Chapter 002: False Authority

Author: WolfSpatial

Co-Author: Lucifer

[To be a god you just have to make people believe you are.]

•••••

"How dare you!?" The King stood from his Throne, throwing his hand forward to point at me.

"Sit. Down." Despite my young age, I had practiced my deep voice for a long time and had gotten good at making it sound gravely and rough. I was glad to see that this talent had been slightly amplified in this new place.

The King gulped visibly, sitting back on his Throne so his legs didn't give out. He went to speak, but I interrupted him, "Do not ever think that you have power over me. I am a lighthearted man, for sure, but that does not mean some Gary Sue looking ass can tell me to kneel to him."

The three that kneeled glanced at each other before standing and nodding silently. Itsuki smiled softly, giving me the impression that maybe he thought I was cute or something. I mean, I was cute, but he wasn't my type.

"Now," Releasing my staff, I let it float next to me once more, "I believe that you have something to say to us? I doubt you brought us here just to flaunt your naivety."

The Priest spoke up in his place, "Please call out 'Status' to-"

"Information," I rejected his word and substituted my own. I was glad to see that it worked, however, as my 'Character Sheet' popped up and I looked it over.

At the moment, I had four skills and fairly low stats. I possessed the skills 'Magic Missile,' — a very basic mage skill that shot Mana at a target — 'Mage Armor,' — a spell that gave me a small film of Mana to cover my body and protect me from attacks — 'Mage Hand,' — a type of magic that manipulated Mana to achieve a telekinetic effect — and 'True Vision' — a skill I got from what my sheet called 'Demon Eye.'

I felt it was best not to disclose any of my skills, especially True Vision. So I simply looked around at the others. I was surprised to see that their sheets were out in the open for me to view.

Ren had two skills, 'Slash' — which, you guessed it, was an attack skill that swiped his blade at an enemy — and 'Block' — which used his blade to blade physical attacks from enemies. His highest stats were Strength, Vitality, and Dexterity; all valuable skills for anyone running a swordsman build.

Motoyasu had had three skills, 'Thrust,' — which was a puncturing skill where he shoved his spear forward — 'Sweep,' — which was a skill where he swiped the edge of his blade in a semi circular motion in front of him — and 'Block' — with which he could also block physical attacks. His highest stats were Strength and Vitality.

Strength and Vitality sometimes got confused, though not often. I thought of Strength as being how well you could pull a tractor, punch a steel beam, or rip an iron panel off a wall. I thought of Vitality as how long you could do those things before it started to tire you out and effect your physical health.

I found that Itsuki also had three skills, which set that as the average; 'Aim,' — which increased his accuracy when using ranged weapons — 'Shoot,' — which released his projectiles at higher speeds than normal bows — and 'Dodge' — which allowed Itsuki to evade attacks. Itsuki had high Dexterity and Agility.

The difference between those two stats were small, but important. Agility was what you could do with your legs; swimming, running, jumping, parkour, and sometimes horseback riding fell into this category.

Dexterity was the things you could do with your hands, and your reaction speed; playing an instrument, weaving a loom, pilfering money, picking locks, carving a piece of wood, drawing a bow, using a gun; those things fell under this category.

Itsuki was probably the only one I would have a problem with at the moment, though something made me doubt he would pick a fight with me.

Then, I turned my attention to Naofumi. He had three skill; 'Shield Bash,' — which was just him hitting an enemy with his little shield — 'Defense,' — which allowed him to brace better against an enemy's attack — and 'Taunt' — which I pictured was just him yelling loudly and gathering attention. His highest stats were Defense and Vitality.

They differed in that Vitality was more related to stamina consumption and your physical health itself, and Defense was just you not taking damage in the first place.

Personally, I had a high Magic stat. I wasn't sure of the exact effects, but I figured it was a mix between Intelligence and Wisdom from a popular tabletop game back home.

After looking at Naofumi's sheet, I decided not to get on his bad side. Him and Itsuki — the little twink with the bow — were currently my only counters. I could probably trip up Ren and Motoyasu with a well-timed Mage Hand, or fire a Magic Missile with such precision that they get seriously injured.

