"Talking"
"Thinking"
[Status Magic or other reference to a system or power]
...
That night, everyone was able to sleep in either the new structure or the few remaining buildings. Everyone had a roof over their head as promised.
...
Naofumi was woken up a little later than normal by Filo and Keel. Filo was wanting her usual amount of breakfast, but Keel was just as bad. Keel was going through the same process that Raphtalia did. His body would begin to mature more and more as his body tries to grow more suitable to his new stats. Until that process was complete, Keel would be nearly a second Filo.
"Two Filos... Do enough things exist to feed them?" Naofumi jokingly thought.
Naofumi made breakfast and then some, storing the extra for the pair later. As everyone finished their meal, Monti felt the need to ask.
"We're going to fight something today, right?" Monti asked.
"Well, 'we' might not mean you." Naofumi told him.
Naofumi went over to Monti and started to check for lasting injuries. Naofumi wasn't a proper medical professional, all he was doing was repeating the types of things he remembered doctors and nurses doing during checkups in his old world. He checked his stomach and rips by applying pressure, each limb was checked by forcing their movement (both bending and turning). He had to be thorough because Monti wouldn't admit being hurt.
"Dad, I told you yesterday I'm f-fine." Monti tried arguing.
Monti stuttered right as Naofumi pulled on Monti's left arm a bit. Naofumi checked the arm more. Naofumi gave him a look and Monti did the same. They had a brief wordless conversation. Naofumi determined that the soreness wasn't a big enough deal currently.
"As long as you take things easy, you should be fine... And yeah, we're going to a nearby monster nest, about an hour away. Ren said that they give great EXP and drops, but that physical attacks were next to useless against them. That's probably why he hadn't went there himself, he doesn't know any magic." Naofumi told the group.
"Heh." Leon chuckled at that last part.
"Wyndia is leading his studies." Naofumi told Leon.
"...That's illegal!" Leon announced.
The table laughed at how quickly his tune changed. Teal cut it short with a question.
"Is Keel coming?" She did her best to act smoothly.
"Yeah, I don't expect Keel to do much in the fight, but he can't just gain levels. He's going to need to actually learn how to fight. Watching us is a soft start..." Naofumi told Teal. "Maybe I can ask Godiva to train him, she's a fist fighter." Naofumi thought.
"I get to fight today!" Keel came up, only hearing select parts.
"No. Your weapons and armor aren't going to be done until tomorrow. Think of this as just you learning how we fight, okay?" Raphtalia told him.
"Dang... Okay! I'll see what you guys can do so I can blow you out of the water!" Keel announced.
Leon took exception to that. "You still can't even make a fireball yet! You'll never be better than me! I'm going to master magic, all magic!" Leon argued.
"Mages are weak, though. If something hits you, you fall over beaten!" Keel argued.
Filo knew that'd get on Leon's nerves, she was enjoying her seat.
"Who said that!? I-" Leon went to continue, but Monti interrupted.
Monti placed a hand on his little brother's shoulder and wrapped his tail around Keel's waist and pulled him back a bit.
"No arguing." Monti told them both.
Leon listened to his older brother, but Keel did not.
Keel went to argue further. "Why should I? He-"
"Monti said stop." Filo told him.
Keel realized that Leon dropped it and Filo and Teal both wanted Keel to drop it too. Keel was beginning to see that Monti had a lot of pull in the family.
"Yeah... sorry." Keel apologized.
"Good, we can't have team breakdown before we even really team-up." Teal added.
Naofumi watched the argument from the other side of the table quietly. Keel and Leon weren't getting along, but that'd probably fix itself when Keel saw Leon fight. Naofumi was instead regarding Monti. He'd like it if Monti spoke up like that more.
"...Everyone get ready, we're leaving soon." Naofumi announced.
They began to prepare
"I'll go let everyone know we're leaving." Raphtalia told them.
"I'll go let my knights know as well." Leon said, locking eyes with Keel.
"Your knights? Is that a joke?" Keel asked.
"It's no joke. They're the Leon's knights and they even have an image of me on their shields." Leon bragged.
"Um, what? They have blue dragons on their shields." Keel told him.
"...And I'm a blue dragon...?" Leon was confused.
"What?" Keel was also confused.
"Keel, have you not seen the kids transform?" Naofumi asked.
"I saw Filo transform a bunch." Keel answered.
"How the hell have you not seen Monti or Leon transform? They've been carrying the rocks." Naofumi asked.
