Currently, Will was being brought to the Kingdom's Princess by 2 nobles. Nobles are descendants of heroes, they are not as powerful as the heroes, but they are powerful compared to ordinary people and even sorcerers.
Will at first did not want to talk to the Princess at all since he could not think of a good reason to talk to her. If anything, talking to the king would be better since he holds more power than the Princess.
But he decided to talk to her because he likes cakes, because he hasn't had anything sweet since he came to this world. Will loves all sugars and sweets, so eating cake will be the best thing he'll ever taste in the last 3 months.
He began thinking while he was walking. Perhaps talking to the Princess would be beneficial. After all she does hold some power in the kingdom, maybe they have rare ores and materials that he could use? Not very likely due to the kingdom being in a poor state.
Although there is one thing he wants to know, how do blacksmiths make magical weapons? Will asked Jack, his friend, but neither he or his uncle have the 'thing' to make magical weapons anymore. Jack's uncle did have one, but he had to sell it when Jack's mother accidentally dragged Jack's uncle into poverty.
'I am curious to talk to the Princess. Who would first threaten me then offer me cake? Doesn't make any sense when you think about it.'
"Gah! I should have won that tournament easily."
Will noticed Josh walking towards him. Josh seemed terribly pissed about losing the tournament, especially being the first one out which is the worst feeling in the world.
Just as they crossed paths, Josh was heavily focused on Will's badass dragon-scaled armor.
"Woah! Dude! Sick armor! Where did you get those?" Asked Josh, very impressed with the armor.
Not a single sane blacksmith would make dragon armor out of dragon scales, since it has been deemed useless against monsters and even other people in general. If anything, using energy shields is the best armor one could have.
The nobles halted in their steps, so did Will. Nobles are told to always respect the heroes. But do they treat Will the same as they would with heroes? They really aren't sure.
"From the blacksmith shop. On the other side of the kingdom." Will lied. He didn't want to waste a second talking to Josh. By the time Josh searches for the dragon armor he'll be long gone.
It's not like he didn't like Josh, it's just that he found him annoying. When he saw that he enslaved dragon loli his impression of Josh fell to rock bottom, not like he had a good impression of him anyhow.
Will, just like Alex, never liked the idea of slavery. It's different in video games because no one gets hurt. But in real life slavery is messed up.
'Huh. Now that I take a better look at him his face is very punchable. Did he always have such a stupid look on his face the last time we talked?' Thought Will.
The last time they talked was when Josh was selling him dead dragons. He honestly could not remember if he always wanted to punch Josh in his stupid face.
"Really? Oh! A blacksmith shop! Of course! You beautiful man, you just gave me the best idea ever!" Josh ran away all joyful, almost as if he had just heard the best news in his life.
'Wait, he looks kinda familiar… ish.' Josh did not think that Will is the same person who he sold the dragons to. At the time Will was wearing a different armor set.
"Okay?" Will had absolutely no idea what he was talking about.
"This way, please." The two nobles said respectfully. They had no idea if they should treat Will like every other hero, or treat him differently.
Will shouldn't possibly be alive much less here. At this point no one had any hopes that the 100th was successfully teleported.
"This way." The nobles brought Will to a fancy and feminime room. The room was very large but also spacious. There was a large pink-red bed, with multiple bedsheets and fancy pillows. On the side were various books that are mostly related to the heroes and their history.
"Welcome, Hero Will." Harmony acted calm, composed, and had an aura of nobility. Behind her were 3 more nobles protecting her at all times.
After being kidnapped by Clement, the King had tasked 5 powerful nobles to protect her at all times.
"Eh… hello?" This was a different Princess that he had seen before. First time he saw her she was kidnapped and bound by Clement. The last time they met she did not have the same composed and noble aura as right now.
"You 5 can leave. I have important matters to discuss with the 'lost hero' over here." Harmony waved the nobles to leave the room as she sipped her tea with her pinky sticking out.
Some hero told the nobles that fancy people, like nobles or people with power, always hold out their pinky while drinking. Now everybody does it.
"Forgive us, Princess, but we cannot do that." A noble said.
"Why not?"
"His Highness, the King, has ordered us to watch over you no matter what."
"Steward! Highness is referred to only Princesses and Princes. 'Majesty' is what we refer to our king."
"Wait, I thought 'Majesty' refers to the Queen only."
"We're not having this conversation a fifth time!"
"I only want 5 minutes alone with the hero. Just step outside for a second." Harmony said a little bit louder.
