Sinner in Night's Shadow

Chapter 2

Written in 2020, uploaded to Wattpad on 12/29/2022

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The next morning, Naito found himself waiting once more in front of the king, having spent most of the night pilfering the kitchen for more food.

There was plenty enough, so no worries there.

"The time has come, our heroes! We have gathered allies to accompany you on your journeys. We have gathered adventurers, mercenaries, and even volunteers from our local church!"

Wait. What?

Weren't they gonna travel together?

Notice: The Legendary Weapons repel each other, reducing Experience gain when near each other.

'Experience gain...?' The Terrarian thought to himself. 'How does that work? Does the weapon just prevent you from improving? Why is experience capitalized...?'

In Terraria, many aspects of one's abilities could be calculated into a numerical value, such as his Life Force and defense values.

But he'd never heard of this "Experience" before.

He'd probably have a lot of it, being raised by some fairly powerful people in Yharim's Kingdom.

He recalled how Yharim's son-in-law, Prince Alizarin of the Crimson Kingdom, was extremely experienced, being able to take down powerful foes through sheer skill, even when wielding weapons that were barely stronger than steel.

...Damnit, now he wished he had borrowed one of dad's blades before he set out on his journey to prove himself.

It would've been a lot better than the Cell Phone he bought at some store at his hometown's local mall.

While he was deep in thought, the doors of the throne room opened to allow a large group of adventurers to enter.

"Now then, heroes, I must regret to inform you that as it is tradition, that it will be the adventurer's choice as to who they will follow. However! You may recruit whomever you wish! The local church and the adventurer's guild would be more than pleased to lend the Cardinal Heroes their assistance!"

He then paused.

"Now, adventurers, choose the hero you will accompany!"

The newcomers split up, gathering around the heroes they desired to travel with.

Roughly a full minute passed before the results became apparent;

Ren gained five followers.

Itsuki gained three, while Motoyasu got four, three of which were women.

Naito himself got two.

Naofumi? All alone, without a single companion.

"Hm...what a strange turn of events." The King put a thoughtful look on his face. "Rumor has it that the Shield Hero is the least informed about how this world works..."

The warrior-in-training paused.

...Did he himself even know how this world worked?

....Blech, he's a warrior. No time for stupid things like philosophy.

"Will anyone step up to join the Shield Hero?" The king asked. Nobody responded, remaining steadfast in their decisions.

Until a young redheaded from Motoyasu's party spoke up. "I will volunteer!"

"H-Huh?! Are you sure about that?" The Spear Hero in question asked, somewhat startled.

"Indeed!" She proclaimed, "I found the idea of a hero being forced to travel alone to be so, so heartbreaking! So please, at least allow me to accompany you at the start of your journey, Shield Hero!"