Demon Of The Sword
.
There's a certain feeling I get when I enter a building. It was something I eventually developed during my time as an Adventurer which counted as about a whole year and then some.
When I entered the Dungeon, I could feel it. Watching, waiting with bloody bated breath to unleash its monstrous children upon me and my Familia. It was always there, nibbling in the back of my mind.
When I got home, I felt relaxed. Warm. Like I could just put up my feet for an hour and two and just rest, letting my troubles wash away for a moment.
When I entered the Church of the Three Heroes, I wasn't sure if I should be surprised that it felt like the Dungeon, annoyed or even a tiny bit relieved. It was like being back in Orario, no matter how absurd that sounded.
The Church itself was massive, both inside and out. It looked like a cathedral more than a church with marble white arches and rows upon rows of shining wooden pews. People praying and worshipping to…
To me. I could feel it as I walked down the red carpet embroidered with golden threads. In their clasped hands, I could see the symbol of the Church; a golden ring stylised with a sword, bow and spear all conjoined together to appear like a cross. I tried not to look at them for fear of giving them a heart attack as some of the people looked up at me bordering on reverence and worship.
I've never felt in danger since I came here. Nothing, no monster I've killed or anyone I have met is someone I would consider strong. Not the king, not the other three unlucky bastards, no one. So far, I've seen people that could be considered high-end Level 1s at most and not much else.
I don't feel in danger now. But the genuine disgust and utter revulsion I felt almost broke through my stoic expression into a grimace and I thought of leaving. I've dined, met and even fought against Gods. Hestia was family to me, no two ways about it and I wouldn't abandon her for anything.
But this. This was just disgusting. I've seen people act with actual Gods with more respect and less worship than what I was being subjected to right now.
This is going to fuck the spear twat and bow shit up something fierce. They'll convince themselves they can do no wrong. They don't have to work hard at being Heroes if the people are going to kiss the ground they walk on.
I've met actual heroes before and I'm pretty sure they would feel the same as I do right now.
I kept the swirling amount of slimy disgust in the pits of my stomach as I looked up at the central object in the room. As Elhart told me, it was an hourglass alright. A truly massive one, about seven meters tall. Red sand dripped down from the top to the bottom with two golden rings around the base and the top. It was being held on a platform that seemed to float in the air with only a single short stairway connected to the main building.
It had an aura around it that made the church feel holy rather than the other way around. But maybe I'm a bit biased considering I've lived in a church's basement before.
When I approached the hourglass, I found a nun bowing deeply to me at the waist, wearing a pure white frock and wearing two thick-rimmed glasses, "Lord Sword Hero. You honour us with your holy presence. How may we aid you?"
Holy fuck.
"First off, tell me about the Dragon's Hourglass," I said to the nun, keeping my voice carefully measured, "I should've been told about this at the start."
"Forgive me, Lord Sword Hero but it was under the orders of the Pope-"
Pope. They have a fucking pope.
"-That we do not overwhelm the Three Heroes with unnecessary information."
Unnecessary information, she says. Unnecessary.
I found myself walking up to the nun, my hands balled into fists. The colour drained from her face as I loomed over her and my hand snapped out to grab her by the front of her frock and forcing her up to meet my face, my lips curled back in a snarl.
"The whole reason you cunts," I spat out the word at the trembling, white-faced nun as murmurs erupted behind me, "Summoned me in the first place was to deal with the Waves. You don't get to decide what is or isn't necessary information. Do I make myself fucking clear, you raggedy old bitch?"
She couldn't nod fast enough as all that came out was garbled and strangled apologies. All of that deep disgust I held came out at once in that single moment, along with a healthy dose of anger.
How fucking dare they. How fucking dare they decide not to tell us about this. The whole point we were here was to fight the Waves and this hourglass was instrumental in helping us with that.
I'm not here to jerk off and play god. I'm here to fight, kill monsters and go back home to kill more fucking monsters but with people I trusted and liked.
"Now, try again. What does this thing do, exactly?" The words left slowly as I let the old nun go, her shaking knees causing her to crumble in a heap on the floor. She tried to babble out something that sounded like a prayer and I resisted the urge to throw up as her hands were clasped in a prayer.
"I believe I can be of aid to you, Lord John."
A calm, deep voice of a man spoke behind me and I craned my neck to see an older looking man with thinly closed eyes behind thin, small glasses and a gentle smile on his face. He wore elaborate looking robes embroidered with the three symbols of a sword, bow and a spear. On top of his head of white hair was a long narrow hat that I seemed to denote his status.
"You the Pope?" I asked bluntly and he gave me a gracious bow, the hat somehow staying on.
"I am Biscas T. Balmus, nought but a simple shepherd of the Lord for those in need. But yes, that is my rank within this holy ground."
God, save me from this fucking mess. Also, the Lord? I thought this was the Church of the Three Heroes. Who the fuck is the Lord?
"I have heard many things about you, Lord John. It seems that we have offended you somehow. Please, I ask that you forgive your worshippers and-"
"Just," I stopped him and took a deep breath, "Just tell me what the fuck this hourglass does already. I was told that it said when the Wave would hit, but not much else."
"Of course, allow me to enlighten you," He smiled warmly at me, which I didn't return. He made a small gesture and the praying woman at my feet quickly scampered off, "But still, allow me to ask for your forgiveness, Lord John. From what I have been told about you, it seems you have graced this world at an inconvenient time at the cost of your own. But the Lord's work must be done, I'm afraid."
I'm about to enact the fucking Lord's work on your fucking whole church if you don't shut the fuck up right now, you rancid old cunt.
"Whatever," I bit out, keeping a lid on my bubbling anger, "Just tell me what I want to know already, will you?"
"As you wish, Lord John," He smiled at me with gratitude that made me sick, "Truth be told, we do not know who built these wonderful devices but we can only assume it is the work of the Lord. As you say, it does tell the Cardinal Heroes when the next Wave will strike but if you approach it, it will register your presence. When the Wave strikes, no matter where you may be, you will be summoned to fight it."
I didn't resist the urge to rub the bridge of my nose at all because I used all my effort to not let my anger blow up again, "That should've been the first thing we did. I want you to tell all of the other Heroes when you get the chance, alright?"
"As you wish, Lord John."
"And I do mean all of them," I stressed out the words, glaring at the smiling Pope, "I am here to fight the Waves, not engage in whatever the fuck you guys do. I don't care why you guys are called the Church Of The Three Heroes or why your symbol doesn't include the Shield Hero but if I find out you are purposefully making my life more difficult by getting in his way because of something fucking stupid? There will be hell to pay. Am I understood?"
