Gunther was roused from his sleep by the sound of Raphtalia sobbing in her sleep. Quickly getting up he barely noticed that he had been resting in a proper bed, his only concern was for the well being of his friend."Raphtalia?" Gunther said in a soft tone as to not frighten her as he places a hand carefully onto her shoulder. The crying Demi-human then froze momentarily from the contact before meekly asking "G-Gunther? Is that you?"
Turning around Raphtalia sat up and was relieved to see the young goat hero "S-Sorry for waking you up..." Gunther just shook his head with a small smile. "Don't be, I needed to wake up sooner or later." This made the raccoon girl sigh, Gunther was just so forgiving, but that was something she was happy for.
Gunther then took a whiff of the air and smelled something foul that made him blinked. "Did you wet the bed?" The shield hero asked plainly in an upset tone that made Raphtalia shrink "Y-Yes..." Gunther groaned to himself, Erhard was so going to get mad at them for this. Hearing Raphtalia beginning to cry again the young goat frowned. Soon he raised a hand up making Raphtalia close her eyes before feeling him pat her head.
"It's not your fault, you had a nightmare and all the water you drink yesterday did not help." Gunther told her as pulled his hand away and took out a hairbrush from his bag. "Come on, let's get that hair of yours combed...after we clean the sheets and your clothes." Raphtalia nodded quickly, being grateful for the shield hero's compassionate if at times awkward nature.
Just Gunther thought Erhard was not too happy with the wet sheets, but once the two promised to clean and pay for it the blacksmith couldn't stay mad at them. The two Demi-Human's then spent the next three days doing what came to be their daily routine, fight some monsters, forage for herbs and plants, then near the end of the day sell what they got and buy some food to cook before sleeping at Erhard's shop.
Gunther even bought a spell book, it was not a complete one as it was for beginners but it helped the young goat learn a new fire spell that sent out a stream of flames at his target. Even with this new spell under his belt, Gunther still had to rely on Raphtalia to do most of the damage. It's not like he did not mind, the two of them made a great team and the Demi-Human was happy to take all the hits for her so she can land the final blow.
But really he just hoped that he might soon be able to pull his own weight around. For now, however, he had to make sure Raphtalia was given the love and care she needed, while also helping Erhard with things around the shop to earn their keep. It was after the third day that he reviewed their levels and noticed something, they were not gaining Xp fast enough.
Having leveled up so quickly given Gunther fire spells and Raphtalia's high attack the two Demi humans found themselves at level 13 and 12 respectively. Thus Gunther went to the one person he knew might know were they can go next. "So Erhard, any places that we can go to at our skill level to fight stronger monsters?" The shield hero asked the blacksmith, having come to trust the man great in the past week and a half.
"Well, lute village should be a good place to start, only about a days travel on foot." Gunther nodded as Raphtalia sharpened her sword while kicking her feet idly. "That sounds good, and if we start walking now we should be there by tomorrow morning. Thanks, da-Erhard." The blacksmith raised an eyebrow as he caught what Gunther was about to say, the young goat smiling nervously while rubbing the back of their neck.
"Your welcome kid, oh and before I forget to say it try to be careful while you two kids are out there, monsters get a lot tougher the farther you go out into the wilderness. So take my advice, if you see something you think you can't handle," Erhard leaned over his desk and into Gunther face with a grim expression that made Gunther lean back "Then you ran as fast as you can okay."
Gunther quickly nodded, Erhard can be very serious when he wanted to be, making the young Demi-Human nod reassuringly. 'D-Don't worry Erhard, the two of us will be careful, I promise." After a short stare from the blacksmith they sighed and went back to smiling "I sure do hope so, not sure how I'll feel if I don't see you two again."
That right their made Gunther pause, he could feel Erhards worry and so put on his brightest smile. "Oh come on don't be like that old man, I'm the shield hero, there's not much that me and Raphtalia can't handle. And if there was we'll be sure to steer clear of it!" Erhard laughed as he heard Gunther optimism, this kid would not willingly jump into danger. Then again the young goat was the shield hero so all the blacksmith could hope for was the two kids did not go in over their heads.
"Alright kid, I believe you, also I'm not that old." Gunther just smiled childishly "Well you are to me at least!" Both of them burst into laughter after a few moments, the two of them see just how dumb it was to argue about that. "Ah, anyway, Raphtalia!"
The girl had just finished sharpening her sword and quickly got to her feet, running over to Gunther "Yes?" She asked having not paid attention to what the two were talking about. The young goat grinned as he turned to face her before exclaiming "Were going on an adventure!" Erhard sighed, that kid had way too much enthusiasm, then again Gunther was still a child at heart despite all that has happened to them.
