"So yeah, you still didn't answer my main questions. Has anything about the weapons changed or have you not noticed anything?" Dante repeated, Motoyasu the first to break out of the shock.

"They are pretty much the same as in the show with tweaks to the system. Also Weapon copying and unlocks are kind of nerfed." He said with a large bit of disappointment in his voice.

"Nerfed how?" Dante asked.

Rena cut in at that moment.

"When we unlock something or weapon copy it in addition to level and or stat requirements, there's a sort of mana tax. Weapon copying also requires either materials, or feeding our weapons the weapon were trying to copy. Depending on several factors the legendary weapons need more or less mana for us to gain access to that particular form. Then again we can also unlock certain forms by obtaining certain skills. He got that fishing spear when he started using the spear to try and catch fish..." she was interrupted by Motoyasu.

"I unlocked it as soon as I managed to stab a fish. It still costs mana to unlock but it only took 50 mana to get me access to the Fishing Spear." He said with a note of joy in his voice, the previous gloom slowly vanishing.

"I'm level 40 right now and I've unlocked a few things just by leveling, nothing of note but still. We have each gotten a few new forms unlocked for completing roads which is really nice. It helps that each form we unlock gives us an amount of rp based on the weapons rarity. Common is 1, Uncommon is 2, and Rare is 4. I haven't gotten anything higher but I presume it grows exponentially. " Motoyasu finished recounting the most pertinent information.

"Are the weapons unbreakable? How did she make hers just appear? What about the experience nullifying effect? Item drops? Weapon restrictions!?" Dante's questions poured out like verbal diarrhea his mind swimming with all the new information. His excitement and curiosity having gotten the better of him in this moment.

"Wow, wow, wow! One question at a time man! Let's start with the first one. As far as we know nothing can damage them, but we aren't certain that will remain true forever. As for how she made her weapon appear and vanish. It's a perk of the system. When we obtained the weapons we were also granted some basic inventories and after some experimenting we found we could move our weapons into our inventories. Rena asked her system guide and the basics of what they said was that our inventories still count as being on or a part of us and thus the weapons can be stored there." Motoyasu took a breathe and neither Dante or James said anything, allowing him a moment to breath.

"As for the experience nullifier I'll talk about that last. Yes we do get item drops but they aren't much to talk about at the moment. We haven't killed anything of real note, yet. When it comes to weapon restrictions we can use other weapons but we have to use the legendary weapons as part of our main loadout. Sword and shield works as does spear and shield." Motoyasu paused for a moment as he and Rena both pulled shields from their inventories each was a rather basic wooden shield. A second later they returned them to their inventories.

"Now for the EXP penalty. Something new is that the weapons have a small debuff to EXP gained and mana regen, -10% to each. The help section says it is to aid in the growth of the weapons to what it's supposed to be. Originally when we are close to each other, the exp null effect was still happening. However, we believed in each other and we refused to be separated lest it drive a wedge between us like it did to the hero's in the show. So, we asked the system if there was anything it could do. At first nothing happened but then..." Motoyasu paused for a moment as he turned back to Naomi before saying.

"Well...we'll show you what we figured out."

Motoyasu stepped back his friends and spoke to them for a moment. A moment later Motoyasu motioned for them to come over and watch. When James and Dante stood on either side of Motoyasu each of the other three raised their weapons up to where the gems were equal with one another.

"Together till the end, you have my spear." Motoyasu started.

"I shall be your sword, and thus you have mine." Rena said next.

"From land or sky, they shall die, for you have my bow." Itsuki said leaving only one.

"All for one and one for all, I will be your shield and the shield of all man kind." Naomi said with joy and a hint of pride.

As each spoke, they spoke with something more. And in the moment they spoke, their weapons responded.

The legendary weapons began to glow and lines of colored light began to be drawn through the air between them. Blue, red, orange, and green. A line of each color connected to each of the four friends forming a web of colorful light.

