The Super Hero (Rise of the Shield Hero)

Into a new world

As Akio made his way down the street, the last thing he expected to find was a book.

It was early morning and, as usual, Akio was jogging. "Fitness is key to a healthy life" his dad had told him multiple times across his childhood, and it had stuck with him. Now that he was living on his own at age 20, and also going to college, and also working at the local fitness center as a trainer and coach, there was little time for himself. So these morning jogs were a good way to clear his head and get his body ready for the day.

It was a little chilly this particular morning, so Akio is wearing a dark maroon jacket, a black beanie, and a pair of black fingerless gloves.

Anyways, back to the matter at hand.
On this particular morning, Akio noticed a book sticking out of the bushes. Akio has seen many weird and unusual things on his jogs, but never a book. Yeah, it doesn't seem like much, but this particular had an unusual aura about it. Something just drew him to it. Stopping for a moment to catch his breath, Akio examined the cover of the book.

The 5 Cardinal Heroes.

Akio opened the book, slightly intrigued. The book talked about a land that was on the verge of being destroyed, and could only be saved by the Cardinal Heroes: The Sword Hero; The Bow Hero; The Spear Hero; The Shield Hero; The Ṡ̸̩̜̔͗̆u̶̢̙̙͈͊̂͊ṕ̵̺̘̯e̷̡̳̳̋r̵̢͊͊͜ Hero.

The last hero was slightly smudged out, so Akio couldn't tell what kind of hero they were. After he flipped the page, the he saw that the rest of the book was blank.

"Huh? How can that be the end?"

Then, without warning, a bright light covered Akio's vision, blinding him momentarily. His feet also seemed to fall from under him. For a few moments, Akio couldn't see nor feel anything, and this terrified him.

The moment of fear and falling was soon rectified as Akio felt the ground underneath him again, along with his vision coming back.

Akio stood up and looked around. On his left, he saw 4 other guys, who all seemed equally confused. The one on the far end was holding a bow and had blond hair; next to him was a raven haired boy with a sword; next to him was a tall blond with a spear; and the one next to Akio was another raven haired person, but his was longer, and he had a shield on his right arm. Akio looked down at his own hands, but didn't see a weapon. Instead, he had a purple gem attached to his right glove.
What in the world is this place? Akio thought.

"Please, oh brave heroes, our world is in dire need of saving." Akio's eyes shot up and saw 4 men in robes. He hadn't even noticed them before.

"What do you mean it's in need of saving?" Asked the blond with the bow.

"The story behind it is long and complicated, but to keep it short, you are the 5 cardinal heroes, brought here to save our world."

Cardinal? Akio thought, So, what, he thinks were supposed to be heroes?

"We beg you," one of the men said, "please help our world."

"Well, I guess I can hear you guys out." Said the guy with the shield.

Akio nodded, "Yeah, same here."

A/N
So, for anyone reading this, I assume you know what happens in this part of the story.
Most of this story over all will be original, but the beginning will be filled with vanilla stuff from the anime(since that's what I saw).
So with that, I'm going to skip to the king greeting the heroes.

"Welcome, brave heroes." The king said, "Please identify yourselves."

The raven haired guy with the sword stepped up. "Guess I'm first.
"Ren Amaki. I'm a high school student and I'm 16 years old."

The guys with the spear stepped up next. Something about his stance and body language just...felt off with Akio for some reason.
"Motoyasu Kitamura. I'm a college student. 21."

The guy with the bow was next.
"I guess I'm up next. Itsuki Kawasumi. I'm still in highschool, and I'm 17"

Akio stepped forward, smiling.
"Akio Satō, I'm a college student and I'm 20 years old."

The guy to my right stepped forward last.
"That leaves me. My name is--"

"Good," the king interrupted, "Ren, Itsuki, Motoyasu, and Akio."

"Yo king," the shield guy yelled out, "Aren't you forgetting someone?" He asked, pointing to himself.

The king looked agitated for a moment, then sighed. "Ah, yes, forgive me."

The bow guy, Itsuki, leaned over. "Hey, you can't just say "yo king". You have to address him with a little respect."

"So what should I call him, his Majesty?"

Akio snickered slightly at that. It was rude that the king plainly ignored him, so a little disrespect going his way was warranted.

The king cleared his throat. "King, is fine."

"Alright, whatever you prefer. Naofumi Iwatani. College student. 20 years old."

"Now then, I suppose I should explain why I brought you here."

Did he just ignore Naofumi?" Akio thought to himself as he looked at him. Naofumi's face was full of confusion as well.

The king went on to explain the waves, and how they needed the hero's help to stop them.

The king also asked for the heroes to check their statuses, after reaching an agreement of being paid. Everyone was confused except for Ren, who explained that you had to look in the lower right hand side of your vision.

Akio did this, and what looked like a video game window popped up.

LEVEL 1

ATTRIBUTES

ATK: 50
DEF: 50
DEX: 50
MAX HP: 100
MAX MP: 0
SPELLS: 0

SKILL POINTS(SP) AVAILABLE: 10
TO INCREASE ATTRIBUTES, ADD A SKILL POINT TO AN ATTRIBUTE. ANY ATTRIBUTE THAT IS UPGRADED WITH A SKILL POINT WILL BE PERMANENTLY INCREASED BY 50.
GAIN 10 SP WITH EACH LEVEL INCREASE.

"Only level 1? That's a bit disconcerting."

"Yeah, a bit." Akio added, "All of my stats are 50, except for my max mp and my spells, which are zero." He looked over at Naofumi. "What about you?"

Naofumi smiled, "I have 600 defense and 400 health. Not much attack, though."

"Well, maybe if we form a party together, then maybe--"

Someone interrupted Akio, causing all of the heroes to look. After being told that they cannot form a party with each other, they were sent off to a room so they could rest for the night.

After locating his for the night, Akio found that everyone else was in the common area of their joint rooms. They were discussing minor things and how they got here.

After finding out that they were all from different versions of Tokyo, they went to sleep for the night.

Akio was the last one awake, looking at his stats.

"Hmm, how do I upgrade these?" He messed around with the interface a bit more, "Maybe like this?" At that, a new icon popped up.

MAX HP INCREASED. NEW HP AT 150.

Akio smiled. Ohoho, this is so broken.

He then plunged the rest of his SP into his attributes.

MAX HP INCREASED. NEW HP AT 200.

ATK INCREASED. NEW ATK AT 100. 150. 200.

DEF INCREASED. NEW DEF AT 100. 150.

DEX INCREASED. NEW DEX AT 100. 150. 200.

After spending all of his skill points, Akio went to sleep with a grin on his face.
This is going to be so fun.