Chapter 8: Unwilling Heroes.

Don't own anything, all rights go to their owners.

Talking: "There's a thousand miles between you and I, oh, my, my, my.

Thinking: 'Just a thousand miles between me and paradise, oh, my, my, my.'

"Does this egg hatch like Pokemon eggs or what?"-Kane looking over his egg.

Kane and Naofumi sit around a table. After absorbing the leftover Wave monster corpses and getting new unlocks which were nothing of interest apart from one which buffed rot resistance, they proceed to help the villagers clean up the remaining corpses after that eventually getting rid of all the carcasses and deciding to head back to the inn.

Grimoires are set up on the table with sheets of paper surrounding it. Kane writes down the alphabet for English alongside the native alphabet to which Naofumi writes down the Japanese alphabet next to their respective English counterparts.

Naofumi reads over the alphabet, slowly translating it and attempting to memorise it. She picks up one of the magic grimoires and reads through it. After a few moments, she outstretches her arm. "...H-Heal." Nothing happens which makes her grumble.

Kane smirks at this and picks up the grimoire, opening it up, quickly finding the spot he left off from last time. He stretches his arm out the same as Naofumi did. "Abra Kadabra Fast Boost." A red light envelopes him and unknowingly to him his entire party as well. He looks at his hands, unsure of what he just did.

"What did that spell do?" Naofumi looks at him with a brow raised.

Kane looks over his status, rubbing his chin as he does so. "Boosts speed... I think? No wait it also boosts attack speed."

Naofumi reads through the book, looking back at the paper with the translations on it. She clears her throat, raising her arm to reattempt casting a spell. "Fast Heal!" A green light envelopes Kane who looks himself over finding nothing's changed to which he quickly checks his status and again finding nothing.

Kane scratches his cheek. "Well… It's pretty obvious what that's meant to do." Naofumi nods in response. She looks over the book, translating it as quickly as possible.

"This damn book better give me some form of offensive magic." Naofumi doesn't stop looking between the book and the translated alphabet.

Kane shrugs. "Well, even if you don't get any offensive magic, you'll probably learn really useful support magic like debuffs and shit like that."

Naofumi moans. "I want to at least have some offensive capability."

Kane rubs the back of his head, feeling sorry for her. "How about we try and come up with ideas for you to attack?"

Naofumi looks up, right at Kane finding him with a small hopeful smile on his face. She becomes slightly excited by the prospect of brainstorming to figure out a way for her to attack. "...Well it wouldn't hurt I guess."

The two begin exchanging ideas, eventually, they leave the inn and go into the forest to test out the new ideas.

Naofumi grabs a white Mush by hand. "Alright! Try to crush it against something." Kane shouts out along the sideline to which Naofumi wordlessly tries what he says and begins to apply pressure on the Mush while holding it against a tree. She begins squashing it, eventually, she completely flattens it against the tree to which she lets go and takes a few steps back. The flattened Mush tries to move towards Naofumi to attack her.

"OH COME ON! WHAT THE FUCK!" Naofumi throws her arms up in anger and disbelief at how the Mush is still alive.

Kane's eye twitches and his mouth is agape. "Wow, that's… some next-level bullshit." Kane's mouth closes as he looks up thinking. "Wait, if you did that to a human would they still be alive?" The two look at each other, Naofumi sweat drops while he shivers. "That thought is fucking nightmare fuel."

Naofumi puts her hands on her hips and begins shaking her head. "I don't think these types of monsters have internal organs: Magic or something like that keeps them alive."

Kane walks up to the Mush. "Well." He impales the Mush killing it instantly something that slightly irritates Naofumi, he turns around and faces her. "If that's true then maybe you can kill normal monsters by crushing them. It's gonna be… well messy would be an understatement." He looks off to the side. "Jesus crushing animals, that's some serial killer shit."

Naofumi rubs her arm. "Yeah crushing an actual animal not a Mush or Balloon with my bare hands seems kinda… fucked up."

"...You could snap their necks? That's less bloody and very quick so you're not torturing whatever it is you gotta kill."

"Do they have any Usapil around here, maybe we can test out of on one of them?"

"Do Usapils even have necks?"

Naofumi opens her mouth and stops, thinking about the weird appearance of Usapils, and realises that they actually don't have a neck. "Shit, now that I think about it I don't think they do." She sighs. "Well, we should get back, the others are probably wondering where we are." She looks back, in the direction of the village with a melancholic stare.

Kane looks at her, trying to quickly think up of something to cheer her up. "What if I teach you how to fight with your fists?"

Naofumi looks back at him, raising an eyebrow. "Huh?"

"What if I teach you how to fight barehanded?"

"Right, your mother taught you how to fight." Naofumi shakes her head. "Honestly the thought of you and martial arts really don't belong in the same sentence."

"What does that even mean?" Kane raises his arms.