For a moment even the weapons themselves became light. In the blink of an eye it was over. The light receded and weapons returned to what they had been before.

"Now we all can gain experience together!" Motoyasu proclaimed as he drew Dante, James, and all his friends into a group hug.

Then something in the back of his mind opened, a blue box appeared, and a promise was fulfilled.

Quest has been completed!...

Never be afraid to defend what you love...

Dante heard an unfamiliar voice for a moment and smiled as a new notice appeared.

You are awarded the Rare Active skill, Spectral Shield lvl. 1...

Spectral Shield- You summon a spectral shield of variable size to your aid. Size, range, and durability of shield increases with level of the skill. Base cost 100 mana...

After a moment James and Dante tapped Motoyasu on his shoulders making him to release the hug.

"Now before me and my buddies head out..." Dante paused momentarily as he pointed towards two in their group before sweeping his pointing fingers towards the other two.

Blue boxes appeared before them and Motoyasu laughed as he hit accept.

All four of them accepted Dante's friend request.

"Also, Motoyasu come here..." Dante said as he grabbed and pulled him several feet away. Leaving James with the other hero's.

"Ok what do you want?" Motoyasu asked his voice tinged with annoyance.

Dante pulled Motoyasu in close and began to whisper. "I am doing a favor for a goddess and you strike me a man who could use some luck."

"Where are you going with this?" Motoyasu said as he attempted to pull away but found he couldn't.

"I'm asking this because you took this face. I'm betting you never had much luck with women and that's why you spent everything to change your appearance." Dante continued in a low voice.

Motoyasu looked at him with a mixture of anger and sadness. "What's your point?" he asked.

Dante held out his closed fist and when it opened one of the necklaces for Fortuna was in it. "This is the holy symbol for Fortuna, the old Roman goddess of luck. She asked me to help her out in recruiting people and as I said you seem like a guy who needs some luck." He said as he held out the necklace to Motoyasu.

"A goddess of Luck you said?" Motoyasu asked as his anger and sadness faded only to be replaced by curiosity and a bit of suspicion.

"Fortuna, Lady luck. What do you say?" Dante asked.

Motoyasu looked at Dante for a long moment trying to discern his intention.

Slowly Motoyasu reached out and grabbed the necklace from Dante's open palm before placing it around his neck.

Dante patted him on the back and was about to motion for them to rejoin the others before Motoyasu grasped his shoulder as they stood up straight.

Now it was Dante's turn to be suspicious but quickly found the feeling to be unfounded.

"Lady Fortuna thanks you." Motoyasu said simply. To which he simply nodded before they returned to the others.

1/5 recruited...

+1 Luck...

Dante then began wondering somethings.

'How many things from stories were made real? How far does it extend? I wonder if this is happening all across the world? Are multiple people going to have the legendary weapons? Here's hoping their good people if that's true.' Dante thought with a mixture of curiosity, and worry.

"How many gods do you think are real now?" He asked as that question truly began to weigh upon him.

"What do you..." Motoyasu spoke before stopping understanding gleaming in his eye.

"Fortuna was an old Roman god does that mean the other Roman gods are alive? What about the Greeks? What about those gods who exist only in the pages of stories? Hastur? Mekhane the..." Movement. His eyes darted left quickly followed by Motoyasu. There beneath a tree at the edge of beach not a dozen feet away was a man dressed all in yellow.

The figure wore a long yellow cloak that completely covered it and seemed far too long, appearing like it would drag on the ground if the figure was walking.

It was unnaturally tall, at least 3 meters.

Though its cloak was open to allow it to wave gently to them there was an unnatural darkness that prevented them from seeing what was within the cloak.

Its arms were long spindly white things with emaciated hands and long finger nails almost like claws.

Around its hooded head could be seen a small band of light that formed a circle that looped over and behind its head.

It brought its hand to what you could assume was its chest and then gave a small bow.

"Thank you..." It's voice was the wind and yet weighed upon them like a ton of bricks.

