Chapter 12: Back at it again.

Sorry for ghosting for almost three months (Jesus), I had college shit to do, among other things.

All rights go to their owners.

Talking: "Oh the ground is spinning slow. There on the frozen streams below."

Thinking: 'True the road will gather snow, but stay and we'll set the night aglow.'

"Ah shit, here we go again."-Kane Stone.

A young Kane sits in his room, his room full of assorted items. Toys, drawings, and even books. The sun shines into his room, lighting the room. He hums a song to himself, with a pencil in his hand, dragging it along a sheet of paper, his tongue sticking out the side of his mouth as he draws. "You're a real piece of shit you know that!" Kane looks at the door to his room as he hears his mother yelling, he frowns.

"Get off my case, you fucking bitch!" He sighs as he puts the sheet of paper down on a nightstand next to a small tower of books, the names of the books nothing more than a jumble of letters, he opens his closet, picking up his shoes. He moves over to the window, lifting it up. Kane leans out, his legs hanging. He puts the shoes on his feet, hopping out onto the roof, his feet tapping against the tiles. He slowly makes his way down from the roof, finishing it off with a quick hop to the ground, his feet kicking up dust. He looks back at his home, he turns away, and walks off, hoping to find something to pass the time.

He walks along the path, not noticing the weird shape and sizes of the building around him. He finds a group of children around his age ahead of him but their faces were completely nondescript apart from a select few that Kane instantly remembered. A smirk forms on his face. He walks up to the group, they all turn, one boy tilts his head. "I thought you were grounded?"

Kane shrugs, a cheeky smirk on his face. "I still am."

"So how did you get out?"

"Jumped down, my mother doesn't know I'm out but that means that as far as she knows I'm still in my room." He plants his hands on his hips, smiling pridefully. "So in her mind, I'm still grounded." Smugness emits from Kane.

"...When your mom finds out, I wasn't here."

Kane waves his friend off, blowing air out of his mouth. "She won't find out, anyway moving onto more fun stuff, what are we doing?"

The boys speak to each other and eventually decide on a game to play, they decide to playback to base, and various games, they all enjoy themselves, playing freeze tag and such. The sun shines down on the group of children, Kane smirks, enjoying himself until. "Kane!" He freezes as he hears his mother's voice. His smile instantly dies as he slowly turns to find his mother walking towards him, scowling. Her golden hair shining in the sun. Her hair is crimped and loose, resembling an 80s pop star. She stands in front of Kane, looking down at him, clearly not happy. "Since when did grounded mean sneaking out and playing with your friends?"

Kane looks down, suddenly interested in the floor and a pebble to which he starts to kick around with his shoe. "...Just now?"

"Hi, Mrs. Stone."

Kane's mother looks up at one of the children surrounding the two. "Hi sweetheart, how's your mother?"

The child in question rubs the back of their head. "She's fine."

"Good, tell her I said hi. You're coming home right now." She finishes her sentence, staring at Kane. She stands up and begins walking home, expecting Kane to follow.

"Yes, mom." He sighs. "See you guys later." He looks back to his group of friends before walking after his mother.

"Later Kane."

Kane and his mother silently walk back home, the sun almost directly overhead. Weirdly not a single person can be seen walking around, just him and his mother walking down the street. The two finally reach their home, Kane's mother opening the door and stepping in, Kane following behind and closing the door behind him.

Kane's mother turns to him and gets on one knee. Both her hands on his shoulders. "Don't ever do that again do you understand? I was so worried when I didn't find you in your room."

Kane looks down at the carpet, guilt bubbling up as he stares at the symmetrical patterns of the carpet. "Sorry, mom."

Kane's mother closes her eyes and sighs. When she opens her eyes, she lifts his chin, her frown turning into a smile. "I'm not angry honey, I… I was just worried." She strokes his cheek.

He smiles at his mother before it weakens, he looks around cautiously. "Is dad still home?"

The question makes his mother lose her smile. She stands up, her mouth forming into a small snarl. "No, your dad is probably out screwing his little sl-" She stops mid-sentence turning to look at Kane who tilts his head in confusion. She clears her throat awkwardly. "Friend, probably out playing around with his friend."

"...Sorry again mom."

She ruffles his hair. "Chin up honey, I'm going to go make something to eat okay?"

Kane looks up, a smile on his face, eager to lift his mother's mood. "Can I help?"

She gives a warm smile upon hearing Kane's words. Holding out her hand, which Kane takes. "Of course! I'm going to need my little master chef won't I?" Kane stares at his mother, the warm smile on her face washing away his worries.

The scene completely changes, he wakes up in a soft bed, disoriented from the dream. Kane groans, blinking away the blurriness in his vision, he finds himself in a familiar bedroom. He slowly gets up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. The room is small and spartan, he smirks as he thinks back to the owners being embarrassed at offering such a small room to him but were quickly relieved at Kane's simple exceptions.

He kicks his legs out, yawning while stretching, his back popping as he bends his spine. He gets out of the bed, scratching his chin. He picks up his casual wear. Putting on his shirt and his pants, as he's putting on his pants, his arm catches his attention. He raises the arm and flexes it, noticing his arm is bigger, with the muscles being far more defined than before he was summoned. Kane chuckles. "I guess eating a lot of meat and fighting for your life is one hell of a way to build muscle."

Finished with his little examination of his arm, he puts on his pants, then the socks, and finally the boots. He steps out of the room, closing the door behind him. "Good morning Spear Hero." A woman, in a casual dress, which looks middle class but the colour of the dress matches the woman's blue eyes giving her a mature but still attractive look.

Kane nods, an easy-going smile on his face. "Good morning. Any chance you know where my party members are?"

The woman puts a hand up to her chin. "I know that Keel is in training with Griffin, while Shen is here, helping me out. I don't know about the others though, sorry."

"No worries." Kane tilts his head, his eyes lighting up in amusement. "how's Shen helping out exactly?"

The lady smirks, crossing her arms. "He's helping me dry clothes for treats."

Kane chuckles. "Well that's a little surprising but I guess he'll pretty much do anything for food I guess.."

The woman nods, crossing her arms as she looks at Kane. "He's a bit of glutton but that makes it easier to persuade him."

Kane snorts. "He might leave me for you if you keep feeding him. I'm going to go find my other party members then. Have a good day Miss Rosenthal." He walks backwards towards the door.

The woman nods with a smirk. "The same goes for you Spear Hero."

Kane gives a two-finger salute, turning around and walking through the door.

Kane immediately feels the warmth from the sun on his face finding the village to be completely in motion. Children running around and play fighting with each other, while villagers walk to desired locations, some wave to Kane who waves back with a smile. He looks up, finding the first BioPlant still dead centre in the village. After a few more moments of staring at the tree, he starts to make his way to Griffin's home.

