three heroes were caught off guard by that.

“Yes, Guards, take him and get the guillotine re-”

“WAIT!” jumping down, both Shaun and Abigail landed next to each other, standing in a manner as if they were blocking Mordred from something, both shaking a little in their boots. “You can’t kill Saber! Especially when the claims against both Saber and Naofumi are false!”

Glaring at the young heroes whose actions were in sink, Aultcray spoke, “And you dare speak against my sentence?” he said in an irritated and annoyed voice. “And what do you mean the claims are fake?”

“Yes, the claims are obviously fake,” Mustang nodded, walking down to join the two heroes. “Especially when there are obvious holes in the story that make Myne’s argument untrustworthy,” he said, looking the king in their eyes. “Her exact words were and I quote “The Knight Hero he pinned me down as the Shield Hero stripped me,” am I correct, Ms. Sophia?” He looked at the red haired girl who nodded.

“Yes! He and that monster of the shield, they both tried to rape me!” Myne cried, hiding behind the now recovered Motoyasu.

“You said that word again… it’s obvious you lied,” Koneko glared at Myne, who seemed surprised by the small girl.

“What do you mean Myne’s lying? What are you guys getting at?” Motoyasu, along with the two other heroes and the king all glared at the small teenager.

“Um… Ibuki isn’t exactly sure how to say this without sounding a little ridiculous, but…” the rocker began slowly. “Saber or Mordred I guess, that he is a she…” 

To further prove their point, Mordred finally took off her helmet, her blonde hair and green eyes coming into view of the court.

“Wow, Saber’s really pretty under the helmet,” Ruby muttered in amazement, getting a nod of agreement from Ibuki.

“W-what?! No way, Saber is a guy!” Motoyasu tried to tell himself, but the pretty face in front of him contradicted what he was trying to say.

“Sorry bud, but Mordred doesn’t have the tools to be a dude,” Ibuki told him, patting him on the back.

“What tools?” Klee tilted her head, confused by what Ibuki meant by tools, did boys get special tools? Could they be used to make bombs?!

A quick look of horror flashed through Ibuki’s eyes, “Nothing important!” she knelt down to Klee, once she settled that, “Also there is another problem with Myne’s story. One that makes it seem impossible.”

“Yeah! What’s up with her face!” Both Shaun and Abigail yelled at the same time. “If Mordred was involved she wouldn’t have been so unscratched!”

Myne hearing them took a few steps back, realizing her plot was becoming undone and into question. Even her father was beginning to look like he was believing them. “W-what do you mean? I was lucky and managed to get out.”

“But they asked why you got out unscratched,” Mustang glared at  Myne who dodged the question the first time. “If it was Naofumi, it’d be a different question. But if Mordred had attacked, you would have had a bruise or black eyes or at least a scratch, but right now you don’t have any of those. I’m not sorry to say Myne, but when someone is as brash as Mordred,” he looked at the knight who was glaring at him, “you can’t get into a fight without expecting not to get scratched.”

“Don’t forget, Mordred is the kind of person to throw a sword to just have an extra hand to punch you with!” the Gun Heroes added.

“I’m not a hundred percent sure what’s going on here,” Loke looked around, his eyes though went back to glaring at Mordred. “But that is a Heroic Spirit, they are one of the most deadly opponents someone can face,” Loke spoke up, keeping himself between him and Lucy. His eyes kept eye contact on the knight who seemed to just acknowledge his presence.

“Heroic Spirit?” Ren muttered under his mouth, wondering what the Celestial Spirit was talking about. “What do you mean by that? What is she?”

“Not something he should be speaking about,” Mordred growled, not wanting more information that might be detrimental to her to be released. “Lucy, tell Playboy the Second to shut it,” Mordred looked to Lucy, who gave a small nod to Loke to stop. The Celestial Spirit soon disappeared, seeing his aid wouldn’t be needed right now anymore. Once he was gone Mordred looked up to the King, still shooting a glare. “I guess there is no point hiding my true identity anymore.”

Clearing her throat she spoke loud and clearly so that everyone heard her, “I am Mordred, son of the greatest king that ever was and will be! I am the one who overthrew Camelot and I am a member of the Knights of the Round Table! So know this, if I wanted Myne dead, she’d be dead. If I wanted to rape her, she would not be able to escape. If I wanted to topple over a kingdom, I could. So know this!” she growled, “I could have all of your head if I tried. So don’t think I can’t fight you!”

There was a spark of red lightning as Mordred implanted her steel sword into the ground, not only were the knights and three heroes terrified. But also the king and other heroes as well. Not expecting Mordred to go the intimidation route. Though to say the Apprentice Heroes weren’t impressed would be a lie, seeing as Mordred in such a short time scared everyone in the room, well except for Klee who was petrified.

“Now listen here, you will admit to your lies, and if you do it now, I might show mercy, now miss Myne Sophia, did Naofumi and I rape you?” Mordred spoke one last time.

Myne looked into Mordred’s eyes, inside them wasn’t just green emeralds, but a blazing red fire as the knight looked her dead in the eye. It was as if she was looking into the eyes of a beast with the presence of a lion and the pride of a dragon.

“I-I…” Myne tried to speak.

“W-wait!” Motoyasu shouted, interrupting Myne and taking the front and center stage. “Maybe Naofumi and Mordred didn’t do it,” he said looking over his shoulder before turning to everyone. “That doesn’t mean it maybe did not happen! Maybe someone decided to impersonate them! Maybe even frame them and Myne got lucky and escaped. We can’t say nothing happened!” Motoyasu said.

Everyone, the heroes, Myne, and the King all looked surprised. Out of everyone, no one expected Motoyasu to say that. Roy even looked at the Gun Heroes who looked at one another before shrugging back. No rebuttal, no counter, nothing.

The King hummed, stroking his beard as he looked at the two heroes on the ground, his daughter, and then the Spear Hero. He hid a small smile. “I see, well then… With this new information I cannot sentence the Knight Hero to death. We will have to do an investigation…” he said, rubbing his forehead, happy to have been given an out at the crumbling plan. “Release the Shield and Knight Hero,” he said with a wave of a hand, the guards surrounding Naofumi and Mordred moving away.

The Gun Heroes jumped up into the air. “YES!” Both Shaun and Abigail cheered, jumping to the knight and going in for a hug, almost throwing Mordred off her balance if it was not for her feat being buried in the ground.

“Congrats Naofumi, you’re not a convicted criminal,” Mustang smiled, extending a hand to Naofumi who took his hand as he pulled the younger man up.

Naofumi couldn’t help but feel a sense of relief as he saw the Apprentice Heroes cheering, happy that Naofumi and Mordred were both safe from a false sentence. Though he did feel a little left out. He might have been sentenced to something he didn’t know, but Mordred was on the verge of being beheaded, so he guessed they were mostly happy that Mordred was safe.

Getting herself free from the ground, Mordred stretched as she glared at Roy. “For the record, if I was at full strength, your little hand magic would not have done anything to stop me,” she growled.

Roy shrugged, “Well good thing I’m not facing you at full strength,” he said, patting her shoulder. “Now excuse me, but I think I need to have a word with the heroes,” he said, taking a look at the four Cardinal Heroes and snapping his fingers. “Alright, listen up!” he called out to everyone. “Amaki, Iwatani, Kawasumi, Kitamura, front and center!” he shouted, using his military voice to get the four standing straight, at attention, and listening. “Listen, as of this moment I will be deciding on a new party composition.”

“Now hold on,” Itsuki said, taking a brave step forward, “Who put you in charge of that?”

 “I agree with Bow Hero here, Sir Mustang,” Aultcary spoke up. “Moving the heroes around would not be a smart decision. The Cardinal Heroes strengthening themselves should take priority and did you not already assign each of yourselves based on who would have been the best fit?” 

“We did,” Roy confirmed, but he turned his gaze to the other Apprentice Heroes. “However we came together last night and to put it light, we had some complaints,” he said, eyeing up each of the heroes, specifically everyone but Naofumi.  “So if you would be so kind, your majesty, would you provide a room for us? It’ll be a rather quick meeting.”

Behind Roy the other apprentice heroes looked rather surprised by his move. To be honest most of them would rather leave right now, but they decided to humor the man.

His fists were clutching his throne so much that someone might think that the arms would break. Aultcray glared at Mustang who held his gaze with his, his eyes did not dart around, he did not feel scared, he had complete and utter control over the situation. The king could kill them now, it would be easy, but if he had to bet the other kingdoms would know about the apprentice heroes appearance by now, and if not by now they would soon, so that would most likely cause a war far greater than the demi-human nations. But letting them leave would be bad too, his wife and the church would be after his head.

The king barely let a growl escape his mouth, “Fine,” Aultcray finally spoke, though his words seemed to be full of venom. “I’ll have someone escort you to your room for your meeting.”

Roy nodded his head with a small nod before turning, a faint smile on his lips, “Pleasure doing business with you,” Roy said as he walked over to Motoyasu and patted his shoulder. “Come on now. Let’s not waste the king’s time any longer.”

The four heroes entered the room they were guided to, each of them taking a seat. Roy was going to enter the room followed by the other but stopped before turning to each of them.

“You guys wait out here. I’ll handle the heroes,” was all he said before closing the door on the other apprentice heroes. The sound of annoyed voices were quickly muffled by the door closing behind him.

The room was filled with enough chairs to have held all the others, a long rectangle table with plenty of seats. Ren, Motoyasu, and Itsuki all sat on one side while Naofumi sat on the other by himself. Roy let out a small hum as he noticed this but said nothing, only taking a seat at the head of the table to look at each one of the heroes.

Ren himself seemed a little skeptical of the whole thing, his eyes were the most active as he looked around the room. Itsuki was quite calm just fiddling with his bow string. Then there was Motoyasu. The young man looked annoyed and ready to use his spear at Roy.

“So, welcome to the third heroes meeting. I’m sure you all must be curious as to why I want this meeting to be held? Yes?” Roy asked. “Well to put it simply, I want to discuss all your actions about yesterday and today.”

“Our actions?” Motoyasu raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean by our actions!”

Roy let out a long sigh. Was this guy really that hopeless? “Motoyasu,” was all he could say. Putting a hand on his head, Roy prepared himself for a headache. “Okay, before we jump into what happened today, let’s talk about what happened yesterday. More specifically how each one of us have their own complaints on how you each run your little shows.”

“Complaints?” Itsuki raised an eyebrow. “You said in the throne room there were complaints, so why are you the one telling us this and not the others?”

Letting a low hum out, Roy turned his attention to Itsuki. “You see Itsuki, last night at the inn we all stayed at, us apprentice heroes had a little talk about how our day was. It did not bode well for you. Our complaints went from abandoning them and not getting snacks,” Roy turned to Naofumi who looked a little sheepish, “saying someone was hacking, whatever that means” he changed to Ren, who had the right state of mind to feel some level of shame.  “Letting a party member be openly racist to a child,” Roy turned to Itsuki who was then getting stares by everyone, “And of course, hitting on a fifteen year old,” Roy’s eyes went to Motoyasu who shot up from his seat.

“I said I was not hitting on her!” he yelled.

Roy only rolled his eyes, ignoring the outburst. “The point I am making is this, we don’t want to be working with people we will have contradicting viewpoints. Naofumi, you’re good, just include Abigail and Shaun, that is all they ask. If anything the others main problem was with Myne. As for everyone else, what will you do? Why not start with you Ren? You know, I come from a world that doesn’t have video games, but even I can tell when someone is better than you, you should not start yelling at them, especially when they try to show you how to properly use a weapon. Even if Sab- I mean Mordred was very rough with you, you should have at least kept a more level head.”

Ren not expecting to be called out first seemed to fumble in his seat somehow. Roy looked at the teen in the eyes and Ren seemed to shrink under his gaze. Roy himself was not glaring at the boy, but the pure confidence and neutrality in his voice seemed to get the reaction out of the boy.

“Well um…” Ren tried to begin but he could not form a coherent sentence.

“Hmm,” Mustang hummed, “Well then, let’s skip you for now and come back later. Itsuki. What will you do?”

“Well I won’t be allowing anyone to be unheroic like,” Itsuki said immediately.

Roy raised an eyebrow, “And how will you do that? How will you enforce that? Does that include taking an object from a God and feeding it to your weapon? And what about your actions with Lucy? Does that include chastising someone for a magic that they state is formed via contracts, not by just willy-nilly summoning?”

“But she admitted that her ability was like the thing that brought us here!” Itsuki tried to defend himself.

“No, what we had done to us was to be summoned here to save the world even if it is against our wills. From what I get, her spirits, whatever they are, Lucy and them form a contract that is acceptable for both ends of the party. Something I believe we all would have preferred.”

Itsuki opened his mouth to try and fight but closed it, finding no retort. “Fine, I’ll apologize.”

“Really dude! Come on, how can you be so rude to a chick dude!” Motoyasu tried to chastise Itsuki, only for the blond to move back when the archer furrowed his brow.

“Coming from someone flirting with a fifteen year old!”

“I did not flirt with her!”

Ren and Naofumi both shared a look. Wondering how things could go down even further from here.

“Motoyasu, don’t antagonize him,” Roy glared at Motoyasu. “And we still need to discuss what happened to Klee.”

“You mentioned someone from my party being racist towards her?” Itsuki raised an eyebrow.

“How could someone be racist to a little girl?” Ren asked, not able to see the logic in someone’s actions like that.

Roy nodded, understanding where the boy came from. “Quite simple, she is not human,” was his response. “This country does not view any intelligent beings other than humans as equals, and what is Klee?”

“An elf…” Itsuki muttered. “W-wait! How do you even know that?”

“Shaun told me. He has some information on the lore of this world. He also mentioned that slavery is also accepted in this country,” Roy mentioned. “Now, again. What will you do?”

Itsuki seemed to be slumped. He did not know what to do. He talked about big games but did not know how to play.

“Okay, let’s skip again. Motoyasu,” Roy got to the blond hero. “There are a few things to go over with you. Let’s start with-”

“I did not flirty with Ruby!” Motoyasu said one more time.

“I wasn’t going to bring that up right now,” Roy said, “I was going to bring up your playboy attitude in general. Like when you spent a quarter of our starter money in one day on the girls in our party.”

“What’s wrong with treating my party!” Motoyasu tried to defend.

“Nothing, if it wasn’t for the fact that as soon as Ruby mentioned our desire to get started on getting equipment, something that should have been our first priority, you would have spent the entire first day gallivanting around the city. Wouldn’t you?” Roy asked. “Listen, you can do whatever the hell you want. But remember our priorities.”

Motoyasu tried to open his mouth, but when Ren put a hand on his shoulder, Motoyasu just gave in and joined the silenced heroes.

“Now listen. I don’t really enjoy these kinds of talks, but this is something that has to be addressed if we hope to avoid topics like this in the future.”

There was a small silence but to some surprise to Roy it was Ren who spoke first. “He’s right, or at least has a point,” he said, trying his best to still maintain an aloof image. “I mainly play solo, but even I know good synergy is the key to a good team.”

“Thank you Ren,” Roy gave the boy a nod. Maybe he was not hopeless yet. “Now here is what we will be doing for the future. Itsuki, what do you plan to do with this Mald person, I believe that was his name.”

“I-I’ll try to make him see better,” Itsuki said.

“And if he doesn’t? What then?”

Itsuki opened his mouth, it felt remarkably dry, he tried to form words but all he could say was “I don’t know…”

Roy nodded, “Hmm. Well for the time being, for Klee’s safety I think it is best we remove her from her party and possibly Lucy as well. The little girl seemed to have taken a liking to her. Is that clear?” Roy looked Itsuki in the eye. He was not speaking to a teenager. Rather he addressed the boy as the young man he was who had been thrown into the deep without knowing a thing about what he really preached.

Itsuki nodded.

“Ren, do you think you can handle Mordred’s training without yelling “hacks” again?” Roy asked. The blue hero did not meet his gaze, only shook his head. “Hmm, alright. For now let’s change your party.”

Next was Motoyasu. “Motoyasu, can you with confidence that you can keep your flirtatious tendencies in check?” Roy asked.

“Of course! I don’t need to flirt with ladies in order to keep them safe!” Motoyasu almost sounded like he was being accused of something in his tone. “If I had it my way I could keep them safe and away from combat!”

Roy let out a low hum, “And what do you mean by that?”

“Well if I could I would keep them all safe and out of combat, the battlefield isn’t a place for a lady!” the Spear Hero said with such conviction.

“And what about the rest of the apprentice heroes? Aside from Shaun and I, everyone else is female, and I can say with confidence that Ruby, Lucy, Mordred, and even Klee have some experience in combat. So are you saying you would keep them away from something they are used to?”

“Well-” Motoyasu tried to start and was cut off.

“And what about when the waves hit? Huh? There is a difference between training and live combat, are you going to say that you would rather them go in green and wet behind the ears?” Roy started to see Motoyasu’s eyes begin to wander. “Listen, wanting to keep others safe is a good thing for a hero. I won’t fault you there, but you should know that keeping your party away from combat is not the wisest decision. So we will be moving Ruby from your party. Is that clear?”

“Wait, you can’t-

“Motoyasu Kitamura, is that clear?” Roy reiterated again, the authority in his tone from the military coming clear for the first time in this whole meeting. Motoyasu only nodded, begrudgingly but still. 

“Good. Now, Naofumi,” Roy finally turned to the shield hero. “I heard you spent money on that expensive armor that Myne was wearing,” Naofumi stiffened at the mention of the armor and Myne, his fist clenching as a feeling of rage began to build at the mention of the woman. “You yourself were given little complaints by those with you, so I’ll only say this to you. Be careful of who you entrust. Understand,” Naofumi nodded. “Good. You can keep your party as is, or if you truly wish you could use this opportunity to change your roster. Though if I’m being honest I think it wise to keep your current party.”

“I’ll keep them,” Naofumi said with conviction in his voice. “I trust they won’t betray me,” Naofumi said. Roy nodded, and smiled. He liked those words.

“Good. Now then, let’s talk about who will go where,” Roy said with a faint smile.

By the time the third heroes meeting the new hero parties were drafted.

Naofumi had kept his original party of Abigail and Shaun, Ibuki, and finally Koneko, keeping the status quo.

Ren was charged with looking after Klee and Lucy. A challenge for the young Sword Hero. Not only did he gain an extra person but also Lucy’s summonable companions, adding another variable to think about.

Itsuki was given Ruby as his new apprentice, there was at least some hope her optimism and cheerful attitude would rub off on the Bow Hero.

Then finally Motoyasu who kept Roy and gained Mordred. An attempt to get a more mellow Mordred who was also according to Ren, “kinda busted unit,” and also maybe it was a plot from Roy to find a way to change Motoyasu’s views on women on the front lines.

The change did not go that badly with the other apprentice heroes.  Those with Naofumi were happy to not have to change who they were with. Klee seemed extra happy to still be with Lucy after the shuffling around. Itsuki seemed the most content with the change, same with Ruby herself. And as for Motoyasu, well… Mordred had to be submerged into the ground for a few minutes to cool off when she heard Myne would also be joining them..

Naofumi and his party said farewell to the other heroes before leaving the castle. They all had enough of the place and the looks they got while there.

Walking out of the castle, Abigail and Shaun both were staring at the blue sky. Both of them seemed to be staring off into the void only following the rest with the peripherals of their vision.

“God! Ibuki is so happy to be out of there!” Ibuki said, stretching her arms and resting them behind her head. “Sorry we weren’t there in the morning Naofumi, we didn’t have much choice in going.”

“It’s fine, Mioda. Thank you guys for sticking up for me,” Naofumi said to the rest of them.

“No problem!” both Abigail and Shaun said at the same time. “Though we were scared that Mordred might have ended up being killed!”

The three other heroes looked at the two, a confused look on their faces. They had been talking, walking, and moving in sync ever since the trial, like one mind controlling two bodies. It was creepy.

Koneko decided to be proactive and do something about it. One quick swipe of the leg and Shaun went falling onto the cobblestone road.

A small oof was followed the male gunner to groan out a long “Why…”

“You two were getting creepy and can share a brain cell later.” was all she said before joining the other heroes. “Let’s go.”

Shaun looked at Koneko who seemed to just leave them behind. Abigail helped him up and the two followed suit with Naofumi and Ibuki.

Now out of sync, Shaun kept an ear open and glanced around town. All eyes were on them. Nothing had changed too much. If Shaun could guess it was probably spread around town that Naofumi and Mordred raped Myne before the trial even started. It might explain the large amount of glares being sent their way.

“Hey, Naofumi! Let’s get you some new armor. Cause I don’t think just a shield will be good against the tougher stuff out there!” Ibuki said, taking the charge. She did not seem to notice any of the looks, but she did not need to see when your hearing was excellent.

“Look, the Shield Devil.”

“What are the other apprentice heroes doing with him?”

“Maybe they are going to put the devil down.”

“The poor Brawler Hero. She is so small, imagine what he could have done to her.”

“What about the Bard? Look at her, she is clearly not right in the head, he could have manipulated her.”

Abigail herself looked at the entire thing. Her eyes did not wander but she kept her ears open. She heard everything and yet she didn’t know what to feel. She felt upset to hear what the citizens were saying but another part of her felt neutral. Like she was expecting this to be the outcome of the trial.

Koneko was the hardest to get a proper read on. Unlike Naofumi who was neutral because he was not as focused on the people around them but rather those with him, Koneko was completely stoned face, her face did not make any expression to be seen.

Walking down the street, the heroes made their way to the blacksmith’s shop, avoiding the gazes of the people walking down the street.

Lucky for them, their search for the blacksmith was made easier for them when they stumbled upon the man who grabbed Naofumi by his collar. “I heard what you did to your party member! Give me one good reason not to sock you in the mouth right now?”

“Wow, wow, wow!” Ibuki grabbed hold of Erhard’s arm that was lifting Naofumi and Abigail ran to grab the arm that was going to hit him. “Ibuki think’s there is a misunderstanding here! Nothing happened. Myne tried to scam Naofumi and Saber and it didn’t work!”

Erhard looked at the multicolored haired girl then to the female gunner, then to Koneko and Shaun who both seemed ready to fight and then Naofumi who looked away from him and at the ground, a faint “I didn’t do it,” escaped his lips.

Erhard looked at the Shield Hero for a moment before putting him down. “I changed my mind, I feel like I’ll end up getting attacked if I do.”

“Smart choice,” Koneko said. “We need armor for the dipshit. He got it stolen and we are now broke.”

Erhard looked at Naofumi who did not respond. Taking that as an admission, Erhard let a small sigh escape and muttered about how much of a deal he gave them. Turning he gestured for them to follow behind.

When they got to the shop, Erhard placed a piece of green hood down on the counter he got from a bin he had in the corner. It was cheap and would not cost much, well within their range. Naofumi placed the necessary coin onto the counter.

The party of five left the blacksmith’s. Their main traveled down the road to the main gates. They did not have enough money to provide food for everyone to get a room, their money was almost nonexistent compared to yesterday.

“So what exactly are we going to do now?” Shaun asked, kicking a rock in front of him. The group walking down the street, not a plan in mind at all.

“Grind, trade, get money,” Koneko said. “Basic gamer stuff.”

“I mean, I guess,” Ibuki said, “But what about when night hits? I don’t know about you guys but I’m not liking the looks we are getting around here.”

Koneko did not open her mouth. Ibuki was not entirely wrong, but beggars cannot really be choosers when low on money. Though feeding everyone and rooming would also be expensive… “Huh,” was all she said.

The group continued to deliberate on the issue for a while, Naofumi suggested for them to camp out of the walls for a while, or at least till they got enough money to spend with some breathing room.

The camp set up was small and simple. They decided on staying close to the outskirts of the forest, a campfire for cooking and after a couple more spending two tents for them to sleep in. When the night rolled around they kept one person up to keep monsters from attacking them.

The campfire lit up their camp in the night. Abigail was on first watch and stayed awake by sitting on the ground near the fire. Her hands were preoccupied by looking through the skill tree of her weapon. As she scrolled out through the weapons she could not help but notice how it almost seemed to go on to infinity. She even checked some of the more obscure weapons out there. A blood series, a dog series, hell there was even an entire section dedicated to potatoes!

“God, I must be tired,” she said, placing the gun down onto her lap. She could not help but let a small laugh escape as she rubbed her eyes.

“Then get some sleep,” Koneko’s voice called from behind Abigail. “It’s time for a shift change.”

“Hmm? Oh, what’s up Koneko?” Abigail greeted the smaller girl who walked over to her and took a seat in front of the fire.

“Just woke up,” was all she said, rubbing her eyes as she took a seat next to Abigail.

Abigail let a small hum out and nodded her head. Abigail herself did not watch much of High School DxD, only really watched it because she found the show interesting but it was not something she really planned on watching enough to know every bit of lore of every character.

“So…” Abigail tried to start. “Being a cat devil… that’s something.” There was a moment of silence between the two. Koneko’s eyes went wide for a moment before returning to a neutral state. As for Abigail herself, she was mentally tearing into herself for that horrible conversation starter.

“Yeah,” Koneko nodded.

“Mind if I ask what it is like?” she asked. “Being a devil that is.”

“Don’t you and Sarto already know about me?” Koneko raised an eyebrow.

The gunner laughed, scratching her chin. “I mean, I guess. I only know a few things. Rias saved you, you have a sister named Kuroka, your actual name… Oh and that you sometimes cosplay for your clients,” Abigail snapped her fingers at the memory. “To be honest I only know you from the anime set in your world, I haven’t read any of the wiki articles or read the light novels, so I don’t know all too much about you or the others.”

Koneko turned to her for a moment. Abigail and Koneko shared silent eye contact for what seemed like minutes to the human but in reality it might have just been a few seconds.

“Hey, when do you plan to tell the others that you’re a devil?” Abigail asked. “Just us I mean. I can imagine telling everyone at once might be scary but how long do you think you’ll be able to keep it on the D.L.?” Koneko did not respond or even look at Abigail and offer her a silent response. Abigail nodded, not pushing, “Well, that is just what I think. Who knows, maybe you can keep it quiet. That is just what I think. Goodnight”

Getting up from her spot, Abigail combined her weapons to make half the gem form and switched them into their default mode, making them a smaller form that she could carry. Waving goodbye, Abigail began to enter the tent before she looked back one more time. Koneko just kept staring into the fire.

Entering the tent and laying down. Abigail saw Ibuki who was sound asleep, the sound of her snoring was faint but if she focused she could hear it. The Bard Hero had thrashed in her sleep, with her blanket barely even covering her and her hair seemed to be filling her mouth.

Chuckling and silently crawling over, Abigail moved Ibuki’s hair and looked at her for a brief moment and smiled. Abigail grabbed Ibuki’s tossed around blanket and gently put it back on her before grabbing her own blanket and wrapped it around herself, her gun resting on her chest while she used a thin pillow and her arm to support her head.

The entire day was crazy and more eventful then she had anticipated it to be.

“God…” the faint whisper came from Abigail, the last word she would say for the day before sleep took her, her body finally resting from the long day. Happy to finally get some rest.

Meanwhile in Castle Town, in an inn close to the walls, a room for two was rented and a certain Celestial Spirit Wizard looked out the window as she looked at a filled piece of parchment in front of her. Looking back behind her in a darker section of the room, Klee happily slept as she cuddled her Dodoco.

“She’s a cute kid,” a male voice said, looking over Klee with a smile, lightly poking her nose and making it twitch and ever so slightly stir from sleep.

“Hey! Stop doing that!” Lucy silently yelled at Loke, not wanting to wake her up. “Also, what are you doing here? I didn’t summon you.” She glared at him, and as he was about to make some comment she glared at him, “Also, don’t make some comment about love.”

“Aw man, have I become so predictable?” Loke said with a chuckle before walking over to take a seat on Lucy’s bed. “Here I was thinking I was charming,” Loke said as he looked around before he started to take a more serious look. “I was worried, okay,” he admitted. “The magic here is… it feels different, I don’t know if you can feel it but it has a feeling to it. We aren’t on Earth Land.”

“Yep,” Lucy sighed, tapping the desk in the room as she looked out the window.

Loke waited for a moment before getting up. “I wanted to see if you were alright. Especially with that Spirit from earlier.”

“You're referring to Sab- I mean Mordred?” Lucy said, looking at Loke. “You seemed to know what she was.”

Loke nodded, crossing his arms and looking at Lucy. “I cannot say much on the matter, but Lucy I’d stay away from them if I was you,” he warned. “That spirit is something so much more dangerous than most Celestial Spirits out there. They aren’t under the Celestial Spirit King’s rule. They're like a neighbor, we live kinda live in a similar place, but not the same house.”

“I kind of got that when she stated she overthrew her father’s kingdom in life,” Lucy said as she folded the piece of paper in front of her, not seeing Loke’s face of shock. “Listen, do you trust me?”

Loke took a moment before snapping out of his funk. “H-huh?”

“Do you trust me?” Lucy asked again, a confident smile on her face. Looking at her, Loke sighed and nodded. “Okay. I won’t try and pick a fight with Mordred and you don’t have to worry. Besides, I don’t think Mordred would randomly attack us,” Lucy said before putting the piece of paper on top of her chain and putting it in her inventory. “Now go, I need to get to sleep,” she said as she closed Loke’s gate and looked behind her, dimming the light she was using to write. “Night, Klee.”

“Hmm… Mr. Grumpy Man… stop. No touching Dodoco…” Klee muttered, hugging Dodoco tighter and dreaming.

Chapter Text

Chapter 4:

A/N: I'm back! Again! Less than 24 hours after the last update. Well this one was a pretty good chapter already, minor spelling issues, but overall not much need for editing. Now, let's get started!

A/N: Hey everyone I'm back! Here is a story focusing on Ren, Klee, and Lucy. I hope you all enjoy it! Honestly I had been struggling writing this chapter, I had multiple ideas I wanted to do but I decided to go with a chapter per hero route. Next chapter will focus on Raphtalia and Naofumi's party, followed by Itsuki and Ruby, finally Motoyasu, Bitch, Roy, and Mordred.

 Oh, does anyone here play FGO? Well I hope the 5th anniversary event is going well for you! I got 2 Castorias! I feel amazing! She came home! I now have another Saberface!

Alright, enough about that, back to the topic at hand. I would be remiss if I didn't mention the ideas that have been flowing through my head. So as you all know there are other heroes, those of Glass' world. So I have been wondering, what are some of the other weapons/tools that can be used? I already got a roster for the next heroes, I just want to know what I might be able to give them. The only hint I will be giving to who they are is that they will be coming from the same world as the other apprentice heroes, who they are is up to your imagination, though I will be sticking to who I've already chosen.

Anyways, that is all in terms of news. I hope you enjoy this chapter, I fear I made Lucy a bit too OOC, but oh well. Besides that, be sure to leave comments, you have no idea how much they motivate your favorite authors to be able to connect with their readers. And with that, here is an adorable little read following the Sword Hero and his party and Klee winning the hearts of the people, that little pyromaniac.

Ren had heard that the world worked in threes. Three minutes without air, three hours without shelter, three days without water, and three weeks without food. Now Ren was given a hard task, taking care of a child.

Roy must have sent him on this side quest for some specific reason. One to properly train his apprentices to optimize his reward, that had to be it. Him and Sabe- Mordred did not not seem to get along, that would be bad in the long term, lucky for him he was not the only one who was having trouble so rearranging was not an issue, he did wish he got the Brawler but beggars could not be choosers he suppose.

Now, though, he had to ensure that he developed a good bond with Lucy and Klee. Kids however were hard since they seemed to be able to bounce about forever so that was bound to make issues. Lucky for him, he knew that the world ran on threes. So he just needs to prioritize rules for Klee to ensure her safety. Lucy could be done later.

So after a few minutes of writing a list of important points, he now had his unofficial rules to keep children safe!

First, keep children fed. They may have an infinite amount of energy but they also seem to have a large appetite. It was only right as a full fledged hero to be able to keep a child fed.

Second, keep children away from monsters, as most cannot handle the threat of a simple balloon without supervision. He could trust one of the other members to keep her busy and away from the monsters while he and the others take care of the rest.

Third, keep children away from loud noises and big crowds so as to not overwhelm them and scare them. Besides the unfortunate news Roy delivered about non-humans in this world, Ren was positive that letting a kid get lost on his watch might hurt his reputation amongst the other heroes.

With all that written, that should be it.  Ren smiled at himself. He typically avoided quests like this, but it seemed like there was no getting out of it. Besides, if gacha games have taught him anything, if you max out their bond or friendship or whatever it was called you got something so how bad can things really get? 

“Wow! It looks so good, Klee!” one of his companions spoke from downstairs. If Ren remembered correctly their name was Farrie, the one female NPC that joined his party. 

“For a demi-human, she can cook decently.”

“Shh! Don’t be rude!” 

“What, it was a compliment!”

Taking a quick deep breath, Ren went down the stairs of the inn he and the party were staying at. His party was sitting at the counter of the bar at the inn. He saw the four NPC’s there but no sign of Lucy or Klee. 

“What’s going on here?” Ren asked, looking over at everyone.

“Oh, Sword Hero!” Welt, the mage of the party, turned to him. “The little girl here insisted on waking us all up and made us breakfast. We did not wish to wake you up. Of course if you so wish we would be oh so happy to do so in the future!” he spoke with enthusiasm.

Ren raised an eyebrow at the statement but decided to not think much of it and instead took a seat next to Tersia, a large man in armor who used a hammer. “That’s nice of her and all but how is she making it?”

“The Apprentice Beast Tamer and Klee asked the staff if they could use the kitchen and surprisingly they said yes,” Bakta, the last NPC with orange hair and used a dagger. “Here, have a look,” Bakta passed his own plate to Ren. It was a piece of toast with red sauce, cheese and some onions, all done into a four leaf clover form, or at least that is what he thought it was supposed to look like.

“What do you think?!” the giddy and excited voice of a child drew his attention. Those big red eyes…

Ren cleared his mind. Much like dating sims and free time events in games, there were good and bad choices to pick.

He could just say he did not care, but that was definitely the wrong answer. Children are sensitive, so saying that would be bad. Though maybe if he went with a super happy and eccentric response might come across as fake to a kid. Best option was to remain neutral and not give too much of a reaction.

“Hmm, it looks nice,” Ren’s face remained neutral. Not showing a smile on his face as he looked at the toast.

Klee looked up at him for a moment. Her smile slowly faded from her face, not that Ren was paying attention.

“Mrs. Klee, here are the rest,” a pink haired woman in a maid outfit called as she walked with a tray and placed similar looking toasts in front of the rest of the party, turning around, she asked,  “Is that all Princess? Punishment now?”

“Will you stop asking for that in front of people! Or in general!” Lucy yelled, the maid simply shrugged before disappearing in golden particles, Ren swore he heard something about “neglect play.” Lucy turned her attention to Ren, a very tired voice came out as she said, “Don’t ask. Please…”

“About her asking for punishment or who was that?” Ren wished for clarification.

Lucy slumped over as she made her way to an open seat and put her head down on the bar. “The first.”

Ren nodded, he could respect that. Though he did have a question himself. “So then who was that?”

Lucy brought her head up, a confident look on her face. Good, that was a sign of progress. “Well since you are so curious I suppose it doesn’t hurt to explain!” Lucy said with pride. “So from what I know, your world does not use magic, right?” Ren nodded. “Well mine does. I am a mage of the Fairy Tail Guild, the strongest guild in all of Fiore. Oh, and guilds are groups of wizards who come together to do jobs,” Ren partially wished he could skip the guild talk. He understood the mechanic, but unlike the games he played he could not skip. “Anyways, in my world there are two types of magic, caster type magic, which comes directly from the body and holder type magic which is used with an object. I’m a holder wizard, but I specialize in Celestial Magic, which uses keys to summon spirits. There are two kinds of keys, silver which are common and can be bought in stores and then gold keys which there are only twelve of, and I have nine of them,” Lucy said with pride, showing off her key chain with her silver and golden keys.

The Sword Hero hummed as he nodded. Okay, this was news to him. But to sum up everything, Lucy came from a world with magic, interesting. She also was part of the strongest group in her country, great to know. She also had nine rare keys, which often meant in gamer lingo as good, spirits, and that got his attention. But that also got Ren thinking. Yesterday at that trial Lucy summoned someone who called Mordred some kind of spirit, he would have to ask her more on that later.

“Wow, Lucy! That sounds amazing!” Klee giggled.

Ren started to tune everyone out as he ate his food in silence. He needed a plan to make things as efficient as possible. He could afford to not focus on the NPC’s, they most likely give him anything besides decent support, but Lucy and Klee were another thing. From what Itsuki mentioned, Klee had an item on her that seemed to react badly to being absorbed by a weapon so he would have to try to get her to say something, but the kid might not know herself. Hmm, this would be hard.

For now, he would just have to see what he can do while optimizing their performance in combat, mainly Lucy. Klee would have to sit on the sidelines, which he did not like, why did the one with AoE damage have to be a child who probably doesn’t even know how to throw a grenade.

“Wow! Mr. Welt! That was awesome! You made that egg go boom!” Klee giggled as she jumped up and down around the mage. Welt looked a mix of uncomfortable but also looked like pride.

“Why, thank you,” Welt said to the little elf.

Klee giggled, the girl pressed the plunger of her detonator and a small round bomb popped out of a hole. “Watch this, I’m sure I can get the next one!” Klee said as she tossed her bomb a good distance away from her and Welt.

Ren had kept a close eye on Klee as he was farming, the girl had yet to attack any monsters. So when he saw her throw the bomb he was a little scared but when the explosion happened his worries were put to rest. A small explosion that barely covered any ground happened.

[+14 EXP]

“Hmm,” she killed the monster. The bomb itself was small. Maybe a lucky shot.

“Poohee!” Klee kicked the ground and puffed her cheeks.

“Aw, what’s wrong Klee?” Farrie asked, running up to Klee, who looked disappointed. Which was odd. Why would she be upset? She one shot a monster, that was good, maybe it was her ears, they were bigger so that might make hearing loud noises sound louder. Huh, Ren could not blame the kid too much but why did he get stuck with a kid who would be down for the count whenever she threw a bomb?

“The bomb was so weak! It barely even made a good boom!” Ren stopped, what did she just say? “The bombs Mom and big brother Albedo made with me were so much bigger! They don’t even look cute like Jumpy-Dumpty!”

Okay, a few things wrong there. Did that girl seriously say her mom made bombs? What was this? Some kind of family full of pyromaniacs? Also cute? And what was this Jumpty-Dumpty?

“Hey, Lucy,” Ren called to Lucy who was panting after chasing the rabbit monster, trying to get it with her collar.

Lucy turned to Ren, “Yeah?” She walked up to the Sword Hero, the chain and collar wrapped around her arm and the collar resting on her shoulder. “What’s up?”

“I want to clarify something with you. It’s about Klee,” Ren said. “Yesterday I asked Itsuki about what happened the day before the trial and I wanted to ask you about what happened with her.”

Lucy raised an eyebrow, “What do you want to know? When he absorbed her Vision or how his party reacted?”

“The Vision thing,” Ren clarified. “Can you tell me about it? I asked Itsuki about it but he did not tell me much.”

“Why ask me and not her directly?” Lucy questioned, but she soon dropped the question, “Well from what she said, it is a gift from a god from her world. Itsuki tried to absorb it into his weapon but something happened and it pretty much fried him.”

“Hmm,” Alright, so that was something. Going over what he knew, when Itsuki tried to absorb the thing it denied him because he must not have been a registered user, maybe  a class locked item or something like that. Maybe he was hurt because it was not meant to be used by him. It was like using a friend’s character, while you could use it, it was not yours to upgrade! And if it was a God who gave the object out… hmm. Lore was not always Ren’s strong suit, but this might be something to be interested in. “Thanks,” was all he said before leaving Lucy there, not sparing her a second glance.

A quick stroll to the small girl who had been surrounded by the NPC’s Ren cleared his throat to get her attention. “Klee,” he called out to her.

“Hmph? Oh! Ren! Hi!” Klee ran over to the Sword Hero with a bright smile on her face. Damn, was it just him or was the girl causing him to squint with that bright smile? Damn adorable children and their bright light.

“Klee, mind if I see your Vision?” Ren asked bluntly, cutting to the chase.

“Huh? Why?” Klee questioned, taking a step back. “You aren’t going to try and absorb it? Itsuki tried doing the same thing and bad things happened because of that,” Klee said with worry, her long ears pointed down.

Shaking his head, “No, I do not. I want to see if you can absorb it into your weapon,” he clarified. “I have an idea why he could not, and to prove it I need you to absorb it.”

Klee looked at Ren for a moment, then to Lucy and the rest of the party. The Fairy Tail wizard seemed the most concerned, while the rest of the party were either confused or looked like they wanted her to do it.

“But what if it zaps me?” Klee asked.

“We’ll make sure you get help then,” Ren told her. Ha, nailed it.

Klee thought for a moment and nodded. Taking her backpack off, she unclipped the red gem on her back. The idea of putting her Vision in scared her.

“What will happen to it? Big brother Albedo and Jean told me that a Vision is something that is very important and I should never ever lose it,” Klee said weakly.

“You don’t know?” Ren raised an eyebrow. “Objects we absorb into our weapons go straight to our inventory, so you won’t lose it. You can just take it back out as soon as you put it into your weapon.”

That seemed to reassure Klee enough to at least try. Klee placed her Vision onto the gem of the detonator and watched it be taken into her weapon and as soon as it went in, her vision was flooded with text.

[ERROR]

[ERROR]

[ERROR]

[Substance of higher authority detected]

[Confirming {VISION USER ID:Klee} Verified]

[Developing Vision Series]

[Connecting To Celestia]

[Connection Verified]

[Please Wait A Moment As The Development Of Vision Series Will Take A Few Hours]

[Estimated Wait Time: 24 Hours]

[Compensation Weapon: Dodoco Tales Unlocked]

[Equip Bonus: Calm Aura {When Weapon Is Equipped And Read Aloud A Soothing Effect Is Applied To All In Range, Including Reader}]

[Achievement: Be The First {Be The First Hero Of Your Generation To Unlock A New Series}]

[Achievement: Be The First II {Be The First Hero Of Your Generation To Unlock A Series From An Object Of Higher Authority}]

[Achievement: Recognition of the Gods {Have The Gods Follow Your Journey}]

In Klee’s hands, her detonator shined, slowly morphing into the shape of a red book with a big red four leafed clover design sticking out from the cover.

“Wow!” Klee said in amazement. “Look! Look! It’s a book about Dodoco!”

“Dodoco?” Lucy questioned, taking a step closer to see the new weapon Klee had unlocked.

“Yeah! Dodoco! He’s my best friend!” Klee said as she turned and placed a hand on the small stuffed rabbit toy attached to the clover keychain on her backpack. “See, this is Dodoco.”

“Aww,” Tersia let out, getting glances from all the other NPC’s. “What? A kid with a toy is adorable.”

“Thank you Ren- um, Ren?” Klee went to try and see Ren and thank him, but when she turned to him her smile faded for the second time when looking at him. Ren did not seem happy, rather he looked annoyed or maybe frustrated. Klee could only tell that the Sword Hero was not happy. “Are you okay…? Klee asked, her ears pointed down as she looked at Ren.

“Fine,” Ren huffed out before turning away. His frustration was clear to everyone in the party.

Everyone saw Ren storm off. Everyone was silent. But no one looked as upset as Klee. She looked down at the book and then back to Ren. Did she do something to upset him? She did not blow anything up besides that mean balloon, so what could she have done to upset him?

“Hey, I’m going to see what’s up with Ren. Can you guys watch Klee?” Lucy asked, and got varying forms of agreements from the four grown party members. “Alright, Klee I’ll be right back. Okay?” Lucy said to Klee, who just nodded.

As the Apprentice Monster Tamer Hero went off to speak with the Sword Hero, three of the four party members stepped aside to have a private discussion on the other side of a tree, huddled together and speaking in whispers.

“Okay, I’m going to be blunt here,” Tersia said, the bearded man stroking his beard. “What should we do with the kid? Because in all honesty, I cannot see how the Church sees her as a threat.”

“Are you questioning the Church? She’s a demi-human!” Bakta silently yelled. “I mean what else are we supposed to do? Welt, back me up!”

“I don’t know…” said the mage. “I mean, she is a demi-human but Tersia has a point. She does not mean any harm,” he said. “Plus she made us breakfast, you cannot deny that it was nice.”

“Not the point! Besides, the Church will be mad if we do not turn her in!” the orange haired man said, which made the two other grown men slower their heads. “I know she seems nice, but the pope asked this. If she is lucky she might just be sold to a nice noble. I hear Reichnott is nice.”

“That’s if she gets lucky,” Tersia countered. “Most likely she will just be killed! And I don’t know about you, but I’m not associated with the death of a child. And what if there is some sick pervert?”

That was a good argument, all of them had a silent acknowledgement that they did not view demi-humans and beastmen as the same as humans but they themselves could not associate themselves with pedophiles and rapists.

“Plus, I have a niece around her age,” Welt added. “Just imagining killing her…” the man shivered. “Okay, how about this. She comes from a different world, maybe demi-humans do not grow when they level up,” he offered an idea, “maybe, if she does not grow up, we can say she is not a threat and we can keep her here.”

“And if she does?” Tersia raised an eyebrow.

“HMMM! Fine!” Bakta shouted. “Damn, why is it so hard to hate a child that calls you the best all the time with big eyes and an imaginary friend?!”

“It’s the beauty of innocence,” Welt answered. “You cannot help but want to keep it safe, now come on. Farrie might want a hand.”

“Damn adorable children. That’s all I’m saying.”

“Ren, wait up!” Lucy called Ren as she chased after him in the forest. The Sword Hero did not listen, only swung his sword down, killing an egg monster that tried to attack him. “Ren!” Lucy called out again.

Letting out an annoyed huff, Ren finally turned to Lucy. His face was stoic, but his eyebrows showed his annoyance. “What?” he raised an eyebrow at her.

Finally catching up, Lucy scowled as she reached Ren. “What the heck? Why didn’t you wait?” Lucy said to Ren. “Also what was with  you earlier? One minute you are acting all cool and the next you’re acting like you stepped in a dog turd!”

“I don’t know what you mean,” Ren said in a neutral, almost distant tone.

Lucy continued to glare at him with something she liked to call her Erza stare, while not nearly as effective on her guild mates she had a feeling it would make Ren crack. Ren’s lips began to twitch under her gaze.

“Rarity,” was all Lucy managed to hear out of Ren when he decided to speak.

“What was that?” Lucy tried to enquire.

“Her weapon does not look like it has a high rarity,” Ren finally spoke up. His face and eyes not leaving a tree that suddenly became very interesting to the young man. “I expected a weapon that was unlocked by an item from a god to look more impressive. Not to be a book named after a stuffed toy.”

What was she hearing? Lucy tried to close her mouth multiple times but it just kept on falling open like it had a loose screw. Was Ren seriously acting like this for such a petty reason?

“Ren, care to explain why that is such a big deal?”

“You know,” Ren shot back at her. “It’s like your keys! You said it yourself, there are common silver and rare gold. The rarer an item is the better.  Well the book looks like a common item. Also it doesn’t fit her Class. Why does a bomb user unlock a book?” Ren said, falling off topic for a moment, but quickly getting back on track. “It just seems like her Vision, or whatever, did not help her much in this game. Probably a common or uncommon item at best.”

Lucy had found a few things wrong with Ren’s statement. Though it took a lot for her to not yell at Ren about what he said, just because her other spirits were not of the zodiac did not mean that they were bad. Also magic bombs did exist. Though one of his statements did make her curious.

“What do you mean game?” Lucy crossed her arms together. Did he really think this was some sort of game? “Do… Do you really think this world is a game?”

“This world is exactly like Brave Star Online from my world.” Ren said, leaning back on a tree. “The system is the same. The setting is pretty similar. Even the premise for it is the same. The NPCs here are a lot more advanced than the ones I’ve seen before, their AI must be top notch.”

She felt her eyes twitch. Did he really just compare this world to a game?! Was he really thinking of this world like he would a game he could just start over and his actions would not mean the same as they would back where he was from? “Ren, you’re saying this world is a game.”

“What else would it be?”

“Jee, I don’t know? An actual real world?!” Lucy exploded. “I mean, how else do you explain how you got here? How did any of us get here?”

Ren rolled his eyes, “Well I got here after getting stabbed, my real body must be in a hospital bed.”

Lucy wanted to say something, but she knew she did not know as much about the systems like this. Maybe if she was proficient in Archive Magic, maybe, but she was not. Though she was, however, familiar with parallel worlds. “Then how do you explain how the rest of us are here?”

Ren turned to Lucy about to open his mouth but the mage was faster. “In my world, me and my guildmates were going to be killed by a dragon, we would have died. There is no way my body would have survived if it hit us, yet here I am. Both me and Klee’s worlds do not have games that have stats like this. So how can we all be in the same place from different worlds if this is just a “game” as you put it.”

Opening and closing his mouth, the Sword Hero tried to respond but now that he thought about it. The other heroes all said different things when they compared general knowledge. Why would they lie? None of them knew who was the prime minister of Japan, or threw out any familiar answers. They could not agree on whose face was on the 100 yen bill. There is no way they decided all together to mess with him, it made no sense.

Was Lucy right? Did he actually die and be sent to another world? He would not be able to see his parents again or his best friend…

“Are you… okay?” Lucy tried to speak to Ren, who had become awfully silent as he stared into space with all the thoughts in his head. “Ren?”

“Yeah…” he replied, slowly coming back to his senses. “Just when you are faced with the idea you actually got killed is a lot to process.”

Lucy nodded and patted Ren on the back of his back, “It will be alright,” she said softly, trying her best to comfort the boy. “Come on, let’s head back. If you’re okay, that is.”

Ren thought for a moment, “I think I’ll just wait here for a bit,” he said, taking a seat. “Lots on my mind right now. You guys can go ahead and do whatever you want for now.”

Lucy was going to speak but decided to keep silent and nodded. Ren seemed like he wanted his alone time for now. She would not disturb him for now.

By the time the sun began to set, Ren finally came out of the forest. His mind finally cleared of thoughts of his past. It was a shame… He had so much he did not do yet back in his world. He never had a girlfriend. He never confessed to his crush and best friend. He never said goodbye to his parents. Hell, he never even went to a half decent ramen shop oddly enough. That right there was a massive regret he had.

But he was no longer in his old world. He could not spend his time focusing on the could haves or should haves. Not for now at least. Now he had a responsibility. As a hero. He did not know how well that would work, and he was definitely a lot more scared now knowing that respawns were not something he could do, or at least not something he could do yet. But he had to get stronger if he wanted to survive.

KA-BOOM!

“Oh God!” Ren yelled, as he covered his ears and tucked into his knees.

The loud boom scared Ren. The sword hero went around looking for where it came from, and in the direction of a lake, a large column of smoke rose into the air.

Readying his sword, Ren rushed over to the lake to see what was going on. He expected to see some bandits or some monster with explosive magic or something along those lines.

But when he arrived over the hill to see what was going on, he saw a small campfire. A pier full of people. A small red girl with her feet dangling off, kicking them as she rocked her body. And the smell of fresh fish.

“What the?” Ren questioned. “What is going on here?”

“Oh! Sir Sword Hero!” Welt greeted Ren. “I am so happy you are here! Would you care to join us?”

“Hey, got some brown on your nose.”

“Quite you!”

Ren walked closer to everyone around. His entire party seemed happy. What was all this? “No one answered my question. What’s going on?”

“Well Klee was hungry,” Lucy began, “And then she saw this lake. So she managed to convince us to stop and fish. She then made a large amount of bombs and threw some into the lake.”

Ren tried to understand what he just heard. What was this? Why was Klee throwing bombs into a lake?

“Ren, you’re here!” Klee ran up to Ren. “Here. I made one for you,” Klee said with glee.