The pressure forced them to grit their teeth and they blinked.

In that instant the pressure evaporated. They opened their eyes and the figure was gone, but still it spoke one more time.

"My name is Hastur, I am the Shepard. Call to me little lambs when you are in need of a Shepard to guide you..."

Silence reigned for several seconds before wither of them spoke.

"You saw that shit too right?" Motoyasu asked.

"Yeah..." Dante replied hesitantly.

"I think we need to be more careful with the names we mention." Motoyasu spoke with a tremor in his voice.

Dante looked at him incredulously.

"You don't say..."

--------------------------------

Sirens blared unheard by all but the system as someone stood upon the surface of Earths system pilon.

Hastur looked down upon the enormous construct and then up to gaze upon the Earth in the distance.

He spoke unto the void and still his voice carried.

"I see what you are doing...I see but a fragment of you and yet..." He paused as he turned to face the golden figure that now stood before him.

"...And yet I know you are a good Shepard." He spoke as he eyes were drawn elsewhere as if following invisible threads.

He looked but even his sight could not reach the being he knew was there. He was not strong enough.

Not yet...

In a second, Hastur's form almost seemed to dart from the surface of the system pylon.

His direction made his destination clear.

The System avatar looked upon the Earth in the distance tracking the gods movement across the intervening distance.

In little more than a second he had crossed the distance and returned to earth.

The system alarms ceased their blaring and reports were filed to the administrators.

'Hastur...One of the elder gods in the mythos of one H.P Lovecraft. One of the most favorable outcomes, good. Let's try keeping his relatives down...'

The system avatar spoke before demanifesting its physical form.

---------

"Hey Dante ready to make for those doorway's? You guys alright you look a little shaken up?" James asked as he and Motoyasu rejoined them, derailing his train of thought.

Both looked at each other before nodding and affirming they were fine. Motoyasu not wanting to dwell spoke up and changed subjects.

"Oh hey you're heading for the door's at the edge of the zone right?"

Abruptly the eyes of Dante and his legion were upon Motoyasu.

"You've been there?" Dante asked, a bit surprised.

"Yeah we were clearing out the low level monsters from the plains around the town for the first day then we went to the edge. The doors we found lead to dungeons, other normal tutorial zones. I was really surprised at that one. We saw one that looked like a hospital. It even had windows that seemed to look in on this zone. We even went in and everything seemed fine." Motoyasu chimed in as he crossed his arms and smiled.

Next Rena spoke, "The doors along the zones edge are all evenly spread apart from on another and they pretty much all look the same though the system labels them on the HUD. Dungeons have level requirements to enter and seem to have a ranking system like how it often is in fantasy worlds. The highest rank I've seen was a C rank that needed you to be level 75 to enter. The one we went into had a level 20 requirement. It was some weird cave that lead to an open cavern filled with ruins. Then we got the notice that someone else had just cleared it and so we left." She finished explaining for Dante.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

"Thanks for the information guys. Motoyasu one more thing do you have the minimap?" Dante said as he reached out a hand toward Motoyasu. With a raised eyebrow and a suspicious smile, "Yeah?" he responded as he reached out and took Dante's hand.

Dante gave Motoyasu directions to Oscars shop before telling him. "Tell Oscar that Dante sent you and he'll treat you well." Dante said as he began to drag James away from the group, waving as they left.

"Remember you have a girlfriend, James." Dante said quietly eliciting a look of concern and a sideways glance from James.

--------------------------

On the way back Dante poked James causing a blue box to appear.

James looked at him in confusion. He responded with, "I started thinking about that when I added the others. So I'm going to add you and your party to my friends list if you'll accept."

James raised an eyebrow then smiled as he accepted the friend request.

----------------------------------

Dante and James rejoined their legion and then began the considerable journey towards the Zones edge.

What was surprising and yet not so, was that on their way to the edge they didn't find any monster.