"Of course, Lord John. We would not intrude upon your holy mission," The Pope agreed easily enough. A bit too easy for my tastes but whatever, just as long as he does what I want, I don't care. I don't like how some of the people seem confused or even angry at what I said but again, I didn't care.
"I must mention that the Dragon's Hourglass can also perform a class-up," The Pope said to me, making my brow cock up, "Though it might not mean much for you, when your companions reach a certain level, they can no longer level up. A symbol of a star should appear next to their names and when that happens, they can break through the cap as it were."
Again, incredibly vital fucking information. Not for me but for the other three as I don't level up like them and I'm running solo here. God, it's so fucking annoying here trying to run shop but there's a bunch of fucking apes running around, flinging shit on the fine china before pissing on it.
Turning my attention back to the large hourglass, I looked at the red sand pouring through it. It was clearly magical in nature and probably self-repairing. So…
"Is it possible for me to have some of that red sand?" I asked the Pope who seemed a bit taken aback for a brief moment.
"It is a simple matter, Lord John. How much do you wish to have?"
I looked at the Pope of the Three Heroes, the stylized necklace hanging around his neck before looking back at the hourglass.
"About two bags should do. I'll register myself in the meantime," I told the Pope who seemed more than pleased to abide by my request. I turned my attention back to the hourglass and walked up to it.
[Would you like to register with Melromarc's Dragon Hourglass?]
[Yes.]
[No.]
I stopped not because of the popup but because of the wording.
Melromarc's Dragon Hourglass. Just Melromarc.
There were more countries in this world. I even managed to find that out by the wonderful technique known as buying a fucking map and asking around for info.
Siltvelt, The Shieldfreeden Republic, Zeltoble, Q'ten Lo and Faubrey were the ones that got talked about the most. I managed to figure which ones were which and marked them on my map in English which I kept doubly safe in my Inventory. It really is amazing what you find out when you just ask people about things.
I still needed to learn this world's language though, sooner rather than later.
Still. There's no reason for Melromarc to be special. It's a likely case that each country has an hourglass and I could find that out easily enough later.
Funny how I wasn't told any of this. At fucking all. God, what a fucking shit show of politicking that I have to deal with.
I clicked yes but I need more information on the Waves now more than ever. For something I'm supposed to deal with, I was given nothing more than just a fucking 'this thing bad please deal with it' by an old man and a fucking cult.
[You have been registered with Melromarc's Dragon Hourglass.]
[Melromarc's Second Wave Of Calamity: 32 days.]
[Function unlocked: Wave Timer.]
[Function unlocked: Choose Hourglass.]
...The second Wave? What the fuck do you mean the second wave? Has there already been a first fucking Wave?
Shit. That sorta makes sense. When the first Wave hits, they summon the Heroes to deal with the future ones. Till then, they probably have no idea when this shit starts up again.
But doesn't that mean there are places roaming around with monsters from the first Wave? I smell an opportunity here.
And Choose Hourglass? If that's what I think it is…
"Lord John?" The Pope's voice spoke up behind me. I turned around to see two other priests holding a bag each between them, "The sand you requested."
"Thanks," I grunted out, walking back down the steps, "I'm done with the registration by the way. We have 32 days until the Wave hits, if you didn't already know."
"We did, Lord John. Have no fear, preparations are already underway," The Pope said probably the first sensible fucking thing since I met him and took a bag before handing it to me. I unsheath my sword which was in its base form and I tried not to cringe when I heard the visible gasps of astonishment as I did so.
"So the rumours were true; you had managed to change its shape," The Pope mumbled as I placed the flat of the greatsword on my knee as I knelt. I glanced up at him, but I didn't say anything back beyond a simple grunt.
[A bag of the Dragon's Hourglass red sand, handpicked by a virgin maiden and-
Fuck off.
I placed the bag against the jewel of the blade and just like I thought, it eagerly ate the red sand, bag and all. With that, it transformed into a long double-edged blade with a fat middle of a large hourglass that seemed to eternally trickle down.
[Due to the use of the Dragon's Sands, the restrictions on the Portal Blade have been lifted.]
[Sword Form Unlocked: The Portal Blade.]
[The Portal Blade.]
[Current Mode: Greatsword.]
[A Sword Form you unlocked by feeding the Legendary Sword the sands of the Dragon's Hourglass! A blade that'll help go and to from different locations!]
[Locked Equip Bonus: Skill "Portal Blade"]
[Mastery: 0/100]
[Rank: Low.]
For fuck sake.
"So I have a question," I said slowly, looking up at the Pope and the gathered clergy, their faces filled with a reverence that made me sick to my stomach. Only the Pope seemed unaffected by the events and I couldn't decide if that was creepier or not.
"You know these weapons absorb materials to grow stronger and unlock new forms, right? So why wasn't a stockpile of rare and powerful stuff gathered already for us?"
"Ah, I can answer that, Lord John. You see, the ritual to summon the Three Holy Heroes does not always succeed when we want it to. The resources required for it are great indeed and so is the time devoted to the ritual. Even then, we do not know what would be useful to each Hero. What you might consider useful might not be so for another Hero, so we think it is best for each Hero to explore and let their weapons grow in the way they think is best."
I grumbled but I can see the logic behind it at least. For sure, I doubt that little bow shit would consider metalworking or +1 Defence useful though I would say otherwise. Hell, I don't even know if he would get +1 Defence from lead ore. For all I know, he could get a skill from it or something else entirely.
That was fair enough, I guess. But still, we should set up a weekly meet or something to exchange ideas and what materials we used to unlock new forms, if they upgraded or even exchange them. We have a month to prepare before then.
Fuck, there is so much more we could be doing. Yet I knew it would be pointless; I'm kidding myself if the shield kid is going to play nice any time soon. He got dealt a shit hand and was forced to eat it. Maybe he'll tell me something if I ask, considering I stood up for him but I might as well have not bothered in the end.
The spear twat gets on my fucking nerves. His entire party is filled with women and I'm betting he's fucking them whenever he gets the chance instead of doing something useful like training. The spear was more of a complicated weapon than it seemed at first glance. Sure, stick them with the pointy end works until it fucking doesn't. I'll admit I'm not helping myself but kiddie gloves aren't going to help them grow stronger, it'll only make them that much more complacent.
