Rising of the Support Hero by Star Sage
It was night. That…wasn't unusual. Nights happened like clockwork. Every day had one. What was off about this one was both how late and early it was, the clock on the screen before me saying it was almost three in the morning. Three hours past midnight, three til dawn, and far past the point I should have been in bed, instead of looking at a white text box slowly filling with formulas and words.
I ignored that, and the slight ache in my back as I leaned forward in my chair. I should have put this project away hours ago, not just to go to bed, but to do other things. But I was now invested. The information I was gathering was important, if not to myself, then to the ages, as I tabbed back over to the other window, and slowly it resolved not into just text, but flashy graphics as well.
The game was still paused where I'd left it, the numbers of the prior attack flashing over the enemy, which swirled with dark magic. Seriously, it was a nice bit of fluff for the game, but I was focused on the numbers as I slowly looked over the options menu a bit, and then unpaused the game, quickly hitting start to look through my stats, and comparing them with my enemies, and then going back to the text box in the other window.
A moment later, I was back in the game, and hitting the monster with another attack, this one themed on a different element. Song. It was a play I'd been wondering about, but it was hard to get a Song element weapon, let alone find the proper smithing skills to get it to a decent attack. But I'd been working on this one, and I smiled as I clicked the keyboard for a moment ,and watched the notes fly.
The numbers, just as I'd expected, were higher, and I almost cried a little, quickly winning the fight(It was a random mob, even if a late game one), and then tabbing back to the game's wiki. A few minutes later, I'd filled in the sheet, detailing what I'd found, and the damage formula for Song based attacks against this type of enemy, a topic that I knew would be debated by…well the eight of us playing the game lately, tomorrow.
I was still riding that high, enjoying what I'd discovered, and was just about to close my eyes, and drift off to sleep in my chair again(a bad habit, but darn it, I'd earned it tonight), when something popped into my inbox. Letting one eye open, I was shocked to see it was a short mail from another game wiki, one I'd been adding to a few months back, and I looked at the clock beneath the notification.
It was betraying me. Somehow, between my last look and this one, it was almost an hour later. Four in the morning was fast approaching, and I had work in less than five hours. I could probably deal with the mail tomorrow. It wouldn't have been anything too important. Dimensional Sign(an in joke as it had been going to be called Dimensional Wave at some point, but that had fallen through due to an old game/anime franchise), was barely being played anymore.
I was about to get up from my chair and take the long walk back to my bed, when I looked back at the notification, and sighed. This would bother me, I knew it would, if I didn't at least take a minute to look into it, and so I clicked on it, the notification taking me to my inbox, and filling my screen with what looked like a cool screen shot of some lore fluff from the game, making me wake up a bit more.
This was some good stuff. There was an image with some weird text below it. The image was of four heroes, one with a Shield kneeling to the edge, obviously using it to defend an archer with a grand looking Bow, who was hitting something off to the side. Meanwhile there were two others, one with a spear, the other with a sword, both seemingly ready to fight at still more foes to the other side.
It was a good image, and one I realized was part of the class select screen in Dimensional Sign. You picked one of the four archetypes, and then ran with it. The Tank, the Support, the DPS, or the Jack-of-All-Stats. The Shield, the Bow, the Sword, and the Spear respectively. Mind, the game was like those old Spirit-Likes from By Soft a few years ago, in that you were only starting with those attributes, and could build anything.
Smiling, I remembered my first time playing Dimensional Sign, it had only been a few years ago…gods I was old. Regardless, it was a fun, if somewhat janky game. It was a 'do-anything' RPG with loads of quests and a big world to protect from 'The Demonic Waves', thus the joke, Sign-Wave, for the naming convention. It had been one of my joys to grind up a character to max level, and do 'everything' the game offered.
I'd perfected my stats with my support build, using 'assist' characters, mostly AI helpers, and then buffing them to insane power houses, and tearing through the demon things. Always love playing a summoner class. Still smiling, I read some of the text, or tried to, but my eyes were blurring, my head hurting, and I removed my glasses for a moment to rub them, before opening them again.