“Klee,” Ren spoke to her, getting on one knee as to be on the same level, which seemed to scare her, especially when his hard stare reminded her of the weird adult. “How many bombs did you throw into the lake?”

“U-um…” Klee stuttered. “Six,” she admitted. “But we got plenty of fish! And it’s super fun! Klee isn’t in trouble is she?”

Ren continued to stare at her for a bit before taking her offer. “No, but next time do not throw so many in at once,” he said with a smile before taking a bite.

“Wow…” came from Klee. She was staring at Ren as he took another bite of his food, still smiling. “You can smile! Lucy, look! Ren can smile!” she said pointing to the poor Sword Hero who suddenly started coughing.

“You say that like I have never smiled!”

“This is the first time I’ve seen you smile,” Klee countered. Snickers from the rest of the party seemed to agree with the elf girl. Ren wanted to fight back, but decided it would probably look worse to try and argue a losing battle with a nine year old.

“Glad you are here, Sir Ren. Why don’t you join us?” Bakta said with a smile and pushed him towards the pier. “Klee, if you would!”

“Right! Here you go!” Klee followed behind and grabbed a bomb and handed it over to Ren.

Ren looked at the bomb closely. It had a cut design with little rabbit ears and a face with beady eyes with lines for a mouth. “Klee, I cannot use this,” Ren said before handing it back to Klee. “Our weapons won’t let us use other weapons to attack things.”

“Be we are fishing!” Klee countered. “Does that mean you can’t use a fishing rod? Besides, anyone can throw a bomb. As long as I set it off, I will be the one attacking the yummy fish!”

Ren tried to counter but Klee did have a point. He could use a knife when eating. But not when fighting. Maybe it was a matter of perspective? Hmm. 

“Fine,” Ren gave in, extending a hand, wound up and brought the bomb back like a ball. “Three, two, one,” he threw. The rabbit bomb floated in the water for a moment before sinking into the water. Huh, nothing happened? Ren turned to Klee who had that book again, she turned the clover and pressed the cover. It was a button. And as soon as she pressed the button the water went up into the air and a fish landed on her feet, completely cooked from what Ren could tell.

“Ta da!” Klee said as she picked the fish up. 

Ren couldn’t help but let his lips curl up. How could he not? Taking a seat on the ledge of the pier, he let his feet dangle and his shoes hit the edge of the water. Klee took a seat next him, her feat not anywhere near the water to even drag her boots on it.

“That was fun,” Ren said with a smile, patting Klee on the back, which caused the little elf girl to laugh. “Hey, Klee. Mind if I have one of your bombs, I want to try something,” Ren asked the girl, and she gladly complied with him, giving him another bomb. He held it up and drew his sword, instead of throwing it in, Ren placed the bomb onto his gem and saw the weapon absorb Klee’s.

[Dodoco Bomb Sword: Unlocked]

[Equip Bonus: +6 Strength] 

[Special Bonus: Combustion {Sword Has A Chance To Combust Dealing Extra Damage}]

[Achievement: Doesn’t Hurt To Share! {Combine Two Weapons To Make One}]

Ren looked at his new sword with awe. He did not expect that to work, rather he thought he would get some error message and have what happened to Itsuki happen to him, lucky it didn’t. Ren turned to Klee and gave her a soft pat on the back.

“Wow, Sir Sword Hero! What an amazing sword,” Welt complimented.

Taking a long breath, Ren turned to Welt. “Welt, can you please stop calling me Sir Sword Hero. Ren is just fine. We are party after all,” Ren said to the mage, which caused the three other party members he gained from this world to snicker.

“O-oh, alright then. Sir Ren.”

“No sir, just Ren. Same with Klee and Lucy. I imagine titles get old real fast,” Ren said. “Besides, I expect us to work together for a while, so why not be a little informal,” Ren shrugged as he tossed another bomb into the water.

Off in the distance, Lucy smiled. Ren seemed a lot more open after their little talk. Now all she hoped he would keep to this way and act more sociable to the rest of the party.

“At least he isn’t as bad as Natsu,” Lucy shrugged.

Omake: Oh I didn’t know…

“Ren, are you positive this will work?” Lucy asked as she held up both her keys and her caller and chains.

“If it doesn’t we lose nothing and if it does, you will be able to retrieve the items from your inventory so your keys won’t be lost,” Ren said to Lucy who seemed uncertain but nodded.

Placing Virgo’s key onto the gem, the gem absorbed Lucy’s key and her vision was filled with text.

[Spirit Series Unlocked] 

[Celestial Spirit: Virgo Acquired]

[Celestial Spirit Chain: Virgo Unlocked]

[Equip Bonus: +8 Mana]

[Special Bonus: Specs Bind {Encloses Target In Chains Made Of Rock}]

Lucy looked at all her new weapons, the collar changed from a silver plain collar to a golden color with the sign of Virgo right next to the gem of the collar.

“Hmm, let’s see,” Lucy hummed as she held the chain, “Open… Gate of the Maiden: Virgo,” Lucy said uncertain how to call the spirit, hoping the process would be the same.

Her collar snapped open, shining an almost blinding light from it. Forming in front of Lucy the pink haired maid formed right in front of the collar.

“Princess! I did not know you would finally punish me,” Virgo said as she finally formed in front of Lucy.

“Will you stop saying things like that!” Lucy yelled at Virgo. Out of the many questions Lucy frequently asked herself this was one. Why did her spirits have to be so… odd at times! God, if her cheeks were any more pink from embarrassment she would match Natsu’s hair. “And will you stop laughing!” she yelled at Ren who was trying hard to not laugh at Lucy’s expense.

As the the two continued to talk and circle through Lucy’s spirits which seemed to embarrass her more and more each time something else seemed to be happening behind the screens none of them knew about.

-Channel Created-

(Mod) FrmDst2Dst Added

(User) Bar-Batos Added

(User) Zhongli Added

(User) Raiden_CantCook Added

(User) Nahida-Buer Added

(User) Cheese Fountain Added

(User) Muratatata Added

(User) Star-itsa Added

(Mod) FrmDst2Dst: Huh, I was not expecting this update.

(Mod) FrmDst2Dst: Oh well… Hello Archons! I am your moderator on this channel. I’m familiar with this, so a brief summary of what’s going on. I’m the Spirit of the Bomber Hero, a hero from another world. While you view this chat you can donate Mora from your world to make simple quests she can see.

(Mod) FrmDst2Dst: Also, I am obligated to mention, this is a child, keep things appropriate.

(Mod) FrmDst2Dst: Also, no politics and remember to not make long texts, knowing one of you in particular will do it.

Bar-Batos: Oh! My! ME! This is awesome!

Nahida-Buer: Huh, I did not expect this of all things to happen to me today.

Zhongli: Huh, so I could donate money in exchange for influencing the child’s actions?

Muratatata: Wait… I’m counting 8 people here… and if one of you is not an Archon, did we get a new Geo? Did that happen while I was fighting?

Bar-Batos: Yes.

Zhongli: No.

Cheese Fountain: Identity theft is a serious crime.

Zhongli: No, I am not.

Zhongli: I just simply had my death greatly exaggerated.

Muratatata: THE OLD COOT IS ALIVE!

Nahida-Buer: *CabbageGoddess.png*

Nahida-Buer: Ah! It took a picture of me. I didn’t mean to send that! Sorry! Does anyone know how to delete this?

Muratatata: OH! MY! GOODNESS! I don't remember the Dendro Archon being this adorable!!!

Bar-Batos: CABBAGE GODDESS! CABBAGE GODDESS!

Muratatata: CABBAGE GODDESS! CABBAGE GODDESS!

Nahida-Buer: I’m the goddess of knowledge, not cabbages.

Bar-Batos: CABBAGE GODDESS! CABBAGE GODDESS!

Muratatata: CABBAGE GODDESS CABBAGE GODDESS!

(Mod) FrmDst2Dst: Both of you stop it before I mute both of you. I have that power.

Chapter Text

Chapter 5:

A/N: Hey guys, the ReRewrite Authors Notes here! How are ya. So, again, leave a comment and remember I read the bookmarks! So if you leave a funny comment there odds are I've read it! I'm looking at you Iplay37 with "Shooty shooty bang man has taught klee how to swear and shooty shooty bang woman is mad about that" I love it and it's funny! Now, again little editing this chapter. So next time we got a Ruby and Itsuki chapter! So look forward to that. Now! Let's! BEGINNNNNN!

Oh, and before I forget, as the anniversary of the original fic is coming up, September 19th, I plan to drop something special for that day! So look forward to that! Now, without further adieu, let's start!

A/N: Hey! Good morning, evening, night, whatever time it is for you wonderful people! Man, I was not expecting to pump this chapter out so soon, but hey! It's done. This chapter we get to see our favorite little raccoon girl. So here is the deal for the next few chapters. I am not changing what will be happening as I planned, with Itsuki being next and then Motoyasu, but the chapter after Motoyasu will be one going back to Naofumi and the group, a Raphtalia centric chapter if you will. 

Now without further adieu, here you go my wonderful people! Be sure to comment, again this is something that motivates us authors to no end! Hell, even comments on older chapters feel good to read.

A week had passed since the trial and Naofumi found himself quite busy dealing with his party and life in another world. His life around Castle Town was quite hard the first few days, especially when they tried to make money by selling the monster drops from the balloon monsters. He had almost gotten a bad deal and cheated but luckily Koneko had managed to threaten one of the shopkeepers by crushing a balloon he forgot was there in one movement and scared the man. She did seem to have a soft spot for the apothecary they had gotten to know from trading goods with. Speaking of the girl, he found trying to interact with her quite hard to do. She would often keep to herself and not speak unless spoken too. Shaun often tried to interact with her but he did most of the talking for the two of them. Speaking of Shaun, he and Abigail also had an odd habit of when they were working up they began speaking and moving in sync with one another, neither of them seemed to even notice it either, which did lead to a few problems.

One of the big problems they learned quickly was that Shaun and Abigail did not seem to be able to sleep like they normally would. The second day out camping, Abigail took first night shift and stayed up all night. When morning came, Shaun had bags under his eyes and had no energy for the entire day. Ibuki thought it had something to do with them sharing the title of one hero, which everyone seemed to agree with.

Ibuki was by far the only one in his party who seemed to have no issues with anyone. She hung around Naofumi and kept him entertained with her endless supply of energy, she always checked in with both Abigail and Shaun to make sure they were not over doing themselves, and even from time to time she managed to get Koneko to give some form of a reaction. Speaking of the aloof girl, she seemed to always be doing her own thing, she did begin to warm up to Naofumi when he cooked, everyone praised him, which was weird. Was his cooking really that good? He thought it was pretty average.

Now, though among the problems they had in their small little camp, they always seemed to be related to Abigail and Shaun somehow. Both arguing who would get the gun, who wanted the last bit of food, they even argued over who wanted the first shift more. And now, there was the grand debate over a game they both played.

 “Alright! So we are in agreement that FGO’s big sis Jeanne is better than Apocrypha’s version. But Shinjuku Jealter is much better than both. We can agree, yes?” Abigail said as she and Shaun seemed to settle down now. They both seemed really drawn into their conversation, not even batting an eye to Koneko who had begun to steal bits and pieces of their food.

“Yo! Naofumi! Koneko!” Ibuki emerged from a few bushes, seemingly out of nowhere. “Check this little guy out! I saw it wandering around and was wondering if we could keep it?” Ibuki said as she revealed something she had hidden behind her. In her hands was a balloon, which was nothing out of the ordinary. What was unique about it was its color. Normally balloons only came in three colors, orange, yellow and red, but this one was unique, it was a bright silver color.

“Rare mob?” Koneko questioned.

This was one of the problems Naofumi had to deal with. For all the pros he gave Ibuki. For some reason she was so insistent on getting a pet balloon. He did not know why, but she did. On the day after the trial she got an orange balloon she titled, “Mr. Bounce.” He died almost immediately when a very tired Shaun killed him, which itself was scary because he was still in the tent, but very sleep deprived. The weird part was, Abigail was holding him and took a step back when it happened, saving her. The power of luck or of the Legendary Guns and Bayonets was one they all found quite confusing.

“Ibuki, we said no pet balloons. Remember Mr. Bounce the first through Mr. Bounce VI?” Naofumi reminded her. Mr. Bounce VI lasted longer, but was the poor soul unfortunate to be killed when threatening all those who offered unfair deals to them. Mr. Bounce VI will be missed.

Ibuki wanted to counter, but all Mr. Bounces all ended up dying one way or another. It was the tragic tale of the balloon race. Weak starter monsters that would just die.

“Fine…” Ibuki said, disappointed. Putting the small balloon go and letting it bounce away from their camp. “See you later Mr. Bounce VII,” the Ultimate waved goodbye. 

Letting out a sigh, Naofumi was not entirely happy to see his party in such a way. “Ibuki, why do you keep bringing back balloons? I mean, they keep on dying …”

“Well, yeah! I expect Mr. Bounce to die,” Ibuki said, blowing on her hair, her voice a rather bored and frustrated tone. “But I want to get a pet for everyone! That way we go from ahh to AHHH! You understand?”

“Kind of…” Naofumi said, tilting his head. In all honesty, Ibuki was confusing to understand.

Sensing the confusion, Ibuki sighed and dropped her head. “Okay. Listen. The mood here just seems so bland. You know? So Ibuki thought, “Hey! Getting a pet will cheer everyone up!” Koneko always seems so distant and Abigail and Shaun keep arguing over weird things. Even you seem stressed! And you can’t rock like that!”

Everyone turned to face Ibuki. Both Gun and Brawler heroes stopped bickering and stealing food, all of them paying attention to Ibuki. Naofumi himself was pretty impressed with Ibuki. All this time with all the Mr. Bounces, she just wanted to boost their morale. He had not expected that.

“Aww! Ibuki, that’s so sweet!” Abigail and Shaun said at the same time and ran up to the rocker to give her a hug. “Can we get a pet, please Naofumi! Please!”

Naofumi looked at the two gunners and then changed his look to Koneko who shrugged as she walked over and jabbed Shaun in the side of his ribs, knocking both him and Abigail out of sync. “I mean… I guess I don’t see the problem. But we do not have much money…”

“Oh! Oh!” Shaun shot back up from clenching his side, “I know a place in the city that we can go to.”

“You do?” Abigail asked, “I don’t remember seeing any place like that.”

“Well we have never been there. But I know the lore of this world and if we look for a circus tent in the city we will find it!” Shaun said with a happy expression on his face.

As Ibuki and Naofumi were talking with Shaun in detail, Koneko was more focused on Abigail who was staring at Shaun. Something in the back of the female gunner knew that this was not just a normal trip to get a pet, she knew it. What it was, that was not something she could tell.

“Hell yeah! I’ve always wanted to see the circus!” Ibuki cheered, jumping up and down.

“It’s not a circus,” Shaun quickly amended, his smile on his face grew awkward as he began to fidget with his arm, “It’s actually a slave trading place, wooo,” he cheered very quietly. Ibuki seemed to stop her jumping and cheering before whipping her head around to Shaun with a slack jaw.

“What do you mean slave trade?!” Ibuki yelled, shaking Shaun back and forth.

“Ibuki, stop,” Koneko held the girl’s arm and then turned to Shaun, “Explain.”

“Okay, okay!” Shaun raised his hands up. “So, Naofumi. You may be out of the loop, but this world has demi-humans and beastmen, intelligent and capable of speech, but still considered less than humans in countries like Melromarc. Well before we came, there was a wave, appeared over a village. Now, some survived, but the survivors were taken prisoner, and a little girl who used to live there is in that city. Right. Now! So guys you in?”

“Shaun,” Naofumi looked at Shaun in the eyes, “How do we know that girl would be in there? Also how do you know all that is true?”

“Fair,” Shaun nodded. “Well, so far the information that was from both Abigail and my world is the most loyal to this world’s events. And I want to try and save those who are still alive. I know one of them might be in a man named Raiber’s territory Naofumi, but I do not know when he will get there. All I know is that he’ll be alive by at least the wave after this, but right now all I know is a girl who might die soon if we do not help her is in that city,” he pointed at the Castle Town, his eyes determined as he looked at the Shield Hero. “I can give you more reason, but please. Just say yes. If she is not there, I don’t know, I’ll give all the coins I have saved,” he offered, which got a small shout from Abigail when she yelled that they shared that coin.

Naofumi looked uncomfortable as he glanced over at Shaun, who held eye contact, not showing any urge to budge on his desire. He then looked to Abigail who shrugged. Koneko seemed focused on Shaun. Then Ibuki seemed to share a similar look to his.

“I think we should go for it,” Abigail said, crossing her arms. “I mean it is better for us than some sadistic creep or something.”

“But… we’d be buying a slave,” Ibuki said, “Ugh! Ibuki can’t decide! Naofumi, Koneko?”

“When Shaun put it like that.” Naofumi scratched his chin. He turned to Koneko to get her vote but the girl muttered something about how she would be outvoted regardless of her decision.

In the end, what seemed to be a typical morning for the Shield Hero had its mood changed at the mention of a little slave girl. Grabbing the coin needed to buy the girl they traveled back into the city. 

Beloukas’ tent seemed a lot bigger than Shaun had expected it to be. There was no mistaking it though, it was the place where Filo’s egg would appear. Still, it was quite the odd feeling knowing you were about to buy a slave.

“This gotta be the place,” Abigail said, her head raised as she looked at how tall the tent was. “Ya ready?” she asked as she turned to the party. The party remained silent but agreed to go in. Naofumi being the only adult of the group of five he led them into the tent.

As they entered the tent, the first thing they noticed was how dimly lit the place was with a few lanterns keeping the place from being pitch black. They also noticed things like the large amount of cages filling the area, creating a tall aisle full of monsters, beastmen, and demi-humans.

“Oh… P.E.T.A. would not like this...” Abigail said as she glanced around the place.

“Hello?” Naofumi called out into the tent. “Anyone here?”

“Wow, Sarto. You know how to pick places,” Koneko said as she looked around the slave tent. “Let’s split up, see if anyone is around.”

“Got it,” Ibuki nodded. “Hey! Shaun. Any details on the girl we’re looking for exactly?”

“Little girl, about 10 years old. Either a raccoon or tanuki ears and tail. She has a cough. That’s all I remember about her as she should be right now,” Shaun listed off. “The shopkeeper is a small fat man, so look around for him.”

The tent was quite large, and the many aisles made it feel like a labyrinth, a confusing maze that made it hard to tell where you were going and where you came from. It was a miracle they could tell their left from their right.

Then there was Ibuki, who was not the kind of person to just walk in silence.

“Hey! Hey! Anyone out there?! Ibuki and her party are looking for you!”

Yes, Ibuki was definitely a one of a kind kind of girl. She didn’t seem to hold back at all, a charming aspect of hers. Though, as charming as it was, some may find her loud tendencies quite annoying.

“Shut up!” one of the slaves in the cage yelled.

“Oh, sorry,” Ibuki apologized before running around another corner.

In another aisle made of cages  Naofumi looked around and no one was there either. Another dead end.

He let out a frustrated sigh. How did Shaun manage to convince him to go and buy a slave? Their reputation was already pretty bad so buying one might make things worse for everyone else. Still, Shaun’s desire to help someone also was pretty convincing.

Naofumi turned to look at one of the slaves in the cage. They were what he imagined a beastman was, their body covered entirely in fur with an animal head, but the body was human-like. When he tried to look at the level it was replaced by question marks. Was it really that high a level that he could not read it?

“I see you are admiring my goods,” a voice came from behind Naofumi, scaring the shield. Turning behind him, Naofumi saw the man they must have been looking for, he was a short fat man dressed in a suit with a long hat on top. He had an odd smile on his face, which scared and creeped him out at the same time. “You have a good eye there. This right here is one of my higher end products. Level 80, gladiator beast-man. He is my current pride and joy, or at least till someone comes and buys him or does him in. What do I owe you for the pleasure?”

Naofumi opened and closed his mouth. It felt oddly dry, “U-um, me and my party are looking for a slave,” Naofumi said to the man, whose grin widened.

“Well you came to the right place. Do you perhaps know what you are looking for? A fighter? An errand boy? Or perhaps something more carnal, Sir Shield Hero?”

Naofumi’s cheeks slightly blushed at the last comment but quickly rebounded, “You know who I am?”

“It is important to know who our saviors are so we can give them proper thanks,” the man said, “Now, what will it be?”

“I’m looking for a specific demi-human. She is either a raccoon or tanuki and is around 10 years old,” Naofumi said.

“Hmm, I think I have just what you have in mind,” Beloukas said as he led Naofumi through the cages. “So, Sir Shield Hero, why do you want this slave in particular?”

“I heard about what happened to that village after the first wave. My party member said that at least one of the survivors would be here so we thought we would try our luck. You know, try to get as many as we can back.”

“Hmm, the one in Seaetto? That is quite the hard mission you are taking on,” Beloukas said with a grin growing on his face as they continued to walk. When Beloukas stopped, he turned to a cage with a green sheet covering it, keeping the light away from the one inside. “This the one you’re looking for, yes?”

Slowly bringing the sheet up, Naofumi saw who he believed was the one they were looking for. In brown rags that could barely be called clothes. Her hair was all messed up and matted, her skin was awfully pail, and her eyes almost looked dead inside.

Naofumi nodded, “How much for her?” he asked.

“In her current condition, about 40 silvers. Though I must ask, are you sure this is the one you wish for?” Beloukas asked. “She has a nasty illness and night terrors to boot. In all honesty I think it would be best to let die than to suffer any further. Her previous Master also had quite the affinity toward torture, so the girl will be quite squeamish.”

“It doesn’t matter,” was all Naofumi said to the man. “40 silver?” he repeated and Beloukas nodded. He grabbed a bag and tossed it to the man.

Nodding, Beloukas grabbed a key and opened the cage. He grabbed the chain connected to Raphtalia’s collar and forced her out. “Right this way.”

Taken to an open area near the entrance, Naofumi saw Ibuki and Koneko talking about something, both girls stopped when they saw Naofumi, Beloukas, and the young slave girl walking to the table.

“Naofumi! Hey! Did you find the girl?!” Ibuki asked, zooming around the Shield Hero, stopping him and the two behind him in their tracks. The slave girl seemed to start shaking when the loud rocker suddenly started to be so loud.

“Yes, Ibuki,” Naofumi said, which made the girl settle down, if only a little. Ibuki’s attention seemed to be changed to the slave trader and the slave. “Where is Abigail and Shaun?” Naofumi asked.

“Oh, they are somewhere,” Ibuki said, “Just don’t know where…”

Somewhere in the labyrinth of the slave tent, on opposite sides of the tent, the two gunners had given up almost entirely on trying to escape the maze they found themselves trapped in.

“Alright this way,” Beloukas said as he guided both Naofumi and Raphtalia to a table. “Alright, now for this to be all well and done, Sir Shield Hero, all I need is for a little bit of your blood to finish this transaction and you can be on your way with your goods.”

Beloukas pushed a small tray in front of him, on it was a pen with a small knife blade instead of the normal point, a brush, and a small portion of black ink.

“Um, what is this for exactly?” Naofumi asked.

“Ah, I suppose you would not know. In order to keep a slave in line, we use a special crest, a slave crest. It is a powerful curse that inflicts pain on the person when they disobey a direct order..”

“Um, can we just pay for the little girl and not do the whole slave crest thing?” Ibuki asked.

“No can do I’m afraid,” Beloukas shook his head. “Proper conduct and what not, and technically speaking I would not be selling you a slave if we did not do this. And my business card does say I only deal in slaves and monsters, not demi-human or beastmen specifically. Wording is quite important, dear.”

Ibuki remained silent and nodded. Naofumi looked at the knife and raised it up. He took a glance at the slave girl and pressed the knife onto one of his fingers. A small amount of blood dropped into the ink, creating small ripples in it. Once there was enough, Beloukas raised his hand and grabbed a brush and the ink. He went to the slave girl and brought her brown tunic down a little exposing a purple seal on her body. He dipped his brush into the ink and put it onto the girl, drawing a circle.

“Aaaaahhhh!” the slave girl yelled.

“Hey, what’s going on?!” Naofumi turned to Beloukas.

“Ah, this is normal. Do not worry, the pain will subside soon,” he said with a grin never leaving his face.

As the light begun to fade, Naofumi noticed a change in his vision, a notification

[Slave A Has Joined Your Party]

“Will that be all?” Beloukas asked.

“Yes,” Koneko shot in. “Yo, Sarto! Wilts! We’re out!” Koneko yelled over the cages.

“Get us out of here!” a desperate plea came from far in the tent and reached them.

Naofumi sighed, “Ibuki, Koneko. Please get them out,” he asked. Both girls did as requested and went back into the tomb of misery and sorrow.

Now, Naofumi was left alone with the slave girl who still looked scared as she tried to avoid his gaze.

“Um…” Naofumi tried to think of a way to start a conversation. “Hello. I’m Naofumi, what’s your name?” he tried to ask.

“...”

That went nowhere. “Hey, I can’t call you Slave A, now can’t I? Please tell me your name.”

“...”

Okay, yeah. Nowhere. The two of them stayed in awkward silence for a moment. The girl stayed unresponsive and Naofumi tried to think of something.

“I heard what happened to your village,” the girl flinched. “You were a victim of the first wave and those knights who raided your home,” Naofumi decided to take a seat right in front of the girl. “My friend, his name is Shaun. He wants to try and find those from your village.”

“W-what…”

“Hmm?”

“What about you?” the girl asked, her voice was dry, sounded like she had not had anything to drink in days.

“Me?” Naofumi asked, the girl nodded. “Well, I suppose it would not hurt to help. After all, it is a hero’s duty to help people.”

“Hero?” the girl repeated, tilting her head in curiosity.

Naofumi nodded. “I guess you will learn sooner or later. I am one of the heroes, the Shield Hero.”

“Like the Cardinal Heroes?”

“Yep,” Naofumi nodded. The light in her eyes seemed to shine, that seemed good. “So, how about you tell me your name now?”

The slave girl looked at the man for a moment before speaking, “I-I am-” Unfortunately for the girl, she was interrupted by violent coughs that seemed to make breathing impossible for the girl.

“Hey, hey! It’s okay,” Naofumi tried to comfort her, resting a hand on her back as she slowly began to regain her breath. “There, much better, now let’s try this again. I’m Naofumi, and you?”

“I-I’m Raph… Raphtalia.”

“Raphtalia?” Naofumi said. The girl looked up at him, a soft and warm smile appeared over his face. “That is a really nice name.”

As Raphtalia was about to speak, the sound of voices could be heard getting closer. The rest of his party began to come through in one group, which seemed to scare the girl.

“Guys, welcome back,” Naofumi greeted them. “Raphtalia, this is my party. Koneko, Ibuki, Abigail, and Shaun. Everyone, meet Raphtalia.”

“This her?” Abigail asked. She got on one knee and looked at the girl on eye level. “Hello, I’m Abigail Wilts, one of the Apprentice Gun Heroes, nice to meet you.”

“And I’m Shaun Sarto, the other Gun Hero,” the glasses-wearing member of the party said, waving hello.

“Yo,” was all Koneko said.

“Hey! Hey! Introductions are a go-go! I am, I, Buki, Mio, Da! Put ‘em together and what do you get? Ibuki Mio-DA!” Ibuki rolled her hands as she spoke and to punctuate herself when she finished she extended her hands out with a giddy expression. Sadly her head was thrown up as Koneko grabbed her hair and pulled down. “What the hell?!”

“You’re scaring her,” Koneko said. She was right, the little raccoon-tanuki was hiding behind Naofumi.

“Oh, I’m so sorry,” the rocker apologized, “That was so not rocking of me. Please forgive Ibuki. Will ya, little rocker?”

Raphtalia peaked her head around Naofumi and looked up to her new Master who only smiled and nodded at her. Raphtalia turned to Ibuki and whispered, “It’s fine.”

After a few more antics from Ibuki, the party plus Raphtalia left the slave tent. Their first destination was to get the little girl new clothes. Ibuki suggested going to the tailor or something, but Shaun suggested to get her kit with some adventurers clothes from Erhard, since they still were camping outside, it would be best for her to be armored up in some chainmail.

When they arrived at the blacksmith’s Erhard made the obvious joke on saying Naofumi was building a harem, which was made even funnier when Naofumi retorted that the fact he was thinking Raphtalia was an addition to this alleged “harem” made Erhard more of a lolicon. Their business was short there, getting Raphtalia an oversized chainmail and boots along with a knife for her to start out with.

After leaving Erhard, the party wandered the city, casually talking about their next move.

“We’re going to have to set up somewhere different soon,” Naofumi said, “Also get a new tent for Raphtalia to sleep in.”

“We might also have to take into account money on food,” Shaun mentioned. “That’ll be a bit expensive for a bit but if we hunt our food we should be good.”

“Why’s that?” Ibuki asked.

“Oh, that’s right. You don’t know,” Shaun hit his head, “I keep forgetting these things. Yeah, demi-humans and beastmen are seen as less than human because unlike humans, they grow with their level. So a ten year old could grow into an early twenty year old in the span of a month,” Shaun said with a shrug.

“Really?” Naofumi said in amazement.

“Yep, but they do need to eat a lot. And if Raphtalia is going to stay with us, I kind of expect her to grow. Don’t worry, it won’t shorten her lifespan or anything. They also mature mentally too, to a degree. So later, don't treat her like a kid. It’d probably be embarrassing.”

“Well we do have to feed Koneko, so what’s one more hungry mouth,” Naofumi jokes, causing the group, excluding Raphtalia and Koneko to laugh, one confused and the other annoyed.

Speaking of…

Two distinct growls from stomachs got the attention of the heroes. One from their white haired party member the other from the demi-human.

“I’m sorry/This does not prove anything,” they said at the same time.

Laughter erupted again. Naofumi guided them to a place he remembered seeing people eating at. When they entered, Raphtalia was the last to enter, she hid close to Naofumi and sat next to him.

“Hey, can we order here?” Naofumi called over a waiter.

When ordering, Raphtalia paid close attention to everyone around her. Naofumi said he was the Shield Hero. Was he telling the truth? And everyone else. Shaun and Abigail seemed to be nice, if only a little odd when they started talking at the same time. Ibuki was loud, but she didn’t seem to be mean. Then Koneko, Raphtalia could not tell what to think of her, but when Raphtalia was eating and finished before Koneko, the girl gave her some of her food, which made her nervous. Naofumi told her to go ahead, and while she was scared, she did as she was told.

Raphtalia did not understand this. Her last masters would never treat her like this. Why… She asked her that over and over.

“The Shield Hero, in particular, treated us demi-humans very well…” a memory of her father telling her about the Heroes.

Was it… was it because he was a hero, she asked herself. But maybe, maybe that wasn’t it. She did not know, but all she could do was hope. Hope that this man, these people, will be the ones to help her.

Raphtalia took another bite of the food Koneko gave her. Her tail wagged behind her as she ate. Not seeing Naofumi’s smile as he looked behind him and saw her tail and the smile on her face.

Okay, Shaun may have had a point in finding this girl besides to find her village.

Far away in another part of Melromarc, miles away from Castle Town, in a dark underground dungeon, a large fat man walked out, the moon light being the only source of light besides that of the flickering candle.

At the far end of the dungeon, a man with four arms and purple cloud tattoos had each of his hands chained to a wall, keeping them far away from each other. His face was covered by a purple mask that covered all but his mouth.

“Mister! Please! Mister!” a desperate voice of a young child with wolf ears pleaded with the chained man.

“Alatus… is that you?” the man asked.

“No, it’s me. Keel!” the sound of a strained voice escaped from the child. “Mister, please. You’re hurt. You have to eat.”

“Keel… Keel… Ah, I remember,” the four armed man said, “No, I do not need my portions. Child, please eat.”

“Sir, Master Raiber will keep beating you,” a beastman from another cell said, “You need your strength.”

“No,” said the chained man. “I remember something, a vague memory.”

“ Bo$@[1us, by agreeing to this contract, you will protect the people of L(Vu3.”

“ Yaksha. It’s a parent’s duty to look after their children. That is why I look over you. Why I look over }{*k@n and |u(0k@ . I must look after them because no one did back in their world. And I will do the same with you.”

“It is my duty… my duty to protect. And how can I say I am a guardian if I cannot keep one child safe.”

“Mister,” Keel tried to speak, but Keel’s voice came out choked, tears almost coming out of their eyes. “Please, you can’t protect anything if you are weak! Please.”

“Keel,” the man said, bringing his head as close as he could to Keel’s bars, close enough to where a skinny, pale, and malnourished hand could reach out and touch his face. “While I do not remember, I know this body has been through much more. So please, do not worry. I know I can last much longer than this.”

“Mister…”

??? 

Level 1

Mask Hero

Equipment: Hemp Rags, ??? Mask (Legendary Weapon)

Race: ???

Max HP:?/100

Max MP:?/100

Max SP:0/50

Karma: ?

Strength: ?

Defense: ?

Magic: ?

Agility: ?

Attack: ?

Status Effect(s):

Karmic Curse 

A/N: Boy howdy! I do sure hope you enjoyed this chapter. If some of you missed my previous Authors notes PLEASE READ ME!

As I said in the last chapter, I have my roster of Glass' World Apprentice Heroes. Now, like last time I will be open to suggestions on what weapons to give them. Note that some of them have already been chosen like this guy, but besides that I am all ears. Sadly I am not taking requests on who to put in the spot of the new apprentice heroes but I will be reading. But I mean hey, if you have a good enough reason I might take the suggestion and think it over. We still have some time.

Now, I'm sure some of you might be wondering, "Hey Appah, who was that with Keel?" Well for all you people who play Genshin Impact you will know if you played the Chasm event, if not or you do not play Genshin, go and search up Genshin Yaksha. Now with that being said. This is the end of the chapter. I hope you all enjoyed and I'll see you next time.

Chapter Text

Chapter 6

A/N: We're back with the Rere Notes! Now then, I gotta say, this is still one of my favorite chapters! I just always liked it.

Now then, I don't have much else to say, I hope you enjoy!

A/N: Okay! Wow! I was not expecting to do this chapter the way I did. But boy I am not disappointed with it. I'm sure it is a great chapter and I am quite happy in the direction I took it in.

So I am hoping to whatever God is out there that is good! Because I wrote this at 2-3AM! So I am tired! I cannot really tell what is a good and bad idea anymore but I sure as hell hope this is a good idea! This chapter focuses on Ruby more than Itsuki, but oh well. This is called "Rising of the Apprentice Heroes" after all, not Rising of the Four Heroes. Which, speaking of, is a good fic, and you should definitely check it out!

Also before I go, I want to say THANK YOU ALL for 4k hits. It may not be much compared to fics with higher word counts or even more hits, but this means a lot to me. So thank you all. Be sure to leave kudos, bookmarks, and comments, ESPECIALLY COMMENTS! Oh, and again, be sure to share your Apprentice Weapon ideas. I want to hear them for Glass' world! So please share!

Alright, now with further delay, here is the sixth chapter of my so-so fic!

Ruby hated this world so much.

Do not get her wrong, it was cool and everything, magic and fantasy stuff were her favorite kinds of books to read that were not comics. This place seemed like a dream and a half when she got here. Be a hero, save the day, and become famous and loved by people and doing what is right. What more could her little huntress heart desire more? Well, it desired a lot more than she originally thought, and most love for this world changed when a realization hit her. Ignoring all that related to her life on Remnant, which meant it wasn’t that her world was most likely one that provided entertainment for another. It is not that she would not be able to see her family for a long time. It is not that her sister might lose an arm or that she left her precious baby back home! No! It was not any of that! What she hated the most out of all this right now was the lack of technology!

Sure, Ruby could survive perfectly fine without her scroll. She was not someone who really used social media besides to watch funny Grimm videos, like the one of a Sabyr from Atlas being afraid of a cucumber of all things. What sucked so royally was that there were no machines! Nothing for her to practice with! Nothing for her to tinker and let her mind wander with! Heck, one of her favorite pastimes of cleaning Crescent Rose was no longer an option! Her new scythe was pretty, do not get her wrong, the weapon she got from the black bear that attacked her was awesome and its stats were wicked, but it was so simple! It had no gun to it! No gears that turned and made the most majestic music she could ever listen to! None of it! And even worse, all the cool weapons she saw at Erhard’s shop, she could not use almost all of them!

A world full of new opportunities and here she was bored out of her mind. She couldn’t even read. Out of the party of five, three of them were illiterate and the other two didn’t seem to want to teach her. She knows this from the first week of adventuring, when they went to the adventurers guild to look for quests. The mage seemed annoyed when she asked what the quest said. The blonde girl seemed nice and all, but she also seemed a little standoffish with Ruby.

As for the quest they had taken, it had taken them to a town a day's travel by carriage away from the capital, and two by foot. They traveled by foot, nothing wrong with that, but God if it wasn’t made a long and boring trip by Mald and Itsuki.

At first, Itsuki and Ruby had plenty to talk about. For example, Remnant had its heroes called Huntsmen, which Itsuki found amazing. Itsuki’s version of Earth apparently had people who were born with abilities and were called ESPERs, and Itsuki was one of them. Things seemed to be going great with him, Itsuki and Ruby shared a desire to be a hero and they seemed like they would get along fine, but then when it came to talking about their abilities they had from their own world things got weird for Ruby.

Itsuki apparently had an ability that made his ability to use projectiles much better than the average person, something called “Accuracy,” and to show it off, Itsuki managed to shoot a bird from the sky. It was when Ruby showed off her Semblance was when things got weird and awkward. She showed off her “Petal Burst,” a flashy Semblance that made her go super fast by turning her body into a flurry of rose petals. She got quite a lot of compliments when she did it back at Signal, plus it also made her always smell like roses if she used it long enough, it was like a natural perfume! It was when she took a look at Itsuki did things get odd, he had a small scowl on his face, when she asked what was up, he seemed to snap out of whatever daze he was in and seemed to be back to normal or at least she thought.

From that point on, Itsuki seemed weird. He walked in front of her, when he talked to the group he looked directly at everyone else but gave her a small glance, he did not speak to her unless needed to, and when the first night away from the capital he had her stay up taking first watch to keep the party safe. It was not until around till Ruby noticed it had been four hours on the [Scroll Scythe] that she realized that they did not set up a schedule to when they would switch, she tried to get Mald to switch with her, but the man made an excuse about being a frontlines fighter and would need as much energy as he possible. Ruby tried the wizard of the group. And he said that he needed rest so he had as much mana as possible. By the time she got just those two up, another hour had passed. Lucky for Ruby she managed to switch with the girl with the spear, allowing Ruby to sleep at last. Unfortunately, they had gotten up early and Ruby was still waking up and low on energy when they told her to get ready to leave.

By the time they got to the village, Ruby was ready to pass out. It did not help at all with the comments Mald made about her needing to keep up and what good was super speed if she was going to slow them down. Itsuki said nothing about Mald’s comments! Nothing! Was he this rude to Lucy and Klee?!

The mission they had taken on was a relatively easy one. It had taken them to a town that was apparently being attacked by a group of large monsters that had come from the last wave. It wasn’t a really well guarded town and lacked any man made or natural defenses, it had a population of a few hundred, about 300 people, if a bit more. 

By the time they had arrived a few people had been found killed in their homes with their doors being broken down by the monsters killed in the middle of the night.

They had found a group of monsters hiding in a nearby cave; they were large rottweiler dog-like monsters that were roughly the size of beowolves, not like the young ones that had yet to grow any plate armor Ruby was able to take out without any problems but seemed to be closer to an alpha beowolves, if a little smaller.

During the night at the village, the party made their move on the dog monsters. The creatures were nocturnal or they did not like the sun, either way they made an attack on the cave they were hiding in. When they started to emerge from the cave, Itsuki knocked down some stalactites that managed to hit a wolf on the leg, crippling it.

Two of the wolves tried to escape and attack the party but Mald and Rojeel managed to keep them busy while Itsuki and Larona, the blonde woman with the spear, attacked the wounded monster. Ruby would have joined in with the attack, but something did not feel right. Ruby had killed her fair share of Beowolves on Patch, highest in her class if she was so bold, but if that taught her anything, it was “Every pack has a leader.” You always could tell who was in control of a pack, in normal wolves you could tell by the way they acted, in Beowolves it was in their shape. But none of these monsters seemed to match that.

Or at least not till something appeared behind her.

It was big, much taller than Ruby. It was like the other monsters behind Ruby, it looked like a rottweiler but bigger, much bigger, and had two heads.

[Level 20]

Ruby was caught off guard by the monster. It was roughly the same level as the bear she and Roy had encountered on their first day with Motoyasu. Only this time Ruby knew what to expect and knew not to underestimate the numbers.

Itsuki had called to her to help him. Apparently she was the highest leveled person in the party by three levels, which would have made things much harder for their party. Ruby was put into a bind. 

She needed to act fast. 

Either she focused on the two headed monster or help them fight with the single headed ones.

She needed to be quick.

Lucky for them, Ruby Xiao Long Rose’s middle name was Quick.

Well, actually it was Rook, but no one ever called her that unless she was in deep trouble, but she was getting distracted.

She activated her Semblance and moved herself above the monster she was fighting, her feet touching the ceiling for a moment before she pushed down. Her body spun, creating enough momentum to get a critical hit, if not with enough strength to decapitate two heads at once, then to at least cut their throats to bleed out.

Her scythe made easy work of the dog, the sound of both heads yelping in pain confirming she got her target. Ruby rushed over to the ones Mald and Rojeel had been trying to kill, she kept her momentum up and cut their throats open. All that was left was Itsuki. She activated her Semblance one last time and rushed over to kill the last beast.

But her Semblance gave out. Why did it give out? She did not know why it would give out, it had never given out before.

Or at least it did not when she did not have numbers attached to her aura.

Ruby Rose

Level 13

Apprentice Reaper Hero

Equipment: Other Worldly Cape, Other Wordly Clothes, Black Bear Scythe(Legendary Weapon)

Race: Human

Max HP:425/425

Max MP:425/425

Max SP: 245/245

Max AP: 0/1000

Strength: 81

Defense: 51

Magic: 46

Agility: 98

Attack: 53

Her Aura was out. She never hit zero just by using her Semblance before!

Ruby remembered distinctly saying a word that her sister and dad instilled in her not to say, and yet this was enough for her to be done with this system.

Still, Ruby could still fight, albeit a bit more dangerous without her Aura, but she would manage. She can manage.

Raising her scythe, moving with all the momentum she had left. In one swing, Ruby brought her scythe down, right into the back of the monster. The thing had its mouth around the spear Larona carried, its bite soon went slack, its body went limp, and her vision was gifted with a level up message twice.

She panted. Regaining her breath as the high of adrenaline and stress subsided and she felt herself feel a wave of relief after defeating all those monsters at once.

That night they had returned to the village. Ruby was happy the entire way back, she got compliments from most of the party, all but Itsuki, but at the time she did not notice. When they got back to the village to inform the lord of the news of their victory, they were greeted with the news of another break in.

Apparently when the leader of the pack had gone out and attacked another house of people. A grandparent along with their grandkid, the unfortunate child had been sent to visit her grandfather from a nearby town but was unfortunate and got caught up in the attacks. The lord gave Itsuki the reward money up front and to celebrate the next day Itsuki planned to have a small feast the next day.

Despite their victory that night, Ruby did not feel a sense of accomplishment. She completed her first quest as a hero! Yet she felt like she failed. Why did she feel so bad? She was a huntress in training. She knew she could not save everyone, a harsh reality, but even she was aware of it.

The next day, after they had completed the quest, Ruby was wandering the village. A lot on her mind as she looked at the trail and her feet as they moved one after the other, kicking a rock every so often. They would be leaving the next day, so for the rest of the day they would be free to do as they pleased.

The town was rather festive at the moment, with the news of the death of the monsters, the village thought it best to throw a celebration. Ruby thought it might be nice to go, keep her distracted, but something in her decided against it, something about it just did not sit well with her.

“Hey, the party is the other way,” a man called to her from behind. Ruby turned around and saw the one who called to her, he was an older man with gray hair, his body was not skinny or had a pot belly like some of the old men she had met back on Patch. In fact he was rather muscular for his old age, the only thing that seemed to worry her was how pale he was. Not like how pale people from Atlas were, but pale like he had not seen the sun in days or the blood had drained from his body. The man had a wheelbarrow in front of him with two large stones and a shovel. “It’s the other direction, you know.”

“O-oh, I know that,” Ruby said. “I’m just clearing my head.”

“Hmm,” the man raised an eyebrow and shrugged his shoulders. “Alright,” he said, “Well if you’re heading to the cemetery, so if you don’t want to be walking amongst the dead, I suggest heading back.”

Ruby looked at the man and then back to the road she was walking down. She then turned and looked at the wheelbarrow, those were not just stones, they were gravestones. They were blank but inside Ruby noticed a chisel near the bottom.

“Oh… Well I have nothing else to do,” she said, fidgeting with her scythe, “And I honestly don’t really want to go back to the party,” she admitted.

The man in front of her nodded, “Understandable,” he said. “I myself do not believe it is the right time to celebrate. At least wait till the dead are properly buried.” The man shrugged and picked his wheelbarrow up and began to walk off, “Maybe I’m just being grumpy, who knows.”

Ruby watched him walk away. A frown on her face as she looked at him and heard the faint noise of the celebrations. She looked behind her for a moment. Some children were playing and others were openly getting drunk already. Making up her mind, she took a step.

“Hey!” she chased after him, a trail of rose petals following her. “Do you need any help? I’m free after all.”

The man turned back to Ruby, a confused look on his face. “Why would a young girl like yourself help out an old man like me when you could be at that party anyways. I’m sure plenty of men would want to try and become your suitors.”

“S-suitors?” Ruby repeated, her face going almost as red as her cape. “I-I’m way too young for stuff like that!” she said. Coughing into her fist, Ruby tried to regain her composure, despite the faint dust of red across her cheeks. “It isn’t fun to spend your day alone when everyone else is celebrating,” Ruby crossed her arms, “Besides, it’s a hero’s duty to help others out.”

“Hero?” the man muttered, glancing the girl up and down before shrugging. “Fine, if you can, take this,” he said as he grabbed his shovel and walked along, leaving the wheelbarrow in front of her.

It was awkward carrying her scythe with the wheelbarrow, but Ruby managed somehow to do it all in the process of not dropping her scythe and cutting her precious cape or herself.

The cemetery was a fair distance from the village, not far enough to where it was out of view, but it was far away enough that if you did not know it was there, you would have walked past it.

Ruby and the old man walked to a nice open spot in their cemetery. Plenty of room for the two gravestones.

“Kid, I’ll begin on the tombstones, you start digging the graves. Three feet wide, eight long, six feet deep and half a foot between each,” the man said to her as he grabbed each stone and placed them in front of himself, and followed by grabbing the chisel and hammer.

“Huh? You want me to dig them?” Ruby asked, her eyes wide with surprise.

“You don’t expect me to dig them, do you?” he argued back. “I may not be built like a stick, but my joints and back can barely move without some pain. You young kids should be looking out for the elderly!”

“Sorry!” Ruby apologized.

The man let out a powerful humph and blew air out his nose before going back to his work.

As Ruby began to work on the first hole, she used her scythe to cut the outline of the first and second grave. Placing her scythe down, Ruby placed her scythe on her back and began digging. It was a silent and repetitive process but Ruby did not say a thing. The sound of her shovel scooping up dirt and the sound of the man carefully chiseling the stone was almost calming.

“Kid!” the man called out, almost making Ruby jump.

“Yes!?” Ruby turned her head, wondering what made the man suddenly speak.

“You said you are a hero, right? That’s a bold claim to make, especially with the Cardinal Heroes and Seven Stars.”

“Oh, I’m an Apprentice Hero,” Ruby told the man, who turned her direction. “A few extra got summoned with the other heroes. I’m one of them,” she said, a weak chuckle coming from her. “See the scythe I have. I’m the Apprentice Reaper Hero. I’m currently traveling with the Bow Hero.”

The man let out a low hum, “Hmm. Maybe it was inappropriate for me to take you here.”

“Huh? Why?!” Ruby asked, concerned in her voice.

“A person in a hood and a giant scythe calling themselves a reaper in a graveyard? It sounds almost disrespectful.”

“What?  How is that disrespectful?” Ruby asked. “Is it something about not having weapons or not wearing coverings?”

The man seemed to be amused by Ruby’s response and began to laugh. “I heard heroes were summoned from other worlds. Don’t tell me you were brought here from a place that does not know of the Grim Reaper?”

“Well there is a rumor of a legendary Huntsman known as the Grimm Reaper where I’m from, but I don’t think that is what you mean,” Ruby admitted with a bashful smile.

The man nodded as he went back to the gravestone he was working on. “Hmm, well do you know what reaping means?”

“Pshh, of course I do,” Ruby said, “It’s collecting crops.”

The man hummed, “Why yes, that isn’t wrong. But the Grim Reaper harvests something different.”

“What’s that?”

“The dead,” the man said bluntly.

Ruby stopped shoveling for a moment as she turned to the man. “That’s horrible!”

The man chuckled, “Of course a kid will think that,” he said, which made Ruby annoyed. “Well the Grim Reaper is said to be the embodiment of death. A skeleton, dressed in black, and carrying a scythe wherever they may go. It is said they appear before all who are destined to die, since death is the one thing that nothing is immune from, it comes for everyone and everything.”

“That’s sad,” Ruby said.

The man nodded, “It is. Death should never not be a sad event,” he said. “But, I believe the Grim Reaper is not bad.”

“Huh? Why, they take the dead!”

“And that’s the response of a kid,” the man retorted. “I believe the Grim Reaper is good. They accompany the dead after they die so they do not lose their way,” he said. “They wear black so they do not get lost in the light at the end. They carry the scythe to keep us safe on our way to the afterlife. They are made of bone, to show that we all are the same underneath everything. And they appear, so when everyone else is mourning, they can be with you.”

Ruby had stopped digging and looked at the man. She did not expect to hear anything like that while out here. Maybe this man wasn’t that much of a grumpy old man.

“I don’t hear digging,” the man suddenly said.

Or she could be wrong.

“Maybe it was fate that you were led here,” the man said. “A reaper to guide these poor souls.”

Ruby did not respond to the man. She did not know what to say.

“Maybe you feel guilty that you could not act fast enough to save these two. Maybe that is why you did not want to go to the big party. Or, maybe. Just maybe. I’m an old coot who is talking out his ass.” 

Ruby snickered at that last part but she did think about what he had said. Was he right? Was she guilty? Was that what she had been feeling?

Despite the laughter, the Apprentice Reaper could not maintain a smile or keep digging. Not with what was on her mind. Her breath felt heavy now the more she thought about the idea of her being guilty, being a failure on her first quest meant she would be a failure for the rest of her time here.

“...and what if I did?” she asked, taking a glance at the old man. His chipping stopped but he made no comment. “We didn’t get here in time. If we went after them sooner or-or… if I had been faster.” Resting her head on top of the shovel handle, Ruby sighed. “My first mission and I failed.”

“Yeah, you did,” the old man said, going back to work, chipping away at the stones.

Ruby was left stunned for a few seconds, looking at him, trying to get her mind in order before going back to work.

Maybe she was not cut out for this.

For the next few hours, the two stayed quiet and worked. By the time Ruby had finished digging the first grave the man finished the first gravestone. It was beautifully made with her name, how long she lived and a beautiful image of a girl in a grove of flowers with the sun high in the sky. For it to be made in such a short time with stone was amazing. It was almost nightfall when Ruby finished her second grave and for hours the man had been free, the second gravestone was nowhere near as pretty as the first. It was neat and tightly, but unlike the previous one, the headstone only contained the essentials and nothing more.

Once Ruby was finished, the man had asked her to dig two more shallow holes for him to fit the gravestones. Ruby was happy to do so.

Once finished, the old man asked Ruby to place the two stones in their proper spot. Ruby again was happy to oblige the man’s request. First was the grandparent’s stone, which the old man insisted she did first. Next was the granddaughters. He had insisted Ruby be extra careful with that one in particular.

