I let out a chuckle as I slashed Krishna through a goblin's left shoulder down to its right hip, fully bisecting the monster in half and all the blood splashing into my body and the exp bar going up.
After that talk with Krishna (and him kicking my ass in chess), Melia had talked about our next move, and Louis pointed to a small village by the name of Autumn that was nearby, mainly a day away at most, as a starting point for my armour commission and getting some money from doing mercenary work.
Once we got there, we were given a room by a generous farmer, and we found a blacksmith who would do a custom set of armour for me, in exchange for clearing out a goblin nest and roughly 90 silver coins.
A rather good deal if you ask me.
But regarding the matters of now, the goblins are somewhat easy to kill, especially when considering their suicidal recklessness, but they are extremely aggressive fighters.
"Anymore of you little fuckers want to come at me!?" I bellowed as I got into position, Krishna having a slight glow.
At the sight of me wearing the inside liquid of their 'friend', the goblin's looked much more aggravated at me, teeth bared, weapons pointing at me and bloodlust rolling off them, causing a smirk to appear on my blood-splattered face.
Bring it on, bitch.
"Mahama!" before I could even move a muscle, the goblins then imploded by a bright light, courtesy of Louis casing a light-based spell.
I then stood up straight and moved my shoulders while Krishna reverted back to his base form.
"Thanks for the assist, Louis," I called out to the eastern priest as he gave a quick bow before walking forward, leaving me with the goblin I bisected just now.
When I got to the goblin and knelt down to do an inspection of the corpse, nothing was really screaming important at me other than an ingrown tooth where the right canine tooth should've been.
That looks weird but promising considering that I'm needing power to fight these waves.
God, I'm starting to sound like fucking Vergil.
I placed Krishna back onto my back and with one hand, I firmly grasped the jaw of the goblin while using my thumb and pointer on the other to grasp the ingrown tooth.
With a firm tug, I loosened the tooth, with some yellow puss dripping out of the gums surrounding the tooth. I then pulled the tooth with all mu might, causing the tooth to finally be set free from the gums, with the yellow puss now leaking out like a running tap.
"Ugh, gross," I commented as I wiped the tooth against my pants before unslinging Krishna from my back and dropped the tooth into Krishna's gem.
[Tooth spear- +1 to plaque reduction]
O…kay then? On the plus side though, oral health is going to be a tad bit easier to maintain.
"Krishna, shift," I commanded as the spear shifted into his [Ember Spear] form, a comforting warmth entering my body as I got up from my knees and spun Krishna across my hand before moving it upwards.
"Okay then. Let's test this. Crimson cutter!" I yelled as I swung Krishna downwards, a flame-like aura coating the blade as it came into contact with the corpse, igniting the goblin on fire.
A smirk slowly crawled onto my face as I watched the corpse burn. I then shook my head to get my head out of that thought process before heading back to Louis, Melia, and Lars.
"Maragi!" Melia shouted as a bolt of flames escaped her staff before separating and hitting a group of goblins, causing the ugly green monsters to incinerate into pile of ash.
I heard a growl near me as I saw a goblin heading towards me, only to stop suddenly with Krishna's blade piercing its heart with a few embers escaping its heart.
A screen popped up in my vision as I withdrew Krishna out of the goblin.
[Level up!]
The smirk never left my face as I opened my menu to see what progress my group has made.
[Thomas Anders - Lvl 15]
[Louis Kaine - Lvl 14]
[Melia Logos - Lvl 14]
[Lars - Lvl 11]
We're all making good progress, although I still don't think that this is enough for the waves. But hopefully, we can manage if we can get more power.
"I take it that's all the goblins in the area?" I asked Louis as he walked towards me, sheathing his sword, and giving me a graceful smile.
"Indeed so, Thomas. We should return to Autumn and give Chulann the good news." The eastern priest stated, getting a nod from me and a howl from Lars as he headed towards me and rubbed himself against my leg.
I crouched down to the bicoloured wolf and rubbed my gloved hand across his head, getting a soft whine out of him.
My smirk then changed into a small smile as I got up, reaching to my full height and slung Krishna onto my back as he shifted from his [Ember Spear] to his standard form.
"Hopefully Chulann keeps his end of the bargain once we get back," I commented as we headed back to the village.