"I guess most of the monsters here if there ever were any got killed in the last few days." Dante commented to the rest of the legion sparking this or that conversation amongst its members.

-------------

Dante and the legion arrived at the edge of the zone finding many doors each about the same size and each spaced evenly apart by about 10 feet from one another.

Every door he could see was given a name by the system. Reading several he began to think, 'Lion's Den, Shadow of Death, Goblin Warren. These sound like very dangerous places to me.' he thought, but as that moment persisted he questioned, 'What could a lion even do to me now? Even if they gang up on me like a bunch of goblins I have Iron skin. Can they even hurt me? Probably not but they can certainly hurt them...' Dante ended that train of thought as he gazed over to the rest of the Legion for a moment before continuing his inspection.

Using Prism as a scout to investigate along the edge got him to level 23 in Cartography.

As he flew by he had Prism spare a quick glance at each of the doors.

Above the door for many of the dungeons there was a large text box upon which read, "Cleared".

Every fourth door however was different. Above and to the side of them were what appeared to be several panes of glass.

Upon a closer inspection of one doorway Dante found a shimmer to the air as he looked in upon what appeared to be the well lit lobby of a hospital.

Above the doorway the name presented was, "Zone of Healing". Just as Motoyasu had talked about it.

There were many odd details about the doors. Those that were still "active" seemed to be further spread from their neighbors.

Those that were still active he saw each had a rank in their names. He only spotted a few that were E-rank. Most he saw were already cleared.

Those that weren't were rank D and C. He didn't spot anything above that though.

He had only managed to map a fraction of the zones edge by the time he recalled Prism 20 minutes later.

By looking at his minimap and zooming out he estimated that his owl had only managed to fly about an eighth the distance around the zone.

Deciding to get a better view of the zone as a whole he decided to send Prism up skirting the edge of the dome that made the sky.

For a moment he looked down on the lake far beneath him and could swear he saw a glint rom somewhere in its depths.

'I fucking called it.' He thought to himself with a small smug smile.

Onward and upwards Prism flew and then what he saw next surprised him.

He wasn't certain how large the tutorial zone was but it certainly seemed like more than a dozen miles to any edge. In the distance he saw the town of beginnings maybe 2 or 3 miles away. But what really surprised him was the 9 other towns he saw. Each sitting at their own edge of the zone like points on a compass.

'A compass...I wonder if a compass even works in this place?' he thought. A few seconds later Prism's eyes locked onto something in the middle of the zone. It almost appeared like some kind of ruins but he could be mistaken with the distance he was observing from.

With a snap of his fingers he recalled his familiar and opened his eyes to see everyone in James' party pulling out chairs and sitting down to rest after the long walk.

Cartography has leveled up! Lvl. 23->27...

It seemed that even a view from a distance helped fill in his map and advance his cartography skill.

"...So Dante, looks like your back with us for the moment what did you see." James inquired as he saw Dante's eyes return to normal.

"Well this zone is fucking huge. There are nine more towns spread equally around the edge of this place. It looks like there is something at the bottom of that lake back by the town and there is some kind of structure in the middle of this zone. It maybe ruins but I can't be certain of that." He said with a note of amazement in his voice.

The other's grouped up starting a further dialogue to discuss what had been seen. Some suggesting they go back and have herald or Dante turn their familiar into a fish to investigate the bottom of the lake. Other's suggested they check out these "system hospitals" that Motoyasu had mentioned, motioning to the what appeared to be one about 100 or so feet away.

Some brought up their status' or ran roads while they had a moment of rest.

"Status." Dante spoke.

Dante A. Stone

Race: Human

Classes: [Expand]

[Rank 2] Lvl. 24

EXP: 4,735/9,800

Gold: 254 small (gp)

Strength

144

Resources

Total

Regen.