However, for the Shield Hero and Bow user, it would be different. First, Naofumi would probably be able to just shrug off whatever I threw at him and punch me in the face. Second, Itsuki could probably dodge whatever I did and shoot me.

I'd wager a better chance against Itsuki than Naofumi. I could use my Mage Armor to counter Itsuki's arrows, and maybe Naofumi's Shield Bash, but I'd bet Naofumi has a higher chance of breaking the Armor than Itsuki.

Also, I could do damage to Itsuki with my Missiles or shift his bow with my Mage Hand so he missed me. I couldn't do that to Naofumi, as he had ridiculous defense that was further buffed by his Shield.

I sighed looking at my companion's sheets, only Naofumi and Itsuki would be decent to keep around. I guessed I could use Ren and Motoyasu as cannon fodder or something.

The Priest spoke up after a short while, "All of you should have two or three skills. It's unusual for a hero to have more than that, so please let us know if that's the case."

"I have two," Ren affirmed their words, gaining a smile and nod from the Priest.

"Three, here." Motoyasu raised his hand.

"Two," Itsuki lied, causing me to look over at him.

"Three," Naofumi looked disappointed in his skills, which I didn't understand. They were decent for a noob Shield Hero.

"I have a number," I conceded, giving them the correct answer.

The Priest gave me an exhausted look and continued his little talk, "You all have the normal number for you Legendary Weapon. I'm assuming that's the case for you as well, Sir Fateweaver, as you declined to share with us."

"Well," I nodded sagely, "It was definitely a number above one and below a number above one."

"Uh, Hwot?" The Priest scratched his head thinking of a response, "I don't understand."

Itsuki gave a small giggle, to which he suppressed quickly. He stepped forward, "How could you understand the mind of someone as great as Mister Fateweaver?"

I gave him a pitiful glance, 'Is this twink a simp of mine or something? I knew I attracted people, but this was quite sudden.'

"I… see," The Priest was clearly not happy with being unable to gauge my skills, but I could see him settle for knowing that of the other three.

'Information,' I whispered in my mind, pulling up the Priest's sheet. I found him to be a Level fifteen Priest named Father Maxus.

He had high Magic and Vitality stats, and four skills. None of them looked interesting to me, so I skipped over them. According to his sheet, he was wearing a holy amulet — which I could see dangling from his neck — and a chainmail vest — which I could not.

I frowned at that, a Priest wearing armor meant one of three things. First, he was about to go on, or just got back from, a crusade. Second, there have been attempts on his life and he wanted to be safe. Or, third, he did not trust his present company.

I turned my attention to the King, who shrunk away from my gaze, and studied his sheet for a second. He was level thirty-five, fairly high, but had stats that were just higher than ours and the Priest's. He also had four skills, but only two interested me. He had the 'Intimidate' skill, which didn't seem to have any effect on me or Itsuki. And, he had the 'Royal Command' skill which was wasted in his hands. It allowed him to give commands without looking like the idiot he was, letting him speak with conviction and authority that he didn't currently display.

That made sense as to why his sheet had a second class called 'Waste of a King' and his fourth skill was 'Squander.'

Looking further down to his personality, I found myself disgusted by the Waste of a King. He had been protecting and hiding the corruption of Nobles and the Church so that he could live a frivolous life and spoil some bitch named Malty. He also wasn't even the rightful ruler of this country. His wife was, he was just an interim King while she was gone.

His sheet didn't tell me where she went or what her name was, apparently deeming he didn't have enough in common with her to share that information.

I sighed, deciding I would leave this country as soon as I squeezed it for all it was worth.

"Your Grace," The Priest spoke to the corrupt King, "They are ready for further explanation."

"Yes," The King stood again, though I could tell it took everything he had not to stumble, "Welcome to Melromarc, heroes! I am Aultcray Melromarc the thirty-third King of Melromarc. You have been summoned to face the Waves of Calamity that threaten our world."

"How original…" I muttered, though it seemed Itsuki heard me. He had gotten closer, I now noted, standing directly to my right.

"Honestly…" Itsuki leaned over to whisper to me, "I think it's just cliche enough to work, but original enough to be its own story. You know?"