"Hyah!" A feminine voice echoes out as Kane walks up to the door of Griffin's house, he follows the voice. Finding Griffin and Keel in the sparring ring. He takes a seat at the side bench, watching the two. Keel charges in, the blunted sword pointed at Griffin's throat. Griffin stares at Keel as she gets closer and closer, completely stoic. Kane smirks to himself, knowing what's about to happen.

And as Kane expected the mere moment Keel gets within melee range Griffin strikes. Deflecting the sword with his shield. He aims the spear right for Keel's throat in return to which she tilts her head backwards and just like with Kane, Griffin kicks out Keel's legs but the moment she hits the ground she rolls. The action makes Kane's eye widen before a prideful smirk grows on his face. The little roll doesn't do much in the long run as Griffin is on Keel instantly, kicking her to the ground and aiming the spear at her throat. She lets out a sigh, her eyes showing that she's slightly disappointed in the end result.

Kane calls out, his hand cupping his mouth to make him echo. "That was pretty good Keel!" She sits upright and stares at him, before smirking. She gets to her feet with the help of Griffin, dusting herself off.

Griffin and Keel walk up to Kane, who sits there on the bench with a hand under his chin, holding up his head. "Yo, Kane! You here to practise with the old man?"

Griffin sighs in exasperation, he would argue with the point that he's not that old, or at least that's what he tells himself. Kane laughs. "Yep but I wanted to check on Rifana and Leo before I did."

"Well Rifana told me she's going to go practise with her aim while Leo is screwing around, he told me he wanted to practise with Griffin after me so I'll go get him so be right back."

Kane nods at Keel who walks out of sight, leaving Kane and Griffin alone. Griffin takes a seat on the bench alongside Kane. "She told me you're planning on dealing with a Wave in Siltvelt."

Kane itches his cheek. "Yeah, ain't complaining considering I get stronger from it."

Griffin nods his head, rubbing his chin. "Kane." the serious tone in Griffin's tone makes Kane look right at him. "Be careful over there. I know you're feeling confident about the Waves but still."

Kane shrugs, a smirk on his face. "I appreciate the concern but there's no greater test than an actual fight right?"

Griffin grumbles, finding it hard to disagree with him. "The Waves might not be the only thing you have to worry about. Siltvelt might try to keep you there, willing or not."

Kane tilts his head. "They would force me to stay?"

"...Maybe less force and more manipulate."

"I'm guessing they would try to trap me because of the Waves?"

Griffin nods, his lips in a straight line. "That and it would probably keep you out of the way." Kane tilts his head. "Kane I'm not going to lie to you, it would be best if you prepare for war."

"War? Why?"

"Think about it. All the Heroes in one country, we left the others high and dry and our relationship with Silvelt is already pretty shit, now we summoned their god and we fucked her over? I wouldn't be surprised if Siltvelt's armies march for Melromarc sometime soon."

Kane looks off into the treeline, his thoughts spinning. "So why haven't they yet? What are they waiting for?"

Griffin shrugs. "Who knows, maybe the Queen is placating them or maybe the Queen is already dead along with the Crown Princess and the other countries are just waiting for the perfect moment to strike." He tilts his head to the side.

Kane grumbles, "Dead? And I thought Malty was the Crown Princess?"

"She's in neutral territory but politics is a dangerous game, especially when you're facing the heads of the countries that are pissed off at you." Griffin crosses his arms, his eyes looking at the ground as he speaks. "Melty is the Crown Princess, she's younger than her sister but less of a spoiled brat."

"...Melty? They could have named their daughter anything and they go with Melty? Like why would you want her to have a similar name to their first daughter if she's such a pain in the ass?"

"Question for the ages." Griffin sighs as he looks up at the sky.

Kane shakes his head, sighing as he moves on with the conversation. "Hopefully the Queen is still alive because I don't know what to do if there's a war to be completely honest with you."

"Hope for the best, prepare for the worst kid, the Queen is skilled at what she does so it could be likely she still alive and you Heroes are a natural deterrent to invaders obviously but still I would be ready just in case."

There's a few seconds of silence before Kane snorts, his thoughts on the King. "Heh, shame the King is the one with power instead of the Queen, I wouldn't trust that dumb fuck with a spoon."

Griffin turns to Kane, his eyes wide, staring at him in shock. "...Kane, the country is a Matriarchy. The Queen is the one with the power."

"Wait, seriously?" Griffin nods to Kane's questioning look. "That… explains a lot. So the King is nothing more than a boytoy for the Queen?" Kane raises a hand up to his chin, muttering to himself. "That would explain why he's so shit at ruling." He looks at Griffin with a curious look. "What about crimes? Like, are women punished equally in the country?"

"A pretty weird question to go to Kane."

Kane shrugs, his lips pouting. "I guess but I was just thinking about the rape accusation against Naofumi, if that happened in my world I'm not so sure it would get so much attention as it did here as fucked up as that is." He shakes his head after finishing his sentence.

Griffin hums, staring at Kane. "Keep in mind the Church spread the information about the rape pretty much everywhere in the country. Don't forget by the way that the Church has been building up hate for the Shield Hero in the country for a long time. If you ask me I don't think most people give a shit that the first princess was raped, as far as they're concerned it's nothing more than confirmation for their views on the Shield Hero who is a woman is held to a higher standard in a matriarch society."

Kane hums, stroking his chin as his mind works. "So all Naofumi has is show that the lies spread by the Church are false."

Griffin shakes his head, slightly disappointed in Kane's naivety. "Not that simple, hate that's festered for that long doesn't just disappear."

"Obviously, but it's easy to let go of hate when it's not even your hate, to begin with. the Church has built up hate for the Shield Hero but the problem with that is how they made it, they've been demonising Naofumi, telling boogeyman stories about her which works out in our favour. The moment people see that Naofumi isn't as evil as the Church made her out to be, is the mere moment all that hate crumbles or at least weakens. It already happened in Riyute village and I hope it's happening here."

"You make things sound so easy or simple. Not everyone is willing to change their minds, and what happens if they frame the Shield Hero again?" Griffin stares at Kane, his eyes cold like ice as he asks him the question.

Kane grits his teeth, the thought of Naofumi being framed again angering him. "I'll get the Church's attention on me, I'm already starting to get ideas on how."

Griffin groans, staring at Kane's face, the young Spear Hero's smile is gone, replaced with a frown. "You can make things worse for your party and the Shield Hero if you don't think this through properly."

"There's no way on God's green earth I'll let those fucks try to frame Naofumi again, I will make sure it won't happen."

