Party Members and Systems

Like in most Medieval Era movies, upon arriving in the middle of the city, Yuko and I were sent to a large hall where most nobles were sitting around a long table. At the end of the table was supposedly the current King of the kingdom we were in. His presence here very much confirmed Yuko's status as a hero. He specifically left his Royal Palace just to come here. On the other hand, the other end of the table was reserved for Yuko, the Heroine from Another World.

From what I gathered, after three years of fighting for this world, Yuko was now recognized as the only Hero by every Kingdom and every denizen of this world. Some even made statues of her, glorifying her name.

However, despite all of that fame, Yuko took none to heart. For her, the real purpose as to why she was fighting here was because of our own world. It just so happens that saving this world would be equal to saving ours.

Her strength was currently unrivaled, among the public at least. Perhaps there were reclusive experts or not, who knows. No one knew her actual stats in numerical value but the kind of system 'The World' had bestowed to her was common knowledge for everyone, with her feats of saving cities and villages which the others couldn't do, her title as a Hero was more than deserved.

Upon seeing her arrival, everyone from the hall, except the king, rose up from their seats, enthusiastically greeting her.

"We welcome you, Hero!"

Looking at their faces, these Nobles were certainly happy to see the Hero.

However, as if trying to protect the grace of a ruler, the king, who remained seated, only nodded at her as an acknowledgment of her arrival

.

Even with her fame, a king would still not lower his head to her. The king, showing up in this region was probably his bottomline.

Still, for someone fighting for their world, I expected more from him. His little princess has that kind of attitude. Does it run from their blood? Without meeting the brother she often mentioned throughout the journey to here, I guess I can't draw a conclusion yet.

"I was told that there's a situation on the Western Border." Yuko started, straight to the point.

Upon hearing her statement, all of the nobles got a bit nervous except the king. He remained calm in his seat, perhaps creating an illusion to show that everything's under control even when his subjects were already nervous about their current situation.

"Hero. You came at the right moment. Our Western Border is currently under siege of those who seek destruction upon our world." Instead of the king, It was his aide at his side who spoke. 

"The situation?"

"Five Great Knights and five Great Wizards were sent but no one reported back. It's suspected that they died."

"I see. I will head there and see."

"Do you need our support?"

Would they support her? Just looking at that king's attitude, I had a hunch that he's thinking along the lines of 'it's a matter of course for the Hero to help their world'. She was a great help to his kingdom while not being always in this world to be a threat to his throne.

If this was what every king thinks, would this world ever be saved? They had to change that kind of mindset. True, they had to show the dignity of a king but would it save them from destruction? Maybe if it's not Yuko who was sent here, they'll give up on saving this world. They got lucky that Yuko was focused on her role.

In any case, I've only met one king among many others. There might be someone with a different line of thought among them.

"No. Just my party. I already have a Support with me. Can you call them here?"

"Right away!"

Her party? That notification earlier... I was added to her party.

I guess it makes sense for her to have other party members. It's been three years, she surely has some trusted individuals who are helping her in her endeavors.

I need to learn more about this world. This system did not provide enough support for now. How could I even level this up? Let's see. This was the time to use this high intelligence stat of mine. If I started thinking along the lines about how Yuko upgraded hers, it should conform along the name of the System bestowed. She acted as a hero for three years. I'm gonna test this theory. Since my system was called like that, I should do some real supporting.

Well, there's also a possibility that I'm overthinking this. Either way, only time will tell what's the correct answer.

After a little more discussions, Yuko and I left the hall. Right outside of it, we were met by the Princess again, the knights with her earlier were now nowhere to be seen.

However, I noticed something different from her. She was wearing a different outfit than her princess attire earlier and  on her hand was a long staff with a shining gem on its tip.

"Reinys di Deran, at your service, Hero." Upon seeing Yuko, she curtsied and bowed to her, her voice already devoid of the earlier grace of a princess. It's like she switched persona.

I see. That explains their connection. She was actually one of her party members. After the princess, two more showed up and both were women. One is a Great Knight named Caila, the other is a Great Priest named Noelle.

"Dai-kun, Reinys is the Princess but she's also a part of my Party. She's a Great Wizard." Perhaps seeing that I'm about to get lost in my thoughts again, Yuko reintroduced the Princess to me.

"I heard something like Great Knight earlier, could it be about their system's trait?"

"Yes. It's like that. When people in this world take up occupation, The World will send a corresponding system that can help them. Reinys wanted to learn magic so the system gave her the Wizard System. And Great Wizard is just a title for when they can cast a Level 3 spell. Same for the Great Knights and Great Priests, but instead of spells it should be skills and blessings. All of it was fueled by the World Energy."

