Royalty, Captain Meld and Status Plate

(Shirou's POV)

The magic circle started emitting a light that blinded everyone as Ishtar finished his chant. The entire pedestal started descending to the ground like an elevator. The students all whispered excitedly to each other as it was their first time seeing magic. Although I am not that surprised, I have to admit I was interested in this world's magic, maybe I could even learn it.

When the pedestal stopped, we could finally go to the ground below. We were greeted by a huge medieval city. There was also a castle there and when we got out, the people down there stopped what they were doing and were gawking at us, some of them even kneeled and started to pray, like "Thank you Lord Ehit, thank you for sending us heroes to combat evil!"

I could see everyone getting excited and full of expectation on their role as heroes and being praised and respected by the crowd. I sighed internally and closed my eyes briefly as I am sure they still didn't know the burden they will have to carry and the pressure of being a hero, and they were still viewing this as a game or some adventure in a fantasy novel.

Being a hero is to carry the hope of the majority, save people in need and lastly, fight and eliminate the "Evil". While doing this for the greater "Good", they will gain the trust of the civilians and royalty while at the same time raising their fame from their achievements and becoming a celebrity through various kingdoms. They also represented "Rightness", "Justice" and "Order", in other words, being the perfect model of everything that was good.

But being a hero isn't all rainbow-like in a fairy tale. The pressure and the burden of being one is immeasurable, having everyone's eyes on you won't allow you to make a single mistake. Especially the guilt of not saving one person in front of you will damage your self-confidence. It is also a road full of regrets and bloodshed of both allies and enemies, be it the sacrifice of the allies or a close friend, to the massacre of the enemy side. The quote "It is impossible to save everyone" applies everywhere, to have a winner, there will always be a loser. And the guilt and the regret of their past actions will torment you for the rest of your life.

I shook my head and decided to not give too much thought to this matter and followed the class to a magic vehicle that would lead to the royal palace. There, we were escorted by the guards. Along the way, we saw knights, servants, maids, etc, and like the people from before, they were looking at us with awe and wonder. It seems most people were aware that we were summoned from another world.

We stopped in front of a massive double door with golden ornaments. There were also 2 guards on each side of the door and when they saw us, they loudly announced our arrival while opening the door.

Ishtar immediately passed through the door and the students nervously followed behind him. Except for me and Kouki's group.

When we entered, there were 4 people sitting on the throne, a middle-aged man, a woman, a girl and a young boy, both of them had blond hair. They were the King, Queen, Princess and the young Prince, respectively. Next to them, there were soldiers and knights lining the throne. They introduced themselves along with the knight captain and prime minister. The King's name was Eliheid S. B. Heiligh, and the queen was called Luluaria. The boy was prince Lundel, and the girl the princess Liliana.

I noticed that the prince was looking constantly at Kaori and Sakura. So I took a note mentally to be careful of him if he plans to do anything.

Then after the introductions, we had a huge feast and it was a new experience for me to taste different dishes from another world, there was even a rainbow coloured drink.

During the feast, the prince spent most of the time talking to Kaori and Sakura, so I went beside Sakura and accompanied her to show him my territory. I think it was effective as I saw him retreat a little when he looked at my eyes, so he just talked to Kaori, which the boys gave them a worried look. I just decided to ignore it.

After we finished our meal, we were introduced to the instructors. The instructors chosen by the king were from the ranks of active duty knights and court magicians, probably to strengthen the relationship between our class and the kingdom.

After the dinner, they led us to our individual rooms, which were exaggeratedly luxurious and huge for 1 person. I laid on the bed that could fit 4 people in it and closed my eyes.

(In ???)

*Clang!* *Clang!* *Clang!*

"Huh?" I heard the sound of swords clashing and opened my eyes. I looked around and I found myself standing on the stairs of a mountain surrounded by a deep forest.

"I am dreaming again…," I muttered as I heard the sound of clashing swords again.

*Clang!* *Clang!* *Clang!*

I looked up and saw the same tanned man that I saw every time in my dreams fighting a man with long indigo hair tied into a ponytail and indigo eyes. He was wearing a traditional light purple umanori hakama and kimono, light purple tabi and black zori with purple haori and tekkou. He was using a long katana to fight the tanned skinned man.

They were fighting so intensively that I almost couldn't accompany their movements without pushing [Reinforcement] in both of my eyes.

Suddenly, the moment I landed my eyes at the tanned skinned man's twin short swords, I felt that I was attracted to it. The craftsmanship of the blades were captivating and beautiful and as if they were calling me, I focused on them and decided to memorize their forms and the man's fighting style.

I was amazed at their fight and I even started to imagine myself in the place of the tanned skinned man, analysing every movement he did, his posture. But suddenly I felt something pull my consciousness, and before I passed out, I took a glimpse of a blonde girl wearing a blue battle dress armour holding an invisible object in one hand and holding a young boy who looked exactly like me in the other.