Griffin hums, watching Kane's face, he turns away nothing being said anymore between the two. A silence falls over the two and eventually, Leo and Keel arrive. Griffin stands up, walking over to the ring to which Leo follows, Keel walks over to Kane sits down alongside him.

Cyvor returns to the town, 4 Dragon mounts. Shen puffs up at the sight, Kane chuckles as he ruffles Shen's hair to which he pouts as he attempts to be all serious and impressive. He holds Shen's hand as he walks towards one of the Dragon's, as soon as he reaches it he picks up Shen and plants him onto the saddle of the Dragon. It turns its head to Shen, staring at him with confusion to which Shen responds with a growl. It submissively turns away, something that makes Shen smugly grin. Kane mounts the same Dragon as Shen is on, sitting directly behind the young boy. Keel and Rifana jump on the same mount with Leo getting onto a mount of his own with the last remaining mount being taken by Cyvor.

Kane turns to the village to find nearly all of its inhabitants watching the group, he smirks at the sight. "It's been fun being here with y'all but unfortunately duty calls, I'll pop back in one day so see y'all next time."

The villagers all wave, with the lord stands out, along with Griffin standing next to him. The lord does a slight bow. "You will always be welcome here Spear Hero, along with your party!" The lord stands up straight, staring right at each individual of Kane's party, he finishes on Kane himself. "But please, do be safe."

Kane gives a soft laugh, shrugging. "Hey I always try to stay safe, trouble just comes for me." Rifana mumbles to herself, clearly not agreeing with what he said. Kane points at the lord. "Please treat my friend well if she comes by."

The lord nods, a gentle smile on his weathered face, making his face seem softer. "I will, do not worry."

Kane smiles back, giving a two-finger salute to all of the villagers. "Well goodbye to every one of you." Everyone on their Dragons apart Cyvor waves goodbye to the villagers who in return wave back, shouting their goodbyes and thanks.

The Dragons begin to flap their wings and runoff, taking off ground and becoming airborne. Kane watches as the village gets smaller and smaller, he turns around staring ahead of the Dragon, watching the ground underneath him pass by. Kane shouts out to Cyvor. "So how long is this trip going to take?"

Cyvor stares up, then turns to Kane. "Depending on the weather around an hour or two."

Kane sighs, he attempts to get comfortable but there's no place for him to rest his head, and every time he closes his eyes the sun shines through his eyelids aggravating him. He grumbles as he sits upright. "Guess I ain't taking a nap on this little flight."

The group flies through the skies, Keel raises her arms, attempting to grab the fluffy cloud. She grabs the saddle with one hand, she smiles as they all fly towards Siltvelt, never feeling freer than at this moment.

After an hour and a half, the capital of Siltvelt is visible from sight, or at least Kane hopes it's the capital as his legs ache from the long trip. The upcoming town has large walls, with buildings sitting on flat surfaces on a hill.

The Dragons begin to descend, landing at the entrance of the town, passersby stop, watching the sight. A group of Demi-Human knights make their way to the group as they begin to dismount, Kane picks up Shen and plants him on his feet, he pats the Dragon on the head to which Shen grumbles, tugging his hand. Kane sighs, smiling he places his other hand on Shen's head and pats it.

One of the Demi-Humans steps forward, bowing to Kane. "Greetings Spear, we are to escort you to the Dragon Hourglass."

Kane turns to the man, looking at the man he notices a horn at the top of his head, with his skin being a dark colour. "Fair enough, where is it?"

The man stands up straight. "At the top of the stairs."

There's a few moments of silence as Kane and the other party members stare at them with a straight look. "...Why couldn't we just fly to the top?"

"There's no place to land." The knight speaks nonchalantly like it was obvious.

Kane grumbles. "Lead the way then I guess."

The man bows and turns around. "Follow me." He walks past his knights into the capital. The knights part to let Kane and his party through.

Kane looks around as he follows the knights, the large stairs making him sigh. Some passersby whisper amongst themselves and some even glare at him. Kane hums at the reaction. "People here seem uh a little surprised to see me."

The lead knight doesn't stop moving, his eyes still locked onto his destination. "You're one of the three Cardinal Butchers, is it any surprise people are afraid of you?"

Kane and his party stare at the man, their eyes widen in surprise. "Cardinal Butchers? Why am I called that?" Kane stares at the knight who slightly tilts his head to look back all for a moment.

"It's a long story, one I do not know well enough to tell you all the details but once the three out of the four Heroes decided to aid Melromarc in attempting mass genocide on us."

Kane hums his thoughts on Cyvor who called Naofumi his God. "Lemme guess, the Shield Hero was the one who didn't go along with the attempted genocide?"

"Correct, he instead led us away. We found what would become Siltvelt." The knight tilts his head up, looking at the top of the stairs. "As such we revere the Shield Hero above the Cardinal Butchers."

Kane grimaces his thoughts on the Three Hero Church, having a gut feeling they were responsible for the attempted genocide. "Can't really blame you for thinking that way I guess but I'm not like the genocidal asshole that was the previous Spear Hero." He rubs the back of his head.

The head knight hums while a few of the others stare at him for a bit. "We shall see won't we?"

Kane goes silent, following the other knights. They walk up the stairs with a few more passersby staring at Kane but Keel and Shen glared at these people while Kane just ignores it.

Kane and his party enter the building that holds the Dragon Hourglass. He and his party find themselves in a large room with guard positions surrounding it. Ornate pillars are placed in corners of the room, torches fitted to it as there are no windows to the room resulting in no natural light. He wordlessly steps up to the Dragon Hourglass and like in Melromarc A red beam shines out of his Spear, hitting into the Dragon Hourglass.

-22:21:00-

Kane hums. "We got till tomorrow until the Wave."

A gruff voice calls out, echoing throughout the chamber. "The Spear Butcher."

Kane turns around, finding a rather large Demi-Human, the man has a chiselled face with a scar on his cheek. His hair is rather unique, white with black stripes with cat like ears on the top of his head. The man wears armour fitted to his size which makes him even more imposing. "You another gruff military type who doesn't know how to smile?" The men response is a silent stare to which Kane sighs, rubbing the back of his head. "Yay. Well, name's Kane, I'm here to help with the Wave."

The man crosses his arm, the first thing he's done for the last minute or so. "We don't need your help, especially one from a Human."

Keel walks forward, snarling at the man. "Don't talk to him like that!" The man stares at Keel in surprise for defending Kane before his face hardens as he frowns at Keel.

Kane steps up from behind Keel, softly patting her shoulder making her look up at him as he walks past. "I don't really care for your reasons for hating me, the only reason I'm here is to save lives and to help put down the Wave." Kane tilts his head as he stares at the man. "How about you? Do you care about the lives of your people more than your beef with me?"