When I found out what the blacksmith's name was, I was surprised as he shares the name of the blacksmith in the Ulster Cycle. Then again, Sétanta was another name I thought was amusing as he also comes from the Ulster Cycle.
Oh well, this is a fantasy-based world after all, so I shouldn't be surprised that there are inspirations from the real world.
-TimeSkip-
After stepping into Autumn, I was getting a few glances from the villagers before they returned to minding their own business. It reminds me of when I stayed with my grandparents in Kyoto.
"Nice to see you folks back in one piece." I heard a gruff voice speaking to me as I turned my blood-soaked face to an older, dark-skinned man with slicked back, grey hair, and a muscular build.
"Yo, Chulann. Goblin nest has been taken care of." I greeted as I pulled a glove off my left hand, and held it out, with the ageing man returning the favour and shook my hand.
He's definitely has a strong grip.
"Nice job. Now it's time to fulfil my end of the bargain, young Anders." He stated as he headed to his workshop, with my party trailing behind.
As I looked around the village, there were quite a few patches of farmland, a church-like building and Chulann's workshop, a stable for animals and an inn alongside a few houses. It definitely wasn't much, considering I used to live in both Kyoto and Galway during my 21 years of living, but it was definitely beautiful.
Once the waves are over, I wouldn't mind settling down in this village, that's for sure.
As we entered the workshop, I saw several sets of armour, different types of weapons carefully arranged, like a shop keeper with OCD lived here.
…How the fuck did I describe Kiera without thinking of it?
The older man then grabbed a wooden box that had my nametag on it, with several materials I have given him and a brown bag full of silver coins for the commission. He then placed the box onto the counter and looked at me.
"Now, what type of armour are you thinking of young Anders?" he asked as he passed me a rag, which I responded by wiping off the excess blood from my face.
"I'm thinking of a pair of gauntlets, greaves and plating for my boots, chest armour with shoulder puldrons, and Faulds across my hips, please," I demanded, getting a nod from the blacksmith as he nodded, a smirk on his face.
"I knew I had a reason to like you, young Anders! This will probably take a few days to make, so be sure to stick around for that." The aging blacksmith told me as I nodded my head.
Hmm, now what?
"Hay, Chulann. Is there any work I can do?" I asked as the older man looked thoughtful.
"Hmm, there is probably a few jobs you can do around Autumn, mainly around the stables, the farms and I could probably have your assistance in my shop." He said as I thought about it.
If I can help these villagers out, I could probably gain a few favours, and maybe another safehouse just in case the other one is destroyed.
And plus, it's probably like what I used to do back in Ireland when I was working as a freelancer, or when I did some tasks for my family in Kyoto. That, and I can probably have some sense of normality in this new life of mine.
I nodded my head as I turned around to face my companions.
"Alright, we'll stay here for a few days. Be sure to lend your assistance to anyone and be sure to report back to me by end of the day." I stated, getting nods from the eastern priest, the spellcaster, and oddly enough, Lars was nodding his head.
Heh, guess the little tyke is excited to be with me.
-Time Skip-
After taking some measurements and talking about how the armour is going to work, we exited Chulann's workshop, fully satisfied by the service he had provided.
I rubbed my covered neck, my body being cleared of the goblin blood, thanks to a quick dunk into a river and scrubbing my clothing with the assistance of Chulann's wife.
Nice woman, I'll add.
As I was humming a song, I heard a voice calling out to me.
"Thomas." I heard a voice, reminiscent of Amaki, and when I turned around, I saw the Sword Hero in the flesh.
He still looked like a black-haired pretty boy, but at least he was wearing some armour, and his holy weapon was on his back.
I didn't see any of his party anywhere, so I'm assuming that they're off doing some tasks or training.
"Hello there, Amaki. Haven't seen you in a while." I commented as I shoved my hands into my pockets, my crimson orbs staring into Amaki's azure orbs.
"It seems you've gotten stronger, and I want to test myself against you." He asked as I walked over to him.
A smirk made its way onto my face as I felt Krishna brimming with anticipation.
"Sure. I think there are some training grounds somewhere, or we can go into the forest for our duel." I said to the younger man, getting a smile from him.
After a quick look around, I couldn't find any training grounds, but there was an empty space where the local warriors would train against each other, and this was pointed out to me by a knight in his mid-20s named Zack.
From what he had said, there isn't an official place in Autumn or nearby that would take in warriors and train them, so it's up to the older warriors to train the younger ones, and the empty space, affectionately called "The Empty Wood", is a good place for training.