It kinda concerned him too, as at times he was unsure whether the Demi-Human was putting on a smile to hide what he was really feeling. However, when Erhard looked over at the young goat all he saw was a naive but well meaning guy, and someone who has to deal with a false reputation hanging over him.
None the less Erhard wave the two goodbye as the Demi-Humans left to start on their journey to lute village. Gunther found the journey slightly uneventful, and soon when Raphtalia got tired from walking let her hop onto his back so she can rest. Gunther had carried heavier things than a small child back at the farm, that was not to say his arms did not hurt once Raphtalia was ready to walk on her feet again. It's just he did not say anything about it to them, seeing it as something pointless to complain about.
Besides, the shield hero was happy to do so anyway, no need to make her feel bad about him helping her. Things got slightly hairy tho when the two of them heard some load talking and Gunther pulled Raphtalia with him into some shrubbery, having a bad feeling about who was speaking. It was a good choice too, a group of bandits walked down the same path they were headed down, decently armed too and had an air to them that said they would gut someone without a second thought.
The two of them stayed quiet as the bandits past by, Gunther overhearing a part of their conversation "So it's true the shield humans some kind of demon? Dang, I wouldn't what to mess with them." A different bandit with a boar spear just rolled their eyes "Oh come on, they just have a shield to fight with, what are they going to do beat ya to death with it?" Gunther did find the idea slightly amusing, well, at least not the death part of it.
"Don't tempt fate mate, who knows maybe they will do just that if we run into them." A bandit just scoffed before putting on an act "Oh great shield demon! Please spare me! Haha! What a damn joke they are!" As they left laughing the two demi-humans poked their heads out of their hiding place before letting out a sigh of relief.
"That was close, a bit to close," Gunther commented, grunting angrily at what the bandits said as he made sure the coast was clear. "anyway it seems we can get moving again. Come Raphtalia." As he said this the raccoon girl became concerned for Gunther as they continue their journey, as he sounded slightly more annoyed than he normally was.
They would spend a night in the woods before finally making it to Lute. Gunther soon felt the same eyes fall onto him as the two demi-humans walked through the village that he knew well from the castle town. "So those rumors even made it all the way out here, why am I even surprised." The shield hero thought as he clapped his hands together "Alright first things first is to find someone with a monster problem." Gunther said to his friend before walking up to a random villager "Hey mind if I-" They simply walked away quickly, ignoring him.
"...okay um, oh sir can I ask abou-" The man just gave him the stink eye and left to drop off the crate they were carrying. Slightly dishearten Gunther groaned like a goat, making Raphtalia blink "Are you okay?" She knew he was bothered by the fact he was being ignored, but the sound he made to express this concerned her. Gunther quickly put on a smile "I'm fine, just a little annoyed that's all. But there has to be someone in this town who can point us in the right direction."
There was no who would help them, in fact, everyone was either dismissive of the two or downright rude. By the end of it, the Demi-Humans had spent the entire day without anything to show for it. Suffice to say Gunther was frustrated, all he wanted was to know where there were some monsters to kill and yet these villagers distrusted him greatly.
Sitting down on a box the young goat grumbled to himself, Raphtalia then tugged on his pants and Gunther looked down to see her holding up her ball. Sighing Gunther stood up from the box and got ready, might as well calm down by playing catch. And he was glad he did, not only was Gunther's mood improved but Raphtalia seemed happier as well.
As they finished up the two overheard a conversation between a coal trader and a disgruntled customer "What do you mean you only have charcoal?!" The customer asked angrily. The trader just sighed "Believe me I'm just as annoyed as you are, not much I can do with that damn monster in the mines. No one is willing to go in there now and the lord has not found anyone who can help." The customer just scoffed "You know this is something our heroes should have dealt with by now. But I guess they don't seem to care about this little village."
Filling a bag with charcoal the trader agreed "Yeah, some heroes they are." Gunther had still been playing with Raphtalia as he listened and grinned. That was how he was going to prove he was a hero, all he and Raphtalia had to do was go into the mine and slay the beast. The young goat then started to fantasize, everyone would see him for the good person he was and maybe give him a chance and respect that he wanted. The shield hero was brought out of this daydreaming when the ball hit him in the face making him snap back to reality.
"Ah! Gunther are you okay!" Raphtalia asked even tho the ball would not have hurt him that much. Gunther just laughed it off before smiling "I'm fine, and I know just where to find a monster to fight!" Saying this Gunther started walking off to the mines with Raphtalia fallow close by, although she started to feel that this might not be such a good idea.