By the time they had finished the moon had begun to rise and the lights in town had begun to disappear aside from the street lamps that were far and few between.

Ruby and the old man took a step back to admire their work.

“Gotta say kid, not bad,” the old man said, giving Ruby a pat on the back.

“Aw, shucks,” Ruby said in a bashful voice. “You did plenty too, I just did the heavy lifting. You did amazing on the stones.”

“You did what now?” another voice piped in.

Itsuki was annoyed. Had been for a while now.

He thought he was the most powerful hero. He came from a world where people were gifted with special abilities, he was the only one of the four heroes to be gifted with powers from the very start, unlike the other three. Then there were the apprentices. A little girl was given a gift from the admins. Lucy was forcing people to act as her familiars. Roy managed to make him feel like a child when they switched parties. And now Ruby had powers to form her own world.

A flashy version of a super speed ability. She also apparently was bumped up a few grades to go to essentially a hero school where she came from.

She was most likely like those from his old high school. An attention seeker. Someone who acted to advance themselves only, and last night she proved that. Not only did she kill the boss monster, that two headed dog, but she also managed to kill all three others that the party was struggling to fight. She managed to one hit them all like it was nothing. To make things even worse, she acted like it was no big deal! How was that not a big deal to her? Was she trying to show off? 

Lastly she did not show up to the celebration. Did she not think these people were worthy of her? What was with her?

But that did not matter now. Itsuki had been asked by the lord of the village to say a few words at the funeral of the last people to die from those monsters. Of course as a hero, who was he to say no.

It was late when they arrived at the cemetery, the sun was gone and they would have to spend the night in the town.

When they had arrived, the ones carrying the coffins stopped. Itsuki, who was curious about the delay, found his way to the front and saw the shine of a curved blade, a silver gem that shined in the night.

“Aw, shucks,” Ruby said, rubbing the back of her head, “You did plenty too, I just did the heavy lifting. You did amazing work on the stones.”

“You did what now?” Itsuki asked. “Ruby, where have you been?” he demanded.

Ruby turned to face Itsuki, her rose red cloak fluttering in the wind and her silver eyes shined just like the gem in her weapon, glimmering in the light of the moon. “Oh, Itsuki,” Ruby said, surprised to see the Bow Hero. “I’ve been digging the graves with this guy!” Ruby said, her hand going next to her, acting as if she was patting someone.

Someone from behind Itsuki walked up from behind him. It was the lord of the village.

“So you were the one the people I sent to start digging told me about. Excellently done, I must say,” the lord said, praising the absent apprentice.

“Oh, thank you,” Ruby chuckled. “I just dug the grave though, he made the gravestones. So I cannot take much credit?”

“He?” the lord repeated.

“Yeah, he looks old. But he did an amazing job, right?!” Ruby said, leaning on something that wasn’t there.

“Ruby, what are you doing?” Itsuki questioned, crossing his arms. “There is no one there.”

“There is no one there.”

“Huh? What do you mean?” Ruby questioned.

The lord looked at her before bending over to look at the stones. “Hmm, these are accurate but I’m afraid we’re going to have to remove the girl’s.”

“Don’t you dare touch it!” The old man shouted loud enough to make Ruby flinch, but she soon caught herself and moved to the little girl’s grave, putting her hands on the tombstone so no one could take it.

“Come on Ruby, you’re obviously too tired, you’re seeing things.” Itsuki called to her.

“What? No I’m not!” Ruby retorted. “I’m also not seeing things.”

“There is no one next to you Ruby,” Itsuki said. “Now move aside. We have to bury the old grave digger and his granddaughter.”

Ruby was going to argue further but when she turned to look at the old man she had been with the entire day, Ruby’s eyes went wide. His pale skin seemed transparent. Not only his skin, his entire body was transparent, from his hair to his skin to his clothes. All see through.

“Come on kid, get moving,” Mald said to her, grabbing Ruby by the wrist to drag her away, but Ruby did not budge at first. “Kid, come on!” he said louder and tightening his grip. It hurt. Hurt enough that her Aura had begun to flare and she saw it dip down a point.

“Young man, do not touch her!” the old man shouted, he pushed past Ruby, not enough to really move her, but enough that she felt him.

As for Mald, he did not know what happened. One moment he was grabbing the red Reaper Hero, the next he saw something. It was the same shape of a person, a faint red glow was around it. Whatever it was, it pushed him, and he fell. Fell much longer than he should have. He felt a thud, he was surrounded by dirt walls. He had fallen into the grave meant for the old man.

As for everyone on the surface, everyone seemed to go white as they all stared at Ruby, or what was behind her.

Itsuki grabbed his bow and tried firing a shot at it, only for it to go through him.

“Oi!” the old man yelled, his voice to Ruby seemed much more echoey than before. “Didn’t your parents ever tell you not to attack the elderly!” he yelled. “And you!” he turned to the lord, “Don’t you dare try to remove my granddaughter’s gravestone!” he yelled before pointing down the grave where Mald yelled, “And you! Didn’t you learn that it is improper to be rough with women?! Also get out of my grave, I don’t wanting it stinking of all that sweat you got under that armor!””

Everyone was at a standstill. What was going on? Why was this transparent man yelling at them?

“Sirma?” one of the villagers holding a casket said in shock. “Is that you?”

“Damn right!” the old man shouted. “Now who is going to tell me why a little girl in a hood had to be the only one of you folks to dig my grave! Huh?!” he shouted.

“Ruby, explain what’s going on,” Itsuki demanded, his bow still pointed at the dead man.

“I-I don’t know,” Ruby said. “You’re dead?!”

The man chuckled as he turned to Ruby, “Heh, you caught me,” Sirma said. “I was surprised you could see, let alone hear me when I saw you,” he admitted.

“Well why are you here?” Ruby asked.

“I don’t know,” he admitted. “Maybe I still have some unfinished business or something. I can’t remember if I do though,” he said. “Hey, you,” he addressed everyone, “Go ahead and have your funeral. I don’t want to be at my own burial hosted by people who let a little girl dig an old man’s grave.”

Sirma waved his hand as he left the cemetery. Ruby looked between the two and wondered what she should do.

Oh, who was she kidding, she went after the ghost. She gave a quick apology to Mald before chasing after the ghost.

Ruby was taken to a house with a broken down door.

“Hello…” Ruby slowly opened the door. “You here?”

“Where else would I be,” Sirma said, sitting on a couch. His hands were occupied by a stuffed animal, it looked like some kind of lion plush, only it was slightly different, but Ruby could not tell. “So you followed.”

“Yeah…” Ruby said. “Where else would I be?” she said, letting out a small chuckle. “After all, I said I was the Reaper Hero and you are dead…”

“I thought reapers only collect crops?”

“Yeah…” Ruby chuckled. “So what are you going to do now?”

“Wait here. Maybe see if I will disappear naturally once my body is at rest.”

Ruby nodded, deciding to take a seat next to the man. “Mind if I stay with you then?” Ruby glanced at the man. The red glow he had when he was visible to everyone else seemed to disappear, her Aura dipped and seemed to have made it so his soul was being projected or something like that.

“That would be nice.”

The man sat there. Playing with the toy in his hand. “You know,” he said, “when I imagined being taken away by death, the last thing I imagined seeing was a little girl in a red cape being the last one to see me.”

“Sorry I’m no skeleton in all black,” she giggled, but that soon faded. “Mind if I ask you something.

“Go ahead,” Sirma said.

“Are you scared?” she asked. “To die I mean.”

Sirma looked at Ruby, stroking his chin as he thought. “You know what…” he began, looking at his ceiling. “I didn't peg you for being an idiot.”

“Huh!? What does that mean?!”

“Of course I’m scared!” he shouted. “What kind of idiot is not scared of death! I do not want to die!” Taking a breath, Sirma calmed down. “But, I’m not just scared. I’m also content, to an extent. I lived a long time. I had two wonderful children and many grandchildren. My only regret is that one had to suffer along with me.”

Ruby nodded.  She did not say anything. She did not have anything to add to this man.

“Alright, your turn is over. Mine now,” he said abruptly. “Are you ever going to use that big gardening tool or what?!”

“Hmm?” Ruby raised an eyebrow. What did he mean?

“You are the reaper, aren’t you?!” he shouted. “Isn’t it the purpose of a scythe to cut me from this world?”

Ruby’s eyes went wide, did he mean… “You want me to…”

“Cut this short, pretty much,” he said. He looked at Ruby, looked her in the eyes. They did not shine like they did outside, but rather were dull like iron. “Hey, listen. I am already dead, so you aren’t killing me kid. I don't belong here any longer.”

“B-but-” Ruby tried to say but was cut off.

“Kid, it’s fine,” he said. “All I want is for you to make it quick. Besides,” he said, giving her a smile, “I am not dying alone. Your scythe will keep me safe and your cape is red enough to not be blinded by the lights”

“I’m not a skeleton though,” Ruby said, fidgeting with her scythe.

Sirma laughed, “Sure, sure. But any real person does not need to see a skeleton to know we are the same,” he said. “Now just do it. I promise I won’t bleed. At least I don’t think so.”

He made her laugh and smile.

Ruby got up from her seat and walked in front of the man. Her scythe read to swing down on the ghost.

“Anything else you want from me?” she asked.

“Hmm,” he thought. “Just one, look after this for me?” He waved the stuffed paw of the stuffed animal. “My granddaughter loved it, so I thought it would be a shame to leave it to be thrown away. It’s Nunu. It’s a nue, the name is not very creative but it worked.”

Ruby nodded. “Alright,” she said. “For what it’s worth, I’m sorry,” she said weekly.

“Pfft,” the old man scoffed. “You’re still on that?” he asked, and Ruby nodded. “I said already you failed, now get over it.”

She let the man hold onto the stuffed nue for his last moments. He rested his head on the chair, closed his eyes and smiled.

Ruby took a shaky breath, her fingertips felt cold as she brought her scythe up. She took one last breath in and let it out. She did not dare close her eyes as she brought her scythe up. Then, she brought the scythe down. The chair did not have a cut on it. The sound of the nue toy hitting the chair. Sirma, the old grave digger, was gone. His house had only one person left inside it.

Ruby took the toy into her hand and had a gentle smile. He seemed so content yet he said he was scared. But of what? She didn’t know. Maybe scared of the unknown? Maybe scared of what could be? Scared of what wasn’t there? Still, for an old dead man he was nice, a bit odd, but nice in his own way.

The faint sound of a tear hitting wooden floors seemed to go unnoticed, being overshadowed by a notification.

[Achievement: First Farwell {Send A Soul To Rest}]  

[Soul Scythe Unlocked]

[Equip Bonus: +8 Attack With Every Soul Reaped]

[Special Equip Bonus: ???]

Such a moment ruined by her own damn vision.

With a disappointed sigh, Ruby dismissed the notification and looked at Nunu the nue. “Come on, Nunu. Let’s go to bed. I’m tired.”

The night was full of stars, and the town was fast asleep. The sound of crickets and the wind blowing were the only thing that made a noise and down most streets, the town was empty. It was empty except for a bench that was right in front of the inn that the party rested in.

Ruby sat there, alone. Not wanting to be around her party. She would probably be asked what she was thinking about running off? What did she do? She should not have done that, and so on. She did not want to be lectured right now.  She did not want to hear that right now. She knew she was not close with her party. She knew that, but she knew enough that if she went to Itsuki, he would probably say something about what a hero should do, if she went to Mald, he would tell her something like toughen up, then both Larona and Rojeel were so indifferent to her she just knew they would ignore her.

She was so close to opening the door to go to sleep, but she just could not deal with them at the moment.

What would she say anyways? Oh she killed a ghost?! Yes, the same ghost who she had been talking to all day!

Letting out a long groan, Ruby rested her face in her hands. “What am I going to do…” she said, with a muffled voice. Reaching for her pocket, she grabbed the nue plush and raised it up to her face. “I wish I could talk to you, maybe you’d have some idea what I could do…”

Ruby let out a groan and played with the nue, trying to think of something. Wanting to talk to someone who would listen or might know something.

“Know…” that gave her an idea. Someone who knew something. Well she had an idea, the only problem was if he would pick up.

Switching her scythe to her [Scroll Scythe] , Ruby took a look at her contacts, which itself was rather small. Koneko and Shaun were the only ones that she had right now. She clicked on the contact she wanted and she waited.

A call screen appeared in front of her, Ruby rocked back and forth a little, crossing her fingers that she would get an answer.

“Ruby, that you?” On the other end, Shaun picked up. He did not sound that tired, but she really could not judge as there was no screen showing his face.

“U-um!” Ruby scattered around for a bit, she called him, but was not entirely sure if this was a good idea now. “H-hey…” she said weakly.

“Hey. What’s up, I wasn’t expecting you to call me so soon?” Shaun said, some crackling sounds could be heard on his end. Was he by a fire?

“Well, I just wanted to… check in! Yeah! Check in!” Ruby said. She felt so awkward. She wanted to vent but she did not know Shaun that well! He knew her! That made this feel so hard now! “How are you?!”

“Pretty good, we just learned that apparently both me and Abigail need to sleep in order for either of us to get any rest,” Shaun said, sounding exhausted at the idea. “I’m just doing my watch shift then I’m going to sleep man. What about yourself, how are things with Itsuki? He treating you good?”

 Ruby opened her mouth, about to speak, “Well-” she began before cutting herself off. Did she really want to lay her loud on someone else? “I’m good,” she said silently.

Unaware of Ruby’s predicament, Shaun let out a light hum, “That’s nice. I was worried things were going to go bad for you. That’s good to hear,” he said, chuckling a little. “I was concerned for you the most, so I’m glad to hear.”

“What about everyone else? What about your own party?”

“Na, I’m confident in Naofumi and our team dynamic, and those Mordred and Roy are really strong and hard headed, and I’m sure Lucy will keep Klee nice and safe, and Lucy got some helping hands, so she’ll be fine. You’re on your own though, that’s why I was worried, I know your a kickass huntress in training, Mrs. Little Red Riding Hood with a giant scythe, but still.”

Ruby heard all of that. He called her a kickbutt huntress. Ruby could not help but have a smile that appeared on her face.

“Oh! Ibuki’s also been trying to get us a pet balloon! I may or may not have shot and killed it by accident,” Shaun snickered, “Oh! Also I’ve been scheming about something and-”

“Hey, Shaun,” Ruby cut him off. “Um… there is something that did happen on my end and I was hoping if…” she stopped for a moment, she was going to admit she may have kind of killed someone. “I need to talk about something, it isn’t about Itsuki or anyone in my party. It’s just… I need to talk to someone about this.”

Shaun did not respond immediately. Ruby sounded worried and she was probably asking a lot, she was regretting this quickly.

“Okay,” was what she heard. “What do you want to talk about?” he asked.

That was all Ruby needed to start unloading about what happened that day and the night prior. How a monster killed a guy before she killed it, how while the party was celebrating the defeat with the townspeople, she was off with an old man digging a grave, how said old man was actually the guy who died.

How she had gone to the man’s home and reaped him or something like that. Now she did not know what to do. Did she really end someone’s life? He was so at peace but at the same time she was the direct cause of someone else no longer being a part of the world. She was not fast enough to save him and she was the one to make him no longer be here.

“I… I don’t know if this is something I’ll be dealing with and-”

“Are you scared?” Shaun asked, Ruby nodded her head and let out a noise of confirmation. “Of having to kill people?”

“Yes…” Ruby muttered. “What if… what if they aren’t a ghost next time? What if they are still alive? Does that mean that it’s my job to do that? Will people think I’m a monster or a villain? I-I don’t know what I’m going to do…”

There was a moment of silence before Shaun let out any indication he was still there. It was only a long breath and the sound of crackling fire that gave Ruby an idea that he was still there.

“Wow… well you really had a long day,” Ruby nodded. “Want my advice?” he asked.

“Something… I don’t know what I really want, maybe some sort of confirmation or an easy answer. You seem to know things, so maybe you know.”

“Well I don’t know a lot of things either,” Shaun said. “This is… this is really new to me, so please take my advice with a grain of salt, or dust? Is that a saying where you’re from?” Was he joking with her? Maybe, but did it make her laugh regardless, maybe a little. “What I think is, you don’t have to do anything, You could do nothing, let someone die, and ignore it and just kill mobs. You won’t have to kill anyone or take souls and be a direct and in person cause. However-”

“However?” Ruby interrupted.

“Yes, however. You could do what you did now. You seemed to be keeping that man company. Do that. You don’t have to kill anyone, he was already dead, maybe he was going to disappear on his own, but for the time you were with him, you made him happy, at peace.”

“So what you're saying is do nothing or be there?”

“That’s how I see it. Being there might be nice. What if you died and had one last thing you wanted to do, would you want some help? Maybe give some last regards, give them a proper burial, or maybe let them have one last conversation. I’m not saying go and become an avenger but maybe just a friend for a little while. No villainy or murder involved.”

“No villainy or murder.”

“Nope,"  he said, popping the p.

Ruby thought a little. Just being there. Her hand gently squeezed Nunu and she looked down at it. “Just a friend… yeah. I like that idea. Thank you…”

“No problem, now go get some rest. You have probably been stressing yourself out so you must be tired. Sleep.”

“Y-yeah,” Ruby said, giggling a little. “Thank you, it really helped,” she said before she and Shaun said their last goodbyes before hanging up.

With one last breath, Ruby turned around and went for the door, slowly placing it on the handle and pushed it open. Even if the party were going to ask her questions, she felt much better.

The next day, nothing had changed between the party. Mald got on Ruby’s nerves, Itsuki seemed to ignore her, and everyone else had no opinion.

But on the way back, Ruby looked at her new scythe, and for a moment, just a brief moment that if felt like she might have been hallucinating or just imagining things, she swore she heard Sirma yelling. Yelling at her to stop frowning or she would get as wrinkly as him.

She did not know, but something about holding the scythe made her feel much more comfortable.

Maybe, just maybe. This world did not suck as much as she originally thought, despite the lack of things she could tinker with.

“I just need to be a friend. Yeah. I can do that.”

Chapter Text

A/N: THE RERENOTES: How y'all doing? I hope well. Just a minor bit of editing in this chapter, nothing grand. Alright, enjoy!

A/N: Hey Hey Everyone! How are your days going? It is I, your hopefully favorite author back again with another installment to my dumbass brain child!

Now, before you start, please read this for a few announcements. First, and the most pretraining to this chapter. I recognize this chapter as one of my weaker ones that I might come back to, might not. In all honesty it is more to set up future events. Small things with that big amount at the end. Next, something not new, is about your votes for Glass' World Apprentice Heroes. So far we have the Mask, but also I'm confirming two more, the Shovel (Which I'm surprised so many people spoke about shovels) and the Medical Tool Heroes, the twins of Glass' World. Remember to cast your votes to who you might think the heroes will be and what weapons you want them to use!

Lastly, I am here to give you a brief look at the next few chapters.

First, after this we will be taking a look at what happened with Naofumi and his party during their time looking after Raphtalia and the class ups if I have time, if not that will be put into the next chapter.

Then we will be facing the wave.

Following we will be having a focus on all our apprentice heroes, not going to elaborate further.

Then we will be going to the party with the Spear and Shield fight.

And somewhere between the focus on the Apprentice Heroes and Spear v. Shield we will focus back again on the Mask Hero.

So keep in mind that your Legendary Weapon nominations deadline is drawing near so I encourage you to vote now!

With, please enjoy this chapter. It is not my best work, but it sets things up for the future. Enjoy.  

“Entry 15

It has been three weeks since I had been summoned to another world and 19 days since we shuffled our parties. Saying things have been good since I’ve been summoned to this world would not be entirely true. The locals of the magic community seem to be quite pleased that there is now a hero dedicated to magic; it's mainly my own party that seem to be the ones that cause most of my hard times.

Mordred herself has been a case and a half just by being herself. Whenever Motoyasu introduces her to the constantly rotating party he seems to think it is necessary to mention her gender, which is one of the apparent things we should avoid. She tried killing him the first few times but I managed to convince her to go from beating him up a bit to only slightly hurting him by putting him in a headlock or something along those lines. If I had to guess any of her behavior towards any talk of gender it might have something to do with the role of being a knight or being a prince to another country. I still have yet to find out much about her besides a few things.

• Despite her constant acts of brashness, Mordred has childish tendencies. Example: When Motoyasu asked for her to stand on the sidelines she deliberately denied him and when questioned she said she had gotten bored. It had been only thirty seconds.

• Mordred, despite claims of being a knight, does not fight like how one imagines. Example: Her armor always comes equipped with a two handed sword, despite this she always fights with it using one hand and uses the other to punch because, as she put it, “So I can sock the bastard in the face.”

• Her armor also seems to be very uncomfortable for Mordred, claiming that unlike her normal armor she can summon but not wear. Example: Any of the numerous times I or anyone else had been woken up when Mordred decided to wear her helmet and had it fail miserably.

• Lastly it is the mere mention of her father. She seems to have some sort of love-hate relationship with him. Example: Despite all the praise she says about him when Motoyasu asked what she didn’t like in an attempt to flirt with her, Mordred loudly declared she hated her father.

• Side note: I have never seen Mordred eat or drink ever since the meeting before the trail. Maybe she eats when we don’t see it, but I’ve asked and no one has even seen Mordred drink water. Despite seeing her eat a large amount, she does not seem to mind not eating. There is also the theory of her simply not needing to eat as a spirit.

  Aside from Mordred, there is also Motoyasu himself. The guy himself does not mean most trouble but that does not mean he does not cause it. Like when he let Myne, who we had found out was truly named Malty S. Melromarc, daughter of the king. I had to contain Mordred by putting her knee deep into the floor so she doesn’t attack anyone in the throne room. Honestly I cannot say I blame her, Koneko said she did not like her, it did not take a genius to see that she was coiling Motoyasu around her finger, and his obliviousness and nature to deny what he does not like is to great for both Mordred and I to get through to him. He still believes this world is a game, despite Mordred yelling at him. Motoyasu complained to me, saying he wasn’t the biggest fan of tsunderes (is that even how that is spelled?), he was determined to hit Mordred’s flags enough so she softened up. I had no idea what he meant but I just agreed. Funny enough, despite his attitude and habit of chasing away new party members, especially the men, he seems to respect me to some degree. I’m not entirely sure why. Maybe it is my status as someone from the military or maybe my age, I am not sure.

I could bring up Myne again, but I’ve already written my thoughts of her here.

The magic of this world is interesting. I’ve finally advanced enough in the magic grimoire I had purchased from Castle Town. I can now cast Fast Heal and Quick Light, I’m trying to find a spell that might be compatible with my alchemy but for now I will have to-”

“Hey, Roy! Are you writing in that diary of yours?”

Letting out an annoyed sigh, the state alchemist looked up at Motoyasu. His annoyance was clear on his face. “Yes, Motoyasu. I’m writing in my journal,” he said. The Spear Hero looked over his shoulder and down to the notebook Roy had in his hand. Every single word of it is written in the language of this world.

“Wow! You’ve gotten really good at that. Are you sure this isn’t some kind of skill you can unlock? Come on, don’t hold back on me,” Motoyasu pleaded.

“Nope,” Roy said. “As I said, it is basically the same as my world’s written language. Only a different alphabet than the one I am used to, see for yourself,” Roy said, flipping to the first page of the notebook, opening it to page one. Inside was the German alphabet with each individual letter of the language of their current world next to them.

“Hey, let me see!” Mordred came from behind Roy and snatched the book. She looked at the first page for a few seconds before flipping through the pages to his latest entry. Roy and Motoyasu looked at her, not expecting anything until she moved her head so fast Roy swore her helmet made sparks. “I am not childish!”

Roy for a moment was stunned. Did she really understand what he had just written? “Well, if the shoe fits,” Roy said with a grin, taking back his book and hiding it away in his jacket. “I’m surprised. I didn’t know you could read this world’s language..”

“No, but I can understand German, it was something I was able to do since I was summoned,” Mordred said with a shrug.

“Wow, wow, wow! You got a skill when you were summoned to understand languages?! That’s so unfair!” Motoyasu complained.

Mordred rolled her eyes, or at least Roy thought she did. “It’s not a skill,” Mordred said before turning to Roy, “And me not eating is also not a skill. My body just doesn’t need it.”

“Wait, you haven’t been eating?!” Motoyasu said in a panic. “A gir-” he was cut off by Mordred looking in his direction, glaring under the mask, or so everyone assumed. Coughing into his hand, Motoyasu corrected himself, “I mean- you should not skip eating. It is very bad and you cannot fight if you are low on energy!”

“Motoyasu, I believe you’re forgetting something important,” Roy added. “Remember the trial? The whole spirit thing? Unlike you or I, Mordred is not human.”

“Ding ding ding, glad you remembered, you earned a star,” Mordred said over dramatic, rolling her eyes behind the helmet. “Yeah, I’m a Spirit, specifically the kind that was made by how famous I was when I was alive.”

Motoyasu took a moment to remember what happened during the trial, it had been a while ago and he had forgotten to ask due to him not completely being sure about Mordred when she was put into the party. “Yeah… I remember, some sort of Hero Spirit or something. What is that exactly, you never really elaborate on that at any point.”

Taking a second to think, Mordred sighed. It honestly was not a big deal to inform them. It was not like there was a Holy Grail War happening at the moment that any of them could take advantage of.

Sighing, “Look, to put simply, I am a Heroic Spirit, which are major historical figures with either great fame or infamy to be recorded on the Throne of Heroes. Typically we are summoned to kill one another in a Holy Grail War to get a wish,” Mordred summed up.

“Woah, woah, woah. Slow down,” Motoyasu said, raising his hands up. “So you are a ghost, who fights in a magical battle royal.”

“Motoyasu, I imagine it’s a bit more complicated than that,” Roy said, finding the premise almost too simple.

“No, he’s right. That is basically what we are and what we do. Hell, me and some others call it the Murder Death Kill game due to how many times Grail Wars end up with a lot more casualties than the normal thirteen people,” Mordred laughed, chuckling at the amount of shouting that happened. “Though you are also right, it is a little more complicated. A normal war will have seven servants or Heroic Spirits and seven masters. Each one of us gets our own class, with Saber, Archer, Lancer, Rider, Assassin, Caster, and Berserker with a few extra classes on top of that,” Mordred said, shrugging her shoulders. “There is also Great Holy Grail Wars that has two factions fighting one another making the servant Count 14 and 14 Masters and also a Ruler Servant to act as mediator.”

“That just sounds confusing,” Motoyasu said, scratching his head, “Oh, also does that mean that you get two wishes then?” he asked, perking up, trying to see a bright side to it.

“Don’t think so, from what I heard, the Grail was taken away to a place it could not affect humanity by a homunculus turned Heroic Spirit turned dragon,” Mordred shrugged. “I’m kind of mad I couldn’t fight him,” Mordred grumbled, saying something about a faker under her breath.

“Entry 15 Addition 1

To sum up what Mordred said during our trip to the famine struck village. She said that she was one of the several classifications of Servant, a Saber class. She said there were multiple classes one could be, the main seven she said were the three knight classes, Saber, Lancer, and Archer, which Motoyasu seemed to find funny as he would be a knight in her world and the four calvary, the Assassin, Rider, Caster, and Berserker. Motoyasu made a comment on how Assassin’s were not heroes, but I had to disagree. Despite their tactics not being one I agree with, many Assassin’s are known to be able to change history with their kills. Then there were the several extra and more rare classes, the Ruler, Avenger, Moon Cancer, Alter Ego, Foreigner, Shielder, and Pretender to name a few.

Servants were apparently unnatural beings, that when summoned into the world required two things to be summoned, One a catalyst to bring them into the world and the second a Master to supply them with mana as the world would attempt to get rid of them if not for the constant upkeep. Mordred mentioned that the abundance of magic in the area seemed to be able to keep her here without worrying about fading away despite not feeling her Master supplying her with mana along with the fact the world did not seem to be trying to get rid of her. Along with this, Servants seemed to be able to be summoned when an event called a Holy Grail War takes place. A magical battle royal to the death for a wish granting cup.

Though she did mention something regarding homunculi as an off handed comment in her explanations, so I will have to ask about those later.

Still by the logic only Motoyasu thought would be smart, he asked Mordred about her wish and she responded by saying she wished to be king like her father. Well in all his infinite wisdom, Motoyasu said, “Then how about I make you my queen so you can rule my heart.” He was thrown out of the driver’s spot instantly and told to walk.

He had it coming.”

“Sir Motoyasu, what is this place? We’re supposed to be dropping off the food to the village,” Myne said as she rested in the carriage. Motoyasu, Mordred, and Mustang stood off the carriage, already out and looking at a hall made into the side of a cliff and ruins.

“Myne, don’t worry. This right here is a dungeon with a drop item that will be able to help the village we’re heading to,” Motoyasu said with confidence. Giving Myne and the others a wink he said, “Leave it to us heroes. Don’t worry we will get it done in a jiffy.”

“Yeah, leave it to me and the magic man here to do all the heavy lifting,” Mordred said, rolling her eyes.

“Magic man and I,” Roy corrected.

“Shut up,” Mordred glared at him. “Don’t be the damn grammar police, I can speak however I want!”

Roy chuckled and playfully stuck his tongue at her as he walked away. Some shouts of disgruntlement could be heard and Roy could not hide the sly grin on his face.  

“Alright, guys! Let’s go!” Motoyasu called to Motoyasu. Roy stared at the entrance of the dungeon, wondering what could be so important to be inside.

“Motoyasu, what exactly is in here? You seem to know so much so what is here,” Roy asked with skepticism. “How can something in a dungeon be of help? Is it some kind of property in the monster bones that makes a great bone meal?”

“Or maybe a bunch of shrooms? They are cheap and easy to farm. Same with potatoes,” Mordred added, but soon stopped as she started to reminisce of the Chaldea, or specifically Emiya’s, cooking. Though she may not need it, food was still a luxury she enjoyed.

“Neither,” Motoyasu said, his spear resting on the back of his neck as he walked, swaying back and forth. “From Emerald Online, I know that there is a seed that will be able to feed the entire village. Now, there are three levels to this dungeon along with a thirty minute time limit. We’re all above level 30 and Mordred and I are above level 40 so we should be all good to go.”

“Motoyasu, I don’t mean to question your intel on what you know about the world,” Roy said, “But should we really be trusting a seed from a dungeon of all places?” Roy asked.

“Roy, Roy, Roy,” Motoyasu shook his head and put a hand over Roy’s shoulder, “You know all your military stuff and I know my gamer stuff. Don’t worry, everything will be fine.”

Roy wanted to fight Motoyasu on this but the man had already decided and Roy was really not in the mood to fight him.

“Come on, let’s get this stupid task done so we can do this stupid quest so we can get this stupid money,” Mordred groaned. “So what’s first?” she asked.

“A maze that has a chance to spawn bats that’ll confuse you. Then a golem guard, then we should be there,” Motoyasu said. “Come on, let’s go!”

“Entry 15 Addition 2:

The dungeon was one I hated. If I had a choice between listening to the pipsqueak try to drink milk and going back, he would be more preferable than this. The three of us had gotten split up somewhere in there and wasted time.

As we entered the dungeon and into the maze, Motoyasu tried again to flirt with Mordred. He asked her about her family and that whole conversation started out great. And by great I mean horrible. According to her, “Well my father is the best king that ever was, what more is there to be said?” which seemed wholesome till Motoyasu asked about her mother. That is when things got ugly. Mordred had said she was a bitch. When Motoyasu asked, she initially denied to answer but he had to be pushy, claiming it was the job of the party leader to look after his party. That seemed to strike a nerve with Mordred and she said some stuff that I cannot believe.

It went a little something like this. She said all her problems started before birth with a man named Merlin, who turned her father into a pseudo-male, which revealed that her father was actually a woman… I had no words. Well apparently her mother had stolen her seman and made Mordred. Growing up she was told to hide her status and obey the king till the time was right to overthrow her. Well apparently when she was told she was the son of the king some shit happens and she leads a rebellion that pretty much destroys her father’s kingdom.

Everything would have been semi-alright, but Motoyasu said things couldn’t get much worse. Oh he had to open his mouth. Well Mordred then brought up the “Incest Baby” topic, but even I do not want to remember it that well so I will forgo writing in detail. All I am willing to say is that she was taken to group family therapy on order of her recent Master with her Mother who happened to be the sister of her father and along with her "kinda-sorta" step-mother, who was a man who she called "Actually Satan" and the "Actually" was important to the name.

Yeah… I’m going to be trying to forget that. Motoyasu just had to open his mouth.

Now back to the main topic at hand, Motoyasu and I seemed to be the only ones affected by the monsters. It has made us hear things in our heads. Motoyasu said he heard the girls saying that they had sold Rino, that girl who was in Entry 14. As for me, I thought I heard Hughes.

I had almost set the entire maze on fire. The idea of someone impersonating him again had almost sent me into a rage. I was ready to burn anyone who tried. Lucky Mordred seemed to be the only one not affected by the voices. She said something about being gifted with a magic resistance skill. 

I’m currently sitting, trying to regain myself here after all that.  What turned out to be attacking us was a bat monster that managed to make us hear what we feared. I erected a wall to bring us cover.

It is still weird to be using alchemy by hand without my gloves but it did make good practice. That being said, I do enjoy the circles a bit more.

When we decided enough hiding was enough, I clapped my hands together. The bats didn’t see what was coming. They were eaten in by a wall of flames and killed pretty much instantly. When we put them into our weapons we got a few new weapons and Mordred got a new set of armor. The most notable in my opinion was one that unlocked a wand and skill that allowed us to project our voices at what I imagine is super sonic volumes.

The next stage of the dungeon is almost up and along with that, our break as well.”

“Wow, Roy! That was amazing!” Motoyasu cheered, draping himself over Roy’s side and swaying back and forth.

“It was nothing,” Roy shrugged, “Just some flame alchemy I know from my old world,” he said with a shrug. “And I’m a State Alchemist, so I know how to use it well.”

“Still! You took all those bastards out in one shot! Great work Mr. War Hero!” Motoyasu said, much to Roy’s discomfort.

Ignoring the Spear Hero. Roy turned his attention to Mordred who was looking at a helmet, the helmet she could bring into the world with her magic but could not wear.

“You know armor is meant to be worn, not looked at,” Roy said, looking at the knight.

Mordred shot him a glare, “Well not this time,” she spat out at him. 

“Huh? What’s wrong?” Motoyasu said, clueless to the topic.

“Can’t copy my damn armor,” Mordred growled. “Shaun said we could copy stuff, our weapons and my case armor! But no! Apparently I can’t copy my armor,” Mordred growled, kicking the helmet of her Legendary Armor before it shined and reappeared over her head.

“Huh and you say you cannot equip it?” Motoyasu said, moving from Mustang and going to the knight. “Mind if I see it?”

Mordred looked at Motoyasu and only shrugged, “Sure, not like I got any better ideas.”

Motoyasu looked at the helmet intensely for a moment, his eyes scanning it up and down. To both Mordred and Roy it may have looked like nothing was happening but to Motoyasu he was reading what was listed.

[Secret of Pedigree]

[Rarity: Legendary]

[Type: Noble Phantasm {Sub Type: Magical Artifact}]

[Skills: ???]

“Oh, this is easy,” Motoyasu said, tossing the helmet back to Mordred. “It’s not copying because it isn’t armor.”

“Huh?” Roy raised an eyebrow overhearing this. “What do you mean that isn’t armor?”

“Well it is, but it is classified as a Noble Phantasm, whatever that means, and a subtype as a magical artifact. I don’t know much about it, the skills are hidden, but to make matters simple it isn’t classified as armor, and because of that Mordred isn’t able to copy it. It’s like if she tried to copy a cloak, technically it could be counted as armor, but not really.”

“That’s bullshit!” Mordred yelled.

Roy thought for a moment, putting a hand to his chin. Her armor was not considered armor so she could not copy it. Mordred herself also was not a person, she was a magical being. Roy did not know much about Servants, hell he just learned about them in the last month and still that was almost nothing, but now it got his head spinning with ideas. Maybe if her body was made of magic, then her equipment was too. So maybe she could not copy it but she could do something else…

“Absorb it,” Roy said under his breath.

“Huh?” Mordred and Motoyasu said.

“Absorb your helmet,” he spoke up. “It’s not armor and it is something made of magic, so why not try absorbing it?” 

“Huh?” Motoyasu said again. “What do you mean to absorb it? You can’t absorb something like that,” he said, not noticing Mordred bringing her helmet to her and it glowing red, “Weapons can only absorb more basic things, not something magical like-”

“Holy shit!” Mordred said. Both Roy and Motoyasu turned and looked at her. Standing in her place was now a brand new suit of armor with an intimidating helmet upon her head.

[Spirit Series: Unlocked]

[Heroic Spirit {Mordred}: Unlocked]

[Equip Bonus: Weapon: {Clarent} Unlocked. Noble Phantasm: {Clarent Blood Arthur} Unlocked.]

[Skill Bonus: Secret Of Pedigree {While Helmet Is Worn, All Parameters Are Hidden From Everyone, Party Members Included}, Spiritual Equip {Legendary Armor Can Be Temporarily Removed When The User Wishes And Can Be Reequipped Again At A Later Time}]

“It worked! It worked!” Mordred shouted and jumped in victory! Finally, after three long weeks of torture of being in that God awful armor she could get out and properly stretch.

The armor around her began to shimmer into light blue particles, the gem of her armor was the only thing that remained, hanging from her neck by a chain. As for Roy and Motoyasu, this was the first time either of them had seen her out of her armor besides her face. Roy questioned her taste in fashion and Motoyasu… Roy just raised his hand to pick up his jaw. Mordred did not leave much to the imagination underneath her armor, with a red tube top and sleeves that were not attached to anything, a red loincloth, and red heels were all things to take note of her clothes.

“Ah! Finally able to stretch!” Mordred said, cracking her back and joints, finally free to move in all ranges of motion. “Man, I owe you one there, that armor was cool and everything but man if it wasn’t stiff and clunky!” Mordred said with a wide grin. Summoning a crimson and silver sword and letting it rest on her shoulder, Mordred began to walk off into the next part of the dungeon.

Motoyasu tried to take the lead of the party, but Mordred both moved quicker but also got annoyed with him when he tried. So to keep the peace, Roy took the lead of the group, heading to the next room.

The floor above was where Motoyasu had said the golem would be. Roy had been prepared to fire off another blast of fire when it came down from the ceiling but Mordred was all too eager to fight.

All she did was walk up to the golem and raise her sword. When it raised its fist to strike her, red lightning began to project from the sword and Mordred brought her sword down, taking the golem’s arm. She continued her movements quick and precise all while looking extremely violent. First it was the arm, next the legs, followed by the other arm, and finally, she plugged her sword into rock, and broke the core of the golem.

[+213 EXP]

[Level Up!]

[Congrats On Reaching Level 40]

[Heroic Quest System Unlocked]

[Heroic Quest: Difficulty Easy {Unlock A Plant Based Weapon}]

Motoyasu Kitamura: 42

Mordred: 45

Roy Mustang: 40*

Myne Sophia: 39

Lesty: 38

Elena: 37

Blowing an amused whistle, “Wow, kid,” Roy said, looking at her handy work. “Did you have to be so brutal with the guy?”

“Meh, had it coming,” Mordred shrugged with a grin. “Let’s keep going, the next room is up ahead so we should be all clear,” Mordred said as she continued on.

“Entry 15 Addition 3:

The last room was by far the easiest for us to deal with.

The room was quite small, with a single chest sitting on a pedestal. Both Mordred and I were careful to see if this was booby trapped, but Motoyasu threw caution to the wind and walked up to the chest and opened it. What he called the Miracle Seed was rather odd. I could not help but voice my concern for the seed, since it was after all hidden away from the outside world, rather than being planted. Why would anyone leave something so useful here?

I decided to be the one to hold onto the seed. Something about it rubbed me the wrong way.

When we got back to the carriage the girls seemed rather bored but seemed to perk up when we returned, or more specifically, when Motoyasu returned. Draping themselves over him while he smiled like he just concurred with a brave beast. Is this what people see when I flirt? I can partially see why Riza got annoyed so much.

The girls seemed to not like Mordred’s new look. Maybe it was because they caught Motoyasu staring at her body. I cannot blame the guy entirely, with her outfit being definitely one that caught the eye. Still, with three girls who seem to want him, he should focus on who he has first rather than what wants. Though I did ask Mordred about her revealing clothes, asking if she found it inappropriate or cared what others might say. To my surprise, Mordred seemed to have a rather mature response.She did not particularly care what people thought about her clothes and that she wore them because it was comfortable and did not restrict her movements. Still, I think we should get her a change in wardrobe but till we return to the capital or find something that works for her she will just have to wear what she has been.

Mordred seems much more cheerful, able to throw her arms around without having to hear her armor clanking and able to swing her signature sword around seemed to put her at ease to a certain degree, The girl complained about how most of her skills seemed to be sealed by something. Mainly her Mana Burst skill, something I’ve come to understand as her being able to convert her magical energy into physical power for her to fight with. Besides that however the girl seems content with what she can do now.

As we rode to the village, I noticed something by my name. A star right next to my level. I asked Motoyasu if he knew anything about it. Apparently I had reached the current level capacity. He seemed surprised that I had mine at 40 when both he and Mordred were past it and did not need to do anything. Apparently we will need to visit the capital before the Waves hit to raise my level further.

When we reached the village, Motoyasu and I went to the village and dropped off both the rations so the village won't go hungry and also the Miracle Seed we had obtained from the dungeon.

The lord for a moment was surprised by the seed, letting slip something about an evil alchemist. Motoyasu asked about it but the lord tried to back peddle. Unfortunately for him, I myself am an alchemist. When I revealed this fact to the lord, I demanded he elaborate on what he meant.

It took some persuasion and a tad bit of threats but you know how some things go. The lord finally told the story that every village seemed to know.

Long ago, an alchemist had come to the village. He was a man obsessed with bioplant alchemy and had conducted many experiments in his labs, the dungeon they had previously gone to. It was said his most destructive creation had been sealed away long ago. The village lord had thought for a moment that might have been the seed but since it came from the heroes it must not be it.

My next steps might have not been the smartest, definitely not one Motoyasu had approved of, but one that I had decided would be best. I took the so-called Miracle Seed and placed it into my wand. The plant had unlocked a few new wands, but one that took my interest was the BioPlant Wand, which had a skill that might help me in learning about this seed.

I told the lord that if I find out the seed is safe, the village will be seeing the seed again. Motoyasu tried to argue with me, but I warned him that if the seed really was the dangerous one from the story we would be damning the town.

Of course Motoyasu tried to ignore me but quite frankly I didn’t give a damn. I could have just burnt the seed and we could have been done with it. So this is the best option we could make.

On our way back to the capital, the BioPlant Wand had finally finished looking over the seed. And as suspected the thing had a high intelligence and a high mutation rate.

Additionally I had completed my first Heroic Quest, which was easy enough. From what Mordred has told me in the past, they varied in difficulty and would pop up randomly. Depending on the difficulty also resulted in different qualities and amounts of “Hero Tokens” as they were called. Easy typically resulted in one or two Shining Tokens, Normal gave 2-3 Magic Tokens, and Hard gave 3-5 Secret Tokens. Though their purpose has yet to be figured out by either of us. Mordred called Naofumi and Itsuki’s groups, but none of Naofumi’s party had reached level 40 yet but Shaun and Abigail were facing a level capacity of 30, 10 less than everyone else and Ruby, while having reached level 40, was also in the dark. Though they would have time to talk as she also needed to increase her level.

Something else I noticed was the new ability to edit the seed. This is something worse than sharing with the other heroes. I may not be one to work with plants too often, and most likely the others, but the opportunity to do so is one worth having."

When Motoyasu and his party arrived back at Castle Town there was only one day left before the wave hit. Their priorities were clear and they decided to work fast with what needed to be done before fun, so the first place they headed to was the guild.

Along with Roy, the other girls of the party needed to Class Up to raise their level caps as well along with Roy.

Entering the Church where the Class Up ritual would take place. All heroes were surprised to see how packed the place was, and not by any worshippers of the Three Heroes Church. The other three Cardinal Heroes along with the other seven Apprentice Heroes either.

“Yo! Roy! Mordred!” Ibuki hopped up and over a pew and ran over to the two Apprentice Heroes, a big smile on her face as she dashed around the two of them. “Ibuki has been wondering when she will see you again! It feels like it has been forever since the last time! Tell me you guys missed Ibuki, did ya? Did ya?!”

Mordred sighed, not expecting to be bombarded by the rocker, who still managed to have her crazy hair despite being in this world. Roy on the other hand seemed amused by the girl, “Yeah, we did. What is everyone waiting here for?”

“We were here waiting to talk with you guys,” Ren said, walking up to Motoyasu. “Along with that, Klee needs to raise her level cap. Along with Ruby, Shaun, Abigail, and Lucy. We’ve been speaking and want to have a meeting about our move during the wave,” Ren explained to Motoyasu.

“Ah, cool. Making a game plan for a raid, I totally get it,” Motoyasu said. “Well come on, let’s get this over with!”

Ren nodded, walking over to his party. Myne tried to go first, but was stopped when Ren brought Klee out, saying it was only fair to let the youngest of them go first.

Klee walked up to the sister who looked at the girl, not showing any facial expression. Ren and Lucy walking right next to her along with getting small cheers from his party cheering the cute girl on.

Klee and Lucy placed their hand onto the Dragon Hourglass and began the class up.

A golden light illuminated the area, shining from the hourglass as the two began their class up.

Ren, Itsuki, and Motoyasu looked up at the scene they had seen dozens of times before, but their eyes went wide when the hourglass began to fall. No, not fall, but began to spin. It began slowly, and the sand inside despite being upside down did not fall down, instead it looked as if it was rising when it was upside down. It gradually began to pick up pace with the light of the room. The brighter the shine, the faster it spun.

Suddenly the glass stopped and sand flew out from the hourglass. The sister in charge of the Class Up ceremony looked like she was about to faint, but the glass soon began to glow. It glowed and slowly began to come together. Four cards formed into the air and slowly floated down to Lucy, Klee, and two fell to Ren.

Ren looked at the cards in his hands, not noticing anything else, but as he looked, all he said in his amazement was, “Huh… that was new.”

“What is my name?!” Idol Raiber yelled at the four armed men.

In the far back of the basement of the mansion of Idol Raiber the four armed masked man stayed there on his knees. Wounds from the whip that caused so much suffering marked his body and small streaks of purple mist escaped his wounds.

“I-I…”

“Go on!”

“I don’t- AHH!” The man yelled in pain as his body was whipped by the fat man and was shocked by one of the magic users he had brought with him.

“Grab him,” Idol told the mage, the man did as told and lifted up the masked man’s head. “Listen here, you filthy demi-human,” Idol spat, “You can stop all this, if you use that brain of yours and remember two simple words. Idol. Raiber. Your new master, understand?!”

The man only coughed, as if he was unconscious and too tired to respond.

“Tch,” Raiber tsked, “drop him, I’m bored. Let’s go,” Raiber growled.

As he and the mage walked away, the chained man looked up at him. What he said. This was not right.

“No…” his dry voice echoed through the living hellhole. “You are nothing but a pig,” he spat.

Raiber seemed to stiffen at his words. Slowly turning to the man he had just tortured, Raiber stormed up to him, furious and his face both red and round as a tomato. “What did you just say?!”

“You… are… a… pig…” the man slowly said. “You hold no contract over me, not like- like,” like who? Who was he referring to? He knew that for a moment he knew what he was going to say. A man whose word was carved in stone. 

“Hmm? What was that?” Raiber taunted. Tsking again, Raiber turned away. “I have important business to deal with. Keep shocking him till you are out of magic,” Raiber said to the mage. Storming away from the hell he had created.

The mage had done as he was told, shocking the chained man as the other demi-humans watched in awe, fear and a flurry of emotions they could not begin to count.

With each shock, the man’s body began to go numb. His mind and vision began to cloud. He should be mad. He should feel rage. But something, something was keeping him from going crazy down here.

Maybe… a nap would do.

“Your soul… it is broken and covered in something. It’s powerful, I do not think this is something I can get rid of. Not now anyways,” a man with glasses and a screw in the head looked at him, staring into his soul.

“I-I’ve never dealt with something like this before. I-I’m sorry!” a girl in an apron and bandages cried, “I’m sorry being useless, if you want I can-”

“No need for you to do anything, I do not expect you to be able to deal with this. Leave it to me, Miss )(]c@n. His soul is covered in this… corrosive substance, something that is gradually eroding his soul. Lucky for him, his own soul, it’s quite strong so the worst so far as I can tell is the memory loss and gradually worsening health. It might also explain why his SP won’t go up.”

“So, what can we do to fix it?” the four armed man asked.

“Well I can probably sow fragments of your soul back together and patch the parts that have been eroded and cover them with my sutures. If we do this regularly it should help with your memory, but only keep you from constantly forgetting. Anything from your past is still lost. It is up to yourself to remember. Tell me, do you remember anything, anything at all that might have been the cause of this?”

“I-I,” the man tried to remember, putting one of his hands to his head. “I had a mission… to bring peace through bloodshed,” he said, the memory was hard to remember. He could vaguely remember his fights, barely remember his surroundings, and those he fought with were all blurs. “We… I had to bring safety to people…”

“What was it you fought?” the doctor asked. “Who was this “we?” What people?”

“I do not remember…”

He hummed, but nodded. “Alright. If that is all, then we cannot force it.”

“Mr. Yaksha!” a small girl with brown hair in pigtails patted his shoulder. “I’m sure we can help you remember. But till then, stay positive! You have me! And Doctor $(3\n and )(]c@n . We’re heroes after all and I’ll make sure you get better! After all, I’m sure your family would be sad that you can’t remember them.”

“Family…” he repeated. A grin began to grow wide onto his face, even with his mask in the way, all three could see his smile. “Yes! I have a family! I must remember them! You remind me of Boyang, Kizuna! I’m sure you would have gotten along well!” he said, picking the small hero up.

“H-huh?! Hey! Put me down! And who is Boyang?!” the girl shouted at him, but did not get a response as the man laughed and tossed her into the air.

As he began to wake up, the man could vaguely hear the sound of the tortured demi-humans he was with. All who could try to make sure he was alive.

“He is waking up!” the one closest to his cell yelled.

The man chained to the wall looked up at the demi-humans. Their eyes filled with worry and fear. He felt the need to laugh, why were they so obsessed with him when they should also worry for themselves? Nevermind that though. They too were also in pain.

His mission… he remembered his mission.

“My mission is to bring peace through bloodshed,” he muttered so quietly not even those with enhanced hearing could hear him. This place was hell, not to him. No, but to the poor souls trapped here.

He had little strength. It hurt to move, his muscles felt raw if that even made sense. His feet were not  chained to the floor so he could stand. The mage who had been torturing him was sitting near him taking a break, but the sound of the demi-humans saying he was awake and the rattling chains brought him to the man, towering over him.

“As source of thy power I order-”

The building shook.

The man had pulled his chains with all his might and dust flew into the air. The mage stumbled back with what he had done.

The building shook again and cracks began to form.

“D-decipher the laws of-”

The building shook again and the first chain broke free. He pulled again and the next arm broke free. Then again, this time his hand came out off the bind, freeing it for the first time in who knows how long.

One last pull.

The Nameless Yaksha was free from his bind.

The mage in front of him seemed to try and bring his words out of his throat, but nothing escaped but the sound of terror.

The Nameless Yaksha grabbed the mage by his face, a scream echoed in the basement for a moment before the man let go and his vision was interrupted by a notification.

[+841 EXP]

[Congratulations on Reaching Level 9!]

Chapter Text

A/N: THE RERENOTES! So! Hey! Not much to say or add, this chapter was put in at the same time as chapter 7, so go back and check it if you want, some minor spelling changes here, not much to say. Alright, have fun!!!!

