Chapter 3 - Realization and a Change of Course

The Rising of the Attack Helicopter

Chapter 3 – Realization and a Change of Course

Author's Note: Well, this is the last chapter of exposition. It's kind of sad that I've not even covered half of the first episode so far, but this chapter will cover the rest of the episode. From now on, each chapter will cover approximately a full episode, but instead of old Naofumi we get to follow the more intriguing adventures of David!

David and the other three heroes waded into the throne room as two guards clad in armor opened the door.

What stood before them was a strange sight, one only replicated at the most pathetic of comic book conventions.

Men and women dressed up like comic book characters or very bad imitations of medieval characters were lined up in front of the king.

David and the three other heroes walked up to the group of oddly dressed individuals, wondering what they should do.

Fortunately, the king was willing to explain.

"We have gathered brave warriors who will fight the Waves with you."

David looked at the strangely dressed men and women, but he didn't see anything special among the lot of them. This is when he came to realize something.

If everybody here only has medieval weaponry, then what would happen if someone possessed an AR-15?

That was a thought he needed to keep at the forefront of his mind. It could really impact the course of his future actions, or maybe how the "Waves" would be fought.

Sadly, he wasn't quite familiar with the metals around here, although he did learn some quite advanced metallurgy due to his years of experience in engineering and manufacturing. Also, where would he find the materials to produce large amounts of smokeless powder?

Well, this means the most important person to him would be an experienced blacksmith, metalworker, or an alchemist.

But first, better listen to what the king has to say.

"Our future champions. Time to begin your journey!"

The strangely dressed adventurers before them walked abreast towards the heroes.

Who would they pick? David wondered.

He prayed for someone who was at least somewhat knowledgeable in smithing, metalworking or alchemy.

Lamentably, god wasn't on his side today.

The only members of his party were two young women and an average looking man with an iron breastplate and leather straps.

They probably weren't going to help him very much, but he'd keep them for now. Maybe they could find him some materials.

Surprisingly enough, although he got three, Motoyasu got four and Ren got five. Naofumi got absolutely no one.

Naofumi was fuming.

"Yo King! Why is no one in my party!"

The king responded calmly.

"Well, that is unfortunate. However, rumors have emerged that you are ignorant, and they have spread like wildfire around town."

Just as Naofumi was in despair, a redhead woman stood up.

"Would you allow me to join the Shield Hero?"

The answer was quite quick.

"YES!" Naofumi cried.

The king summed up his speech.

"Naofumi will have to recruit the rest of his party somewhere else. Here are your war chests. Please accept them. You will get 600 silver each while Naofumi will get 800 since he has less members. Good luck on your adventures!"

As soon as David heard those words, he bolted out of the castle at maximum speed, leaving the other heroes and his own party members in the dust.

Even though he was in his 30s, his physical capabilities were top notch. He could hear his party members struggling to catch up in the distance.

After a few miles of running, David slowed down. Finally! He was out of that scary castle. Now he had all the freedom in the world to explore and figure out what to do.

"Wait! Sir Hero! We've yet to introduce ourselves!" one of the young women shouted.

"Alright. Well, sorry for bolting out like that, but I just wanted to get out of the castle grounds, now that we're all far away, please introduce yourselves."

"My name is Rojeel"." The man with the iron breastplate and leather straps said.

"My name is Welst". Said the girl with the magenta hair and a cloak.

"My name is Eda." Said the girl with the blonde hair.

"Well, we have our group." David said. "Now, does anyone know any good blacksmith, metalworkers or alchemists?"

"Well, I know where an alchemist is, and I know a good blacksmith where we could buy gear from, but I have no clue where a metalworker could be." Eda said shyly.

"Let's get on with it then." Said David hurriedly.

After the better part of an hour, David and his party had reached the smithy. On the way, he saw fantastical creatures and magical acts being performed all around him. There was no doubt in his mind.

This was no longer the world he was from.

This was a whole new world he was in.

As David peered through the window, he was thoroughly disappointed.

The only things inside the smithy were a sad excuse of metalworking. They were armaments and armor of the lowest, crudest quality imaginable. Also, this confirmed his previous assumption.

This world truly had no modern weaponry.

A plan began to brew inside his head.

"Well, it's time to head out." David said. Let's go look for an alchemist or a metalworker in this city, since the smithy has nothing we would need. Maybe hit a restaurant or a pharmacy along the way.

As David concluded his sentence, something strange caught his eye.

No, the people here could not be so barbaric. This was the middle ages, but even the middle ages weren't so harsh.

A small child, not even a teenager, was struggling to drag an oversized wagon packed with merchandise. Bruises and scars littered their body. David was agape. He didn't know what to do.

He hurried onwards and looked further. The same scene repeated itself.

Children with animal features were forced to carry and work in the dingiest of conditions, without rest, and they were whipped without hesitation.

How barbaric was this country? Did the people here have no morals, no hearts?