Constitution/Vitality

139

Health

4,783

(145.3/min)

Endurance

177

Mana

6,630

(128.8/min)

Dexterity

135

Stamina

6,129

(185.95/min)

Willpower

95

Road Points

106

Intellect

109

Stat Points

0

Wisdom

141

Charisma

106

Luck

112

Perception

86

Spirit

137

Soul capacity 78.55/137

Stat total

1,379

Skill Lvl total 248

"Wow...I have more than enough for the Trainee road and I'm about ready for the Apprentice road. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad...Hey, new sections, cool." He spoke quietly his thoughts racing but jumbled by how far he had come in such a short time.

'I can do either just the Trainee road or I can do several of the smaller ones. I think it will backlog the Apprentice road if I haven't completed the Trainee road by the time I earn two more skill levels.' He pondered as he weights his options.

More roads meant more chances for skills. But did he just want to "farm" ever more skills and never really level most of them?

"Roads."

Roads Road of Ice, (0/20) Road of Air I, (0/20) Wizards Road III, (0/50) Philosopher's Road II, (0/50) Planar Traveler's I, (10/50) Trainee Road (0/100) Athlete I Road, (0/25) Physical Improvement II, (0/50) Road of Water II, (0/20) Tireless I, (0/50) Fighting Proficiency I, (5/20) Farmer I, (0/10) Regen I, (0/50) Mana I, (0/25) Road of Light I, (0/25) Risk Taker I, (0/50) Sage I, (0/25) Generalist I, (0/50) Psion I, (0/25)

A moment of contemplation and his decision was made.

100 points went into the Trainee Road.

You look upon this new world and have begun building a stable foundation for the future. +5 to all stats...

Congratulations! Your will has reached 100!...

Calculating...

You have acquired the Uncommon Passive skill, Iron will Lvl. 1...

You have an image in your mind of what you will build, something for you, something for others...

Synergy detected...

Error!

Skill damage has occurred!...

Dante clutched his chest and began to sweat as he felt a painful heat beginning to grow in his chest.

Turning inward he found not the comforting tree that normally greeted him.

He found himself standing atop the pinnacle of his class tower, his Babel.

There floating in the air at chest height he saw a lantern of thick iron and clouded glass and somewhere inside he could see a blue light. But that was not what drew his attention.

No, that fell to the blue flames that slowly were consuming the lantern.

As he looked upon it each knew the other.

This was the flame he had left in the little hobbit hole not too long ago. Looking upon it he remembered something.

...You have accepted the flame and the flame accepts you...

He felt the flames longing, its hunger. It wished to grow, to be greater than it was.

The cloudy glass grew blackened and the iron began to glow faintly red under the flames attack.

He didn't know what to do.

Skill damage...

Continued skill damage may lead to soul damage...

Please seek your local...

He looked upon small flame trying to consume the lantern and recalled the notice that had proceeded this event. Two words stuck out to him.

"Foundation, Image." he spoke them and then...

+5 Wis...

He knew what to do.

He just needed a change in perspective. A new image for the world.

He reached forth to touch the flames. They too reached forth engulfing his hand but it did not burn him. The fire glowed brightly as some of it changed colors. Yellow, orange, green, and more.

Colors of emotion.

He activated a single skill.

Battle Hymn. He sang just a bit of one of his favorite songs. Through the fire and the flames by Dragonforce.

"Through the fire and the flames we carry on!" He yelled and one could almost hear the sound a band playing behind him as the lantern gave a bright flash. He placed his arms over his eyes shielding them from the flash.

He heard and he felt an explosion shove him back but he stood his ground.

Then all was quiet, deathly quiet.

Opening his eyes the world seemed as if someone had pressed pause.

He looked and saw he stood in the middle of a fireball. Bits and pieces of iron and glass hung in the air all around him.

Despair washed over him as he felt hope give out its last breath...

Skill destruction has been halted...

How will you proceed?...

He gazed upon the edges of the fireball and then back the source of the destruction.

He felt pressured. That he was on a ticking click and when it was done...

Hope would die.

'Despair...' The word left a bitter taste in his mouth but...