I see. It only looked complicated but it was somehow simple for me now. Not every system 'The World' gave out was unique.

Maybe the King also got his own exclusive system or just a normal King System or whatever system suited him. 'The World' was most likely sentient enough to hand down a system depending on the person itself. Just like how I was handed down the Support Character System.

Either way, I was sure of one thing. That was to learn about the different systems and how they differ from each other. Most likely, my Support Character System was also a unique one, the same as Yuko's Hero System.

As for Wizard, Knight and Priest, the three seemed to be Occupational systems that will be granted to anyone walking down that path.

I wondered to myself whether I could learn a spell, a skill, or a blessing. It was surely worth asking. But I should always keep in mind that I was just a support. And one of the traits of a good support was someone who could conceal his true worth among the eyes of others so one could provide unexpected help at an unexpected time.

"Yuko, can you learn any of the three with your system?"

"Yes, I have no restrictions about that. Only, it has limited slots."

"Where can we get those? Or will it only be bestowed by the system?"

"No, there are scrolls and skill books where you can learn it from. Blessings are kind of unique, you can only learn it in the Church. Moreover, one's skills aren't only dependent on that, you had that one where you listed my name, right?"

Right. So apart from the skill born directly from the system, one could use those skillbooks and the likes to add more skills in one's arsenal.

By the way, Church, huh? It appeared that religion was also existing here. Noelle was probably someone sent by them to support the hero.

"I see. Do you have some with you?"

"I knew you would ask that. Reinys, can you let him browse through Level 1 scrolls? And you too Caila."

"Huh? What is he exactly, Yuko?"

"Like I said, he's my Support." Yuko answered in a matter-of-fact manner. This princess was curious about me but she did not even want to bother getting to know me better through asking me myself.

On the other hand, was Yuko seriously trusting me so much that she didn't even ask if I could learn it or not. Or could it be her Foresight?

I did a mental nod. Possible.

After huffing a breath from her nostrils, Reinys, the princess, reluctantly handed me the scrolls.

Following her, Caila did the same as well.

Since these things needed the world energy to be activated, could it be it was drawing it from their system itself?

Let's see.

I opened one of the scrolls. Reading it's name, tt was called Level 1 Firebolt.

Just looking at it, there are too many complex symbols arranged into a magic circle. However, a sound of the system notification rang in my head soon after.

[Ding! Detected a Level 1 Magic Scroll]

[Spell Slot Unlocked]

[Spell Slot (0/2) (Level 1 Spell only)]

[Imprint Level 1 Firebolt?]

I see. My instinct was right. There were hidden details in my system that I could unlock. It was great that I asked. Maybe I should pick something better. Firebolt was a bit meh. It was obviously the basic of the basics. And it was often used on those light novels I read with an isekai theme, much like my current situation.

Let's choose something else.

After looking through the scrolls I picked one and immediately imprinted it. Soon afterward, I looked through the skill books given by Caila and imprinted one as well.

"How was it Dai-kun?"

"It worked, Yuko. I managed to imprint both Knight Skill and Wizard Spell."

I returned the scrolls to the reluctant princess and Caila. For now, I only imprinted one of each, to create an illusion that I can only imprint one spell. But personally witnessing that I could imprint both spell and skill got their attention, especially that princess. I should find the time to look for another and if possible, a blessing as well.

At Yuko's current stage, she could imprint a maximum of five each of Level 3 Spells, Skills and Blessings.

The Great Wizards could imprint a maximum of three Level 3 Spell. Probably that's also the restriction of Great Knights and Great Priests.

So, my System was really a bit of a higher tier than theirs but since I only just got it, I was still restricted to Level 1. It was better than nothing, however. All I needed to do was to slowly rise up to be a proper support to this lone hero of this world.

After our preparation, the King provided us a carriage that would send us to the Western Border along with a few Adept Soldiers of mixed occupations to help us in our quest.

The other nobles insisted on sending some of their troops, maybe to curry favor from the hero. Well, as long as they were our allies, I wouldn't be against it. Not that I had a say considering my current level. I just needed to always watch out for possible threats on Yuko. My job was to become her support as well as prevent anything untoward to happen to her. Furthermore, I need to know more about her and this world.

I was, indeed,  a total newbie in battles. However, somehow, the thought of it was not actually getting into me. Was this because of my Adaptability? Perhaps. That definitely was a huge possibility.