"Huh? Teal was showing me her plants and all the yummy food she is trying to make. I never saw them." Keel told him.
"Wow, really monopolizing his time, huh?" Naofumi commented, giving Teal a knowing look.
"It was unintentional!" Teal was embarrassed and unable to handle it.
"Anyways, Monti? Leon? Wanna show him?" Raphtalia moved the conversation along, sparing her daughter this once.
"Of course! Bare witness!" Leon didn't even need prompting.
Leon transformed into his full form. Naofumi was really becoming impressed with his size. He was nearing Gaelion's size at this point. Many villagers turned their heads too.
"Whoa!" Keel exclaimed.
"Still think I'll fall in one hit?" Leon asked.
"No, that's super cool!" Keel was now praising Leon.
Leon posed smugly before transforming back.
"Just remember that, I'm super cool." Leon said.
"Well... You seem less cool when you say it yourself..." Keel admitted.
Leon went to say something, but Monti stepped forward and transformed.
Keel stared a moment. "...He's even cooler! He's three cool things and you're just one, that makes him three times cooler!" Keel said.
Leon was a bit deflated, while Monti felt pretty great now.
"Okay, to the cart. This cave we're going to is closest from here actually." Naofumi told Filo
"Yaay~! Cart time~!" Filo sang as she ran off to the cart.
Monti transformed back just as Keel caught sight of his eyes. Monti never looked Keel in the eyes before. He had been avoiding eye contact with all those that were from here originally. Because just as he feared, Keel recognized it's resemblance to the waves.
Soon after, everyone was loaded up in the cart and set off. Keel was allowed to use Filo's nook while she pulled the cart. He tried to see how they all acted during travel, because he might be joining them long-term soon. He tried, but he just kept thinking about Monti's eyes. It was bothering him.
The followed the coast westward and arrived at a beach that looked really nice, but before anyone could comment on it, Raphtalia and Keel spoke.
"The sand here is too fine." Raphtalia warned.
"Yeah, those stupid rocks have to be around here." Keel added.
"What are you two talking about?" Naofumi asked as he exited the cart.
"We grew up on the ocean, we know what we're talking about." Keel answered.
"There are large round clam monsters called 'Dacna', they roll around crushing their prey. That's why the sand here is so fine. They roll around crushing the sand and making it finer, it's a clear sign." Raphtalia told them.
"And they have high physical defense?" Teal asked.
"Highest I've ever seen. No one in the village besides Sadeena could hurt them." Keel answered.
"Then they are the target." Naofumi concluded.
"Huh, 'they'. That would be something. We've never seen more than one Dacna at a time. A group of them might be worth it." Raphtalia added.
"... By the way, Monti?" Raphtalia called on him.
"Yeah, mom?" Monti answered.
"Lightning isn't going to do anything to them. Sadeena used lightning too, never worked." Raphtalia told him.
Monti wasn't able to use lightning and physical attacks were going to be useless... then he was nearly useless himself.
They all fanned out on the beach. The sand was so fine that they sunk into the sand a bit. After a few minutes, Filo found what they were looking for.
"Filo found a cave!" Filo yelled.
Everyone came over, but slowly, not wanting to be ambushed. It was a cave, but Naofumi took note that the cave was not entirely above sea level. A few inches of sea water fed into and out of the cave. Naofumi took the lead and one boot into the cave was a bad sign. His foot went in about 6 inches deeper than he'd like. The sand here was even finer than the beach and with the constant water flow...
"Everyone, watch your footing. Keel, you're in the middle. Monti, take the back. I don't want them returning to box us in." Naofumi gave his orders.
They lined up as Naofumi, then Raphtalia, then Filo, then Keel, then Teal, then Leon, then finally Monti. They filed into the cave slowly. The sounds of the ocean became more muffled and replaced with the odd sounds of the cave's water. Light carried into the cave pretty well, with several small holes leaking light inward. Eventually, the cave opened up, going from a straight tunnel into an open cavern. To the average person, this room would seem empty, but Naofumi had detected a number of enemies. He stopped and looked at them one-by-one. They were all oddly smooth boulders, but [Inspect] revealed the truth.
[Monster Type: Dacna]
[level: 34]
"All the round rocks are the creatures."
"How many are there?"
"...Two dozen? The cave is wider than my range by a lot. There could be 50 or more."
"That'd be crazy, Dacna are pretty rare. 50 of them...?"