A/N: Oh my God! Another chapter! I'm shookith!

Anyways! How is everyone? I hope you all are good! Anyways, this is chapter 8 of Rising of the Apprentice Heroes! Now to start off this little announcement I've decided to say what the next three weapons are, leaving 2 spots left! First up is the Card weapon, next is the Clock, and finally the Mechanic Hero.

Next up! We have a bit on the Mask Hero. I moved his story up to this chapter, making this chapter about 8k words long.  So yay! The next chapters will be planned, so don't worry.

Now again, friendly reminder to send in two last two weapon recommendations! So let's get this over with and continue with the story!

“Master Naofumi!” a young teenage girl shouted in panic as she ran up to Shield Hero who had been hit by a porcupine monster and his arm had a needle stuck inside it.

In the span of two weeks, the sick and little slave girl they had bought had grown into a young woman who now stood taller than both Koneko and Ibuki and was now about the same height as Abigail.

As Raphtalia, Ibuki, and Abigail ran through the grass trying to attack the monster that hit and ran away from Naofumi. The sounds of shouting, calls for it come back and the occasional gun shot echoed from the grass.

Sitting up on a hill a good distance away from the party, Shaun and Koneko sat. The male gunner hung from his legs on a tree branch while Koneko sat snacking on food she put in her inventory.

“Here we have the wild Koneko Toujou. Feasting on the food she had brought with her that was brought from the city. Notice as she looks at our humble narrator with the intent to kill as if she was a lion eyeing its prey. What shall she do? Is this the end or merely the beginning of the narrator? Tune in next week where we shall see the wild Mioda in all her glory as she terrifies the villagers of Riyute.”

Koneko was indeed staring up at Shaun who had a wide grin on his face, waving at Koneko who had a rather bored look. “You’re stupid, you know that. Right?” Koneko asked, plopping her back on the grass.

Shaun chuckled and pulled himself up, “Yeah, but there is nothing wrong with that,” Shaun said as he began to climb down.

Koneko puffed out her cheek in annoyance as Shaun walked up to her and took a seat by her. He glanced at her, the girl still not showing any sign of a smile. Letting out a sigh, Shaun laid down next to Koneko and put his arms behind his head.

“You know, Koneko,” Shaun said, turning to the devil. “You can always let yourself relax around us,” he said. The girl turned to him, Shaun still looking up at the sky. “We may not be your peerage and all, but we still got your back.”

Koneko hummed.

The past four weeks had been a crazy one for her. A month ago she had to deal with classes, contracts, and the occasional stray devil and peeping toms. Three weeks ago she had to get used to being in a new world. Two weeks ago she had to get used to her party having a slave. And just last week she had to deal with a giant dog, a lot of questions and a lot of yelling from Ibuki.

“You’re stupid,” Koneko said as she got up from where she was laying, though on her face she did have a small smile, one she did not hide well from Shaun.

“You choose me! And I choose you! Po-ke-mon!”

“Gotta catch ‘em all! Gotta catch ‘em all!”

“Pokemon!”

The party of the Shield Hero were currently in Riyute Village selling some of the goods they had been stocking up on, which included but not limited too Usapil pelts, recipes to inns on other worldly dishes such as Tonkatsu, what Abigail and Shaun called a Krabby Patty and donuts, courtesy of Koneko.

Speaking of the small hero. Koneko was watching the two Gun Heroes as they managed to rope in the town children into singing a song from a show they had back in their own world. It was surprisingly catchy but also got a lot of attention from the locals. Most seemed to find it cute, seeing the heroes able to entertain the children, but some seemed to find their actions inappropriate as heroes.

Koneko herself found it funny. Not in the way you found a joke funny but rather in the way when someone does something stupid and you cannot help but laugh. 

“Mistress Koneko. Master Naofumi and I are done” the small raccoon girl said as she walked up to her. The sickly little girl that Shaun insisted they take in had definitely improved in quality of health.

Just last week when they had gotten her, she had coughing fits that made it hard for her to breathe. Her hair was all greasy and tangled and when they had taken her to eat, the girl wolfed down her food so fast she started to choke. Now, despite her still being skittish around new people and even themselves at times and the fear of fighting she was gradually getting over it. She still had her occasional night terrors but Ibuki and Naofumi had done a great job with helping her. Naofumi had even started making medicines to help with her sickness and had gotten good enough to the point he could start selling it.

“I told you to not call me mistress,” Koneko said to Raphtalia, who then gave a weak and quiet apology. “How much did we make?” Koneko asked Naofumi as the three walked over to the two twin idiots.

“Well, with the sale of the pelts and balloons, not counting coppers? About 24 silver. All together? Well with the recipes we sold to the inn, we made roughly 50 silver. Though I thought we might be able to get more money today.”

“We made half a gold and invented donuts, I think we might be good,” Koneko said, taking a bite of one of the donuts they had gotten from the inn. It was rather nice with a sweet glaze. Sadly one of the downsides of this new world was the lack of foods that Koneko had grown to love. No strawberries were native or grown in bulk in Melromarc, no word of chocolate and according to Shaun, “That means they don’t have chocolate mint ice cream!” which led to a fight between him and Ibuki over the taste of mint ice cream.

“Yeah. Sure, but we all cannot live on donuts,” Naofumi said.

“I don’t know about you, but I think I can,” Koneko said.

Rolling his eyes, Naofumi sighed. “Well, anyways... I asked around and there is a mine nearby that has been infested by monsters from the last wave. I was thinking we could head in and clear it out and maybe mine some of the ores inside.”

Koneko kept eating her food, but shrugged and decided to go along with the plan. Not like she had any real objections. Money was money, and if they could level up, that would be great too.

Naofumi Iwatani: 16

Koneko Toujou: 19

Shaun Sarto: 18

Abigail Wilts: 17

Ibuki Mioda: 15

Raphtalia: 7

Two weeks of roughing it in the wild and they still had not reached level 30. Maybe it was because they hung close to their starter town, but they should probably try and grind more monsters.

Gathering Abigail and Shaun and a hunt for Ibuki that led them to find the girl about to play on her lyre. Abigail had to practically jump the girl so she did not start singing. Most of the party was confused but Shaun only said that he would rather not fall asleep in the middle of the road. Whatever that meant…

As the group of six headed to the mines, they entered a shed before heading into the mines. Inside there were pickaxes, ropes and pipes.

Of course the party absorbed the various items into their weapons. Some of the skills they got were rather plain, such as the [Rope Series] which essentially made Abigail and Shaun gun into a grappling hook and turned Koneko into Spider Man, but it did unlock the Air Strike attacks. The [Pipe Series] did give them interesting abilities, like Naofumi’s Shield Prison ability which created a ball of shield that surrounded a target or the [Pickaxe Series] series and how when Ibuki unlocked it she got what looked like a mix between an electric guitar and a pickaxe. Fortunately it was not nearly as loud as they thought it might be. Unfortunately, Shaun thought of a joke.

“Wow, now all you need is a pick to go with the sweet ax,” Shaun chuckled.

“Boo,” Koneko and Abigail said at the same time, glaring at Shaun.

“I don’t get it,” Naofumi said, chuckling slightly, only to be nice.

“Me too,” Raphtalia said and soon offered an apology.

As for Ibuki, she was giggling alongside Shaun, wrapping her arm around his shoulder. “Ha! Good one! Even if your taste in ice cream totally sucks!”

“Aw, thank you heathen of chocolate mint,” Shaun laughed alongside her. Abigail pinched the bridge of her nose, the looming feeling of annoyance overtaking her.

“I am a dwarf and I diggy a hole! Diggy diggy hole! Diggy diggy hole…” under his breath, Shaun sang a tune mixed with humming and swung a pickaxe along with Naofumi and Koneko. Raphtalia just sat behind them and Ibuki and Abigail had decided to travel deeper into the mines to see if they could spot the monster inside before it spotted them.

“Hey, Shaun, what are you singing?” Naofumi asked.

“Just a song I heard from YouTube back in my old world,” Shaun said, a reminiscent smile on his face. “It was one of those videos I saw as a kid when I had my face buried in the computer. Man! I miss the internet!”

Naofumi laughed, “Yeah, me too. Though I miss seeing my family more,” Naofumi said, grabbing a piece of ore that had fallen.

“Oh? What were they like? Mine wasn’t too grand. Parents divorced but still kept in contact and I have an older brother and younger half brother,” Shaun said, swinging his pickaxe down,

“Ah, sorry to hear about your parents,” Naofumi said, Shaun only shrugged. “My family isn’t too much to talk about either, I lived with my parents and younger brother. He got into the wrong sort of crowd but I managed to help him out of that,” Naofumi smiled, thinking about his family. “I miss them. They probably think I am dead.”

“But you aren’t,” Shaun smiled, giving him  a pat on the back, “Besides, I’m sure they would be proud to hear their son is the “Great Hero of the Shield!” or something like that,” Shaun laughed.

“Yeah, and I’m sure your family would be happy you managed to become the Gun Hero.”

“I'm an American given a gun, of course they are,” Shaun laughed.

Smiling, Naofumi turned to Koneko, who was focused on mining. “What about you, Koneko? What’s your family like?”

Koneko turned to Naofumi and then leaned a little further to get a look at Shaun, who only shrugged. Letting a small breath out, “I had a sister.”

“Oh, what was she like?”

“Bitch.”

“O-oh…” Naofumi's smile began to falter, backpedaling, he changed subjects, “Um… what about your parents.”

“Dead. I live with a friend.”

Koneko did not seem to be fazed at all by what she said. “Oh… sorry to hear.”

“Don’t be, it happened a long time ago. Haven’t said anything. You would not have known,” Koneko said, picking up a piece of ore that had come out.

“Okay…” Naofumi decided to change to Raphtalia. “Hey, Raphtalia, how are you holding up?”

“...”

“Raphtali-”

“GUYS! RUN!” the sound of a scared and panicked Ibuki echoed through the cave.

“We got it angry! We got it very angry!” Abigail shouted as she fired off a few rounds at the monster chasing them.

Chasing behind them, Shaun expected to see a two headed dog, same as the anime and manga. So far things had been the same, so why wouldn’t it be the same now? Only what Shaun saw was not the same as the anime and manga.

Three heads. Lots of fur. And to top it all off, its ribs were exposed. The smell of rotting skin began to creep slowly closer to them.

“What the hell is that…” Shaun muttered as he saw the undead Cerberus.

[Level 40]

Just a few minutes prior, Ibuki and Abigail had decided they would go explore the cave system to see if the monster that had driven the villagers away from the mines was hiding to see if they could take it out or if they could avoid it.

“Man, this place is totally dark!” Ibuki complained as she swayed back and forth through the dark hall.

“Shh,” Abigail shushed her, “We gotta stay quiet, don’t know what kind of monster is out there,” she yelled in a loud whisper. “Here, just take my hand,” she said as she took her hand and pulled her further into the cave.

The cave slowly began to get more narrow till it got to the point both Abigail and Ibuki had to start crawling to be able to go further.

“Abigail, are you sure there will be anything over here?” Ibuki asked. “Ibuki can’t even see anything past your butt!”

“Hey! No one is asking you to look!” Abigail shouted.

"It's a nice butt, if that makes you feel any better," Ibuki jokingly added.

Letting out a loud groan, Abigail just kept moving forward, “I think I see something. Let me see if we can get through first. I might have to break a few rocks.”

“Righto,” Ibuki said. “Just don’t get stuck.”

Crawling deeper in, a light at the end of the tunnel seemed to be just out of reach. From the small peephole they had, it looked like a room filled with ore inside. Changing weapons to the [Pickaxe Bayonet and Gun] , she started hitting the hole, slowly bringing in more light.

After the final hit, Abigail and Ibuki managed to fall out of the hole without much effort. The hole they made was a fair bit higher than expected so both girls had a tumble and fell close together, but managed to dust themselves off rather quickly.

Inside the ores inside lit the room up with a faint bluish green glow, not leaving a single speck of darkness in there. On the opposite side of the hole they came from was the proper entrance of the cave.

At the center of the room looked what appeared to be a three headed monster in front of them but upon closer inspection, the body was already decomposing, three of its ribs were exposed and the jaw of the left head was no longer there.

“Wow! Abigail, look at this!” Ibuki said, rushing over to the dead monster. She zoomed around the body, touching the fur and poking at the exposed bones.

“Ibuki, don’t touch that, you’ll catch something!” Abigail chastised the rocker.

“Don’t worry!” Ibuki said, “I’ll wash my hands before eating!”

“That isn’t my concern,” Abigail said weakly. “Here, let me disassemble it. I’m sure the others will want a piece.”

“Ibuki knows she wants to get some! Get me a nail, I think I can get the boss man to turn it into a pick!”

Smiling and rolling her eyes, Abigail transformed her gun and bayonet again to something more fitting and got close to the beast and picked up one of its paws.

As Abigail began to get to work and Ibuki looked at the ore, her ears picked up a sound. It was low. Inhuman. Sounded like a dog. “Hey, Abigail, I think I hear something,” Ibuki called out.

“Hmm, what’s that?” Abigail asked, as she finally finished shaving the paw so she got a clear look at the nail.

Ibuki turned to Abigail. As the girl was focused on the monster, she did not seem to notice the right head begin to rise.

“Abigail!” Ibuki yelled as he began to run to her.

Abigail turned to her right in her eyes widened. One of the three heads was staring right at her.

“GRRR-AHH!” the monster growled out as it lunged forward.

Abigail raised her arm to block herself from the head. A sharp pain of something stabbing into her arm suddenly spread like a wildfire across her body. Small drops of blood hit the ground.

Ibuki had Abigail by the collar of her shirt and had dragged her out of the way. Unfortunately one of the teeth of the monster had stabbed into Abigail’s arm.

“Oh my God! Abigail! Are you okay!”

“Ow… Y-yeah,” Abigail said with a stutter, adrenaline coursing through her body.

As Ibuki helped Abigail up, the monster began to move. Each one of the six eyes was milky and devoid of life. The body began to move and slowly began to move.

“Uh.. hey, hey! Abigail,” Ibuki said as she started to walk back, “Is that normal? Should that be moving?”

“I don’t think so,” Abigail said through gritted teeth. “Should we run and not fight?”

“Yep! Come on, Ibuki will get us out of here!” Ibuki said as she grabbed Abigail by her non injured arm and pulled her out of the way of the monster and towards what both girls hopped was the rest of the party.

“Guys! Run!” Ibuki yelled to the rest of the party.

“We got it mad! We got it mad!” Abigail shouted close behind Ibuki with the undead Cerberus chased behind them on their tails.

“What the hell is that…” Shaun said as he looked wide eyed at the monster following behind them.

[Level 40]

“It looks like a small Cerberus,” Koneko said, narrowing her eyes as she got into a fighting stance. “Everyone get ready.”

Shaun placed a hand onto the holster and another onto the scabbard he had for his bayonet, but before he did he turned behind him.

Raphtalia was scared. No, she was petrified. Her skin had gone pale and her entire body was so stiff it might feel like you were going to crack a bone with how much force would be needed to move a limb. Her eyes were purely focused on the monster in front of her.

“M-mother… F-father…” Raphtalia managed to get out as she shook in fear.

Naofumi heard her terrified voice and saw the same thing as Shaun. The small girl trembled in fear. “Ibuki!” he called out to the Ultimate student, “Get Raphtalia out of here, take her out of the cave and come back!” he ordered.

“Yes, sir!” Ibuki said as she rushed past him and in one swift motion picked up Raphtalia, “I got you sweety!”

“Naofumi, what are you doing?” Koneko looked back to see Ibuki still running with Raphtalia in her hands.

“Getting her to safety,” Naofumi said. “We’re the heroes here, we have to keep her safe.”

Koneko looked back and nodded. “Fine.”

“Shaun! Naofumi! Koneko! One of you! Help!” Abigail yelled as she fired off her gun at the monster.

Deciding to put conversations out on hold. The three other heroes rushed in to help out Abigail and fight the monster.

Naofumi took the front, blocking the center mouth and tried to take a bite of Abigail, giving her time to catch her breath. Shaun had shot at the right head, which showed little result, his bullets did not manage to break through the tough fur. The jawless left head tried to attack Naofumi’s side and tried to punch it away, with little effect. Koneko, Naofumi, and Shaun got knocked to the side.

“Sonuva-” Shaun groaned weakly under Naofumi. “What the hell is that thing doing here?”

“Shaun, you know something? If so, now might be the time to speak up,” Naofumi said as he turned to the gunner.

“That is Cerberus, the first wave boss!” he clarified as the three regrouped with Abigail. “It is not supposed to be here. Or undead. Why is it here, I have no idea!”

“Well it is here now!” Abigail shouted over her gun shots from behind a rock that the others jumped to hide behind. “Any ideas on how to kill it?”

“Besides shouting “Let the power of Christ compel you?” No,” Shaun said. “Koneko, you come from a world with these things, ideas?”

“Never fought one. But I think we should just hit it,” Koneko said, “It might be hard since it is undead, but I think we might have a shot.”

“Wait, wait, wait!” Naofumi interrupted. “I have questions about what you just said about Koneko’s word, but ignoring that for now, undead monsters are typically stronger than normal versions.”

“I might be missing something here, but it is a zombie, just smash the brains,” Abigail said. Koneko for a moment had a look of realization.

“AHHH!” a shout from a high voice came from the entrance of the cavern.

“Raphtalia, get back here!” Ibuki’s voice was further back in the mineshaft that led to the area. The four heroes in the cave watched as Raphtalia came charging into the cave to fight the monster, leaving behind Ibuki

As Ibuki ran with Raphtalia in her arms, the faint cries of the girl hit Ibuki in the ear.

“It’ll be okay, little rocker,” Ibuki tried to comfort Raphtalia and stroke her hair, which did not do much to the shaking child.

“D-dog monster… it killed them. It killed everyone! Even mother and father!” Raphtalia said as tears slowly made their ways out and down her cheeks.

Ibuki frowned. It was the first wave boss from before they were summoned. Ibuki barely gave much thought about the past wave, but Raphtalia was a hard reminder of what there was in the past. That there was a real important reason to be brought here.

“Is it the same monster?” Ibuki asked as she began to slow down.

“Hmph,” was the only sound Raphtalia said, burrowing herself into Ibuki’s shoulder.

Slowly placing the girl down, Ibuki looked Raphtalia in the eyes, or at least tried as the small girl was looking at the ground.

“Hey, little rocker,” Ibuki said in a rather soft tone, an unusual thing for her, “Listen. Naofumi, Shaun, Abigail and Koneko, they are heroes. Okay. So it is our duty to fight monsters. Understand? Naofumi is the Shield Hero after all. So you don’t have to worry, He’ll keep them safe while the others fight off that totally lame monster, got it,” Ibuki tried to smile for the small girl, but when she did not look up  “Naofumi wanted me to get you out of the way so you stayed safe. I have to head back now though, okay? Just keep going till you see the light.”

Ibuki stood up and ruffled Raphtalia’s hair before turning back.

“Are you going to fight it too?” Raphtalia’s quiet voice asked.

Ibuki turned her head and nodded with a grin. Holding her arm up, she patted her biceps, “Yep! Ibuki gotta make sure none of them get too banged up!” she said. “I don’t have any good attack power, but Ibuki’s jamming tunes are gonna support them.”

Raphtalia watched in amazement.

She looked so confident. Why… Why? Why was she smiling? That thing killed her village. Her family! Why was she so confident with running into danger?

Was this what it was that made her a hero? There had to be some reason she was chosen to be selected as a hero. Was it the fact that she could smile and keep going? Was it because she could still look so confident while running into danger? Was it the trust she put into the others? She couldn’t fight. She could not attack like the Shield hero yet she was running in.

Raphtalia picked up one foot, and placed it in front of the other. Despite shaking, like the scared little girl she was, she kept going like the heroes who were fighting the very thing that destroyed and took away everything she had loved. Taking away the villagers. Keel. Rifana. Her parents.

One foot after the other. It became faster and faster as Raphtalia began to run as fast as she could. At one point she saw Ibuki but she kept running back into the fight. Then at another point she met back up with Ibuki. 

Then she was past her.

By the time she exited the mineshaft and entered the cavern with the heroes and the monster, she had completely passed Ibuki. She drew her short sword and shouted.

“AHHH!”

“Raphtalia, get back here!” Ibuki called out from behind her.

Raphtalia kept going. Determined to help the heroes who promised her a better life. Leaping into the air, Raphtalia plunged her small sword into the stomach of the monster.

“GRAA-AHH!” the heads growled. The right head turned to Raphtalia with its fangs showing and mouth open

“Raphtalia!”

“Naofumi, quick!”

“Right! Air Strik-”

Shaun, Abigail and Naofumi looked at the small demi-human about to be attacked and possibly killed by the head, Koneko threw herself forward and grabbed Raphtalia.

The demi-human found herself forced to let go of her sword. Koneko had grabbed her and skidded against the ground. Then they started to fall. Koneko had Raphtalia in her grip, hugging her for dear life and they were falling.

Raphtalia clenched her eyes tight, waiting for some kind of impact.

“...”

“...”

“...”

“YO KONEKO, YOU FLY?!” Ibuki’s loud voice yelled.

Raphtalia opened her eyes and looked around. She was in the air. She wasn’t falling. She looked around and saw Koneko still holding her and despite the darkness of the cavern the glow of the ore made the silhouette of bat wings coming from Koneko's lower back appear.

Moving Raphtalia to solid ground, Koneko landed and tucked her wings back into her body. Koneko looked at Naofumi who had his mouth open, gawking at Koneko, Shaun and Abigail both had a grin on their face as they looked at her. “Questions later,” was all she said.

“Ibuki has several!” The rocker yelled as she dodged a dog's head, “Also Ibuki needs help!”

“Oh, right. Dead dog,” Shaun muttered. “Yo, Ibuki! Think you can distract it?”

“Already doing that!”

“Oh, right. Well, okay, same plan, hit the heads and kill Fido?” Shaun said pointing to the Cerberus with his thumb.

Switching to the [Rope Bayonets] and the [Light Metal Guns] two long rifles made from the ore of the mine, the design was slick and shiny, but rather blocky. Both gunners aimed to the roof above the Cerberus and grappled up to get ready.

Naofumi ran up front to give Ibuki some breathing room, guarding her with his Shield, Naofumi blocked one head while Koneko followed behind him and punched the heads to try and keep Naofumi’s job as easy as possible.

As for Ibuki, she equipped her weapon to [Flower Lyre] a lyre that when played increased the party’s attack by 5%. Though being Ibuki, the Ultimate student put her all into her toying with the instrument.

“Guys! Ready?!” Naofumi called to the two gunners.

“Ready!” they yelled from above.

“Drop then!”

Pulling, the two bayonets let them drop. Pointing their weapons at a head, both Gun Heroes shouted, “Air Strike Bayonet!”

Two glowing green bayonets appeared over the heads of the Cerberus, both heroes landed on the hardened air and the bayonets soon fell too.

On the sidelines, the others saw two of the three heads get impaled, leaving only the jawless left head flailing, trying to escape and attack the two.

“Air Strike Fist,” Koneko said in a bored tone, a green fist appeared  in the air and Koneko moved her hand and to fist mirrored and grabbed the thing by its neck. Once she did that she moved to the side and went to the side Raphtalia had stabbed and got her sword out. 

Raphtalia had seen the entire thing from behind the rock the heroes had hidden behind, her eyes were wide in awe and amazement.

Koneko saw the girl and with Raphtalia’s sword in hand she handed it blade down to the girl.

“Want the last hit?” Koneko asked.

Raphtalia looked at Koneko and then back at the sword she handed her.

With a small nod, Raphtalia slowly walked up to the undead monster.

She raised her sword at the thing, it was still growling at her, trying to get out of the giant hand that Koneko made to keep it still.

Taking one last breath, she plunged the sword into the last head and the body stopped moving.

[+8552 EXP]

[Congratulations on Reaching 16!]

“Holy shit! We did it!” Shaun shouted, jumping for joy!

“Hell yeah!” Ibuki said, hugging Naofumi who was tired but smiling as they looked at their accomplishment. “Take that Chiaki! I rule at games!”

“On your left,” Shaun said, which made Ibuki shoot her head at him and shot his smug face with a glare.

“Good work everyone,” Abigail said, panting as she fell onto her butt.

Koneko smiled as she patted Raphtalia on the back, a smile on her face as she looked at the dead undead monster. “You did good, kid.”

“Yeah, good work everyone,” Naofumi said, glad everyone was alright. Walking up to Raphtalia, the small girl looked up to him. “As for you,” he said and got one knee. He brought his hand up to her and flicked her head. “I thought I told you to go outside, we would deal with the monster.”

“W-well…” Raphtalia stuttered, looking at the ground.

Naofumi sighed and moved his hand and put it on her head and gently rubbed the girl’s head. “Regardless of that, you did good, you aren’t hurt are you?”

“No…”

“Good,” Naofumi said and got back up. “Koneko,” he said to the white haired girl, “thank you for saving Raphtalia there, but…”

“You want to know about the wings?” Koneko said, tilting her head to the side.

“Yeah! Ibuki wants to know! Why didn’t you say anything?! Why didn’t you guys say anything?!” she yelled as she turned to Shaun and Abigail.

“You guys know something?” Naofumi asked.

“We know a lot of things,” Abigail said. “We just have a general rule of not speaking about them unless given exact permission.”

“How would you like it if I said we gave away your secrets, when they are extremely personal and we have no right to know?” Shaun added.

Naofumi sighed, they did have a point. “I guess… but,”

“No, I think you should know. Cat’s out of the bag on this one,” Koneko sighed, flashing her wings. “Well, I guess to make things simple, I’m a devil.”

“...”

“...”

“...”

“HUH?!” Ibuki and Naofumi shouted.

Koneko did not reveal everything to Naofumi, Ibuki and Raphtalia, something she made clear and they understood. What she did tell them was the basics of her world and what it meant that she was a devil. General rules of information, the war and tension between the Devils, Angels and Fallen Angels. How as a devil she could not touch things like crosses or holy water and saying anything Christian that praised the man upstairs was not something she was allowed to do. She also explained that she was not born but made a devil by the evil pieces that turned her into a devil. She also told them about her peerage, those she considered her family, but also did not go much into them.

Of course, Naofumi had questions like when did she plan to tell them but Ibuki’s questions were a bit more varied from asking how long she could fly, if she could feel her wings and a lot of weird questions that Koneko had decided to not list off for her own sanity so she did not have to relive them. Lucky for her, they seemed to be rather understanding and Abigail and Shaun did not reveal anymore than she was okay with.

After dissecting the Cerberus so it would not come back to life, they had unlocked quite a few new weapons, and while Koneko was not a dog person, the [Cerberus Mittens] dealt a good amount of damage and were soft and comfortable. When they got to the heart of the monster, they had found whatever reanimated the monster.

The heart seemed to be spewing out some sort of purple mist from it. Naofumi decided to absorb the heart into his shield and unlocked the [Karma Shield] which added a new bar for him to look at. What it did they did not know but they wanted to find out.

As for now, back in the present, things were going a lot better.

The party had leveled up quite a lot. Koneko had reached level 38, Ibuki and Naofumi reached level 35, Abigail and Shaun seemed to have stopped at level 30 when a star appeared next to their names. As for Raphtalia, she had reached level 23. The Cerberus in the cavern had made them a lot of EXP and money, but sadly it made every other amount of EXP dropped by the monsters outside seem small.

Speaking of, both Abigail and Shaun asked around and found out Lucy and Klee had reached level cap at level 40 when she saw the star by their names. They also contacted Ruby and Roy who had the same issue.

They decided to all go along with the Class Up ritual together. Since it would be nice for everyone to level up all at once. The day before that Shaun had dragged them yesterday at one point to get their measurements taken for clothes, sharing news of a party that the king will have after they clear the wave.

Lucy and Klee were the first to put their hands onto the hourglass. It began to spin faster and faster till sand came out and formed four cards, one for Lucy, one for Klee and two for Ren.

“Huh… that’s new.” Ren said.

“Wow! Lucy, look! It’s me!” Klee jumped for joy as she held the card in her hand, it was a golden card with a man in robes and a staff on the back.

“I’m on it too!” Lucy said in amazement. Her card was also gold, but unlike Klee’s hers had a knight on a chariot.

[Lucy Heartfillia ☆☆☆☆

Level: 40/50

HP: 7,687

ATK 6,095

Buster, Arts, Arts, Quick, Quick

Skills:

Charisma C (Fairy) Lv. 1: Increase Party Attack And Applies Buster Up

Unison Raid Lv. 1: Increases Noble Phantasm Charge Of One Hero And Self; Increase Arts and Quick Attacks Of Selected Target

Class Skills:

Riding Skill D

Magic Resistance B

Noble Phantasm: Urano Metria

Card: Quick

Rank: B

Type: Anti-Army

Deals Heavy Damage To All Enemies, Decreases DEF, Inflicts Stun After Use

Bond Lv: 3/10]

[Klee ☆☆☆☆☆

Level: 50/60

ATK:  6,008

HP: 5,319

Buster, Buster, Buster, Arts, Quick

Skills:

Intuition (Bomb): Random Chance To Deal Critical Damage, Ignores Invincibility

Dodoco Bombardment: Shuffles Deck To All Buster Cards

Class Skills:

Item Construction A

Magic Resistance: C

Territory Creation E-

Noble Phantasm: Sparks ‘n’ Splash

Card: Buster

Rank: C

Type: Anti-Personnel

Increases Buster Strength, Deals Heavy Damage To A Single Enemy, Inflicts Burn Onto Enemy.

Bond: 4/10]

“Holy shit! Abigail! We get Servant Cards! We get Servant Cards!” Shaun said, jumping for joy as he hugged Abigail in a bear hug.

“I’m more amazed that Klee managed to hit level 50 before Mordred,” Abigail said but smiled.

“You know what these are?” Ren asked as he looked at the cards that held information on Klee and Lucy,

“Yeah, they are the same as the ones we know in a game. Basically a character is split into one of several Classes and you level them up. It seems Lucy is a Rider and Klee is a Castor,” Abigail explained.

“What’s this bond thing?” he asked as he tapped Lucy’s card. In front of him projected a page full of words that seemed to describe Lucy.

“Well Bond level was typically used as a way to learn about lore of a Servant and could be farmed by just taking a Servant out for combat, but I don’t know if that applies here,” Shaun said as he looked at Lucy’s file.

“Just scroll and you should see her basic information. Her alignment, gender, height, weight.”

“B/W/H?” Ren read out loud. “What does-”

“STOP LOOKING!” Lucy shouted slamming Ren’s hand down and closed the page. Glaring at both the Sword Hero and the Gun Heroes she said, “Not a word.”

Shaun chuckled and shrugged. “Alright, well let’s get this over with! I want to see my card, I’m betting Archer.”

“Go Assassin,” Abigail said with a weak cheer.

"Damn it! I should have said “Bear thy neck” to that giant dog!"

"Don't quote Gramps!"

Following Lucy and Klee, the rest of the heroes got their cards in hand. There was some confusion around how the attack and health points seemed to not line up and what did the words Buster, Arts and Quick mean. After a quick explanation things seemed to settle down for the most part, though Shawn did say he did not entirely know about the attack and health differences and figured it to be some weird conversion.

Those like Roy and Klee were content with their cards, both being Casters. Those who were upset like Lucy and Abigail. Lucy didn’t like the fact her card seemed to be the only one to give away personal information and Abigail didn’t like being sorted into the Archer Class when Shaun got to be in Assassin. Then finally there were those who were happy but also frustrated, Ruby, she had been sorted into the Lancer Class. One of her Class Skills [Loose Ends] was the one that made her see the recent dead. Unfortunately, what would be her Noble Phantasm was all question marks. All she knew was that it was a Buster and attacked multiple enemies. The only solace Ruby had was both Abigail and Shaun did not get a Noble Phantasm as well.

After all the Class Ups had been finished, the Heroes decided to split up after their meeting at the Church.

Roy mentioned he had a gift for everyone that he’d give if the parties managed to win the fight against the wave, so he gave Itsuki and Ren incentive to try their best.

After the Church, the Shield Hero’s party traveled to Erhard’s place to upgrade their armor before the wave began. The Sword Hero and his lot went to the Guild to see if there was anything they could look for any quests they could take after the wave. The Spear Hero and his little harem plus Roy and Mordred got to some last minute grinding to try and get Mordred to level 50. Finally, the Bow Hero and his group joined Ren and his group. Ruby walked the furthest behind everyone, her eyes focusing on her card.

[Ruby Rose ☆☆☆☆

Lv: 40/50

HP:

ATK:

Buster, Buster, Arts, Quick, Quick

Skills:

Mana Burst (Rose) Lv. 1: Increases Buster Attacks And Chance For Evade To Activate

Reaper Lv. 1 :  Increase Damage Dealt To [Undead] Enemies

Class Skills:

Magic Resistance D

Loose Thread EX

Noble Phantasm: ???

Card: Buster

Rank: ???

Type: Anti-Evil

???

Bond Lv. 0/10]

“No surprise there,” Ruby huffed.

“No surprise where?” the childish voice of Klee suddenly appeared next to Ruby.

“AHH! Klee, I didn’t see you there!” Ruby said, placing a hand on her chest, calming her breath. “I’m fine, just a little upset at my card I guess…”

Klee looked up at Ruby. Was Ruby so bad at lying she was unable to lie to a child? Wow, that had to say something about her.

“You know, when Klee is upset or lonely, Mommy, Master Jean or Big Brother Albedo would read to me,” Klee said, a smile on her face but it soon was replaced by a frown, “But they aren’t here. But it’s okay, Klee has Ren and Lucy and everyone else!” Klee cheered. Despite the brief moment of despair, the small girl’s spirit did not seem to be crushed. “Since you are the only Apprentice Hero with Itsuki, you must be lonely. So Klee will keep you company!”

Ruby put the card into her pocket and looked down at Klee and scooped her up. “Aw, aren’t you the cutest!” Ruby said as she held Klee in her arms, both girls giggled, drawing the attention of the rest of the party.

“Ruby, put her down and hurry up.” Itsuki called from the front.

Ren smiled and just placed a hand on Itsuki’s shoulder and shook his head. “Come on, she’s playing with Klee, let them have fun.”

Itsuki looked at Ren, who seemed so happy with working with the Apprentice Heroes. Didn’t he see that he should be the strongest one in their group? Not a little girl or someone who uses slaves?! Why didn’t he see the same thing? How was he able to talk so casually to Lucy despite knowing what she can do?!

Yet, his bond level with Ruby was the lowest out of everyone and he only had one Apprentice. Even Motoyasu had gotten a bond level of one with Roy and Mordred and Naofumi, despite not having any attack, had the highest amount of bond and Apprentices, both Abigail and Shaun having a shared score of four.

Itsuki turned back to Ruby who was still playing with Klee, with the small elf girl riding her shoulders.

This game was nothing like Dimension Web at all. As soon as he gets in contact with an admin or dev he’ll have some complaints he’d want to file with them like why the Apprentice Heroes were so much more broken?!

“Mister! Mister!” Keel called to the four armed man as he busted cell after cell open. A group of weak but free demi-humans had gone to get the keys and find the slave curse remover that Idol kept so he did not have to pay when he resold the slaves he got bored of.

“You…” the masked man said as he looked at the small dog demi-human. “I remember you…”

“It’s me Keel!”

“Keel… yes. You. I remember…”

“Are you really the one who is getting us out of here?!” Keel asked in desperation, pressing his face up against the bars to see the man letting everyone free.

“Yes,” the man said as he grabbed the cell door with his one free arm. “It is my mission to protect.” He pulled and broke the door open. “Even if that means peace through bloodshed. I will save you all…” he said as he went to the next door. “It is the duty of my kind. My contract…”

“Your contract…” Keel repeated. He would have asked further, but he had already moved on to the next door. A few demi-humans with keys and the slave curse removed soon came to the cell and unlocked the chains that were around Keel’s legs and got rid of the curse.

A loud boom and the light of the moon came from the only entrance and exit to the torture chamber opened. The masked man broke the door open, still with three of his hands bound and sealed in the iron cuffs.

The sounds of shouts soon could be heard.

The sound of shouts soon turned into panic and terror as the sound of metal hitting the ground could be heard.

Not many of the slaves could see, but Keel was small and could crawl through the legs to see what was going on.

The masked man stood at the entrance, one knight under his arm and a crushed bloody helmet in his hand as a body laid on the ground, motionless. Keel saw and heard as the man under the masked man begged but he did not seem to care. What happened to the guard prior happened to him.

And the next.

And the next.

And every single guard who tried to fight the man.

Archers tried to shoot him down, but it only seemed to make him more mad. When he went to them, the few demi-humans who came from gladiator fights picked up weapons.

The shouts of fighting echoed the hell hole, those who could not fight stayed inside. But those who braved to go outside saw the carnage that was made of those who were not going to stay and be slaves any longer.

When the shouts of fighting were replaced by cries of victory, the demi-humans who stayed below went up.

Bodies of demi-humans and beastmen were outnumbered by the bodies of guards.

And standing high on top of a roof, the masked four armed man stood tall.

Keel and the freed slave slowly exited the mansion of Idol Raiber, fearing someone would try to get them. Any guard they saw began to run when they were caught, not wanting to join their comrades who fought the foolish battle.

Apparently the fat lord had gone to Castle Town so he could attend the party the king was throwing. Lucky bastard escaped by the lard of his belly, he would not hear of this for some time.

When the demi-humans got to the gate, they looked to see the man walking up to them. Covered in blood and his wounds emitting a purple mist from each cut. He walked tall with little issue. The many demi-humans and beastmen parted for him, giving him the honor of opening the gate and setting them all free.

The man looked at everyone. Then at the door. It did not take a genius to see what they wanted. Placing his bare hand and covered iron fists to the gate, the man pushed and the lights of the village lit up the world to the former slaves in the darkness of the night.

The former slaves all walked out the gates, some talking to one another to speak of where to go. The name Reichnott came up lots of times as a place to go.

The masked man watched them. He felt sad. He would not remember them, yet he felt like they would remember him. It seemed unfair.

“Mister,” a voice from behind him called.

Keel stood behind him. He seemed like a giant compared to Keel’s small height.

“Keel,” the man said.

“Thank you,” Keel bowed, “Thank you…”

“You should catch up with the others,” he said.

“What about you? What are you going to do now?” Keel asked.

He hummed the Yaksha, looking up to the sky, “Hmm, I’m going to look for my friends... I remember some of them. A doctor, a nurse… a bear and an old man… there are others but I cannot…” he held his head, not remembering the shadowy figures in his mind.

“Oh?” Keel said, “Well let me come with you!” he asked, looking at the man with stars in his eyes. “You will-”

“No,” he shot him down. “This is a journey I must take alone,” the man said.

“W-why?!” Keel asked, annoyed at the rejection.

“My mission is not one a child should be around,” he placed his bare hand onto one of his wounds, when he lifted it up, a small purple mist came from his blood. “And I don’t remember why… but my blood, it is bad for you to be exposed for too long. You would become sick, like me…”

“But-but!”

“No buts,” the Yaksha said. He looked at the dog demi-human who looked sad, a frown came across his lips so he sorted through his mind to try and think of something to say.

A lightbulb went off.

“If you ever want to join me, become stronger,” he told him, “If you are strong enough, you won’t get hurt, but as you are. You are too weak as you are now.”

Keel looked up, excited to hear that. His tail even began to wag. “Really!?” The Yaksha nodded. “Promise?!” he nodded again.

“I promise.”

Keel’s smile grew bigger and bigger. “Alright! I will hold you to it! I’ll level up and grow up and when I’m super strong, I’ll travel along with you!”

The Yaksha smiled and nodded, “Till that day. Now go, the others will help you start anew. Go.”

“Right! See you again Mister! When I see you next time, you won’t even recognize me!”

The Yaksha smiled and nodded.

But a part of him that was still sane worried. He might not recognize him. If he had to place money, he would not remember this entire day by next week.

“I’m sorry kid,” the Yaksha said as he started to walk. “I might not be able to keep my promise to you…”

A/N: And that's chapter 8!

I hope you enjoyed it. While you wait for the next chapter, why not guess what class you would put Ibuki and Koneko into? Honestly, Koneko might be a Castor if you know what happens with her character development, but I also think Ibuki would be a good Berserker. What do you guys think?

Also want to share my thought process behind the kits I gave Lucy, Klee and Ruby.

With Lucy, she is a "Rider" so I had in mind that she would have a high Crit Star absorption, so I made her someone who is a CS  generator/support for her party. Klee I had in mind as a child needs to be propped up, so in my mind she was going to be a hard hitting Buster Caster that requires other Servants to work. Also if note that she has an E- in territory creation, that's a joke in the fact she destroys everything. Finally, Ruby I made her for a niche undead killer. Her NP is secret for now, but let's be real, we all know it's her Silver Eyes, right?

If you understood that last paragraph, congrats, if you didn't, go play FGO. Now with that all said, I hope you all enjoy it. Have a pleasant day!

Chapter Text

A/N: THE RERENOTES! Now, again, be sure to read the last two chapters, as I have uploaded them within the last hour of this chapter. Alright, ENJOY!

OH! ALSO! I have a gift for you guys. So, as some of you know, my previous fic, the second incarnation of ROTAH did not introduce the Mechanic Hero, dubbed the Bucket Hero by some. Well, I put in an omeka of what happens when I let thoughts "wow that's so random" fester and have a character with absolutely NO impulse control out. I hope you enjoy.

A/N: HEY EVERYONE! I'M BACK! Hello! Hello! Good to see you all! We are so close to getting 6k hits I can feel it!  

Now, I'm sure you all saw the new characters in the tags! So SURPRISE!

Anyways, speaking of the new characters I will be taking a moment to inform you all that the mechanic hero is the only one not going to make an appearance. I know I know, I'm sad too, but what are you gonna do.

Anyhow! Next topic, the next chapter is going to be the party and the Shield v. Spear 2022. I know I said we would be focusing on the apprentice heroes, but plans changed! Anyhow! I believe that is all! I hope you all have a great day!

“Well, kids. How do you like the new stuff? Have to say, despite the short notice, I think I did pretty good for myself,” Erhard said with a grin as he looked everyone over.

“I don’t know…” Naofumi said as he extended his arms, “It makes me look more like a…”

“Badass!” Ibuki said.

“Ha! She gets it!” Erhard said as he and Ibuki fist bumped. Naofumi let out a defeated sigh as he looked at the new armor. “My Barbarian Armor will do you good kid, so don’t complain too much.” 

“It just makes me look like some sort of bandit king,” Naofumi complained. “I mean, why am I the only one who got the scary armor?”

“Because you were the only one who didn’t specify what you wanted,” Abigail and Shaun said as they popped their collars. Both wearing thick long coats, both had their similarities like the lightweight metal armor that guarded their vitals underneath, but both went for different aesthetics. Abigail's solid gray coat was much more clean looking, like a detective that had come out of a mix between a fantasy world and America in the 1920s. As for Shaun, whose coat was a much more tan brown coat to go for a cowboy aesthetic. Shaun’s left side had more armor covering his arm and shoulder compared to his right which only had a shoulder pad, Abigail’s was similar but one the right. The sets of armor and clothes had been labeled by Erhard as the Sleuth and Scavenger Armor.

“They aren’t wrong. You should be more specific,” Koneko said. Her outfit did not change much from her previous outfit. She had changed out her old chainmail for something a bit smaller that wasn’t as loose on her body and added some arm guards to her outfit. Koneko didn’t bother to remember its name.

“I think it looks great, Master Naofumi!” Raphtalia complimented. “It really suits you and adds to your charm.”

“Yeah! Yeah, Ibuki think’s it makes you look scary!” Ibuki said, jumping up and down with a wide grin. “Ooh! Like yeah, keep glaring, it makes you look even more scary!” Ibuki said as Naofumi scowled and his eyes looked a lot more sharp. As for her armor upgrades, she had also not changed much like Koneko, only replacing her leather breastplate for metal and changing out her thick heavy coat to something that was much lighter.

Sighing, Naofumi dropped his shoulders. Was it really his fate to deal with being called a villain or looking scary? “You guys suck,” he said, Ibuki and Raphtalia shared a giggle, as the demi-human patted the Shield Hero’s back. Turning to Shaun who had been knocked to the ground by Koneko, knocking him and Abigail out of their sync, “Hey Shaun, the wave is about to start. Is there anything else that we need to know? Anything we missed?”

Picking himself up, Shaun shot Koneko a glare while the girl munched on food she seemed to have pulled from nowhere, “Let me think. New armor, new clothes and raising both me and Abigail’s level cap. Hmm… I think there is something else but I don’t remember what it is. Oh, but I do know where this wave is going to hit!” 

“Well the wave is close to occurring, so we will have to do without it,” Naofumi said.

“I guess,” Shaun said, lowering his head. He swore there was something he was forgetting to mention.

Naofumi nodded as he opened his menu and looked at the clock as it counted down, they had at least enough time to go over their plan for the wave.

“Alright, Koneko. What’s the first thing we do when we get sent to the wave?” he asked.

“See if we recognize anything. Look for any towns or villages that need evacuation, if yes evacuate. After that we put the hurt onto this mofo. By the end of this we will be one step closer to heading home.”

“And if we’re lucky we will get some good money,” Shaun said with a grin.

“What is with you money?” Abigail said, “I’m beginning to think you might be the little devil of our group.”

“Hey! Is it wrong to want to make bank?!” Shaun asked, “Also I need money for my plan that I have. Something so critical that I will need money for it to work.”

“No offense Shaun, but you have the most money out of everyone here,” Naofumi said. “Last I asked, you were already up to five gold, what could you need so much money for?”

Shaun tapped his chin as he looked around, mainly at Erhard who was also interested in what Shaun was saving for, he decided to just go for it. “I want to threaten the pope with birds.”

“Ibuki doesn’t get it!”

“None of us do,” Naofumi said. “Shaun, what do you mean by scare the pope?”

Shaun only grinned and turned to Abigail who was also very confused and had yet to catch on. So he stared at her with the biggest shit eating grin, “Fear turkey,” was all he said before cackling like a madman and walked off.

The group looked very confused and turned to Abigail who took a moment to think about what was said. After a few seconds it hit her. Abigail’s mouth slowly lowered and sounds of her losing her breath escaped.

“Y-you! I-I! You little fuck! You were going to leave me out of this?!” Abigail shouted as she began to chase after Shaun who only started to laugh louder.

Back with the group, they watched as the two went their own way, still confused as to what they were referring to.

“Fear turkey?” Erhard asked, sadly not getting any responses.

With a few minutes till the wave, Ren, Motoyasu, and Itsuki sat at a table in the guild, waiting for it to begin. They were supposed to be talking about what they would do during the wave, a raid meeting if you would, but that did not really happen.

Motoyasu was talking to Itsuki about his party, mainly about the beauties that he was traveling with and had seen and Itsuki listened to him with a friendly smile. As for Ren, he and his party were all looking after Klee.

“Now, one more time Klee, what are you supposed to do during the wave?” Ren asked.

“Stick close to either you or any of the other party members,” Klee answered,

“And if you lose us?”

“Go to one of the other parties.”

“Good, and what about when you are alone and a monster corners you?” Ren asked.

“Throw bombs at it!” Klee answered with joy, holding up the [Dodoco Tales II] , the weapon she unlocked after the wait when she put her Vision into the detonator, close to her chest. It was nearly identical to the first book with a few more chapters added to it and a special spot for Klee to put her Vision on the book.

“Good girl!” Ren said, ruffling Klee’s hair over her hat. Tell Ren a month ago he would grow to love a tiny little elf girl like a little sister, he would call them crazy, now though, he found the time he spent with Klee a great way to smile. He had gotten much closer to his party all thanks to the little girl right by him.

“Wow, Ren. You’ve gotten good at babysitting,” Motoyasu commented.

Ren paid no mind to Motoyasu’s comment as he was focused on cleaning some dirt on Klee’s cheek. “Huh, yes I guess. Though I’m not that good.”

“That’s not true,” Lucy said as she walked up next to Ren and leaned forward. “You’ve really been doing great with Klee.”

A faint bashful blush dusted Ren’s cheeks as he scratched his cheek. “I don’t know about that…”

“Take the compliment Ren! Girls like confident men!” Motoyasu said, coming from behind the Sword Hero and slapping his back hard.

“Ow!” Ren glared at Motoyasu from behind him and rubbed his back. “Don’t do that. Also I have no idea what you’re on about.”

“Sure, sure,” Motoyasu said, waving Ren off as he walked away. “Ladies, Roy, let’s go.” he said to his party, receiving varying forms of agreements and one from Mordred that was less of an agreement and more of an insult that caused Lucy to cover Klee’s ears.

As the parties individually got ready, the countdown ticked down.

The Spear Hero party waved through the crowds of people as they walked down the center of the road.

The Bow Hero spoke to his party, mainly on what he wanted each of them to specifically do.

The Sword Hero and his party spent the last few seconds fusing over Apprentice Bomber Hero to make sure she would be okay.

As for the Shield Hero and his party, they spent their last seconds looking over what they would need and making sure their armor and gear was already.

All eyes were focusing on the last seconds as they counted down.

<<00.00.03>>

<<00.00.02>>  

<<00.00.01>>

<<00.00.00>>

The light of the sky had changed. The sky changed from a clear blue to a blood red. The heroes had been summoned into a forest close together. The Shield Hero’s party summoned a bit higher up and on a small cliff with the other three summoned on the same level.

“Where are we?” Koneko asked, looking around at the forest.

Raphtalia had her eyes wide open and ears perked up. To their right was the mineshaft they had found the first wave boss in. In the distance she could see the houses of a village, “We are close to the mines. I see Riyute village over there!” she pointed to the village.

Abigail and Shaun looked up at the sky in a mix of wonder and horror. Armed zombies covered in old armor and wasps dropping from the sky.

“Holy shit…” they said at the same time.

As his party was busy, Naofumi looked down at the ground, the other heroes were running to what he believed was the wave boss. “Guys! Riyute village is just over here! We gotta evacuate it first!” he yelled down to the heroes.

Out of the seven heroes down there, only Ren and the rest of the Apprentice Heroes stopped to look up to Naofumi, which caused the rest of the heroes to look at them in confusion.

“Come on,” Itsuki called out to Ruby. “What are you doing?!”

“There’s a village near here!” Naofumi yelled. “We need to evacuate it before we head to the boss!”

“We can stop this whole thing by just killing the boss,” Itsuki argued back.

“But what about the people who can’t fight back?” Ruby asked, “We have to help them.”

“They’ll have to wait. Our priority is to fight the boss,” Itsuki told her, his tone growing frustrated as they continued to talk, not seeing how Ruby didn’t see his side of the argument.

Ruby gritted her teeth and clenched the pole of her scythe with a lot more strength than she normally would. A frown growing on her face.

“Itsuki-” Ren tried to speak up but a burst of red rose petals zoomed past him and into the forest, to the village.

“There she goes,” Roy groaned. “We’re wasting time. We don’t need all of us to fight the boss. So I’ll also go to the village with Ruby. Naofumi, is your party going as well?” he asked, Naofumi nodded. “Alright, lead the way.”

As Naofumi and his party led the way, the other three heroes and their apprentices all continued to the wave boss.

“Lucy,” Ren called to the mage. “Can you summon two of your spirits to fill in for Ruby and Roy?” he asked as they kept running.

“I can’t summon more than one at a time,” Lucy answered. “I can still summon one though,” Lucy responded. Ren nodded understanding. “The first boss is a Chimera, right? Anything I should know about it?”

“Body and head of a lion, another head on it is a goat, and its tail is a snake,” Mordred answered, “Also can breathe fire. Real pain in the ass.”

“What have you fought one before?” Motoyasu asked, surprised. “Also you’re forgetting the head of a dragon. That’s where the fire comes from.”

“What are you talking about, it’s the goat!” Itsuki yelled.

