SHINJIS NEW LIFE
by Gunman and Reisfriend
Disclaimer: We will never own anything.
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Chapter 30
Superior Foe
The dragon was large, taller than most of the houses in the village, and longer than a ship. Its scales were a dull red, with large bat-like wings, a whipping tail with a spike on the end, large claws that could rip apart solid rock and a gaping maw of teeth large enough to devour whole people and their horses in a single bite.
Dozens of elven soldiers were firing their arrows and magic at the rampaging beast, but none of it seemed to even scratch it.
The dragon shot it's flames towards the group of soldiers who raised their shields and hid behind them, but the dragon's fire was far more powerful then any magic a human or elf could conjure.
The elven warriors felt their arms burning as the shields were getting hotter, despite the magical enchantments.
"OUR SHIELDS CAN'T TAKE MUCH MORE!" One of the warriors shouted.
"WE HAVE TO HOLD OUT UNTIL REINFORMENTS ARRIVE!" The other elf shouted.
Another volley of arrows was fired by the archers and Aelene and one of the arrows somehow managed to scrape the red dragon's eye, which made it roar in pain and turn it's flames towards the archers, who were further away from the creature.
The stream of fire incinerated the archers who were in front and the ones behind them burned slower and Aelene also felt the flames searing her and the others who were furthest away from the dragon.
Aelene and several other elves fell down, their bodies burned and the ones still alive screamed in agony.
The dragon turned its fire back to the warriors it had previously fired upon and released another stream of fire, melting their shields and burning the warriors.
Seeing no other combatants, the dragon took off and landed again at the residential area, where some elves were still trying to get to their homes to hide, but when they saw the dragon, they started running towards the forest.
'You're not getting away!' The dragon thought menacingly as it lunged at the nearest elf and caught him with his mouth. The elf screamed out in pain as the dragon devoured the unfortunate elf.
Finishing with his first victim, the winged beast started spewing fire on the houses, thinking that more victims would be flushed out once their homes were on fire, but no one came out, since unknown to it, the elves were hiding in their cellars.
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(At the cottage)
Shinji and Tia had geared up in their armors and rushed out of the small house. They both had heard the loud roar and Tia said that it was a dragon.
Shinji didn't ask how she knew and decided to leave questions for later. They both agreed quickly that the dragon came for a rampage and they had to go and help the elves kill it.
They were both running through the forest as they came across Brighid, who quickly explained the situation to the pair and they started running towards the village.
As they were running, Shinji kept thinking if Ayl and Lilia were alright and ran faster then before because of his worry for them and Hana.
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(The Queen's Residence)
"MY QUEEN! A DRAGON IS RAMPAGING IN THE VILLAGE!" Tome rushed in the room where the queen was gearing up in her armor.
"Send all warriors to kill it now. We have to stop it before it kills everyone." The queen said bluntly, putting on her helmet. Tome went to deliver her orders to her guards.
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(Residential area)
Another elf was devoured by the dragon as the houses were on fire all around it. Then it felt something hit it on the back and sides.
Ayl and her father, along with Lilia, were hurling fire and ice spears with their magic at the beast, hoping that at least one of them hit a soft spot, but it seemed to no avail.
'Hurry Shinji!' Ayl thought as the dragon turned it's attention on them.
'Where are you Shinji!' Lilia thought, thinking that she will die now as the dragon mouth lighted up.
"FOUL BEAST! PREPARE TO MEET YOUR END!" Aeson shouted as he charged towards the dragon.
The red dragon, however, didn't seem all that intimidated. It didn't seem too interested either. It just turned it's head towards the elven warrior and let spew a steam of flame. Aeson jumped out of the path of the fire and launched himself at the beast foot.
"Take That! And That! And That!" He shouted as he slashed and hacked at the dragons foot.
If the dragon could sweatdrop, it would have, at the ineffective attack the elf was laying into it.
"I, The Great Elf Warrior Shall Defeat You, And..." Aeson shouted, right before the dragon bent down and goggled up the elf in it's jaws.