David continued onwards, walking in long strides, quite disappointed. He wanted to do something about it, but he couldn't. It was just too widespread and common. One man alone couldn't take out a whole institution.

Well, slavery was banned for a few hundred years before the middle ages, David thought. This must just be serfdom or indentured servitude.

The members of David's party were confused at David's bemusement. They could not realize why he was so upset and distraught.

As David was caught up in his thoughts, something caught his eye.

High quality metal.

Something he had not seen since he left the States.

Something that would put master craftsmen of the Midwest to shame.

Who created such a masterpiece?

The answer lay before him.

A young teenager, quite handsome, with raven black hair and a chiseled face, and quite strangely what appeared to be bear ears and a bear tail, was hammering hot metal while whistling a sad tune.

Suddenly, an ugly, obese man with a whip ran out and started whaling on the lad.

The unrelenting storm of hits refused to spare the kid. He was wincing in pain but doing nothing about it.

He looked around.

David's party members and the public acted like this was normal. Eda was nudging him to continue. Rojeel was motioning him to move on.

He just couldn't.

With the speed of rocket reaching escape velocity, David sprinted towards the scene with all my might. He grabbed the man's collar and pinned him against the wall.

The fat man was stunned.

So was the public, David's party and the boy himself.

No one could comprehend why David just did that.

But David just did.

"Why. The. Hell. Were. You. Beating. Up. That. Kid." David said in a threatening voice. "What did he do wrong?"

The fat man, quite upset, replied in a furious tone.

"Why the hell do you care! He's my slave! Also, he was whistling while working. That isn't allowed?"

"Slave? Did you say Slave? Did I hear you correctly?" David responded in a scarily calm voice.

"Yes Slave. And what's wrong with me dealing with him? He is my property after all." The fat man replied as if this was normal.

"I'll have you arrested for this; you hear. I'll bring you before the king this instant. Surely this is illegal." David spoke in an unnerving voice.

"Nope, it's totally legal. The enslavement of humans is illegal. Demi-Humans, those who are less than human, is not though. In fact, it's quite widespread." The fat man continued.

David threw a punch at the fat man.

Then another.

Then two more.

Pretty soon, the fat man's face was a bloody pulp.

"Stop beating me up, you hear? What do you want?"

"Give me the boy." Said David.

"Well, what if I don't?" asked the fat man.

David slapped the fat man with a bag of 50 silver.

"Take this." He spoke.

"This isn't near enough silver! Are you joking me! Master metalworkers like him are worth at least 5000 silver." The fat man yelped.

"It's either 50, or your life. No one in the government will dare mess with me. Do you comprehend?" David menacingly stated.

"Fine, you asshole. Take him." The fat man sighed. He'd rather keep his life, after all. This strange man with a bow was not one to be messed with.

"I'll take you to Beloukas. He'll perform the slave seal transfer ritual, although it'll cost you another 50."

"Alright, where is he?" asked David.

"Three blocks down this road, then take the first right." The fat man replied.

"Got it." Before the fat man knew what was going on, David sprinted towards his destination, with the fat man and the metalworker kid in tow. The party members chased after them.

Soon after, they were at Beloukas' place.

It was truly horrifying.

As soon as they stepped in, a short man with a strange top hat and a tuxedo with purple feathers greeted them.

"Hello dear customers! What is it that you may need?"

The fat man promptly spoke.

'These people attacked me and forced me to transfer my slave seal. Please get it done immediately so I can be set free! I've already lost enough in one day. Please at least let me keep my life.

"Understood. That'll be 50 silver please." Beloukas stated.

David immediately paid up.

"Please, follow me into this room. We must perform a ritual to transfer the seal." Beloukas said. "While we're at it, want to buy a filolial? I'll sell it to you for 250. That's 50% off!"

"What's a filolial?" David asked.

"Well, it's a very large, flightless bird, that can haul large objects around. It enjoys hauling wagons and can even defend you from dangerous creature s and hostile enemies.

"Sure, I'll take one." David responded. After all, he needed a way out of the city.

After a few minutes, David walked out of the store with what appeared to be a very large chicken egg and a relieved boy. The fat man followed them.

"There. You're free!" David said to the boy. "And you are too, dirtbag."

"Finally! Can I be released now!" The fat man exclaimed.

"Sure thing, bud." David spoke as he chucked the fat man as far as he could. The fat man scurried off as soon as he got up.

"Lad, what is your name?" David asked the bear-eared teenager.

"I don't have one." The teen respectfully replied.

"Well now you do. Welcome to the party, Garry. We'll grab a bite at the closest restaurant, get some sleep and we'll hit the road north the next day. Understood?"

The rest of the party members nodded in agreement.

The adventure truly starts now.

Sorry for the slightly worse writing and the countless amounts of exposition and dialogue, but the truly good part of the story starts next chapter. I just needed to introduce most of the party, and I needed to rush it out before I could get to the good bits. Thank you for reading this far, and I promise the next chapter will be much better.

Chapter 4 out soon!