What in the name of the holy fuck is going on? Legendary what!?"
Ryou shouted and the people or cultists, or whatever they were, hesitated on what they were going to say next, looking in his direction with wide eyes.
"Excuse me, but like this guy said what the hell is this?" A voice asked from behind him. Ryou turned around, and he saw the owner of the voice. He was tall, taller then Ryou was - another young man, this one with blond hair dressed in a red shirt, face scrunched in confusion. In his grasp, was a staff or a spear… A familiar round jewel engraved in it, only instead of green, like the one in the other young man's object, this one was red.
"I would also like to know that as well." Ryou looked to the side, another person was there, around his height, with black hair, more or less the same size has his own, and that of the young man on the floor. This one was dressed in a blue sport jacket with brown pants. In is hand lay another weapon, this one was clearly a sword with a very identical jewel in it, blue this time. Ryou was about to kindly ask who the hell these guys were, and why were they wielding such weapons, when his brain actually registered that he was grasping something.
It look made of wood, yet felt like metal. Curved and in a pale yellow or stained white color, a string connected both ends that suspiciously looked like small sculpted wings, and the front had a ornamental piece with a now common jewel, this one yellow. It was a bow, he reflected.
I'm loosing it... The now bow wielder thought incredulously, because how had he not noticed until now that in his hand was a weapon, and thinking about it where the hell had it come from.
"I know this must all be very confusing, but please heroes, listen to our story." Once again Ryou focused on the man slash cultist with the tiara on his head. Deciding that listening was the best way to make heads and tails of whatever was going on. The other weapon wielders made their way to his side, including the guy that had been laying on the ground in front of him.
"We used an ancient Ritual to summon you, the four Legendary Heroes to this world." The man explained, and for his part, Ryou could only look incredulously after listening to what had come out of the mans mouth. Either the man was on drugs or bat-shit crazy, or maybe Ryou himself was the crazy one.
"Our world lies on the brink of destruction, please we beg you, help us!" They finished with a bow. Shaking his head in disbelief, because this almost sounded like some RPG introduction, Ryou made a move to call them out on there bullshit, or whatever very bad trip they were having, but was interrupted by the young man standing besides him.
"Well, I guess we could hear you out, at least." Looking to the side, eyebrows raising into his forehead, Ryou had to question the other young man sanity if he was buying this crap.
"I refuse." Came from his other side, followed by another equal statement from the last weapon wielder. At least the other two could see reason, seeing that this whatever it was, had to be nothing more then a bunch of crap made by either,drug addicts, or people that belong in the mental ward.
"We can go back to our own world, right? We can talk after you send us back." The blond man continued.
Going back to their world..? These guys were actually buying this..? Sure there was the lights, and the weapon that had come out of nowhere. But summoned to another world? What was this, some kind of mainstream manga? Lowering his fingers he pinched his leg. The pain bloomed from the spot where he had pinched himself, and it was easy to conclude that this wasn't a dream, not that he had actually thought it was, it was far to real and detailed.
"Don't you guys feel any guilt? Kidnapping us to this place without our consent?" The others were still going with the same notion. They were taking it in stride, and accepting it like it was normal.
"How will you reward us for our hard work? We cant be working for free here..." And that did it, they were all high on something, that had to be it
"Are you guys actually buying all this crap? About summoning, and what-not, why don't we talk about magic while we are on the subject?" Ryou ended with a heavy trace of sarcasm. Because why not magic? It was on par with what they were discussing, was it not? Maybe throw a few unicorns, and talking mushroom in the mix . The others just looked at him, confusion apparent on their faces, like what he had just said had been crazy.
But before he could explode, the main speaker among the crazy, spoke, his voice has shaky has the smile on his face.
"We would like for you heroes to meet is highness, the king of our country Melromarc, however he is currently on another meeting, but he will want an audience with you tomorrow. He will most surely spare no expense in rewarding you heroes for your hard work, be that monetary or knowledge in the ways of magic." The last part was accompanied with a look in his direction. Apparently sarcasm was lost to these people. It was then, that something the man had said registered in his mind.