The other elves just stared in shock as Aeson was eaten whole.
With little time to respond to the incident, since the dragon was quick to resume it's rampage, the elves were quick to fire their weapons, again having no effect on the beast.
"This dragon is unstoppable!" one elf shouted.
"We need reinforcements!" another shouted.
The Queen and her entourage of soldiers had arrived, but the dragon was undeterred by this. It just saw them as more food.
The guards formed a barrier between the dragon and their queen, but the dragon was undeterred.
Before the dragon could launch it's flames, it was hit in the side with several jagged pieces of something hard.
Shinji had taken out all the mithril from his Darkness storage and was using his metallic power to make the sharp mithril shards fly at the speed of a bullet towards the beast and it seemed to work, though the wounds on the dragon were quite small, so he made the shards fly towards it again, only this time he aimed at it's legs.
But the shards missed as the dragon quickly took a step back to turn towards the human, but Shinji made the shards go towards it again and hit it in the face and neck, hurting the dragon.
The dragon started stumbling as it's eyes were damaged and blood was flowing out of it's throat and it fell on the ground on it's back, which made him notice that it's underbelly was lighter shade then the rest of it's body.
'A soft spot?' He thought and merged all the mithril in one massive spike with his power and send it towards the wounded dragons belly.
The dragon, in pain, was thrashing around, spewing fire every which way.
'Stand still, dammit!' Shinji cursed as he knew he was only gonna get one shot. 'NOW!' he shouted as he launched his spear.
The spike went through the dragon's flesh, impaling it straight through to it's heart. The dragon screeched out in agony, before it fell lifeless on to it's back.
The non-combatants who had been watching from their hiding places, as well as Ayl, Lilia and Aranel stared at the beast, waiting for it to get up again, but it didn't.
Tia and Brighid were in a daze after just witnessing the spectacle that just happened. An elder dragon, which was difficult to kill even for an army, was just killed by a single human with his God-given powers and shards of mithril.
Everyone noticed that the fires were going out on their own and Brighid spoke as she grabbed Shinji.
"SHINJI, THAT WAS AMAZING! YOU KILLED THE DRAGON ON YOUR OWN!" she cried, hugging him tightly.
"I never thought I would see anyone taking down a dragon single handedly." Tia said calmly as she too hugged Shinji.
Shinji hardly even noticed them as he still couldn't believe that he killed a dragon.
Ayl and Lilia ran over to Shinji and embraced him.
"YOU SAVED THE VILLAGE SHINJI!" Ayl shouted.
"YOU SAVED EVERYONE SHINJI!" Lilia exclaimed.
Shinji thought that their praise sounded rather forced, but that was probably because they had never seen anything like what he just did against a foe that was feared by everyone and they were unsure what else to say at the moment.
Other soldiers and the queen arrived at the scene, only to see the dragon impaled by a giant spike.
"THE DRAGON IS DEAD!" The queen announced to the soldiers behind her and they all started cheering loudly.
"Incredible!"
"The Gods Are Surely On Our Side!"
"Praise The Metal Hero, Shinji!"
"Riders, go help the wounded!" Shiki told to the ones on horses and they rode off towards the training ground.
The queen herself rode towards Shinji and his 'harem'.
"Shinji there are several wounded who need your help." Shiki told Shinji when she got close to them.
"Where are they?" He asked, feeling the sense of urgency.
"Get on, I'll take you there." She said and he got on the horse. The queen urged her horse towards the training ground.
If it hadn't been such a serious and urgent matter, Shinji would have had a heart attack from the fact that he was currently sitting on the queens horse and holding onto the elven queen.
"How many wounded are there?" Shinji asked.
"I have no idea. But I doubt there are many. Very few people live after being attacked by a dragon." Shiki answered seriously.
They arrived at the training field where dozen of charred bodies were laying around. Shiki seemed sad and depressed, but Shinji had to swallow his vomit, since the smell of burned flesh and the carnage in front of him was sickening.