Now the image was blinking…that was weird. It was interactable? I had nothing better to do, and shrugging, decided to click it, specifically on the Bow, which, compared to the other weapon, was highly detailed in the image. Someone obviously had a favorite. I did too, honestly, and I was still smiling as I clicked it, expecting to be taken to some event page or something where I could see what had changed in a year with the game.
"What in the," I said aloud, as instead of taking me to a page, the mouse pointer vanished. Not like, it simply disappeared, but more like it had shot into the monitor. Clicking the mouse again, I was then witness to the weirdest visual bug I'd seen yet, as the monitor began to crack. Like I could hear it start to crack like glass, which was weird for a screen that wasn't, and I figured it was part of the link or something.
Then it kept going. I mean, it kept going when it hit the edge of my monitor, into the air, and my eyes went wide, as I thought, if only for a moment, that I was going crazy, or maybe my bad habits were catching up to me and I was having a stroke. I certainly wasn't asleep, not with the pain I felt, but regardless of what it was, I watched, turning my head as the spiderweb of cracks with increasing speed went from my monitor, and soon covered the room around me.
It was still looking confused, probably with a stupid look on my face, when it shattered. The world. It broke apart and shattered, and suddenly, I was elsewhere. This was enough to leave me screaming, as I saw beyond the veil of reality. Hopeforge had written about this stuff in his novels on elder gods and things like that, my mind helpfully dredging up a memory about it, and the horrible things stuff like that did to the mind, as I began to fall.
My scream caught in my throat as I flipped end over end for a moment, and I closed my eyes, willing all this to be over, for me to wake up in a hospital bed, with my bitchy sister being all worried and junk, especially since I took her away from whatever her son was doing right now. I wouldn't even complain about how stupid it was to play sports or anything if I was with her things time.
Then I felt a 'puff' from beneath me, my fall speed slowing down until it was almost nothing, as I floated, almost weightless for a moment. Then dropped like a sack of potatoes, my body slamming into a cold, hard, and most importantly STONE floor. That landing knocked the air from my lungs, and my glasses fell off, bouncing against the floor, and making me quickly scramble for them.
It was only as I had them in my fingers that I realized the floor was covered in glowing lines, bits of weird runes and stuff that I could, somehow, see perfectly, reading them as if they were part of some game guide. The things were words, but arranged and flowery things, like poems without purpose, as they said something about summoning across the aether and the like, making me squint a bit at them, before I followed them up to the edge of the glowing circle, and saw the guys standing around me.
"Fantastic! The summoning was a success!" says one of the men, wearing robes that were just shy of culty, mostly because they looked way too expensive for the typical ones. Though the black and gold color schemes were not encouraging, as I looked around some more, and saw I was not the only one laying on the floor, as three more men, about half my age by the look of them, were laying down beside me, and we all slowly got up.
I hoisted myself up on a stick in my hand, and realized with a start, that 'stick' was a bow. Like, a nice normal-sized bow, neither a short bow, nor a longbow, though in my hands it looked fairly short, something I was acutely aware of as I forced my now sore body to its feet, and towered over the group around me.
"Brave heroes, won't you please save our world from pure evil?" asked the same guy who'd talked about summoning, and the other three began to look around too…all three stopping on my chest, mostly because they then had to look up as not one of these guys was over six feet, which meant me being almost seven towered over them, and for a moment, I thought they were staring because of that.
"Um…why are you naked?" asked the spear guy at last, and I looked down to realize I was NOT naked…but I was in my underwear, which caused the three guys, and the robed people to stare at me even more intently before I shrugged, and then looked myself over, realizing as I did so, I was seeing with perfect clarity. That was not normal for me, given my glasses were in my left hand, the bow in my right.
That got me to look closer at the bow in my hand, and it looked…fancy was the only word I could think of. I was still looking it over when I heard a grunt and looked up, the leader of the robed men having been elbowed by his compatriot to the side. Obviously, I was a distraction, given everyone else here was wearing clothing. Not fancy stuff or the like, but still, being in my undies was unusual.
"Brave heroes, please, we implore you, our world is in dire need of saving," he said after stumbling over a few words, and I look back at him, then down at the other guys, who are likewise inspecting their weapons. The sword guy's eyes are looking weird. Gods I do not like that look. The spear looked dumbfounded by his own weapon, blonde to his soul probably. The shield looked down at his own weapon with a look that just said 'confused'.