Melromarc… He had known a place named like that. Both a familiar, and a feeling of dread filled him, has he took a look at his bow. Melromarc… Four Legendary Heroes…
Turning his head sharply to his right, inclining himself to take another look at the 'pentagon' that was strapped to is companion's forearm.
Suspicion turned into something real the moment he realized the 'pentagon', was in fact a shield. But that couldn't be, it just couldn't. This was the kind of thing that only happen in the stupid manga, and anime that he spent way too much time on. Looking up, he noticed that the shield wielder was now looking down at him perplexed, and Ryou could only swallow on his own saliva an ask.
"H-Hey, whats your name?" Voice cracked, and he swallowed again, feeling every hair on his arms standing. The young man in question just pointed at himself, and responded.
"Me? I'm Iwatani Naofumi, what about you?" And the sensation of dread, nearly tripled in sized covering every inch of his body, and fear took hold of is being.
The only thought crossing is mind was...
No, no, no, no, no fucking way is this real! Even as he answered the question, tone hollow, and distant.
"Ryou Takuma"
Looking in front of the mirror in the personal bathroom, that connect to the room he was suppose to stay this night, Ryou stared in a state of shock. His entire body had been numb, his brain unable to make heads or tails of his current situation, only accepting denial over it all. Amaki Ren, and Kitamura Motoyasu, the Sword and Spear hero respectively. They had introduced themselves after Naofumi, even if it hadn't been needed, as far as he was concerned, he knew their names the moment Naofumi had introduced himself.
He had follow the others until he reach his designated room, barely paying attention to his surroundings. The only thing that he had payed attention to, had been the window that they had come across. Outside the window stood a view that he would never find in his world. Something strait out of fantasy. Medieval buildings stood far into the distance, and beyond them, green plains took over. Mountains he couldn't even begin to identify were painted across the horizon. But even the fantastical view failed to drive reality home.
It couldn't be true. Stuff like this just doesn't happen. How had it happen? Searching his memories he remembered something about the legendary weapons choosing their wielders, choosing them to be heroes.
Him? A hero? The thought was hilarious….so much so, that a slightly hysterical laugh left his mouth gaining in strength until he was doubled over grabbing his sides, tears streaming down his eyes, although if they had been over laughing so much, or the situation itself he couldn't tell.
Cleaning his eyes, he opened the faucet and splash water on his face.
Okay, okay, so you somehow in the space of a day, more or less went from being an average human being with an average life, to getting run over by a car for the second time, most likely dying in the process, then revived and summoned to fight in some otherworldly fantasy war, that might involve demons and other creatures. Ryou thought, making an incredulous mental summary of what had happen.
"Well that seems about right… Hahaha." That thought had come out loud, followed by a small laugh cut short by his still hurting sides.
Leaving the bathroom, he finally took a look around his room, it was big, almost half the size of his whole house had been, red curtains embroiled in gold were the first thing that he noticed, after the great size of the room. They covered the bed, exactly what one would expect from the middle-ages, there were a couple of arm chairs surrounding a round wooden table. All in all a completely medieval room, like the ones students would see on school trips if they were to visit old palaces or castles, like the one he was currently in.
Reaching the bed, Ryou laid down adjusting himself with one arm covering his eyes, but he didn't get to delve in his thoughts for more then a second, because the door to his room opened in a grandiose fashion followed by a annoying sound, that Ryou had begun to associate with Motoyasu's voice.
"So, you okay now? You seemed really out of it on the way."
Lifting himself on his elbows, Ryou took in the sight in front of him before responding that yes he had just felt slightly sick. It was Ren that continue, since Motoyasu had seemed to accept his answer, and begun the process of examine every inch of his room.
"Yeah, that tends to happen when you dive in VRMMO for the first time." Shifting his attention towards the sword hero, he couldn't stop is incredulity from showing both on his face and voice.
"You think this is a game?" Now sitting he couldn't help but to think that they couldn't be as dense here, as they had been in the story, after all reality and fiction were very different things.