"You're a hedonist, not exactly someone I imagine learning martial arts, I mean isn't there a discipline to it?"

"Look the two things aren't mutually exclusive, also I'm more like a party boy than a hedonist, I mean hedonist makes it sound like I snort coke or something for fun."

"Party boy and hedonist pretty much mean the same thing." Naofumi points a finger right at him. "You also literally had drugs and condoms when we first met, that's like the perfect example of hedonist right there." Naofumi crosses her arms.

"Jesus Iwi, It's not like I go out every night getting fucked up, plus edibles are really the only drugs I've taken more than once." Kane places his hands on his hips.

"More than once huh? Whatever, no more of those drugs around here anyway, so your bad habits are pretty much over."

Kane rolls his eyes. "I didn't touch any of the crazy shit like meth or crack back in our world, how little do you think of me?" Kane shrugs his shoulders, hands still on his hips. "Anyway again edibles are really the only things I take when I want to chill."

"There are other ways to chill, you don't need to take drugs for it."

"Your concern is nice but seriously it's not that bad, I mean have you tried it before?"

Naofumi steps back in shock. "Of course not!"

"Jesus, that's a bit of an overreaction, don't you think?"

"Maybe to you it's not that big of a deal but drugs in Japan are heavily frown upon both socially and legally."

Kane tilts his head. "Seriously?" Naofumi gives a resolute nod. "Even weed?" Naofumi nods again with the same sternness. "Damn, that sucks. The best vibe I've ever had was when I high and watching the sunset on the beach while listening to LeRoyce, that was the most chill experience I've ever had."

Naofumi shakes her head, slightly disappointed in Kane. "Whatever, I'm going to move on and not judge you for it. You were saying you could teach me how to fight?"

Kane smirks. "Changing the subject huh? Fine I'll just corrupt you another time then." Naofumi rolls her eyes. "Anyway I could teach you some martial arts: Kickboxing, Muay Thai, and Brazilian Jiu-jitsu."

Naofumi looks at him in incredulity pausing for a few moments. "...Your mother taught you three martial arts?"

"Two, I learned Kick-boxing myself due to lucky circumstance."

"You would think just one would be good enough, why did you learn 3?"

"Well, my mother taught me Muay Thai and BJJ for self-defence, as for Kick-boxing; the gym I used to go to was a Kick-boxing gym and since the owner and my mom were good friends the lessons were free so I thought, might as well take 'em."

"Were?"

"He passed away."

Naofumi nods her head at this. "...Were you two close?"

Kane gives a humourless smirk. "He was like a grandpa but this grandpa could fuck you up and also swore in nearly every sentence, I learned a lot of colourful language from him." Kane chuckles as he finishes the sentence, his thoughts drifting to the creative insults being thrown around the gym.

She scoffs, shaking her head. "I guess your vulgarity has to come from somewhere."

Kane scratches his cheek. "Well, he was Irish so his way of swearing kinda rubbed off on me."

Naofumi hums, nodding at what he said. "Do you mind teaching me then?"

"Teach you swearing? Sure." Kane's lips turn into a lopsided smile.

Naofumi deadpans at him before making an exaggerated laugh. "You're so funny; not!"

He chuckles in response. "Jokes aside yeah I'm up for teaching you how to fight."

"Thanks, let's get back to the village then." Naofumi sighs. The two walk off together back. Upon entering the village they get smirks from some of the older villagers watching the two come back from the forest.

The morning has hit the village. Naofumi and Raphtalia haven't left their rooms, Kane and Rifana are in the dining area of the inn reading their magic grimoire while waiting for the others to wake up. "Kane!" Keel comes running in.

Kane looks up from the book right at Keel. "What's up?"

"The egg, it's hatching!" Kane and Rifana look at each other before quickly getting up and rushing to their room, Keel following directly behind.

Kane enters the room to find Leo watching over the egg. "Has it hatched Leo?"

Leo turns around and looks right at Kane. "Not yet, it's about to."

Kane walks up to the egg, watching it shake and move around before cracking. The creature within stretches destroying the egg completely. Revealing a black lizard in the broken shell of the egg.

"Squeeak!"

The tiny lizard jumps on Kane's chest before climbing up to his neck and attempting to wrap around it before giving up and resting on his shoulder. Rifana puts her hands on her cheeks. "Awww! It's adorable!"

Keel and Leo give it a closer inspection. "What is it?"

Kane strokes the lizard on his shoulder to which it coos. "No idea, best to ask Naofumi considering she was the one that bought this."

Kane looks over the egg finding a big chunk of the shell, he picks it up inspecting it. "I wonder." He absorbs the eggshell unlocking two new Spears

Demon Trainer Spear unlocked! Demon Growth Correction (minor).

Demon Egg Spear unlocked! +3 Cooking Skill.