Gunther started to notice this weariness the raccoon girl was giving off and asked her about it "Raphtalia, what's with the nervousness?" Simply told him not to worry, which got him to prepare himself just incase. Once they got to the mine entrance however both of them felt a sense of dread loom over them, making the fur on their ears stand on end. "Okay, that did not feel good at all..." Raphtalia only nodded fearfully in response, the two Demi-Humans feeling the need to turn back the way they came.
But when Gunther put his mind to something, it was hard to get him to stop. "Well we can't really turn back now that we're here...hey look a shed!" Pointing to their left to get the feeling of dread off their minds they saw a wooden shed that looked somewhat beat up, most likely from the late wave.
Walking into the shed Gunther saw a bunch of mining equipment such as rope and pickaxes. Picking up the rope Gunther let his shield absorb it, gaining a new shield. The shield at first glance was nothing special, however, it was the effects it had that piqued his interest. The first part was that when equipped it allowed him to send out a string of rope, very straightforward. Its second ability, however, was what really surprised him, air strike shield.
Raphtalia watched as Gunther cupped his chin in thought as he read his status Journal before extending his hand outward and shouting "Air Strike Shield!" Once saying that a Large green shield appeared a few feet in front of him, Gunther staring at it for a moment before starting to get excited. "Oh yes, this will come in handy."
"Why's that?" Raphtalia asked, while she understood that he could extend his defending reach with the ability it did not seem that impressive. Grinning like a child who got away with taking the last cookie in the jar he looked over at her "Let me give a demonstration." Shouting Air strike again the shield appeared once more, this time flying forward into the wall with a loud heavy thud.
Raphtalia was amazed by that while Gunther just jumped in place, pumping his fist in the air, "Yeah! Once I read air strike I knew I had to try that. And looks like I was right!" The previous atmosphere of worry was replaced with excitement at this small discovery but it certainly lightened up their moods, Gunther laughing loudly as a result.
With this new instilled mood the Demi-Humans felt comfortable enough to enter the mines to slay the monster that lurks inside, bad feelings be damned. As they got past the light from the sun Gunther made a ball of flame in his hand to act like a torch and as they walked deeper into the mines Raphtalia just started to feel that same wave of dread from before.
Gunther himself felt it too, but for the sake of his companion, he made sure to act brave even tho he was a little scared. "Well this place seems nice," The shield hero comment to break the tense atmosphere "No wonder a monster would like it, it's dark, foreboding and cold. Just like its described in most adventure stories!"
Raphtalia simply stays silent as Gunther started to go on a tangent about whatever came to his mind, even she can tell this was the young goat's way of coping with the nervousness. The young girl then thought of something she had been meaning to say to them "So um, Gunther, Thanks, for everything." The shield hero looked back at her with a smile "Well it was the right thing to do, I couldn't just leave you with that slaver to die."
"besides, your good with a sword too, it's a win win!" That made Raphtalia smile, while she did not always want to fight the young goat never held it against her and was happy to take a break for her sake. "Y-Yeah I guess it is...Can I ask you a question, if you don't mind that is." Gunther just nodded "Shoot."
"Well I heard you talk about your mother before but are your parents...you know..." Gunther stopped walking at that before speaking quietly "If you're asking if they're dead, then no their alive...at least when I last saw them they were, a lot can happen in 5 years after all." Raphtalia could hear the sadness in his voice and chose not to push him further about the topic.
They were silent the rest of the trip through the tunnel, neither wishing to bother the other. Soon they came upon were the mining was being done and stared in awe, green minerals and coal could be seen sticking out of the ground or in the walls, the metals reflecting back the light that shined from the ceiling.
As the two Demi-humans stared at the sight before them Gunther looked around and groaned at the lack of monsters. "Great, alright let's take a look around. That beast has got to be around here somewhere." As Gunther searched Raphtalia took some time to rest by sitting on a rock before noticing a trail of large footprints, very large dog like footprints.
Raphtalia stood up to get a closer look as Gunther started to get frustrated "Okay, how hard is it to find a monster in a cave!' The young goat shouted, his voice echoing throughout the mine. The two Demi-Humans then froze in place as a loud growling sound could be heard as it was shortly joined by two others.
Out of the darkness was the head of a dog with red glowing eyes and a single horn on its head before two more heads popped out of the shadows alongside them snarling. Raphtalia didn't even need to see that rest of the beast to know what it was, a Cerberus, the same beast that killed her mother and father. "P-Please no..." She said fearfully as she stared wide-eyed at the three-headed beast as its full form came into view. Gunther saw how the girl was shaking and quickly pulled her to his side, opening up his Journal before paling.