"Do you want us to step out for a second or 5 minutes?"
"Just go."
"Like I said, your Highness, we cannot defy his 'Majesty's' orders."
"That's better, Steward."
"Yeah, I was promised that there'd be cake here… and I don't see cake." Will interrupted. His main priority was cake.
"Yes! You 5, go and get the cake!" Harmony suggested.
"But-"
"Go, go right now!"
"Like I said, your Majesty… Gah! No! I meant Highness! Highness!"
'This is gonna take all day isn't it?' Will thought, annoyed.
Meanwhile…
Bruce was in his room, thinking about the magical sword he got. Honestly it wasn't impressive in the slightest, to him anyways.
A gun would be way more effective than a blade. He tested the blade on some nearby trees and rocks, and he broke it. He could easily repair it if he applied some blood to the blade and it would repair itself, but he honestly thought that it was a garbage weapon.
If his sword would pierce or easily kill dragons or cyclops's, it would be amazing. But it won't even make a dent on the dragon's scales, or probably wouldn't be able to pierce a Cyclops's thick hide, not that Cyclops's are known for having thick skin.
'Wait… why are people still using swords? We have guns for a reason!' Bruce thought. Nonetheless it's the prize he got for winning the tournament of heroes, a tournament that he thought was way too easy.
And he was right. Swords are useless against actual threats like dragons, and giant monsters in general. Although it is sort of 'good' to use blades to repel heroes, guns are so much better. It's the reason people back in his world stopped using any. Even right now Sorcerers rely on guns more than any other weapon.
"Yo, Bruce!"
Bruce heard someone calling out to him from outside his room.
Opening the door of his room he saw dozens of his hero companions looking at him in awe.
"What?" Bruce asked.
"Dude, you gotta teach us how you did that! You defeated even Victoria like it was nothing."
"I.K.R." This hero likes to speak like she was texting. She very dearly misses her phone.
"Oh my god, Stacy! Speak properly! Not only is talking like that cringey as hell, but literally nobody else but us understands what you're saying!"
"So… Bruce? Can you help us?"
People looked at Bruce, eager to become as strong as him.
"Wow… sure I'll help." Bruce said happily. Back in his world he used to guide younger kids who were interested in B.J.J. This reminded him of those wonderful times before COVID.
Meanwhile…
Shaun Quincy couldn't help but contain his smirk. So far everything has been going according to plan.
His plan was to help this new generation of heroes become stronger, better. Shaun was the one to convince Bruce to defeat everybody as best as he could. If it were up to Bruce, he would have shown some sort of mercy, but it was one-sided, like a noob fighting a Dark Souls boss for the first time.
The point was to show them that Bruce, a hero, just like the rest of them, could easily overpower all of them. And with enough time and training, he could also turn them even stronger than Bruce.
Of course forcing them wasn't an option since they'll just whine and complain like always. Shaun wanted them to choose for themselves, that way others would follow as well. It'll be more efficient that way.
Once they see Bruce's strength, a hero that wasn't blessed with combat abilities, surely they'll be motivated to practice.
'Shame. If Bruce was lucky he'd have been given a combat type of ability. All he got as an ability was thermal vision or something.' Shaun wasn't blessed with a combat ability as well. But his longer lifespan ability helps him stay young for much longer, and gives him more fighting experience than any other hero would have.
"Now… all I have to do is wait." Shaun waited patiently on the training grounds. He could already imagine those worthless heroes becoming actually strong and powerful.
There is no other reason he wants to train the heroes. He just wants them to become stronger to survive. God only knows how long it'll take for them to get bored inside the castle and decide to roam the outside world.
And so he waited… and waited… and waited.
And waited…
And waited…
Shaun waited for 4 hours now. He would have stopped at the first hour, but he just had such high hopes for the heroes.
'What the hell happened?' Shaun thought.
He left the training grounds and headed straight to Bruce's room.
*Knock*
"Yeah?" Bruce said from the other side of the door.
"It's me. Open up."
Bruce opened the door. He was shirtless, and he was ripped. He was sweating a bit from doing leg exercises. He was all alone.
"By any chance, did any civilians… heroes, show up to your room?" Shaun asked. He had a habit of calling others 'civilians' a habit he'd been meaning to get rid of for some time.
It's the same with the Great Sage. He still has a habit of talking in Old English but tries his best not to.
"Yes, they did."
"And?"
"Well, at first they were really eager to train."
"Go on!"