The large Demi-Human crosses his arms, anger on his face. "Do not doubt my loyalty to the people of Siltvelt."

"That's enough Onril." Three more men walk up, the main in the middle clearly a leader of the sort as his presence oozes with authority, his face like granite, every scar and mark a symbol of experience. Like the now named Onril he has matching hair and even ears. He steps closer and Kane gets a look at his armour. It's taken good care of, not sparklingly clean as it would be if it was fresh but it doesn't have a bit of rust anywhere. A sword rests on the right side of his hip. "So you're the Spear Butcher?"

Kane nods his head casually, his lips in a straight line. The man snorts, looking Kane up and down. "...Not exactly what I was expecting when I think of one of the Cardinal Butchers."

Kane's lips turn into a lopsided smirk. "What did you expect? Me being taller and screaming about how evil Demi-Humans are?"

The man returns Kane's smirk with his own, looking at Kane's party. "Something like that." The man crosses his arms. "So, Cyvor tells me your here to help us with the upcoming Wave."

Kane nods, his smirk weakening. "Yep, here to help stop the Wave."

The man unfolds one of his arms and plants it on his chest. "You can call me Tior, I'm the Major of the force created for fighting the Waves."

"How many men is that?"

The now named Tior waves Kane off. "First let's go gather the rest of the officers and talk there."

"Lead the way then Major." Tior, motions for Kane to follow him to which he does, his party directly behind him. Even Onril follows but keeping his distance from Kane, not wanting to be in his presence.

Kane looks around, examining the halls as he follows Tior. Eventually, the group enters a room, finding three more Demi-Humans standing around a round table. Tior walks alongside the others, standing at the table. "Spear. These three are also part of the force." Tior motions at every individual Demi-Human.

"Ilint. Captain of the 1st Skirmisher Division." The large Demi-Human with dark skin nods at Kane, the man's hair moving with the nod, making Kane spot the horns slightly protruding from the man's hair.

"Anrie. She's the Arch Battlemage." The woman with a calculated look folds her arms, analysing Kane. Compared to the others in the room she wears the lightest armour. Her blue ears poke out, with 5 tails behind her swishing, calmly. A kitsune if Naruto taught Kane anything.

"And finely, the most insane of us. Ciwin, he's the Captain of the 3rd Footsoldier Division." Ciwin snorts in amusement, nodding to Kane. Blue scales covering parts of his neck, with razor-sharp teeth. Like Illint he has horns of his own but it's less thick and protrudes more from the skull.

Kane looks around the room at each of the leaders. "It would have been nice to meet y'all in a less serious scenario but oh well, beggars can't be choosers." Kane claps his hands together. "So! We got any plans in putting down the Wave?"

Ilint snorts, crossing his arm. "Kill the Wave Boss, don't die. Pretty simple."

Kane shrugs. "The simple stuff always turns out to be the most complicated at times, especially when it comes to fighting."

Anrie nods in approval. "Agreed, the Waves are simple but dealing with them is no easy feat."

Kane turns to Tior. "How many soldiers do we have?"

"100 Footmen, 40 Battlemages and 80 Archers."

Kane whistles. "That's… seems a bit excessive or has the previous Waves taught you otherwise?"

Tior sighs, the other leaders in the room harden a bit. "We got lucky with the previous Wave, it hit the water so we sent in divisions of Orcinus and Sharkmen but… the first Wave taught us that on land it could easily spin out of control and it did."

Kane frowns, staring at the man. Not wanting to ask but knowing he has to. "How bad?"

"97 dead, around 70 injured and Thua village is still recovering from the damage." Kane swears under his breath, his party all frowning at the causality list.

Ciwin voice rumbles as he speaks. "We've prepared since then, however. We actually have experience with the Waves now."

Kane nods, a hopeful smile on his face. "Good to hear, I've got moves that can clear hordes of monsters quickly but I've only dealt with one Wave."

Ilint hums, rubbing his chin. "How about dealing with the Wave Boss? The monsters themselves are normally not such big issues it's just that their numbers never deplete while the Wave Boss lives and the Wave Boss is no easy foe to defeat."

"We dealt with the Wave Boss pretty quickly."

"We? No other Hero will assist you in defeating the Wave Boss, you understand this correct?" Anrie's eyes lock onto Kane, watching him.

"Well it was only really me, the Shield Hero, and our parties that dealt with the Wave Boss in the end, and that was pretty much in like 5 or 6 minutes. The other two only injured it while we quickly ran to defend the village caught in the crossfire."

"Think you can handle the Wave Boss without any help from the other Heroes?" Ilint gives a judging gaze, valuing him.

"I'll do my best, so will my party so it'll be pretty damn good." Kane finishes with a confident but stony tone.

Tion looks around the table, his gaze going over each leader in the room. "We'll deal with the hordes of monsters." He turns to Kane and his respective party. "Spear; your main concern will be the Wave Boss, put it down as fast as possible, I'm attaching Master Sergeant Onril along with his men to your group." Onril steps up to the table. "Onril, make sure your men are prepared."

Kane raises a hand, just remembering something as he interrupts Tion. The man turns to him with a stoic gaze, nodding at him. "Do you have all your men in your parties?"

Tion looks around at the other leaders, confusion on their faces. "…Not yet, but before we move out for the location of the Wave we will."

"Do it now, I can add as many people I want to my party, in doing so. Not only do they get teleported with me when the Wave starts, but they also get stats boosts from being in my party."

The whole room stares at him. "I… Are you saying that being in your party boosts our stats?"

Kane nods. "It goes for my whole party, only drawback is monsters are more likely to be focused on me because of it."

Tion grumbles. "A useful power but it makes you taking down the Wave Boss more complicated."

Kane points at the Kitsune Demi-Human. "Can you make magic traps?"

Anrie nods, her eyes flicking. "I can, it would take some time depending on how powerful the traps are but it can be done."

Kane turns to Tion. "Can we use me as bait? Kill the horde in one big sweep?"

Tion sighs, rubbing his nape. "The only issue with the idea is that the monsters will come back. It could give us a clear shot to the Wave Boss but if we don't put it down quickly we could get easily surrounded."

"But it's the only clear shot I'll get to the Wave Boss."

Tion turns to Anrie. "How long would it take for you to inscribe a magic trap to deal with the horde?"

Anrie closes her eyes in thought, her mind churning as she ponders on factors and results. "...20 minutes if I have all my people on it."

Kane sighs, rubbing the back of his head. "I'm guessing the quicker it is the weaker it is?"

Anrie nods, confirming Kane's questioning. He sighs, shaking his shoulders. "Well, I can't think up any other ideas without knowing where we're going."

The other leaders all reluctantly agree, unable to come up with any other ideas without knowing the location of the Wave. Tion sighs. "We'll continue this tomorrow, before the Wave. Spear, we've prepared rooms for you and your party."

