Tate no Yuusha no Nariagari

Chapter 5: Reality of the Shield

Upon exiting the gate, one could see the green meadows spreading far into the horizon.

Now, I was only one step away from leaving the stone paved streets and entering the trail which led into the boundless, uncharted grasslands.

This was like a field trip to Hokkaido.[1]

It was the first time I had personally experienced how vast the sky and horizon truly were.

With only this much excitement, a Hero needed to stay composed.

“Now then, Yuusha-sama. Shall we engage in some mock battles against the weaker demons inhabiting this area?”

“Right. This'll be my first combat experience, so I've got to fight to the best of my abilities.”

“Please give it your all.”

“What? You’re not going to fight with me, Mein?”

“If I fight then I won’t be able to gauge Yuusha-sama’s potential.”

“Th-that’s true.”

Come to think of it, Mein should have more battle experience than me; I didn't even know how much I was capable of right now.

Let’s try fighting against a monster that Mein had marked as a safe choice.

I wandered the grassland for a while. Then some weirdly conspicuous, orange balloon-like creature came into my view.

“Yuusha-sama, please wait. Over there is an Orange Balloon... and although it’s one of the weakest monsters, it’s very aggressive.”

That was some crude naming sense. You called it an Orange Balloon just because it was orange and round?

“GAH!”[2]

With an atrocious cry, a pair of hostile, villainous eyes were staring directly at me.

Originating from the meadow, the balloon-shaped thing charged at me like a beast upon spotting my presence.

“Yuusha-sama, please do your best!”

“OOOO!”

I've got to show her my good side.

With my right hand, I used the blunt side of the shield to strike the Orange Balloon.

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Bash!

Boyon~![3]

It rebounded off my shield at the point of impact. This monster is surprisingly elastic!

Even though I thought that it would break right away...[4]

The Orange Balloon bared its fangs and started biting me.

“Hii!”[5]

Kang!

I heard a solid impact.

Yet it didn't hurt, it barely even itched.

The Orange Balloon was biting my arm, but it had no effect at all.

It seemed that the shield was gently emitting a protective barrier around me.

I looked wordlessly at Mein.

“Go on, Yuusha-sama!”

“ORAORAORAORA!” [6]

... I didn’t receive any damage, but I couldn't deal much of it either.

So I continuously struck the Orange Balloon like a Kung-Fu master.[7]

Five minutes later...

Pop!

A faint sound was heard followed by the Orange Balloon bursting.

“Hah... hah... hah... ”[8]

The [EXP? 1] value popped up along with a “Pikon” sound.

I think I received a single experience point.

Seriously, all this work just to kill one balloon... I couldn't help but pity myself.

That was a tough fellow. My bare hands could only do so much.

Pachi Pachi Pachi. [9]

“I’m proud of you, Yuusha-sama.”

Mein gave me her applauds, yet it somehow felt hollow.

Suta suta suta! [10]

Then I heard footsteps.

Looking behind me, I saw Ren along with his companions jogging onward.

I thought they would be chatting amongst themselves along the way, but all of them were wearing a serious expression while moving silently.

Ah, three Orange Balloons appeared in front of them.

Zuba![11]

With one swing of his sword, Ren sent an Orange Balloon popping.

1-hit kill!? Hey dude... just how different could our attack powers be?

“...”

Mein awkwardly turned her head away multiple times, avoiding my eyes.

“It will be alright. Every Hero has their share of struggles after all.”

“... Arigato.”[12]

It’s my first fight anyways. And I suffered zero injuries since my defense is super high, even with the Orange Balloon biting me for five whole minutes.

Just as I started ransacking the remnants of Orange Balloon, the Shield let out a 'Pikon' sound.

When I brought it closer, the shield glowed gently with a pale light and absorbed the remnants.

[GET: Orange Balloon Skin]

As this line popped up, the Weapon Book Icon also blinked.

I opened it to confirm, then the Small Orange Shield Icon popped up.

While I couldn’t transform my shield yet, I now knew what materials were required.

“So that's the power of the Legendary Weapons.”

“Yep. Looks like it needs to absorb materials in order to transform.”

“I see.”

“By the way, how much could I get from selling what was dropped earlier?”

“It should be about 1 Copper Coin.”

“... And how many Coppers do I need to get 1 Silver?

“100 Copper Coins.”

Oh well, it couldn't be helped. It was a weak monster so of course it'll drop equally poor loot.

“It’s your turn next, Mein.”

“Hm, I suppose so.”

At that moment, some Orange Balloons approached us.

Mein took out her sword from her waist and swung twice.

The Orange Balloons then burst with a pop.

Uwaa... Am I that weak..?

My name is Iwatani Naofumi. A 20-year-old university student. Right now, my mouth is being covered by both of my hands.

I had been summoned to a parallel world and became its hero for 2 days now.

After 5 minutes of combat with a suitable monster, I had come to perfectly understand my role.

「Hero Aptitude Test」

Four people were given this test. The most rational result shall be swiftly delivered.

CHECK!

>>What is your hunting aptitude?

Whoopsie, looks like I lost myself for a moment there.

Anyways, I had become painfully aware that I am, or rather my shield, was super weak.

It seemed that it was more efficient to simply let Mein do the fighting.

“Okay then, Mein. Please attack while I'll be in charge of defense. Let’s see how far we can go with this setup.”

“Hai.”[13]

Mein immediately replied.

After that, we roamed around the meadows until the sun began to set. We encountered more Orange Balloons and some Yellow Balloons, where it seemed their strength differed by their color.

“We can encounter slightly stronger monsters if we press onward, but it will soon be nightfall if we don’t return to the castle.”

“Mhm. I wish we could keep on hunting a bit more though...”

I had yet to receive any damage, since the Balloons’ attacks were so easy to defend against.

“Since we’re returning early, let’s take another look at the Weapon Shop. Because upgrading my equipment will allow us to go even farther than today.”

“... Come to think of it, that makes sense.”

I was able to improved myself and gain a little exp for my starting level, so I suppose we've made good enough progress for the day.

By the way, the shield also absorbed enough to satisfy the transformation requirement; I now had a Balloon shield equipped to my arm.

In the long run... I guess I could still level up and transform my shield some more.

Oh well. As the first day of adventuring ended with many uncertainties, we began heading back to the castle town.