The little bow shit is weird, though. He was actually a pretty good shot with the thing, if the whole red balloon incident is anything to go by. But he seems to have a real chip on his shoulder about me and I'm not entirely sure why. The spear twat doesn't like me for a variety of reasons but I'm man enough to admit that he at least tried to be somewhat comforting, if very fucking annoying and condescending at the start. The little bow shit just challenged me to a fight out of nowhere and seemed ready to go over what was basically shit drops.
I don't really like any of them but god damn it. I'll make them fucking get stronger and become more useful if I have to tie them down and shove it down their throats.
"When the others get here, I want you to give them bags of sand as well," I ordered the Pope who gave me a nod. I took the other bag and with a quick check to make sure it was the real deal, I shoved it in the sword's inventory, "Say it'll help them quick travel. They'll understand."
I don't care about this cult or whatever. But if they're useful, I'll use them for all they're worth.
"As you desire, Lord John," The Pope said to me genuinely which made my skin crawl, "But might I make one...no, two requests?"
"Depends on what it is," I said with a guarded tone as I stood back up and sheathed my sword on my back.
"I know of your desire to travel alone but I ask that you reconsider this notion," The Pope bowed his head to me and my eyes narrowed slightly, "Perhaps you wish to ascertain us with your own eyes and I can't fault you for that. But one Hero alone can not fight against the Waves. If you wish, I have a number of candidates that-"
"No," I said instantly, cutting the Pope off mercilessly, "I get what you're saying but if anyone joins me, it's because I asked them to and they agreed with no third party involved. That's the start and the end of it."
I refuse to be saddled with a goddamn spy but I couldn't deny having a party member would be useful. Not just in fighting but general knowledge and trivia that I still don't know about this world. Teaching me how to read, magic and its uses, monsters, the area and its politics.
I don't need help fighting but I won't say no to healer, buffer or just another body.
Yeah. A party member would be useful. But it's going to be someone that I trust. The memory of Raphtalia flashed through my mind and I felt my breath hitch slightly.
...Shit. Am I really considering that route?
"I see. Then I hope you find them soon. As for my second request...it concerns the rumours surrounding you."
"You mean about me trying to kill the king? I might have said a few words but I didn't really lay a finger on him," I said plainly enough with an uncaring shrug but the Pope shook his head.
"Not that, Lord John. It is simply that Lord Spear Hero and Lord Bow Hero have said...various things about your activities. That you…"
What the fuck was he talking about? What have-
"Oh, you mean the stuff about letting wolves-"
"Yes, Lord John."
"And the brothe-"
"That too, Lord John."
"...What about the public-?"
"Lord John, these rumours and slander affect the faith of my followers," The Pope told me sternly, his smile dipping into a tight frown, "While I can not gainsay the Heroes themselves, I ask that you try and dispel these foul rumours."
I was almost tempted to ask about the shield kid. But I'm not that stupid, I knew what the answer would be from the Pope from this kind of church. While I was under no obligation to actually do what he asked of me, he wasn't being that unreasonable. I didn't like the reason behind it but I suppose morale would be hard to keep up if you heard one of the Heroes you summoned to save you from an apocalypse was actually a dog-fucking exhibitionist that paid for whores while in his downtime that also tried to kill your king.
...Huh. Do I have a worse rep than the shield kid?
"Well, rumours take a life of their own after a certain point," I gave an uncaring shrug to the Pope who's restrained expression broke slightly with a mildly potent stare, "But sure, whatever. Just do as I told you and I'll do what I can to make sure everyone knows I don't let dogs knot my arse."
The Pope's entire face twitched and the warm smile he tried to give me teetered on the edge of sharp, "Thank you for your consideration, Lord John."
"Whatever."
"Ah, and I should mention," The Pope smiled at me, "The hourglass can also reset your level to level 1. We use this for criminals and ne'er do wells, mostly. You should be careful in the future, Lord John."
If he was trying to make me scared, he was failing. Nothing could take the levels of my Falna away from me, not even Hestia or the Gods. But okay, if that's how you want to play, you old shit-bag.
With that done and not bothering to give the Pope the time of day anymore, I quickly got out of the Church to try and wash this slimy feeling that I got. As I did so, I thought about the Portal Blade I just got.
"Portal Blade," I spoke aloud. As I did so, a notification popped up in front of me.
[Would you like to set the Castle City of Melromarc as a travel point?]
[Travel Points: 3/3.]
[Yes.]
[No.]
As I thought. Fuck, if this worked like how I thought it did, it'll change everything. I clicked on yes.
[Travel Point Set! 2 slots remaining.]
The single notification flickered and I was greeted with a choice:
[Travel.]
[Set Travel Point.]
I clicked on Travel and as I expected, I saw the Castle City of Melromarc as a location.
I never knew this place was called Castle City. Or maybe it was a city with a castle? Whatever.
I was tempted to click on it but I decided to save it for now. These new skills cost me MP and seemed to work on different rules than what I'm used to. I should keep this in my back pocket until I really need it.
Right now though, I was headed towards the Adventurer's Guild and see what I could do. While I made some money from selling the furs, meat and just what I could scavenge, it wasn't something I was terribly interested in doing for money. I wondered if I could sell weapons I made but for something like that, I'll probably need a permit.
Money, for me, wasn't that useful. But I was always happier being richer than I was being poorer.
Following some directions, I easily found the building of the Adventurer's Guild. It was a tall and wide building, about two stories tall. The sign above it was that of two swords crossed over a tear-drop shield with some letterings above it. I saw more armed and armoured people of all kinds walking in and out of the building. Some of them even looked like mages with staves, wands and what have you.
I knew magic was a force in this world and a common one at that. I was quite interested in learning how it worked, but I wasn't quite sure if I could use it. I was only allowed three spell slots which were filled with my current spells which were incredibly powerful and useful for me. I didn't want to risk losing any of those.
But I also have no basis for this. I think the sword is running some kind of interference with the Gamer system, honestly which was scary in and out of itself. But hey, if I could learn magic, then why shouldn't I? At the very least, I should know the theory behind it.
With that thought, I entered the Adventurer's Guild. From outside, I could hear it bustling with noise and talk. That soon died when I entered through the front door. The looks and glances I got were a mix between confusion, awe, fear and even a tiny bit of hate.
It felt like being back in Orario, strangely enough. That almost made me smirk.
The inside was more tavern-like than I expected. I could smell the alcohol in the air but it wasn't overbearing along with the smell of cooking meat. There was a well-kept bar in the corner and large round tables around it, filled with all kinds of people drinking and eating. Just away from it was a counter and large board filled with pamphlets and papers filled with lettering that I still couldn't read.
I really need to fix that.