Kane nods, grateful. "Appreciate it."

Tion turns to Onril. "Onril, show the Spear and his party to his their rooms."

Onril wordlessly salutes and stands at the door, waiting for Kane and his party. They all follow him, the walk to the room silent. Onril surprisingly doesn't make any comments, just staying silent like Kane and the others.

They eventually enter a room with numerous beds big enough to fit them all. Kane takes a seat in a wooden chair at a table. Looking out the window his right, the sun beginning to set. Keel and Rifana enter the room again, their hair damp. Keel looks at all the males of the party. "You guys can go take a bath now."

Kane hums, standing up and tucking the chair under the table. "Come on you two, quicker the bath, quicker we can get some sleep." Kane leaves the room, leaving the door open for Leo and Shen.

Shen hops off the bed, chasing after Kane but Kane pops his head back in. "Where's the bath?"

Keel and Rifana both sigh. "I'll show you." Rifana walks past Kane, leading ahead of the three, while Keel sits on her bed, laying on her back on the bed.

They eventually reach the bath and begin to clean themselves, Kane sitting in the massive bathtub. His eyes wandering over to his Spear in it's bracelet form. He sighs, moving his body to get more comfortable. He looks up into the starry night. Anxious about tomorrow.

New titles unlocked!

The sudden pop-up surprises Kane, making him slightly jump disturbing the water. He takes a deep breath, looking over the pop-up. 'Titles?'

{Titles are given to you when you perform certain key things. Titles are harder to obtain but they can offer powerful benefits.}

Kane hums, looking over his new menu in his HUD. He presses the titles sub-option, which opens up and shows off a few things.

Spear Hero (Unique Title): +5% damage increase with all Spears. (This title is unique to the Spear Hero, as such it will grow alongside the Spear becoming more powerful as the Spear Hero becomes more famous.)

Spear Butcher: Intimidating presence, +10% damage to Demi-Humans.

Kane frowns at the Spear Butcher title, a cool title but the way it came into existence made him feel disturbed to have it, didn't help that his bonus literally made him stronger against people that weren't human.

{That is not all.}

Ultimate Skills unlocked!

Kane nods his head. 'See now that sounds like something that will lift my spirits.'

He quickly opens the tab for the Ultimate Skills only to find… nothing. Kane's eyes twitch. 'Seriously? You're gonna blueball me like that?'

{Apologises, I have not yet created any Ultimate Skills yet but I have some in mind it just takes power and time to create.}

'How long will it take? Because having an Ultimate Skill tomorrow really might tomorrow a hell of a lot easier.'

{Truthfully I do not know, but I will do my best to have something tomorrow.}

Kane sighs. Slumping in the water which is starting to become lukewarm. 'I hope so.'

{Why are you afraid? You were not so nervous for the last Wave and compared to then you are even more prepared.}

'I'm more prepared but… Iwi isn't around, I know you don't like her but you can't deny she covered our asses back during the Wave, making sure none of us took any serious hits, and now all of sudden the safety net that was Iwatani isn't here. One fuck up and a whole lot of innocent people might die One fuck up and… I might lose Shen, Keel, Leo, and Rifana.'

Kane rubs his forehead as the anxiety bubbles up. He gives a humourless chuckle. "Damn, I wish she was here. I don't think I would be this nervous if she was." Gungnir doesn't respond, it silently just sits there, unsure of how to feel with its owner being reliant on another Hero. Kane sighs, standing from the bathtub, having finished cleaning himself a good while ago. "No point in complaining about it now, however, gotta just grit my teeth and get through the fuckfest that is tomorrow."

He walks back to his room, the rest of his party already in their bed. Kane smiles at the sight of all of them sleeping peacefully. To think that a few weeks ago the Demi-Humans in his party were nothing more children. He curls into a bed, getting under the covers and waiting for sleep to take him into it's dark abyss.

Time speeds from the moment Kane wakes, putting on his armour and preparing for the upcoming Wave. He and his party stand out in the market square, a large number of Demi-Humans standing by, some talking to each other to try and mitigate their concern while others sit quietly. Some civilians point and watch the soldiers while some children even imitate them. Kane walks up to the leaders of the mass of Demi-Human troops.

He walks up to Tion, the man speaking to the captains under his command. "This everyone?" Tion nods, looking over the crowd himself. Kane swipes through his menu, inviting Tion to his party, along with sending it to the rest of the officers.

Tion accepts and Kane's HUD almost completely fills up, massive sub-sections of the groups. Kane grumbles, attempting to remove all the party member HUDs except for his own party and Onril and his group. He gets what he desires, flicking off the massive number of HUDs but still making sure they're in the party.

"Any last minute plans?" Kane turns to Tion.

The older man sighs, crossing his muscular arms. "If there's a village close to the area of the Wave, we prioritise their evacuation. Once we do that or if there's no village to evacuate then we make a trap, you try to bait the Wave Boss into the trap, if it doesn't work then clear the horde. Going straight for the Wave Boss."

Kane rubs his nape, reluctantly agreeing to the simple plan due to him not being able to think up anything else. Tion walks ahead of him, standing in front of the crowd of soldiers. "Warriors listen up!" The crowd instantly focuses on Tion as his voice echoes, bouncing across the buildings to the sides. "The third Wave is upon us, normally we won't have any idea where the Wave is for some time but with the Spear Hero's help, we will be all teleported at the Wave! This will ensure that we catch the monsters at their weakest before their numbers can swell!" The crowd whispers, their eyes were torn between Major Tion and the Spear Hero. "We will defend any villagers if need be, if not… Then we'll push those bastards back into the hell they crawled out of! Am I understood!"

The entire crowd begins chanting in unison, banging their weapons either against their armour or against the stone-cold floor. "Sir yes sir!"

Kane smirks, feeling pumped at the speech. He looks over the timer, seeing it count down to the last few seconds. "Here we go again…"

0:04

0:03

0:02

0:01

0:00

A golden light fills the market square as all the soldiers are teleported. The light blinding everyone there momentarily.

Kane blinks away the blindness, the flash slowly dissipating. Finally able to see he looks around, finding himself in a valley. A worn dirt path directly down in the middle, with a stream to the left. "Dammit!" Kane turns to Tion who snarls at the sight of the valley.

"Something the matter?" Kane asks with concern.

"This is Yoi Valley." At Kane's confused look, he speaks more on detail of the valley. "It's one of the most used routes for trade; direct and one of the safest compared to the other routes. If the monsters of the Wave infest the valley. Well, it sure as shit won't be pretty."

Kane grimaces, looking up to the blood-stained sky. "I'm guessing with the Waves going on, losing trade is something you really can't let happen."