Suddenly he felt a warmth wash over him, hands holding his shoulders. He remembered he was among friends.

That was what made him realize he still could do something else.

+5 Will...

Again he spoke invoking the world of a great man long dead.

He refused to let hope die.

"And we shall hue from a mountain of despair a stone of hope!" The words rang with something more.

Recalculating...

The first thing to move was the glass. Every shard pulled back together, melted, and reshaped into something else.

Dante stepped forward and held the small object that had been made in his hand. It was small, no larger than a jumbo marble. No longer a foggy glass but one filled with color. Here was purple as lavender, blue as the sky, gold like the sun and every color under it.

There in his hand he held a tiny glass heart. Was it even glass anymore it felt...

Badump...

The tiny hear began to beat as now the iron pulled back together to form a small 3 inch by 3 inch cube of...blue iron?

'Interesting...' He thought as the notice he had awaited appeared.

Skill, Regeneration (Minor) has been consumed...

Skill, Iron Will has been dismantled and consumed...

Skill, Leadership has been consumed...

Skill, Beacon of Hope been broken down and consumed...

Congratulations! You have acquired the Rare Passive skill, Burning Heart...

Prior effects maintained...

Skill level is set to 1...

You have lost 11 Rp...

Burning Heart- A heart born of destruction and despair, of fire and hope. Mild increase to all resources and regens per level of the skill. Mild Increase to heat and cold tolerances per level of the skill. Emits an aura of hope affecting allies within range. Mild increase to effects per level of the skill. Mild increase to range per level of the skill. Effects increase with your Will, Cha, and Spirit stats. Effects increase with your Fire affinity...

Your fire affinity has risen...

Road of Fire II has opened to you!...

He blinked and he was once more with his family. He took a deep breath and let it out. The burning in his chest having fallen to a comforting warmth.

Everyone asked questions but he merely held out a hand, palm up. With a flex of his will, a small flame appeared in his hand. At first it was a pale blue, subdued, then it was yellow and orange dancing with delight.

As the fire burned others ceased their questions and stared in bewilderment.

The flame nibbled at his mana and he smiled as it faded into his hand.

Dante stood to his full height. He was not taller than he had been a moment ago but all who stood in his presence felt the difference.

"New skill?" Frank asked holding him by the shoulder.

"New skill." he replied simply.

More notices rolled on.

Already you have drawn the eyes of several gods to you, and they look upon you in expectation of what is to come... +10 Luck..

You turn back and reflect upon all that has happened over the last 5 days, and you feel yourself having grown as a person from the experience. +5 Wis, Spirit...

Looking forward you see a world you cannot predict, but what you do know is that you have people to protect. +5 Str, Con, End...

Congratulations! You have completed the Trainee Road!...

You may now choose a patron from...

Error!...

Recalculating...

Patron of the Craft, Oscar Hemsworth has been selected as your patron...

Recalculating...

Additional materials found...

Reward will be modified...

You have obtained the Uncommon passive skill, Basic Crafting Lvl. 1...

"Holy shit!...That was an experience." he said in a small voice looking towards the ground.

He closed his eyes.

9 points into Perception and he had achieved his goal of getting everything to 100 or above.

Congratulations! Your Perception has reached 100!...

Analyzing statistics...

Calculating outcome...

You are awarded the Uncommon Semi-Passive skill, Eagle's Sight Lvl. 1!...

Eagle's Sight- You blink and see the world in a whole new light. Grants the user the sight of an eagle. Allows the user to perceive the world in a greater array of colors, including the ultraviolet and microwave light spectrums. The effective range of your sight increases slightly per level of this skill. Base cost: 2 Health, mana, stamina per second...

Pain shot through his head. He felt as if his eyes were on fire but he bared the pain. He felt a tingling in his skull and the building of pressure but that was far more manageable.

A moment passed and the pain faded.

He opened his eyes and beheld a world of color he had never could have imagined before.

"This...will take some getting used to."