"Of course it is a game, it as stats, skills and everything what else could it be?" It wasn't the swordsmen that answered now seating in one of the chairs, but Motoyasu. That made him pause, because saying that this was some other world where they had been sent slash reincarnated, didn't sound that much more believable. He was still, after all, trying to wrap his head around everything.
"I honestly don't know…." That had been the honest truth. Having laid back in bed with his arm once again over his eyes.
"Don't worry, its a game, so you just need to increase your level, and your golden." Holding a snort, he couldn't help but to feel amused. That line of thinking had been exactly what caused them to fall behind Naofumi in canon.
"Its not that simple, skill matters just as much." That had been Ren his tone flat, and cold.
"Aren't items, and gear also important in this type of game." He had honestly, not even seen Naofumi entering the room, but that beg the question, why were they camping in his room specifically? Reaching the conclusion that it wasn't something worth pondering on, since he had much more important things to worry about, Ryou decided to ignore their chatter.
This is real… He had read somewhere, that reality was what you perceive it as... If something exists and you can feel and interact with it, then that's most likely real. Those were Ryou thoughts while he lay in a bed that was probably worth more money then he made in a month.
Congratulations Braniacs… He thought sarcastically, with a mental clap towards every single physicist in his old world. Because multi-universe theory was apparently no longer just a theory, and Inter-universe travel was also a thing - one that could apparently be achieved without suffering any damage. His understanding of physics wasn't the best, but he was pretty sure that there was bound to be some very bad consequences if one was to travel between universes, like being shredded to bits, or something among those lines.
Either that, or reincarnation in some form is a thing, and that… He decided was where he draw the line. Because honestly, he had been hit by a car or whatever had hit him, and at the speed it had been traveling, his survival chances had probably been pretty bad. With that in mind either the Legendary Bow had revive him, and taking what he knew into consideration, they wielded no such power, or a more plausible explanation would be that, it had intervened right before is death, and after that, healed is body back to health, before sending him on is way, though even in is head that sounded absurd, but that had been a common theme around a lot of stories, that something could save anyone as long as they weren't actually dead.
Turning his head to the mentioned weapon, it was still where he had put it, against the wall, gleaming. The legendary weapon hadn't been the culprit behind his summon, that fault rested with the wizards that had cast the ritual. Or maybe they had only started the ritual, and the weapons themselves did the rest, they did after all appear to have some kind of semi-sentience. But how was he suppose to make any sense of anything that occurred, since most of the absolute laws that ruled his previous existence, had been torn apart and apparently rendered useless before the awesome power of magic.
Stephen Hawkings, would have jumped in joy no pun intended, if he could see this cluster-fuck now... Thinking about cluster fuck, he turn his attention towards his guests.
Motoyasu, had yet to stop his inspection of the room, everything in is body speaking of excitement, not all that different from a child that had just gotten a new toy to play with. Ren on the other hand was in his own world, seating in the same chair, eyes darting in different directions, the only indication that he was in fact playing around with the status window. If he were to be honest he had been avoiding looking into it. Not only was it unnatural, but it would change his perception of the world, another stake driving his very being deeper, into the reality of his new existence.
Putting aside those thoughts, he looked at the last occupant of his room, who like Ren was playing with the interface. He probably had figured it out how to use it, or one of the heroes had pointed it out for him, after all from what he remembered, Naofumi had been pretty hopeless in the beginning. If things where to go down like in canon, the poor bastard would very soon be going through a ton of shit. Ryou did feel a small amount of pity, but he wasn't righteous enough to interfere with that particular can of worms, for more then a couple of reasons.
Among them, the fact that what had happen in the story didn't necessarily translate into this reality, and if it did, Naofumi for all the shit that had been tossed is way, had almost single handed carried the story forward. For sure his reasons had been to protect people, and before that, survival, Ryou could relate to the last one at least. After all, he had to find ways to fight, and survive in this new world, and that would include not setting off any 'red flags', and remain low, no matter how selfish that sounded.