"Hopefully rare means worth the effort." Naofumi commented before stepping a few feet forward.
One of the Dacna shifted slightly, Naofumi noticed and prepared himself. He lowered his stance and raised his shield. He made sure to hold the shield away from himself more, to allow room for his shield to be forced back a bit. Naofumi had no proper training, but by doing things the hard way for so long, he learned how to do things properly.
The Dacna shot towards him, rolling its body at a good speed, impressive when considering the water must be slowing it. It struck Naofumi, but didn't budge him at all. Partially because he was slightly sunken in the sand, but mostly because its attack was far below his defense. Naofumi was more than pleased to see that they were fighting a battle that wasn't impossible, like it had been many times before.
"Engage." Naofumi told them.
Raphtalia and Filo came forward. Raphtalia was initially in front of Filo, but moved slightly to the side to let Filo shoot past her. Raphtalia knew it would happen and had come to adjust how she fought to compliment the way everyone else fought.
Filo formed her [Mana Talons] and struck the monster. Her attack was technically magical, but relied on her strength. It was the perfect attack for these creatures. She punctured a hole through the creature's shell, but just barely, even with her double damage on the first hit.
Raphtalia followed up immediately, stabbing through the hole Filo created. The Dacna opened up to screech before dying. The amount of EXP was exceptional and it went down easy enough. This was a jack-pot according to Naofumi.
Unfortunately, that screech alerted all of the Dacna in the cave. Several nearby enemies began to roll towards them. Naofumi blocked one, but another one from another angle knocked him off balance. He was alerted of this, but was hoping his defense would shrug it off.
"Form rank around the entrance. Keel, stay behind us." Naofumi told them.
They formed a semi-circle around the tunnel exit, as the Dacna swarmed them. Each family member answered this in different ways.
Naofumi had no choice but to stall them. He blocked the lion's share of the Dacna using multiple [Air Strike Shield] skills, only letting one through when the others finished the one they were handling. He almost used [Shield Prison], but he realized they may just use that as an outer shell and keep moving. Naofumi knew this wasn't to last. His skills were going to need to cooldown, when that happened...
Raphtalia already cast [Zweite Holy] on her sword before one reached her. She took a lower stance that Eclair had taught her. The moment the Dacna reached her, she swung her sword upward, lifting the creature out of the water and pushing it back. Her strike itself did nothing to the Dacna, but the [Zweite Holy] did. She took care to prepare herself before the monster came back to locate where she hit before and repeat. At the forth hit, the shell buckled and it never rolled back towards her.
Monti had the strength to hold the one in front of him back, but just as he was told, lightning and physical attacks weren't doing anything. All the same, he kept striking the Dacna with his weapon-paired stinger. After a moment, the unicorn horn struck a good spot, bringing the clam to a halt. He had landed his stinger in the crease of the mouth of the Dacna. He then forced it in deeper, using his tail to wedge the clam's mouth ajar. He then used his arms and legs to force the mouth open. With the Dacna unable to do anything, Monti stabbed the clam's exposed insides with his tail until it died.
Filo had the easiest time of them all, even though she was mostly standing still, her stats were good enough with [Mana Talons] as an option. Her first attack always struck a hole through the monsters' shells and she often beat them with the next attack. She'd strike with her right hand, then grabbed the shell firmly with the other hand so she could pull her arm out and attack again without losing sight of the weak spot she created.
Teal grew one of her arms large to grab the incoming enemy, while she rooted herself through the loose sand. She sent vines out to bring the enemy to a stop. She then made her other hand thin and slipped it into the narrow opening of the Dacna's mouth and grew the arm to pry the mouth open enough, then strike the inside of the monster with her free hand with her current sword. A few stabs later and her opponent was dead.
Leon couldn't use his full form or use [Zweite Hellfire] in this enclosed area, even so he had options. He used his raw mana as propulsive fire, like he did against Ren. Unlike that time, this time the propulsive streams of fire were being used to push the enemy away instead of pushing himself at them. He adjusted the mana output and kept the enemy spinning in place in front of him. It could not advance, as the outer-shell was heated up more and more. The Dacna was cooked alive, evenly. When it stopped moving, Leon knocked it away and waited for the next one
While all of this was going on, Keel was watching it all in awe. Keel didn't have any fighting experience, but he'd seen Dacna before and nearly every attempt to kill one was met with frustration and zero progress. But they were taking on a whole swarm of them and actually beating them. It wasn't lost on Keel why they were winning. Naofumi controlled the flow of the fight and kept them from being overwhelmed. Everyone else found a way to deal with the enemy in front of them, regardless of whether the enemy was a good match-up for them at not. They also didn't concern themselves with each other, relying on and trusting that they can do the task and if they can't, they'd say something.