(Timeskip - Next Morning)

I woke up and tried to recall my dream, no, this can't be called a dream anymore. At this point, I am sure these are memories of someone.

As today was the start of our training, after everyone had breakfast, we headed to a spacious room with shining stones on the ceiling and opened windows on the wall. This is the place where we will train, then they gave us a silver plate. Then Meld, the knight captain, started explaining its functions.

(Image here←)

"Alright, you kids all got your plates? We call them status plates. As their name suggests, they take various parameters and quantify them for you. They also make for great identification cards. So long as you've got these, you'll be fine even if you get lost somewhere, so hang onto them tight, you hear?" He just casually said to us without any formality and due to this, everyone got along easily with him.

"You'll see that one side of the plate has a magic circle inscribed on it. Use the needles I passed out to prick your finger and drip some blood onto the circle. That will identify you as the owner of the plate. Then, if you say 'Open Status,' you'll see your current stats displayed on the plate. Oh, and don't bother asking me how it works. I've got no clue. These things are artifacts left over from ancient times."

"Artifacts?" Kouki asked.

"Artifacts refer to powerful magical items that we no longer have the technology to reproduce. They were supposedly all made during the Age of The Gods when the creator's descendants still walked the earth. The status plates you all hold are all artefacts from that era as well, but they're the only artefacts that still see widespread use to this day. Most other artefacts are coveted national treasures, but there are enough of these plates that even average citizens own. It's helpful since they're made for very reliable identification,"

Once he finished explaining, everyone gingerly pricked their fingers and rubbed the blood that welled up onto the magic circle of their plates. The magic circles flared briefly as the blood touched them. I also rubbed some blood onto my plate.

I was surprised when my plate suddenly flared up briefly and turned into an aqua colour, and it seems the others were surprised too.

Meld continued his explanation of the status plate. He said each person has his own distinct colour of mana and when their information was entered into their plates, the plates changed colour to match it.

I looked at my own plate and nodded. This was like a passport but reliable as you can't duplicate one and all colours were different.

I looked around and saw that Hajime's was sky blue, Sakura was dark purple like her hair, and Kouki's was predictably pure white. Ryutarou was dark green, Kaori's a very light purple, and Shizuku's was the deep blue of lapis lazuli.

"I realize you're all impressed, but don't forget to check your stats, okay?" Captain Meld smiled wryly as he reminded the students to confirm their stats. His voice brought everyone all back to their senses and the students gave Meld a brief look before hurriedly checking their stats.

I returned my gaze to the plate and saw my status.

[Emiya Shirou | Age: 17 | Male | Level: 1

Job: Magus

Strength: 70

Vitality: 80

Defense: 60

Agility: 80

Magic: 120

Magic Defense: 70

Skills: Incarnation of Sword [+ Weapon Appraisal] [+ Swordsmanship] - Archery - Clairvoyance - Magecraft - Projection - Reinforcement - Structural Grasp - Magic Resistance - Language Comprehension]

I nodded at myself and then I heard Meld continue his explanation.

"Everyone got a good look at their stats? Alright, let me explain them from the top. First, we have your level. See it? That number grows as your other stats grow. The highest level is 100, and when you've reached that you're at your limits as a human being. In other words, one's current level shows how much of their full potential they've realized. Reaching 100 means unlocking all of your latent potential, and is a cap beyond which you cannot grow. Very few people manage to make it to level 100, though,"

So it wasn't exactly like a game, since raising your stats increases your level and not the other way around.

"Your stats will naturally increase as you train, and you can also use magic or magic-imbued items to raise your stats. Also, those with a high magic stat will naturally grow faster than others. No one knows exactly why, but we assume it's because a person's mana assists in the growth of other stats. Later on you'll all get to choose equipment that corresponds to your individual stats. The items in our treasury will be yours for the taking! You're the heroes who are going to save our kingdom after all!" According to Meld's explanation, defeating a monster wouldn't magically increase one's stats. So everyone just had to train the old fashioned way.

"Next up, do you all see that little box that says job in it? Put simply, that refers to your natural aptitude. It's directly linked to the skills box at the bottom, and your job determines the kind of skills you can learn. Few people possess a job. Jobs are split into combat-based and noncombat-based disciplines. Combat jobs are exceedingly rare. Only one in every thousand, or ten thousand depending on the job, people have a combat-based job. Non-combat jobs are technically rare too, but... well, one in every hundred people has one. Some of them are even common enough that one in every ten people has one, actually. There's a lot of people who have non-combat production-related jobs."

Then I looked at my job and I wasn't surprised when I saw there was [Magus]. Then Meld said that the stats of average for most normal people with level 1 is around 10. So I can guess how strong and valuable we were for the kingdom.