Kane tilts his head at this. 'Growth Correction? The fuck is that?' Kane shakes his head 'Guessing it makes it grow bigger or something.'

Sometime later.

Kane spends some more time petting and playing with the strange but rather cute baby lizard. After an hour or so he leaves the room to go looking for Naofumi, the others decide to instead stay behind and learn magic. Naofumi is feeding two tiny birds. Kane walks up to her, she looks up at him finding a strange black lizard staring at her. "What is that?"

Kane looks at it then back at her. "I was hoping you would know."

Naofumi shakes her head. "I don't, only reason I know these two are Filolials is that I talked to the Monster Trainer so your best bet is asking him."

Kane nods before he walks off; the Filolials and the small creature on Kane's shoulder begin aggressively taunting or threatening, the Filolials squawk as loudly as they can and flap their wings at the lizard, which reacts by hissing and puffing out smoke from its nose. Both Kane and Naofumi look at the actions of the monsters with confusion.

Kane softly grabs the lizard and strokes it attempting to calm it down. "The fuck is the matter with them?"

Naofumi gently glides her hands down the napes of the two Filolials. "No idea, guess we should go ask the Monster Trainer."

As soon as Naofumi finishes speaking. The little lizard in Kane's hands takes a deep breath in before huffing right at the Filolials, making a trail of smoke hit them causing the two Filolials to cough and sputter, Kane scolds the creature. "Shenron! Bad, very bad, don't do stuff like that without a good reason." The little lizard folds in on itself in shame at being scolded to which the Filolials start to what seems like laughing at it.

Naofumi looks down at the Filolials, scolding them as well to nip the attitude problem in the bud to try and ensure there would be no problems between the monsters when she and Kane work together down the line. "You two, knock it off. No taunting." The Filolials look down in either shame or disappointment. Naofumi looks up at the baby lizard who now that she thinks about it, looks like a very small dragon. "You named it Shenron? Seriously?"

Kane shrugs, still stroking Shenron. "You're just jealous of my amazing naming skill."

Naofumi rolls her eyes, picking up the two Filolials. "Whatever you say, come on I'll show you where the Monster Trainer is." She stands up, walking off with the two Filolials.

Kane follows Naofumi to the Monster Trainer on the journey, Shenron climbs up to the top of his head, looking around the village. Eventually, the two reach a wooden stable finding a man taking care of the few Filolials in the stable. "Ah, Heroes! Do you need something?"

Kane walks up and softly pulls Shenron from his head and presents it to the man, who with a brow raised looks down at his hands to find a black lizard staring up at him. "Do you know what this is?" The Trainer looks at it quizzically, thinking about it before his thoughts are interrupted by one of the adult Filolials becoming restless at the sight of the creature. Kane steps back, protectively cupping it and pulling it away from the man and Filolial.

The man strokes the Filolials, calming it down. "Well at first not really, but now I'm pretty certain that's a baby Dragon, due to how the Filolial is reacting to it."

Naofumi sighs, looking at the newly revealed Dragon. 'Of course, he gets a Dragon, 1/250 and the one egg I give him is the damn Dragon egg, unbelievable.'

Kane's eyes widen in shock, looking down at Shenron that turns around and looks at him. He smirks, placing a finger under its chin and scratching, making it coo. "A Dragon huh? Guess calling you Shenron was destiny huh." Kane looks up at the Trainer. "Hey so what do I feed him?"

The man rubs the back of his head. "No idea really, but if I were you? Feed it cooked beans mashed, as long as it's soft until it grows a bit then try letting it eat more solid foods."

Kane puts Shenron on his shoulder. "Fair enough, you got any of those beans? Little Shen is probably gonna get hungry soon."

The man nods. "Sure, I got some in the back, hold on." The man walks off, leaving Kane and Naofumi with their respective monsters. After a few moments, he returns with a bag of cooked beans. "Here you go Spear Hero."

Kane takes it, placing it inside his inventory which shocks the man. "Thanks, how much does it cost?"

The man looks up waving his hand. "Take it as a thank you for saving our village."

"I still want to pay, you can use the money to… I dunno buy super fancy hay for the Filolials. Look just tell me how much for the bag of beans."

The man sighs. "I… Fine if you really wish to pay me Hero then 3 silvers for it."

Kane nods and hands the man 3 silvers for the beans.

As soon as he finishes paying him, Raphtalia enters the stable. "Naofumi, Kane. I was wondering where you two were. We were planning on going around and killing some monsters that have apparently been causing trouble for the lumberjacks."

Kane looks at Naofumi who shrugs back. "Might as well, we'll get experience and maybe some more monster materials."

Kane nods his head at the logic, opening up his menu he sends Naofumi a party invite.

Kane Stone has invited you to a Heroic party! Accept or Decline?

Naofumi presses accept, to which her HUD flashes. Kane and his entire party name pops up, she's able to read their names and level.