This told Keel that fist fighting alone wouldn't be good enough. If he was as strong as them and was expected to fight Dacna, his fists wouldn't cut it. He'd need to take his magic studies seriously and possess different means of attack. He'd also need to trust everyone else to do their job, but from the looks of things, that wouldn't be a problem. Seeing Naofumi only let one through when they could handle it made Keel feel he'd not be overwhelmed.
"All my skills are about to go on cooldown. They're going to slip through." Naofumi told them.
"Filo will get them!" Filo announced.
Naofumi then used a skill he'd technically had since before his first wave battle, [Water Walk]. Thanks to his [Lillie Pad Shield], he had the ability to walk on water for up to 1 minute. He used that mobility to quickly move himself backward, wanting to be near Keel in case something happened.
The various abilities Naofumi had been using faded away and the Dacna stampeded forward. Filo used [High Quick] to strike every Dacna with her [Mana Talons]. It took her a moment, as the number of enemies was still high. She punched a hole in as many as she could, but just as many got through without her hitting them.
"Aim for the wounds Filo left in them, if they have it!" Raphtalia shouted.
Raphtalia and Leon took two steps back to have Monti and Teal take the lead. Teal ingrained herself into the ground further, grew some branches and prepped a [Living Wall] for the initial rush. Monti simply raised the replica up, doing his best to copy the way his father stood before an attack struck, also stabbed his tail in the ground to anchor himself more. Before they reached the pair, Naofumi cast [Zweite Guard Up] on Teal, while Raphtalia cast [Zweite Light Shield] in the gap between the pair.
The Dacna crashed into the pair, but neither gave way. With them all stationary, Raphtalia and Leon did their best to stab the holes made by Filo, that they could see, to finish those enemies off, while Filo used another [High Quick] and managed to leave a hole in even more of them.
With Raphtalia and Leon both free a moment, they shared a look and began casting. They were combining their spells, which was the same spell, but the 'all' variant was still rather difficult for either of them alone. Together? It worked as planned.
[All Speed Down]
All the Dacna were hit and it changed everything. Since they attacked by rolling, cutting their speed effectively cut their attack. Not only did this neuter their threat level drastically, but now that they were spinning slower, hitting the spots Filo created seemed much more doable. Monti, Filo and Teal began aiming for those spots, Raphtalia and Leon did the same after re-engaging. As they went, Naofumi watched the timers on his skills while speaking with Keel.
"Are you seeing this?" Naofumi asked.
"Yeah..." Keel was still taking it in.
"This is how we do things. Everyone is decent on their own, but even better together. We work better as a team. If I say to do something, you should do it, unless you think you'll get hurt. If you have a problem with a command, tell me about it after the fight is over." Naofumi told him.
"Yeah, I get that... You are all so strong... I can't believe Raphtalia can knock them into the air with a single swing. The magic too... She's so... different." Keel said, still trying to settle his own thoughts on the matter.
"She grew up and you will too, if you want." Naofumi fished for more resolve.
"Of course!" Keel affirmed.
Naofumi's skills went off cooldown, he held them back again. It was rough on everyone as they just kept coming. The cave was much deeper than they first imagined, to hold this many large monsters. After the third time of waiting for his cooldown, the number of Dacna were finally thinning out. He got his skills back just as things were wrapping up. The number was about triple Naofumi's first high-ball estimate. Naofumi used [Calculate] to count up the number of Dacna, dead and alive.
[Calculation complete]
[Dacna (deceased) 139]
[Dacna (alive) 8]
[Valian (alive) 1]
"Wait, what the fu-"
[Alert! Danger Imminent!]
Naofumi was warned, followed by his lesser alert skills that the danger was coming from behind him. He grabbed Keel and placed his shield in in front of him as he turned around.
The new threat was a lobster like enemy. It was compressing its body to travel through the tunnel, barreling into Naofumi's shield and launching him over the pile of Dacna shells.
"A Valian! And a big one too. That thing must be level 50 at least!" Keel said with more excitement than fear.
Naofumi used [Inspect] to be sure.
[Monster Type: Valian]
[Level: 69]
"Not a push over." Naofumi thought as he put Keel behind him.