“It’s the lion, I know,” Mordred yelled at them both.

Meanwhile, Lucy was trying her best to figure out which advice she should listen to. Deciding to follow her gut, Lucy grabbed her chain and extended her arm. “Open Gate of the Maiden: Virgo!”

Summoning into existence, Virgo appeared running next to them and kept pace. “Is it punishment time now, Princess?”

“No! Will you stop asking!” Lucy yelled.

It was so ugly, that shade of red. Not the ones in the sky or the one on her cape or the tips of her hair, she especially liked the last two, no. Sirma was a calm blue in the night sky, a calming and cool color that made Ruby feel at peace. On the other hand, Ruby had no idea she could feel such a feeling of disdain for something because of the color it had. It was violent, angry and down right loud, this ugly color of red. Whenever she saw a zombie she noticed the ugly color despite the sky making everything being bathed in red.

“Get back!” a lone man holding a satchel like a shield yelled, trying to defend himself from the zombies in front of him. “Get-!” The man seemed to cut himself off as one moment the zombie was there one moment and the next the top half was gone. “Back…”

Ruby stopped for a moment and looked back. The red color was still there. It did not separate from the body, but the main body did not seem to be moving anymore.

“Are you alright?” Ruby asked.

“Y-yes,” the man stuttered. “You’re the Reaper Hero, aren’t you?”

Ruby smiled and nodded to the man, “Yep! Don’t worry, I’m here to help.”

“Gods bless you girl. To have a hero save me,” the man said to her, causing Ruby to blush with embarrassment.

“O-oh, think nothing of it. Just doing a hero’s duty, ya know. Please get somewhere safe, okay. I have to keep going. Stay safe, Mister. I’d hate it if I had to escort you too.” Ruby advised the man before she ran off in a burst of petals. 

Ruby kept running till she made it to the village. The villagers were in a panic, some of them trying to keep their children safe, some trying to keep themselves safe and some just running for their lives from zombies and giant bugs.

“As source of thy power, I order thee. Decipher the laws of nature, and create a flame the source of all things: Fire!” a voice from behind the reaper spoke and the crackling of lightning soon followed.

The next thing Ruby knew, fire had shot next to her and burned up three groups of zombies and wasps that were right next and about to kill people. The fire engulfed them all, and when it disappeared the only things that were left were the bodies of the bugs as they fell and turned to ash, the frozen red things that the zombies left behind when they died and the untouched bodies of the still living villagers.

“You know, next time you run off, you might want to come along with the group to know the quickest way,” Roy said with a grin.

“Mustang!” Ruby said with joy, seeing that he followed behind her. “You actually came!”

“It’s a hero’s duty to save people, isn’t it?” Roy said as he walked up next to Ruby. “I ran ahead of the others who came to make sure you didn’t hurt yourself again.”

“Are you talking about the bear?” Ruby pouted and crossed her arms, “It was the one time. I haven’t been forced into the red by any monster since,” Ruby said.

Roy looked at the teen girl and chuckled. “Whatever you say kid. Come on, let’s get to work.”

Both Reaper and Mage Apprentice Heroes ran into the town proper, cutting down and burning monsters as soon as they saw them. When Naofumi’s party arrived the job became easier.

Abigail, Ibuki and Roy climbed the tower, allowing for the Ultimate student to be heard from far away, playing her music, the [Pickaxe Guitar] along with Roy’s [Voice Gengar Bat Wand] together made a deadly combination.

As soon as Ibuki started to sing, every monster around the town started heading to the tower they were holding up in and all the people who were hiding and fighting had to cover their ears, Raphtalia had to be caught by Naofumi as she almost passed out from Ibuki’s heavy metal, Abigail had actually passed out for a few seconds when Ibuki started.

Shaun and Koneko fought next to each other. Abigail had taken both guns, leaving Shaun with two bayonets for him to fight with. Koneko cast Air Strike Fist and grabbed a pair of zombies before they could attack a mother and child and Shaun finished them off by jumping up and stabbing them each in the head before they all dropped.

Naofumi and Raphtalia focused the most on clearing a path for villagers to get to the mines to hide while the wave raged on.

As Naofumi used an Air Strike Shield on a hoard of zombies, he looked back at where he saw the heroes running off to the wave boss. “What’s taking them so long?” Naofumi asked as he looked out to see a small cloud of smoke above the trees in an open area of forest where he assumed the wave boss was located.

Suddenly a loud roar came from the area of the wave boss and the dust cloud seemed to start to move in the direction of the village.

“Shit,” Naofumi swore, “Raphtalia, we gotta hurry! The boss is heading to the village!” he told her as he began to run.

Minutes prior to the loud roar, the three heroes and their apprentices fought the wave boss.

“Spec Bind!” Lucy shouted at the chimera, covering the creature in rock chains, which kept in place for a few seconds before it broke free.

“What the hell is with this thing? It’s so much tougher than in Emerald Online,” Motoyasu complained as he tried to hit the monster only for the tail to whip him back and eat dirt.

“News flash, idiot. Chimera tend to be strong,” Mordred said as she dodged a fireball from the dragon head.

“You can do it, Sir Motoyasu, we believe in you!” Malty cheered from a distance.

“Jumpty Dumpty, go!” Klee said as she hit the button on her detonator, a large bouncing toy appeared out of nowhere and bounced up to the Chimera. When the boss hit the bomb the first explosion happened and singed the beast's fur. Small little bombs floated over the grass. As the monster backed up, its feet stepped on some of the floating bombs which exploded on contact and caused the boss to stumble to its side hitting more of the floating bombs.

“Good job Klee,” Lucy cheered to the small girl.

“Alright, attack now!” Ren yelled as he and the others went in to try and kill the boss. Motoyasu used his Chaos Spear attack. Ren changed to the [Dodoco Bomb Sword] , Itsuki attacked with a flurry of fire arrows and Mordred attacked by throwing Clarent at the Chimera.

“Princess, the trap is ready,” Virgo said as she appeared from a hole in the ground.

“Right!” Lucy nodded, “Ren! Mordred, hit the ground!” she called them.

Ren followed the instructions with little complaint and Mordred decided to just go along with it. Striking the ground near the monster, a small explosion erupted from Ren’s sword and a crack formed which grew bigger and bigger by the second. The same thing happened with Mordred, only to a smaller scale. The ground around the Chimera began to crack and it knew it as well, it tried to push up and jump out of the way, but the earth caved in and dust erupted from the hole and into the surroundings, causing everyone nearby to start coughing and blinded except for Mordred.

“Hey, Mordred,” Ren called out, covering his eyes from the dust in the air, “Can you finish it?”

“Sure, leave it to-” as the Servant tried to speak, a ball of fire hit her and sent her flying into a tree.

“GRAAAAHHHH!” the Chimera roared as it jumped out from the hole. The Chimera didn’t waste any time dealing with the heroes and instead made its escape.

“Hey, what the hell?!” Motoyasu yelled as it ran past him. “Where is it going?!”

“Is this some sort of second stage?” Itsuki asked, confused.

Lucy looked over to where the monster had run and remembered that it was the same direction as the village. Lucy turned to see Ren coming to the same conclusion.

“Klee, Lucy, everyone come on!” Ren ordered as he began to run after the village.

“Wow! Yeah! That’s what I’m talking about!” Ibuki said as she caught her breath after playing her heart out. “I haven’t had a chance to rock out in so long! Thanks Roy!”

Roy had to shake his head to stop the ringing in his ears. He had no idea sounds could get so high or humans could make such sounds, yet here Ibuki was. “Y-yeah…”

“Ibuki, you do good work, but maybe too good,” Abigail said as she shot at the zombie that had begun to climb the tower.

The entirety of the monsters had all centered around the tower with only a small amount of space on the base cleared by Ruby, Koneko and Shaun.

“God damn it! When I said I liked zombie apocalypses I did not mean being swarmed by interdimensional zombies!” Shaun shouted as he implanted his two bayonets into the ground and changed both of them to the [Pipe Bayonet] “Barbed Barricade!” he shouted. A small perimeter of barbed wire erupted from the ground.

Ruby was panting. The amount of zombies and wasps attacking them was almost too much for her to handle. She was barely able to keep up with the onslaught.

“Ibuki, we had this conversation, next time we let you draw the enemy, DON’T MAKE US WORK MORE THAN WE CAN!” Shaun yelled as he stabbed a wasp heading towards Koneko. “Damn, why did I agree to taking both bayonets and not having a gun.”

“Stop complaining and keep fighting,” Koneko said, trying her best to show that the constant fighting wasn’t affecting her.

“Kids, get back!” Roy instructed them and clapped, Roy clapped his hands together and sparks began to fly. The blue lightning from his hand began to illuminate around his hand and a small fire began around his hands and spewed like a burst dam that opened its flood gates.  

The next thing everyone knew, the entire tower and the crowd of monsters around them was surrounded in bright flames. The sight was beautiful as it was terrifying that such a power actually could be done. Koneko found herself comparing the flames that were swirling around, turning the zombies and wasps into ash, and comparing it to Rias or Akeno.

When the flames began to die down, the tower was not touched at all and along with that the houses around them also did not have any damage caused by the flames. No civilians had been hurt luckily as most of them had been instructed to head to the mines, leaving either those who chose not to go or those who were trapped inside houses, which were only a handful.

“Wow…” Shaun said as he looked at the ashes that remained.

“Roy! That was awesome! So awesome! Ibuki didn’t know that flames could move like that! It was so cool!” Ibuki cheered and jumped up and down.

“Thanks?” Roy said, a little uncertain with how to handle Ibuki. “Come on, what’s taking those guys so long?”

Abigail, Ibuki and Roy went down the ladder and looked around, the town was empty besides the heroes and the very few villagers who remained.

“RRAAAHHHH!” a loud roar that felt like it could make the Earth rumble.

“What was that?” Ruby asked, turning to the sound of the roar.

“Probably the boss dying or something. I’m sure the others made easy work of the thing,” Shaun said with full confidence in the others. “In the source material the three heroes managed to kill the boss but with the other three there I’m sure the thing should be dead. Or at least in the process of dying. Give it a moment, I’m sure the sky will clear.”

Ruby looked around at the sky, it still looked like the wave was still going on, but trusted Shaun’s words. Ruby walked up to the red silhouette that remained from the zombies.

She poked at it with her finger. Her Aura didn’t dip when she touched it, not like when she touched Sirma. Why were they frozen in place? She didn’t get it.

“Heroes! That was amazing!” a citizen called out and walked in front of Ruby from the house she was next to. 

“Hmm?” Ruby turned to the woman, she was a young woman in her early to mid twenties and had a bite scar on her left arm. “Oh, it was nothing,” Ruby smiled and blushed as she was being praised, “Just doing our job, miss.”

“Still, that was awesome!” the woman said.

As Ruby continued to talk, Roy looked around. His eyes soon landed on the sky and his eyes went wide. “Ruby! Get back here!” he yelled and turned to Ruby.

“Huh?” Ruby said not understanding what was going on. “What’s going ooh-AHH! HEY!” a glimmer of Ruby’s Aura red and a calm blue shone for a moment as Ruby fell into the building and the door slammed shut.

Roy had to make a choice and he didn’t have enough time to run to Ruby. Gritting his teeth, Roy clapped his hands and made a dome of stone around the heroes near him. 

Inside Ruby got up, confused as to what just happened but outside the window she saw fire fall. Fire hit every building. The fire raining down was nothing like Roy’s that was controlled and did not cause any collateral damage but instead destroyed indiscriminately. A few of the strikes landed on the roof of the building Ruby was hiding in and Ruby grew increasingly more worried that the building would last.

A loud bang made Ruby jump as she looked up, the ceiling had been broken and fire had begun to spread inside the house quickly and the door keeping Ruby inside didn’t budge at all when Ruby tried to open or slam through the door. Deciding to give up with the door, Ruby swung her scythe at the window.

Then a loud snap came from above her.

The sound of the boss running to the village. The pillar of fire at the center of the town. Then finally the rain of fire. Whatever the hell was going on, Naofumi didn’t like it.

As Naofumi and Raphtalia entered the burning village, he saw an odd looking sphere close to the tower and a group of knights walking through the middle of the road.

“Haha! Burned them up in one fell swoop!” the man Naofumi assumed was the leader “Hey! What was all that?!” he yelled as he ran up to the knights.

“The Shield Hero? Are you finally coming out of your little rock?” a man with a mustache said as he looked at the Shield Hero.

“We were helping the villagers evacuate,” Raphtalia glared at the man, “Now what happened? Why is everything on fire?”

The man was about to open his big mouth but the sound of moving Earth and the sphere opening up revealed all the heroes except for Ruby inside.

Glaring at the knights, Naofumi moved past them, “Guys, are you alright? What happened?”

“Where do you want us to start?” Shaun and Abigail said at the same time, “When Ibuki called all the monsters in the area to the tower or when Roy killed them all or what about when it started to rain fire?!” they said in a hurried and panicked voice. “Where’s Ruby?! Where is she?!” they said scared and turned their heads back and forth looking for the Reaper.

Raphtalia listened to the two heroes and her ears twitched as she put two and two together. That man was cheering. The fire.

Grabbing her sword, Raphtalia rushed to the commander of the knight, only to be blocked by a knight with a scar across his nose.

“You attacked without knowing if there were any villagers here?” Raphtalia said, “You didn’t care that the others were still here fighting off the monsters here!”

The commander smugly grinned, “They aren’t here anyways, so it’s all the same.”

Raphtalia pressed on harder, but lightened up when Roy placed a hand on her shoulder. The man with the scar over his nose lowered his weapon, allowing the commander to grin as he began to walk on by.

Roy however didn’t take too kindly to almost being killed and punched him in the nose.

“Gah! Damn you!”

Shaking his hand, Roy looked at the commander who had fallen due to his punch, “This country really is run by dumbasses,” Roy said before walking away. “Naofumi you finished the evacuation?”

“We did for the most part, but we saw something and ran down to tell you the wave boss is heading-”

“RAHH!” the wave boss roared as it got through the forest.

“Aw come on!” Ibuki yelled.

Roy growled as he ran over to the mob boss. “Shaun, you said the boss would be dead.”

“It should be dead. Why isn’t it dead?!” the Gun Heroes shouted at the same time.

Roy sighed in annoyance as he stood in front of the Chimera running at them. He clapped his hands and repeated the incantation he had said over and over causing the boss to roar in pain as he targeted the eyes of the Chimera to explode, the only one that was not affected was the dragon head.

“Air Strike Fist/Shield!” Koneko and Naofumi shouted, blocking the way of the Chimera, trying their best to keep the monster contained and not get hit by a stray fire attack.

“Motoyasu, Mordred! Why is this thing still alive?!” Roy shouted to his two party members.

“It’s a lot tougher than we thought!” Motoyasu said. “We tried stabbing it, hitting it! We even tried using a maid! Nothing worked except for Klee’s bombs!”

Roy tsked. Their words gave him something useful and knowing that he could’ve made this so much faster annoyed him, but what was done was done.

The thing seemed to have a weakness for fire attacks and while the dragon head wasn’t responding to fire attacks, the main body was.

He could probably get something good from the claws or heads of the monster, so he might want to avoid damaging those too harshly. “Step back,” Roy called the heroes. Those closest to the chimera all took a step back and backed away.

Roy clapped his hands and changed the air around them, giving her the go ahead, spoke his incantation and let hellfire loose. Sparks flew, embers danced and a small but loud explosion appeared on its ribs and began to twirl into a tornado of fire. 

The Mage repeated the process till a hole appeared and the wave boss spilled its guts onto the ground, and soon the wave boss toppled over.

 Every party watched as the two made quick looks with the monster that gave them so much trouble. Roy didn’t even bat an eye to the sky clearing or the notification that appeared in his vision.

Motoyasu and Itsuki had their mouths wide open as they looked at the corps. Roy and Koneko had done what they had been trying to do in the span of a few seconds.

“So… Do I get first picks?” Motoyasu asked the other three heroes. “After all, it was my party who did the last blow.”

“Why do you get first picks?” Itsuki argued.

“Not so fast,” Ren stepped up. “Don’t forget that my party found that it had a weakness to fire,” Ren argued.

“Yeah, and I had Roy in my party, the guy who incinerated the thing! I should get the first pick!”

As the heroes continued to argue and bicker, Roy walked over to a burning building where he last saw Ruby standing by. The window was broken with Ruby’s scythe sticking out of it. Roy’s breath hitched as he looked further into the building.

Roy didn’t waste any time as he entered the house through the window.

Naofumi noticed Roy as he jumped into the burning build, confused as to why the man was doing what he was doing.

Roy soon exited the building through the window again, carrying Ruby out of the building. He set her down onto the floor nearby.

“Roy! What happened?!” Naofumi yelled as he ran up to the alchemist. He wasn’t alone as some of the other heroes ran up to see what happened.

“She must have tried to hide from the fire inside the house,” Roy said, checking her over to see if she was alright. Her signature red cape was ripped and signed, but for the most part intact, same with her clothes with a small tear around the left side of her stomach. It wasn’t a deep wound but still enough to where Ruby would feel that when she woke up.

The Reaper Hero was still breathing luckily and didn’t have any severe wounds or burns from the building. Her Aura might have kicked in automatically as a survival mechanism or it might have been just luck, none of them could tell.

Roy took the job of watching over Ruby while the rest of the heroes cleared the rest of the nearby monster. Lucky for them, he had killed most of them when Ibuki drew them all in with what Roy was still understanding as rock and roll. He used his flame alchemy to temporarily close the wound so she wouldn’t get infected. That however was a challenge since he had to get it hot enough to close to wound fast and not drain any more of her Aura, but he got it done.

By the time Ruby did wake up, her Aura had started to work its magic and slowly began to heal the burn wound Roy made on her. She was however still in a lot of pain and in her own words “Felt like she got hit in the head by Zwei again,” whatever that meant.

Soon, the remainder of the monsters had been cleared up, which was made easy with the extra heroes in the area.

As Ruby watched everything go on; Ren and Lucy cheering Klee, Roy digging into the commander while his men watched, Itsuki talking to the villagers that remained, and Naofumi consoling Raphtalia.

As for Ruby, she searched for someone amongst the sea of red silhouette.

“Oh, Hero! Hello!’ the woman who pushed Ruby into the house waved hello. She was standing in front of a body, her own body which was next to a red silhouette. The entirety of her left was removed with a pool of dried blood next to her. “You’re doing alright, I hope?”

Ruby looked down at her wound and then back at her red cape, “I guess. My favorite cape is ruined,” she said. “Got burned by the building you pushed me into.”

“I’m so sorry,” the woman apologized. “That wasn’t my intention at all! I just wanted to-”

“It’s alright,” Ruby said with a soft smile. “I get it, you were trying to help. Don’t be sorry.” Ruby was happy that the woman in front of her seemed to calm down by her own words. “So you’re dead…”

“Yeah… bled out,” the woman responded. “You know, I would have thought I would be more freaked out when I die, but honestly I don’t feel too bad.”

Ruby nodded, “That’s nice,” she said before she stopped smiling. “I’m going to have to send you off now.”

“Hmm hm,” the woman nodded.

“Have anything you want me to tell any of your relatives? Any last requests?” Ruby asked as she got ready.

The woman thought for a moment, tapping her chin. “My parents and brother will probably be sad. Tell them Relen is fine. Oh! And tell my brother to stop bugging our neighbors.”

Ruby nodded, “Anything else?”

“Hmm… nope,” Relen shrugged. 

Ruby took a breath and nodded. Winding up her scythe, Ruby brought her weapon up, and then back down.

In the blink of an eye, the woman in front of Ruby was there one moment then gone the next.

Looking, she had hit both Relen and the red silhouette with the tip of her scythe. She didn’t know what to expect when she saw the red slowly disappear and creep up her scythe. The silhouette turned into a red mist and swirled until it moved up to the gem of Ruby’s scythe. The red mist entered and left as a tranquil blue, going back into the air.

“Hey, what’s that?” Ibuki appeared behind Ruby seemingly out of nowhere.

“Ahh!” Ruby jumped. “Ibuki, when did you get here?!”

“Just now, I saw your scythe shooting that stuff out and wanted to see what was up,” Ibuki responded. “So what is that stuff?”

“I’m not entirely sure…” Ruby said. “It came from that stuff the zombies left behind.”

“What stuff?”

Ruby hummed for a moment, “It’s nothing,” Ruby responded as she turned away, to continue clearing up the sea of red by the town. 

The sky was showering the soft calm mist in an unknown location.

A man took a drag of a cigarette as he looked up into the sky.

“You know those things will kill you, right?” a man in a blue haori said. His face had a small amount of black stubble and his eyes covered by glasses, at his hip a potion hung from his belt.

“You’ve said that a thousand times Hughes,” the man smoking took off his glasses for a moment to wipe them clean. He wore all black leather with his brown hair slicked back, a shovel planted between his feet. “What do you think one more time will do?”

“He’s just looking out for you, Kairi,” another man with stubble and spiky slicked back hair said as he took a swig from a flask he had in his jacket pocket. “Family men like him are like that.”

“And Qrow! What did Glass say about you and cutting back on your drinking!” Maes complained.

“Brighten up,” the dusty Huntsman said, holding out a card, “The cards say I’ll be living a long life. I think I can afford a good luck drink.” 

“That right is reserved for those who will get caught up in your bad luck,” a young woman in a black kimono with a pocket watch hanging at her side said with a grin as she grabbed Qrow’s flask and took a quick sniff, her ears going sky high and tails bristling and straightening out, “Wow, bringing out the strong stuff, aren’t you.”

“Kuroka, give it back,” a man with a screw through his head said as he cranked it as he looked up to the sky. In his hand he played with a small scalpel with half a gem on it.

“M-Mister Qrow, you really shouldn’t be drinking that stuff. Your Aura may keep you safe, it still does have a negative effect on your mental and physical health,” a girl with her arms and legs wrapped in bandages tried to speak up, a small needle hanging from her hip with the other half of the gem on it.

“I’ve cut back, Mikan. Don’t worry,” Qrow said to the man. “Besides, I don’t want to have my bad luck affect the mission. Speaking off, Stein. You sure this is the place?”

The man, Franken Stein, nodded, “Positive, just look at the sky,” the Meister said. “Their Kairi is doing their job for now.”

“Are you sure you guys have to go?” Maes asked them. “It doesn’t seem right that we have to kill an entire world just to send us back.”

There was a moment of silence between the heroes of the other world. Kuroka being the only one to turn to the military man. “Aren’t you the guy who boasts about wanting to go back to your daughter. This seems like it’s the best way to get back to her. You came here after all, so you must be a little curious about if this will work.”

“Yes… I am. But I don’t think it is the right approach,” Maes said. “I want to see my family and friends back home so much. Just the idea of my baby girl growing up without her father or my darling wife being lonely makes me sick, but sacrificing so many innocent people to get back to them. How would I be able to look at them?”

Franken Stein walked up to Maes and nodded, “I understand your concern, both you and Makarov have a good reason for not going to the other world,” he said. “Both Mikan and myself also, so know that while I look for Yaksha, I’ll keep them in check.”

Maes nodded, “Alright. I don’t want to hear that one of you ends up dying on me or that you guys end up doing something crazy like starting some cult!”

Stein chuckled and patted Maes’ shoulder. “Don’t worry, if they do. I’ll keep them in check. Though I have to say, no promises on me dissecting anything,” the Meister said with a growing grin.

“That is such a you answer,” Kuroka groaned as she swung out her pocket watch. “Alright, you finished saying your goodbyes? Good.”

Clicking the watch open, Kuroka spoke. “12th Face, Open: Grand Counter Clock, Zwolf.”

A large clock erupted from the ground, its hands pointing at twelve on the dot. The clock began to turn back and a door appeared along the grand clock. Kuroko, the Clock Hero, was first. Then, Kairi  Sisigou, the Shovel Hero. Soon after, Qrow Brawnwin, the Card Hero. Finally were the twin Medical Tool Heroes, Mikan Tsumiki and Franken Stein.

Maes Hughes, the Potion Hero, watched as the heroes of the world he was in went to find the Yaksha, the Mask Hero, and destroy the world on the other side of the waves.

Turning, Maes saw the last and oldest Hero. Makarov Dreyer, with a long golden lance in his hands as he watched the grand clock behind him disappear.

Opening his pocket, Maes took a picture of Gracia and Elicia, his wife and daughter. “Hang on a little longer.”

A/N: Hello! I'm back again!

Now, I'm sure you may be asking me, "Hey Appah! Why are you placing XYZ character in?!" "Why suddenly add Soul Eater?!" "Hey, Appah!? What is going on in your mind?!"

I'll tell ya! You see, I want development between my characters and the heroes in Glass' world. While some might not be as impactful like with Kairi from Fate/Apocrypha I want interactions like with Roy and Maes or Ruby and Qrow. Hell! Spoiler here! I want to have a Ruby v. Stein fight! Same with a Medical Tool v. Gun fight! One a battle of souls the other a battle of duos! I can just feel it! But if guys want a good explanation why Stein is here, I'll just say that Weapons Be Weird. Don't think too deep into it.

With that though! I bid you all goodbye! I hope you enjoyed this chapter!

OMEKA: The Antics Of The Bucket/Mechanic Hero

If you asked Kuroka what she was up to, she would say nothing. There was nothing for her to do. There was no one she could tease. There was nothing.

“Hey. Bone daddy. Hey,” Kuroka called out, resting her head on her hand as she laid on her side. “Is there anything to do?”

Kairi groaned, rolling his eyes behind his sunglasses. “What did I say about calling me that,” he groaned. “You’re a grown woman, go, I don’t know. Shop? Or bug one of the other heroes.”

“I wanna save money!” Kuroka complained. “Also why would I hang out with a bunch of old men!”

“Yet you constantly hang off me,” he complained, fiddling with a kappa corpse. “Well go out with Mikan then.”

“She’s out with Kizuna!” Kuroka whined.

“Eat with Hughes.”

“He’ll keep telling me to cover up and talk about his kid.”

“Help Makarov clean up.”

“Chores.”

“Drinking with Qrow?”

“I’m bored, not desperate or in the mood to pick anyone up,” Kuroka stated blandly.

“You are…” Impossible was a word that came up, but he did not let it out. “Just- just go help Jose! He’s always doing something weird!”

Kuroka hummed for a moment. The mechanic hero. The oddball of the heroes? The same guy who had unintentionally started an order of knights known as the Holy Order of the Bucket? That guy?

“Fine!

Kuroka did not understand how things ended up like this.

Jose sat there, wearing a bucket covering his head as the two of them were held up and sword pointed by two very angry bandits.

“You come into my camp! Make a mess of everything! Then you have the gaul to lecture me!” the bandit leader shouted.

“Well, excuse me!” Jose shouted. “You have a bunch of stuff but no buckets! What sort of madmen are you!”

“What sort of- is this man insane?!” the bandit leader asked Kuroka, who shrugged. “I’ve had enough, give me that and look me in the eye when I speak you deranged coward!” he shouted as he yanked off the bucket off Jose’s head.

Hazel's eyes looked at the bandit and chuckled. Why was he laughing? Why would he not? After all, he was the leader of the Holy Order of the Hama Gaulus Situla! Why would he not have precautions to project his most sacred object!

It was thirty minutes long. Thirty minutes till Kuroka heard them.

Banners were flying. War cries heard. Buckets covering eyes.

It was the Order of the Bucket, otherwise known as the Hama Gaulus Situla, the Bucket Bucket Bucket. A trinity of buckets. Buckets for the head, the mind. Bucket for the water, the body. Bucket for others, the community. The bucket order, Jose’s pride and joy.

“VIVA LA BUCKET!” Jose shouted.

“VIVA LA BUCKET!” the order shouted back,

“Oh, hey. You’re back. How’d it-”

“Shut up, and get me a drink.”

“Bucket Order?”

“Fucking bucket order!” Kuroka shouted, grabbing a bottle of sake and drinking it. “How the hell does the weirdest and most crazy person have a order of knights?! I mean seriously! Even Yaksha, the one who has the excuse of being insane, seem normal compared to that- that-”

“Mad man? Lunatic? Bucket Lover?”

“YES!” Kuroka said.

“Wanna know what I think?” Kairi asked, taking off his glasses to clean them.

“What?”

“You’re jealous our weapons can’t make a useless bucket into a holy symbol,” he said.

Kuroka looked at Kairi for a solid minute before standing up, kicking the kappa corpse he was still fiddling with, and opening the door. “Clean that up before I return, I’m off to find Mr. Fried Chicken and I’m going to get so blacked out that I forget about all of this.”

“Alright, have fun~” Kairi chuckled, holding his shovel above the kappa as it began to rise, not caring that the slam of the door made an image of the heroes that was taken to tilt. “Okay, make me a ham sandwich.”

The kappa nodded as he slowly began to get to work, walking outside to the little farm they had started. Hopefully it did not end up starting another pet cemetery episode again.

Stein would be pissed he did not get to take part in it again.

Chapter Text

A/N: HEYYYYA GUYS! THE RERENOTES ARE HERE: So, nothing new to add, but wow, it's been almost 2 years! I am so happy to be back for this. So before I leave, I got a rhetorical question for you all, if you were to add your own weapon, what would you add? For me, personally, I'd like to add a Mount Hero or something, like they ride a bike into battle.

A/N:  Hey guys! Back again with another chapter! This one doesn't have the Shield Vs Spear fight but it does have something else. Character Interactions! Oh and an Omake! So exciting! Now before we begin I have two things to say!

1. WE DID IT FOLKS WE GOT 200 Kudos! I am so happy that we managed to get this far and the fact we made it makes me so happy. This fic is by far the one I've put the most energy into thinking about and to think we managed to get here is amazing. I am so happy this happened. So let's try and get to 400 by the next 10 chapters!
2. Is the planning of where this will be going.

So far we have stayed pretty much on track for the anime/manga so let's address things that will be happening. First some of you may notice that Naofumi isn't as hateful as he is in the source material so he won't get the cursed series, not yet anyways. I have plans but it will be later down the line for him. When will he get it, I won't say but know he will eventually.

So next up after the Spear and Shield Fight I'm going to be switching focus to Ren and his group and Ruby. I have plans for them on their little adventurers. You see, I want good for them both, but sadly what is good for the characters isn't always good for the story so one of them is gonna have a tougher time, you can guess who and I'm sorry to Ruby.

With everything out of the way, let's begin.

“If you told me two years ago that I would be arriving to a party thrown by a king in another world, I’d kiss you full on the mouth,” Abigail said with a grin as she twirled in her dress before hunching over and sulking. “But know… all I feel is robbed.”

“There there Bernadotte, there there,” Shaun said as he patted Abigail on the back.

“Are you two making a reference of some kind? Because Ibuki thinks you are,” the Ultimate rocker said as she walked up next to the two gunners who grinned and nodded.

The entirety of the Shield Hero’s party probably had the entire room's eyes on them. Maybe it was because Ibuki’s dress was by far the most eye-catching with the mismatch of pink and blue colors. Maybe it was because they were the only ones of the group of heroes to be dressed up for the event. Or maybe it was because they were the last to arrive. No matter what, they were there and they were going to enjoy themselves.

“Hey guys!” Ruby waved to them as she walked up with a small plate of cake. “What’s up with the new clothes?”

“We’re at a king’s party, Ruby,” Shaun said with a grin, “You gotta have drip.”

“Drip?”

“No,” Koneko said. “You don’t get to use slang like that.”

“Huh?! Why not?”

“You don’t use it enough for it to sound right out of you Shaun,” Naofumi said, shaking his head with a playful smile. He hid his hands inside the long sleeves of the green kimono that the crazy tailor made them. “How are you doing by the way, Ruby? You aren’t hurt still are you?”

“Oh, yeah! Perfectly fine. The healer from the town helped a lot,” Ruby said.

After meeting with Ruby, the party soon split up into different groups to hang out with different people in the party.

Roy stood off to the side with Mordred, who had decided to go without her armor on which did draw a good amount of gazes from lecherous men and a few jealous and annoyed women at her.

Roy took a drink from his glass as he stared off into the crowd of nobles and adventurers and knights.

“It was pretty badass how you killed the Chimera,” Mordred said as she took a bite from the platter she was standing next to.

“Oh? Do you think so? Honestly you guys probably could’ve taken it down if you hit it a bit more, I’m sure,” Roy said, chuckling to himself, looking at Mordred and seeing her eat for the first time. She may have had one plate in her hand, but it was piled quite high with the amount of food she could fit.

“But we didn’t,” Mordred admitted, an annoyed look on her face. “You wanna know something, Roy? Ever since coming to this world I’ve felt like shit.”

“Oh?” That was interesting. “How?”

“Besides being taken away from my Master and my friend back at Chaldea, I’ve been feeling weak,” Mordred admitted. “I haven’t been able to use my abilities and I’ve just managed to get out of my armor.”

“Your skills?” Roy raised an eyebrow. “You mean stuff like that red lighting, correct?”

“Yeah,” Mordred kicked the ground, letting out a huf of annoyance. “I, as the son of King Arthur. Inherited some of his abilities, one of which was his dragon trait, and as a Heroic Spirit, that manifests as a Mana Burst skill, lots of energy that makes me super strong,” Mordred said. “And ever since I got sent here, I don’t feel like I can call it anymore. Hell, even if I can, I’m still cautious.”

Letting out a snort of laughter, Roy looked at Mordred, “You? Cautious? Why’s that?”

Mordred looked at Roy for a few seconds, glaring at him before looking back. “I’m positive that I am no longer connected to my Master,” Mordred said. “I’m a Heroic Spirit, and we are summoned with either the Grail or with a Master as well. I don’t feel her, and to be frank, the fact I am still here concerns me,” Mordred was picking at her food now, the usually brash Servant suddenly becoming unusually docile. “I think I’m being bound here because of my armor, but I’m nervous as to what would happen if I use up all my mana at once, if I’ll still be bound here or disappear.”

Looking at the smaller member of his party, Roy could not hide his surprise at Mordred saying such a thing. Her? Scared of disappearing? The very same person who runs straight into battle? It was an odd thought.

“Well,” Roy said, “I suppose we’ll have to get you strong enough to use your skills without worry,” Roy said, placing a hand on Mordred’s head and giving him a light pat. “What was your Master like? You seem to like them.” 

Taken by surprise with the sudden question, Mordred gave Roy a weird look, but she did not ignore it and answered. “My Master? Oh, Ritsuka’s a real weirdo,” Mordred said, crossing her arms after popping another piece of meat into her mouth. “She’s super obsessed with gambling and a dumb horse. She even had an uprising of us Servants one time. I’m, like, 40 percent sure she orchestrated everything from behind the scenes.”

“An uprising? What did she do?”

“Neglect some of the lower star or niche Servants,” Mordred said. “Out of all my Masters, I know I’ll be able to remember her for sure.”

“You mentioned that you had Masters before, do you not usually remember them?”

“Yeah… see I’m Mordred, but not the Mordred, I’m like a copy, it takes a lot to summon a normal Heroic Spirit, but to summon someone from the Throne it takes a shit ton of magic. So usually we Servants get summoned as a copy of the real us. That said, that doesn’t mean we disappear once we’re gone. Sometimes a very powerful memory can be imprinted into the real us,” Mordred explained. So yeah, I’ve had a few Masters. I vaguely remember this one guy I worked with,” Mordred said. “He wore sunglasses a lot. Even at night, which was weird. I also remember driving with him. It was awesome. Oh, and I think I smoked with him at least once near the end. That one memory is very fuzzy.”

Mordred seemed happy. Distracted from the somber mood she had spoken with him about. This was nice compared to the way she normally seemed to just want to fight when she was around the party. Despite her complaints about her Masters she seemed to be genuinely smiling when she reminisced about her past back in her home world.

Over on the opposite end of the party, Abigail and Ibuki all stood around a table with each of them having a glace in hand. 

Taking a sip from her glass, Abigail glanced over to Ibuki, “Hey, Ibuki. Mind if I ask you something?”

“Huh?” Ibuki tilted her head and smiled, “Yeah! Sure. Ask away and Ibuki will answer!”

“Well there is something I’ve always wanted to know. What’s up with the titles of your music? I mean I like them and all, but I’ve always been wondering as to why? You know, like “I Squeezed Out The Baby But I Have No Idea Who The Father Is,” and the like.”

“Oh? That’s it?” Ibuki said, “I would’ve thought you would know since you and Shaun seem to know everyone.”

“Yeah…” Abigail admitted, scratching her cheek, “Thing is, I didn’t play your free time event. I was too busy trying to do Sonia’s event. All I really do know about you from the time you were taken is that you used to be in a band before splitting up due to creative differences.”

“Hmm, alright,” Ibuki nodded. “Well, Ibuki will tell you. You already know why the band broke up.”

“You like playing your own rock music.”

“Exactly!” Ibuki nodded. “I liked my own music but everyone else didn’t seem to like it. So we split. My own music is the kind of stuff that I love, ya know? The kind of stuff that makes my own heart go bathump! Bathump! And music that makes you feel like that means you are expressing yourself! So when I play my songs I want a song title to match that feeling Ibuki has in her heart!”

Abigail had been slowly nursing her drink while Ibuki spoke, and by the time she stopped she finished her glass, but that wasn’t the point. “I think I get it.”

“Ibuki’s glad to hear that!”

“Well if you want to, feel free to go on and play whatever music your heart wants. I’m sure none of us will stop you Ibuki,” Abigail said with a smile. “You know, as a kid I joined my school band because I wanted to become a famous musician, maybe be part of a band or go solo. Sad the farthest I’ve gotten was posting a few videos on my YouTube page.”

“It doesn’t have to be,” Ibuki said. “Just because you are in another world doesn’t mean you have to stop. It won’t stop Ibuki from playing and it shouldn’t stop you,” Ibuki stared at Abigail with an intense fire in her eyes. Ibuki suddenly felt like she had been hit with lightning as an idea flashed through her head, “Oh! Oh! Ibuki knows! How about we make a band! What do you say?!”

“H-huh?” Abigail stammered. “Are you serious?”

“I would never joke about this. So what do ya say?!”

Abigail tapped her arm for a moment before smiling, “Alright. I’m gam-AH! Ibuki!”

“Ah! I can’t believe it! Ibuki finally has a band mate!” Ibuki almost tackled Abigail when she launched at her for a hug with a fit of gleeful laughter. “Oh! By the way, does that mean you’ll join Ibuki if she decides to play hide and seek or ding dong ditch?! It’s very important for a band to bond, you know!”

Abigail let out a small sigh as she smiled and pushed Ibuki back off her, “I don’t know about ding dong ditch, but how about almost getting sent to another country instead?” Abigail said with a smile on her face.

“Huh?! You said you only knew so much about Ibuki?!”

Abigail giggled as she picked up another full glass, “What can I say? Shaun and I have to keep our secrets.”

In a hallway, Ren found himself watching Abigail and Ibuki interact with one another. Most of his party were also out there having fun and talking with nobles, but him? He was standing guard for the door Lucy and Klee were changing in. Lucy had asked one of her spirits to get them some clothes and while most of the party said they were fine, Klee was more than happy to join her in trying on clothes.

“We’re finished,” Lucy said as she exited the room. Ren turned around to see the two. Ren didn’t think his face could blush so fast, but apparently he was wrong. “How does it look?”

Ren saw Klee for the first time wear something that wasn’t red and white. It was a cute blue dress with a white skirt and brown boots. It was Lucy however that made Ren’s face heat up. Her clothes consisted of a dark blue skirt and her top was a royal blue with a golden heart on it that clung to Lucy’s body and didn’t do much to hide her curves.

“T-they look good,” Ren stuttered as he looked away, covering his face.

“You’re not even looking,” Lucy said, trying to get in front of the Sword Hero, but he kept on turning to the side and looking away.

As Lucy kept running circles around Ren who kept looking away, Klee looked at them and giggled at the scene, but her giggles were cut short when a notification appeared in her vision.

[Heroic Quest: Difficulty Normal {Get Two Heroes To Dance Together}]

[Keep This Secret]

[-Barbatos Ehe!]

Klee looked at the notification for a moment in confusion then looked at the two heroes in her party. Barbatos sent her a message! Oh! But he wanted her to keep this a secret? That was no fun! Puffing out her cheeks, she could not hide her annoyance, Barbatos was being meanie here. Though, Mrs. Barbara would probably say something, “Now Klee, be a good girl and try your best,” or something like that.

Slapping her cheeks, Klee made a vow to follow Lord Barbatos’ mission.

Klee was accompanied by Ren and Lucy, and while she stuck close to Ren while the older blonde went to look at the food the party had, Klee began to plot. There was plenty of music around yet Klee didn’t see anyone dancing…

“This party is weird…” Klee muttered.

“What was that?” Ren asked.

“Klee said this party is weird!” Klee repeated as she looked up at Ren. “Back home, there were a bunch of people who would sing on the streets and people would dance along when they listened,” Klee said as she frowned and her ears dropped down.

“Like bards?” Ren said.

“Hmhmm!” Klee nodded. “But no one is dancing. There is music and people are dressed nicely. So why aren’t people dancing? Isn’t this supposed to be a happy party?”

Ren was put into an odd position. What was he supposed to say to a sad kid? People were saying he was good with Klee and were assuming he knew what he was doing, but that was just dumb luck! He was horrible with kids! So why does he keep being put into positions like this?!

“Well…” Ren tried to think on his feet. “Maybe this isn’t that kind of party,” Ren thought. “Or maybe it is because no one is dancing.”

“That’s what I said though,” Klee said, confused by what Ren meant.

Ren laughed a little and patted Klee’s head. “I mean that sometimes being the first is scary. So people who are scared won’t do it because they are scared that they will be the only ones to do it.”

“Oh… I get it,” Klee nodded. “Oh! Then you should ask Lucy to dance!”

Ren had no idea it was possible to do a spit take when there was nothing in his mouth, but he was proven wrong. Apparently just took the right words and Klee somehow knew them.

Coughing, Ren collected himself, “I-I’m sorry, what?”

“Heroes are brave. And you are a hero! So is Lucy! So you two should go dancing!”

“I feared that is what you said,” Ren muttered under his breath. “U-um, Klee. It isn’t that simple.”

“Why?” she asked. “Don’t you think Lucy is pretty?”

Ren’s blush had gradually grown back again and turned the Sword Hero into a sputtering mess. “W-well the thing- I um… She is but…” Ren tried to speak a coherent sentence but the look in those big red eyes that Klee had made any excuse he may have used disappeared. Letting out a long sigh, “Fine.”

Sucking up all his courage, Ren walked over to the table that Lucy was standing at and took a deep breath. He wasn’t one to play dating sims but he knew a few things. Now was not the time for his otaku knowledge to fail him.

“U-um…” Ren tried to speak but his mouth felt really dry. He mentally cursed himself for being a damn nerd at this very moment.

“Ren? What’s up?” Lucy asked.

Ren looked around. Ren looked at the floor. The roof. The king and the heroes. Never did he look at Lucy. But then he looked at Klee, those big hopeful red eyes that made everyone around her fawn. Ren took a deep breath and got onto one knee and held out a hand. If he was going to look like a fool, then he might as well die on this hill. Damn adorable children and their big adorable eyes.

“Lucy… would you like to dance with me?” Ren asked. He felt so embarrassed with everyone looking at him. He didn’t know what he was doing! He didn’t even know how to properly formally dance and here he was.

As for Lucy, she was caught off guard by the sudden question. She noticed how Ren wasn’t looking at her but his eyes were focused on a certain little pyromaniac. Lucy, despite the shock, smiled and placed her hand on Ren’s extended hand and nodded. “I would like that very much.”

All eyes were on the stiff Sword Hero and the beautiful Apprentice Monster Tamer. They were the first to be dancing in the party and they had all eyes on them, and Klee giggled as she got her reward from the Heroic Quests.

“Ren, you should relax more,” Lucy whispered to him.

Ren gulped and tried, “Sorry. Honestly this is my first time dancing like this,” Ren admitted. Sure he had played those games like Guitar Champion and Dance Dance Evolution, so he had some coordination but nothing with another person. “Klee sort of backed me into a corner.”

Lucy giggled at the mention of the little bomber staring at them dancing. “Well, let me take the lead then, alright? I sort of grew up on more of the… fancy side of the train tracks,” Lucy said, wording her past carefully. Though she could not help but interject “Also, how did Klee back you into a corner?”

Ren shrugged. “She said the party was weird since no one was dancing and that back at her home people would dance during parties and stuff like this apparently. So when she suggested I dance, she stared at me and…”

“No one can say no to her,” Lucy smiled. “Well thank you for asking me to dance Ren.”

Ren glanced down at the floor. He couldn’t believe this was actually happening. Sure he interacted with his childhood friend but besides that he was pretty much a loner without too much interaction with girls. Now he was in the deep end and here.

Ruby found herself being part of the “Standing Next to the Punch Bowl” club, only instead of it being punch and bowl it was a punch of glasses and alcohol. Ruby had gotten curious and decided to try one. It was sweet so she didn’t think it was all that bad.

Ruby had so far only had the one glass she was still nursing while the party went on. She had decided to stick by herself since she welcomed Naofumi’s party. She had been keeping an eye on everyone. Naofumi, Koneko and the demi-human girl they had with them stuck to a corner by the window. Mordred and Roy had been together the entire time, speaking with each other and talking with a few of the nobles who wished to praise them and the Motoyasu. Ren had gotten down on a knee and asked Lucy to dance, which Ruby found really romantic. Ibuki and Abigail stuck close together, with the female Gun Hero downing what Ruby believed was her sixth glass, which made Ruby worry.

If her dad, her Uncle, sister and all those school assemblies taught Ruby anything, it was to be careful of alcohol. Ruby had more experience than others and she didn’t want to see the other heroes fall down that rabbit hole. So Ruby decided that, despite finding her drink rather nice, to only drink the one and not push herself.

The only hero Ruby had yet to locate was Shaun. She honestly didn’t bother to look for Itsuki in the crowd of people.

Ruby let out a sigh of disappointment. Just thinking about the Bow Hero made Ruby annoyed. She knew that she wasn’t supposed to think bad of people, just the idea was something Ruby didn’t like to think about, but Itsuki made it so hard.

“Hey! Hey!” the giggly voice of Shaun stumbled over to Ruby, clinging to the wall with a goofy smile. “I-I’ve been lookin’ for you!” he said as he stumbled next to Ruby.

“S-Shaun? Are you okay?” Ruby asked, placing down her drink as she looked Shaun over.

“I’m fffine! Haha,” Shaun giggled. “Just walkin’ around!”

Ruby crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow to that, “Yeah. Shaun, how much have you had to drink?”

“Hmm?” Shaun perked up, “Natta thing!” he responded. “El Zilcho!”

“Shaun,” Ruby said, not convinced. Leaning closer to him, “Open your mouth,” she instructed. Shaun didn’t resist at all and opened his mouth like he was at the dentist. Ruby took a quick sniff, but didn’t smell anything alcoholic in his breath. “Did you really not drink anything?” Ruby asked.

“Nooo! Shit’s gonna go down! I know! I’ve only had… ham and… ham…” Shaun said before suddenly grabbing Ruby by her shoulders. “Oh no! Was it rum ham?! No!!!” Shaun said as he panicked.

Ruby laughed ever so slightly, a little weirded out by Shaun right now. He was definitely drunk but he didn’t smell like he had drunk anything. So maybe it was something in the food? Was food able to do this to someone?

“I don’t think it was rum ham, Shaun,” Ruby said, which put the male Gun Hero at ease. “You said you were looking for me. What was that about?”

“Did I?” Shaun said confusedly at Ruby, “Ohh…! I remember! I didn’t see you anywhere, sooo I went to find you! See if evything was A-okay!”

Ruby seemed a little surprised by Shaun, but shook her head. She was definitely happy that despite being inebriated by something, he was looking out for her. “I’m fine, thank you.”

“Are ya though? Are ya really?” Shaun said getting closer to Ruby, causing her to take a step back.

“I am, don’t worry.”

“Then why you hidin’ by the table?” Shaun asked. “Or by yourself? And don’t lie!”

Ruby looked at Shaun, who was staring at her very intensely. Maybe it was the fact that Ruby hoped that Shaun would forget in the morning or maybe it was just because Ruby was done keeping it in, but Ruby finally cracked. Letting out a long sigh, Ruby decided to vent.

“Fine,” Ruby said. “I don’t like my party. It’s just- they- they sucks! Coming to the world I would’ve thought things were going to be fun or be able to help people. But things haven’t been like that at all. Everywhere we go I take the longest shift when we go camping. I don’t mind too much, but they don’t even bother to say thank you or let me rest long enough so I don’t have bags under my eyes! And Itsuki always seems moody when dealing with me! He didn’t even seem to think going to the villagers was a good idea!” Ruby admitted, finally letting herself take a breather from everything she kept inside. “And then there is when I have to reap people…” Ruby took a moment but looked at Shaun, and while he was definitely not in the right frame of mind, it did not change what he did. “I, I have to thank you for that though. That conversation we had, it- it helped a lot more than you know,” Ruby said, a faint smile on her lips as she thought back to the night she bid farewell to Sirma.

“Yeah,” Ruby nodded and sighed, sliding down the wall next to Shaun. “I still feel bad for what I’m doing. I feel like I’ve failed, you know? Like I could have done more,” she started, “the feelings of guilt were the first things she would always feel, “but then I think about how I want to be stronger. Strong enough to keep people safe and strong enough so that those I couldn’t save, will be at least assured that less people will be like them.”

In his drunken stupor, Shaun let out a chuckle, “Y-ya really s-sound-” he hiccupped, “proud!”

“Yeah, for the most part, it’s almost everything I dreamed of,” Ruby had to take a moment to forget about how much she hated some of the way she was treated. She did not need to think about Mald or Larona, Rojeel, and definitely not Itsuki right now. No, she just needed to be happy of what she has done and what she can do.

“Hmm… ya ta your best,” Shaun giggled, which made Ruby turn her head to him. “I maaaybe wrong. But the Ruby I knew, from ya show. She is a very nice person who doesh her besht,” Shaun told Ruby before hiccupping, his slurs seeming to grow worse.

Ruby could not help but hide a blush growing on her face. She enjoyed praise, don’t get her wrong. That said, being called the best? She felt embarrassed! “Shaun, you’re being to kind,” she said, elbowing her drunk friend.

“Noooope,” Shaun shook his head. “Y-ya are doin your besht!” he hiccupped. “Sho, you are da best!” he shouted before chanting her name silently like he was cheering for a crowd, “Rubey! Rubey! Rubey!”

“Shaun!” Ruby was dying from this embarrassment. 

“Nope!” Shaun repeated, “Ruby, Ruby, Ruby,” Shaun shook his head, “You are strrrong person. A caring person. I know, that you know, that you will be doing your best at all times. So, don’t warry! An-an if you-, “he hiccupped again, “-ever need a shoulder to cry on, just call! We’re heroes! We help one ‘nother.”

Ruby listened to Shaun, despite his drunk state and his words embarrassing her, she could not hide a giggle at the way he spoke. Maybe he was being stupid maybe it was on purpose, but Ruby found it comforting to know that she could vent to another person; “Thank you,” Ruby said as she got up.

“Nooo problem. But Ru-,” a hiccup interrupted him, “-by,” Shaun said, getting serious as he pushed himself up on the wall. “One day I will need a favooor, and when that day comes… I will need you…”

Ruby nodded, “Alright. Thank you for lending me an ear, Shaun,” Ruby smiled as she hugged Shaun.

“Goood. Now, Ruby,” Shaun said, lifting his glasses and rubbing the bridge of his nose. “I need that favor. Please get me some water… everythin’ is spinnin’...”

The Reaper Hero was confused for a moment but as soon as the Gun Hero tried to leave the wall, he immediately began to fall to the ground, muttering how there were three of everything and began to lose his sense of direction.  Snapping out of her surprise, Ruby quickly rushed over to get Shaun some water and possibly some help.