Ignoring the stares I got, I walked up to the counter to a very nervous looking receptionist who gave me a shaky and fake smile that barely reached her eyes. There wasn't a queue because everyone got out of my way which was a bit weird but whatever.
"H-How may I help you today, sir?" She asked with a slight jitter as I gave her a flat look because I'm pretty sure if I smiled, she'd scream.
"I'm looking for a quest, preferably about hunting monsters from the last Wave," I said politely, "Otherwise, I'm also looking for anything related to mining ore."
"I-I see, sir. A-Are you with a party?"
"No, it's just me."
I felt some stares tighten at that and I glanced back to see some of the women prettying themselves up in minute ways; pushing up their corsets, prettying up their hair and...one had a pet dog she was currently whispering to.
I resisted the urge to smirk. That was actually pretty funny.
"T-Then I'm afraid the quests I can offer you are limited, sir. For m-more dangerous quests, you'll require a party…"
"Even for me?" I asked bluntly, making the receptionist freeze for a moment, her expression going tight for a moment and looking unsure, "Can you just check, please?"
"O-Of course, sir," She bowed deeply to me, quickly scampering off with a rush and the hustle and bustle of the Guild slowly started coming back, if in a muted fashion. I waited patiently, still feeling some of the stares burning into my back as I did so.
My main goal right now was information rather than getting stronger. I feel like I'm plenty strong enough to kill some monsters but I want to see how the first Wave monsters compare to what I'm used to. After that, I'm going to see about learning the world's language and alphabet followed by learning about magic and its uses. But for party members…
Could I really do it? Get a slave?
It's not like I would abuse them or even treat them badly. But I'll still be owning a slave which already makes me twitch.
But a slave...they could be useful. They wouldn't be a spy, they would be protected under me and if I get a learned one, they can teach me what I want to know. Just having an extra pair of hands to help during a fight is invaluable.
I'm strong. But I'm only one guy. I can't do everything.
Shit. I'm seriously considering this, aren't I?
"There you are, Gaijin-san!"
Oh for fuck sake.
Slowly, I craned my neck behind me to see the spear twat and the bow shit swagger in. Unlike the last time I saw them, they were wearing actual armour with a thin-looking plate suit with red inlines for the spear twat and forest-green clothes and leather for the little bow shit.
Huh. They were actually ahead of me on that. I looked beyond them to see their parties and-
I blinked as I caught the red-headed Myne walking next to the spear hero, a smarmy smile on her full red lips and a strong, arrogant step to her walk. She caught me looking and seemed pleased for whatever reason.
Does she think I'm checking her out? She doesn't compare to the likes of Hestia or Ryu, not even fucking close. Third-rate, at best.
It's only been two weeks or so since her 'rape'. Is this a fucking joke?
"You've recovered quick," I shot out, unable to help myself as her self-satisfied look morphed into shock and outrage, "What, did you convince the spear twat to comfort you by-"
"Hey!" The spear twat shouted out, getting right in my face and scowling hard, "Myne's part of my party now, you bastard. I'm not going to just let you run your mouth anymore. Got it?"
I stopped myself, not because I was frightened or scared. Even if they wore armour or got stronger, the gap between us was a bit too large to cross in just a few weeks. I stopped because I was impressed, if slightly.
"Well, at least you have loyalty, even if I think it's misguided," I said with a pointed glance at Myne who seemed to sweat under my stare and the spear twat's expression of fury slacked into confusion, "So that's something at least."
"And what is that supposed to mean?" The little bow shit said to me, his eyes drilling into me.
"It means that it's the first admirable thing I've seen from one of you besides the shield kid," I said bluntly with a shrug, "Take it or leave it. Anyway, it's convenient that you two are here."
"Heh, I was about to say the same thing," The spear twat grinned after wiping away his confusion into an arrogant smirk, "We were just wondering what you were doing after all of this time. We thought you ran away."
"I've been practising and trying out new things with my weapon with the nearby monsters," I told them, not really hiding anything, "And run away from what exactly?"
"Sword Hero, do you not see the requests for help all over the Adventurer's Guild?" Myne spoke up, her expression trying to look sad but her voice carried a hint of spite, "How can you ignore them for so long?"
"Myne's right. We thought you were running away from your responsibility as a Hero," The little bow shit lectured me, putting on airs of humble disappointment, "For someone that calls himself a Hero, what have you done to help people?"
"First off, I've never called myself a Hero," I said with a dismissive wave of my hand and the little bow shit squinted at me, his lips turning into a thin line, "Second, I'm not here to help people. I'm here to fight the Waves. Everything that I do is for that goal and when we're done here, no matter how long that fucking takes, I'm going back home and I am never coming back to this shit hole of a world again. I can't afford to care about anything else not related to that."
Are they trying to paint me in a bad light or something in public? Considering my current rep, I don't think that'll work anymore.
"That's what pisses me off about you, Gajin-san," The spear twat spat out to me, his fists trembling, "You don't care about Myne or anyone else for that matter. You didn't care that she was hurt by someone that she trusted and worse yet, you made fun of her for it. Do you not get how sick and twisted that was? But that doesn't matter to you because you're willing to work with a rapist because you think he's more useful to you than a girl that was hurt."
Again, the loyalty was actually somewhat admirable. I could even understand it to an extent but holy shit, was it misguided and misplaced right now.
"Supposed rapist anyway," I said again, my voice dismissive which made the spear twat's eyes flashed angrily, "I've actually been investigating that, believe it or not."
"What's the point? Why are you going so far?" The bow shit said to me, seemingly baffled for whatever reason. I noticed how Myne, who was practically throwing herself at the spear twat who had a protective arm wrapped around her, froze at my words.
"You know, for someone who complained to me about not being a 'Hero' and not helping people, you seem awfully fast to, well, not help someone that might have potentially been wronged?" I asked, honestly confused by the train of logic here. I shook my head as I noticed the receptionist behind me, waiting patiently and scared with a quest in her hand.
"Whatever, I don't have time to argue. You two, go and visit the Church when you can. I've asked them to prepare some stuff for you guys. It'll help you two out a lot."
"And why would you do that? Why should we trust whatever you say?" The little bow shit stepped up to me, trying to do something but whatever it was, I couldn't care to tell, "You've already proven yourself rude, unhelpful, a liar and worse yet, someone who is willing to hurt innocents with physical force. You're just a bully and nothing more."
"Nice observation but I don't really care what you think of me. Just do what I say already and you'll live to see another day, brat," I said again with a dismissive shrug and he gritted his teeth. I turned around to the receptionist, looking down at the offered paper.