So not a stroke then. Not that I couldn't see myself creating people like them, one a wannabe hero, one a dumb blonde, and the last a normal guy. Heck I'd have written them as a group in an instant for some quest in a game, usually as some NPC hangers on. But more importantly, their faces. I had never seen them before in my life, and sleeping minds weren't too good at coming up with new ones.
"What do you mean, 'dire need'? Are we gonna go fight a dragon in a minute or something?" I ask at last, and the others seem to look up at the mention of a dragon, but the man in robes shakes his head.
"Our world tetters on the brink of destruction, and we are in desperate need of saviors. Please, will you lend us your aid and save our world?" asked the robed guy again, he and his backup mages, or at least I assumed they were mages, bowing their heads towards us, causing us to look at each other for a moment. Well, I looked at them, as I was on the right side of the group, everyone just sort of tried to ignore me. It was like these guys had never walked around in their underwear before.
"That's gonna be a hard no from me," said Spear, shouldering his weapon behind him in a very casual way, meanwhile Sword was far more direct, pointing his weapon at the head robed man.
"I would have to agree. We want no part in a fight that isn't ours, especially after being drawn here against our will," he declared, and feeling the vibe in the room, I decided, why not add to it.
"Yeah, besides, even if we help, it's not like people in our position get to take stuff home with them. I bet the moment we try it turns to brass or something. So unless you can provide a reward equal to the danger, I'll be taking my own leave, thank you very much," I said, looking out of the corner of my eye, expecting Shield to speak up, but he just looked numbly ahead. Well, maybe Spear wasn't the dumbest of us after all.
"Ah, yes, rewards! I understand, and I apologize for so forcefully dragging you from your homes. Please, the King of Our Land, Melromac, is waiting for the four of you. You may consult with him directly on the matter of your compensation," he said, sounding…less put off than I was expecting. Either they'd gotten this before, or they were used to people wanting money for work. Good, it was easier to deal with those sorts than the ones that wanted you to do it for free.
We began to follow the robed guys, Priests not Mages, of the Three Heroes church when I asked. That set off an alarm bell or two, but, given they'd summoned four, I figured it was something stupid like a counting error. Before we'd exited the chamber, a maid looking woman rushed it, and handed me a set of robes, for which I thanked her, and slipped them on, only to find they were for someone almost a foot shorter than I was.
The mages with us looked at me, then said something harsh to the maid, though it was outside of my earshot. Still, they didn't treat her right, but she shuffled off before I could say anything. We then began to climb a tower. A large set of winding stairs, which made me groan, only to realize that, like my eyes were better, my legs were better, stronger even, as I almost floated up them, looking out of small windows at the city below.
"Hmm, looks like a standard pastoral area. Wouldn't look out of place in a few anime I used to follow," I commented on, as we passed one lovely sweeping view of the city.
"It is. Even the air feels different, like something you'd see in a travel brochure," added Shield.
"The breeze is sweet and pleasant, likely a mediterranean climate," said Sword.
"So, you've never traveled a lot I take it?" I ask, and Shield nods, seemingly embarrassed, though I'd asked the question in earnest.
"Yeah, never been outside of Japan," he responds, and I suddenly have a revelation, that the three men around me are Japanese, the guards and such are mixed, which is…they were speaking Japanese, meaning I should have had about as much chance of understanding them as a blind man trying to read Latin.
"Heh, it's okay, young man. I've not seen much like this myself. Kind of surprised we can breathe it in, honestly," I tell him, which does cause the others, as we start back up, to look at me, and I shrug. Kids today.
"Well, that kind of view would happen around three to twelve hundred years ago. Humans hadn't burned quite as many things, wood, coal and the like, so the air composition of the whole planet was different, changing slowly over centuries. We today are breathing in air of a completely different type than our ancient ancestors," I answer the unasked question, and we proceed up to the castle's courtyard, halting all conversation as we see the lovely keep ahead.