"My queen, we have 38 dead and 12 seriously wounded." One of the elven captains reported.
"Shinji, if you please..." Shiki told him, mourning for her subjects.
"Show me to them." Shinji told the captain, who then lead him to where the wounded were being treated. Though Shinji couldn't call it treatment, since the elves tending to the wounded were trying to get the wounded to drink a potion of some kind.
Shinji did a quick appraisal on them and all the burned elves required 'Recovery' and some of them also had broken bones, which also required 'Recovery'.
He started healing the elves, which made the uninjured elves watch in awe as their burned kin where being healed from the terrible burns and restoring their bodies to a healthy state.
Ayl and Shinji's lovers arrived at the scene along with Aranel.
"Tia, Lilia. Please find my mother." Ayl pleaded them and they responded that they would find her. They started searching the bodies while Aranel went to see if his wife was among the wounded.
Shinji finished healing the wounded elves who thanked him excessively and lord Aranel looked disheartened that his wife wasn't there.
"Have you found my wife, captain?" Aranel asked the officer.
"We are still searching the bodies, but so far we haven't seen your wife sir." The captain answered.
Ayl had arrived at the furthest spot where bodies were lying around, as well as some charred bows.
'Mother….' Ayl thought, thinking that she lost her mother.
Then she saw a burned arm rise up. Ayl rushed over to see who it was.
"Ayl..." Aelene whispered as she looked at her face, but she died right after saying her name.
"SHINJI! OVER HERE!" Ayl shouted as loudly as she could.
Shinji heard her and looked at the direction where she was and saw her waving him to come over. He sprang up and started running as fast as he could, Aranel followed him just as quickly.
Aranel ran past Shinji to where his daughter was and saw his dead wife.
"No.." He whispered before he started crying. Shiki also looked at the scene from afar and felt terrible for his trusted retainer.
Shinji came over to them and appraised Aelene, only to see that she was dead and 'Resuscitate' was needed.
"Move." Shinji said as he placed his hand on her.
Aranel wanted to protest, but Ayl stopped him and allowed Shinji to continue.
"Resuscitate." Shinji said and his healing power started to heal Aelene's body and the wounds and burns on her body disappeared fairly fast. When her body was healed, she gasped for air as she woke up.
"Mother." Ayl said happily as she embraced her.
"Aelene." Aranel said as he too embraced her.
"Was I dead?" Aelene asked in confusion.
"You were. But Shinji saved you." Ayl said, relieved to see her mother alive again.
"Praise to Goddess Lianna." Aranel thanked the said goddess.
Shinji was looking through the other bodies that were lying around and 3 of them were still alive and he healed them.
It was 6 hours later when the situation had calmed down somewhat. All the bodies were examined and most of them were dead, but 4 others were still barely alive so Shinji quickly healed them with his powers.
Some elves were combing through the burned houses, trying to get the people trapped in their cellars out and Ayl had come over to help with her power over wood to move all the charred wood and other wooden wreckage out of the way and Shinji was, on Ayl's orders, waiting to be called if a healer was needed.
He was needed 3 times when people were getting out of the cellars, two of the patients were the elven kids he had seen a few times around the village and one elven woman who had a weak constitution. They had inhaled too much smoke and were coughing violently until he healed them. The other elves were also appraised just in case, but their constitution was stronger then humans, so they weren't affected as badly as the young or weak elves.
The elven woman with a weak constitution was healed and she felt more lively then ever and thanked Shinji so much that he thought he would get a headache.
When they finally returned to Valtharos house, Shinji went to see Hana at the basement, who was glad to see him and peppered him with kisses.
Shinji and Hana offered to make dinner for the group and Ayl's parents didn't protest, since the servants had gone over to their families.
After the dinner was eaten, Aranel spoke up.
"On behalf of the queen I thank you for your help with this crisis and for slaying the dragon, but I still have to ask you to leave the village."
"Huh? Why?" Hana asked from the sudden announcement.