"Sorry about that. What have you got for me?"
"I-I'm sorry sir, but unless you have a party, I can't give you our more dangerous quests."
I heard a snort behind me from the bow twat, "Too late for that now. No one here is gonna party up with someone like you now."
Thank god. But he had a point. Even if I wanted to join up with someone, my rep was in the toilet. No one was going to help me.
Talk about self-sabotage.
"But t-this is a quest that might interest you. Riyute Village is southwest of here and has given reports of monsters entering its mines."
"Good enough for me. Thanks for your help," I took the quest from here and didn't even bother to give it a read knowing I couldn't understand a single word of it. I could understand the numbers though and the offered reward was about...20 silver.
Not a lot but that was fine by me. I'll have to find out more later though. I walked past the two other chuckle fucks with my quest in hand but of course, it couldn't be that easy.
"Hold on," The spear guy said to me as if it was an order but I didn't stop until I felt his hand wrapped around my forearm, "I said hold on!"
"I heard you the first time but I chose to ignore you," I said in a low voice to the spear twat, giving him a side-eye as he scowled at me, "But if you don't remove your hand from me, I'm going to break every bone in your body and rearrange them to resemble an octopus that overdosed on LSD and fell down a flight of stairs."
To my utter surprise, he did let go but his angry scowl went nowhere, "You do know that octopuses don't have skeletons, right?"
I decided to ignore the little bow shit's words and remain focused on the spear twat, "I'm not going to let what you said go, Gaijin-san. Apologize to Myne."
...God. This is giving me fucking flashbacks.
"If I believe she has been raped, I will," I said sincerely to the spear twat who seemed thrown off by my tone, "If I have actually mocked a woman who has been violated, then I will say sorry with all my heart."
"But you have!"
"For you, her word is more than enough evidence but for me, it's not nearly enough," I spat out, feeling my anger rise as thoughts from a bygone time flashed in my mind, "True, we don't know if the shield kid actually did or not. We have no idea what sort of person he could be but everything lines up to him being framed and robbed, to being a victim rather than the culprit."
"Enough already! I won't hear it anymore!" The spear twat shouted and I found myself looking down at the sharp point of his weapon, aimed straight at my head.
"Gaijin-san, I challenge you to a duel! If I win, you'll get on your knees and apologise to Myne!"
Did he just forget when I caved in steel armour with my bare hands or what? And what is it with Japs just challenging people to duels over shit like this? God, they're all so fucking dramatic over the pettiest things.
"Lord Motoyasu...please, you don't have to do this," Myne said quietly, snuggling next to the valiant knight with teary eyes but I saw an edged smirk flashed at me when he held her tightly. The other women behind him seemed more or less ambivalent to the whole thing, looking at each other worriedly.
The entire Guild seemed hush and floored by this development and I knew whatever I was going to say would be spread around as another rumour.
"So what do I get if I win?"
"Huh?"
"What do I get if I win?" I asked again, my eyebrow cocked as I waited for his response. The expression on his face was almost funny in how dumbstruck it seemed but I let out an annoyed huff.
"God, you brats need to know how the world works. You don't get something for nothing. Do you think the Adventurers around us right now are doing what they do out of the goodness of their hearts? No, you idiots. They're doing it to get paid."
"600 silver pieces," Myne's voice spoke up and she wasn't even trying to hide her emotions at this point, the spiteful bitch as she smirked arrogantly at me, "If you are so driven by greed, Sword Hero, that you will not concede without a payment, then so be it."
"Not interested," I said bluntly, shaking my head and her triumphant look shattered, "I'm more than fine with my current finances and I have more important stuff to worry about than money."
Getting bored, I let out a huff and shook my head, "Whatever, I'm done here. Just go to the church and get the sand. It'll give you fast travel."
"H-Hey! Where the hell do you think you're going!?" The spear twat yelled out after me and because I had no reason to tell him anything at all or even pay him attention, I let him yell and glare all he wanted as I left the building and started to make my way out of that embarrassing debacle.
What did he think was going to happen? That I would accept a random duel out of nowhere? I was half-tempted to find out how strong he is by accepting the duel but that would just make the whole thing worse.
He can bitch and moan about my attitude all he wants but as long as he's fighting the Waves, I don't really care. He's better off fighting and doing stuff on his own for now than picking a fight with me.
With this quest in tow, I decided to take a little detour through the alleyways that I had familiarised myself with over the weeks and go to the south gate of the city. As I did so, I could feel the hairs on my neck raise slightly. I went off to a dead-end without skipping a beat and waited for a moment.
"If you're going to follow me, you should do a better job."
"Ohohoho...the good sir has keen senses. As expected of a Hero," A slimy, chortling voice spoke out and from around the corner, I saw someone who I can only describe as a living, walking portrait of Doctor Eggman. This motherfucker was rounder than a football, wearing a top hat and a dark suit. His eyes were hidden by thick glasses and he twirled the curved tips of his moustache, giving me a toothy grin.
"So what's the reason for this? You got like goons or whatever hiding in place to jump me?" I asked blandly but I was surprised by the shake of his head, opening his palms as if to show himself unarmed.
"Oh no, my good sir! You see, I couldn't help but overhear your...conversation with your fellow Heroes, in the Guild. And the Sword's Hero reputation is, shall we say, quite infamous as of late? Your appetite notwithstanding, but they say you even struck the king."
"It was mostly me having a bit of fun, but yeah, it's pretty fucked," I said with a shrug at the weird guy, who was still smiling at me with all of his teeth flashing, "You offering to make all of that go away?"
"I'm afraid that is quite outside of even my connections," He said proudly for some reason, "But what I can offer is something that I think you might know of from our mutual acquaintance?"
I could hear the gears click in my head as I spoke slowly, "It's you, isn't it? You're the one that sold the shield kid his slave."
"For a fair price," He said proudly and he seemed to glow under my cold stare, "And now I wish to offer you the same service, Sword Hero. From what I hear, I have quite a selection for you to choose from if you wish to taste something more...exotic."
"I'm good," My tone was burning with how cold it was and his smile grew. I was about to tell him to fuck off and I was going to get going until I stopped myself and calm down.
I need backup. Sure, I'm strong but I'll need more than strength to properly deal with the Waves. I have no idea what I'm walking into, I can't read, I don't know the situation in other countries, I have no idea how magic works and if people died on me because I couldn't delegate…
Fuck sake. What a way to break my first promise with the Pope.
"...I could do with a slave though," I eventually said, forcing the words out and his smile seemed to take up his whole round face, "One that can read and write. And use magic, but I'm going to take a guess and say that's out of my league right now."