"I guess," I pushed against his head, making him stand away from me, "They could have done better."

"They?" Itsuki rubbed his chin in thought, apparently trying to find deeper meaning to my words.

The King's voice bled back into my ears, making me want to Magic Missile myself. Maybe I could Mage Hand his throat like Darth Vader or something. Alas, I decided not to use my Magicks on such a weak man.

"Tomorrow, we will form your parties — which you will need as the Legendary Weapons suffer a growth drawback when near each other — and set you up with some funds, based on party size, to support you through your first few days." Aultcray, he really needed a better name, stretched his arms as if showing off his stature, "For tonight, let's have a feast to welcome the four of you."

That caught my attention. There were five of us. So, unless he didn't know how to count, he was purposely excluding me or someone else. I left him to his own devices, deciding not to catch him on his mistake.

There was no need to antagonize him further, as I could see true displeasure on his character sheet when his eyes hovered over me. The section turned to boiling hatred when he looked at Naofumi, however, which I didn't expect.

I followed his gaze to the Shield Hero. There was nothing super special about him. He was just a twenty year old college student, former now, who was slightly dead inside. Nothing major.

The only other person who caught my attention — aside, of course, from the other heroes, the Priest and Waste King — was a female guard stationed near the King's side.

She was named Malty S Melromarc — yet had an alias of Myne Sophia — and had four skills; 'Manipulation,' 'Deception,' 'Seduction,' and 'Intimidation.' All of which fit her father's personality and her own according to her sheet.

This one did state her sister's name, but gave no other information about 'Melty Q Melromarc' aside from her being younger than Malty.

Their names were too close, and that sucked for her younger sister if she wanted to be set apart from the actions of her elder sibling. She seemed to notice my gaze as her head turned slightly to stare at me, a small frown tugging at the corners of her plump lips.

"Your name is Jayce," Ren walked over to me after the King was done speaking, "Correct?"

"And you are Ren Amaki, the Sword Hero." Ren frowned at me but nodded his head, "How can I help you?"

"First, how did you know my last name?" He pointed to me with the index finger of his right hand, his left resting on the hilt of his sword which now hung at his left hip. He flipped up a second finger to announce his second question, "Second, why didn't you show respect to the King?"

"First, I have approximate knowledge of many things." I held up my middle finger in the same fashion he had held his index. Then I pulled up my ring finger as if making a gesture to do Magic, "Second, he is not my King. And he never will be. He summoned us without permission."

"How do you know so much?" Motoyasu walked over and I could see the King leaving with the female knight, Malty. My eyes flicked back to Motoyasu as he continued, "And what do you mean he didn't have permission?"

"I can't tell you the details," Cause I didn't know them, "But Aultcray did not have permission to summon even one hero, let alone all five of us."

"How do you know that??" The Priest, Father Maxus, stepped over with a cautious look, "Are you from this world?"

"Father Maxus," He reeled from the mention of his name, and I could see Itsuki's anticipation growing the more I spoke, "Please do not attempt to gather the scope of my knowledge, your feeble mind could not handle it."

"What do you think, Naofumi? You've been quite so far." Ren turned to Naofumi who simply stared silently.

"It's none of my business whether the King had permission." Naofumi seemed disinterested, and I couldn't have a potential front liner being disinterested, "But if he wants us to do something, he needs to give a sizable reward."

Itsuki looked to me before nodding, "I agree. They should pay us instead of expecting us to just go along with whatever they want. Sure, we're heroes, but maybe we're here for something more than that…"

He glanced at me toward the end of his speech, sending shivers down my spine that made me revise my thought of adding him to my party at some point. I would definitely not be doing that.

I valued my butt just the way it was, and I had no interest in his. So no thank you, sir, I'm fine without the bow twink.

"That's fair," Ren rubbed his chin, "If they want us to do something, we should be entitled to a certain amount of compensation. Whether that was money, land, or something else…"

"We could just do it for other reasons," Motoyasu glanced at each of us, "Did you see the knight chick who went with the King? She was smoking."

"She was not on fire, Sir Motoyasu…" Father Maxus reminded the Spear pervert of his presence, gaining a small chuckle of nervousness from the blonde.