The king took surprisingly kindly to your letter from the queen.

He read it quietly, in front of the four heroes. The bow hero was a short guy, with messy hair, absentmindedly holding a bow bearing a yellow gem in the middle. Beside him stood the sword hero, a tall, dark haired boy wearing blue clothes and bearing a white sword with a similarly colored gem.

After the sword hero came the spear hero, a rather tall male with blonde hair in a ponytail. His spear held a red gem just under the head. Then, came the hero you were to swear allegiance towards.

The shield hero. He wore a green hoodie, and looked rather plain. Not as plain as the bow hero, but plain nonetheless. His dark hair nearly covered his eyes as he eyed you uncomfortably. Seems the heroes could at least feel your presence.

"Oh very well." The king sighed, rolling the paper again.

"I'll have the paper destroyed as a sign of my acknowledgment. Everyone may choose the hero they stand behind now, I guess." With that, the line of people started moving, one by one, to stand by their preferred hero. The shield hero had his eyes shut, likely to keep his allies a surprise. You, unsurprisingly, came last.

Everyone looked at you in suspense as you looked at each of the heroes. Then, you started to step forward. The mood in the room seemed to shift when you passed by the Bow Hero, Itsuki, then the Sword Hero Ren, the Spear Hero Motoyasu, before stopping behind the Shield Hero, Iwatani Naofumi.

The shield hero finally opened his eyes, looking behind him to see you. Only you.

"Only you?" He asked, looking at the other heroes, who each had between two and five allies.

"I am afraid so, sir Shield Hero." You stated, looking around.

"Er, May I join the shield hero?" A rather unsettled voice spoke up, and you looked over to see a red headed young lady. She was beautiful, but that's not what you saw.

You could see the queen in her, meaning this was likely one of her daughters. You eyed her carefully as she moved to stand behind the shield hero. The spear hero spoke to her, asking confirmation. You watched as coins were passed out to each of the heroes, before everyone was dismissed.

You walked behind the Shield Hero and his female companion, staying quiet as you listened to their conversation.

"So, we got 800 silver coins, huh?" Naofumi stated. Myne Sophia, the new companion, nodded.

"With that, we'll be able to but decent equipment for ourselves!" She spoke cheerily. As you continued walking, you noticed something in the bottom right hand corner of your vision.

"An icon, huh?" As you looked at it, some kind of screen appeared in front of you.

You looked it up and down. They were boring numbers, basically explaining your strengths as a hunter, and the Moon. In short, all your stats were high, but you dealt the most damage while using Arcane or Blood based weapons. The window closed on its own as you looked ahead to see the shield hero and Myne enter a blacksmiths shop. You opened the door, looking inside to see Naofumi looking at various swords. He tried to pick one up, but as soon as he lifted it, sparks began to emit from his hands as the sword nearly leaped out of his hands. He watched it fly to the opposite side of the room as a black text box appeared in front of him. Ignoring him, you walked towards the blades, picking one up. It was a simple blade, nothing special.

"Ya like it? How about you swing it around a bit, see if you'll buy it?" The blacksmith asked. You turned away from him, swing the sword a few times. You shook your head, putting it down.

"Too light." You remarked. The blacksmith rolled his eyes.

"You plan on using that club on your back the entire time?" He was referring to the Beast Cutter. You drew the weapon, looking at it.

"This is a cleaver. It's made for slaying beasts. But I see your point." In seemingly a flash, the weapon disappeared, replaced by a thin metal blade, with a massive bladed sheath on your back.

"That's quite the skill you have there." The blacksmith remarked. You sheathed the sword, as Naofumi and Myne placed their desired item on the counter, getting ready to pay for it all.

"I was only able to buy protective gear..." Naofumi gripes about his situation as you looked over at him.

"Don't fret, Sir Shield Hero. The smith was able to get you a reduced price for your goods. That chainmail in particular suits you rather well." You told him. He sighed, muttering to himself.

"Say, now that we have gear, why don't we go raise our levels a bit?" Myne suggested. You nodded, as Naofumi agreed to this.

You all stood in a field, staring at the rustling grass as a sickly sweet smell filled the air. This was the scent of blood, but not just any blood....

"Strange, the balloons in this area are acting... weird." Myne commented. Behind her, grass rustled as a rather large creature burst from the grass.

It resembled a ball in shape, but it's eyes were a glowing red. It was the size of a small dog, with thin, clawed legs sprouting from its underside. It's mouth was open, revealing shining white teeth. Myne almost noticed it too late, but Naofumi didn't.

Myne let out a shout of panic as the beastly balloon struck Naofumi's Shield, sticking to it as it tried to dig into the legendary weapon. You watched in curiosity. So this is how your blood was affecting the local monsters.

Myne managed to kill the balloon by slicing it in half. Around you all, more rustling became evident as more balloons burst from the grass. Most of them leapt towards Naofumi and Myne, but what little thy faced you were cut down by one swift swipe of your blade.