"That depends, good sir. How much are you willing to spend?"
It was a fair question to ask but one that I wasn't willing to answer just yet, not to this guy, "How about you show me what you got before we can settle on a price?"
"Ohoho, you are quite devious, Sword Hero. Those eyes of yours are striking indeed," He chortled lightly, bowing to me, "Follow me, if you would. I'm sure you'll be pleased by our stock."
God, this feels like shit. What would Bell say right now? Or Hestia?
Fuck. Aisha or Haruhime would have my head if they knew I was doing this. But what choice did I have? The people only willing to join up with me now are sycophants or freaks. The king, though I probably have myself more to blame for this, has basically made me a social outcast. I can't trust the people around me like I could back in Orario.
When a world is on the brink of destruction, you can't let yourself be bound by morals. That doesn't mean I have to enjoy anything about this though.
The round slave trader led me through some more alleyways and he seemed to be smart enough to stay silent for the whole way. After a few minutes, he led me to a wide-open area, tucked away in the streets and buildings of this city. In the middle of it was a wide, circus-like tent and even from here, I could hear various sounds and noises coming from it.
I'm really about to do this. Shit.
"Come in, come in. I'm sure you'll find what you're looking for," The slave trader smiled up at me and I felt disgust coil around my stomach before I swallowed it down. I went into the tent and I was greeted by a cacophony of horrendous noise, a plethora of smells that almost made me retch and a sight that made my stomach roll around in my gut.
It reminded me of those shows back home. Where they show some stuff that they used in slavery in the old days. The boats for the slave trade where they were quite literally stacked on top of each came to mind when I saw the rows of cages and cages lined up against each other, filled with monstrous looking things. All humanoid shapes but they were way more monstrous looking than the little girl I saw.
"These can't all be Demi-humans," I spoke, carefully measuring my voice as I followed the slave trader, "They seem more like animals than anything else."
"Ah yes. While they fall under the banner of Demi-humans, these are beast people. They are, in most respects, humans but with additional features as you can tell. This kingdom considers humans to be a higher order of being compared to Demi-humans."
"I gathered from the fact that slavery of them is legal here," I said coldly as I met the eyes of the beastmen, a flicker of intelligence and rage in their gazes, "What I don't get is why you operate here, in the backend of the city than somewhere public."
"Many people here may be aware of slavery of Demi-humans but they dislike the...reality of it, should I say? They are able to handle the ones that are well fed and looked after but they prefer not to think about what happens behind the closed doors of certain individuals."
I don't know what I found more disgusting; that this was legal and allowed or that this place doesn't even have the balls to show it for what it was. This whole situation was fucking disgusting.
I was probably the worst one though. I could free them all. Kill this guy, rip open their bars and smash their chains with my bare hands. I could do it.
Bell would do it. Without a second thought, he would do it. Hestia would support him, Lili as well and so would Welf. Iris and Emma would probably already be busting opening cages and laying down the law while Aisha would kick open the heads of anyone that tried to stop us.
But what then? Say I do that. I kill this slave trader, I let the slaves free and do all of that.
What then? I can't look after them. I can't promise their safety. I can't waste time looking over a bunch of runaway slaves, trying to do a massive social upheaval for which I am wholly inexperienced.
It was a terrible idea. Morally good but terrible.
I'm a lot of things. But a hero isn't one of them. Despite what some people think, just because someone says they're a hero or they're called one, doesn't make them a hero. It just means that either you're a cunt or the people around you are cunts.
"Now, I would ask what gender you prefer but from what I hear, you have a taste of both," The slave trader said to me, looking over his shoulder and I gave a shrug, not really caring one way or the other, "Excellent. You wish for one versed in magic and writing, correct? Then I believe I have just the slave for you!"
We walked towards the back cages, the bigger ones I could see and he grabbed a hold of a tarp resting on top of a cage. Lifting it up, he showed me my prospective slave. Light yellow eyes met mine and I felt my breath hitch in my throat.
She wasn't in the best of conditions but I could recognize that she was a girl, a young teen at least. Her 'clothes' were dirty rags that did little to hide her body, covered in grime and dirt but even then, one could see that it was clearly pristine, pink skin that only needed a little water and soap. Her two fox-like ears twitched on her head, as golden as her long, scruffy and dirty hair that went to the cold iron floor of the cage. In her lap, as if to comfort her, was a big fox-like tail, mostly golden-yellow besides the snow-white tip at the end of it.
She was gaunt from a lack of nutrition, almost skeletally thin. The cage smelled of shit, piss and vomit, staining her clothes and fur. A bucket seemed like it was filled to the brim with stuff I didn't want to mention was sitting in the corner, caked and almost stuck to the floor with its filth that looked older than the small girl in front of me. Around her thin neck was a heavy iron collar, a chain lying on the floor. The skin around her neck seemed raw-red from all of the chafing.
It wasn't a one for one copy. Haru was older, her fur was darker than this lightning-yellow Renard in front of me and her eyes were bright blue instead of yellow-gold.
But fuck. Fuck. This isn't fair. This really isn't fair.
"Now, good sir-" The slave trader started to speak before he caught my eye and whatever he saw stopped him cold but his smile grew with a sickness that I didn't care to relate to. I stepped past him, walking up to the cage and slowly, I unsheathed the greatsword upon my back. It was shifted into its base form and I heard the gasps of the slaves around me as I knelt down in that filthy tent, planting the greatsword's tip into the dirt as I stared at this scared little girl.
I underestimated the kid. I really did. He must be in a way worse place than I thought if he could walk in and walk out of here like it was nothing.
In a weird way, I respected that sort of thinking. I can relate to the single-mindedness needed to ignore something like this.
"You recognize this sword, right?" I nodded at the piece of shit I was forced to wield and the small girl gave a shaky nod, "And you know who I am?"
"Y-You're-" She started coughing dryly and her weak voice wobbled and quelled under the effort it took for her to speak, "You're...the Sword Hero?"
"Mhm," I said with a slow nod, "Can you read? Write?"
She gave another nod of her gaunt face and I glanced up at the slave trader, his grin still wide and toothy. I turned my attention back to the young girl and kept my voice soft and mellow.
"What's your name, kid?"
"K-Karania...M-Master?"
I let out a slow breath, exhaling the burning anger I felt burning in my veins. I forced myself up and I sheathed the greatsword on my back once again and turned my attention to the slave trader.
"So where does the magic come in?" I asked bluntly and I didn't miss how Karania froze like a statue at my words, her breath hitching slightly.