“How many of those have you had?” Raphtalia asked as Abigail, Ibuki and herself walked back to Naofumi and Koneko.

“Counting this one? Like 13?” Abigail said uncertainly at this point. “This is definitely alcoholic but I have yet to feel a thing.”

“Um… hey, Ibuki is now just realizing something,” Ibuki said as she noticed Shaun being dragged by Ruby to another part of the party, and over a ledge just in case things started to travel in the wrong direction. The male gunner dragged his feet as covering his mouth, “Did it ever occur to you that Shaun may be getting drunk because of you.”

“No, how would that even work? He isn’t the one drinking.”

“Well you two do have that thing where you two speak and move in sync and Ibuki hasn’t seen him drink anything…”

“Oh dear…” Raphtalia said as she looked at Shaun and Ruby, a worried look on her face. Abigail told the demi-human to relax, trying to put her at ease. Ruby was a trustworthy individual, so she had faith that Shaun was in good hands.

As the trio made their way to Naofumi and Koneko who had been chatting and hanging out by  a window.

“Koneko, you might want to cut on the cake,” Naofumi said as he watched Koneko eat her third slice of cake.

The devil of the party looked at Naofumi and huffed in annoyance. “You don’t get to complain till you try a slice for yourself, Naofumi,” Koneko glared at him.

“I told you, I’m good Koneko,” Naofumi argued back.

“Master Naofumi, Koneko,” Raphtalia greeted the two heroes. “What’s going on?”

Naofumi sighed, “Koneko keeps insisting I try the food. Honestly I’m fine.”

“You know, Naofumi, you should really take advantage of the party,” Abigail chided Naofumi playfully. “Look, even Mordred is going at it with that table,” she said, pointing to the Servant who had built up a big plate of food that she managed to balance with ease.

“Come Master Naofumi, how about a little bite? The cake is really good,” Raphtalia said as she held a small piece of cake with a fork.

“Listen to her, Naofumi. She knows what she’s talking about,” Koneko said as she stared longingly at the cake in Raphtalia’s hands, licking her lips like a predator looking at its prey.

Naofumi opened his mouth to argue but just ended up sighing. “Fine…” Naofumi resigned himself to this. Taking a bite, Naofumi let out a hum when he had a taste.

It was quite good and sweet, maybe a bit too sweet for his liking but a good four out of five. It needed a bit of vanilla to even everything out, but a solid dessert.

“Naofumi you bastard!”

Naofumi snapped back to reality, and looked at the man yelling at him, actually everyone was looking at Motoyasu when he shouted the Shield Hero’s name.

“What are you yelling about?” Naofumi asked, confused about Motoyasu’s sudden appearance.

“Don’t play dumb with me!” Motoyasu yelled.

“Dumb? With what? You can’t just start an argument without saying what the issue is,” Abigail huffed in annoyance, “You gotta specify these things man.”

“I was getting to that,” Motoyasu grumbled. “And you guys aren’t innocent either! I know what you have done! Having a slave as a party member! How could you?!”

Naofumi sighed, mentally cursing Shaun for this. “Yes, Raphtalia here is our slave,” he admitted. “And before you say anything-”

“I don’t want to hear your explanation! What gives you the right to own another person?!”

“The law…” Ibuki said, looking at Motoyasu confused. “Ibuki gets where you’re coming from and trust us here, we have an explanation for our dear rockstar Raphtalia, but we have broken no laws here.”

“Plus it was Shaun’s idea,” Koneko quickly added.

“Wow, throwing the drunk guy under the bus,” Abigail muttered, which Koneko just shrugged.

“Where is that bastard?!” Motoyasu yelled, now seeking a new target, only to have his foot stepped on by Roy, “Ow! What the hell?!”

“You were being too loud,” Roy said as he walked up next to Motoyasu and sighed, “Of course it was his idea. Abigail,” the colonel asked the female gunner, “What exactly was Shaun’s thought process when he decided to purchase a slave.”

“Well Shaun decided to make it his goal to save a village,” Abigail said with a shrug. “Raphtalia here is a survivor of being sold into slavery after her village got hit by the first wave and was then plundered by knights or mercenaries. A few days after the trial, he convinced Naofumi to buy and register the slave as his and now we have healthy and grown Raphtalia.”

“Still that doesn’t make it alright to have someone as a slave,” Motoyasu argued.

“Well, in our defense, we kept the slave crest only so she would not be stolen from us. At the time she was very weak, so keeping it on was a way to keep her safe,” Naofumi answered. “We honestly just haven’t gotten to removing it. If you want, ask Raphtalia herself.”

As Raphtalia was about to say something to Motoyasu and Roy, she was cut off by Myne, “Sir Motoyasu, Sir Mustang, don’t you see?! The Shield Hero is obviously ordering this poor demi-human to speak against her will!”

Now, to any person who had any ability to hear bullshit, they would be able to call it out here. Koneko could. Roy could. Raphtalia could. Even Klee, who had just minutes prior been so happy was now confused as to why the silly woman with the red hair was interrupting the girl with the ears that reminded Klee of Sucrose before she could even talk? After all, her mom said it was rude to interrupt people.

Yet, apparently Motoyasu is not one of those people. Gritting his teeth, he was getting more and more annoyed. How could Naofumi and Shaun do this? Forcing a poor girl to be their slave?! What could they be doing to her? What about the others?!

“Duel me!” Motoyasu yelled.

“What?/Motoyasu, what the hell?” The Shield Hero’s party, sans Shaun, and Roy said at the same time.

“You heard me! Duel me! If I win, you release Raphtalia!”

“Motoyasu, you cannot be serious-” Roy tried to argue, but Motoyasu turned his head to him as well.

“Roy, we’re heroes! We cannot stand by and let slavery go on!” Motoyasu said.

“Not that we would agree, since none of us are in armor,” Naofumi said, glaring at the Spear Hero, “But what would we even get out of this?”

“Not that you would, but if under some miracle win, you can keep Raphtalia.”

“That still implies that they agree, dumbass. Also that isn’t even a reward. It is all lose no gain,” Mordred walked over, annoyed at how long this dumb bullshit was taking. “You gotta put something on the line of equal value.”

Motoyasu tsked, it was clear that Mordred and Roy weren’t going to let him off the hook on this, maybe he could think of something.

“I’ve heard what the Noble Spear Hero has said,” the king butted in, interrupting the argument going on between the heroes, “To think heroes would have slaves, truly a heinous act.”

“But… we’re not breaking any rules,” Naofumi said, confused as all hell as to why the king was shunning them. “They’re your country’s laws.”

“I order you to accept the Spear Hero’s duel!”

“This guy can’t be serious,” Koneko deadpanned.

“I think he is…” Abigail nodded.

“Hold on a moment, Master Naofumi and the oth-hmm?!” Raphtalia tried to fight back, only to be grabbed, pulled away from the Shield Hero and his party and had her mouth covered by a guard.

“Hey! Let her go!” Ibuki tried to take Raphtalia back but was pushed back to her party.

“It is clear that this poor demi-human is under a curse to make her defend her master, have no fear, Sir Motoyasu will set you free,” Myne said, as she pushed herself on the Spear Hero who had a smug look on his face.

Naofumi himself was growing more and more irritated, “You know what, fine,” he said as he finally agreed. “I’ll fight you, because you seem to stupid to understand the meaning of the words, "no," and "we were going to free her regardless.” So fine, I’ll fight you,” he said, which caught everyone off guard. “But if I win, not only do I keep Raphtalia, you pay us half of all your money.” 

“Fine!” Motoyasu agreed. “Not like you will win anyways.”

OMAKE: The Gods of Disappointment

“Damnit. Damnit,” a bard inside a tavern cried in pain as what he witnessed happened.

“Tone Deaf Bard? What are you crying about?” the high pitched voice of the traveling companion extraordinaire, Paimon, asked Venti as she and the Traveler walked into the Dawn Winery.

“Ah, Traveler, Paimon, good to see you,” the undercover god smiled.

“Is everything okay? You seem really upset,” Paimon asked as she floated next to the Traveler who took a seat.

“It’s just… all the Mora I spent, only for it to be ruined…” Venti cried.

“Spent? What happened?” the Traveler asked. “This isn’t about wine, is it?”

“Not this time, sadly,” Venti admitted. Holding up his fake Vision, a small screen appeared showing what looked to be a bunch of people, a chat and what sounded like an argument. “This thing appeared in front of me a few weeks ago, I can spend Mora to send requests and then on the other end try to do them. But someone had to interrupt the dancing! I’ve emotionally invested in Ren and Lucy’s relationship since I’ve begun paying attention and after so long this how I’m repaid?! Losing 1000 Mora to a Spear Anti-Cupid! I could buy so much wine with that Mora, you know?!” 

The Traveler and Paimon listen to Venti, but honestly at this point, they were confused and didn’t understand what was going on, but from what they did get from this was that Venti was sad.

“Want us to buy you some wine?” the Traveler asked.

“Thank you…” Venti said.

Zhongli, also known as Rex Lapis or Morax, sat in a room of the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor and had to contain himself.

Was this truly something to get obsessed about? Was this something that he should spend his time on? Was it truly worth it?

No. No to all of these, but he was. He was frustrated above all things at what he just witnessed.

It all started when he was watching the Heroes of another world when he saw a donation from Barbatos.

Bar-Batos Donated 1000 Mora: Get Two Heroes To Dance Together 

Bar-Batos: Keep this secret :P

Bar-Batos: Ehe!

The main reason Zhongli was so upset was not the fact that the Anemo Archon had paid a child to get two teenagers to dance, far from it. The former Geo Archon found himself getting invested in watching the romance that might be blooming between the Sword Hero, Ren Amaki, and the Apprentice Monster Tamer, Lucy Heartfilia, but this… imbecile had to interrupt it. He had to pick a fight at this exact moment while the two heroes danced.  Sure it was over slavery and Zhongli didn’t approve of that, but he did wish that the argument happened another time.

“Hey, Zhongli, how’s it hanging?” Hu Tao, the current director of the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor asked as she entered the room Zhongli was in.

“My disappointment is immeasurable, and my day is ruined.”

“Miko!” the Electro Archon, Ei, not the Raiden Shogun, cried to her friend.

“Yes, Ei?” Yea Miko said as she greeted her friend.

“Is it possible to send my mind to another world?” Ei demanded to know.

“Not that I know of, why?” Miko asked, an amused smile at her friend.

“Because I must kill someone!” Ei shouted, before backtracking.

“Wow, I do not believe I’ve seen you this worked up in so long. What happened?” Miko asked, holding back a giggle at the all mighty Raiden Shogun acting out.

Holding up a screen that appeared out of nowhere, Ei pointed to a man with a ponytail, “This man! Right here! He must die! For the sake of eternity he must die!”

“Ei, I don’t think murdering someone will help eternity.”

“It will bring comfort to me!”

“Ei, you need to relax.”

“No!”

“Wan-der-er!” Nahida cried as her feet slapped against the cold floor of the Sanctuary of Surathana, running to the one other person that she would let into her residence. “I need your advice!”

The Wanderer opened his eyes, not expecting to be here again of all places.

“What do you want,” the Wanderer asked, not picking himself up from the ground, instead grabbing his hat and placing it over his head, hoping to wake back up wherever he had fallen asleep.

“I need vengeance and you’re the first person I thought of!” Nahida said, taking the Wanderer’s hat and sat down next to him, placing said hat on herself. “Here, watch this,” Nahida said, showing a clip of Lucy and Ren dancing together. “Cute, yes? Well someone ruined it and I want  vengeance!”

“Nahida, you are incapable of actual violence,” Wanderer said.

“I can if I want too!”

“No you can’t,” Wanderer said.

“Oh, yeah?!” Nahida shouted. “I can be spiteful!”

Muratatata Donated 5000 Mora: TELL THE SHIELD TO HIT THE SPEAR BALLS!

Grinning, the Wanderer grabbed his hat. “Oh yeah?” He saw that look on Nahida’s face as she read that.

“This proves nothing,” Nahida muttered, sending her message.

Nahida-Buer: Please don’t tell a child to do that.

Neuvillette could say that Furina, the Goddess in charge of his home, Fontain, was at heart, a spoiled girl.

Someone who did not require a leash but did require a watching eye to keep her from going out of control and let her impulses rain supreme and throwing everything out of order.

So, let it never be said that he did not play a vital role in the function of Fontain.

“Tell me, Neuvillette, do you suppose the people of Fontain would be accepting if we passed a third wheel act? The prohibition of interrupting a date?” Furina asked, doing her makeup, getting ready for the next trial. “I was thinking about death, what says you?”

“Lady Focalors, that would be too difficult to enforce, along with to unpredictable to be justified, aside from that the punishment is wildly unfit for the crime,” Neuvillette said, still keeping his composure, and while this was definitely not within Furina’s normal antics, this was still the same goddess he worked for.

“What if they use a polearm? Maybe if they wear red, OH! And if they have a dumb ponytail!” Furina said, adding on. “Yes, I like that, anyone who commits this crime will be sentence too-”

Okay, she was spiraling, this called for emergency procedures.

“Oooh, look, keys,” Neuvillette said, taking his keys out. “Jingle jingle jingle!”

“Neuvillette, that won’t-”

“No. Jingle jingle jingle! Look at the shiny key.”

“I-”

“Jingle jingle-”

“Your Royal Highness, what do I owe the pleasure,” Tartaglia bowed as he smiled in front of the Tsaritsa who was sitting on her throne in the icy land of Snezhnaya. A screen in her hand disappeared as she got up.

The Cryo Archon uncrossed her legs as she walked up to Childe.

“No need for the formalities, Childe, or Ajax, or perhaps Tartaglia. You happen to have a lot of aliases, you know. Which do you happen to like being called again?” the cold icy tone of the Cryo Archon said. “How is your family fairing? Well I hope.”

“Childe, if you don’t mind. My siblings and parents are quite well. Back when I was at Liyue Harbor, my younger brother managed to sneak there all on his own.”

“Ah, yes. The toy incident,” the Tsaritsa chuckled, which made the hair on Childe’s neck stand up. “I must say that was an amusing story to listen to, the new recruits to the Fatui were so confused, but quite frankly, I don’t really care about that at this particular moment.” giggled. “How is Morax these days? Oh, sorry. I suppose I should call him by the name he goes by now, what was it? Zhongli?”

“Yes,” Childe confirmed. “From the last time we talked, he seemed to be doing well.”

“Does he still forget his wallet?” she asked, laughing at the idea that the god responsible for all the capital that made Teyvat go round was so horrible at his money management.

“Yes.”

“Well I have a favor that I need you to ask him,” the Tsaritsa said, holding a letter between her fingers and walked down and handed it to the Harbinger. “Make sure this gets to him personally. I want him to understand the importance of this.”

“Yes, your excellence,” Childe said.

“You’re free to go,” the Tsaritsa said with a smile. As Childe got up to leave she opened the screen in her hands and hummed. “Oh, and Childe,” she called to him, which made him freeze. “Tell everyone if I ever catch you, or any of the Harbingers, using a spear and wearing your hair as a pony tail and spouting and listening to nonsense. I will personally see to it that you are frozen and whatever happens to them will only be known to me. Am I clear?”

“Yes,” Childe responded as the doors to the throne opened for him as he left.

As the door closed again, the Cryo Archon watched intensely at the screen of the small child from Mondstadt looking at the fight that was about to go down between the Spear Hero and the Shield Hero.

Tapping her chin, she pondered as to what she could get the small child to do now? Maybe get the male Gun Hero and the Reaper together or perhaps do something that will annoy one of the other Archons.

Letting out a long sigh, “You know, playing with only one child is fun and all, but sometimes I wish I had some control to see the other heroes.” 

Her pondering was soon put to a stop as a big donation was sent in the chat.

Muratatata Donated 5000 Mora: TELL THE SHIELD TO HIT THE SPEAR THE BALLS! 

Nahida-Buer: Please don’t tell a child to do that.

The Tsaritsa sighed. “Only she would say that,” groaned as she went back to watch the fight about to begin.

Chapter Text

A/N: HEYYYA GUYS! So! not much to say today, like normal, except three big things.

FIRST! IT IS THE 2 YEAR ANAVERSRY! Now, I know I said I was planning something, but college is making that hard. So sorry. I'll try getting that out soon.

SECOND! I placed a south park reference in here. Have fun finding it.

LASTLY and this is the most noticeable thing. I changed the ending a bit, how, I won't explain here. All I'll say is, if you go back to the original RotAH, you'll be able to see it.

Now, without further adiue, remember, to kudo, bookmark, and leave a fun comment, and remember, Streamer Klee is Best Klee. No doubt about it!

LET'S GO!

A/N: Streamer Klee is best Klee! No doubt about it! 

Anyways... I'm back with the Spear vs Shield fight! I'm sure you all are happy! Today we get a look at the Karma Shield and how it works today so I hope you enjoy it! I know this is probably like a quarter of the Archons being chat with a special guest joining them and wondering what the hell is going on in the chat. Anyways! I hope you all can enjoy this chapter and have fun!

No real announcements for today so we will skip those!

Without further delay let's get this started!

Naofumi mentally prepared himself for the fight he was about to go into. He had to do a quick change into his normal combat attire but he felt like he did something wrong when putting on his armor because he swore there was something digging into his armpit. Oh well.

The doors to the room Naofumi and Motoyasu were in opened, temporarily blinding him. The courtyard they were fighting in was quite large, and allowed for many of the nobles, knights and the party members of all the heroes to watch the fight.

His own party were close to the ledge with Shaun actually dangling off with Ruby close behind him to keep him from falling. The other heroes also stood closest to see what was happening. Though he saw them whispering to each other, Naofumi could not hear anything they said. Their voices were drowned out by the nobles of the audience speaking about the duel.

“Do you really think the Shield Hero has a chance?”

“Of course not, he is fighting one of the three holy heroes! Surely the devil won’t stand a chance.”

“The Shield should just forfeit, he should save the Spear Hero’s time.”

Naofumi stared at Motoyasu in front of him who blew a kiss to his party. Did he really think of him that lowly as a threat? Sure he didn’t want to fight, but Motoyasu asked for it himself, the least he could do was show some level of respect.

Naofumi then looked to where Raphtalia was. She was fine, but surrounded by guards. It annoyed him to no end that they would do this. What was there to gain? What was there to show off? He had broken no law by owning Raphtalia, yet he had been publicly shamed? This country frustrated him to no end.

“This is a sacred duel between the Spear Hero and the Shield Hero! Victory will occur when one of the heroes forfeits or is unable to fight,” the King’s voice boomed through all those attending the party. Only, his voice was not the loudest of them all.

“Naofumi! Hit him in the spear guy’s balls!” Klee’s high pitched voice echoed, almost everyone paused when she yelled that.

“Klee! You should not say something like that!” Lucy chastised.

“But my weapon said to say that…” Klee muttered, holding a red gem that appeared from her weapon. Her cute voice almost made the previous statement all the more funny. “Did I say something bad…”

“I-I mean, her weapon did say-,” Ren tried to not laugh but was failing spectacularly.

“Ren!” Lucy shouted. “You shouldn’t encourage her saying things like that!”

Many of the other heroes also tried not to laugh or out right began having themselves a good ole chuckle. The only one to not find it at all remotely funny was of course, Motoyasu.

Gritting his teeth, Motoyasu glared at Naofumi, who was still chuckling to himself.

“Are both heroes ready? Then, begin!”

Bar-Batos: Hey! Anyone want to place bets?! I’m down if anyone else is! 

Muratatata: Oh! I’m game! 

Nahida-Buer: Why do we have to bet? 

Star-itsa: Putting money on the line makes it fun, especially since I know some of you cannot pay. 

Zhongli: Why do I feel like that is pointed at me? 

Bar-Batos: There there. 

Muratatata: Can we talk about how bad @Zhongli and @Nahida-Buer’s names are for a minute? 

Muratatata: I mean, come on! You guys could have at least come up with more creative names. 

Cheese Fountain: I feel like you are trying to start a fight 

Cheese Fountain: Regardless, I’m in. Put me to the Spear. 

Star-itsa: Bullshit! 

Bar-Batos: Damn him! Boo! 

Raiden-CantCook: HE MUST DIE! 

Zhongli: Baal, settle down. 

Muratatata: Oh my goodness! Baal! First time I see your name and it is that?! What is that name?!?! 

Raiden-CantCook: A friend made my name… 

Bar-Batos: LMAO! 

Zhongli: Lmao? Who is that? 

Muratatata: LMFAO! He doesn’t get it! 

Zhongli: Lmfao? What? Nevermind, I’m taking Mr. Iwatani’s side. 

Cheese Fountain: So we have @Bar-Batos, @Zhongli, @Raiden-CantCook and @Star-itsa for the Shield, with myself on the Spear. Anyone else? 

Muratatata: I’ll take the spear! A good offense can conquer any defense! 

Nahida-Buer: Only you. I guess to balance things out I’ll go with the Spear I guess. 

Bar-Batos: Great! Now… anyone wanna bet on when Shaun will puke? I say during the fight. 

Raiden-CantCook: I’m out. 

Nahida-Buer: Nope 

Muratatata: Dippin there. 

Cheese Fountain: Why… 

Star-itsa: I do not regret taking your Gnosis. 

Zhongli: Bard… you disappoint me. 

Zhongli: It will happen after the fight. 

Bar-Batos: YOU’RE ON!

(User) Guoba Added

Guoba: What did I just read…

(Mod) FrmDst2Dst: I suggest you get out while you can.

Bar-Batos: OH BARBATOS! THERE ARE MORE PEOPLE! 

Nahida-Buer: Did you just pray to yourself? 

Zhongli: Marchosius is that you? 

Guoba: No… yes? Hi, I’m Xiangling, now can you explain what is happening. 

Muratatata: Shiiiiiiit

-FrmDst2Dst Muted Muratatata For 5 Minutes For Profanity-

(Mod) FrmDst2Dst: Do not swear in front of children

Guoba: I’m 14 though…

(Mod) FrmDst2Dst: Ahh… to be young.

Guoba: rwjbk 

Guoba: Sorry, Guoba got control of this thing for a second. Now though… Can someone fill me in on what is going on. 

Bar-Batos: Hey, why is no one mentioning the woman on the ground there? 

Guoba: Who? No one is explaining anything! 

Zhongli: Ah, like Osmanthus wine, this too has a long story. Allow me to explain. 

The fight began with the Spear Hero charging in on Naofumi, his spear in hand as he tried to hit Naofumi down, who used his [Light Metal Shield] to guard himself. The Spear bounced off the shield with a loud clang. Motoyasu kept trying to hit Naofumi with normal attacks and Naofumi tried his best to keep up with each thrust. He blocked it from the right, then the left, then pushed it up and then down. None of the attacks managed to move fast enough to do any damage.

Lucky for Naofumi, their level difference was not too vast, with himself being level 38 from the wave and Motoyasu at 48. While normally 10 levels could make quite the difference, Naofumi was lucky enough to have helped fend off a monster twice his level back in the mines.

In the stands of the fight, both Roy and Mordred were staring at the fight with a critical eye.

“Do you think Naofumi has a chance in this fight?” Roy asked as he watched the Shield keep blocking the Spear.

“That really depends on Naofumi,” Mordred hummed, her experience as both a knight and a warrior speaking for her. “In a fight between a weapon like a spear and shield, if the shield gets too close, the spear is rendered almost useless, but if Motoyasu can keep Naofumi at a distance then he might also have a shot.”

Roy nodded along, seeing that despite Mordred’s brash attitude, she did have a decent amount of brain cells in her head.

Motoyasu got one more hit in with his spear before jumping back, twirling it just to flaunt. “Not bad, I’ll admit,” Motoyasu said, “But have you ever heard of the folktale about the irresistible spear and the immovable shield?” he asked.

“Yeah, I’ve heard of it,” Naofumi said, switching his shield to a big metal shield with three holes in it, “The spear lost when it couldn’t get past the shield!” Naofumi said as six glowing dots appeared in the holes and dog heads shot out as Naofumi ran to Motoyasu who also began to run at Naofumi.

 The three heads of the [Cerberus Shield] extended and began to attack Motoyasu on the sides. Motoyasu tried to get one head but when he got one, the other two attacked and when he went to focus on them, the third head recovered.

“Face it,” Naofumi glared at Motoyasu, “the moment that your spear couldn’t even scratch my shield, you lost.”

“No way in hell will I accept that!” Motoyasu shouted, “Air Strike Javelin!” Motoyasu yelled, using his arm to throw his spear, Naofumi got ready to defend himself, but the spear flew around and attacked all three heads, getting him free.

“Chaos Spear!” Motoyasu yelled as he regained his composure and began to rapidly thrust his weapon at Naofumi. Naofumi tried his best to block all of the blows, but they kept on coming one after another and despite the large size of the [Cerberus Shield] a cut managed to get past his defenses, cutting his arm and making him bleed a little.

“Come on Naofumi! You can do it!” Abigail yelled down to him.

“Don’t let this guy bone you,” Koneko said just loud enough for him to hear.

“Come on! Come on! Go Naofumi!” Ibuki shouted.

“Woooo…” Shaun weakly cheered, covering his mouth. “Everything is spinnin…”

Naofumi then looked up to Raphtalia, who looked like she was cheering him on but the sound of the other party guests drowned her out.

As for Motoyasu, he did get cheers from one individual in particular. “Go, Sir Motoyasu! Show the dastardly Shield Hero how strong you are!”

Gritting his teeth, Motoyasu couldn’t believe it. Why were the women of Naofumi’s party alright with this? Why were they okay with Naofumi owning a slave? Why were they okay with Shaun wanting a slave in the first place?! There was something up about this.

“AHHH!” Motoyasu yelled as he ran to get Naofumi.

“Air Strike Shield”

Motoyasu skidded to a stop and grinned as he jumped “Don’t think that’ll work! I saw you use that during the-”

Naofumi grinned, Motoyasu was expecting Naofumi to block, but he decided to be a bit more creative with his placement. Motoyasu had jumped back right into his shield.

Grinning as Motoyasu slid down his shield, Naofumi extended his arm with his palm facing the side. “Air Strike Shield!” he yelled again.

The previous shield behind Motoyasu disappeared and was replaced by another Shield that appeared on its side a few feet away. The shield moved forward on Naofumi’s command and struck Motoyasu right where Klee wished.

Muratatata: LET’S GO!!!!!!

Guoba: Oh my… may Rex Lapis show that man mercy… 

Bar-Batos: Dang it, I should have betted on this. Oh well. 

Cheese Fountain: Speak off… is @Zhongli still writing that response to @Guoba’s question? 

Raiden-CantCook: I believe so, yes. 

Guoba: Is it really that long? 

Bar-Batos: Knowing that block head he is probably still figuring out the controls! I bet he didn’t even know about this! 

Bar-Batos: Dodoco-Armagedian.png 

Nahida-Buer: Where did you get that? 

Bar-Batos: SadRaiden.png 

Raiden-CantCook: Oh dear, looks like our almighty Shogun is upset now. 

Raiden-CantCook: Hello, I’m Yae Miko, Ei’s friend here. Now, someone fill me in on the major plot beats so far. 

Guoba: I wish someone would explain it to me and Guoba already…

“Sir Motoyasu!”  Myne cried out as Motoyasu fell to the ground, cupping his crotch.

“Oh no! The spear guy looks really hurt!” Klee said, tugging on Lucy’s dress. The poor mage tried her best not to say anything as she was the only one of the party who was not laughing because of Klee’s innocence.

“Naofumi!” Motoyasu growled as he used his spear to support him. “You bastard, that was dirty!”

“You started this fight and no one ever said cup shots were against the rules,” Naofumi chuckled. “Plus, it was Klee’s idea.”

“Now blaming a child?! You ass!” Motoyasu growled.

“Will you stop complaining,” Naofumi groaned. “Now, do you need a minute to keep whining or can we continue?” Naofumi asked. 

Motoyasu began to attack again, growling as he went to keep attacking Naofumi.

When Motoyasu tried to jab at Naofumi, the Shield Hero raised his arm to block his spear. Naofumi kept running and was in front of Motoyasu.

Naofumi needed one good grip and when he had it, he made good use of his time close up. Switching to the [Light Metal Shield], Naofumi started with a punch to Motoyasu’s stomach. Then a headbutt to the face and then hit him over the head with his shield.

Growling, Myne couldn’t believe it, “Does the Shield actually think he can overpower the Spear Hero with just his shield?”

“Give up Motoyasu!” Naofumi said between a punch, his other hand holding Motoyasu by his collar. “I got you now!” another punch. “Just give up whenever.”

“I won’t-” he was about to say more but was hit in the face. “Won’t-” and again. “WON’T GIVE INTO YOU!” Motoyasu shouted only to be hit in the mouth.

Up in a special part of the stands, a man dressed in holy garbs watched the fight, annoyed by the sight before him. The Shield Devil winning against one of the three holy heroes? No way this could happen naturally. God must act through him to make sure the Shield devil is kept at bay. The man merely nodded down at the fight and received a nod back.

As Naofumi was about to hit Motoyasu again, as if it was timed perfectly, Motoyasu struggled and looked like he managed to knock Naofumi off. Only a small cloud of dust formed and Naofumi was knocked rather far away from Motoyasu.

Bar-Batos: CHEATING I CALL CHEATING! 

Raiden-CantCook: Wait, what happened? 

Muratatata: Yeah, I want to know that as well. You don’t strike me as the petty type, Barbatos. 

Star-itsa: Didn’t you guys see? The Shield got hit by wind to knock him off the Spear. 

Bar-Batos: I knew we should have said something! But noooo! No one listens to Barbatos! He’s always drunk! He’s just a crotchety old man! He can’t do anything! 

Bar-Batos: What’s this? Barbatos does something? What is it? Oh yeah! Calling it! 

Raiden-CantCook: Are you drunk? 

Bar-Batos: No! 

Raiden-CantCook: Are you? 

Bar-Batos: Maybe… 

Raiden-CantCook: How many? 

Bar-Batos: 10 

Lesser Lord Kusanali: 10 what? 

Bar-Batos: Depends, 10 Snezhnaya Vodka Shots or 10 of the Dawn Winery’s finest
“Grape Juice” 

Cheese Fountain: Reminder everyone, this here is the idiot who has held the title of Archon longer than any of us. Let that sink in. 

Muratatata: Like your country?

Muratatata: That reminds me, how is Mondstadt still around?

Cheese Fountain: DON’T YOU INSULT MY DOMAIN YOU ADRENALINE JUNKY! 

Cheese Fountain: Ignoring that, It is him not interfering. Just be happy he is a functional happy drunk god and not a violent drunk god. 

Guoba: What have I gotten myself into… 

(Mod) FrmDst2Dst: Told you not to stick around kid.

“What the hell!” Ibuki yelled. “Cheating! There is so much cheating going on here!” Ibuki waved her hands around, not amused at all by the blatant act of cheating.

“Is no one going to call this out?!” Abigail said, annoyed as all hell.

Shaking her head, “No,” Koneko answered. “The world of politics and religion typically don’t like it when you interfere in what they think is “right” regardless of how good it is for everyone or not.”

“That’s horrible!” Ruby said. “We have to do something!”

“What can you do?” Koneko said to Ruby. “If we step in, they will most likely call foul and give the win to Motoyasu, unless we are willing to take the dive we won’t come out anywhere near the top.”

“Still… this is wrong,” Ruby muttered.

“Abigail…” Shaun managed to mutter out. The female Gun Hero turned to him. He was glaring daggers at her, holding his stomach and himself up with all his effort. “I-I” he covered his mouth for a moment but soon let go. “I need you to get more drinks…”

“Huh?” Abigail wondered what Shaun was even thinking. All he did was point over the edge as he hung there. Leaning over, Abigail saw what he was thinking and nodded and rushed off.

On the ground, Naofumi quickly picked himself up. “What the hell…” he mumbled. He looked around and saw that woman. Why was she doing this? What was going on?!

Myne stood there a glowing ring on her as she looked at Naofumi through the dust.

“Hey, Motoyasu. I think your friend here is-”

“Ha! I got you now, you bastard!” Motoyasu yelled. “Lighting Spear!” he shouted. A large beam of electricity appeared from the head of the spear.

Naofumi tried to raise his shield fast enough to block the attack, but his body was not fast enough. He took the full force of Motoyasu’s attack. His armor wasn’t enough to shield him and he felt like every inch of himself was being shocked.

Planting his spear into the ground right next to Naofumi’s head. Panting and whipping the little bit of blood that dripped from his nose. “I… I win.”

There was a moment of silence as Naofumi laid on the ground. Then suddenly a loud roar of cheers and applause.

Naofumi’s head was facing his party. His eyes darted to them all.

Koneko… Ibuki… Shaun and Abigail, they all looked so disappointed.

“Come on!”

“Get up Naofumi! Come on!”

Taking a glance around, in the corner of his eyes he saw Ren’s party, well more accurately Lucy cheering and when he looked around his party again, he noticed Ruby. He could barely make out what Lucy looked like, but Ruby looked desperate from Naofumi to win.

“Come on! Get up! Naofumi! Get up!” next was Ibuki to start yelling for him to get up.

Koneko was a lot more silent, but he could barely make out her saying “Come on…”

Naofumi looked at everyone again. They still thought he could win? What? Why?

“Master Naofumi!” Raphtalia yelled, “Please get up! Keep fighting!”

As Naofumi looked at everyone, the King and Pope both had a similar smile on their faces as they saw the Devil of the Shield on the ground.

“With that done! I am now proud to announce the winner of the sacred duel!” the King began, “The Hero of the-”

“WAIT!” a loud yell from the ground interrupted the king.

Pushing himself up, Naofumi changed shields from the [Light Metal Shield] to the [Karma Shield] he got from the undead Cerberus.

“Huh? What are you doing? You lost,” Motoyasu said dismissively.

“I didn’t hear no bell.” Naofumi said. A grin on his face, “I mean, seriously, what kind of tank can’t take more than one hit?”

“Silence Shield!” the king yelled. “You have lost the sacred duel! I suggest that you not make a scene with some of your dignity intact.”

“No king!” Motoyasu said. “If Naofumi wants to humiliate himself more, let him. It’ll be his loss.”

The king looked at the Pope who nodded, “Fine, continue.”

Myne growled. Why was the Shield still standing?! What the hell was this?!

She just needed to time her spell again one more time to knock him out. Extending her hand she got ready to hit Naofumi again.

Then suddenly her back felt wet.

And chunky…

Bar-Batos: Um… why is Bar-Batos jumping for joy? Also this Paimon, hello! 

Muratatata: Damn he actually won that bet. 

Guoba: Oh! Paimon! It’s Xiangling and Guoba! 

Bar-Batos: Hey Xiangling! How is it going?! 

Guoba: Weird since this thing appeared on Guoba’s back. All I know is that this… Shaun I think? @Barbatos and @Zhongli made a bet with one another because they wanted to see when he would barf. 

Bar-Batos: So Bar-Batos won? 

Guoba: I think? 

Raiden-CantCook: He did. 

Bar-Batos: Wait, so where is Zhongli? 

Cheese Fountain: If I had a guess, he is still writing a response to @Guoba.

The [Karma Shield] was a unique shield compared to some of his other shields. The shield gave him a special passive ability. The first and most notable was the way the world looked, everything turned back with a bright green acting as shadow to everything. Next was that above everyone, there was a counter that for most flew a white color almost everyone was at zero, but that didn’t apply to everyone.

His party for example had about a 0.01 or 0.02 above their heads with Koneko having the highest at 0.09. Those with a positive number had a faint tint of red to their number. As Naofumi got accustomed to the new sight, he looked around at the stands and Motoyasu.

Motoyasu had a count of zero. Then there were those in the crowd that had higher scores than his party, one man with a lot of belly had a score that was in the single digits and was a fiery red. Then on the other end of the spectrum there was Ruby and Klee. Ruby was odd since her number was blue, not white or red like everyone else, but also in the negatives, negative two to be precise. As for Klee, her number had an odd golden star by it.

Then, finally there was Myne who his eyes fell on. Much like the fat man, hers was also in the single digits.

Naofumi did not understand the numbers, but he could only assume they didn’t mean anything good the higher they were.

Shaking his head, Naofumi got back into the game. There was a reason he picked the [Karma Shield] above the others. It was for the unique skill it had, Debt. Naofumi did not understand the skill much, but to make it simple, when he chose to activate it it increased his attack with however much percent he put into it. The only reason why he had not used it yet was because when he used it after killing the undead Cerberus, the Shield showed an error saying there was not enough Karma in the area for what he wanted, but now in an area like this, maybe it would work.

“Debt!” Naofumi yelled and a small window appeared in front of him. It was a confirmation window. 

[Are You Sure You Wish To Use Karma Shield - Skill {Debt}] 

[Yes] [No]

“Yes,” Naofumi said.

On Motoyasu’s end, he only saw Naofumi change shields and Shaun puke on Myne. “Hey! You bastard! What the fuck!”

“Sorry!” Ibuki yelled, “Shaun has been feeling sick, he’s been dangling here the entire time!”

“Like that-” Motoyasu would have continued arguing but was stopped when mist began to rise from the ground. “Huh?”

“AAAHHHHH!” Naofumi yelled as around him what looked like dark green fumes from everything around him came to meet the gem of his shield.

“Ah! Sir Motoyasu! Save me!” Myne yelled as most of the fumes in the area came from her.

The rest of the crowd remained untouched by the Shield’s pull, and everyone gasped or whispered, wondering what was going on.

“Naofumi! Stop what you're doing!” Motoyasu yelled.

[Karma Shield Has Reached 25% Capacity]

[Would You Like To Continue?]

[Yes] [No]

“No,” Naofumi said. The notification disappeared as the fumes stopped.

Ruby in the stands had to rub her eyes. What was this? Was she seeing things?

One moment she saw Naofumi yelling, surrounded by those dark green fumes and mists, then for a moment she saw that horrible red. She quickly blinked and rubbed her eyes to confirm what she saw and the next thing she knew it was gone.

“Naofumi, what was that?! What did you do?!”

Naofumi didn’t respond, getting ready, Naofumi charged Motoyasu, ready to keep going.

“Fine then, have it your way,” Motoyasu said as he rushed to Naofumi. His SP was low but he didn’t care! He had to look out for his friends! “Chaos Spear!”

Naofumi didn’t seem to react to Motoyasu’s flurry of attacks, because when the spear first got to him, all he did was punch the spear and kept going.

Naofumi got closer and when Motoyasu tried to jump away, Naofumi grabbed him by the boot and threw him down.

[Karma Shield: 19%]

“Yield, Motoyasu!” Naofumi yelled.

“Never!” Motoyasu shouted, struggling to get out of Naofumi’s grip, only to be hit upside the head.

[Karma Shield: 15%]

“Yield!”

“N-never!” Naofumi sighed and hit him again.

[Karma Shield: 11%]

“Motoyasu, please yield! You cannot win at this rate!”

“N-Ne-” Naofumi hit him one more time and his Shield dropped another four percent.

“Motoyasu, do you yield?!” Naofumi asked one more time. “Motoyasu?”

“Hmmm….” was all that escaped the Spear Hero’s mouth.

Getting up Naofumi took a step back and panted. Raising the arm with his shield high into the sky. “Now… I’m done!” Naofumi said as he fell onto the ground. Both Shield Hero and Spear Hero painted on the ground, one definitely with a broken nose while the other rested on the cool stone floor.

There was a moment of silence as everyone around tried to grasp what happened.

Then there were the heroes of the Shield and Sword Hero’s party and Ruby all cheering.

“Woooo!” Shaun groaned out, “Keep the noise down…”

“T-the Shield wins…” the king admitted, not believing what he had just witnessed.

“Someone get a healer to Sir Motoyasu now!” one of the party members of the Spear Hero yelled.

Roy and Mordred were both pleased and slightly upset by the outcome of the fight.

“Roy, can I be honest,” Mordred said,

“You will say it anyways, so just say it,” the Colonel said.

“Finally learning, huh?” Mordred laughed. “I really regret saying half of our earnings. That’s what, 50 gold?”

“58 actually, but in your defense, Motoyasu needed some good old fashioned humbling in my opinion,” Roy admitted.

Mordred sighed, “Still… that’s a lot.”

As the two Apprentice Heroes of the Spear talked with one another, the Apprentice Heroes under Naofumi and Raphtalia ran up to the Shield Hero, every one of them happy to see his victory. Even Shaun, who was definitely still drunk, managed to say a few good words.

Overall, it was a great day for these heroes.

As for some Archons, that also would be described as… good.

Bar-Batos: HA! PAY UP! 

Muratatata: Damn it! 

Raiden-CantCook: Barbatos, don’t be rude. 

Bar-Batos: NOT GONNA HAPPEN! PAY UP LOSERS! 

Guoba: Um… I’m good right? 

Nahida-Buer: I believe so. Unlike me, who now has to pay them. 

Star-itsa: Sucks to be you kid. 

Nahida-Buer: I’VE BEEN AN ARCHON FOR 500 YEARS! 

Star-itsa: Yet you still act like one. I truly miss you back when you were a fully grown head of lettuce than the small seedling for you are now. 

-Zhongli Has Lagged Out Of Chat-

(Mod) FrmDst2Dst: Wow… I did not expect this… He actually lagged out. Well I can’t say I didn’t warn him.

Guoba: What happened to @Zhongli?!

Bar-Batos: HA! 

Nahida-Buer: If I had to guess, his “explanation” to you probably had too many characters and was too much for whatever this chat is to handle and it kicked him out. 

Bar-Batos: LMAOOOO! 

Cheese Fountain: Remember everyone, this. This person. He is the oldest Archon

As the party began to come to a close, everyone began their trip back to their individual inns, with the Spear Hero’s party staying at the castle.

“That was awesome Naofumi!” Ibuki said as she hit Naofumi on the shoulder. “You were like “Ya! Ya! Ya! Yield Motoyasu!” and he was like “No! I would never yield to the likes of you!” And you were then like “WAAA!” and hit him!” Ibuki exclaimed as she told her amazing retelling of the fight.

Naofumi chuckled as he scratched the back of his head, “It wasn’t really too much…”

“It was bad ass, just admit it,” Koneko chuckled as she carried a passed out Shaun on her back.

“Fine, fine,” Naofumi shrugged.

Abigail laughed along, though she did have something in the back of her mind, something very familiar hitting her again as she remembered something, “Hey, Naofumi. I was wondering about that shield you used during the end of the fight.”

“Oh? What about it?” Naofumi asked.

“I was wondering how you figured out what made it work. When you got it originally, it didn’t even do any of that.”

“Oh,” changing the shield to the [Karma Shield] he looked at it and rubbed the gem. “Well I didn’t want to use it for most of the fight because I had a feeling it wouldn’t work like last time, but then I thought maybe it didn’t work because our numbers were too low. I was right about it being because our numbers were low since it seemed to have worked when I activated it.”

“That’s nice and all, but I think it would be best for you to not use that Shield too often, Naofumi,” Abigail said. “It may be called the [Karma Shield] but I don’t think it means it in the normal sense.”

“Karma? What’s that?” Raphtalia asked.

“Basically it is the principle that doing good deeds will result in good fortune and bad results in bad. What goes around comes around and what not,” Ibuki responded. “But what does that have to do with anything?”

“Well, first-” Abigail tried to say nervously, “Okay, before I say anything, don’t be mad, Naofumi.”

“I’m too tired to be mad, just tell us,” Naofumi said.

Taking a deep breath, “So, you know how Motoyasu, Ren, Itsuki and Shaun know a lot about this world from games or in our case manga and anime?” Naofumi nodded, “Well we know more than just this world… we kinda know sorta… everyone of the Apprentice Heroes.”

“Huh?”

“Yeah… I wanted to say something and I’m guessing Shaun did too, but how do you tell someone, “Hey I know everyone from Media back home!” it isn’t you just casually saying.”

“You didn’t tell me?” Abigail nodded. Naofumi took a deep breath but let his shoulders drop, “We can talk about that later, but let’s get back to the topic at hand.”

“Oh, right. Well, Karma in Klee’s world isn’t something nice, in fact it is really deadly,” Abigail said. “Long ago in her world, there was a war between gods called the Archon War, to make matters simple, a lot of gods died in that fight, and while their bodies died their wills didn’t or something like that.”

“So like God Ghosts?” Ibuki asked.

“More like… God poison, and instead of killing it drives humans insane and corrupts monsters,” Abigail said. Turning to Naofumi, “Listen, I might be wrong, since I don’t remember hearing many things about slain gods in this world and a counter on top of everyone, but I would stay cautious of that shield Naofumi.”

Naofumi nodded, taking the word of his party member, he would take her warning. He definitely had questions, but he was way too tired to ask them now of all times.

[Karma Shield: 11%]

“DAMN YOU!”

[Karma Shield: 10%]

“I’m innocent! Please liste-”

[Karma Shield: 9%]

“Curse you!”

[Karma Shield: 8%]

“You haven’t heard the last of me!”

[Karma Shield: 7%]

“You bitch! How could you!” 

[Karma Shield: 6%]

[Karma Shield: 5%]

[Karma Shield: 4%]

[Karma Shield: 3%]

[Karma Shield: 2%]

[Karma Shield: 1%]

[Karma Shield II Unlocked]

The last memory she had, it was painful. Filled with regret and filled with sorrow. Unable to keep those she promised safe.

She left cursing the title she was offered, and it got her nothing but pain.

After so long, after fighting that- that bird . She offered her a position in her court. A position in exchange for her stepping away from the title of Geo Archon. She should have said yes. Take her offer.

That decision led to everything she promised to keep safe, being taken away. Her medicines could do nothing to reverse what was lost.

Then, she died.

What followed next was… it was a blur. She witnessed through the eyes of countless Hillchurls. Countless people.

Then, she was with them. With her. The first chance she could, she left them. Got away to something that did not have to be anywhere near that monster.

The fog though. It had begun to clear. It made no sense. The first thing she saw was that green light, and suddenly she was able to form a proper thought, not moving on the instinct she had been for so long. She was somewhere that gave her peace, it was tranquill.

It looked almost exactly like Luhua Pool, but the sky had a faint green tint and the air was unnaturally still.

It was peaceful.

That said, she did not seem to be alone.

A single other person was interrupting the tranquility.

He looked like a vagabond and a thief. His hair was spiky and his armor was intimidating. Also, while she could not get a good look, she could tell his eyes were quite sharp looking like a native of Inazuma.

Getting closer and as quietly as she could, she got closer to the suspicious looking man. He was walking through the water, walking on the solid ground around the pools.

Taking a step closer, light green light appeared from her heeled boots and vines of Dendro appeared from the water. Like a serpent, the vines wrapped around the man, tightening around him, keeping him in place.

“Who are you? What do you think you are doing here?” she demanded, staying behind the man, not showing her face.

“H-huh?” the bandit man questioned.

“Answer me. I, the God Marbas, demand an answer,” she stated, the vines around the man growing more and more. “Now, answer.”

“N-naofumi Iwatani! My name is Naofumi Iwatani!” Naofumi shouted.

“Iwatani?” That sounded Inazuman.

“Yes. Can you untie me, I don’t know about you, but where I come from, it’s rather rude to greet someone like this,” he sounded annoyed.

“Why should I? How do I know you are not just a bandit like you appear?”

“Bandit?” Naofumi repeated before sighing in annoyance, “Damn it, I told him this makes me look… NO! I’m not a bandit! I’m just very confused. I just went to sleep and then suddenly woke up here, surrounded by water, and God knows where with some lunatic calling themself a god!”

Marbas let out a gasp of offense. Did he truly call her a lunatic? “How dare you! I am Marbas, God of Medicines and Lady of the Caduceus!”

“Call yourself whatever lady, it’s all words to me,” Naofumi said, trying to turn around only to fail with his attempt..

Marbas continued to glare at the man and kept a distance. He really had no idea who she was? What was the meaning of this! She returned and was at peace and her afterlife was met with- with- with this rude barbarian!

“You won’t attack me if I let you go?” she asked.

“Don’t think I can,” Naofumi shrugged. “I don’t have my shield so I doubt I could hit someone who can bind me from… however far away you are,” Naofumi said. This Naofumi man was smart enough to not try and attack it seemed.

Marbas said nothing, glaring at the man. Undoing the Dendro vines and letting them disappear into the water. She kept her distance and watched as he rubbed his wrist and turned around to look at her.

“You have yet to answer my question, what do you think you’re doing here?” Marbas demanded again. The man continued to look at her oddly. Like he was planning something, like he was plotting.

“Honestly,” Naofumi began, “I don’t know. I just woke up in the middle of… wherever I am, in water. I was in an inn before this and then you appeared and tied me up,” he said, annoyed at her.

“You were resting at an inn?” she repeated. “Well you have come in my home, in my afterlife, and expect me to believe that.”

“Listen, I have no idea where I am! I’m not lying and quite frankly, I’m confused and annoyed, because this is not the first time I showed up God knows where for God knows why!”

“Quiet your voice, Inazuman boy, I don’t want to be hearing your echo for the rest of my afterlife,” Marbas shot Naofumi an irritated look. “I have finally escaped to my own heaven and I will not have it become my hell.”

“You keep talking like you’re dead,” Naofumi muttered, rolling his eyes. “Listen lady, I have no idea what Inazuman means, but I really wish I wasn’t here either.”

“You don’t know of Inazuma, despite having a name of such origin?” Marbas questioned. “The island strong with Electro?” she questioned and Naofumi shook his head. “The island across the see from Liyue, you know where Liyue is, correct?” she asked again and he shook his again in kind. “Liyue!” she said louder, this ignorance of Naofumi causing mass frustration. “The place we may be right now. The bloodiest battle ground of all the nations of Teyvat!” Marbas said, extending her hand, gesturing to everything around her.

“Wait, that’s a name I’m familiar with,” Naofumi said, recognizing the word Teyvat, or more accurately, recognizing it as the world Klee was from. “Yeah, a world that’s ruled by Seven Gods that rule over seven nations, I’ve heard of it,” Naofumi recalled.

“You say that like you are not of this land,” Marbas said, crossing her arms.

“I’m not,” Naofumi replied. “Quick question,” Naofumi looked at the God of Medicine and then towards the green sky, “what was the last thing you might remember, before this I mean.”

“You ask me questions now?” Marbas chuckled, “Well, that depends. Last thing I remember when I lived was a contemptible owl killing me, though I assume you might me after that?” she placed a hand on her finger. After that moment there was very little thought, only very instinctive movements of running away, fleeing. Getting away from her and her lackeys.

“I remember fleeing, and for a while I rested. Then it was shiny, like the many stars. Then it was a blur, I saw many things in too brief a moment, large hands. Big knives. Then it ended, and then I was here,” Marbas remembered little, but those moments were as foggy and fuzzy as nights at the Dihua Marsh, when the fog rolled in and made it near impossible to see.

Naofumi took a moment to think about himself, the surroundings. That last event she remembered. It sounded all so familiar. That, and the sky.

“Damn, I guess Abigail was wrong,” he said to himself, thinking. “I think I know where this is, and it isn’t heaven or hell or some reincarnation,” he said, turning back to Marbas.

“This is not some afterlife?” Marbas questioned.

“No,” Naofumi placed a hand on his arm where his shield would normally rest, “I think we’re in my shield, and I absorbed you after beating the Cerberus you were possessing,” Naofumi concluded, placing the pieces together.

“Huh?”

“I don’t know why we’re here, but that seems the most likely answer.”

“Surely you jest, and how would I be inside a shield, you have quite the funny sense of humor,” Marbas laughed. Surely this man, this so-called outlander, was joking. How could one be inside a weapon! Surely there was a better explanation than that! Surely so!

“I’m not kidding,” Naofumi said. “Your last memory was that of when me and my party defeated Cerberus, and my weapon absorbed the heart of the monster, which allowed me to use a shield called the [Karma Shield]. A friend of mine explained that karma was a sort of poison left behind after they die. That it was there will or something like that,” Naofumi summed up the information he was given that led to his conclusion. “You died in something known as the Archon War, right?”