"....maybe leveling isn't the best idea right now..." Myne spoke softly. News of this would spread quick. Good.

You stood in an inn, watching Myne and Naofumi chat with each other. Had you been in your true body, you would've picked up on their speech with ease. However, the human body was flawed, and returning to it had significantly dulled your senses to the level of a mere humans. You watched as the shield hero got up out of his seat, leaving the room. Myne was about to get up, before you took Naofumi's seat. Myne looked at you, as you glared at her from under your hat. She slowly sat back down as you let out a long breath through your nose.

"Myne Sophia." You spoke in your heavy Yharnamite accent. Myne shifted in her seat, taking hold of her wine glass.

"You... I never caught your name, did I?" She asked. You shook your head.

"I am Y/n, if you desire to know." You told her. She nodded, sipping her drink.

"Do you drink, Y/n?" She asked. You looked at her glass, filled with wine, before grabbing Naofumi's untouched, empty glass.

"Not often, but when I do, it's much stronger than what most people can take." You told her. She raised a brow, impressed.

"Could you show me this strong drink?" She asked. You almost smirked, lifting a hand from beneath the table. In your grasp was a red and white bottle, seemingly made from flesh and bone.

"That looks... strange for a wine." Myne spoke, looking at it.

"It's more of a cocktail, actually. Very pungent as well. Known to attract some beasts." You spoke, uncapping the bottle. Myne watched as you poured yourself a glass. Thick red liquid poured into the glass, filling it halfway as you capped the bottle again. Myne seemed to pick up on the smell.

"That smells very... sickly." She commented. You pulled your mask down to take a sip of the alcohol-blood mixture, before something clicked in Myne's mind.

"Wait.... is that-"

"Where I come from," you interrupted.

"Blood takes a major role in society. Beasts plagued my city of origin, so on many nights, hunters stalked the streets, killing anyone who went mad. Soon, to everyone..." you took another sip.

"Blood has become more intoxicating than any alcohol. However, the latter does make it taste better." You said. Myne tried to stand up, before you looked her in the eye. She froze in place, before sitting back down, swallowing with a bit of effort.

"You said you wanted to level up earlier today." You recalled. Myne nodded, staring at the glass of your pungent blood cocktail.

"Yes, but those balloons aren't the same." She responded.

"How so?" You asked. Myne took in a deep breath, recalling them.

"They're usually just bright orange balls that bounce around and attack you. Now, for

some reason, they have legs, and they're becoming... smarter. They usually attack head on, but one of them tried to get me from behind." Myne grew increasingly concerned with everything she was facing. You knew one of her main concerns was the blood that you were sipping.

"If it eases your mind, this blood is not a human's." You spoke. Myne nodded, swallowing as she looked at it.

"What exactly is in that?" She asked.

"This is a rather strong blood. In fact, I do risk my own life drinking it." You lied.

"You see, this is a cocktail I've made on my own by mixing alcohol with what is called Old Blood. One drink of this would have most humans barely holding on to their consciousness as they pass out, quite possibly dying." You described the drink. Myne seemed to grow increasingly concerned.

"And... how do I know you're not gonna die, mister Y/n?" She asked. You took a knife from a table and poked your thumb. Myne watched in borderline horror as sickly white blood dripped from your thumb.

"There is a legend of a being, a god that lives on the moon. They go by several names, one of them being Paleblood. It is said that those blessed by this Paleblood, become something different...." you gestured to your sword.

"Hunters. People who draw strength from the blood of the beasts they slay. But, there always hunters who go mad, who must be hunted down by other hunters." Myne slowly nodded.

"And... you're one of these hunters?" She asked.

"Not only that, but my blood, which is viewed as a blessing, prevents me from facing the threat of any poison, alcohol, drug, anything that

comes up in the blood." This part was bullshit you came up with on a whim. Nobody alive had pale blood. Paleblood wasn't a race, and not a condition. It was another name the scholars of the college Byrgenwerth called Flora, and by extension, you. Myne, however, seemed to buy it.

"Well, I believe I've had enough for today. You have a good night, Y/n." She spoke. Despite her words, you knew her true reasons behind leaving.

She feared you. By only drinking blood, you had scared her into leaving you alone. Finished your drink, the bottle vanishing into mist as you placed the glass, still holding some blood on the bottom, on the plate Naofumi ate off of. With that, you stood up, walking out of the inn. The night was still young, and while the scourge had yet to spread to the point to challenge you, you desired a hunt.

In the inn, a rather drunk knight looked behind himself, at the glass you placed down. He recalled you speaking with the princess about how that wine you had could turn kill most men.

Waht a lowd uf bulshite. His drunken slurred thought matched his stumble as he looked got to your table. Dragging his finger along the bottom of your glass, he placed the bloodstained finger on his tongue.

It tashtes jusht liek the normall shtuffs! He exclaimed in his mind. In reality, his mouth was too stained by wine to tell the difference. That would be the biggest mistake he made in his final 24 hours of living.