Iwatani Naofumi-LVL 27 Shield Hero.

Raphtalia-LVL 29 Demi-Human.

Monster A-LVL 1 Baby Filolial.

Monster B-LVL 1 Baby Filolial.

Kane Stone-LVL 54 Spear Hero.

Keel-LVL 37 Demi-Human.

Rifana-LVL 37 Demi-Human.

Leonidas-LVL 37 Demi-Human.

Shenron-LVL 1 Baby Dragon.

Naofumi looks at their stats, and immediately regrets it, feeling jealous at Kane's and his party's high stats. She shakes her head, quickly squashing the feeling, realising it's unfair to think that way. "Let's go then." Kane nods with a grin on his face. The party leaves the stable finding Leo, Rifana, and Keel before venturing off to deal with the monsters.

Sounds of a battle can be heard; echoing throughout the forest.

The party starts to kill oversized frogs and salamanders. One of the large frogs tries to strike Leo with its razor-sharp tongue but before it can get very far Naofumi grabs it and swings the frog around disorientating it, Naofumi calls out Leo's name before tossing the frog at him. Leo turns to see the frog flying right at him to which he crouches low in a stance, as the frog hits him he pins it with his shield before quickly stabbing it in the head killing it quickly. A salamander tries to jump Leo as soon as he kills the frog but before it gets close Rifana quickly kills it with a well-placed arrow.

Kane pierces a frog that tries to hop on top of him before slamming it on the ground and placing his foot on it, pulling out his Spear and stabbing it again which results in its death. Keel runs off to join the others to help them out, Raphtalia tries to follow along but a frog ambushes her and opens its mouth to strike her with its deadly tongue.

"Kyuuuu!"

The frog is interrupted by Shenron puffing smoke straight into its mouth; making the frog cough and lose focus; causing the frog to be easy prey for Raphtalia, who doesn't let a second go to waste, jumping up in the air immediately before slamming her feet and sword right into the frog. The frog dies instantly to which Kane looks up to see the rest of the monsters being already finished off by the rest of the party. He huffs, taking Shenron off his shoulder, petting him as he does so. "Good job Shen, I'm proud of you." Shenron tilts his head into the palm, rubbing his head against it.

Raphtalia walks up to the two, joining in on stroking Shenron on his head. "Thank you, Shenron for the help." Shenron puffs up at the attention from the two and strikes a pose, making the two laugh.

Naofumi says aloud getting the attention of the three. "Well, that's all of them. Should we go back to the village or grind the monster mobs a bit more."

The three walk up to the rest of the party. Kane looks up at the sun finding it directly overhead. "Well, still some day left so maybe grind for a bit longer before heading back."

The rest all agree to the plan and go back to adventuring, killing monsters and absorbing materials dropped from the monsters while also protecting Naofumi while she collects herbs and ingredients for her potions and also protects Kane while he feeds Shenron.

Frog Spear unlocked! +12 Agi.

Green Frog Spear unlocked! +5 Agi.

Purple Frog Spear unlocked! +15 Agi, +5 Atk.

Salamander Spear unlocked! +6 Agi, +2 Phy Def.

Yellow Salamander Spear unlocked! +4 Agi, +1 Phy Def.

After a few more hours of grinding the party stop deciding to start to head back but before they can go Naofumi looks at them. "Hey, what's with the star next to your guys levels?"

Kane tilts his head at this and looks at his party HUD.

Iwatani Naofumi-LVL 29 Shield Hero.

Raphtalia-LVL 31 Demi-Human.

Monster A-LVL 8 Baby Filolial.

Monster B-LVL 8 Baby Filolial.

Kane Stone-LVL 57 Spear Hero.

Keel-LVL 40* Demi-Human.

Rifana-LVL 40* Demi-Human.

Leonidas-LVL 40* Demi-Human.

Shenron-LVL 8 Baby Dragon.

Kane tilts his head at this. "The fuck is that?"

Naofumi shakes her head. "No clue, maybe something in the help menu might explain it." Kane opens his menu, before looking up, seeing the sun about to start setting soon.

He closes the menu without reading the help menu. "Let's get back first and go from there." Naofumi nods and so the party starts to make the journey back.

The party walks back without much trouble, a few wolves try to ambush them but after killing a few they're left alone. The Demi-Humans talk to each other while walking ahead of Naofumi and Kane. Naofumi looks at Kane finding Shenron on his shoulder. "So you watched Dragon Ball Z?"

Kane turns his head to look at Naofumi as does Shenron upon hearing the word Dragon. "Yep, as a kid, a whole bunch of us would always go to one of our friend's house, he had the best TV and could actually watch it. Then when the episode was done we would go outside to re-enact it." A soft smile forms on Kane's face as he remembers the more happier memories of his childhood.

Naofumi hums, slightly surprised. "Are Japanese TV shows popular in America?"

