History Fanfic / WanderingOfASwordHero

Set five years after an [[AlternateUniverse AU]] outcome of the ''Heaven's Feel'' route where both Shirou and Illya managed to survive the Holy Grail War because [[ForWantOfANail he got his hands on a curse-absorbing Noble Phantasm]] from Myth/ChineseMythology called ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nüba Hanba]]'', originating from a timeline where it was an actual Divine artifact instead of a Demon.

* ForWantOfANail:
** Shirou being the Sword Hero and his interactions with the other characters slowly derails the plot. He helps Naofumi get back on his feet, lending him his party members so he can safely raise his levels, tells him some critical information about the Legendary Shield's functions, and gives him some new shield forms, which in turn makes Naofumi stronger than he was in canon.
** Shirou buys Firo's egg from the Slave Trader instead of Naofumi, because his sensitivity to magical energies allows him to realize one of the eggs is obviously different from the others.
** He also [[spoiler:helps Naofumi to get back on his feet despite the Shield Hero's seething distrust of people right after Malty/Myne's betrayal. He does this by pretending to be a mercenary hired to help the Shield Hero gain levels – which is technically true because the government of Siltvelt didn't know they were dealing with the Sword Hero in disguise – because he realized that Naofumi wouldn't believe Shirou just genuinely wanted to help him.]]
** The above, plus Shirou's ability to keep himself cleverly neutral to political games without angering nobles, and the simple fact he is ''actually doing his job as a Hero'' by helping people while LevelGrinding in preparation for the Waves, prompts [[spoiler:Queen Mirelia to make contact with him to help her deal with the political clusterfrack that Aultcray created by summoning the Four Cardinal Heroes to Melromarc despite international agreements stating otherwise.]]
** Shirou's intervention in [[spoiler:the world leaders' summit in Zeltbull]] considerably lessened the [[spoiler:diplomatic]] burdens on [[spoiler:Queen Mirelia]], freeing the latter to act in other matters. [[spoiler:Such as orchestrating the JailBreak of several pro-{{Demihuman}}s[=/=]anti-CorruptChurch Nobles who were imprisoned without a trial in the castle's dungeon, Eclair Seaetto among them[[note]](the only reason why the Queen didn't simply order their release, is because that would forewarn the Church of the Three Heroes that she's onto them)[[/note]].]]
** Shirou's visit to Zeltbull lets him learn about the gladiator slaves [[spoiler:and [[BigBrotherInstinct Fohl's ordeal]] trying to keep his sick little sister alive]]. Three guesses what Shirou does about it, and the first two don't count.
** Shirou heals [[spoiler:Atla]] using a replica of Avalon. As a result she falls in love with him [[spoiler:instead of Naofumi]]. She [[spoiler:and her brother Fohl]] join Shirou's party as a result.
** It's later revealed that one of the other three Cardinal Heroes actually ''listened'' to one of his ProperlyParanoid advices about how heroes tend to get screwed over in stories. Surprisingly, it's [[spoiler:[[IdiotHero Motoyasu]]. Despite [[BitchInSheepsClothing Malty/Myne]]'s best efforts, he has yet to sleep with her thanks to Shirou's warning about how often the WomanScorned trope tends to get heroes killed, which resonated with him a lot due to how he died in his previous life.]]
** Naofumi learns about the Cursed Series prior to the first Wave in canon. Naofumi notices that he has unlocked the Wrath Series for quite a while before it was brought up. He actually welcomes it, due to how naive he was before.
** In the same chapter, Raphtalia reunites with Sadeena [[spoiler:and Aultcray meets Atla]] earlier. [[spoiler:This has long-lasting effects on the latter, as he realizes how far he's fallen much, ''much'' earlier.]]
** Chapter 40 reveals [[spoiler:that the existence of the Noble Phantasm ''Hanba'' caused the divergence, as it was a version of ''Hanba'' from a timeline where it was one of the Divine artifacts bestowed by the War Goddess Jiutian Xuannü, rather than ''Hanba'' being a separate, unconnected Demon of drought. In this Shirou's Grail War, different from the canon ''Heaven's Feel'', he used ''Hanba'''s curse-draining power to remove Angra Mainyu's influence from Saber (and later, the Grail itself). Due to this, Shirou and Illya didn't have to sacrifice themselves as Saber destroyed the Grail herself, as she does in the other two routes.]]
** As a result of the events of [[WhamEpisode Chapters 39-40]], [[spoiler:Motoyasu was informed about the existence of the Curse Series, and more tragically, it also caused Itsuki to unlock the Pride Series ''much'' sooner.]]
** [[spoiler:With Naofumi's name cleared earlier with the King admitting to the FalseRapeAccusation, along with Shirou's guidance, Motoyasu tries to mend his relationship with Naofumi by giving him information, including letting him know of his plan to unseal the Spirit Turtle early like what the other three heroes did in canon. Due to this, Naofumi makes the reasonable suggestion of telling other people, ''especially'' Shirou, first before doing it ''if'' they actually have to do it, and in a way that doesn't bite them in the ass.]]