"Since many homes were burned and most of the crops were destroyed, we are going to need all the remaining food and bedrooms for the survivors so we can rebuild. The queen has sent messengers to other villages and called for aid, but it will be a while before the village is rebuilt. Therefore we can't have guests in our village at the moment." Aranel explained.
"Oh. That makes sense." Shinji said.
"Don't worry, father. We will leave at first light." Ayl said.
Tia, Lilia and Brighid had mixed feelings about having to leave the village so soon. The quarter vampire and the Pantherian wanted to spend more time with Shinji, but were glad that they could go back to Ithalan where they wouldn't get bored. And Brighid was just glad that they could go back to Ithalan.
"And Shinji, thank you for saving my life." Aelene said.
"I'm just glad that I got to you in time." He said.
"Saving the lives of this family is starting become a full time job for you." Ayl joked.
"You brought my wife back to life. I never thought I would see anything like that." Aranel said.
"Indeed. I never thought that anyone could do something like that. Goddess Lianna was truly generous with the blessing she gave you Shinji." Aelene added.
"We should head to bed now if we are going to leave early." Ayl interrupted.
"Of course. We won't hold you any longer. And we too should head off to bed now too since it's going to be busy for a while." Aelene agreed.
Everyone headed to the bedrooms. Shinji shared a bed with Lilia and Hana.
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(The next morning)
Shinji and his friends were getting ready to leave the elven village and were saddling the horses. The group had eaten some of the provisions they had in their storages for breakfast, since the village didn't have food to spare at the moment.
Ayl also mentioned that once the village was rebuild and gotten back on it's feet, the queen would reward them for their efforts, especially Shinji, who killed the dragon and healed the wounded, which saved their lives.
Shinji asked about the potion they tried to give to the wounded and Ayl replied that it was meant to dull the pain, since even elven medicine wasn't advanced enough to treat people burned by dragon's fire.
"Will the village be alright Ayl?" Shinji asked.
"This village has endured many disasters over the centuries." She answered simply. "We will survive this. In part, thanks to you."
The group mounted the horses and started to move out of the village. Ayl's parents were still sleeping and Ayl didn't wake them, since they needed the rest and they would be busy for weeks now. But Ayl did leave them a message.
An hour later the group was out of the forest and heading towards Ithalan.
Shinji wondered what new adventures they would be facing and what people they would meet in the future as they rode towards the capital.
(First volume's end)
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Authors Note
From Reisfriend: And here you have it readers, the final chapter of volume 1 after 2,5 years. I had fun writing this, though I hoped that this story got at least 300 reviews. If someone wants to write volume 2, then feel free to do so.
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Omake 1 Monster Girl Doctor
Doctor Shinji Ikari woke up and felt his lamia assistants nude body against his. Being an albino lamia, Rei often slept with him for warmth and because she was madly in love with him.
Her tail had also wrapped around his lower body, which he had started to enjoy after 3 years of sleeping together.
He managed to get off the bed without waking her and went to the kitchen to get breakfast done, but he smelled something tasty as was getting closer.
"Morning doctor. I have your breakfast ready." Asuka the harpy said.
"Asuka, you snuck in through the window again?" He groaned.
"Naturally. You really should lock your windows, not just your doors." She replied.
"Are you trying to get me to marry you again?" He asked as he sat down.
"Of course. I am in a marriageable age and you have to take responsibility for seeing me lay an egg and putting your hands on me." She replied with a smirk as she set the plate for him.
"I have put my hands on many women for medical purposes, not for lewd purposes. And I already have Rei." He said as he started eating.
"How about marrying us both? I hear that Hikari is proposing a law that allows polygamy." Asuka said.
"I don't know. One wife would be more then enough for me." He countered.
"Grr, I won't give up doctor." She growled and flew off from the window.
"Jeez that girl." He groaned.
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Omake 2 Monster Girl Doctor
"Now cough." Shinji told Ritsuko the mermaid.
She did as told. "Good. Your lungs sound better now. But are you taking the medicine I told you?"