"Thank you, Zack!" I thanked as I lead the younger hero to the empty Wood and getting a chuckle from the older man.
As Amaki and I entered the Empty Wood, the ground was in a circular shape with the trees outlining the circle.
I then turned to Amaki as he made his way to the opposite side of the ground.
"Alright, what rules should there be?" I asked as Amaki thought about it, cupping his chin while having a firm grip on his weapon.
"I don't think we should use our weapon skills, and only use our weapon's base forms." He said, getting a nod from me.
A smirk makes its way onto my face as I gripped Krishna with my hands, with Amaki doing the same with his sword.
"Give me ya best shot, kid." I taunted as he gritted his teeth.
Ren Amaki
Hero of the Sword
I then rushed towards Amaki, sending a thrush with Krishna towards his shoulder, with him moving to the side and countering with a horizontal slash at me.
I blocked the slash using the shaft of Krishna, followed by a hard kick to Amaki's stomach to knock him off-centre, I then slashed diagonally with Krishna's blade across Amaki's torso.
I sent a few thrusts with Krishna, keeping pressure on the young hero as he attempted to deflect the blows, only for Krishna's blade to cut through his armour near his left side, drawing a bit of blood.
The Sword Hero gritted his teeth as he rushed me, sword pointing at me. I barely dodged to the side as he went passed me, only for a stinging sensation to pulse on me.
I looked towards my right arm, a somewhat shallow cut was present, a crimson liquid slowly dripping from the wound. I turned around to face the hero, a smirk on my face.
"Not bad, for a 16-year-old," I said as I spun Krishna around before grasping it, and pointing it at Amaki, who gave me a smile.
"You're not too bad either, Thomas. I can see why you were summoned." He admitted, pointing the tip of the sword at me with a look in his eyes.
I quickly spun Krishna around, so the spear was in a throwing position, and I threw the spear towards Amaki, who had a look of surprise, before deflecting Krishna towards the side.
I followed up, sending a stomp to the ground, then blitzing towards Amaki, who had a look of surprise on his face.
I raised my knee upwards to Amaki, roughly hitting him in the sternum, followed by an uppercut to his sternum again, before finishing with a heavy punch towards his stomach.
This sent Amaki skidding backwards, holding his cheat as I snapped my fingers, Krishna returning within an instant. When the black-haired hero looked at me, I saw a bit of blood dribbling out of his mouth as his eyes widen, before collapsing onto the ground.
"W-what the hell was that Thomas!?" he demanded as I walked up to him, and offered my hand, in which he firmly grasped my hand, and I pulled him up.
"That was a fighting style I learned from my mother's side of the family," I admitted as I heard some steps coming to us, only to see a few people rushing to Amaki's side, and Melia coming up to us, hands glowing a soft green.
"Media." She whispered as she pointed her open palms towards Amaki and me, and I saw my wound closing up, with the blood soaking back up.
I nodded my head and gave her a thumbs-up, causing the spellcaster to blush as I holstered Krishna onto my back.
"I see. You win, Thomas." Amaki said as he glowed green a few seconds as his wounds heal up.
I nodded as I offered my hand again, with Amaki grasping my hand and shaking it.
When I looked up, I saw the sun beginning to set, a beautiful mix of orange and pale pink clouds amongst the light blue sky.
I still wished I had my camera on me.
"Anyways, I think we should head back," I said, getting some nods from Amaki and Melia, alongside his party.
I turned around and lead everyone out of The Empty Wood.
A/N: And that's chapter 11 of the Dragoon Hero finished.
As you can see, Thomas and his party (What would you call that other than a party?) clear out a goblin nest for the promise of armour by the blacksmith Chulann. There was also a surprise visit by Ren Amaki, and a duel between the two Japanese people (Or half-Japanese in Thomas' case), with Thomas showing off some martial arts moves.
As for his commissioned armour, I'm basing it off Fate/Grand Order's Achilles' first stage armour, alongside FF7's SOLDIER uniform, mainly because I think that they look cool.
Also, I recently got into both the Devil May Cry series, with me finishing DmC and playing 3 at the moment, and the Yakuza series.
All of them awesome games.
And a side note, I'm currently doing some editing to earlier chapters, I'm just letting you know.
I'll see you lovely folks when I next update.
Chao.