"But, when they started asking for the 'quickest way to git gud' or 'easiest way to do something I dunno' I got annoyed as there are no shortcuts. Then I told them how long it took me to learn to fight, not to mention how tough it is. And soon they all left saying 'I'll do that tomorrow' or something. Here's what happened…"
In a quick summary: The heroes were all genuinely eager to get stronger because they too wanted to be like Bruce.
But once they heard how much time and effort it required, most decided to give up and not do it. They thought that perhaps over time something will happen and they'll get stronger by doing the minimum amount of work.
A few stayed to practice with Bruce. After 2 hours of practice they quit as well. Their will to get stronger vanished without a trace.
Here's the thing about this new generation of heroes: they're weak minded, weak spirited, and have trouble accepting the reality that if they don't work hard they won't get anything.
Many of them are like Josh. They all think that without putting in any amount of work they'll suddenly become overpowered. As if some god will descend from the sky, or visit you in your dreams and say "Do you want power that you don't deserve? Here ya go! Enjoy the adventure, make a harem or whatever the hell you want!"
Some of them even had bets on 'who among us is the main character' something which makes no sense at all.
Bruce was disappointed to see them all leave. He honestly had hoped that at least some of them went to Shaun to practice. No one did.
"Ugh… this is what I get for getting my hopes high." Shaun said, deeply disappointed. Like a parent who just saw his child's report card.
'At this rate, they'll only learn when reality hits them and one of them dies.' Shaun thought.
"Is there something I can do, sir?" Bruce asked, politely.
"No. For now rest. Tomorrow we'll learn how to use swords. Just the two of us, so don't bother waking up your friends for morning practice, not that any of them come anyway."
"Just us?"
"Yes. Just the two of us." Shaun smiled, but in reality he smiles whenever he is pissed. When he's truly mad he lashes his anger on others and curses them. He didn't want to lash out his anger on his favorite student.
In his mind, Shaun thought, 'You know what? Screw them. If they don't want to learn then it's their loss. I'll just teach my favorite student for now.'
Shaun can only try so much. It's what made him so mad that they cannot see just how dangerous this world is.
If the Great Sage weren't alive, Shaun would have trained them all since day one to become soldiers, like he is.
He doesn't blame the Great Sage for how the heroes turned out. But he is mad that the Great Sage doesn't care enough to push the heroes to practice and learn for their survival.
Now that they are heroes, they all have a weight of responsibility to carry until the end of their lives.
A while ago…
Harmony pushed the nobles out of her room after convincing them for a whole 15 minutes.
"Phew. I thought they'd never leave." Harmony wiped the imaginary sweat off her forehead.
"If you have that much trouble commanding the people who work for you, then this kingdom needs a lot of help." Will said as he ate some cake with full delight. A maid brought them some cake.
He only showed the bottom half of his face so the princess doesn't get a clear look of his face. Why? Will wanted to feel mysterious.
'Hmm… cake. Shame they don't have chocolate bars or sodas.'
"Listen, Hero Will."
"Wait, how do you know my name exactly? I never told you my name." Will didn't think about it but the nobles who brought him here also knew his name. He didn't think much about it until now.
"Clement told me."
"Clement? Oh, right. That guy." Will had completely forgotten about him.
"Yes. Now I brought you here for one reason only: Give me Clement's gun back."
Will looked at her. There was a silence between them.
"That's it?" Asked Will.
"What?" Harmony asked, confused.
"I thought you wanted something else. Like I'm the 100th hero, the missing one. There are so many other reasons you could have called me here!"
Even the elves wanted to know some things about Will, like why was he teleported wrongly, or what are his abilities?
"I got to be honest, I really don't care about that."
"Wow."
"I just want his gun back."
Harmony still loves Clement. All that mattered to her was getting his gun back.
"Yeah… no. Not gonna happen." Will resumed eating his beloved cake.
"What? We had a deal!" Harmony said louder.
"We did?"
"Before! The last time we met you said you would give Clement his gun back and you never did. That's why he was caught."
"He was caught? But yeah I think I remember that."
Harmony was feeling angry.
As for Will, he couldn't even remember what he had for breakfast yesterday, not to mention something that happened long ago.
"Our deal was that if you didn't deliver that gun to him, I would expose your existence to everybody."
"Kinda late for that, isn't it?" Will said, mockingly.
"What?"
"Well, a lot of people already know about me already. You already told the king about me anyway so what's the point of me keeping up my end of the deal?" Will asked.
"I didn't- I haven't told my father yet." Harmony was confused. Why would Will think she told her dad?