"I am, but it's so bitter. Can't you make it a bit sweeter?" The fish girl whined.
"Sorry, but the ingredients needed are all bitter, so no." He said.
Ritsuko moaned in frustration.
"But no worries, I brought you this." He said, offering her a bottle.
"And this is?" She asked.
"Take your medicine with this and it will taste better." He answered.
She suddenly kissed his cheek. "Thank you doctor. I'll see you later then." She said happily and dove back to the waterway.
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OMAKE 3
The dragon roared as it let loose a stream of fire, torching several houses and even soldiers.
Ayl, Lilia, Tia and Brighid were staring down the massive beast, their specially enchanted shields were starting to melt under the intense heat of the dragonfire.
Shinji had been detained because he was working on something to stop the dragon.
"I hope Shinji gets here soon!" Tia shouted.
"We have to stall the dragon long enough for Shinji to get here!" Brighid said.
Suddenly, the dragon paused. It looked up and stared behind the four women.
THUD!
The heavy footsteps caught their attention as they all turned around and gasped at what they saw.
A gigantic armored figure, the same height as the dragon. It's most prominent feature was the large horn that was spouting from it's forehead. Like either a unicorn horn or an ogres horn.
"Is that...?" Lilia asked.
"It's Shinji!" Tia shouted.
"What?" Brighid gasped.
"He's using his metal powers to form an armored suit around him so that he can fight the dragon!" Ayl said.
"Oh, this is going to be good!" Brighid said.
The dragon blinked in shock, having never seen something of even height with him.
"Let's Rumble!" Shinji declared as he charged and tackled the beast.
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OMAKE 4
The entourage was heading for the human city. Inside the coach, Ayl was telling everyone present about the time the dragon attacked their village and Shinji killed it using his metal control powers. What's more, she still remembered how he had saved many lives in the aftermath.
Shinji was blushing up a storm at the praise.
Isarnia and Jenneh were riding with Ayl and Shinji in her coach.
Layla, Sigrunn, Brienne and Ragnhild were riding in their own horse-drawn carts behind the coach.
Belith, Kadilen and Echidna were riding their own horses alongside the coach.
There were a dozen elven guards with them, riding on horses around and behind them. There was a driver and another guard riding up on the front of the coach itself.
"My lady! We are approaching The Pass." the driver said.
Shinji noticed everyone seemed to tense up as he said that.
"What's so dangerous about this Pass?" Shinji asked again.
"No one is sure. There is an unseen terror that lurks within the pass. No one who goes in has ever come out of it." Jenneh said.
"Someone must have seen something." Shinji said.
"No one that I know." Ayl said.
"Neither have I." Isarnia added.
The entourage entered the canyon. Shinji saw that the high walls and shadow-like pass were very foreboding. There were hundreds of places to hide on the walls. It was a good place to launch an ambush from.
However, Shinji noticed strange. Some of the rocks had strangely made sharp edges. And there were dozens of them spread around both sides of the canyon walls. They almost looked like they had been intentionally cut.
Before Shinji could mention something to Ayl and the others, the stones started to glow. What's more is that strange-looking runes also appeared on the stones themselves.
"Ayl! Look!" he shouted as the stones glowed more intently.
"By the Gods!" Ayl shouted.
"Glowing stones?" Layla gasped.
"With runes!" Belith shouted.
"That means..." Kadilen started to say.
"The Pass is a Trap!" Echidna realized.
The stones suddenly exploded with power, surrounding the entire area in a strange field of energy that also affected the ground they were all standing on. The coach, the carts and the horses with their riders suddenly began to sink down into the ground.
"It's like some kind of gigantic Darkness Storage Bag!" Isarnia realized.
"We're being pulled down! Into The Darkness!" one of the soldiers shouted.
However, none of them could do anything as the entire group, horses and all, were swallowed whole.
The stones stopped glowing once the entire entourage had vanished from sight. A small wind kicked up dust through the pass as silence once again descended upon the shadowy pass.
TBC