Tion grumbles, not answering Kane's question. He turns to Anrie "Anrie! I want those traps set up now!" Anrie nods, walking off with her Battlemages in tow. "Ciwin, set up the men in combat positions, I want those archers ready to unleash volleys on the double. Illint, you and the Spear Hero are upfront. Hold the line. Spear, once we spot the Wave Boss either drag it into a trap or clear out the horde to get to it, however, you do it put it down."

Kane nods, walking ahead with his party following. Illint and Onril with their respective groups following behind. Kane looks ahead, a swarm of monsters coming, moving as if they were an actual wave. Kane squints at the approaching monsters. Finding beasts of large size, snakes slithering across the dirt floor. Spiders stomping at full speed towards them, with mosquitoes flying above them. "Wish I had some bug repellent or some shit."

Kane raises his Spear upwards, a red energy enveloping everyone momentarily, as he drains all his SP for a Rally of every individual in his party, the mass number of people completely tapping out his SP and even taking a bit of HP with it.

Kane Stone-LVL 63 Spear Hero

9,254/10,365 HP

4,250/4,250 MP

0/6,800 SP

100/100 UP

"As a source of thy power, I command you! Decipher the laws of nature and quicken us! Zweite Boost!" A red aura similar to the Rally boost envelopes everyone once again, speeding them all up.

Kane looks at his HUD, looking over his own HP and such.

9,280/10,365 HP

1,245/4,250 MP

10/6,800 SP

100/100 UP

Kane hums, his HP and SP are replenishing, unfortunately not fast enough to make a big difference. Ilint grunts in approval. "Keep up those tricks of your Spear, and this might be over before you know."

Kane smirks, pulling out an SP potion and chugging it down, the taste somewhat reminding him of blueberries. He looks over his SP again.

9,302/10,365 HP

1,245/4,250 MP

3,410/6,800 SP

100/100 UP

"Get ready! They're about to reach us!"

Kane looks up instantly, parting his feet as he aims the Spear forward. The swarm of monsters about a minute away from melee range. Tion shouts out, standing in formation. "Archers! Release volley!" Numerous arrows enter the sky, plummeting and striking various monsters, injuring or outright killing some.

311 XP gained!

306 XP gained!

302 XP gained!

312 XP gained!

297 XP gained!

Kane waves off the notification. 'Gungnir can you turn off the XP notifications until the Wave ends?'

{Done.}

'Thanks.'

"Ready your bows and wait for my command!" The archers place an arrow against the string. Ready to fire upon orders. The monsters push past any corpses or fallen monsters unable to continue. "...Fire again!" The archers fire another volley, striking the monsters again, Kane noticeably doesn't get blinded by XP notification thankfully. "Stand fast! The horde is upon us!" Kane takes a deep breath in through his nose, a big chunk of the monsters focusing on him slowly.

A spider leaps at Kane. He rams the Spear into it's head, stopping the oversized bug in it's tracks, he pulls the Spear upwards until he rips it out of it's flesh. The inside of the spider's head revealed to the open air. Sounds of flesh being torn and foul cries are heard. Keel makes large swings with her claymore, either beheading snakes or cutting bisecting spiders. Sometimes even catching a few in a single swing, while recovering from the massive swings Leo protects her, using his shield to deflect any pouncing spiders or snakes, stabbing vital spots as they slide off his shield.

Shen and Rifana focus on taking down the mosquitoes, Shen flying around and burning any that get close to a burnt crisp while Rifana limits their numbers, occasionally switching to her daggers in an instant and gutting any monster that gets too close for comfort, even pulling out one of her arrows and slamming it in a spider's many eyes, before following up with a dagger to the brain.

Kane ducks, stabbing the throat of a snake that tries to snap at him. he twists the Spear still stuck in it's throat, snapping the serpent's neck. Another snake tries to attack him, Kane slices downwards, cutting the snake's head clean in half. The Siderite Spear coated in blood. Tion walks up, covered in his fair share of blood. "Look ahead." Kane does as Tion says finding a massive spider, almost big enough to climb out of the valley, the Wave Boss seems to be hanging back, a sea of monsters between Kane and it. "It's safe to assume that's the Wave Boss."

Kane grimaces, a frown on his face. "It fucking better be, I'm going to be pissed if the Wave Boss is an even bigger spider."

Tion gives a small chuckle, cleaning his blade on his armour. "You and me both."

Kane tosses his Spear, piercing the head of the spider that pins down one of the Demi-Human soldiers. "Is the trap ready?"

"Almost, but once the trap goes off, you need to strike fast and hard or else whatever numbers they lose in the trap will be quickly replaced." Tion cuts off the front limbs of a spider, before splitting its head open.

Kane grumbles, grabbing a mosquito that strikes at him and stomping it underfoot. "You don't need to tell me twice."

"Tion! The trap is ready!" Andre's voice calls out to the Major Demi-Human, who gives a thumbs up, still focused on the horde.

"Men! Give a fighting retreat, move behind the traps!" His command echoes out to the whole army, who beginning stepping back, letting the monsters gain ground, although they still can't break past the retreating wall of muscle and steel. The soldiers still under the effect of Kane's rally, able to defeat the monsters with ease, only having difficulties when they become outnumbered which is nearly all the time, without any breaks.

They eventually reach behind the rendezvous point. Tion snarls, staring at the even larger swarm of monsters. "Hold them off! Let them gather all in place before we activate the traps!"

They all stand their ground, cutting any monster that gets too close, magic attack thrown over the heads of the soldiers, arcs of lighting hitting numbers of monsters while fire blocks certain paths. The line beginning to falter as the numbers grow even bigger, every soldier on the frontline having to fight at least 2 to 3 monsters constantly, without a single break. Kane on the other hand is overwhelmed, having to fight 9 monsters focused solely on him. He snarls as a spider scratches his armour with its leg. "Get off my dick!" He ducks as another spider's leg aims for his head. He grabs the extended leg. Pulling it off and throwing it into the owner's face. Penetrating past its eyes.

Kane sidesteps another attack, tossing his Spear at one of the approaching monsters, the Spear with direct aim pierces the Spider entirely, flying out it's body and remaining in air. Kane twists around, punching a snake in it's jaw. The action of his hand moving causes the Spear to fly around, stabbing through foes like a hot knife through butter. Kane noticing this smirks to himself, making a circular motion with his hand. The Spear following his command and flying around, slicing the monsters surrounding him, Grabbing a spider by it's fang as it jumps over the Spear. He pushes the arachnid backward. Its many eyes staring at him with it's mouth and fang twitching violently. Kane's face contorts in disgust. He opens up his hand, the palm open for the Spear which instantly flies past the spider and into his hand. He kicks the dead bug off, his Spear in hand.