"Of course, of course," The slave trader spoke up as if we weren't having a stand-off just seconds ago, "You see, I have it on good authority that this slave has incredibly great potential in magic of Lighting and Support spells."
That's...practically what I'm looking for. But I don't really know what any of that means.
"I'm unfamiliar with the magic in this world," I said stiffly to the slave trader, "Can you give me a brief rundown?"
"Of course, dear customer. I am no mage myself but magic can be split into two groups; Element and Function. You see, a fire elemental spell can be used to attack but it can also be used to enchant or protect them. For example, Hellfire is a common attack fire spell while Glowfire is an illusion fire spell."
I get it. The spells Karania could cast were of Lighting Support spells then, however they worked.
"So Karania could only cast Lightning Support spells?" I asked, my curiosity overrode my burning anger for a brief moment but the slave trader shook his head to my relief.
"No, no, not at all! She'll be quite able to use different functions but most mages simply focus on what they're good at rather than anything else. If you wish to know more details, there is a magic shop for you to visit close by that can verify this slave's magical potential. With that, I should mention that this one is level 1 and doesn't actually know any spells."
"I presume the magic shop can help me with that?"
"Indubitably, dear customer. Starter grimoires aren't that expensive, 15 silver or so."
That was helpful, actually. Really fucking helpful. Why weren't we told this? I get that maybe the spear twat and little bow shit know about this stuff because they're with people right now but this is important stuff.
"...Thanks for your help," I had to practically chew the words out and the slave trader bowed to me once again, still smiling, "So, let's hear it. What's the price?"
"Usually I would ask for two gold for one such as this but for you, dear customer, I will offer the friend price; how does one gold and fifty silver sound?"
Fuck. That's a lot of money but for a magically gifted slave that can read or write... If I did this, then I would have about 26 silver left, 5 after I buy the grimoire. It's not a massive amount of money but if I take someone with me, I'll need to buy supplies, armour and all sorts for her.
I'll be totally broke until we can get some money.
I looked at Karania and her yellow pupils looked back at me, petrified and scared. She swallowed audibly but she didn't look away. I don't know whether she was hopeful or not that I would buy her.
I would say that I was conflicted as well. But honestly?
I wasn't. I think I knew what I was going to do as soon as he lifted the tarp and maybe, just maybe, so did this round motherfucker.
"Will 150 silver do?" I said to the slave trader, tearing my gaze away from Karania to the slave trader whose grin widened with greed.
"It will more than do, dear customer," He bowed to me and he reached for the inside of his cloak to open the cage. With a wave of his hand, I noticed two large shadows emerge from corners of the tent, carrying mugs and knives. They were massive, bodybuilder-like people with black sacks over their heads.
"I should warn you, dear customer, this will be quite painful for your slave," The slave trader told me and I felt my eyes tighten as I gazed at his exposed back, "The slave crest transferal will send a shock of pain to the slave to register you, I'm afraid. There is nothing to be done about it."
He didn't sound like he was lying so I swallowed my words and gave a wordless grunt as he opened the cage and Karania slowly stood up on thin, shaky legs as she walked out. She looked up at me and I wondered what she thought of me right now.
Can't be anything good. God knows I don't blame her.
"Now, dear customer, we'll need a drop of your blood for the slave crest."
All of my anger, worry, disgust and regret immediately wash away in a flood of incredulous belief over what was just fucking said to me. I looked at the slave trader for a brief moment, his face completely serious and one of his henchmen was handing me a knife which I dumbly accepted.
Motherfuck-
[Divine-^%^^!^%!&^]
...Huh?
[Divine Sword-!&"*!&!"*"*£$*!()*)(&^(*^&)&^]
What the fuck is going on? I have never seen this before, ever.
[Divine Sword Over-!)!("&()!)(*&_)!%_)&*!"*%&%£$$^!%*!%^]
Is the System...glitching out?
[Divine Sword Override. The Sword Hero may now take Karania as his Slave and Companion. Proceed quickly.]
Did...Did the sword just screw with the System? To make sure I can buy a slave? What the fuck? Is that even possible? And what does it mean by proceed quickly? Is that the System telling me that?
Or was it the sword?
Curiously, I looked down at the knife in my hand, the edge glinting in the low light of the tent. I pressed the sharp edge against my thumb and I watched, fascinated and possibly thrilled at the sight of my own bead of blood that appeared. I didn't feel any pain or anything at all really, but there it was.
God. Sure as fuck never expected to bleed here of all places.
A bead of my blood fell into a plate full of dark ink and I watched as one of the bodybuilders took a brush and dipped into the bloody ink and Karania's cloak was more or less shoved aside as he skillfully drew a familiar looking crest on the upper part of her chest. Tears welled up in her eyes, squeezed tightly and I felt a pit form in my stomach as I watched this happen and did nothing to stop it.
I should've just swallowed my pride and asked for someone to join up with me. Instead, here I am, buying a child slave because I was too proud and too angry to accept any kind of help.
At the very least, she'll be better off with me than anyone else. I'll break the contract when the Waves hit and drop her off somewhere safe. She'll be free then. I can find someone else to join up with afterwards.
When the slave crest on Karania was drawn, two things happened:
[Karania has joined your Party.]
[Function unlocked: Party Menu.]
[Function unlocked: Slave Menu.]
That. And-
"AHHHHHHHHHH!"
-Karania's screaming. It didn't last long but that scream of agony couldn't be faked. I felt my heart tighten at the sight of this kid panting and gasping on the ground, clutching at her chest. I placed my hand on her shoulder and she looked up at me, twitching and spasming with phantom shocks of pain. A hollow, terrified expression looked up at me and I resolved myself to get used to it.
"Earthly Renewal," I spoke out and a very visible verdant green glow surrounded her, drawn from the dirty ground. She blinked slowly, looking at her hands while the glow slowly faded from view. She reached behind her back, slowly as if testing something and whatever she found made her freeze.
"Here, your money," I took a pouch and handed it to the slave trader who quickly counted out the coins. He took a confused expression as he finished, looking up at me.
"Dear customer, it seems you've overpaid by about five silver."
"Consider it extra for helping me and being forthcoming about Karania," I told him easily enough as he gave me a wide grin, "And I'll like to take some of that ink as well."
He looked at the ink we had just used, "Of course, dear customer. But five silvers is a bit much for that."
"Think of it as hush money then," I said bluntly, "I don't want you telling anyone what you just saw."