“Your assumption is correct, I did,” Marbas nodded, “thought I find your little… story quite hard to believe in,” she took a step closer to Naofumi, arms still crossed and still keeping a safe distance. “So you claim my will, my essence was somehow put into your weapon, your shield? I have yet to hear of such a thing, so excuse my lack of belief when you spout your nonsense.”

“It isn’t-” Naofumi began, but only was cut off.

“Even if you were telling the truth, what is there to be done,” Marbas said, finally uncrossing her hands and shrugging. “If it is as you say, I am trapped in this imitation of my home. I have lost the war, I have no more stake in it for the Geo Archon. Perhaps someone more fitting such as Old Li or Marchosius will take the title, both are quite strong,” she said with a fond smile. “Listen well, Mr. Outlander. Mr. Iwatani. I have grown bored of our discussion, you do whatever you want in my afterlife, your weapon as you claim, but do not disturb me from here on out. I wish to remain at peace. No more battles to be fought. No more people to treat.”

Naofumi watched as the woman who had binded him only moments ago began to turn away. Leaving him in the water as she left, going who knows where. The only thing on his mind was the oddity of it all.

When Naofumi woke up, he still could not fully process what had happened, but he had to put it away for now.

Sound of Ibuki sounding worried and Shaun laughing and shouting something took some priority.

“Shaun… please shut the hell up,” Abigail groaned out, holding her throbbing head. Turns out, when you drink a lot and have the drunkenness be sent to someone else, that did not translate to turning any effects of hangover as well.

“OH! How do you like it! I missed the epic fight, this is karma! Oh!!!! I will have more vengeance, I will have it and you will pay the price!” Shaun shouted but cackled like a mad man.

“Shaun! Please, show Abby some mercy!”

“Muhahaha!”

“What the hell is going on here?” Naofumi asked, opening the door and looking at his party who were all awake already and ready to head back to the castle.

“Oh, you know. Planning vengeance, reveling in Abigail’s karma for getting me drunk, the normal stuff,” Shaun chuckled,

“Yeah… also planning murder for the next person who yells at me,” Abigail glared at Shaun who continued to laugh. “What about you, Naofumi. How’s it hanging? You got up later than normal,” Abigail said.

“Uhh, yeah,” Naofumi said. “Listen, this may be because I had a long day yesterday,” Naofumi began, pulling up a seat with the rest of his party. “But I think I talked to a God from Teyvat?”

A/N: The RERENOTES: Did ya guys catch that South Park reference? I hope you did.

Also, I told you I changed the ending to the last bit. I'm betting some of you may have thought, "Oh, he'll have Motoyasu Win and repeat what almost every shield fic does. This is, the way I've hit this story, the Wrath Shield would not have unlocked and it would have amounted to nothing. It would not be as an emotional of a scene if that was the case, since Naofumi was not so drowning in his own despair that he would have reached the requirements of the Wrath Shield, so I've decided to substitute it with something else.

The Karma Shield!

Also, I've decided to give Abigail the hangover effect. Seemed a little too unfair for Shaun to get it as well as the drunkness. He's my punching bag for slapstick stuff anyways, I'll let him have this and his revenge at Cal Mira.

Oh Lucor Fruits sing his name and he will gladly deal with the aftermath just for some revenge. HE WAS LOOKING FORWARD TO THE FIGHT! (Don't worry, his stats will be enough to where he won't die if he ate one.)

Chapter Text

A/N: THE RERENOTES:

WE'RE BACK AT +100K WORDS BABY! LET'S GO!

So, nothing to odd was changed, switched Shaun being hungover with Abigail. I didn't really mention Naofumi's conversation to much, like at all, since this is not a Shield Party focused chapter and that would have to much be going on.

Alright, now back to our regularly scheduled program!

A/N: Yo! I'm back again with more spelling errors that have somehow become a story! Thank you for joining me!  

So for our itinerary today we have for an appetizer, we have our heroes meeting and bullying the king to give Naofumi and his group a proper reward. Then for your main meal we have buying of birds and for a side dish a bit of Ruby and Itsuki in the guild talking, if only barely. Finally for dessert we have a bit of the Heroes of Glass' World interacting and to top it all off, an annoyed Kairi with a bit of walking sex appeal cat girl Kuroka to really annoy him.

Now, for next time, a few dishes. We will mostly be having meals consisting of a Ruby focus with a side of Tsumiki Pecan and a Stein glass of milk with Itsuki shredded on top of the story to pull it all together. For sides we will have bits of Motoyasu and Roy, together. Like spaghetti. There will be some Mordred but there side will mostly be a Motoyasu and Roy focus. Though, as it is a side, it will be coming at the same time as the main course. As for the Shield Hero and his group they will be put a bit on the back burner for now with filolial related shenanigans and adventurers, which we will pick back on when we are done with this amazing few meals. As for desserts, we shall see what this mad chef has planned as we make it up as it goes. I'm thinking of a Ren/Lucy date or Klee wholesome adventurers! Where will this universe take us all? Who knows? Rough a week inside this fic.

Okay, enough of the dumb talk! I'm going to be focusing on the "Side" as I put it, Motoyasu and Roy.

I haven't been giving Roy, my main Boy, much attention, so I'm going to give him bits of attention as I feel like I'm neglecting him. Problem with having 13 heroes, 1 Raphtalia, and now 6 more heroes to deal with is that there is a bit of me having to juggle focus.

I know I wont be able to focus on everyone, and I'm fine with that, but I want to focus on everyone a little bit so I can show things like the Ren/Lucy romance I have planned. I have planned romance stuff for Ibuki and Abigail, I don't think that is a spoiler as the party kinda pointed an arrow at it, but if this is, sorry. I also have stuff planned with Shaun, Koneko and Ruby, but I don't know which direction to go! Do I go the Ruby/Shaun route, or do I go the Shaun/Koneko, what about Shaun/Koneko/Ruby?!  I don't even know anymore! Maybe I'll throw a curveball and do a Naofumi/Kuroka or something like that, poor Raphtalia sure, her sweet innocent mind. But what about me?! The author?! Do I throw Raphtalia into that mix?

Before anyone says "Then Appah don't do romance if it is confusing you so much," well sorry that answer is no. I'm dedicated to this, I will do this. I have plans for some of them to flourish sometime before Cal Mira!

What was my point again? Oh, yeah! Splitting focus. I want to shine a light on Roy giving advice to Motoyasu and maybe some to Mordred, but it's a little hard to think of what he could say to her so I'm focusing on Motoyasu.

So, to clear everything up. The next few chapters will be Bow Hero party focused with a bit of Spear Hero, with obviously Stein and Tsumiki along with Bosacius, after that we will jump back in time to focus back in on filolial shenanigans.

As for Ren? I plan to make him so anxious he will feel like he can't breathe! MUHAHAHAHA!

As you can see I probably need sleep and someone to keep me from being compulsive. Tidbit for ANYONE who wants to do writing, be it Fanfic or professionally. I suggest not letting yourself compulsively write. That is how I write myself into a block when I let my compulsions get the real best of me. So keep that in mind!  

Now, before I go! I have a question for you all. If the Apprentice Heroes from Raphtalia's World (Guns & Bayonets, Monster Tamer, Bomber, Knight, Wand, Brawler and Reaper) all had Cursed Series, which ones would you think they would get? Shaun and Abigail just go with what I've given and have a bit of leeway with what you think they would do. But if you want a bit of what I imagine them as, Shaun is definitely the plotter of the two but 8/10 he has no idea what he really is doing and is thinking in the moment and not in the longer term. Abigail on the other hand is more mature of the two but also the more prone to things that she likes (Example, she just kept drinking and got Shaun drunk).

Okay, here we go! Be sure to leave kudos and bookmarks, I do notice and I do read the bookmarks so if you do update/add yours, write something in it! Speaking of writing! Be sure to leave a comment! Now, without further delay! Let's get started!

Let's Go!

“Hey Shaun, how’s it going?” Ruby greeted Shaun as the Shield Hero’s party and the Bow Hero’s ran into each other on the way to the castle.

“Honestly, not too bad,” Shaun shrugged his shoulders, walking with a pep in his step. “I don’t have any hangover and I get to watch as Abigail suffers a little. If I’m being truthful, I’m only annoyed that I barely remember what happened last night. I think I puked on Myne? Right, please tell me I did,” he begged.

“I don’t know why you want that, but yes you did,” Ruby nodded. “So I guess she’s paying her price, huh?” she said, looking back behind them, watching as Ibuki walked next to Abigail who was still holding her head, trying to compress the throbbing pain in her head.

“Not yet, Ruby. Not yet,” Shaun chuckled. “I was so looking forward to that fight, and I was blasted. I wanted to see it! So I will get her back during Cal Mira,” he said while hiding his grin behind his hand as he began to cackle. “And when I do, she will know it immediately.”

“Um… okay,” Ruby said, just going along with Shaun’s ramblings. “Well, don’t do anything too crazy,” Ruby told him, “Also, tell Abigail a good hangover cure is just drinking lots of water and having some eggs.”

Shaun said with a small salute, “Roger roger!” he said with a goofy voice and chuckled, which he was not alone as Ruby joined in the laughing.

As the heroes made their way to the throne room for their reward, each hero got into a line like when they first sorted themselves into a party when they were first summoned.

On his throne, the king looked at each of the heroes as they stood in line, “Thank you for coming here heroes, you courageously defended the kingdom and defeated the wave,” the king said with an approving smile. “For your triumph I have set aside a reward for each of you. For Master Motoyasu, I’ve set aside 4,000 silver. For masters Itsuki and Ren, you both shall receive 3,800 silvers. Finally, for the Shield Hero and his party, you will be paid 500 silver.”

“Lucy, cover Klee’s ears.” Abigail and Shaun said at the same time. The wizard nodded and did just as told. Both Gun Heroes glared at the king and took a deep breath, “WHAT FUCK DUDE! Okay, Lucy, thank you.”

“What does fuck mean?” Klee muttered, but was ignored by everyone when the king responded.

“Don’t use that language with me, you are lucky I’m giving you anything at all,” the king responded.

Taking a deep breath, Naofumi tried to collect himself, “And why, exactly, are we not getting as much as the others?”

“Along with your lack of participation from the wave, there is also the cost of healing to the Spear Hero along with the Gun Hero throwing up on the adventurer Myne.”

“That last one is just petty!” Shaun shouted. 

“Silence!” the king shouted at Shaun.

“Now, hold on,” Itsuki interrupted, stepping forward. “I don’t know all the details about what happened with Naofumi and his party, but I know that his party along with Ruby and Roy here went to evacuate the nearby town.”

“It’s true!” Ruby nodded, “Naofumi and Raphtalia directed the villagers to the mine where they hid while the rest of us gathered most of the monsters and killed them.”

Roy said. “Along with that, with the duel I mean. You pretty much ordered him to go along with the duel, and Naofumi won it. So I don’t see how what he did was bad.”

“Also Shaun had been hanging over the ledge for the entire fight, the fact that Myne was in that position at all is more her fault than his,” Ibuki shrugged.

The king gritted his teeth as he looked at the heroes who almost all seemed to be in agreement with the exception of Motoyasu who was glaring at Naofumi. 

“Fine, we will double the amount for the Shield Hero and his companions,” the king tried to low ball them.

“Do you think we’re idiots?” Koneko said, now growing more annoyed by the king and his antics. “A 1000 silver is still not even half of what Ren and Itsuki made.”

“Just pay them the damn money! God!” Mordred yelled.

“Fine! Fine! 3000 silver, nothing more!” the king shouted. The one holding the smallest bag ran away to get a new bag that could fit the amount of silver for the new reward.

When the heroes all got their money, the king ordered them to begone, though his order was treated more like a request and was denied. Roy told the king that he planned to hold another meeting between the heroes, and the others, even Motoyasu, all agreed that it was about time to have a conversation with the others.

Annoyed, the king had let them into a room for them to have their catch up between each of the heroes.

The meeting was relatively calm all things considered. Motoyasu paid Naofumi half his money, excluding the reward from the king, which annoyed him to no end.

As promised, Roy showed the heroes the little reward he had saved for them to absorb into their weapons, unlocking the bioplant series.

Speaking of rewards, all the Apprentice Heroes did receive another gift after completing the wave. Each one received another token for completing the wave. Each one received one third of a coin the same color as their weapon’s gem. None of the heroes knew exactly why it was a coin, but all assumed that they just had to collect the other pieces to become a full hero.

After the meeting concluded, Shaun shouted how he was in the mood to buy another slave, obviously to taunt Motoyasu, but definitely got a punch in the side from Koneko as they exited the meeting.

“We have to do something!” Motoyasu said to the other heroes as Naofumi and his group left the meeting room.

“Motoyasu,” Ren said, letting out a long sigh, “I’m sure he is just messing with you.”

“But what if he isn’t! We can’t let them buy another slave! We don’t know what they will do!”

Itsuki just shook his head, “Well that girl with them seemed to be alright, so maybe they won’t.”

Mordred just let out a huff as she rocked in her chair, “Why don’t you just follow them? I mean come on, you want to know what they will do just see for yourself.” Mordred was already annoyed with Motoyasu but decided to go along and mess with him by wasting his time.

“Mordred! That’s it! I promise you that they will do something and when they do I’ll catch them!” Motoyasu said with a big grin, “Ren, Itsuki! Come on and join me!” 

“Why should we?/No,” Itsuki and Ren said at the same time.

“Come on! What do you have to lose?!”

“Our time,” they said.

“Just go with him,” Roy said, “Knowing Motoyasu he will end up getting distracted flirting with someone while he is following him,” he said with a chuckle.

“I can do this without flirting!”

“Whatever you say,” Roy laughed.

Ren looked at Itsuki and then at Lucy and Klee. Letting out an annoyed sigh, “Fine, I’ll go. Only because I don’t want to keep hearing you complain.”

“I’m good,” Itsuki said as he and Ruby got up and were ready to leave. “I have a quest we need to get done, so we need to head out now.”

Ruby waved them goodbye as she followed behind Itsuki, leaving it just Motoyasu and Ren with their apprentices.

Ren waved Lucy and Klee goodbye, telling them to meet him in the guild with the others while he joins Motoyasu in his little adventure. As for Motoyasu, he seemed ready to go down and catch Naofumi and Shaun in their nefarious schemes.

“Ah… welcome back fine heroes. Good to see you,” Beloukas greeted the Shield Hero’s party as they entered the tent.

“Yeah, yeah,” Naofumi said awkwardly as he leaned forward to whisper into Shaun’s ear, “Shaun, what the hell! I thought you were kidding about getting another slave!”

“I was!” Shaun said, “We’re here for another reason!”

“Oh? And what would you heroes like to do if it wasn't for some of my merchandise?”

“We would like to do your lottery!” Shaun said with a grin much similar to Beloukas.

“Lottery? Shaun, what are you planning?” Raphtalia asked, not trusting that wicked grin on his face and the glint somehow shining in on his glasses while they were inside the tent.

“My! My! Is this the same girl that I sold you?” Beloukas asked as he looked at Raphtalia, “If she was a virgin, I’d be willing to buy her back for 20 gold pieces.”

“I am a virgin!” Raphtalia shouted and read as Ruby’s cloak.

“Really?! Then 30! No, 35”

“Hmm” Naofumi hummed, “35 gold is a lot.”

“Master Naofumi!” Raphtalia yelled as Naofumi chuckled at his teasing.

“I think we’re good,” Naofumi told the slave trader. “Now, what is this about a lottery?”

“Why, Shield Hero! I’m glad you asked! You see, I happen to run a lottery on the side, it’s the front of my business you see. In these crates are creatures such as filiolials to a dragon which is worth 20 gold pieces!”

“So it’s basically a gacha,” Naofumi said as he looked at the crate full of eggs.

“So one Raphtalia for one dragon,” Ibuki muttered.

“Hmm, how much for an egg?” Naofumi asked.

“Every one of them is 100 silver! Don’t worry though, if a filolial is not what you really wish there is also a chance you can get a hippogriff!”

“Hmm, I know what a hippogriff is, but what is a filolial?” Naofumi asked.

“Master Naofumi, they are those big birds you see on the street pulling carts,” Raphtalia explained.

“Come on Naofumi! Let’s get yourself a mount! Imagine it! Instead of walking everywhere we can get there via filolial power!” Shaun said excitedly.

“I suppose it would make traveling more effective,” Naofumi hummed, “I guess it won’t hurt. We aren’t currently strapped for money.”

“Yay!” Shaun cheered before turning to the slave trader. “Oh, Beloukas. I have a request for you, if you don’t mind.”

“Not at all young man, what may I do for you?”

“Well if you can, can we take some of your slave ink for our weapons? Also I was wondering if you happen to have a small messenger bird?”

“I can certainly acquire both, but if you do not mind me asking, why do you wish for a messenger bird when Melromarc’s mail service is fully operational.”

Shaun could only darkly chuckle as he explained his plans to the slave trader, who after hearing the grand plot Shaun had for the pope of the Three Heroes Church merely began to chuckle along with a big smile matching the Gun Hero.

When everything was said and done, the heroes began to pay. Naofumi did ask Raphtalia if she did want her slave crest removed, but she said no to the offer. It was a symbol to her of the heroes who were going to save her village and took and helped her when she was close to death.

As they left, the party had an egg in an incubator and Naofumi unlocked the [Slave User Shield] by absorbing various inks used for slaves, each one increasing the growth bonus he had for those under a slave crest, which meant Raphtalia would keep growing faster. As for Shaun, he had unfortunately not gotten a messenger bird, but was told that he could pick up an egg that would be perfect tomorrow that will fit his needs perfectly.

As they exited the tent, the Shield Hero’s party walked out in the direction of some of the stores in Castle Town. While they were going, the heroes did not notice as they were being trailed.

“Ah-ha! See that Ren, they obviously were doing something in there! I can feel it!” Motoyasu said, pointing at Naofumi who was carrying the egg incubator.

“Motoyasu, they went to a circus tent, what do you even think could be nefarious in a circus tent?” Ren said, trying to rationalize things so he could get back to his party.

“Knowing Naofumi and Shaun, there could be an assortment of things!” Motoyasu said. “Come on! Let’s take a look!”

Letting out an annoyed sigh, Ren followed behind Motoyasu who stormed into the tent.

Now, Ren himself would never admit to anyone that he was not the best in awkward situations, but when caught in one, he tried his best to do all he could to keep his cool.

Well that is hard when you are surrounded by large aisles of iron cages with many monsters and slaves.

“I… ah…” Ren managed to say with his mouth open.

“See, Ren! There is something up wherever they go! Look, a slave tent, I was right!”

“W-well, they probably were not buying a slave, they didn’t even come out with one,” Ren said, looking around in the dark tent.

“Hmm. Now who, pray tell, may you be referring too,” a giddy sounding man from behind both heroes asked. Ren and Motoyasu both jumped as they turned to see the slave trader. “Ah! Sir Sword Hero, Sir Spear Hero! What do I have the honor of having you both here?” Beloukas asked.

“Who are you?” Motoyasu asked.

Beloukas smiled, “Why, I’m Beloukas, and this happens to be my shop. Now, if you don’t mind answering my question, what do you two happen to be in the market for.”

Gritting his teeth and furrowing his brow, Motoyasu pointed his spear at Beloukas, glaring at him. “You’re a slave trader, right?”

“Well officially I’m a monster trader, but slaves do fall into that category,” Beloukas said with no shame, not even batting an eye at the spear pointed at him.

“What gives you the right to sell people!”

Beloukas laughed at the Spear Hero, “Well the law, obviously. I am a law abiding citizen of Melromarc, and my business breaks none of those laws.”

Ren put a hand on Motoyasu’s spear and pushed it down to the ground, “Motoyasu, settle down. If you do anything rash I don’t think the king would be happy,” Ren warned. Turning to the slave trader, “We saw Naofumi and his party enter here, we wanted to know what they were doing here.”

“The Shield Hero and his party?” Beloukas hummed, “Why I shouldn’t say… customer confidentiality and that.”

Ren frowned, this man had to be hard, huh? Motoyasu had enough to deal with so he had to deal with this man as well. “We know they didn’t buy a slave, we saw him leave with that purple thing, we just want to know what that was.”

“Oh? The incubator?” Beloukas perked up, “Well I certainly say something on that. Follow me! I’ll show you!”

“We aren’t interested in slaves,” Motoyasu glared.

“Oh? I do believe I said I dealt with monsters as well, did I not?” Beloukas said, never losing his big grin.

Sighing, Ren followed Beloukas and was followed by Motoyasu. The man brought him to a lit up portion of the tent with a crate of eggs resting on hey.

“This, my good heroes, is my monster lottery! Spend 100 silver and you are guaranteed a filolial! If you happen to get lucky, you may even get a dragon! Which is worth 20 gold pieces!” Beloukas said.

“So it’s a gacha game,” Motoyasu hummed, seeming to have calmed down.

“The Shield said the same thing!” Beloukas laughed. “Now then, do you wish to try your luck?”

Ren and Motoyasu looked at each other, debating on what to do.

“Meh, I’m in,” Ren said abruptly, throwing a bag of silver onto the table as he looked at each of the eggs. Each one of them looked almost identical, which made determining the difference quite hard. Though out of all of them, Ren did notice something with one of the markings on the eggs looked slightly different. It might have been mistaken for a slip of the brush but it was neatly done, looked intentional.

“What's taking so long!” Motoyasu said as he snatched an egg at random. “Come on, just pick one. Sighing, Ren shook his head, picked the egg he had been eyeing; he and Motoyasu paid for the eggs, slave ink for the monster to register it as their own, and the incubators and left.

As they exited the tent, Ren thought it would be the best chance he had to go back to his party and go and pick up a quest. So when Motoyasu was distracted by his egg Ren slipped away into the crowd to find his party.

Of course when Motoyasu noticed Ren’s disappearance, he got quite concerned. “Ren!? Ren?! Where did you go?! We still have to track down those bastards!” he shouted into the crowd, trying to find the Sword Hero.

“Ren?! Ren?!” he called out, still getting nothing.

“Sir Spear Hero! Sir Spear Hero!” a knight called Motoyasu.

“Huh? What do you want?” Motoyasu asked, annoyed that someone was distracting him from his quest to track down Naofumi and Shaun.

“Sorry, Sir Hero!” the knight bowed, “The king has issued you a quest and wishes for you and your party’s presence at once.”

Motoyasu hummed for a moment and nodded. Any quest from the king should take top priority, but Shaun and Naofumi could do any number of things to the girls of their party! Truly a horrible dilemma. “I suppose the king thing is much more important. Fine, take me to him.”

“Yes, Sir Hero!” the knight said, guiding Motoyasu to the castle.

Ruby, Itsuki and Mald sat at a table in the guild while the others went looking for a quest for them to do.

While Itsuki and Mald were talking, Ruby found herself not paying attention to them, instead going to listen to the conversations around her.

“Did you hear about the duel between the Spear and Shield last night? Apparently the Shield Hero managed to win one over on the Spear!”

“Huh? That can’t be true!”

“No! No! It really happened!”

“Bah, who cares about the old heroes! It’s those apprentices of theirs that have my attention.”

“Shush! You want to get called a heretic or something?”

“Who cares! The rumor mill has been spinning since the wave and some news has come of it.”

“Oh, and what would that be, Mr. Heretic?”

“Well for one, they say that the Mage Hero can make a sea of fire with just a flick of his wand, and the best part is he can do it without causing damage. Oh and the Reaper Hero, a lot has been said about her. Apparently she can speak to the dead.”

“You otta be joking.”

“No, no! It’s true, a friend of mine was in a town a few weeks ago when she and the Bow Hero were there, apparently she was talking to the old grave keeper who had died just the night before! And it doesn’t stop there, people have been coming together, praising the girl. They call her the Saint of the Scythe or Red Hood, or something like that.”

“-by. RUBY!” 

Jumping in her seat, Ruby snapped back to reality, and was met with an annoyed look from Itsuki. “H-huh?! Wha?”

“Were you listening to anything that we said?” Itsuki asked.

“U-uh, sorry,” Ruby apologized.

Letting out a frustrated sigh, “Well listen closely this time. We’re going on a quest that will be in another country to the North. We’ll be toppling the corrupt king there, understand?” Itsuki said.

“Yes?” Ruby said, unsure. Did he really just say they were going to take down a kingdom to the North? “W-wait, hold on Itsuki. Are you sure that is a good idea?”

“Tch” Mald let out, “Just trust in us, the Bow Hero knows what he’s doing. Besides, the reward will be quite large,” he smirked. “I’m sure with your cut will be enough to entertain the Gun Hero plenty,” he said with a grin.

“What?” Ruby asked, the intention of what Mald said going over her head.

“Nothing,” Larona said, hitting Mald on the side, glaring at her. “You don’t have to be a dick about what she decides to do during celebrations.” Ruby decided at this point to just ignore the other at the point, still not understanding what the two were implying at the party.

“Alright Tsumiki, tell me. What can you see?” Franken Stein asked as he adjusted the screw in his head.

The former Ultimate Nurse fidgeted with her fingers, “I-I… u-um…” 

“Take your time, we are in no rush.”

“I-I can only see two of their souls, Dr. Stein. I’m sorry for being completely useless!” Mikan apologized as she began to tear up.

“It’s fine,” Stein reassured her, “It’s the two heroes, right?” he asked, the Ultimate Nurse nodded, “That’ll be enough. Now tell me what you see with them. Look for any distinguishing details that stick out about them.”

Tsumiki wiggled in her seat, trying to get any details from the Bow Hero and the Apprentice Reaper Hero.

“T-the girl, her soul isn’t like the others.”

“The shape? It doesn’t look like a Mighty Soul to me,” Stein said.

“No, but that is something odd, it’s like Mr. Branwen’s soul. There is something else around it, I can’t make it out, but there is something around her soul.”

“Hmm, is that it?” Stein asked, and got a nod. “That’s alright. Her soul is definitely an oddity. I was not expecting much in looking for what the person is like, but you did notice that thing around her soul…”

Stein focused on Ruby. My oh my was her soul unique. It took on the form of a human, surrounding her, protecting her. The very same as the Card Hero. But it wasn't as strong as either Qrow’s or his own. Maybe around the average for students at the academy, maybe a bit higher.

“What about the other soul?”

“He’s actually really easy to read,” Tsumiki said with more confidence in her voice. “His soul isn’t nearly as strong as the girl’s. He’s arrogant and I think maybe he has a hero complex… Am I right?”

“Very good,” Stein said, “Though I wouldn’t say his soul is weak, in fact out of the two, it comes out clearer through the noise. Though if I had to guess why, it is his weapon.”

“Huh?” Tsumiki tilted her head.

“The girl is obviously still in her apprentice phase, so her abilities are probably still weaker than the actual heroes,” Stein said. Getting up from his seat, he motioned for Tsumiki to get up, “Come on, we’re going to meet with Qrow to see if he has anything.”

“R-right!” Tsumiki said as she got up and followed after Stein.

In the throne room, the party of the Spear Hero stood there, waiting for Motoyasu to arrive.

When the Spear finally did make it, he was being pecked by a bird and had an egg in a cradle.

“Damn bird!” Motoyasu shouted, waking the crow away from him as it flew away. “Sorry for the wait, I was busy tracking someone.”

“Oh, Sir Motoyasu! Don’t worry!” Myne said as she clung to Motoyasu’s arm.

“So, your majesty, what’s up? I heard that you have a special quest for us,” Motoyasu asked nonchalantly, not paying too much attention to the man at the side of the king.

“Sir Spear Hero, welcome,” the king greeted the Spear Hero. “I wish to introduce you to Lord Idol Raiber, he is the one issuing this quest.”

Taking center stage, the man walked up to Motoyasu and shook his head. “It is an honor to meet you, Sir Spear Hero! I am so glad you accepted my quest.”

“Now hold it,” Motoyasu held up his arms, “I haven’t even heard what you want, I haven’t agreed to anything.”

“Ah, I’m sorry Sir Hero!” Idol apologized. “I’ll try to keep it simple. The men from my territory found a monster that came from the first wave and managed to contain it. But recently it has escaped and killed many of my men. Please, Sir Hero, kill the monster before it can hurt anyone else!”

“What do you think, Sir Motoyasu? I’m sure that you can kill the monster!” Myne said.

Motoyasu had a smug grin at Myne’s praise, but he turned to Roy and Mordred, “What do you guys say?” he asked. “I mean our duty is to just defeat the waves.”

“Really?” Mordred asked Motoyasu as if he was stupid. “Some monster from the first wave comes about and you just want to ignore it?” Mordred said, annoyed at Motoyasu’s reluctancy. “Hey, fat ass!” she called, getting a flabbergasted response from Idol. “What exactly does this thing look like, anything we should know?”

Glaring at Mordred, Idol said, “It’s a large humanoid creature with four arms. It also has a short memory, so it forgets things easily.”

Motoyasu placed a hand onto his chin, thinking. Was he really going to take on the quest? It was clear that he could easily take it, Myne and the other girls have absolute faith in him. There also was another added benefit of going along with the quest. Mordred was clearly a tomboy tsundere type but also a knight! That gave him enough information to construct a plan to get her to warm up to him.

If he accepts the quest, and thus agrees with her, then she will be happy with him. With her being happy with him, she would be more willing to open up. And when she opens up, she would be more willing to show her softer side.

Ah, Motoyasu could imagine it now! Sitting under the moonlight, Mordred showed a cute amount of blush as she talked about her kingdom. And if she happened to give him a small peck on the cheek he wouldn’t complain!

Slamming his spear onto the ground, he grinned, “We accept!”

“Very good Sir Motoyasu!” the king said. “We have received word that the creature has fled to the kingdom to the North, we shall send you via carriage to get there. Once there, you shall kill the beast and return. If you manage to kill it, you will be rewarded handsomely.”

“Sweet. Don’t worry king, we’ll deal with it in no time at all,” Motoyasu said with total confidence in his abilities along with the support of his party.

Outside a window, a crow cawed as it flew from a window and into town from the castle where Motoyasu and his group were.

The lone crow flew through the allies of Castle Town. Passing by the stalls and people who walked down the street and barely paid much attention to the bird.

The bird swooped down closer to a stall full of fruit and picked one up with its feet. The man at the stall yelled but was ignored as it flew into an ally.

Stepping back out of the alley, a man with a scruffy beard took a bite of an apple, a torn cloak fluttering in the wind as he walked down the street, blending in with the crowd.

Going to the inner pocket of his vest, he pulled out a flask. Putting the apple into his mouth to hold it, he unscrewed the cap and took the fruit out of his mouth. As he was about to take a nice drink, he felt the distinct lack of alcohol on his tongue.

“Just my luck.”

“Now, now, Qrow. You know drinking in the morning isn’t good for you,” the good Dr. Franken Stein said as he and Tsumiki walked up from behind him. The Meister of course had a playful grin on his face.

“When dealing with you, too early doesn’t exist,” Qrow muttered. “Anyways, I have good news and bad.”

“Let me guess the bad, you couldn’t find all the heroes?” Stein asked.

Letting out an annoyed sigh, “Yep, I only saw one of them and I think two of the Apprentice Heroes.”

“We ran into a Hero and Apprentice as well, only one of them though,” Tsumiki weakly said.

Stein gave the flask a good shake before taking a quick drink and tossed it back to Qrow as he kept moving. “What were the weapons of the heroes of this world? We ran into a girl with a large scythe and the Hero of this world who uses a bow.”

“Only could point out the Spear Hero out of them all. I couldn’t tell very well what the others were. One of them, a girl with blonde hair, had a gem on her neck. I don’t think she is the Jewelry Hero though. The other guy was wearing the same uniform as Hughes.”

“He came from the same world?” Tsumiki asked.

“Most likely,” Qrow said.

“Hmm,” Stein hummed. “So if I am to assume anything. The Apprentices of this world aren’t split properly.”

“Split properly?” Tsumiki asked. “I don’t get it?”

Stein chuckled and patted Tsumiki’s head, “Don’t worry. Basically the Apprentices haven’t been put with their best match to bring out their best match, or at that’s the theory right now,” Stein said, his smile keeping the Ultimate Nurse from going into an apology spree. “So then, Qrow. I imagine there is still more news?”

“I did tell you there was good news,” Qrow said with a smile. “I found the missing Yaksha,” Qrow said, which made both Tsumiki and Stein’s eyes go wide. “I know, I know. News happening this fast is pretty unexpected.”

“You found him?” Tsumiki’s voice was almost breathless. “Y-you really…”

“Where is he?” Stein asked, his voice both filled with relief and concern.

Qrow saw their faces of joy and now felt kind of bad, “Well, the thing is…” Qrow drew out. “He is currently being hunted by the Spear Hero.”

“What?” the two Medical Tool Heroes said at the same time.

“He apparently is in the country to the North of here. Meaning we landed a bit too far if you want to get there in time before the Heroes here get to the place..”

As Tsumiki began to tear up and with it drew attention to them, Stein was busy thinking about what to do.

Then it hit him.

“Qrow, you’re bad luck might have gotten better. You’re free to go join the others. Tsumiki, we have two heroes to catch,” Stein said as he began to walk off

“O-okay,” Tsumiki said through her sniffling and crying. 

 As they went to find the Bow Hero, he put one of his hands inside his pockets to grab a pack of cigarettes only to find it empty. Turning around, Qrow had a grin as he waved goodbye with the pack of cigarettes in his hand.

Somewhere outside the city, Kairi sat at the bottom of a tree, taking a rest from killing balloons.

“Wow, tired already? I guess Makarov really will outlive you, huh?” a bountiful female chest contained only by a black kimono that wasn’t even properly being worn fell in front of his shades.

“Kuroka, what did we say about you and wearing your clothes properly?” Kairi said as he glanced up at the Nekoshou.

“I know what you said,” Kuroka purred, “but, like most advice from Hughes, I ignored it.”

“You could at least wear something like a bra,” Kairi said.

“Why would I?” Kuroka tilted her head to the side. “I don’t need to with my Senjutsu and Youjutsu. Also that way we save money!” Kuroka said, throwing her twisted logic at the former Master.

Kairi let out a long and painful sigh. He was so close to getting his wish granted. So close. Yet his fate was sealed to having to deal with odd women since he summoned his Servant. Going into his pocket and fished out a small box of cigarettes. It felt a bit heavier than normal.

Opening it, he went to grab one only to feel his finger get poked. Now paying attention, he looked down to see his carton of cigarettes were replaced by a box of screws with a drawing of a screw and I.O.U on it.

“Damn it,” Kairi swore. “Bastard got me again.”

“Hmm?” Kuroka hummed in curiosity, leaning over to see the box in the necromancer’s hands.

A/N: Okay, remember that compulsive not I added. Yeah, I remembered that yet not this bit of info.

So if you are looking for a Spear vs Shield race, sorry that won't be happening, which means... Riyute/Lute is going to go through some rough times... sorry. Lucky, Mordred and Roy are there with Motoyasu, but man if I don't plan for him to screw things up!

OMAKE: My Afterlife Is Filled With Junk!

Marbas was happy, laying in her own afterlife, wherever she may be, and letting the cool water of the Luhua Pool relax her.

It may be fake, it may be real. She did not care. She only wished for this relaxation to be eternal.

PLOP!

Something hit the water.

It could not have been a stone, as the wind did not blow in this world. No, something fell close to her.

PLOP! PLOP PLOP!

More things began to fall. Sitting up, she saw something shiny. Going to pick up the falling object, she looked at it closely. It was silver. A silver coin to be exact.

She then looked to the sky and her shoulders slumped before she scowled. So that Iwatani man was ruining her afterlife with his money! Was this his sorry attempt to make her feel indigent! Ha! Jokes on the silly Iwatani man!

As the coins continued to rain in her pools. Marbas walked up to the two statues and grinned. They were just as beautiful as she remembered. She took  a moment to look around them, and then she saw it.

“You must be joking,” she growled. “I am trying to enjoy my afterlife and you keep messing it up in the most irritating way Iwatani!” she shouted as she glared at the random assortment of materials hidden behind the feet of her status.

Hair! Wood! Dead mushrooms! What was with all this!

“Hey, Naofumi… what’s going on?” Koneko asked, watching as Naofumi’s shield was glowing and pulsating with a loud hum.

“Yeah… I think I might have angered a god, it’ll probably be fine,” Naofumi said, ignoring the way his shield somehow gave him the feeling that he would not sleep soundly tonight.

Chapter Text

A/N: THE RERENOTES! So, not much here, only that you should go back and read the previous chapter, as this chapter was put in close to chapter 12

A/N: Hey hey guys! How are you all doing? I hope well.

So, before we begin I have news. With high school starting back up for me, updates might be slowing down, I don't know, maybe I'll blow off more sleep or homework, whichever I feel like.

Kidding, don't blow off sleep, you need that to make sure your bad ideas don't run wild.  Homework is worth blowing off! Who needs school!?

If you cannot tell, that was also a joke. Don't take your life advice from me.

Alright, now than, for more news. On September 19th, 2022, it will be our 1 year anniversary of Rising of the Apprentice Heroes! I am so so so so happy we are doing this and I am so happy we made it this far! So to commemorate this event, I want you guys to think of something! And before you guys go into the comments saying "This is your fic, you can do whatever you want," I want the new people to know and to remind the older viewers, this gets help from you guys. The other 4 Apprentice Heroes, Ibuki, Koneko, Lucy and Roy, and the other Apprentice Weapons of Glass' world. So, I want you guys to voice what you want for the 1 year anniversary! I will write my favorite or the most the requested thing as a 1 shot based in the future of the fic or a complete AU or if I can fit it into the main story, I will. Anything you guys want! Within some reason... I'll tell you if it is out of line.

Now, with that out of the way, and before you read, I will admit this is again, one of my weaker chapters so be warned. I won't say I'm the proudest of this one, so yeah...  It is mostly told from the perspective of Stein and Tsumiki with Ruby near the end, so keep that in mind.

Okay, now that is over, and if you are reading the Author's Notes. don't bother reading the end A/N as it will be just a reworded version of the 1 year anniversary news. Alright! That's all! Enjoy!

Finding where the heroes they were looking for was a lot easier than one might have thought. Especially when you could literally see inside someone’s soul.

A hero’s soul was quite an oddity when Stein first started to notice the distinct differences between the average or an evil person's soul. Their souls seemed to shine a unique color, similar to the color of the gem in their weapon. Proper Legendary Weapons shined the brightest, and thus appeared more clearly throughout the noise. The Apprentice Heroes on the other hand seemed to have unique traits to them as well that made them stand out with their souls, the twins seemed to be constantly have their souls trying to be forced together or how those he called the grave keeper heroes seemed to be able to have the ability to purify souls and so on and so on. So each of them were pretty easy to look for once he knew what he was looking for.

So when he found the Bow Hero and the girl with the scythe, he knew that Tsumiki and himself just needed an in with them to move things along.

Lucky for them, they were in the same shop as the Bow Hero, more specifically a magic shop. They had seen them enter a minute ago and apparently the magic shop owner was happy to see the girl with the scythe, going as far as to offer her a book that Stein heard she could not read.

As they entered the shop, the two of them were ignored for a bit by the woman before the shop owner came to them. “Um- sorry about that. Do you need anything sir?” the older woman who ran the shop asked him as he and Tsumiki browsed the shop. She seemed rather cautious of Stein, he couldn’t exactly blame her, how often do you see a man with screws in his head?

Turning to the woman, he turned the screw, adjusting it, “Hmm, oh no. I’m just looking around. I doubt we could afford anything here,” he admitted with a smile.

“Well, as long as you don’t steal anything sir, you and your companion are free to look around,” the woman said, seeming put at ease by Stein’s smile.

“Of course, madam. Doctor’s honor.”

“You’re a doctor?” the woman said surprised, “I’ve never heard of one who looks like you before, are you from Faubrey perhaps?” the woman asked. 

Laughing, “No, I come from a country pretty far actually. My name is Franken Stein. Pleased to meet you.”

Over by the Bow Hero, the young man chuckled. It wasn’t loud, but definitely enough to be noticed.

“Something funny, young man?” Stein asked. He smiled but fought the urge to smirk or let out a snicker of his own as the man fell into his little trap.

“Hmm?” Itsuki turned to Stein, “Oh, oh, nothing,” Itsuki shook his hand. “It’s just your name, it’s a fictional character that I know,” he said. He would never say that the developers were lazy, but really? A doctor named after the mad scientist Frankenstein? That was lazy.

“That’s rude!” Ruby said, “You shouldn’t laugh at people’s names!”

Stein knew that his name in most worlds seemed to be homage to a fictional doctor that made a zombie, something he could personally relate to, he had to play dumb. “It’s alright,” Stein said, putting the girl at ease, raising his hand to have her calm down but continued to raise it to tighten the screw in his head. It was funny seeing how the girl went from annoyed to calm and then to scared and confused. She must have not noticed his screw. In a surprised voice, “Oh, wow! Tsumiki, these two are heroes!”

He only gave her a little glance and Tsumiki already knew what to do. “W-what?! They are?!”

Before Ruby could say anything, Itsuki stepped forward, smiling friendly at Stein and Tsumiki, “Sorry to say, you are mistaken. Me and my companions are just adventurers, nothing special.”

Stein was confused. So was Tsumiki. So was Ruby. Why was he denying they were heroes?

“Um, you say one thing, but your souls tell different stories,” Stein said, tapping the screw. 

“Our souls?” Itsuki said, confused.

Chuckling, Stein apologized, “Sorry, but I am a bit of an expert when it comes to souls,” he admitted. “And both of yours shine like heroes.”

“You can see our souls?” Itsuki said, and Stein nodded.

“It is a bit of a skill of mine,” Stein admitted. “For example,” walking up, he looked at the easier of the two up and down but then decided he shouldn’t lie more than he already has and went to look at Ruby instead.

Her soul was much harder to look at, as it was constantly protecting her but if he focused a bit more he could see what she was like.

“Hmm, my… Aren’t you an interesting specimen,” Stein said with a grin. “Earnest and I’d say maybe naïve, but that isn’t right. Innocence fits you much better. Optimistic too. One might think you have a simple soul, I don't think that seems to be the case…”

Taking a small step back, Ruby let out a small chuckle. “Um… thanks?” Ruby said, unsure how to take what Stein said.

“Well it was nice meeting you, Doctor Franken Stein, but we really have to go,” the blonde woman of Itsuki’s party said.

“Oh, do you perhaps have a quest you are going on?” he asked.

“We do actually,” Itsuki said, “we’re going to a small country to the North on a quest from the guild.”

“Really now? Perhaps if it isn’t too much trouble, could we perhaps join you?” Stein asked, “I’d hate to impose, but Tsumiki and I are traveling up North to the next country over, if it wouldn’t be too much trouble?”

Maybe it was a feeling of spite, but Ruby “accidently,” stepped on Itsuki’s foot with her boot. “We’d love to! It’s a hero’s duty to help people!”

Oh, she was annoyed at him. Interesting, did they not get along? It seemed Tsumiki picked up on it as well, so maybe they were thinking about the same thing.

“Thank you so much, young lady,” Stein said, taking her hand and shaking it. “Oh, where are my manners? This is my trusted assistant, protégé and nurse, Mikan Tsumiki.”

“H-Hello,” Tsumiki bowed as she greeted them, trying to be as little of a bother as possible.

“Well, Dr. Stein, I’m Ruby Rose! Apprentice Reaper Hero! This is Itsuki Kawasumi, the Bow Hero. And these are our companions, Larona, Mald and Rojeel!”

Tsumiki stuttered, “P-pleasure to meet you.” It was not. This was not despair, it was just boredom and ugliness. Sure she had not gotten the high of despair since she got sent to this world and was around the others but this… this just sad.

She had been taught by Dr. Stein to see souls, and while she was decent at it, those like Ruby were really hard to read. But these guys, up close they were just… disappointing.

The blonde, Larona, wasn't much or anything special, her commitment was obviously weak, the first sign of real danger and she would run. Then that Mald guy, he was so arrogant looking she didn’t even need to look into his soul to notice, but when she did the man was clearly arrogant and selfish. She only finished looking Rojeel over because she at least wanted to see what he was made of, and like the others, so sad. So boring. So... not despairful.

Maybe destroying this world would be a mercy for them if the ones aiding the heroes were anything like these dumbasses.

Sighing, “Fine, here. Join our party, you will get teleported along with us,” Itsuki said, sending them an invite.

Both Stein and Mikan accepted the requests and were added to the Bow and Reaper Hero party.

The group of heroes soon left the magic shop, with Ruby getting a small book in hand she got from the woman.

The Bow Hero’s party was split up after they left to get the last of the supplies for the journey to the country up North. Stain and Tsumiki both stuck close with Itsuki and Ruby as they entered the guild to wait for the others.

Stein let a chuckle out. Hook, line and sinker.

“So, Franken…” Itsuki said.

“Oh, please, call me Stein, no need for you to call me by my first name or address me as a doctor,” Stein said in an almost overly friendly voice. “What can I do for you?”

“Alright, Mr. Stein. I was going to ask you about the screw in your head,” Itsuki said rather bluntly.

“I was curious about that as well!” Ruby said.

Chuckling, “Well if you are curious, I am a scientist,” Stein said with a smile.

“But you said you were a doctor,” Itsuki said.

“I am both, though I am more of a scientist with some backstreet doctor experiences,” Stein said. “As for the screw thing,” Stain said as he tightened it, which made both Itsuki and Ruby shiver in their seats. “I view every living being as test subjects, myself included.” he told them.

There was a brief moment of silence between the two groups. Tsumiki was mentally panicking and worrying if they would have to kill them now and make a scene.

Stein however just brushed off the awkward silence. “What about you? I hear heroes come from different worlds, so what are your stories?”

“Oh… um,” Ruby snapped out of the scare she was in. “Well I come from a world with creatures called Grimm. Before being summoned here I was training to be a Huntress so I could kill them professionally,” Ruby said. 

Stein grinned at that. So she really was from a similar or even the same world as Qrow. This was good to know. Handling Qrow was pretty easy and dealing with another young scythe wielder like L’arc or Maka was also pretty easy for himself. But, destroying this world wasn’t his job, so it was at least comforting to have a backup plan.

“Does that have something to do with the shape of your soul?” Mikan asked, her voice barely over a whisper.

“The shape of my soul? Oh, you mean my Aura!” Ruby said as she extended her hand and flared her Aura a little and let the red light on her hand shine before letting it go. “I think? I never knew that my Aura made my soul look weird.”

“I-I didn’t mean it like that! I don’t think it looks weird! I-I-I’m sorry!” Mikan began to cry out as she tried to apologize.

“H-huh? Ruby was surprised by Tsumiki as she began to cry.

“Don’t worry about her. Her self esteem is incredibly low, I’ve been working to try and fix it, but it’s a slow process,” Stein said with a shrug. “Believe it or not it was actually much worse a few years ago.”

“I-I’m sorry,” Mikan apologized and Stein rubbed the back of her head.

“How do you guys see souls anyway?” Itsuki asked, “I haven’t heard of any skills like that before.”

“Well it is something that is taught,” Stein replied. “I was taught from where I was from, I learned it when I was younger and I’m currently teaching Tsumiki here about souls and their applications in combat and other things.”

Itsuki was a little annoyed by that. Did that mean that if he wanted to be able to get this skill he would have to go to where Stein was from? Seems really inconvenient. Also, this was a combat skill? How did that apply?

“Wow! So cool!” Ruby said, her silver eyes twinkling with wonder. “What else can you do?! Can you see things like weak points on an enemy? Oh, what about doing something that knocks someone out?”

Stein had to hold back a laugh at Ruby’s eagerness to learn more. “Well we will be traveling together, so you definitely see more of what we can do,” Stein said with a grin.

“You sound pretty confident for someone who is only level 8,” Itsuki said.

“Ha! Trust me, I can handle myself in a fight,” Stein said.

“Whatever you say,” Itsuki said, playing along with the doctor if only to not annoy the man with a screw in his head.

As the group from the Bow Hero’s party began to finish doing final check up for the supplies for their trip, Stein had grabbed the Ultimate Nurse to talk. “Mikan,” he called to her, addressing her by her given name. “I want to set up some ground rules with you.”

“Hmm?” Tsumiki tilted her head, “H-huh, what do you want me to do?”

Sighing, Stein looked over to the party, specifically the heroes. “I want to stress this part, just to make it clear. No killing the heroes.”

“H-huh?”

“I know what you, Mikan, so I know the fact that the others aren’t here makes it a tempting offer for you, but we are not here to kill the heroes,” Stein said. “We are going to find Yaksha, then we are going to head back here and wait to ride the wave back.”

“B-but…”

“You can get your “despair” high some other way, but no killing. That includes pets, that includes thieves, that includes strangers and homeless people you think no one knows about,” Stein listed off, and with each one Tsumiki seemed to shrink where she stood. The fact that she was still so meek yet so willing to murder was still very concerning to Stein no matter how long they have been partnered up for.

“Y-yes, Dr. Stein,” Tsumiki said in a disappointed tone.

“Good. There is something else. In combat, don’t resonate with just weapons. We are laying low, so avoid using it as much as possible, but if you do have to fight, we will use a Resonance Chain and I’ll B.S. an answer for them if they ask, alright?”

“Yes, Dr. Stein,” Tsumiki said again.

“I assume we won’t need this conversation again?”

“Yes, Dr. Stein…”

As the two Medical Heroes finished up they went to join back up from the group. Ruby and Itsuki finished absorbing the remainder of their materials for their trip.

“Alright, that’s everything?” Itsuki asked no one in particular as he looked at the table where they had placed everything and it was now all empty. “Good. Stein, Tsumiki, are you both ready?”

“Yes, are we all ready to go?” Stein asked as he and Tsumiki walked up to Itsuki.

“Yes,” Itsuki nodded as he changed his bow to the [Dragon Hourglass Sand Bow] which allowed for teleportation. “Don’t hold onto anything, anything you do will get teleported with,” he warned Stein and Tsumiki who raised their hands from the table.

The gem in the bow began to glow as a light enveloped everyone in the party. In a flash the light brightened up and transported the Bow Hero and his party to another town closer to the neighboring country. 

When they arrived, Itsuki pulled out a map for everyone to see where they were and where they were going.

From their current location of Murano village was a pretty populated and well established town that acted as a trade center of the northern part of Melromarc. They did not stay there much longer once they got their bearings of where to go and how far the destination would be. By foot, the journey to the country in the North would take close to a week to get there but by carriage the trip would take two days.

So when they got there they decided to save as much time as possible and to rent a carriage to get them there faster.

It wasn’t anything fancy, pulled by a giant cream colored bird and with wooden seats to carry all seven of them.

Stein and Tsumiki sat next to each other, seemingly ignored by the heroes and the party as they talked about what they would be doing when they arrived in the country. From what the two could catch they were going to meet up with a group in a town called Henta. From there they would be going to the capital and go along with their employers from there and whatever plan they had.

Whatever they were doing didn’t seem to sit well with Ruby. Not even looking at her soul it was obvious. She was fiddling with her scythe so much and her face wasn’t matching anyone’s. It was obvious that what they were going to do didn’t seem to sit well with her.

By the end of the day, the carriage driver had taken them as far as he could, leaving them in the middle of a field so the filolial pulling them could rest for tomorrow’s journey. 

The party had set up camp there with a fire keeping them warm while Rojeel and Larona were cooking food. Stein and Tsumiki had been ignored for the most part the entire day with Ruby being the only one to go out of her way to talk with them.

Ruby was a sweet girl from what Stein could tell, but the way she talked with them was different than the way she talked with her party. The Apprentice Reaper seemed to enjoy her time away from the party. As soon as they properly set up camp, Ruby immediately volunteered to scan to see if there were any monsters in the immediate area.

On the outside, it might have looked like she was just eager to help but it didn’t take much effort for Stein to see that eagerness was more for getting away from the group.