By the time we got to the top, I got myself a second set of robes, this time slightly longer, and the shoes fit a little better. Not great, honestly. Could have used more width, but they worked for me, and you could only see the tops of my ankles now. That done, we proceeded into the throneroom, where a big guy with a crown sat in a chair.
"So, you four you..men are the Four Cardinal Heroes of ancient legend?" he told us as we stood before him in a line. I was probably the reason for the stumble. The others were probably early to mid twenties, youthful vigor still present in their bodies. I was a bit bulkier, and had a weight of years as well. The fact that I probably outweighed any two of the others was also an interesting point.
"This is the land of Melromarc, and I am her King, Aultcray Melromarc the Thirty-Second," he said in that voice that was just shy of being the 'I'm in charge voice' you might hear from a management type. Still, he looked regal enough to me, so I decided to pay attention to him, instead of continuing to inspect my weapon.
"Welcome brave heroes, Please identify yourselves," he said, and I looked around at the nobles, knights, and robed figures lining the room. This was probably a good way to introduce us to the kingdom that so wanted us to save them. There didn't seem to be an order, but before I could say anything, Sword stepped forward, holding up his weapon, and inexplicably making the 'schwing' sound, as if he were drawing it from a scabbard.
"My name is Ren Amaki. I'm a high school student, and I'm 16 years old," he declared, as if he were reading off a character sheet. That said, sixteen huh? I would have pegged him for early twenties for sure. Mind, he was short, and probably pretty light, so perhaps I was just bad at guessing ages. Before anyone else could say anything, Spear stepped forward, holding his weapon over his shoulder.
"I'm Motoyasu Kitamura. College student, 21," he said with a tone like we should be happy to know him. Gods, I had friends like him when I was in college. That said, it was odd. I knew Ren and Motoyasu were personal names, and while I had never heard Kitamura before, Amaki was a family name. Perhaps the translation of words was reversing them to something I'd be familiar with?
It took me a second to realize I had people looking at me, and that they for some reason thought It should go next. Not sure why, I would probably prefer to go last, but since they were putting me on the spot, I looked at my weapon, and realized I didn't want to give my real name. It was a magical world after all, who knew what people could do with it. So I smiled and stepped forward, holding my own weapon up.
"My name is Bard Bowman. I'm 32 years young, not in school anymore, I work as an engineer back home," I tell them. Obviously, it's not my real name, but the name of the guy from the Hobbit with his bow, but it will work. Stepping back, I motion for Shield to step forward, he smiles and nods at me, but even as he takes his place, the King claps his hands, cutting off any words he was about to speak.
"Good, strong names for our heroes. Ren, Motoyasu, Bard," he declared, and the Shield guy was, quite rightly, miffed, I held my tongue however, as he took another step forward.
"Yo, King! Aren't you forgetting someone?" he demanded, and I sighed. I wasn't feeling he was wrong to be angry, but this guy was obviously royalty. Take the slight now, and embarrass him later…or find a way to screw him over. That wasn't a game thing, that was life. Sometimes the bosses were jerks.
"Uh…oh yes, forgive me," responded the King, looking…not angry, just slightly annoyed, like he hadn't wanted to talk to Shield at all. Strange.
"He's rude, but we need to be polite for the moment. 'Yo, king' is out of line, give him some respect as a possible way home and mission contact," I told him in a whisper that…well it carried so everyone heard it, and I hope they did. The King WAS rude after all, but he was also a good source of info and possibly stuff.
"So what then? 'His Majesty'?" asked Shield, sounding genuine in his ask, and I was about to say 'His Grace' would likely be more appropriate, but the King chose to clear his throat before I could, drawing our eyes back to him.
"'King' is fine," he told him, and Shield smirked…gods this guy was stupid. Respect now, backstab later. I blame Japanese culture honestly. They didn't do that to their bosses.
"Alright, whatever you prefer. My name is Naofumi Iwatani, college student, 20 years old," he sounded casual when he said it, as he stood there. He was however making a scene as the King continued speaking, and he looked annoyed. Like…what was he expecting? We just got back into line after we'd introduced ourselves. Stand back for a moment, kid, and let the adult in the room say his piece. And so we learned what was happening in this world.