Kane turns his head back, looking at the path ahead of him. "Well, it depends on what is it. Dragon Ball Z was pretty much the shit back when I was a kid, I mean a group of boys that enjoy play fighting and watching WWE, come on you couldn't get a more perfect audience than that. Honestly, the only problem with Dragon Ball Z back then was that everyone wanted to be Goku when we were playing fighting."

Naofumi gives a soft laugh at this; the image of a young Kane and a group of boys around his age all arguing about who gets to be who entering her head. "Right, shouldn't be surprised that a group of children enjoy watching Dragon Ball Z. What about Takeshi's Castle then?"

Kane snorts. "It's a gameshow about people going against challenges and getting fucked up in the process, what's not to love?" He shrugs as he finishes speaking, which annoys Shenron as he's still sitting on his shoulder to which Kane quickly apologizes making Shenron huff and lay down on his shoulder, resting, its tail wrapped around Kane's head.

Naofumi stares at Shenron a bit longer. "He's gotten bigger."

Kane nods slowly, trying to keep his shoulders still. "I thought at first it was because he was so close but yeah now that you mention it he's definitely gotten bigger." He looks at Naofumi finding the Filolials on her shoulders as they are too big to both fit on her head. "They're getting bigger too." Naofumi hums in response while looking at the Filolials on her shoulders.

The party walks back into the village just as the sun's about to set, a village guard welcomes them back. "Heroes, welcome back! I hope you are all fine?"

The party all mutter how they're fine. Naofumi walks forward. "Where's the governor? We dealt with the monsters that were causing problems for your lumberjacks."

The guard nod at this. "He might be in his office, you can go ahead and rest at the inn, I can inform him for you if you so wish Lady Shield Hero."

Naofumi stares at the man, eventually nodding, thanking the guard for the offer. The party head back to the inn. Getting food talking to each other during the meal, after they take turns having a bath before heading back to their respective rooms.

A few days have passed, as the villagers are peacefully going about their day, repairing the damage from the Wave such as replacing boards of building, covering holes, and even fixing their fields. Thanks to the Shield Hero and her Filolials who have been collecting lumber, while the Spear Hero's Dragon has been dealing with pests by burning them and their nests away making the general area much safer. Just another quiet day of the village recovering from the Wave.

"Fuuuuuuuuck!"

A bunch of villagers look up as they hear the Spear Hero swearing at the top of his lungs rushing towards them, shortly after a blur speeds past with the Spear Hero on top.

"This isn't Fast and Furious, so slow the fuck down!"

Whatever the Spear Hero is riding seems to be ignoring him, they can hear him get quieter and quieter the further away he is. One of the villagers rubs the back of his head. "...Should we be concerned?"

Another villager responds, scratching his beard, turning back to board he's nailing in. "Nah he'll be fine." He pauses before striking the nail and looks off in the direction the Spear Hero went past. "...Probably."

Eventually, Shenron slows down before completely stopping to which Kane drops to the ground, hugging the solid earth. He rolls onto his back. Leo's face appears in his view while he looks up to the sky, Leo pets Shenron while looking down at Kane. "...Do you regret telling Shenron to go as fast as he could?"

Kane pulls a hand up to his mouth and coughs. "I think I swallowed a fly."

Leo looks up at Shenron; watching the Dragon preen it scales. Leo turns back to Kane shaking his head as he does so. "You probably wouldn't have swallowed anything if you stop screaming."

Kane raises a finger. "I do not need this negativity, Leo."

Leo sighs, offering a hand to help Kane to his feet which he takes. As Kane stands up he begins to dust his self off. The group hears a commotion and finds a whole bunch of villagers heading somewhere. "The hell's going on?" Shenron stands up, staring at the people.

Leo shakes his head. "No idea, let's go check it out." Kane nods and hops onto Shenron's back offering his hand to Leo.

Kane pets the side of Shenron's neck. "Alright get there, but don't go super fast we might need to fight alright?" Shenron nods and begins jogging.

The three eventually arrive at the scene. Finding most of the village there and even Naofumi and the others at the back. Kane and Leo dismount Shenron. "Iwi, what's going on?"

Naofumi keeps staring ahead an angry scowl on her face. "It's that bitch, she has a royal decree saying she's the new governess of the town."

"...Shit." Kane looks ahead finding the redhead ahead flashing important-looking documents.

She speaks aloud to all the villagers, the two sides separated by knights. "To help the rebuilding efforts, I've decided to levy a toll. Fifty silvers to enter the village, and fifty to exit." Kane takes a step back at this, anger begins to slowly burn up within him.

Murmurs are heard throughout the crowd gathered. Naofumi gets even closer, while Kane whispers in Shenron's ear.

"That's absurd!"

"We can't afford that!"

"We won't even have anything to eat tomorrow!"

