Author's Note

Hey, guys, it's me. First time doing a story like this, so this should be fun. And just for the heck of it, every chapter name will have the word Shield in it.

Cause, you know; Shield Boi. Enjoy.

Of The Shield

"Air Strike Shield!"

Naofumi Iwatani.

"Do it now, Raphtalia!"

A seemingly normal college student.

"Roger!"

Is the Cardinal Hero of the Shield.

Some time ago, Naofumi, along with three others, were pulled from different versions of Japan and summoned to the world of Melromarc.

The initial shock and awe were stamped out by a bigger threat to the young men.

The Waves Of Calamity. Each of the four were to be heroes, tasked with learning all that they could about the land around them; to grow stronger so they may come together to help save the world and gain fame and glory.

"Filo, Melty, behind me!"

Naofumi received the worst possible hand in the ‘game’ set before them as The Shield Hero, with accusation followed with hatred of the item he wielded, all the way to denial of basic rights.

Alone, Naofumi felt nothing short of pain and confusion that would force him down certain roads where few dared travel alone, and against the kingdom itself.

Nothing short of renouncing the world he found himself roped into saving to return home was what he wanted most.

Initially, Naofumi observed the name of The Shield Hero as a curse versus any gift he could be given.

The current thought of surviving along with his companions in the middle of a Wave Of Calamity reminded him of how much changed during that first day.

"Raphtalia, retreat for now!" Naofumi commanded, his voice raspy from hours of combat, or to him, it might as well have been days with the rows of monsters not seeming to stop. After finishing beheading a large orge with her sword, Raphtalia took refuge behind her master's trump card with Melty. "Filo, on my mark, go for it!"

"No problem!" Filo exclaimed, cracking her knuckles as her white dress and long blonde hair billowed with the bit of wind magic she began to channel, a gleeful glint in her eyes.

By Naofumi's count, it could have been at least 2 hours, and if anything, the hero and his party would begin to slow down.

''Damn,'' Naofumi cursed, gritting his teeth and steeling himself against the force of another charge against an undead's axe, the two metals of shield and sword vibrating back into his ears. ''What the hell are the other 3 doing? Probably wasting time arguing about who has the better idea again,'' another clang and a quick beheading from Raphtailia ceased the sound as Filo looked to her master. ''Change Shield! Now!'' Filo nodded and shouted at the top of her lungs, the force of her shouts amplified by the Sound Shield.

"Master Naofumi!" Raphtalia uncovered her ears, rubbing them with a tender hand.. "Should we go and see what the others are doing?"

"We can't!" Melty scolded, using her water magic to launch a water blade as she managed to bisect two grotesque hogs. "If we do that, something could go wrong" Melty reached her hand into the water, gasping as another hog nearly got to her if not for Filo ramming her gloved fist into its head. ''-w-will all be for nothing.''

"She's right," Naofumi thought. "Much as I hate to admit it, if we try helping the others, we may not live to be able to. . .damn, why does this life have to be so unfair?"

He vowed that at a moment's notice if he could be the one to fight, he would.

Naofumi resolved himself for the moment as he needed to focus on finishing getting through this wave without injury.

"Come on, Filo! Let's go!" Naofumi shouted, laying a hand on the girl's shoulder as she nodded and transformed into a Filolial with a poof of smoke. Hopping on and clutching her feathers, he gestured to Melty and Raphtalia. "You guys, too! We'll take care of the boss, whether or not they realize they need help!"

The two girls nodded, hopping on Filo and holding on for dear life as she blasted off, swerving in between monsters trying to get over from the current village to a clearing where the boss was said to be.

Filo turned around a collection of trees, the ground sloshing and crunching with sounds of bone and liquid. Further ahead, the party could see 4 figures fighting against one, though still appearing to be losing. A quick burst of light raced towards the figure only to be flicked back, knocking the person on their butt and knocking the bow from their hand.

"Looks like Itsuki's struggling," Naofumi commented as The Bow Hero scrambled to his feet, his pale blonde hair caked with dirt and face littered with tiny scars. Growling, he grabbed his weapon and put further distance between the attacker. Yellow wisps of magic surrounded him as his bowl glowed and brought an arrow to life.

The wind whipping, the strain of drawing the bowstring all the way back, and the throbbing pain in his legs didn't matter. He had to make the shot. Or they may all die. "Tempest Arrow!" Itsuki shouted with all his might, the sound of a whip-crack following as the force knocked him back.