Set five years after an [[AlternateUniverse AU]] outcome of the [[spoiler:''Heaven's Feel'']] route where both Shirou and Illya managed to survive the Holy Grail War because [[spoiler:[[ForWantOfANail he got his hands on a curse-absorbing Noble Phantasm]] from Myth/ChineseMythology called ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nüba Hanba]]'', originating from a timeline where it was an actual Divine artifact instead of a Demon.]]

** One of Shirou's alias was "Kiritsugu". A former gladiator, who found it too long to say, shortened it to "Kerry", the exact same nickname used by Shirley in ''LightNovel/FateZero''.

** Jian slowly becomes more capable of independent actions. Shirou registering her as a Companion leads to her unlocking [[spoiler:the Weapon Evolution system due to getting a share of the EXP, which lets her unlock new abilities for her own use through the spending of a finite number of Points, including {{Telekinesis}} to move around and fight, not unlike a certain other [[Literature/IWasASwordWhenIReincarnatedsentient sword]].]]

** WordOfGod explicitly states that the "Weapon Evolution" Enhancement Method is lifted from Literature/IWasASwordWhenIReincarnated. It is slightly modified, however, compared to the original; [[spoiler:Jian]] gains EXP just from killing enemies and not from stabbing Monster Cores, as Monster Cores aren't a thing in ''Shield Hero''. Likewise, Skills can't be taken from enemy Monster Cores as, again, they don't exist. As such, Skills can only be gotten whenever [[spoiler:Jian]] levels up, after which a number of points are given based on [[spoiler:her]] Level, like in the original source, which can be used to purchase things from a growing selection of Skills.

* HumanityIsInfectious: How Jian's CharacterDevelopment actually happened. Late into ''LightNovel/TheRisingOfTheShieldHero'', it's revealed that [[spoiler:there is a Divine Spirit at the core of each of the Four Holy Weapons. Shirou unwittingly imprinted this spirit with the basis of a human personality when he used the Weapon Copy function on Bakuya, a Noble Phantasm carrying a deep connection to the self-sacrificing swordsmith wife of the myth of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gan_Jiang_and_Mo_Ye Gan Jiang and Mo Ye]]]]. From there, Shirou kept nurturing her self-awareness by treating her as a CompanionCube of sorts and conversation partner in the time between his summoning and getting his first party member, and then just kept talking to her because she learned how to use the help message pop-ups to obliquely answer back. By the time of the second Wave, Jian has grown into a person of her own with a distinct personality, goals, and fears.

** Just like the canonical Sword Hero, Shirou is the first to notice the Status Menu out of the Four Heroes. For a bit of ironic humor, this is due to the exact opposite reason. Ren was familiar with ''LightNovel/SwordArtOnline''-level VR games in his home world, and immediately noticed the unobtrusive open menu icon in the corner of his vision. Shirou is a complete {{Noob}} and just saw the icon and was all like "what the heck is that?", which opened the menu.

** Jian slowly becomes more capable of independent actions. Shirou registering her as a Companion leads to her unlocking [[spoiler:the Weapon Evolution system due to getting a share of the EXP, which lets her unlock new abilities for her own use through the spending of a finite number of Points, including {{Telekinesis}} to move around and fight, not unlike a certain other [[LightNovel/IWasASwordWhenIReincarnated sentient sword]].]]

** WordOfGod explicitly states that the "Weapon Evolution" Enhancement Method is lifted from Lightnovel/IWasASwordWhenIReincarnated. It is slightly modified, however, compared to the original; [[spoiler:Jian]] gains EXP just from killing enemies and not from stabbing Monster Cores, as Monster Cores aren't a thing in ''Shield Hero''. Likewise, Skills can't be taken from enemy Monster Cores as, again, they don't exist. As such, Skills can only be gotten whenever [[spoiler:Jian]] levels up, after which a number of points are given based on [[spoiler:her]] Level, like in the original source, which can be used to purchase things from a growing selection of Skills.

** Shirou's visit to Zeltbull lets him learn about the gladiator slaves [[spoiler:and [[BigBrotherInstinct Fohl's ordeal]] trying to keep his [[IllGirl sick little sister]] alive]]. Three guesses what Shirou does about it, and the first two don't count.
** Shirou heals [[spoiler:IllGirl Atla]] using a replica of Avalon. As a result she falls in love with him [[spoiler:instead of Naofumi]]. She [[spoiler:and her brother Fohl]] join Shirou's party as a result.

''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13190156/1/Wandering-of-a-Sword-Hero Wandering of a Sword Hero]]'' ([[https://wasuregusa.bitbucket.io/epub/%5BFate-Stay%20Night%5D%5BShield%20Hero%5D%20Wandering%20of%20a%20Sword%20Hero-ffnet_13190156.epub ePub]]) by [[https://www.fanfiction.net/u/7621561/A-Dyslexic-Writer A Dyslexic Writer]] is a CrossOver between ''VisualNovel/FateStayNight'' and ''LightNovel/TheRisingOfTheShieldHero'' that serves as a {{Continuation}} for the former and a FusionFic for the latter.