He turns to Tion about to shout for the trap until he feels a sudden liquid hit his legs, looking down he notices its webbing which hardens, making it difficult for Kane to escape from it. Looking up he finds the second biggest spider, behind the one hiding behind the horde.

Dimensional Orb Weaver LVL-57

Kane snarls, unable to move his lower body and even his Spear with the bottom half of it also caught in the web. With his free hand, he holds out a palm against the webbing as the Orb Weaver charges straight for Kane.

"Fast Lighting!" A bolt of red electricity arcs out of Kane's fingertips, hitting the webbing, slowly melting it. "Fucking spider cunt! Fast Lighting!" The bolt comes again, striking the webbing. Kane's heart pumps with adrenaline as the spider comes closer and closer in his peripherals. He focuses back on the web solely to escape from it, he nearly gets free of the web, noticing too late that the Orb Weaver raises it's leg right for Kane's head.

A splash of blood hits Kane directly on the face, he blinks. Noticing a familiar man with black hair and white tips standing infront of him, a leg through the left side of his chest. He looks up with a stifled gasp as time seems to slow down to a crawl, Onril standing before him and the spider, holding onto the leg to make sure it doesn't go any further. Time comes back to motion as the spider rips out it's leg, Onril dropping to the ground.

With a growl Kane rips himself out of the weakened webs, slamming into the Orb Weaver, standing on it's head he plunges his Spear downwards, the spider staggering before dropping to the floor dead.

He rushes after Onril, grabbing the man. Who coughs up blood, Onril grabs Kane by the collar. "...S-Save-" He passes away before being able to finish the sentence, the blood loss from the gaping hole in the centre of his chest condemning the man to a quick death. Kane's hand shake as they hold onto the corpse of Onril.

He lowers Onril to floor slowly, turning to the horde with a dazed look on his face. Men and women bleeding against the monsters of the Wave. Another spider pounces on him and in that moment the dazed state is replaced by a burning rage. He cuts upwards, causing the spider's grey matter to fly into the sky.

He activates Berserk along with Slippery Agility, rushing into the horde of monsters. Hopping up and slamming his feet into one of the spiders. He continues to hop along, stabbing and slicing as he jumps from to and from. Shouts can be heard but he's in no mind to listen, desiring to kill the Wave Boss to end the Wave once and for all. He doesn't stop hopping along as a notification pops up.

Fury of Hell unlocked!

Kane's face doesn't react, still stuck in the snarl. His mouth opens as he begins to chant, the words appearing suddenly in his mind. Still jumping to and from using the bodies of the monsters as stepping stones, about to reach the Wave Boss. "I unleash upon you! A deluge of fire to melt your flesh and char your bones! I unleash upon you:-" He turns around, his empty hand opens as he holds it against the sea of monsters going straight for him. "The Fury of Hell itself!" A barrage of Spears suddenly fire out, which all stab into the ground before exploding moments after, a fiery wave descending onto the horde. The screams of insects and serpents cry out as the fire washes over them, burning their bodies to a crisp. The horde doesn't stop charging however, Kane's enraged presence forcing them all to charge into the flames of doom, even ignoring the Demi-Human forces who lower their weapons at the sight.

He turns back around, stomping the last spider before the Wave Boss underfoot, crushing it's head against his weight.

He looks up to find the Wave Boss staring down at him, venom dripping down from it's massive fangs. It's eyes glowing orange from the flames behind Kane.

Dimensional Broodmother

Kane snarls at it, rising his Spear and pointing it at the vile spider.

{Absorb the flames behind you!}

Kane wordlessly does as Gungnir says, holding up his Spear. The flames from behind him seemingly move as if they were being vacuumed by the Spear itself. The flames leave behind scorched earth and the burnt remains of the monsters.

Once Kane finishes absorbing the flames the Spear sparks alight, the flames on the Spear matching Kane's eye colour. The Broodmother raises it's large leg, stabbing downwards at Kane who sidesteps it, hopping on the leg and beginning to scale it.

He hops from the leg to the Broodmother's face, staring into the massive arachnid's eyes. The Broodmother attempts to shake Kane off only for him to stabs his blazing Spear into it's eye, the bug trilling out a nasty screech. He slices sideways, the eyes instantly cauterising causing the spider even more agony.

He hops up, past it's face, standing at the spot where the legs are attached to the main body of the bug. He lifts the Spear, about to slice off the Broodmother's legs, only for a spider to pounce on him, he slams the bug down, noticing how small it is.

Broodling-LVL 32

Kane snarls in disgust about to stab it before pausing.

Broodling-LVL 33

The small spider somehow jumped a level, he shakes his head, stomping the spider underfoot like so many others. He looks up to where the Broodling came from to find a small swarm of spiders coming his way, attempting to defend their mother most likely.

He holds out his palm about to activate a skill until suddenly arrows are shot directly into some of the spiders, he looks behind him to find Shen and Rifana flying towards him. He smirks as Shen lets out a gout of fire. He focuses back on the Broodmother's legs while Rifana and Shen deal with the Broodlings. Kane gives one big swipe which cuts off 2 of the Broodmother's legs. He stumbles about as the Broodmother herself loses her footing with her legs being sliced off.

Kane braces himself, as he swipes the two last legs on one side, making the Broodmother drop to the side missing her legs. Kane rolls as he hits the ground, quickly getting up and turning to the Broodmother which begins to struggle helplessly. He walks up to the head of the pest, the Broodmother hissing at him, something ignored by Kane as he raises his Spear and slices downwards, cutting straight into the face of the Broodmother, the Broodmother with it's remaining strength and remaining legs strikes at him, intending to bite him.

Kane grabs the Broodmother fangs with both hands, his Spear still in his palm which turns into a bracelet, he stares deep into it's eyes as he holds it back. With a growl he begins slowly pulling out it's fangs, the flesh around it tearing the flesh around the fangs, he finally pulls it out, the fangs damaging the venom sac and resulting in venom dripping down and poisoning it's own wounds.

Kane with the two fangs in hand shoves them directly into the Broodmother's eyes, Holding it's head straight as it attempts to struggle in pain. He pushes the fangs deeper into it's head, it's bucks get weaker and weaker as the blood and poison finish it off. Once it finishes struggling Kane waits a moment, only letting go a few moments later.

He takes a step back and looks up, staring at the sky which turns to its peaceful blue. Kane sighs, the flame on his Spear dissipates. He looks at his blood-soaked hands, they begin to shake until he clenches them.

Would you like to harvest this monster?

Kane wordlessly presses yes, the Broodmother's carcass beginning to flash red for a minute or so, nearly nothing remains of the Broodmother after absorbing it. A bunch of notifications pops about new Spears, Kane only looks over the ones that gain his interest while ignoring the rest for the time being.