The Cerberus was at least 10 levels higher than them, with the stats to match. Holding up his shield both Demi-Humans were shaking in fear, knowing full well that this was something they could not deal with. Soon Raphtalia screamed out in terror as the Cerberus charged at them only for Gunther to quickly shout Air strike shield to block the beast. The Cerberus growled fearsomely while trying to shatter the obstacle in its way.
Raphtalia was crying and breaking down by this point clinging to Gunther for dear life "Please! Not again!" Gunther looked down and heard the shield green shield shatter as the Cerberus charge at them with deadly intent, just barely able to pick up Raphtalia in his arms and block the swipe of its paw. With Raphtalia absolutely terrified Gunther tired to put stay calm but was quickly finding himself panic more and more.
The Cerberus then tired to bit his head off making him use his free hand to set the horned head on fire, the beast screaming in pain before another head bit down hard onto his right shoulder. Gunther cried out in agony as blood soaked into his clothes before he burned the head with a fireball forcing it to let go.
With the Cerberus failing around trying to put out the fire on it heads the Gunther with Raphtalia in his arms tired to make a run for it only for the beast to block their way backing them into a corner near the edge. Making a sudden stop Gunther tripped on a rock and fell off the edge, the two Demi-Humans screaming as they plummeted down into the water below.
Raphtalia stared up with tears in her eyes as she screamed, falling into the water with Gunther. The Cerberus looking over the edge reminded her of when she saw her parents ripped apart. When they hit the water Gunther did his best to stay afloat with both a bleeding wound and the crying girl in his arms, swimming over to dry land. Dragging himself out of the water Gunther coughed out some water that he swallowed as Raptalia did that same.
"T-That was to-Agh!" Gunther grunted as he gripped his bleeding shoulder, his defense barely making it so it was not broken, but by no means did it make it any less painful. Raphtalia was still crying and shouted out in concern "Gunther your hurt!" The young goat just gave them a forced smiled "D-Don't worry I'm fin-Agh!...Okay...maybe I'm not fine." As he said this they heard the Cerberus howl out, clearly searching for them.
Gripping his wound Gunther racked his brain as tried to think of a way out of this, he made a promise to Erhard to be careful and now look where he has gotten himself and Raphtalia into, a mine with a Cerberus out for their blood.
"W-What are we going to do?!" Gunther looked over at Raphtalia when she said that, seeing that she was scared out of her mind. Thinking hard Gunther knew that in a dead sprint the Cerberus would catch up to them, fighting it was off the table too as even if they could get a clean hit Raphtalia was just too frightened to do anything right now. Soon Gunther settled on one option, it was risky but it would ensure that Raphtalia could get away safely, as for him...
"R-Raphtalia I got a plan, but you're going to have to follow everything I say." Raphtalia did not like the way he said that at all, but nodded none the less as she trusted that he knew what he was doing. "Alright, so once we get back up there I'm going to set that overgrown dog's heads on fire, as soon as I do so your run as fast as you can and don't look back alright. I'll be behind you so don't worry."
Gunther felt bad for lying about that last part, if she was going to get out of her he had to do this. Aiming the rope shield up at the ledge he sent out a string of rope to grapple onto and let Raphtalia cling to his back as he climbed the rope. Once they were back up the Cerberus quickly spotted them and growled, ready to rip them to shreds for the pain Gunther inflicted onto it.
Raphtalia whimpered as Gunther held up his hand. "On my word you ran okay?" When the girl nodded the young goat shouted out at the beast. "Hey, you smell of wet fur and burnt wood Mut!" Whether the Cerberus understood him or not didn't matter, as it soon was charging at full force "Run!" Gunther shouted at Raphtalia as he unleashed a torrent of flame into the Cerberus's faces making howl in pain.
Following Gunther words, she jumped off his back and ran with the young goat close behind. Before they could make it to the tunnel that led outside the Cerberus tired to pounce on Raphtalia right over Gunther's head only to be meet with his air strike shield smashing into it. Raphtalia turned around and saw that she and Gunther were separated "Just go I'll catch up!" that was just a straight up lie, but Raphtalia was just too scared to pick up on it as she kept on running. Once his shield went down Gunther caste a fireball the beast to gain its attention, getting ready to buy Raphtalia time, even if he has to give up his life to do so.
Raphtalia for her part just kept running only stopping when she tripped. She got up with a yelp before realizing something when she turned around, Gunther wasn't there. Panicking she heard shouting and frantic yelling quickly figuring out what was happening. Gunther knew that if they just tried to run they would have been killed, so he stayed behind to keep the Cerberus occupied.
This shocked her, but thinking back she should have known, Gunther would rather let himself get killed then have her be harmed in any way at all. That same kindness and protectiveness that young goat had shown her was going to be his downfall, all because he wanted her to be safe.