Malty's eye twitches in anger. "You wish to defy your new lady's orders?"

"Well, duh!"

Malty steps back at the familiar voice and looks up finding the Shield Hero and the Spear Hero and their respective parties at the back. "The Shield Hero? You're still here? This is my new domain now you are no longer welcome here, criminal-." She begins to choke and cough as smoke hits her open mouth.

Two knights quickly jump up and assist the Princess and guard her while the other knights present to look at the scene with forced indifference despite some of them wanting to laugh but being forced to hold their tongues. The crowd on the other hand all whisper amongst themselves, some even chuckling at the sight before them. Naofumi turns around to look right at Kane and Shenron, finding Kane whistling looking off to the side with Shenron attempting to copy him. '...Damn, I kinda wish I had a Dragon too.'

Eventually, the Princess waves away all the smoke, her coughs slowly dying down. "You are no longer welcome here either Spear Hero!"

Kane scoffs. "As if I'm going to listen to a spoiled bitch, why don't you go fuck off back to daddy instead of trying to squeeze this village for all the money it has."

Malty's eye twitches even more violently at the insults from the Spear Hero. "This is for the good of the village, recovery will be a painful process, perhaps if you were more valuable during the Wave the village wouldn't have suffered so much." Kane grunts at this and looks at the ground, feeling the guilt from before starting to bubble up.

Naofumi speaks up. "You'll cripple the recovery process of the village with a tax like that. It only costs one silver to spend a night at the inn food included yet you're charging 100 nights just for them to enter and leave: Exactly like the Spear Hero said you'll squeeze this village for everything it has. Also unlike the other Heroes, the Spear Hero was the first to charge into the village to protect it."

The crowd begins shouting aloud.

"Yeah, Yeah!"

"She's right!"

"Besides, you can't just show up and call yourself the new lady of the town."

"And it was the Shield Hero and the Spear Hero who defended us during the Wave!"

Malty snarls at this lifting a hand. "You dare complain about a royal decree?" As soon as she raises her hands, the knights surrounding her all raises their weapons and aim it at the crowd.

Kane looks up at the sound of weapons being unsheathed, finding the knights threatening the villagers. "You worthless cunt!" Kane shouts at the top of his lungs pointing a finger at Malty as marches to the front, his grip on his Spear tightening. Naofumi and the others quickly follow along and they all reach the front of the crowd, some of the villagers stand side by side with the Heroes ready for a fight. "First you try to fuck over this village financially and then try to kill them when they don't follow along your bullshit?" the pure vitriol in his voice rolls over all the knights making them doubt what they're doing.

The two sides begin staring each other down. Before any violence could happen between the two groups a group of strangely clothed people appears from nowhere. "That's enough Ma'am." upon further inspection of the sudden arrivals; it's impossible to discern gender, or even their face with a cloak covering it. Malty's face contorts in shock. "We assume you know about us, Malty-dono." One of the strangers bows and hands Malty a scroll. "We have brought you a letter at a certain master's order." Malty takes the scrolls and reads it, shaking and clenching as she does so.

The party all stare at the scene with confusion. Naofumi looks at Kane. "Do you know who those guys are?"

Kane shrugs. "Not a clue, they're obviously important though if they can make the cunt react like that."

Malty gripes the scrolls with fury, before stopping, a dark grin appearing on her face. "I propose a duel between the Spear Hero and the Shield Hero, the winner will be able to decide the fate of the village while the loser of the challenge will be hereby banished from the village!"

Gasps and shouts are heard from the entire crowd while Kane and Naofumi look at each other, the shadowy people next to Malty whisper to her. "She will not allow this, Malty-Dono."

Malty scoffs. "And what can she do? She's too far away to stop this and father isn't listening to her demands so she can do nothing." The cloaked people make no noticeable reaction to this but they are not pleased.

Kane takes a step forward. "So, why should we go along with your bullshit?"

Malty flips her hair. "Because if you don't, then I will stay the lady of the village and I will enforce the tax."

Kane shakes his head. "Fine then whoever wins can just revoke the banishment."

Malty face twists into a toxic grin. The previous lord approaches. "Unfortunately it's not that simple Spear Hero, only with the blessing of the royal court can we revoke the banishment."

Kane looks at the ground and grits his teeth. Unsure of how to proceed. Naofumi scowls at Malty, feeling the rage buried within ignite 'I can't win a duel by myself, she's doing this so I get kicked out.'

Kane's eyes widen before smirking, an idea forming in his head. "Before we accept the duel I have one demand, and that is to allow me to make one special rule for the duel."

Malty stares down at him, pausing for a few moments. "...Fine, but one side must lose the duel, there will be no ties."

Kane swears under his breath, he looks off right at Naofumi who slowly nods. "...We accept the duel."