“Shouldn’t you send someone to go with her?” Stein asked as he saw Ruby walk off to the grassy fields, her silhouette slowly growing smaller and darker as she walked off.

“Bah, she’ll be fine,” Mald said as he focused on sharpening his weapon. “Red always goes out whenever we set camp. We have to literally drag her back sometimes when she goes too far out.”

“Don’t you think that is why you should keep someone with her?” Stein said.

“She’ll be fine,” Itsuki said, not paying much attention as he fiddled with his weapon and the system it had.

Stein hummed to himself. He might have done something but he was new to the group so he really had no leg to stand on. He glanced to look for Tsumiki, but the Ultimate Nurse wasn’t next to him. He looked around confused as to where she went and was curious as to where she could have gone. When he looked back to the direction Ruby went, he saw her silhouette slowly getting smaller.

Not making any noise he went to follow the girl. For as scared as she would act, when she wanted to get a feeling of despair she seemed to change. The girl who could barely stand up for herself seemed almost like an act when you knew what she was capable of but that was the scary thing about her. 

It wasn’t an act. She really was scared and her self esteem at times was as stable as a stack of cards but there were brief moments of times where she seemed to flicker to something much more crazy and mad. It was something he tried to fix but it seemed to be something built into her.

It was never really safe to leave her alone. Always a feeling of fear lingered in the back of his mind that something would happen to her or someone she was with.

Stein got up and followed Tsumiki. If Ruby ended up getting murdered it would set them back and despite the fact he was an exceptional Meister in a world were numbers dictated things that would not mean much till he levels up further.

Ruby found herself at the edge of a forest as she stopped walking away from the camp. When she looked back at the camp, she could see the glow of the fire they were cooking.

It was nice to be by herself for a bit, away from Mald’s bragging and Itsuki ignoring her. The two of them didn’t get along well with each other, it was obvious even to her. It wasn’t for lack of trying to get along, but it just didn’t happen. When she tried to voice her opinion she seemed to be the odd one out and when she just tried to have a talk about being a hero in this world, he seemed to not take things seriously with her.

It was just… just so infuriating! She had to take some time away from him to just keep herself from saying something she knew she would regret! If she said anything she knew it wouldn’t be nice and that wasn’t something she knew she should do. Itsuki made it so hard though when he decided to overthrow a government! She didn’t want things to go bad and end up killing them! She didn’t want anyone to die on her side or theirs but she did not want to have their deaths hanging over her!

Ruby took a deep breath to try and calm herself down. She was not going to stress herself out more, she did not want her hair to match her eyes.

Tapping her foot, Ruby had an idea.

Switching her scythe to the [Scroll Scythe] she looked through her contacts on a screen that popped up in front of her..

Shaun Sarto

Abigail Wilts  

Mordred

Col. Roy Mustang

Lucy Heartfillia

Koneko

Ibuki

Klee

Tapping on the Gun Heroes the screen switched to a blank black screen with old rotary devices that were used for communication before scrolls were invented. 

The screen buzzed for a bit once. Then twice. A third time.

“Hmm?” a tired voice from Shaun came through. It sucked that this was only audio but she had to make do. “Hello?”

“Hey Shaun,” Ruby said, smiling even though he couldn’t see her. “Just checking in on you guys, see if things have been good since the meeting and stuff.”

“Yeah, one sec,” Shaun muttered as the sound of rustling came from the other side of the call. The sound of a creaking bed might have been him laying back down. “Alright, sorry. Was grabbing my glasses. Things have been good. Was just about to fall asleep.”

“Oh! Sorry!” Ruby apologized, “If you want I can hang up now?”

“Na, na, na, it’s cool. I’m up anyways, so ya know,” Shaun said as he let a breath out. “So what’s up, this is the first time you’ve actually called me.” 

Ruby was about to speak, say what was on her mind and about what she thought she should do, Shaun seemed to know what to do in this world to some degree so he might know something about this? So why did she hesitate? He did say to come to him to talk if she needed to, so why stop now? Maybe he didn’t mean it? What if it was because he was drunk he said that? Maybe Shaun didn’t know what to do? Those thoughts zoomed past Ruby’s head as she tried to speak.

Though, she then thought back to when she first called him.

He was nice. He tried to help. He might not know what to do, but he tried, so she should try too.

She took a deep breath and smiled to herself. “Well I was just checking in on you guys Seeing how it was going, you know. The usual stuff,” Ruby said as she let out a weak laugh.

“Oh… that’s nice,” Shaun seemed happy at least, that was good. “Yeah, things have been pretty good and my plans are coming together,” Shaun said, a snicker in his voice.

“Plans? What plans? Is it some big plot thing we should worry about?” Ruby asked, concerned about what she just heard.

“Oh, no worries!” he snickered. “This plan has more of a… personal attachment to it. Don’t worry, it’s a side project that doesn’t really amount to much. Oh, also we got some really nice treatment from a few of the regular shops we go to. Apparently their relatives were in Riyute and us saving them makes them think they owe us. It’s nice and all, but…”

“It’s a weird feeling, I get it,” Ruby giggled. “Same thing happened to me with this nice witch lady who gave me a magic book I can barely read.”

“Ah, that’s cool. Oh! We also got an egg! If luck is on our side, we will get one of the last main people from the series.  Next time you see us, we will have a tiny little angel!” he said as he laughed.

Ruby raised an eyebrow, cats were cute, but how did an egg transform into an angel? “How does an egg become an angel?”

“Well you see my dear, it is all in the weapon!” Shaun said. “When a hero who uses a cardinal or vassal weapon raises a filolial, those big chocobo birds, they become a royal filolial and can take a human child form with wings that look like angel wings.”

“That sounds adorable!” Ruby said, imagining children with angel wings. Ruby couldn’t help but let a giggle escape as she thought of the image. “Oh, speaking of new party members, we actually got two new party members with us today. One of them is even a doctor!”

“Medic in the team, nice. My advice is to never mess with your white mage.”

“Because they’ll not heal you,” Ruby finished off as they both laughed. "I know my gamer stuff, bet you knew that though."

“Actually no, we only saw you play fighting games," he admitted as he let out a yawn. " Well, it was nice talking to you Ruby, but I think I might if I get any louder Abigail and Naofumi are going to wake up, so I think it’s best if I hang up now.”

Ruby frowned a little. She was hoping to talk a little longer, so she felt a little upset. She supposed it was late but still she was hoping to socialize with someone she was in terms of being at least a friend with. She didn’t want to come off as pushy.

“Oh, um. Okay! I better get going to, we’re camping out right now so I better get going,” Ruby said.

“Cool, cool, cool. I better be getting to bed myself. Have a good night Don’t overwork yourself, you hear.”

“Night,” Ruby said as she ended the call between her and Shaun. Lowering her scythe so that it was embedded into the ground, Ruby let out a long sigh. She looked back to the camp and debated on whether or not to head back. Deciding against it for now she began to walk away, dragging the blade along the ground like a plow.

She was not content. That was what Ruby Rose was. Her soul was much harder to read than Itsuki’s, the odd shape made looking for traits much harder but after staring at her soul for a bit, it was clear to her now that Ruby wasn’t satisfied with being here. That she wanted more.

Tsumiki let a little giggle escape from her as the wheals in her head began to turn. She could work with this.

“Steeeeeeein,” a long board monotone voice said and the hairs on Tsumiki’s neck stood up, “chop!” Tsumiki’s head got hit by a chop from Stein as he seemingly appeared out of nowhere. Tsumiki swore she was seeing stars and little birds flying around her head! “Bad.”

“Owwy,” Tsumiki cried, “I-I didn’t do anything!”

“You were thinking it, and that alone is bad enough,” Stein said, “Come on, the others will be wondering where we are. Remember we are trying to keep a low profile.”

“Yes, Dr. Stein,” Tsumiki said weakly. Fighting with Stein on the matter was always a pointless pursuit.

Stein let out a sigh as he looked at Tsumiki get up and walk back to the camp. That girl scared him at times, the madness she had was like a spark. If left alone it was just a small thing that couldn’t hurt anyone it was only when given something flammable that is when it became something to worry about.

Placing a hand on his screw, he turned it with a few clicks as he looked at Ruby.

A soul that shined every so often. An opportunity away from shining its true light. Maybe Tsumiki also saw that shine? He couldn’t tell what the nurse saw but she definitely saw something that was stirring her madness. The despair that she craved.

Placing his hands in his pockets, he walked back to the camp and let Ruby finish off doing her own things.

It would be wise to keep an eye on her, see how things go for the developing heroine. Of course he wouldn’t let Tsumiki kill her or the Bow Hero, but he honestly wasn’t as interesting a subject, but with that being said he wouldn’t go out of his way to save her. She was much better as a subject of study while alive, but he could always do what he did to Sid if he got real curious, but this was all a side mission.

Stein pushed up his glasses as he walked away and back to the camp. The food smelt good when he left so he might as well give it a try.

A/N: HEY YOU! Yeah you guy who is about to click off! I know you can see me! READ ME!

Coming to you, this September 19th, 2022, the 1 Year Anniversary of Rising of the Apprentice Heroes will be upon us! And with this happening, I am asking you, yes you! My possibly loyal readers should go and give me a recommendation about what you want to see for our anniversary! It can be 1 shot, it can be an addition to the main fic, it can be a side fluff fic, a little lemon, an omake series, an ask series, an XYZ WHATEVER as long as it is something I am okay with writing.

So to just comment down below what you want, and if you agree comment under that one, if it has multiple votes and is something I think I would like, HELL YEAH, if it has multiple votes but I'm iffy on being able to write it good, maybe less likely. If it is something I like but isn't voted for, I am sorry, but you are on the bottom, as much as it hurts me.

ALRIGHT! Have a good day, please leave kudos, bookmarks, and of course comments! Bye!

RERENOTES:

So, how's it hanging?

You know, I've been bored and I want to do something. SOMETHING that this fic, or at least the original fic of RotAH was built off of. Reader interactions. So I was thinking, what would be something you would like?

So I've decided to make a small poll here.

Comment 1 if you'd like a Q&A and if so, leave a comment for either me or the characters, all are welcome, even those of Glass' World and Kizuna and Jose the Buck-I mean Machanic Hero.

Comment 2 if you'd like to see Servant Cards return and comment who'd you'd like to see first on the cards.

Comment 3 if... Idk, you make something up and if I like it, I might do it.

Chapter Text

A/N: HEY GUYS I'M BACK. Man am I happy to be done. I have been sitting on this for a while so, good to be back to work.  Now for what we have in store for today we have two flashbacks, a bit of egg action with Motoyasu, Roy, and Moedred! I did not misspell that. Then we have the Bow Hero and Stein and Tsumiki to finish off the day.  

So, I hope you guys are still reading and happy to be here! So before we go, I have two things to say.

It's a potential response to a question not asked yet but I feel like I will be there. "HEY APPAH?! Where is the Quest System you put in? Where are the cards you put in?! Don't worry, they will be coming. I just haven't made them the main focus for this.

NEXT! And much more importantly! 1 YEAR ANNIVERSARY! WE ARE ALMOST THERE! Oh my god! I am so happy to have made it so far! And to be here with all of you, I am so excited! So, for all those who SUDDENLY decided to START READING THE A/N HERE! I'm sure you must be curious as to what I will be doing? Well to answer the question, you must know, this story was made possible by you, the readers. Not just because I like seeing bigger and bigger numbers on my fic, but also the comments. In my last fic I asked you guys to vote for who you wanted for 4 of my heroes. I then asked you what weapons to give Glass' world. And now, I ask again for your requests. only this time it is what you want me to write for the anniversary! Odds are it will be a 1 short and I will be putting it in as an interlude between whatever chapter is out by then. So be sure to make requests! Please, I want your input!

Oh, actually something else. Guess what? WE HAVE HIT 100K WORDS HERE! WOOOOO! YEAH!!!! We did it boys and girls and everyone around the world! We did 100,000. 5 zeros! 5! OH MY GOD! This is now, by far, the longest fic I've had. By a whole 20k words, but still. It means a lot. I know I said it in my anniversary note, but you have no idea how much comments and your support makes me want to write more and better. So from the bottom of my heart, thank you.

Now before I go, just a fair warning, don't need to read the end notes, they are just a rehash of the anniversary note.

Enjoy.

Each soul was unique. That is a fact. No matter who a person was, even if they lived identical lives to another, they were all unique.

Qrow Branwen, the Card Hero. His was a large beacon of misfortune. Despite the shape of a person if you looked around you would always see a crow somewhere around the area.

Kuroka, the Clock Hero. Her soul was never human, and had been changed at some point in life. The cute little cat-like features seem to distract from the bat wings on the back.

Each of them were different.

But when it came to the Yaksha… too look at his soul was to be staring into madness and terror itself. A storm of anger and sadness. Curses and poison surrounded and whirling around his soul. It was broken. Slowly crumbling away and eroding by whatever was surrounding his soul. Stein could only see so much through the chaos surrounding his soul and even then the shape was so hard to make out that he did not even know where to begin.

His memory of when they first met the Yaksha was so clear. How could he forget?

“We did it! We summoned a Hero!” a man wearing robes said with great excitement  A young girl in a hospital gown.

“Huh…” the girl said, very disoriented as to what was going on.

The girl tried to understand what was going on. She had the handle of a fishing rod in her hand she remembered not having before. Was she not able to select her class? Weird.

“What’s going on?” the girl asked as she looked around.

“Oh, Hero! I’m sure you are confused, if you would please follow us!” one of the mages said.

The small girl didn’t see any reason why not to go along with these people. In her mind she figured that this was just the tutorial.

The girl began to walk out of the summoning circle that she was in. As soon as she was about to bring her foot out of the circle to be fully out of it, it felt like she couldn’t move it any further, like an invisible barrier keeping her from completely leaving.

“Huh?”

“Miss Hero, are you alright?” the mage who greeted her asked.

“Y-yeah, everything is fine, just my foot is stuck,” she said as she tried to pull again and the same result, her foot was stuck.

“Do you wish for help?” a mage asked. When the girl nodded, the mage grabbed her arms, “Alright, on the count of three I’ll pull. Ready? One, two, three!”

When the mage pulled, the girl’s foot finally managed to get out, only as soon as it left the circle, it began to light up again. The room filled with a bright white then purple light. Everyone watched as the lights shined and suddenly the room went back to a dimly lit room.

“Um… what was that?” the girl asked.

“I don’t-oof!” the mage tried to say but was interrupted when a figure was launched from the circle hitting the mage square in the chest. The same thing happened two more times, another mage got hit by another person and something was launched to the wall, causing it to crack.

“Oh my God! Are you okay?!” the girl asked, worried for the people who got hit.

“Y-yes, thank you,” one of the mages said.

“Damn that hurts…” a voice from one of the same directions as the other mage, only it was from someone else. As the dust began to clear, a man with gray hair and lab coat said as he got up. In his hand an oversized scalpel that was almost comically big. Lucky the mage he hit was alright.

“Owwie…” a girl who was on top of the mage said.

“Huh?! More people? Did we accidentally summon the other heroes?” a mage asked.

“Impossible! We only had enough resources to summon a single hero!”

“I’m sorry, but what’s going on?” the man with the lab coat asked. “Where am I and who are all of you?”

“Uh… uh…” one of the mages said. “Quickly someone informed his highness that there was an unexpected development.”

“Right!”

The small girl was so confused. Who were all these people? Were they NPCs or other players? If that was the case then where was her sister or  why did they appear after her so violently? “Hey, are you alright?” she asked as she extended a hand to the girl on the ground.

“Huh…?” The girl began to stir and lift herself up, though the short girl did notice that next to her a large syringe on her side, again comically large like the man with the lab coat. “Um… I think so? How did I…” the girl was definitely out of it.

The small girl looked around, she definitely heard a third thud when the people suddenly shot out. Looking around, she saw a figure covered in smoke. “Hey! Hey! Are you alright?!” she asked as she ran over to the last figure. When she got to him and the dust settled, she was a bit surprised, his face was covered by a mask but his body was what got her attention. Covered in purple cloud tattoos and what was the real notable trait was the four arms.

“Wow… VR is awesome…” the girl said, surprised.

“Hmmm…” was the only sound that came from the four armed man. As the small girl looked at him, she didn’t seem to notice the small ball of electricity form in the man’s hand.

“Hey, are you awa-AHH!” the small girl yelped as she was dragged out of the way by the man in the lab coat as he extended his hand and purple and yellow electricity flew.

“Hmm…” Motoyasu groaned as he began to wake up from a dream.

He and his party were lucky to be given a carriage to take them to the northern country. Unfortunately the trip itself would take the better part of a week, approximately four days at best, five at worst. Overall a good time to get there and kill the beast!

Motoyasu was even dreaming of that beast! It was an epic fight, his loyal companions cheering him on as he fought and slayed the beast! It was probably something like an oni or ogre or something like that. He stood victorious over its dead body while Myne peppered his cheek with kisses, Roy gave him a pat on the back and Mordred saying how cool he is with a sweet little blush on her face. It all ended with him flying off away on a fully grown dragon he would raise from the egg.

Of course his dream, like all dreams made during slumber, was forced to come to an end with loud yelling.

“Get this demon bird off me!” Mordred shouted with rage as she tried with her might, a little chick with white feathers on the outside and black feathers covering its entire face and belly clung to Mordred’s index finger despite how hard she shook her hand.

“Will you be quiet! Some of us are trying to sleep!” Myne yelled.

“AHHHH!”

Getting up at the sound of Mordred’s panic, Motoyasu and Roy both made their way to the Servant who now had the newly hatched filolial now jumped from Mordred’s finger to her nose.

“Hey, what’s going on here?” Roy asked. Still waking up from sleep. “Hey, is that a bird?”

“Yes!” Mordred yelled, attempting to get the damn bird but it flew to peck her neck this time. “UGH! What the hell is this thing?!”

Motoyasu  hummed a bit, a little bird? Where did it come from? Wait… Quickly turning to the incubator, he saw the remains of a once fully formed shell with only cracked parts left on the thing.

“Damn it,” Motoyasu cursed, he got a common bird instead of a dragon! Extending his hand, Motoyasu grabbed the small bird and held it up to him. The bird looked at him for a moment before happily chirping.

“Hey, Motoyasu. This is from the egg you got yesterday?” Roy asked as he looked at the bird.

“Yeah,” Motoyasu said. “I got it from an egg gacha. It guaranteed me a bird called a filolial at least and a dragon at best. I guess it is a dud,” Motoyasu shrugged as he looked at the bird who tilted its head to him. “I guess it’s cute though…”

“You are not keeping that thing, are you,” Mordred asked in the safety of her armor. “Because if it pecks me anymore I will stab it.”

Motoyasu thought for a moment. There were two ways to think about it, what made Mordred comfortable or what made his job as a hero comfortable. Either get rid of the bird and have Mordred happy or keep it to become a mount. Hmm, this was hard…

Then the thing started chirping in his hand.

Big round brown eyes and fluffy feathers… it was rather cute…

“I think I might keep it,” Motoyasu said as he smiled and poked its beak, which caused it to be confused for a second before nuzzling his finger. “Hmm, what do you call it?”

“Hmm,” Roy looked at the bird intently. It actually reminded him of someone. “How about White Hayate?”

“Huh? White Hayate?” Motoyasu asked.

“Yeah, my lieutenant has a dog called Black Hayate with fur opposite this little guy, or girl… what is it?”

“I think it’s a girl?” Motoyasu said, which was replied by the filolial chirping. “Hmm, I suppose White Hayate seems nice, what do you think girl?” Motoyasu asked, which also got the bird chirping. “Well, Roy, White Hayate it is!” Motoyasu said as he loosened his grip on the filolial chick, which seemed so much happier now.

“I’m saying this once, Motoyasu. If that bird pecks me, it’s dead,” Mordred growled.

“Right, right,” Motoyasu said as he rubbed the small chick with a finger. “You’ll behave, right? Of course you will,” Motoyasu said as he laughed along with the filolial he was tickling.

Letting a long sigh out, they had finally made it to Henta village. A large town that acted as a trade hub between Melromarc and this country. It was rather busy in the main square as merchants sold their goods and people played, it almost looked like nothing was wrong here.

“Well, we got where we needed,” Stein said as he smiled at the party, “I cannot thank you enough for getting us this far, you really shaved days for us.”

“It’s no problem!” Ruby giggled as she rubbed the back of her head. “It’s all in a hero’s duty to help people, ya know?”

“I guess so,” Stein chuckled. “I guess this is where we part, I wish you the best, Bow Hero, Reaper Hero, I hope you succeed in your quest.”

“Thanks,” Itsuki said almost dismissively. “Don’t think much of it.”

“Oh, but I must pay you back somehow,” Stein said as he tapped his chin. Hmm, what to do, what to do? He didn’t have money and he doubted the kids would like cigarettes and didn’t have a good lollipop. Oh, he knew! Something to irritate the Bow Hero because it was obvious he didn’t have much patience. Snapping his fingers, “Ah, I know! It’s a bit of a tip to help you out in the future!”

“Oh, what’s that?” Itsuki asked, still not paying him much attention.

“It’s something called soul resonance,” Stein said, Tsumiki whipped her head to Stein and was both panicking and asking herself what he was thinking.

“Ooh, what’s that?” Ruby asked.

Chuckling, “It’s the concept of matching one's own soul to the soul of another person, like when you sing with someone in a loud crowd. By yourself, your voice is just one amongst many, but let’s say you begin to sing with a partner, if you both sing the same note, and produce a louder sound, that’s soul resonance simply. Doing that will result in soul resonance, which in turn increases your attacks.”

“That sounds awesome! So you’re saying I can do that with just anyone?” Ruby said.

Shaking his head, “Not quite, first you have to be in resonance with someone you get along with. You cannot just pick some random person off the street and suddenly have awesome power,” Stein said. “The other thing is that you wouldn’t need to, you can do this all by yourself,” he said, and that seemed to get Itsuki’s attention, if only a little.

“But you just said I need someone else to do it?”

“I did, but what you need is a soul that will resonate with you. You see, each legendary weapon carries a spirit inside them, or so legends say. So by that logic you just need your own weapon and to be able to perform it.”

“Any other tips?” Itsuki asked.

“A sound soul dwells within a sound mind in a sound body,” Stein said, a classic mantra of many aspiring meisters and weapons. “Oh, and don’t force it, that’s all,” Stein said with a chuckle. Odds are they won’t be able to even get a connection with the spirit of their weapons by the time the others deal with them, but if they do it would be interesting, it would make them even more interesting test subjects. After all, it took the Mechanic Hero two years to be able to properly perform soul resonance, and even then that was just him barely scratching the surface.

“Well thanks, that was helpful,” Itsuki said. “We have to go now, we have a meeting with the people who sent us the job request.”

“Ah, no worries,” Stein said as he and Tsumiki left the party, letting him and Tsumiki part from Itsuki and Ruby.

As they walked away, Tsumiki asked Stein why he told them such valuable information and asked what the others would think when they ended up fighting Ruby and Itsuki. Of course Stein merely said it was a joke, after all, those who could master, let alone use, soul resonance so soon are far and few between.

And even if they could, it wasn’t like they would be fighting them.

The town was quite big, which made finding the location of the rebels quite hard. The town seemed to be in full swing of celebration of some kind, which seemed really odd.

“Hey, Sir Itsuki,” Larona said as she looked around the town, playing children, music, and merchants laughing as they sold their goods. “Is it just me or is this town far more festive than expected?”

“It does seem odd…” Itsuki said as he looked around the town. It was an odd sight, “The mission had to do with a king who was over taxing his people, right? Do you think this town is being spared or just has a good economic situation?”

“That could be the case,” Rojeel muttered.

Tapping his chin, “Ruby,” he called over to the Apprentice Reaper Hero, “I want you to go ask around, see if there is anything that might stand out.”

“Huh?” Ruby said, shocked. “Why do I have to? Why can’t I join you guys?”

“Kid, stop acting childish, you’re supposed to be a hero,” Mald said. “Just follow the Bow Hero’s orders.”

Ruby glared at Mald, who didn’t even pay her any attention and then at Itsuki, who was focused on talking with Larona. Pouting, Ruby sighed and went to go ask around, changing her scythe to a smaller farming scythe and placed it on her back as she went off and disappeared into the crowd of people.

Once Ruby had left, the party continued on and went to the location they were instructed to go to. It was a rather nice looking restaurant, the kind of place that wouldn’t take you in even if you had reservations if you looked like you hadn’t washed up prior to coming.

“This is the place, right?” Rojeel asked as he looked at the paper and the restaurant.

“Well there is only one way to see,” Larona said as she and the others walked inside.

As they walked inside, it was almost astounding as to how well kept the restaurant was. The roof was made out of glass frames in the shape of a dome letting in all natural light. At the center of the room a bar was placed with plenty of seats for anyone who wanted a drink. Of course that was all they could see from their current position, but if they had to guess the rest of the place was most likely just as if not better.

“Excuse me,” a waitress said as she walked up to the party, the woman was rather attractive, enough that Mald had a small grin as he looked her over, “but we are currently not accepting reservation or hosting any walk in guests today, if you would like, please come back tomorrow,” the woman said was a pleasant enough looking smile, of course anyone with half a brain could also tell that the woman was also not smiling because she wanted to but rather because it made good customer service.

“Ah, sorry,” Itsuki apologized. “My companions and I were told that we would meet with our employers here, but if that isn’t the case…”

“Oh, you’re with that party?” the waitress said, her smile becoming a lot more genuine, “Well let me lead the way, I’m sure they will be happy to know that you finally made it.”

The party looked at each other as they followed behind the waitress. She led them to a private room with a rather large table. Inside the room there were three men. The first was a rather large man built like a mountain. With a sturdy, muscular body and a thick beard that seemed to house all the missing hair on his head. To the man's left, was a tall, lean man dressed in shining armor, who was gazing at the menu in front of him. Lastly was a rather thin, scraggly man, with a wispy mustache on his face, in his hand he swirled a glass of red wine and was in the middle of a sip as the Bow Hero party entered.

“Excuse my interruption, but the last of your party has arrived,” the waitress said with a bow. “I will be back in a moment, please seat yourself however you wish.” The woman got up and left the room, bowing one more time before leaving and closing the door.

“Ah, so you’re the adventurers who accepted my quest?” the man at the head of the table said with a grin. “Welcome! Please, make yourselves comfortable.”

“Thank you,” Itsuki said as he and his party got into their seats. “I must say, this place is quite nice.”

“Ah, you will have to thank our financier here,” the man at the head said with a smile as he gestured to the man drinking his wine. “But first, why not some introductions, it wouldn’t be nice to dine with strangers? Yes?” The man said with a hearty laugh, “My name is Marcio Garcci, and this young man is my cousin, Andrea Garcci,” he gestured to the man in armor. “And lastly, but not least-”

“My name Anton, pleasure,” the man smiled as he introduced himself to the party. “Go ahead and order. We have yet to talk about big details, and one must think of their own health before helping others. That’s what I say at least.”

The Bow Hero’s party looked at one another before shrugging.

“If you’re buying,” Larona said as she looked at the menu.

Letting out a long groan and clenching her stomach. “Ugh…” Ruby groaned as her belly let out a light roar that could be heard by those passing by.

“Here you go, two kebabs,” a street vendor said as he handed Ruby the two sticks of meat and vegetables.

“Ahh…” Ruby looked at the pieces of food with a watery mouth. “Thank you sir, you are such a life saver!” she said as she snatched both of them and replaced them with a few copper coins before the street vender could even notice.

The man chuckled, “Ah, no problem, just doing my job.”

“Hmm! Hmk hmm,” Ruby thanked the man as she put the food into her mouth, mentally thanking whatever deity was out there for Aura because she knew for sure she would have burned her mouth without it. “Hey, Mister. Mind if I ask you something?”

“I might have an answer, though no guarantees about it,” the man answered.

Ruby nodded and hummed as she looked around the town and saw the amount of people playing and celebrating. “I heard that this place had been getting over taxed, but when I got here this place looked completely fine. I was wondering if you could elaborate more on that.”

The vendor nodded as Ruby nibbled on her food. “Ah, that’s because this area had been exempt from reconstruction and military based taxes.”

“Huh? Why’s that?” Ruby asked in confusion.

“It’s because of the Fabucci Syndicate. They are a huge nationwide militia that managed to push back the wave monsters. I don’t know much about the specifics but they not only managed to keep Henta safely guarded but they apparently have some people by the capital and have lightened the load around there.”

“Um… I don’t mean to be rude, but doesn’t that sound a little suspicious?” Ruby asked. “I mean a giant place calling themselves a syndicate… kinda sketchy, isn’t it?”

“I mean, you aren’t wrong there, and I have heard some rumors but there has never been any concrete information, only rumors,” the man shrugged. “I doubt you’ll hear anything bad about them here though, the people are happy and celebrating because they are now free from the burdens they had. So I wouldn't speak ill about them if I were you kid.”

Ruby nodded, “Alright. Thank you sir!” Ruby said as she waved the street vendor goodbye.

Repeating the process again and again, Ruby would ask around and get similar answers to her question. All roads led to the name Fabucci. Some of the details were vague, somewhere more specific, some sang only praises of this group but something interesting did come of it. All this praise and singing had only happened two days ago, when the wave hit.

Something didn’t sit too well with Ruby on that time line. Only two days and a small country that was struggling for over a month now was suddenly getting into the swing of things, just after a wave hit? Something was really odd.

By the time that night time the sun was setting, Ruby had ended up exploring a majority of the town, and while it was quite beautiful it was definitely not the type of place she would like to live.

As she wandered around, she ended up spotting a small ginger cat.

“Aw… hey there little guy,” Ruby cooed as she crouched down and slowly extended her hand to the cat. It let out a small meow as it backed away for a moment before getting a little closer. After a few seconds the cat began to rub its head against the back of Ruby’s hand.

Ruby let out a giggle, cats were cute. Cats were adorable. They were fluffy. Ruby liked fluffy.

Going out to pet the cat however seemed to be the wrong move. When she extended her arm to pet the cat, the small feline let out a hiss before running away into an alley.

“Ahh! Kitty no! Come back!” Ruby said as she chased after the cat.

Fabucci… that name kept coming up and every time he heard it, it became a little more annoying. It was like a big red flag shouting that there was something wrong.

“I’m sorry, my ears must be filled with something, what was it that you said?” Stein asked with a friendly smile.

Honestly dealing with people was so annoying. They yelled, they muttered, they did inconvenient things, and to top it all off they protested when you cut them open. As long as they are put back together what was the harm?

Really, that was probably why he got along with Tsumiki. Despite her timid nature and her desire for despair, she knew her way around the human body and that was what made her an interesting companion. She managed to even replace her own ovaries with a dead woman’s, and they worked oddly enough. How that was scientifically possible was the odd thing that just got the doctor so happy to work with her. Honestly if given the chance he would love to pick her brain about that topic more, literally and metaphorically.

Yet these guys… just make it stop.

“I said, you have a lot of guts to disrespect the Fabucci Syndicate!” a bald loud young man shouted as he held Stein to a wall with a knife to his throat.

Honestly he had seen this type before, young enough to still have that feeling of immortality and self importance yet old enough to have the strength to actually fight. Almost always a deadly combination.

“You know, most self respecting groups don’t just threaten strangers when they are just asking questions,” Stein said.

“Shaddup!” the young man shouted.

Oh Lord Death, how boring can a person get? Was this guy so bad that he would rather listen to Excalibur?

…

…

…

No, no one was that bad. But it is definitely up for consideration.  

Sighing, Stein placed a hand on the arm with the knife. Really, his first taste of combat in this new world was with this guy? Kinda sad when put into perspective.

“Hey! Watch-”

“Soul purge,” Stein said almost in a monotone voice. Electricity seemed to make the man tense up and then fall to the ground. Stein waited for a second to see if he would start yelling.

He waited…

And waited…

“Huh… he’s out?” Stein reasoned. “Must have used too much on the guy. Oh well,” the doctor shrugged as he crouched over the body. A grin crossed his face. In times like this he had to do what was right.

And wasn’t it right for someone who was mugging you to mug them in kind? Well, pickpocket at least.

By the time he finished he was walking 500 silver richer. Along with that he got a fancy looking pocket watch, a small bottle of a light purple liquid, and a bag of nuts. Truly a good hall.

Though what was the liquid? It was in a vile, so maybe drugs? Popping off the cork he took a quick sniff. No smell. He took another look at the uncapped substance and saw purple fumes escaping the vile.

They looked familiar…

Placing a hand on his screw he cranked it once and looked at the vile.

Fear.

Terror.

Anger.

Curses.

Death.

Madness.

Despair…

A familiar purple fume that radiated such horrid feelings that were so potent that it made Stein want to puke when he saw it.

It was from him. It was from the Yaksha.

It wasn’t his blood, no. If anything, Stein guessed it was mostly water with only a trace amount of his friend’s blood.

This was serious.

“Dr. Stein, I need you!” Kizuna shouted as she ran for her life as multiple thugs tried to take the Hunting Tool Hero. 

“Got it!” Stein shouted as he ran to the small hero.

They had been adventuring together for about two weeks now and so far things had been going great for the heroes. Kizuna was learning a lot about this new world, Tsumiki hadn’t tried to kill anyone yet, the mysterious man had remembered being called a creature known as a Yaksha and that had become his place holding name, and Stein had a ball of a time as he got to dissect new creatures he would never had the chance to before this.

All in all, things could only go up from here!

Then Kizuna somehow got into a fight with a group of level 59 adventurers.

Okay, in her defense they were making sexual comment about Tsumiki, then she got involved, then she was ignored because of her child like appearance, then she mad and yelled at them, which resulted in several people joining in, and then said adventurers ended up fighting Kizuna, which brought the others in and then because they were so under leveled, they had to run.

Truly it was out of his control.

“Soul purge!” Stein shouted, hitting the gut of one adventurer which sent the man convulsing in pain as his soul electrocuted the man. Non-lethally of course.

“Yaksha!” Stein called to the large man.

The Yaksha nodded, throwing two of his hands to grab the other two adventurers after them. One of them tried to fend the Yaksha off by cutting his hand open, but it did little to deter the large man as he grabbed the adventure by the face without much effort.

Now, Stein didn’t know what knocked them out first, the suffocation or the concussion when their heads hit the floor, but wouldn’t see Stein complain with the results.

Letting go of both of the idiots who tried to do something to his friends, the Yaksha grinned with pride. “Haha! See that! That is the might of a Yaksha!” the Yaksha said with prideful laughter.

Kizuna snuck behind the large man and sighed. “Well we don’t have a reference to how strong you are. For all we know you could be really weak for your kind, Yaksha,” Kizuna cheekily said.

Deflating, “Well when I say it like that…”

“She’s just messing with you,” Stein said with a grin. “Right, Kazayama?”

“Hey! I told you to call me Kizuna! Ki-zu-na! What did I say about this, Dr. Stein?!”

“Well that would be rude of me, wouldn’t it?” Stein offered innocently. “I mean I am both a teacher and a proper doctor, it would be rude.”

“You are a mad scientist!” Kizuna shouted. “You have even admitted to bringing a zombie to life! That’s like an affront to God or something!”

“Funny enough, the Grim Reaper did ask me to do that,” Stein mused, which made Kizuna even more frustrated.

“UGH! Whatever!” Kizuna said, giving up and throwing her hands into the air.

“I-it’s okay. I’ll call you Kizuna if you like?”

Kizuna looked at Tsumiki before latching herself to the girl. “AHH! Mikan! You are the only true companion I have in this world!” Of course such words caused Tsumiki to have a panic attack which Kizuna tried to fix and make the Ultimate Nurse feel better only to make things even worse.

“Tch, damn, I got cut,” the Yaksha grumbled.

“Here, let me see,” Stein said, extending his hands, one an empty palm the other his weapon, a small scalpel. The Yaksha did as he was instructed and Stein formed a small resonance link with his weapon, enough for him to use his soul sutures to mend the wound.

The wound soon closed, for both of their comforts. It scared Stein to no end the kind of terror that dwelled within the Yaksha’s body, but whatever it was, he was glad it was containable. Still, the blood was something he was worried about. “Go wash up properly, don’t just wet your hands,” Stein ordered and the Yaksha did as told.

Turning to the three adventurers. They were all knocked out, so this only gave him one option to do. Pickpocket them. It was only right. Especially for what he had to do next.

Surgery in America was expensive. Don’t blame him for lack of insurance. Opening his canteen he washed the blood off the face of the man who cut the Yaksha. The purple mist would still linger so he needed to act before his body absorbed any more.

“Three Fold! Gi! Go! Shoku!” Stein yelled as he hit the man once in the mouth, once in the throat, and one more time in the stomach.

Of course electricity followed and most likely a lot of pain, but it was better than the alternative. Because a hurt Yaksha was a dangerous Yaksha. If that… thing. That curse got on a human, Stein feared for the day he could not help.

Placing a hand on the screw in his head, he clicked it a few times, which made Kizuna squirm, and looked at the man’s soul. Purple mist still seemed to be receding away from the soul which was good.

Death prayed for when he could not help.

“Wake up,” an annoyed tone fuzzed through the thug’s head. “I said wake up!” Stein said louder, slapping the thug.

“H-huh?!”

“Good, you're awake,” Stein said. “I’m not going to waste anyone’s time. Where did you get this?” he asked.

“Huh?” the thug let out before a smack echoed the alley Stein was in.

“I said I won’t waste anyone’s time. That includes myself. Now answer, where did you get this?”

“W-why would I-” Smack! “Why-” Smack! “Why would-”  Smack! “WHY WOULD I TELL A SCHMUCK-” Smack!

“You really cannot learn, can you?” Stein muttered. “Very concerning. Oh well. Look at your ring fingers. Tell me, what do you notice?”

The thug was confused, his ring fingers? What- “What the fuck…” They were swapped.

“Yes, you see that is something I could do to your entire body, your arms under your knees, your legs on your arms, your head backwards. I could have a full field day with you if I tried,” Stein said with little sympathy and mercy. “I won’t need to go further if you don’t play games. Where did you get this?”

The thug began to shake. If Stein was any other man, he would have called bull and walked away after mugging the man, but Stein’s dead eyes when he looked at him. It scared him to no end. That look in his eyes. They confirmed each and every word he said.

“T-the boss…” the man muttered. “Th-the man who runs the Fabucci Syndicate! He gave these out after he took a trip to Melromarc! H-he didn’t tell us much, only that it would be a real buster, ya know?”

“How big is your little syndicate?” Stein asked.

“I don’t know, a couple hundred?”

“And how many of these did he give out here?”

“How am I supposed to know-” Smack! “Okay! Okay! Maybe around a few dozen. I don’t know much about this thing, he called this batch the prototype and that he would be passing up a higher quality up where the waves hit harder!”

Stein didn’t like that answer. Sure, if he were to fill an average sized syringe of the Yaksha’s blood it would probably still be a bit more than fifty bottles of this stuff in his hand. Still, the fact that people had ingested the curse inside the Yaksha was terrifying.

“Where can I find your boss?” Stein asked.

“H-he went to the capital! He said that he would be selling the source of the stuff to the king in exchange for some serious money! That’s all I know!”

Stein got up and glared down at the man. He didn’t say anything to the man, and he didn’t need to. All he did was stare and walk away.

He mentally cursed at himself. How could he let this happen? Stein asked. What would the others think? What would Kizuna think?

“Damn it. Where the hell is Mikan?”

Fabucci! Fabucci! Fabucci! That name just kept coming up! She understands why?! Sure it was nice knowing that people were popular, it would make knowing they would die so much sweeter, but still at some point she had enough! Really, out of the five interactions she had today with the people of this town, all five of them talked about “Fabucci this,” and “Fabucci that.” Hell! Three of them were Fabucci! It was crazy!

Still… the color they all made was so pretty. A gemstone green, red, and blue all swished inside her small syringe as she looked through the glass into the sun. So pretty.

“Come here! Kitty! Where did you go?!” a childish voice called from an alley. Tsumiki almost giggled, this would be fun.

Turning around, her smile and laughter almost faded, replacing them by an almost scared and shocked look.

“Kitty!”

“Ruby?” Tsumiki asked, surprised by the Apprentice Reaper Hero’s appearance.

“Ah! Mikan! Hey, how have you been?” Ruby asked as she walked up to the Ultimate Nurse.

“O-oh, you know. Just wandering around. I got separated from Dr. Stein, so I’m trying to find him.”

“Oh! Sorry to hear that. I was sent around to ask about the town by Itsuki. I should probably head back…” Ruby said as she looked at the alley she came from. “But…” she then turned to Tsumiki, “How about I help you? I’m sure Stein will be happy to know you are okay!”

“R-really?” Tsumiki asked.

“Oh course!” Ruby said with confidence.

Tsumiki’s eyes began to water as she wrapped her arms around Ruby, who seemed quite shocked by the sudden show of affection. “T-thank you!”

“No worries, Mi-KA! Ow!” Ruby leaped as she jumped back and looked down at her leg. “Dang it! A bee got me!” Ruby shouted as she placed a hand on her wound. “It’s always when you let your Aura down is when they get you!” Ruby muttered in annoyance. “Sorry about that.”

“O-oh, no worries. Here, let me help you! Bee stings are a serious thing and must be taken care of immediately!” Tsumiki said, but Ruby shook her head, lifting her hand from her leg, revealing no sign of injury. 

“It’s fine, my Aura will heal me. Besides, I’m not allergic to bees, so I should be fine,” Ruby said. “I’m a big girl, don’t you worry! I drink milk,” she said with confidence.

Wow… that actually got a laugh out of Tsumiki.

Such an innocent girl! Ruby really seemed to be super happy when she was around others and not around Itsuki and his group. It almost made her feel bad.

Envy.

Wrath.

Sloth.

Pride.

All things found in humans.

So Ruby should feel such amazing feelings as well!

“Oh, hey, Mikan!” Ruby called to Tsumiki, which made her snap out of her train of thought.

“H-huh?” Tsumiki asked.

Tapping her cheek, “Eye lash, make a wish,” Ruby said as she giggled.

Placing a hand on where Ruby pointed. A short piece of hair had been wrestling on her face. It was hair, definitely hair. But not eyelash hair.

Why couldn’t collecting insecurities be so much easier or at least less messy?

Tsumiki sighed as she placed her [Bee Needle Syringe] away. 

A/N: Gotta say, pretty proud of this chapter!

So! What's this A/N about? Well I'll tell you.

On September 19th. A special day will occur. It will be the 1 year anniversary of me writing this fic. And that means me wanting suggestions from you for me to write for this anniversary! I want this anniversary to be special, and the most special way for me to get this done is for me to take your voices into consideration. So how can you do this? The same way I've gotten any reader input, the comment section. Post what you want in the comments about what you want for the anniversary. Or post an agreement with someone. Or do both! Just don't vote for 1 suggestion twice is all I ask.

Now that is over with, I hope you all are happy and have a good day! BYE!!!

Rerenotes: So, in response to Vermillion_Knight_Type_98, here is Shaun and Abigail's skill sets, and I did so in Servant Card format. Just so you know, I only gave Shaun the doppelganger skill, and the reasoning behind this is that Shaun is the one with the acting background, not Abigail, both can preform but with different areas.

Shaun Sarto: Assassin

Illustrator: Appah

Character Info: When one imagines a hero, you don’t imagine an idiot spewing off anime references and who laughed like a mad man. Yet, that was the best way to describe how Shaun worked as a hero.

A hero split in two, he works together with a certain Archer to get the job done as the Gun Heroes.

“Haven’t you heard the sensation sweeping the nation!”

Parameters:

STR: E
END: C
AGL: B+
MP: D-
LUK: C
NP: ?

Skills:

Omniscient Eye (Consumer) B : Increase critical strength for (1 turn),  Increase a single [Character] alley with buster, quick, and arts up for 3 turns.

Disguise Act (Archer): Changes Class to Archer (3 Turns), Changes Skills (3 Turns)

Majestic Travelers Triumphant Return EX: Increases Attack (3 Turns), Increases Buster Attack (3 Turns), Applies Invincibility to self (3 Turns)

Passive Skills:

Presence Concealment D: Increase your Critical Star Drop Rate by 4%.

Profile 1

Height/Weight 177cm, 62kg:

Origin: Earth

Region: Sacramento, California

Alignment: Chaotic Good

Gender: Male

Profile 2:

Omniscient Eye (Consumer) B: 

The manifestation of Shaun’s consumption of media formed into the perfect skill for him. Anyone who meets the requirements of being a character from any form of media he had consumed back on Earth, he can find a way to help. 

It may not be much, but his greatest contribution is his outside point of view.

Disguise Act (Archer):

The spirit of the Legendary Gun is quite the oddity, as it has chosen two individuals to act as its user.  Well when one of those users has a background in acting, it allows him to pull off an interesting performance. Becoming a one to one copy of Abigail Wilts, down to voice, appearance, and small mannerisms. Shaun may not know what the method is, but he chooses not to complain.

Profile 3:

Majestic Travelers Triumphant Return EX:

In a moment of life or death, he survived.

In a moment of questioning if he could return, he did.

In a single moment, he came shouting with the sheer amount of excitement that may have been a bit too happy. “Bitchs! Love! Cannons!”

Abigail Wilts: Archer

Illustrator: Appah

Character Profile: If a certain Assassin was the chaotic idiot, then Abigail is the rational idiot.

One of the two Gun Heroes taken from another world, Abigail will be the one making quips and references that none of the others will get.

“Bitches love cannons.”

Parameters:

STR: C

END: E

AGL: B+

MP: D-

LUK: C

NP: ?

Skills:

Omniscient Eye (Consumer) C : Increase critical strength for (1 turn),  Increase a single [Character] alley with buster, quick, and arts up for 3 turns.

Quick Draw C+: Increase Own NP Gauge

The Calm and Collected: Removes All Mental Debuffs, Reflect damage received during that turn onto all enemies, Increases Attack (3 Turns)

Passive Skills:

Independent Action B: Increase your Critical Strength by 8%

Profile 1

Height/Weight 170cm, 62kg:

Origin: Earth

Region: Sacramento, California

Alignment: Neutral Good

Gender: Female

Profile 2:

Omniscient Eye (Consumer) C: 

The manifestation of Abigail’s consumption of media formed into the perfect skill for her. Anyone who meets the requirements of being a character from any form of media she has consumed back on Earth, she can find a way to help. 

It may not be much, but her greatest contribution is her outside point of view.

Quick Draw C+:

As an Archer, Abigail seems to see smaller things much easier, especially when someone begins to reach for a weapon, and with fast reflexes, she doubts they’d get a chance to fight back.

Profile 3:

The Calm and Collected:

In a moment of high stress, Abigail can do one of two things, panic and freak out or be calm and collected. A skill manifesting when things appeared to be at their worst, she pushes forward and shouts with all her heart. “Haven’t you heard the sensation sweeping the nation?!”

Chapter Text

RERENOTES: JESUS CHRIST! I AM STILL STRUGGLING TO UNDERSTAND ALL THE ELEMENTS!

So, I think I understand most of them, it's just fricking Dendro! Dendro is so fricking hard! Here, let me explain

Pyro: Strong aspirations, think Bennet’s desire for adventure or Klee wanting to make the best bomb out there.

Electro: Control or to protect something. Like Ei’s eternity or Fischl, to be the Prinzessin der Verurteilung.

Geo: Hard work and wisdom for the future. Noelle’s desire to be a knight or Ningguang’s desire for mora.

Hydro: Dedication, like Candace’s strong sense of duty to Aaru Village or Nilou to her dance. 

Anemo: Struggle with or have shackles that bind them to something. Xiao, someone who is bound by his contract to protect Liyue or Jean as her role of being the acting grandmaster or her desire to protect Mondstadt.

Cryo: Duality, like Kaeya being both Khaenri'ah and of Mondstadt, or Eula, her origins as a Lawrence and wanting to aid her home even if people hate her.

Dendro: Ahhh, Dendro, I honestly am still up in the air for now. So far I can say it might have something to do with using your knowledge for the betterment of others. I wish I could find a simple one word answer for this but I don’t know if I can. Maybe one of you in the comments can tell me what you think the dendro element means to you.

Alright, well that’s pretty much all for the rerenotes, nothing too grand to say. I did post a new story so please check that out as well on my profile, alright, have fun!

A/N: JESUS CHRIST! It's been close to a month since I posted the last chapter! MAN WHERE HAS THE TIME GONE!  

Okay! Now that I'm back! I have some... unfortunate? news. This chapter is kind of edgy. I feel bad, I do, but I don't know how else to move the story along.  Now before we begin this chapter, I want to talk about some things.

First! Weapons, specifically types like the various series.

First up: Vision Series.

I was thinking they could only have 1 maybe 2 visions unlocked eventually when they use it. I bring this up because I want to have them be able to get visions/elemental power, and I have an idea for how this will work and how they will get them. I won't go into too much detail, but I have an idea of who would get what. As for how I base the ideals for a specific type of vision this is what I've imagined it was something I got from the hypostasis'

Pyro: Strong aspirations

Electro: Control

Geo: Hard work and wisdom for the future

Hydro: Ideals, or more specific basic rules or standards for a belief.

Anemo: Struggle with or have shackles that bind them to something.

Cryo: Duality

Dendro: I'm going off a video I saw, it is the want to do something right, even if it may turn out wrong.

As for those who I've figured out:

Ren: Electro

Ibuki: Pyro

Lucy: Hydro

Roy: Geo

Koneko: Cryo

Ruby: Anemo

I don't know what Abigail, Shaun, Naofumi, Motoyasu, and Itsuki would get but I would like to hear your ideas.

As for another idea it is towards the cursed series, instead of the typical 7 deadly sins, I was thinking of showing Dante some love and have a version of the cursed series for the 9 layers of hell:

Limbo: A Hero Who Has Become Apathetic

Lust: Same as Cannon

Gluttony: Same as Cannon

Greed: Same as Cannon

Anger : They think they do good. They try to do good. But at the end, they do bad, and wonder why?

Heresy: Heroes Who Sees Heroes As Gods

Violence: Think homicidal rage or teetering on it.

Fraud: This one I'm not sure about, so most likely it will not be mentioned.

Treason: A Hero Who Sees Themselves as God(s), key word themselves.

As for unique skills the cursed series will get will be kept secret, I plan to give them individual skills.  Every sin may be the same, but every sinner is not.

Okay, before we go! I don't know when the chapter will be, but I'll try to get one out before Halloween. After all! Ruby's birthday is near and we gotta celebrate! I really should write/post a chapter on a character's birthday more often! Alright, I'll note that down.

Now without further adieu! Let's rolllll!

Ruby Rose tossed and turned in her bed as she let out sounds whenever she moved.

It wasn’t unusual for her to have nightmares of Grimm, after all they were the manifestation of evil and all things negative. So when she had nightmares it was either about the Grimm or about something silly like Yang eating the last cookie.

So when Ruby woke up in the forest by her house it was weird.

She had Crescent Rose in her hand. The moon was permanently crescent. There was a lack of any noise. No crickets chirping. No wind blowing. Nothing. The only noise she heard was the familiar notification sound.

[Heroic Quest: Difficulty Easy {Defeat All Enemies Before They Wake Up}]

Ruby read the text and did as she was told. Walking into the forest, Ruby listened and looked around.

A glimpse of red here.

A glimpse of white there.

Ruby kept walking, paying them no mind as she kept walking forward.

She kept walking, and walking, and walking-

Something hard hit her and Ruby fell down.

“AHH!” Ruby yelled.

Looking around, she was still in her room in the inn. She wasn’t on Remnant. The moon wasn’t crescent, and the sound of blowing winds came from the outside.

“Ow… was I sleepwalking?” Ruby asked herself, placing a hand on her forehead as her other landed on her scythe on the ground.

Ruby shook her head. Maybe she was just stressed? She had to be mature about this. Just a single bad dream. She was a huntress in training after all, she didn’t have to worry about anything.

“Night Nunu,” she said, holding the nue plush close to her chest.