The rest of the time until evening, went flying. They had been offered dinner that chances were, was exactly the type of feast one would see in a royal party. Far too much food for the four of them to reasonably eat, but that actually was on par with his knowledge of noble's mentality. Nobles always had to show their power in whatever form, and that included the amount of food offered.
The rest of the evening passed with some small talk between the four. Strangely enough, there had been no jokes made at Naofumi's weapon expense, but Ryou had written it off has a natural consequence of his presence instead of Itsuki's. After that, they had all returned to their rooms, trying to find some form of rest from the tiring events that had occurred.
Now, sleepless hours later on his bed, Ryou could not help but miss the idle chatter of the others. While initially annoying, the nonsensical conversation had take him away from his thoughts, and given him a small sense of normalcy. Now alone, those very dreaded thoughts had returned with impunity. From the waves that would not allow him to run even if that was what he wanted to do, to a world full of creatures that defiled all laws of nature. and it would get even worse. An image of a women wielding fans as her weapon appeared in his head…
Glass… She would come, hopefully she wouldn't, but he couldn't bet his life on it. A woman, that even Naofumi at his very best up until that point, hadn't been able to touch. In the story the Shield Hero had be forced to retreat or perish. And after that, the Spirit Turtle... A being that might has well be this world equivalent to one of the Nine-tailed beasts from Naruto, capable of razing entire villages to the ground. What else would he have to face even if he could survive until then, what other horrors would await him…
Launching himself off the bed he got up, he had to get away, the walls that surround him were stealing his ability to breathe properly. He needed somewhere to clear his head, to get a breath of fresh air.
Closing the door of his room, he found a maid suspiciously standing just a few meters away from his door. When she heard the door closing, and noticed him, the maid was by his side in moments, bowing.
"Is there anything you desire Yuusha-sama?" Small miracle that she was bowing and had not seen Ryou flinching at the mention of his new official title. Such a thing was repulsive... Everywhere he looked, everything he heard, all of it seem intent on making him accept his fate. No wonder he felt like he was suffocating.
"Hmm yeah, I couldn't sleep you see, so I was wondering if there was some place I could get some fresh air." It was awkward, for him to be addressed and to address someone who was showing so much respect for him. The maid had never met his person, and yet just based on some legend she was bowing and treating him like he was some foreign Noble.
"His Majesty, as requested that the heroes should not leave the Castle before there audience for their own safety." Of course he would, no way would the king, name forgotten at the moment, would let his precious heroes out and about, especially before he could negotiate with them. The maid seem to ponder something before apparently coming to a conclusion, and continuing..
"If its just some fresh air, then Melty-sama's personal garden is just down the stairs through the right, although I urge you Yuusha-sama from doing something that would damage it, her highness takes great pride, and loves her garden." That made sense, Melty was after all the crown princess, having a personal garden was just fitting.
Reassuring the maid yet again, that he would only go stretch his legs, and had no intention of damaging the garden in any way, he was on his way in a fast pace. He wondered if she was expecting him to start throwing magic around the Crown's princess garden. Even if he could he wouldn't. Pissing off Melty, of all people by making a mess of her garden on his first night, sounded like an horrible idea.
After explaining the situation again, to a pair of guards that were most likely doing rounds around the Castle, he reached his destination.
Taking a deep breath of the night air, his eyes explored his surroundings. It was a inner garden like he had expected vases and flower beds everywhere along with at least a couple of tree's . During the day it would most likely be a breathtaking sight, but now he had a difficult time identifying the different colors. All in all it was more of a botanical garden then an inner one.
Finally spotting what looked like a bench, Ryou decided it would be as good as any place to sit and enjoy the light breeze. Half away he was forced to stop by the sudden appearance of a bright yellow light in his arm. Spooked he could only cover his face with an arm while shaking the other shining one. After a few moments the light died down, Ryou lowered his arm, and took notice of the new accessory in his wrist. It was a golden bracelet, something he would never be caught dead wearing, but the most ominous thing about it, was the familiar Yellow round jewel still shining, encroached in it.