Kane and Naofumi stand opposite each other on a flat space, the outlines marked out for the duel. They two are surrounded by all of the villagers and their party members but not a single person is cheering, all of them upset and enraged at the two Heroes being forced to fight each other. Malty is the only one smirking at the scene, preparing herself for the joy of seeing the Shield Hero being put in her place.

The previous lord steps up. Acting as the referee for the duel. "This duel is between Kane Stone the Spear Hero and Iwatani Naofumi the Shield Hero, the winner will be allowed to do what they wish with the village while the loser will… be banished from the village. The Spear Hero has a made special rule to make the fight fair; The rule is that the Spear Hero must defeat the Shield Hero in three minutes or else he automatically loses to the Shield Hero."

Naofumi's eyes widen as does everyone else, looking at Kane, she finds a smirk on his face, his Spear resting on his shoulder. She sighs and looks at the ground while Malty shouts aloud. "What! This is clear favouritism!"

Kane stretches his back and loosens his legs. "If I can't get through her defence then the Shield Hero won, since in a real fight it would leave me open to attack for one of her party members, besides you said I could make a special rule as long as one of us loses, well there it is."

Malty looks right at Kane with a vile look to which he responds with a middle finger.

The previous lord raises his hand "Let the duel." and drops his hand down. "Commence."

Kane charges at Naofumi who stands still, widening her base getting ready for the strike. As Kane strikes her Shield, she tilts it deflecting the Spear in a direction where the Spear passes by harmlessly, before grabbing it and kicking his legs from under him. He rolls as soon as he hits the ground. He can't get very far due to Naofumi still holding onto the Spear, to which he lets go of it and quickly gets up on his feet.

As soon as he gets to his feet, he holds out his arm for the Spear to which it at first struggles to get out of Naofumi's grip but eventually it forces itself out and straight into Kane's awaiting hand. "Seriously, how come you get to do that?"

Kane shrugs, placing both hands on the Spear. "I dunno, have you ever even tried tossing your Shield at someone and then imagining it flying back?"

Naofumi shakes her head, remembering to try that out later when she gets the chance. Kane charges again trying to grapple Naofumi this time, but she sidesteps it and kicks his legs out again; bringing him to the ground, before he can escape, Naofumi gets on one knee and wraps her arm under his neck, and puts him in a chokehold or at least tries to. "...Wrong way Iwi."

"Oh." She retries the chokehold getting it right this time but gets a so-so gesture from Kane. She's about to ask what she did wrong, when he stands up: Bringing Naofumi along with him, lifting her off her feet. She lets go and kicks him in the back with both feet, pushing him forward.

Kane turns around, looking at Naofumi who quickly gets to her feet. "You might want to put your legs around them if they're stronger than you, or at least strong enough to pick you up."

Naofumi mutters under her breath; too quiet for Kane to entirely hear what she said, all he could hear was pervert and wrapping legs.

Kane raises his Spear, about to toss it at Naofumi.

"Time is up!"

Kane stops in his tracks. Planting the Spear on the ground. "Well, looks like I lost." He looks up with an easy smirk, staring right at Naofumi who looks back with a frown.

The previous lord sighs. "...The Spear Hero has lost, as such, he is banished from the village."

A small smile appears on Malty's face, despite wanting the Shield Hero to be kicked out, watching the Spear Hero being banished will have to do. "Well, looks like you have to leave Spear Hero."

Kane groans, looking right at her. "You're still here? Just do everyone a favour and fuck off."

Malty clenches her fist. "It is not wise to be so rude to the Princess of this country, I will make you regret it Spear Hero."

Kane stares her down, not taking his eyes off her at all. "Are you done you soulless cunt, or do you need to waste more of everyone's time with your bullshit?"

Malty opens her mouth to respond but the glares from everyone silences her, furious at the Princess for forcing the fight between the two unwilling Heroes, and now threatening the Spear Hero. The crowd begins yelling at her for the trouble she's caused. She snarls, leaving the village quickly under the protection of her knights. Naofumi watches her walk off, her own face contorting in rage.

Naofumi looks down at the ground, time seems to slow down and the voices around become blurred and distorted, the people around her become shadowy. The rage in her hasn't died if anything it's grown even worse at the way things have played out. 'That bitch will always keep trying to fuck me over, and her trash father will help her in every step. I got lucky this time what happens next time when she gets what she wants? How am I suppose to save the fucking world if that happens? I hate her, I hate the King, I hate everyone that scorned me, I hate everyone that mocked me.' Dark thoughts plague her head. The area around her becomes shadowy and dark as if the sun was just suddenly disappeared. Everyone around her slowly becomes engulfed by the encroaching shadows leaving her completely alone. The dark abyss surrounds her completely, making the whole area a suffocating pitch black, voices can be heard from the abyss.

"Why do we even need the Shield anyway?" Naofumi turns to the voice finding nothing.

"Ha! She's worthless."