Behind him, another figure dashed forward, before sending a blue wave of energy along the same path as Itsuki's attack "Tempest Slash!" Rin pronounced, stopping on the other side of the attacker, his hair frazzled and side of his head slowly bleeding as he breathed heavily, hacking as the last of air left his body before he collapsed.

"Even The Sword Hero?" Melty said, surprised, looking to see where the-

"-Tempest Saw!" Motoyasu followed after Rin, following after him and twirling before the momentum launched the weapon in a fantastic display of magic, a small explosion occurring that caused a depression to form. "Did. . .did we get her?"

Melty and Raphtalia peered on, watching the cloud of smoke slowly reveal to see a woman, standing still and chuckling. A wave of her hand violently dispersed the smoke and revealed more of the woman's features. "You most certainly did not 'get' me as you three think," the woman chided, unfurling a set of fans and opening them.

Naofumi and Filo frowned and felt a twinge of annoyance while Raphtalia felt some anger. "Glass," the three of them said at the same time.

"Hello, again, Shield Hero Naofumi," Glass's cold calculating red eyes peered at his party, almost hidden by her silky black hair. "I trust you've gotten stronger since last we met? Because these so-called 'Heros' and their companions-" Glass gestured to the boys and Malty as she held her hands up in fear. "-are not nowhere near to even besting me at my weakest."

"I've noticed," Naofumi summoned his regular shield. After everyone got off her, Filo transformed back into a girl, banging together her reinforced magical gauntlets as she took a boxer's stance. "We all have gotten stronger, so this shouldn't be boring."

Glass watched on with a curious eye. How much stronger could he have become in a short period of time? Seeing his other two party members draw her new sword and the other summon spheres of water around her that turned into daggers, she smirked as this would be a good fight, with promise.

"Then let us begin the true battle of this Wave Of Calamity," Glass angled her fans to be thrown. "And we will find out who is the strongest here."

"We just need to kill time until The Wave ends," Naofumi whispered to his party, making sure his footing was secure.

"But won't she just keep coming back?" Melty asked, looking to The Shield for an answer. "We should take care of her now if we have the chance." Naofumi rolled his eyes at her. Even for a princess, she still was lacking wherever it came to tactics.

"Just follow my lead, and we should get out of this alive," Naofumi said, slowly walking forward, his shield held with both hands at chest level. Raphtalia and Filo was not confused however and immediately followed after, sticking close to him. Melty shook her head and did the same, being in the middle of Filo and Raphtalia. From here, she could only see the back of Naofumi. How broad it looked, even under his armor. His shoulders were relaxed and his walk was calm but consistent. "When you get the signal, hit her with what you have and protect yourselves. . . she'll mostly be after me."

"Huh?" Melty asked, not quite understanding 100% confident in the plan.

"Master's right, Mel!" Filo happily said. "That'll be our chance to hit her in the butt!"

"Filo, no," Raphtalia scolded, thwacking the girl on the back with her hand. "Focus, otherwise we'll mess up things for Master Naofumi."

Filo pouted and hmmped, continuing to keep pace walking. "Fine.~"

Naofumi moved closer to Glass as she also mirrored the party's approach, now it was only a few feet between them.

She still had that same small grin on her face while Naofumi had a focused neutral expression. At any moment, something could change.

This would be different than with The Soul Eater.

"Air Strike Shield!" Naofumi chanted quickly, the effect instantly sending the armament at the fan wielder, while Filo and Raphtalia split off and took positions on either side of Glass.

"Hmmph," Glass said. "Trivi-ooommph!" Glass felt. Not only surprised, but. . .a little hurt as well. She went sliding back a bit, closing her eyes for a brief second before opening them to sense an attack planned for her left and right sides. The bird and demi-human no doubt. Sighing as she was lied to about a good fight, she would just run the pair into each other and focus on Naofumi.

Or so she thought as she met nothing but air with her fans.

"Oh? Illusion magic, Shield Hero? Admirable if not anything," Glass smirked, dashing towards the hero. "Wherever those two are matters not to me, only having your head on a platter."

"I'd like to see you try.'' Naofumi said, staying planted, hoping Glass would stay true to her bullheaded ideals.

Raphtalia charged forward, swinging her sword in an arc to stop her enemy's advance and almost cutting Glass within an inch of her hair, forcing her to dodge left. and right into a fist by Filo that was blocked by her fan, Raphtalia's sword meeting the other fan in Glass's hand as the pair took turns trying to break through her guard with sparks flying everywhere. ''Ha!'' Filo was able to land a solid hit on Glass as an Air Strike Shield struck her in the head at the right second, sending her stumbling back.