If she did tell her dad, the king, then she'll miss the chance to retrieve Clement's gun. Or at least she believes so. Either way she just wanted the gun back without having her father or anyone else intervene.
"You already told those 5 nobles about me, and my name as well. It'll be a matter of time before they tell the king."
"I already made them swear that they wouldn't say a word to anyone, especially my father!"
"Oh yeah, sure, I believe you. It's just that I find it hard to believe that they'll keep their word when you have trouble keeping them out of your room, because they are more loyal to your father than you."
"Um…" Harmony was at a loss for words. He had a point there. It was suspicious that she knew his existence, and even his name, when even the king didn't know that.
She wanted to ask the Great Sage's help at first, as he is more trustworthy, but he did not care about helping her and went to sleep. It's why she had no choice but to ask her 5 nobles for help, because she was desperate.
Will stood up and prepared to leave.
"Well this has been a waste of time. So I'll be going now."
"Wait! Is there anything else you want? I'll trade anything I have for Clement's gun."
"Yes. Give me the device, or machine, whatever it is that makes magical weapons."
This was Will's plan. He knew she was desperate for Clement's gun for whatever reason. So if he made it like he was leaving, then she'll be even more desperate for his gun.
Clement's gun is a magical item that has many functions, but it is broken, and benefits sorcerers the most.
Will tested it out and would much rather use an ordinary weapon with the infinity enchantment.
For some reason, when he tries to enchant his magical items, the system tells him that there's a high chance that they'll break and therefore become useless. Will cannot risk that happening. It's why none of his magical items are enchanted.
"Hm. That's easy. Follow me."
"And-And that's not all! I also want a lot of… a lot of… dammit!"
'Idiot! Think!' Will cursed himself a second time. He rushed in so fast that he didn't think it through.
"A lot of what?" Harmony asked because she didn't hear what he said.
"I'll… tell you after." Will said, staying calm composed.
Meanwhile...
Josh brought his two harem members with him to a blacksmith shop.
"Hero Josh, why have you brought us here?" Naveah asked.
"It's simple, really. This is where we'll find magical items!" Josh said, his eyes shined like stars.
'This place?' The two girls had trouble believing that. Master blacksmiths can only make magical items, and only those work inside the kingdom. Creating any kind of magical item is difficult and risky.
Expert blacksmiths and lower ranked blacksmiths work in shops like the one in front of them. There is no way that they could ever create a magical item. If by some miracle they did, which has happened before, they'd sell it to the kingdom and not keep it around their shop.
Josh entered the shop. It was packed with weapons, mostly guns. It's full of items not because the shop is doing well, it's because no one has bought anything in a while.
"Sup." A woman, who was high out of her mind, greeted the first customers she'd seen in a while.
"Hello. We're just browsing." Josh couldn't help but contain his smile. He was gonna buy a magical weapon for cheap.
In most manga's he's read, the MC always finds a heaven defying item just conveniently lying around in a shop at the same time he's there. And only the MC is able to recognize said weapon.
After looking around, nothing caught his eye. Everything looked the same to him.
"Oh! Before I forget, is there by any chance a weapon here that you won't sell but still have it on display? Like a cursed item or something? I'll take anything!" Josh said. He really needed a powerful weapon.
"Whatever you're smoking, give me some of dat, too." Said the high lady. Cursed items? No such thing.
"Okay fine. Is there by any chance something on the back that is very powerful but cheap?" Josh asked, getting closer to the lady.
"Powerful and cheap? Like I said, give me whatever it is you're smoking buddy." The lady laughed a bit. What kind of person would ever do that?
"Do you not recognize me? I am a hero."
"And I'm a blacksmith. You's gonna buy something?"
"Sure. I'll take… this?" Josh's hand hovered over a random weapon. He wanted to see if the lady would react to it.
He firmly believes that there is a weapon in that shop that's cheap and very powerful. He just doesn't know what, and he can't afford to buy everything in the shop.
The lady however was just confused. So were Josh's harem members.
"You know what? I'll take a couple of bows. I always liked ranged weapons." Josh got 3 bows, since for some reason they were the shiniest bows.
"But, hero Josh, if you like range weapons why not go for a gun instead?" Naveah said, speaking logically.
"Because I know that one of these three bows are actually magical."
"Really?!" Felicia said, in utter shock. Naveah was confused. The high lady thought that Josh was just very dumb and high out of his mind.
And so Josh left the store poorer, some arrows, and 3 useless bows.