"Just get rid of the criminal scum."

She feels rocks pelt her sides and hears laughter as they smack into her. before she can snap she feels a pat on the shoulder.

"That was pretty good Iwi, you keep it up, and you'll be a real menace with those fists of yours in no time."

A familiar voice cuts through her dark thoughts making the abyss slightly retreat. Eventually, Naofumi takes a shaky deep breath, calming herself down. Making everything return to normal. Naofumi doesn't responds, instead she opens and closes her mouth, confused.

Kane tilts his head at the strange behaviour of Naofumi. "Uhh Iwi, you good?"

Naofumi takes a step back and shakes her head. "Y-Yeah I'm fine."

"You sure?"

Naofumi nods. "Yep, that bitch just made me think of… a few things."

Kane stares at her, slightly suspicious.

Naofumi waves him off. "I'm fine, I swear, so stop staring at me like that."

Kane stares at her for a little bit longer before sighing and looking up at all the villagers. "Well alright then, best to get going I think. Rather make sure that bitch doesn't come back to the village and cause more trouble."

Naofumi frowns at this. "I… Thank you, Kane."

Kane looks down at her, his smile widening. "No worries Shield Babe, stay safe." He finishes off his sentence with a wink. He looks up at the villagers. "It's been a pleasure being here with you all. I hope for the best for all of you, Ralphy take of Iwi for me." He starts to walk off his party members quickly saying their goodbyes and following along.

Naofumi watches Kane and his party walk off. Still angry at Kane's being forced to go. Raphtalia and her Filolials walk up to her. A notification pops up.

Heroic Party disbanded!

Iwatani Naofumi-LVL 30 Shield Hero.

Raphtalia-LVL 31 Demi-Human.

Sakura-LVL 14 Filolial.

Filo-LVL 14 Filolial.

Naofumi sighs at the pop up of the party between Kane and her being disbanded. She turns around and looks at the lord, a disheartened look on his face, she walks up to him.

Kane keeps walking, whistling as he does so, Shenron by his side. He looks back finding his party members all looking upset. He huffs at this. "Come on you guys. No need to be so down."

Rifana and all the others look up at him. "We're were kicked out Kane."

Kane nods, sighing while rubbing the back of his head. "Yeah, it sucks but hey no one other then that bitch wanted us out, so I say fuck her. I'm not going to let her sadden me. I'm gonna keep my head high and move on." Kane looks at all of them. "How about you guys, you gonna let that bitch upset you like she wants?"

The three look up, scowls on their faces. """No!"""

Kane smirks. "So then, let head back to Castle Town, maybe get a few jobs and move on and who knows maybe one day we'll be able to go back to Riyute village."

The three all nod, scowls still on their face but the depressed mood from the three slightly dissipates away. They make their way back to Castle Town, unknowingly being watched by the shadowy figures from before.

"She did what!" The Queen yells aloud right at the Shadow which doesn't make a single bit of movement.

The Shadow waits for a few moments before speaking. "She forced a fight between the Spear Hero and the Shield Hero."

The Queen clenches her fan, making it crumble under the pressure. "And? What happened?"

"The Spear Hero and Shield Hero fought each other but it was clear that the two were reluctant as such they did not put much effort into the fight: The Shield Hero won the fight due to the Spear Hero imposing a timer on himself."

The Queen sighs, calming herself down. "...So are the Shield Hero and Spear Hero still on friendly terms?"

The Shadow nods. "Yes, your Majesty. They seem to still be on friendly terms."

The Queen nods, feeling slight relief at this. "Good, we can still use this to our advantage then. Ensure there is no further trouble between the Shield Hero and Spear Hero, I want you to also ensure their safety."

The Shadow bows "As you wish, your Majesty." The Shadow hops away, disappearing in a smokey fashion.

The Queen rubs her head, sighing at the trouble her firstborn is causing. 'Perhaps I should send Melty to help keep her sister in line, at least until I get back.'

End of chapter 8.

Yea this one was a bit more Kane and Naofumi centric but I don't see that as a bad thing, just letting the two develop stronger bonds.

I needed a reason to get Kane out of Riyute village since he needs to go Lerno village at some point and Malty demands Naofumi to leave in the village in the normal story so instead Kane is told to leave; he is actually forced to leave. (well not forced at like sword point but forced as in he doesn't want to cause problems for Riyute village.)

Also if you're wondering which version of the Shadows I'm using then it's the manga one, they look the coolest to me and actually look like assassins.

I've edited out the unlocking of the Curse Series because yeah rereading it the release of the curse does feel pretty forced. From what the reviews told me and me also looking into it the Curse Series is something that needs a lot of despair and misery to unlock and while hallucinations from her poor treatment as a Shield Hero is pretty bad it wouldn't be enough since if it really was enough Naofumi would of unlocked it a lot earlier.