''You seem to have a decent-''

''-Second Shield!'' another green armament appeared as a wall right behind the Fan Hero, making her tense. ''Now, Melty!''

''Ars Tzuvait Aquashot!'' a wave of orbs of water launched forward at high speeds, causing Glass to unfurl her fans and block the onslaught, allowing Filo to deliver a brutal gut punch that rocked Glass back to the shield, and from that point, a wild torrent of punches and kicks followed, putting Glass on the defensive with every clang and thump from gauntlet and fan.

"Shouldn't we try and help?'' Ren asked, managing to stand and look upon Naofumi and his party fighting off Glass with better luck than the three of them barely managed to present an actual threat to her. ''What if we don't get the reward we were promised?''

''I mean, that is true, but we should still get it anyways, even if we don't end helping him,'' Itsuki said, returning his bow to his back and clenching one of his arms.

''True, let Naofumi handle it and make our lives easier,'' Motoyasu said, backing away and observing with a very patient eye. ''How much longer of the wave you think we have?''

''Doesn't matter!'' Princess Malty proclaimed, nursing a particularity bad cut near her left eye. ''We should retreat and let the Devil handle fighting his own kind; we should get prepared to go back and inform the king of what's happened here.''

''This doesn't seem right, I hope the Shield Hero will be ok.'' Rishia thought as she moved with her party away from the danger, advancing and going through any monsters that came across their way as they fled to head back to Melromarc. She knew this was wrong, leaving the Shield Hero behind to deal with enemies way behind any of the other 3 Cardinal Heroes respectfully. She actually held no real doubt of Naofumi winning, but it still sparked a flame of worry within her as she watched Filo and Raphtalia with the help of Princess Melty to hold back the Fan Hero as Naofumi was preparing to unleash a fearsome attack with his Cursed Shield equipped. ''Fight well Naofumi-san.''

''-Born from my flesh,'' Naofumi chanted, his eyes strained and hands shaking as he focused on his target became more difficult as each second passed. ''Become an offering to the gods as you howl in pain!. . .Blood Sacrifice!'' the purple hue surrounding his shield slowly dissipated and traveled throughout his body as he maintained his strong and unmovable stance as blood spurted from his body in all directions. His pained grunt and twitching eyes did little to deter him as he continued to hold a great amount of focus on the summoning.

Filo and Raphtalia backed away from Glass as quickly as the pair could after seeing the blood from Naofumi slowly spread towards their way, both knowing what was bound to happen in a few seconds. Melty still continued her onslaught, though her attacks began to wane.

''What are you up to this time, Shield?" Glass asked, the ground rumbling a tad. She prepared her fans for another attack, the ground suddenly began to rumble and crack, bringing a smile to the Shield Hero's face and a look of worry to paint itself across Glass's face. Another few moments passed as the blood seeped into the cracks and a wickedly shaped bear trap sprang from the ground, ensnaring Glass.

The feeling of the metal around her threatening to impale and bind her did little to deter her from attempting to win this battle with the Shield Hero, though it did provide with enough of a distraction.

''Y-Y-You won't get away with this, you d-damn Shield!'' Glass shouted, baring her teeth as she tried to use her fans, though as she failed to notice Raphtalia and Filo maneuver around the bear trap. Twisting and turning around, the more that it began to constrict and tighten. The situation began to look less in her favor, and more of that for the Shield, and that was something that seriously irked Glass. Attempting to use her fans to destroy the trap, Glass's vision began to be eaten up by black dots, and the rattling and dinging of chains began to increase.

''A little bit more, and we're home free.'' Naofumi thought, holding his Cursed Shield steady and firm on one leg as more of the magic and blood ebbed from him. He was surprised he did not end up passing out at the shock of the ritual taking a monumental toll on his body.

The sky around them began to lighten some, and the monsters began to weaken in their assault. Naofumi felt a small amount of relief at the sight of the fight beginning to wane. Forcing himself a little bit more, the jaws of the trap shut closed in the blink of an eye, the sound of metal grinding against metal and the shout of pain coming from Glass provided some hope that she was seriously injured or on the brink of death.

''Master Naofumi!'' Raphtalia came to her master's side, along with Filo and Melty. Naofumi was in pretty bad shape, almost couldn't stand, and had already lost a lot of blood. The situation seemed grim if nothing else, and the lack of the other 3 heroes only told of their cowardice and desire to run back to King Altcruay and inform him of 'their' victory in the Waves of Calamity.