Everyone had dealt with the last of the Dacna, but a new threat emerged. The monster made itself look bigger, which was easy to do. It was a crimson red monster with claws half the size of the cart. It wasn't just a giant lobster, it was longer too, with 8 smaller limbs per side, instead of the usual 4. Each of its other limbs had an entire additional section, making them longer, but able to be just as compact. The ends of each of those limbs were these three-sided claw. It had 6 tentacles below its eyes, as opposed to the normal 2 whiskers. The shell was vibrating very fast as it readied for battle.
"Why would a different monster show up?" Teal asked.
"It's probably..." Raphtalia looked at the rock beneath the water a moment. "This is its cave. The Dacna were its prey." Raphtalia realized.
"That... doesn't make sense. Filo wouldn't let her food roll away." Filo argued.
"We'll discuss it afterwards. Keel, stay here" Naofumi told her.
They all shifted their attention, Naofumi used [Dash] to get ahead of the dead Dacna shells and take his spot in the front. At the sight of Naofumi approaching so fast, the Valian reached out and snatched Naofumi. Naofumi was warned, but once [Dash] is activated, he had to go forward for a certain distance. He'd remember that downside next time.
The Valian began to try to crush Naofumi, but as the shield hero, his defense was quite enviable.
"Naofumi-sama! Hurry and free yourself!" Raphtalia called.
Naofumi didn't understand the concern at first. His defense meant he'd remain unharmed and it'd keep the monster from targeting the others. After a moment, he understood. He started to take damage and the amount of damage was increasing. Naofumi used [Liberation] to free himself from the claw and step back. He gave Raphtalia a puzzled look, so she answered.
"Valian hunt Dacna, they can crush right through their tough shells with those odd claws. They increase in attack the longer they crush their target. I don't think there's an upper limit." Raphtalia warned.
The Valian's claws reached out fast and attempted to strike the party. The first attempt was a jab at Filo, but she was too fast. The next was trying to grab Teal, which she couldn't undo all of her roots in time to dodge.
"Argh!" Teal was in pain. Unlike Naofumi, Teal was taking damage from the start.
[Knock Knock]
Naofumi teleported Teal to his side. He glanced at her a moment, she didn't need healing just yet.
The Valian entered the cave more and swung its claws at Raphtalia and Leon. Leon dropped to the cave floor to dodge the attack, soaking himself in the process. Raphtalia went to dodge, but it was unnecessary. Monti went just in front of his mother and swatted the claw away with the replica. He really loved being able to emulate his father, but he had to admit to himself that taking those hits stung, not that he'd ever admit it out loud.
"Filo, get a good hit on the face." Naofumi told her.
"Don't blow your bonus on a tentacle." Leon said snidely.
Filo at least looked like she ignored Leon and ran at the beast. She activated [High Quick] and near instantly her [Mana Talons] tore a decent hole into the Valian's head, just above the eyes. In response, the creature spewed foam that caught Filo immediately afterwards. It dealt no damage, but both of her abilities were turned off.
The creature went to grab Filo out of the air before she understood what was going on, but Teal understood fast enough to intervene. She shot out a vine to grab Filo's arm and she and Naofumi pulled her to them fast enough to save her from the attack.
"Valian foam removes support magic!" Keel yelled from the back.
"Would have been nice to know that before... Neither of Filo's abilities are support..., but they are lingering effects..." Naofumi thought.
"But all magic seems to be affected." Teal said, coming to the same conclusion as Naofumi.
"Everyone, try using magic real quick, only weak spells." Naofumi told them.
[Fast Tornado]
[Fast Fireball]
[Fast Bolt]
[Fast Light]
[Fast Stone Shot]
Everyone launched a spell, then Naofumi used [Air Strike Shield] after all the attacks were not going to get caught by it. The Valian shot each of the spells with pinpoint aim, canceling all 5 spells. Naofumi noticed it even went out of its way to cancel Raphtalia's spell, even though it wasn't offensive.
"So it's just going to cancel spells regardless? It'll prioritize it..." Naofumi gained some information.
The next thing that happened was also illuminating. The foam from the previous actions hit Naofumi's barrier and did nothing.
"So magic is the only thing it affects, hero skills are not affected. Then..." Naofumi had enough information to form a plan.
The Valian stepped closer again and went to attack.
[Air Strike Shield] [Second Shield] [Air Strike Shield]
The two barriers lifted the beast's front up a bit. Each barrier was between one of its two main claws and its head, more or less pinning the monster for a moment.