Broodmother Leg Spear unlocked! (+0) +75 Atk, +75 Agi.

Passive Skill unlocked! Brutal Kicks: Kicks can cause Stun status effect.

Broodmother Fang Spear unlocked! (+0) +90 Atk.

Passive Skill unlocked! Hunger for Death: Killing foes will grant you a small amount of HP.

Broodmother Meat Spear unlocked! (+0) +50 Phy Def.

Skill unlocked! Four is better than Two: Grow two additional arms while this Skill is active.

Kane blinks at the most recent Skill he unlocked. "...I don't know how to react to this."

He finds the Broodling he stomped not too far off, he goes off to harvest it for Spears.

Would you like to harvest this monster?

He wordlessly presses yes, checking over the new Spears and finding nothing of interest which is unsurprising due to how easy to kill the Broodling was.

Shen and Rifana land near him, looking at him with concern. "Kane!" He turns to them, smiling at them. Normally it would put them at ease but due to Kane being covered in blood makes him seem rather demented.

Kane walks up to Shen and Rifana. "Let's get back to others, I want to take a long bath and nap after this." He hops onto Shen's back. Flying back to the Demi-Human forces who cheer at the sight of them. Shen lands, the dirt raising up disturbed.

Kane hops off to which Tion and the other leaders walk up. Tion smiles, his weapon holstered. "That was pretty good Spear Hero, taking down all those monsters like that was a real sight to behold."

Kane shrugs, a smirk on his face. "I got tired of waiting for the trap to be set off."

A few chuckles are heard from around, Tion shakes his head. "Well, we're about to head back, no need to hunt down any monsters considering you torched all of them."

Kane raises a hand. "Gimme a few minutes, I need to go around and absorb the monsters around here."

"Go ahead, we need to gather some of our dead anyway."

Kane walks off, absorbing monsters, planting the excess in his inventory to share with Naofumi, and using some of them for smithing down the line or Status Enhancement.

Two Spear gives him new Spears.

Jumping Spider Leg Spear unlocked! +30 Atk, +30 Agi (+0)

Skill unlocked! Spear Pounce: Pounce at your foes, dealing damage when you slam into them, the further and higher they are the more SP this costs.

Orb Weaver Spinneret Spear unlocked!

Skill unlocked! Web Trap: Throw a web at which harden upon contact, this can be used to trap foes, or for other uses.

Kane turns from the recently absorbed Orb Weaver, finding Onril corpse. He slowly walks up to it, he stares at Onril's blank eyes. He kneels down, closing Onril's eyes with a sigh. He suddenly feels a hand on his shoulder, making him slightly jump. Kane looks up from the corpse. "How many?"

"Only 13, including Onril. There's more injured than dead for once." Ilint gives a deep sigh himself. "We have you to thank for that." Kane stands up, walking out of Ilint's grasp wordlessly. Ciwin walks up to Ilint, speaking as he does so. "He's a Hero but he's no soldier." Ilint nods with a frown.

Kane and his party help get the Demi-Human force ready to move, Keel and Shen taking injured to the mages. Kane and Leo with a few other Demi-Humans pick up the dead, deciding to bury the bodies due to no carts being able to carry them back to the city. They dig up holes next to the river, a peaceful place for the fallen warriors.

Rifana scouts the area, finishing off any monsters the Fury of Hell didn't kill, just walking up to their broken bodies and stabbing them in the head with her dagger.

After an hour or so the Kane and his party along with the Demi-Human forces start to make their way back to the city, having buried the dead, healed the injured enough to walk while finishing off any remaining stragglers.

The walk back was full of energy and joy, Kane himself smirks to keep up appearances but his thoughts are still on Onril's blank eyes.

Naofumi enters an interesting village, she was given a delivery job to Lerno Village, the name of the village sounding familiar and when she entered she realised it was the village Kane got the BioSeed for. She hums at the massive tree in the centre. She can hear children laughing and birds tweeting, the whole village seeming rather serene in her mind.

"Greetings Traveller! Is there anything we can help you with?"

Naofumi turns to the man speaking, the man's hair grey with age along with his beard. "I was given a request to deliver to the lord of this village."

The man's eyes widen. "Oh! That would be me, what luck. Come, bring your carriage and take a break."

Naofumi frowns at the man's friendly nature, slightly paranoid. "...Alright." Deciding to accept due to having no other jobs at the minute. Naofumi points at the man, silently ordering Sakura and Filo to follow him. Naofumi looks up, staring at the giant tree-producing fruits, although she wasn't the only one Raphtalia joined in with Sakura and Filo staring at it with gluttonous looks on their faces.

The lord chuckles to himself, the sight of amazed visitors never gets old. "We have the Spear Hero and you to thank for that." Naofumi's head snaps to the lord. The man chuckles again. "Yes, I know who you are, the Spear Hero asked me to help you out if need be."

Naofumi's eye twitches, slightly aggravated at Kane for telling others about her. Her paranoia slightly builds, watching the man's every move.

"We are grateful to both you Heroes."

Naofumi huffs, crossing her arms. "I didn't do much."

"It is appreciated nonetheless."

Naofumi shakes her head, being thanked for something she barely had much effort in annoying her. "Whatever."

The Lord rubs his chin, pondering upon something. "While you here, I recommend you follow Sir Kane's footsteps and train under Griffin for a bit, he might give you some valuable combat experience."

"Kane was training?"

"Yes, Griffin utilises a spear and shield, he's even trained a few spearmen into using their weapons, so the Spear Hero was sure to learn from Griffin."

Naofumi hums, rubbing her chin. "This Griffin guy uses a shield huh?"

"Yes, it is why I would recommend you training from him, if just for a bit. Perhaps you'll learn something valuable."

Naofumi turns to Raphtalia who shrugs in response. Naofumi turns back to the old man. "Might as well I guess, if Kane learned from him then it wouldn't hurt to try myself."

The old man nods with a gentle smirk, waving his hand. "You can leave your cart here. Come I will show you to Griffin."

End of Chapter 12.

So it's been awhile, now I'm planning to be a little faster with my uploads, or at the very least faster than pretty much 3 months.

It honestly shouldn't take so long so long as I don't procrastinate like fucking crazy.

For people who constantly fight to the death (even if three of them don't realise) the Cardinal Heroes' physical bodies haven't really seemed to change much since they were summoned in the new world.

I've added a whole bunch of omakes and bonus scenes in previous chapters by the way, these little things came about when I was writing this chapter but got writer's block so I went ahead and just wrote little small pieces or just spruced up old stuff and added them just so that's not really wasted

Anyway, see you in Chapter 13.