Naofumi grew tired of the back and forth; the lies, the putdowns, being treated like the worst human being ever, and everything else.

He was angry.

From the first day that he was sent to Melromarc, he felt that without a doubt; God was not on the teen's side as he was the odd man out, destined to be the black sheep, and he was given a weapon that everyone hated, and by extension, him. He was a nobody in Japan, living his life to the best degree that he could when everything was against him from the moment he picked up that book in that library.

A warmth was spread throughout his body at the very, very small moments of his life in this world that was filled with some happiness; namely, Raphtalia, Filo, and Melty even though she was relatively new and connected to the royal family. In each individual case, he has demonstrated compassion, strength, and courage when it came to the three. With Filo, he initially was a tad surprised by how quickly she grew, and even more when she fully grew into a Filolial Queen, and that only served to increase his protective instinct of his new family member.

Though still slow-going, Naofumi nevertheless made the effort to try.

''The Cursed Shield.'' Naofumi thought, referring back to when he had snapped when he was certain that Zombie Dragon had eaten Filo. His rage that day was incomparable to anything else he had ever experienced since being in this new world. He only had nothing but pure hatred for everything around him; he wanted the world to burn in brimstone and ash, for the people who wronged him to suffer the worst death imaginable, and for all of the pain that he felt to come to a stop.

He wanted to feel nothing and everything at the same time.

With Melty, he was borderline hateful because of her status, and that only made for a somewhat rocky start as she joined his party through all the turmoil, as well as the attempt on her life by her own sister. That, in itself, made for a. . .connection as he, Filo, and Raphtailia helped to defend her and themselves. He wouldn't openly admit it anytime soon, but he was somewhat fond of Melty, despite his rough and naive attitude for a child. He began to see why she and Filo got along so well, and he found comfort in that by caring for her the same as Filo.

''Malty.'' Naofumi fumed in his mind, wanting nothing more. . .then to see her perish.

And there was possibly the most important person in his life and the one who gave him the biggest reason for living; Raphtaila.

From that fateful day when he was talking to the slave trader, and looking for someone to fight for him, he happened to come by the cage with her in it, and it would be possibly the best choice he had made since being here. Raphtalia was the one to comfort him, to care for him, be his sword and fight for him, and be pretty much everything to him, and to an even bigger extent that he did notice from the very beginning would be her feelings.

''Naofumi, something's going on!'' Melty announced, looking around to see that the bear trap thrashed about before disappearing in a shimmer of gold light that punched through to the sky, as well as the Cursed Shield beginning to glow its ominous purple again, causing Naofumi to howl in pain. The light blinding the party made their appraisal of the situation that much more difficult.

The feeling of pain and the thought of what would come after was something that Naofumi worried about. He could barely think straight with all of his entire body on the brink of shutting down on him only made everything even worse. The sound around him began to deafen, and then after a moment of silence, a voice called out to him.

''Hero. . .I call upon you; come and be the salvation of our world gripped in the choke of corruption!''

Darkness. It was a constant thing for Naofumi to experience that he really did not think much of it. He began to hear voices again; whispers here and there speaking some kind of different tongue as he could not make sense of what was being said.

Or maybe the blood loss was making him hallucinate.

Before he could try and say anything, Naofumi could feel his mouth open and some kind of liquid pour into his mouth, and slowly his injuries began to wane. From what he was able to gather, it was more than likely a potion administered by Raphtalia. He sure was glad that he could rely on her when it came to the things that he could not handle. After giving the potion a few moments, Naofumi did still have some residual aching, but nowhere near as bad as it was before the potion, and allowed him to open his eyes and look upon his party members altogether, but something was indeed off.

''Where the hell are we?'' Naofumi asked, his body beginning to tense and his shield changing back to his regular one. The cold, hard cobblestone floor told him of not being on the battlefield anymore. The group was in a room that was small in nature and had only one way in and out A faint light shone in front of him, the sound of someone walking filled everyone's ears, Filo, Melty, and Raphtalia all tensing the same as Naofumi.

''Oh, my; this is where the spell ended up putting you, I am so sorry for the inconvenience!'' an old voice called out, a figure showing through the sliver of light. Something was off. The silhouette was too small and. . .animal like.

''Who are you?'' Ratphtaila asked, reaching for her sword. ''What happened to The Wave Of Calamity?''

The figure laughed and walked closer into the room, Filo and Melty tensing the same as their party member.

''I apologize; from what it seems the battle there ended. As for my name; I am Starswirl The Bearded, and Equestria needs your help.''