Chapter 1

After the king's speech the mage who escorted us asked us "Now then, could everyone please confirm their statuses?"

Hearing that my mind instantly went blank, like status from games status, which reminded me of the icon I see in the corner of my vision as I wonder what that is I heard the 3 heroes confusion and Ren's voice saying "What, don't you see a sort of icon in your vision? After you found it try concentrate your consciousness."

Hearing his explanation I decide to follow it and a second after I focused my consciousness on the icon a projection opened in mid air, it is squared shape has my name photo also status conditions, magic, skills, possessions, and even a help menu? On the projection also lists my atributes such as strength, agility, HP, MP, and SP, SP stands for Stamina Points right? Also next to my name lists 'Inheritor of Legends Lv.1' is that my class? I guess it is, but what the hell is wrong with my stats I mean it's an all rounder and all of it is at least in the hundreds, I mean I'm still a Lv.1 you know. Stopping myself for a bit, I took a deep breath to calm myself down, just in time to hear Naofumi remarked

"Wow... it's just like a game in real life."[Naofumi]

"It's because it is."[Ren]

"Huh?"[Naofumi]

Seeing Naofumi's dumbfounded expression Ren continued

"It's a VRMMO you know"[Ren]

"VR... what's that?"[Naofumi]

"Virtual Reality Massively Multiplayer Online, there should be a world with these settings "[Ren]

"Yeah, it's Emerald Online right?"[Motoyasu]

"What are you two talking about, it's a world made in games you pay for"[Itsuki]

"The town and dungeons will be the same right?"[Motoyasu]

"Won't this be a piece of cake then?"[Itsuki]

"Ah, but it will be a pain to grind from Lv.1 though."[Ren]

Hearing them made me confused like since when is there a game named Emerald Online and when did humanity made VRMMO a reality. Looking to Naofumi he seems confused as I am, I also see Motoyasu nearing him to ask

"So what about you? Do you know any games like this place"[Motoyasu]

"Uhh.. No not really, I do know this place from a book, a very old book."[Naofumi]

"A book?"[Motoyasu]

Motoyasu and the other 2 seemed to be taken aback by the answer but after that they put on a sympathetic or mocking face as they say

"Huh.. speaking of which this guy's weapon is a shield."[Itsuki]

"...yeah, you're right. What a poor guy."[Motoyasu]

After that Motoyasu looked at me and before he said anything I said first "I don't know any games or tales about this place I only got here after passing a door and a hallway to spend my vacation."

Hearing that Motoyasu blinked and then raised his hands as if to say 'you got me'

"Alright then, do you need any assisstance just ask for me."[Motoyasu]

After seeing us settling down, the king said "It is said in the legends of old that the weapon of the heroes would impede each other's growth should they work together that is why, ENTER FUTURE HEROES!"[Aultcray] At the end of his speech his voice boomed as he raised his right hand and as if to abide to his will the door where his finger pointed opened and from it came in 12 people armed and seemed to be experienced, some of them wore heavy metal armour, some of them seemed to be mage of old. But the same thing about all of them was they seem to be able to fight in a moments notice.

When we saw them the first thought that ran through our minds were 'Who are these people? And why are they here?'. As if sensing our doubts the king said again "These people are volunteers who would like to join your journey. As working together among you would impede each other, I want you to move in seperate parties. They are your future comrades and now they will pick which hero to follow."[Aultcray]

After the king said that the adventurers? started moving and standing behind the hero they pick, however there is a problem. Naofumi is not picked by anyone, perhaps it's because he's a shield bearer which means they're thinking he can't do any real damage. Naofumi seems to be dumbfounded by the turnout of events, not that I blame him of course. While the other heroes are mocking him just because his weapon is a shield.

Not able to tolerate it anymore I walked behind Naofumi to show that I choose him to follow. The others and Naofumi are dumbfounded by this turn of events and tried to convince me to leave his side. They said that he can't attack, I said that means he can defend.They said that you should just wait in the sidelines instead of diving into danger, I said the Wave will kill me if I'm not capable of fighting and accidentally happened to be in the range of the wave. Arguments after arguments, finally they give up on convincing me to leave him, I saw Naofumi's relieved and grateful look as he's not abandoned and for me to make a stand for him.

I stepped closer to him from behind to whisper into his ear "Watch out for the king and the red-haired female with Motoyasu, I don't know why but it seems they are very hostile against you." Hearing that Naofumi seemed a bit surprised but other than a nod he didn't give any other signs of his inner turmoil.

After that the red-haired female came to us wanting to volunteer to follow Naofumi, but I rejected her saying that 'it would be best for you to focus your efforts on the other heroes and I'll make sure that Naofumi doesn't become a burden' along the lines, she tried to argue her way to force us into accepting her into our group. But she failed all her attempts because of my reasons for refusal is irrefutable, and so she went back to Motoyasu's group looking none too happy. After that episode the king distributed the money to each hero with us accepting 1000 silver and the other 3 accepting 600 silver each. Before leaving the castle I told Naofumi to wait as I gathered information from the castle, and I learned that 100 silver coins is equal to 1 gold coin and that rule applies to copper to silver conversion too. I also learned that to stay at an inn you need 1 silver for 1 day including meals, and that an adult can live on a day with 20 copper. After that I met up with Naofumi and asked the locals where a shop that deals with weapons, they all point to the same place when they mention the best 'The blacksmith Erhard who seems rough but is a good guy' is a summary for him aside from being powerful. I also heard that the 4 legendary heroes can't use any weapon aside from the legendary weapons themselves, which was a huge blow for Naofumi when he heard it.

While comforting Naofumi we made our way to the blacksmith Erhard's shop, and when we entered the sight of weapons properly arranged on the shelves and wall formed it's own beauty which blew away Naofumi's depression as he marvels at the sight, until he heard a masculine voice coming from behind the counter saying "Welcome, is this your first time here?"[???]

Hearing the voice he turned his head to the source being a man in his 40es with his head bald and a thick short black beard with some scars on his head that added his sense of masculinity, I get the sense of Fergus from him. Being snaped out of his daydreaming Naofumi felt embarrassed and went in front of the counter with me following him, as he made it in front of the counter and in front of him Erhard said "Well, what are you looking for?"

"Well we're looking for some weapons and armours, well until we learned I can't use any weapon besides this shield here."[Naofumi]

Hearing him say that I sigh knowing his depression is back, Erhard seem to sympathize with Naofumi too if looks aren't deceiving. As I decided to redirect the topic, I said "So what armour can you recommend for a newbie and can I get a sword?"

Reading the mood Erhard said "No problem as for armors for newbies I recommend a chainmail and for swords the prices vary for the materials but you can bet none of them are of inferior quality."

After screening the swords I decide to choose an iron longsword of an excellent quality. Erhard and Naofumi seemed very surprised by the fact that I can swing the longsword with just one arm just fine, not that I blame them of course. The surprise turn into understanding when I mentioned I was practicing martial arts (at least I'm being trained by Scàthach and getting some pointers from Li Shuwen). After exiting Erhard's store Naofumi was eager to fight monsters maybe as an effort of redeeming his honour, before falling down dejectedly when I asked him can he fight.

And so I decide to train him to at least be able to hold his ground with a 'light' exercise. But somehow I felt like I heard Merlin's and Zelretch's laughter, which made my mood go worse and perhaps it showed on to my face if the nervous look on Naofumi's face is of any indication. Just you wait Merlin I'll get you for this, but for now training Scàthach style. And as if reading my thoughts Naofumi's body tensed and shuddered.