Looking back down the tunnel she can almost see the light of the sun at the end while Gunther yelling became screams of pain as the beast roared as the two did battle. Raphtalia did not want to fight the Cerberus, she had seen what it had done to her parents, but when thinking of them she also thought about what it was doing to Gunther, what it will do to Gunther.
The thought of losing Gunther made her freeze, after he bought her off the slavers hands she wondered what he was going to do with her. Showing her kindness was not what she was expecting, but from the meals he cooked for her and helping her sleep at night, the medicine he made to cure his illness. Gunther brought back something she lost, happiness and hope as well as many more.
And there he was giving up his life just so she can live, just like her mother and father. With tears in her eyes she pulled out her sword and ran back the way she came, Raphtalia was not going to let Gunther die.
Gunther for his part was in really bad shape as he got launched into the wall by the three headed dogs hind legs. Falling onto the floor the shield hero forced himself up from the floor and as the beast charged at him he hit the ground letting the Cerberus hit its heads on the wall before sending a torrent of flame to burn it side.
The beast then turned around as Gunther raised his shield to block one of the head before headbutting another as a loud cracking sound echoed out. The head then hung lifelessly as the Cerberus snarled before pouncing on the young goat. Pinned underneath the beast Gunther could feel it weight on his chest, his eyes going wide as it tried to bit his head off.
Raising his shield he was able to stick his shield into its jaws, before screaming out as the other head bit down on his wounded should again. The world around him seemed to get fuzzy, the edges of his vision turning black, Gunther wasn't sure how much blood he had lost but the Demi-Human couldn't care less as the beast was crushing him under its weight.
Just before Gunther was about to give in he heard someone shout out his name "Gunther, Don't die!" Wish wide eyes Gunther felt his whole body go rigid as the Cerberus relieved some pressure off him before Raphtalia stabbed behind its knee.
Roaring it kicked the young girl with it's one good leg sending her flying and knocking the wind out of her. Seeing Raphtalia getting kicked and the beast limping around to face her Gunther pulled what strength he had left to grab its head. Burning it until its eyes were damaged beyond repair and doing the same to the other one. Blinded the Cerberus flailed around wildly as Gunther got up to his feet uneasily feeling like he could collapse at any second"Raphtalia!"
Getting up and seeing the state of the Cerberus she charged at full speed and cut across the beast's belly, it blood spraying all over her as the Cerberus screamed out it last cry before at last falling still. Gunther stood still as even breathing hurt, staring at the now dead beast before Raphtalia yelled and started stabbing the corpse over and over again.
Slowly moving over to Raphtalia he stood next to her as she kept on stabbing the dead beast with anger and tears in her eyes. Gunther couldn't stand to watch anymore and painfully knelt down and grabbed her arm. She tried to resist but soon the girl just let go the of the blade and hugged Gunther "G-Gunther!"
The young goat grunted, her embrace hurting him given his wounds "H-Hey calm down, you don't have to worry." Gunther said brushing the crying girl's hair "Please don't do that again, I don't know what I'll do if you died and leave me alone! Gunther!"
The demi-human stood there in thought as he held Raphtalia, Gunther soon hugged her back despite the pain "I'm not going to die or leave you alone alright, but that does not mean I won't get hurt, I am the shield hero after all..." Raphtalia simply hugged him harder "J-Just, at least promise that you won't do something like that again." She pleaded with him, digging her head deeper into his chest.
"...I promise, I promise won't be so reckless from now on and never leave your side." Raphtalia still clung to him crying into his shirt, not wanting to let him go. Gunther did not mind, yeah it hurt like hell but if it meant making her feel better then he'll let the raccoon girl hug him as long as she liked.
Soon she did let go, the two demi-humans then cut up the Cerberus for parts before they made their way out of the mines. Once outside they saw that it was almost night time, the two getting to see the sun go down in a beautiful display. Gunther then started to laugh to himself, it was a painful laugh for the goat given his condition but he didn't care.
Raphtalia looked over at him in worry "Are you okay?" Gunther was able to calm himself down and chuckled "Yeah, well as okay I could be, I'm just happy that we were still alive!" The shield hero then started to laugh once more, Raphtalia soon joining in as she too saw how that could be funny. Two young Demi-Humans fighting and killing a three headed monster, very absurd.
But all that mattered in the end for them was the fact they came out of it on top, even if they by all means should have died. Then again, when you're the shield hero and on an adventure, no one should expect to come out of it unscathed. And these two, they came out of it a lot stronger then they went in, not only in level. But also as friends, and that made Gunther happier than anything so far.