"10 seconds!" Naofumi yelled.
They all knew what he meant. They had 10 seconds to attack without issue. Monti and Filo ran it to attack the face and bottom-side of the beast. Raphtalia, Teal and Leon were thinking ahead. Raphtalia and Leon began chanting together as Teal tried to wrap her vines around the two main claws, trying to bind them closed. At first she was having no luck, the claws were too strong, but once Raphtalia and Leon were done chanting, Teal was able to do so.
[Strength Down]
Even if the attack increase worked for opening the claw instead, a lack of strength to open it rendered them useless.
Filo got in several hits and Monti was able to run the blade on his tail down the length of the beast's upper body.
They all fell back as the skills timed out and the beast landed back down.
"It'll try spraying itself to remove the strength debuff." Naofumi told them.
They were all already on it. They rushed in for a second time and Naofumi thought to do something else. They reached the beast and began fighting before Naofumi finished casting the spell.
[All Zweite Guard]
The defensive advantage wasn't unwelcome, but it didn't matter much directly. However, it did distract the Valian. It flailed around a lot less, instead trying to shoot foam onto each party member. This allowed Monti to get underneath the head again.
"Raah!" Monti yelled.
He transformed and used his claws and tail to lift it up, pinning the creature to the ceiling. Keel thought it was impressive, but remembering Monti's eyes, he was also a little scared.
Seeing their chance, everyone leapt up and attacked the underside of the beast. Without help from its hardened shell, the damage piled up and the Valian died. Monti barely had the strength left to shift the Valian to the side when he let go of the body, letting it drop next to him.
Everyone caught their breath, but a moment later the kids began to giggle.
"That wasn't exactly funny." Raphtalia told the kids, but they kept laughing.
"This was such a good lesson for Keel. Things always get worse at least once. Every time." Filo told him.
Even Naofumi chuckled at that. It was a sad, but absolute truth.
The party got back to work after a bit. While Naofumi absorbed monster materials, Raphtalia explained the Valian more to Teal, who was curious.
"This cave was the Valian's. They lay a lot of eggs, but they're really rare." Raphtalia started.
"If they lay a lot of eggs, why aren't they common?" Teal asked.
"They burrow out caves like this and lay a bunch of them, then leave to hunt. They know Dacna and other monsters will sneak in to eat their eggs, but it gives them extra food. Because Valian use their own eggs as bait, few ever grow up, so they stay rare." Raphtalia explained.
"Yup, Dacna are perfect prey for Valians, because those claws will just increase in attack until they crack right open." Keel added.
"You sure know a lot about these creatures." Teal thought it was uncharacteristic of her mother.
"Sadeena used to tell us all about the cool monsters." Keel answered.
"You mean, you pestered her into telling us." Raphtalia corrected.
Keel felt a bit called out by that.
"W-Well... it came in handy." Keel argued.
"It did." Raphtalia admitted.
.
[Dacna Shell Shield]
+8 def, + 2 water resistance
.
[Valian Shield]
+7 hp + 3 water resistance
[Ability: Aquatic Defense II] You gain moderately more defense while in water.
[Ability: Cooking (Seafood)] Increase the taste and nutritional value of seafood slightly.
.
[Valian Soft-Shelled Shield]
+1 def, +3 mdef
.
[Valian Hard-Shelled Shield]
+3 def, +1 mdef
.
[Valian Red Armor Shield]
+3 def, +3 mdef, + 8 water resistance
.
Naofumi gained his shields, then immediately pulled out a cooking pot and started searching through the water.
"Is it lunch time?" Filo asked.
"No, what are you looking for, dad?" Monti asked.
Leon sensed no materials of value.
Naofumi found something and put it in the pot, added some water, and moved on.
"These things are strong and rare, right? I'm collecting the eggs." Naofumi told them.
The whole party immediately assumed.
"Naofumi-sama... a Valian?" Raphtalia made a face.
Naofumi picked up on what she thought.
"What? No! The family is big enough for now. The cart can't really fit any more kids. I just thought they'd sell well... and they might be good to farm for food... and maybe the town could domesticate some." Naofumi hadn't even figured out everything he was going to do with them yet.