Then I looked around and saw some were happy and disappointed, but when I looked at Hajime, he was panicking, so I went to him and asked.

"Are you okay?", I asked in concern.

"Y-Yeah," He said hesitantly.

"Really?" I narrowed my eyes at him, I could feel something was wrong with him.

He seemed conflicted so I guess it has something to do with status.

"Show me your status plate,"

"A-Ah?"

"Show me your status plate,"

He hesitated for a moment before showing me his status.

[Nagumo Hajime | Age: 17 | Male | Level: 1

Job: Synergist

Strength: 10

Vitality: 10

Defense: 10

Agility: 10

Magic: 10

Magic Defense: 10

Skills: Transmutation - Language Comprehension]

Synergist? Although his stats are very low, the transmutation skill he has isn't bad, no it's better to say it depends on the intelligence and imagination of the individual and in my opinion, it is a good combination with Hajime.

"Why are you feeling so down Hajime? Is it because of your status or job? Or is it because you have only 2 skills?" I asked in confirmation, which he lowered his head.

"Are you an idiot?" I said as Hajime was surprised and raised his head, but I flicked his forehead.

"Argh!" Hajime groaned in pain as he held his forehead, "What's that for, Emiya-kun!?"

"Because you are stupid, baka," I said, "Just because you have a common job or a lower status doesn't mean you are weak. In fact, you have a very powerful weapon with you, but you haven't thought of using it yet,"

"And what is that weapon you are talking about?" Hajime asked as if he was doubting me.

Then I pointed at his head and said, "You have the knowledge about modern weapons, vehicles, etc, and combined with your skill [Transmutate], what would it be besides being powerful?" I asked him.

He widened his eyes and I could feel his excitement overflowing from him. I smiled as I could understand his excitement. I've read novels where the main character is transported to a fantasy world with only knowledge about modern weapons, and I don't even need to tell the results.

Then suddenly I heard a commotion from where Kouki was.

"Woo! As expected of Amanogawa-san!"

"You really fit to be the hero!"

"Incredible!"

Everyone started praising him and Meld was smiling at him and said in a surprised tone.

"Whoa, you really are a hero. You already have stats in the triple digits at level 1! And most people normally only get two or three skills! You're way beyond normal. What a reliable hero!"

"Well, you know how it is... Ahaha..." Kouki blushed and scratched his head as Meld praised him.

Then I also went there and I saw his status.

[Kouki Amanogawa | Age: 17 | Male | Level: 1

Job: Hero

Strength: 100

Vitality: 100

Defense: 100

Agility: 100

Magic: 100

Magic Defense: 100

Skills: Elemental affinity - Elemental Resistance - Physical Resistance - Advanced Sorcery - Swordsmanship - Superhuman Strength - Armor Proficiency - Foresight - Increased Mana Recovery - Detect Presence - Detect Magic - Limit Break - Language Comprehension]

Except for magic, his stats were higher than mine and he had more skills.

According to Meld, he was level 62. His stats were all within the 300 range, and he was one of the strongest humans alive. But at just level 1, Kouki was already a third of the way to his strength. If his growth rates were just as high, he'd overtake the captain in no time.

In addition, he also said that your skills were basically the innate talents you were born with, so there was no way to increase them. The exception being derivative skills. Those were skills that were acquired by spending a lifetime polishing one's talents, something one acquired by surpassing their limits in a certain field. Put simply, it was when someone suddenly discovered the trick to doing something they'd always struggled to do before and rapidly increased their proficiency with it.

Although I understand his statement, I feel like there was more than it and other ways to acquire skills. So I just shrugged it off and decided to think about this later.

And it seems almost everyone had a combat-based job except for Hajime and Aiko-sensei.

And when the boys who hated and envied Hajime discovered his stats and job, they found this opportunity to ridicule him and insult him.

"Seriously man, are you sure you can even fight?"

"So you are just as useless as always huh? How about you sit on the side and watch how we heroes save the day!"

"You will always be a shitty-NEET bwahahaha!"

"How are you going to fight? With a Hammer? Bwahahaha!"

Like this, almost everyone started laughing. Especially Daisuke Hiyama, who was the one who started mocking Hajime and adding more fire in this chaos.

(Image here←)

Then I saw Kaori was going to open her mouth to say something, but before she said something, Aiko-sensei shouted at them.

"Hey! Stop laughing at him! I won't allow anyone to laugh at their classmates on my watch! As a teacher, I absolutely will not condone it!"

They stopped laughing when they saw how furious Aiko-sensei was, but before she continued her repriming, Hajime said.

"It's okay sensei, even if I don't have a combat-oriented job, I have my own way to fight. Right, Emiya-kun?" He smiled at me.

I nodded and Kaori smiled and sighed in relief, which was noticed by the boys and made them grit their teeth in anger and looked hatefully at Hajime, but I looked back coldly at them which made them shut up.