Being relieved by the news, Raphtalia also started searching around the cave. Even with the Dacna eating many and the many crushed in the fight, there was a ridiculous number of them, they needed multiple pots. Naofumi also stored the remains of the monsters instead of absorbing them further. Their hard shells might serve as good materials, and clam muscle and lobster meat? Naofumi had some top-tier ingredients for amazing dishes. If it was only used for the party, it'd last a week or more. Though, with Keel eating like Filo right now, maybe not.
Naofumi was so concerned with the fight, then the post-fight motions, that he failed to see how much EXP they got, more specifically, Keel got. He was the main reason for coming here.
[Name: Keel]
[Level: 39]
This trip was definitely worth it.
They teleported out of the cave and returned to the village. The kids and Keel took the eggs to the beach to begin digging a basic habitat for them. They spent a portion of the day digging out the sand and setting things up to provide them with salt water without letting predators get in. The kids hadn't been allowed to play like kids for a bit, so Naofumi and Raphtalia didn't mind at all.
Naofumi checked his drop menu, but was met with disappointment. While he didn't get anything from the Valian, he got 19 'Dacna pearls'. They were pearls the size of his fist, but... they were an ugly brown color. Naofumi didn't know if they'd sell well. Naofumi went to cook everyone some food and Raphtalia joined him.
Naofumi wasn't dumb. Raphtalia leaned against him the whole time he was prepping the food. He started preparing it slower and put his arm around her. They were allowed so few quiet moments, it was always work.
They couldn't really do more than hold each other, but it was enough for now. Naofumi realized that he really needed to take Raphtalia out on another date, it had been too long.
"I can count on Monti to look after the others..., but where to go? What should we do? I suck at this sort of thing... I could take her out on a boat, nothing but us and the sea..., but we don't have a boat." Naofumi began thinking.
Naofumi began scheming. "I could trick the villagers into building a boat. I could say it's for fishing and it could be... After we use it t-"
"Naofumi-sama, what are you thinking right now?" Raphtalia caught his scheming face.
"N-Nothing..." Naofumi couldn't admit to planning a surprise date, then it wouldn't be a surprise.
Giving Raphtalia nothing to work with didn't stop her from wondering.
"He was scheming something wicked while we were like this... Does he maybe want to..." Raphtalia got the completely wrong idea.
They hadn't been together in that way more than the once. Maybe they both committed to it too hastily and are back to taking things slow? In truth, Naofumi wasn't exactly going to turn her down if the opportunity presented itself. It was simply that they were busy and the time they had could save a lot of people. There was no time to be truly alone together. It was unfortunate.
When Naofumi needed two hands to cook the food, Raphtalia moved from his side to his front. She helped a bit, but she knew that Naofumi was the master cook. The few villagers that went to speak with Naofumi about something took one look at Raphtalia being adorably glued to Naofumi and thought it best to address their questions later.
Nearly 40 minutes later, the kids came back. Apparently, making the habitat stay in the shape they wanted was hard and Teal was still too bad at magic to reinforce it. Teal was about to try making a saltwater plant to serve as a reinforcement, but Leon got mad at how long it was taking and just started breathing fire. The kids soon learned about how glass was made and they finished the habitat.
Raphtalia took one look at them, "Clean up before dinner."
"But Filo is just going to get dirty again when eating..." Filo complained.
"And if you do, you'll need to clean up again before bed." Naofumi added.
"...If I peck over top of it, I should stay clean." Filo immediately changed gears and began trying to find a way around some of this.
"Or you could just eat slower." Teal said the obvious.
"No." Filo shifted to a serious tone.
The kids giggled as they went to clean up.
The meal was voted the best meal they had ever had. Filo would gladly wash up again to gorge on this. They fed Keel too. His appetite was kind of their fault, in a way. It was another nice meal to end their day off with. They all knew tomorrow would be another day on the road. Back to 'work'.
That night, they went to bed a bit early, hoping the celebration tomorrow offset the heroes' meeting. As everyone settled in for the night, Naofumi put his arm around Raphtalia as always and she pushed back, resting against him.
"..."
"I can't wait until the kids have their own rooms." Naofumi lamented.
.
[Author's Notes]
Keel now has an unspoken fear of Monti, a light one. Hopefully it is addressed at some point.
Valian comes from Valanginian (The Valanginian Age had the first fully clawed lobsters), Dacna comes from Tridacna (The genus of the largest clams). This is probably how I'm going to make monsters from now one.
Keel is nearly to class upgrading, Ren's grinding location was very useful. I wonder why he didn't go there himself...
Next chapter, Heroes' meeting! (hopefully)
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