"How rude!" The slave trader's actual offence threw me off a fair bit, frowning mightily at me, "I would never betray a customer's trust nor would I ever give them a faulty product! I have my pride as a merchant to think about!"
...Fuck. I almost smirked at that. With a shrug, I took the bloody ink jar and took out my greatsword. Placing the sword down, I gently tipped the jar until a couple of drops of ink touched the jewel.
Which glowed as it drunk them and at that, I did smirk.
[Due to the usage of slave crest ink, restrictions on The Slave User Series have been lifted.]
[Sword Form Unlocked: Slave User Blade I.]
[Sword Form Unlocked: Slave User Blade II.]
.
[The Slave User Blade I]
[A Sword Form you unlocked by feeding the Legendary Blade slave crest ink! With this blade, your slaves will grow stronger by leaps and bounds!]
[Locked Equip Bonus: Slave Maturation Adjustment (Small)]
[Mastery: 0/100]
[Rank: Low.]
.
[The Slave User Blade II]
[A Sword Form you unlocked by feeding the Legendary Blade slave crest ink mixed with your blood! With this blade, your slaves will grow faster under your command!]
[Locked Equip Bonus: Slave Status Adjustment (Small)]
[Mastery: 0/100]
[Rank: Low.]
I fucking knew it. I need to tell the shield kid about this, fucking pronto. It'll help him more than it'll help me by a long shot. I looked at the descriptions of the blades and I was concerned that they were two separate blades. Did they not combine into a single blade for this? And slave crest ink mixed with my blood unlocked the second?
I let out a slow huff as I looked at Karania who was looking at my new blade with the closest thing that resembled a childish emotion and wasn't wholly negative.
"Karania," I said softly and she snapped to me, her childish wonderment guttering in fear as she froze, her wandering fingers on her back snapping back to her side, "Give me your hand for a moment, please."
I held out my hand and she did as I said, slowly. I hated how small and weak it felt on my own. I hated how cold it was and how thin her fingers were and I hated how I could grasp all of it in my own hand if I wanted to.
"This is just gonna be a prick, all right? You'll heal up right quick," I said soothingly and she shut her eyes tight. With a swift poke to her finger tips, a small bead of blood mixed with the ink jug. With Earthly Renewal still in effect, she healed up the cut in no time but her eyes were still shut tight as if waiting for something.
"I'm already done, Karania," I said softly and she opened her eyes, her fear giving away to surprise as she looked at her unmarked hand. She brushed what little blood was left on her finger and there wasn't even a cut to be found.
[Sword Form Unlocked: Slave User Blade III]
Oh, you motherfucker.
[The Slave User Blade III]
[A Sword Form you unlocked by feeding the Legendary Blade slave crest ink mixed with your slave's blood! With this blade, your slaves will grow stronger by leaps and bounds!]
[Locked Equip Bonus: Slave Maturation Adjustment (Medium)]
[Mastery: 0/100]
[Rank: Low.]
I don't know whether to be happy or not. But it'll make Karania stronger. And from what I can tell, that's the best thing I can do for her.
"Thanks for your patience," I said to the slave trader who seemed nonplussed by what he had just seen. I was surprised because I found that I was honest in what I said rather than just being my normal polite self.
"Think nothing of it, good customer. It was quite a sight to see the Legendary Sword in action, quite a sight indeed! And how you're handling your very first slave is nothing short of first-class!"
What a fucking scumbag.
But he's been helpful. Really helpful.
"Just one more question before we go," I stood up to my full height and crossed my arms as I looked down at this Eggman look-alike, "You said something about a friend price earlier. What was that about?"
"It is exactly what it sounds like, Sword Hero. I believe we'll be seeing quite a bit of each other, what with your reputation being what it is and it is always my policy to build up good customer relations. And I offer more than just slaves, you know?"
I don't entirely believe him but it seemed like he was being truthful enough. And I can trust him to a certain extent after this encounter with him.
"And the reputation boost of not just one but two Cardinal Heroes taking advantage of your services is a nice, coincidental side-benefit right?"
His grin widened immensely as he gave a slick chortle, "I was not wrong about you, Sword Hero. You are quite something else."
I don't know what to say to that, honestly.
"It sickens me that you've actually been more helpful to me than the bastard on the throne or the Church, but facts are facts," I said with a sigh and I held out my hand, "And the name's John. Not Sword Hero."
He took my hand and gave it a vigorous shake, his smile creeping across his face like a gash and filled with satisfaction that only a merchant could feel, "Of course, John. It was a pleasure doing business with you."
In a very weird, sick way, I sorta felt the same. I asked him to tell the shield kid about the ink and what I did with it if he sees him before I do and he agreed easily enough. With that done, I left the tent with Karania in tow, the little girl following beside me. It wasn't long before I felt her stumble into my leg, making me glance down.
"I-I'm sorry master, I-I didn't mean to-" She started stumbling over her words and I realised she didn't have any shoes. The collar around her neck was still there even though the slave crest was a better leash.
"It's fine, Karania. I guess it's been a while since you could walk," I asked her and she gave me a meek nod, "Look, don't worry about it. There's a place I know that'll have some clothes for you. How about we go there and we'll get some food, okay?"
At the mention of food, a hungry, deep noise could be heard from the almighty depths of a child's stomach. Karania stared up at me, wide eyed and her cheeks faintly turning red as I gave a small smile. She tore her gaze away and started mumbling something that I couldn't quite hear.
I might not have enough for an advanced magic book but I still have no idea how to actually learn it or if I even can. At the very least, I'll get some sorely needed information. I don't even know if Karania wants to learn magic so this whole thing might be a waste of time.
Even so. I should at least try.
I took my time getting back to Elhart's shop. Not because I wanted Karania to walk around barefoot but because she was holding onto my shirt tightly as if she'll get lost if she lets go of me.
We eventually made our way to Elhart's store. The streets weren't empty at all so it was obvious what was going to happen if I took Karania into the shop in broad daylight. I did promise the Pope that I would try and lessen the rumours about me and now I've just bought a little girl as a slave, like a certain shield kid.
Fuck the pope, I decided and with some slight urging, Karania and I walked across the street in plain view. The whispers and mutterings were something else as I entered Elhart's shop.
"Oh? Back so soo…" He trailed off as he saw Karania by my side, her gaze cast down and sullen. The look on his face was something else as he seemed torn between looking at me and Karania at my side. Eventually, he rubbed his head and gave me a withering look.
"Yeah. The hypocrisy isn't lost on me," I admitted with shame, cringing slightly, "But still, let's save the excuses for later."
"...The room is in the back," He sighed out, shaking his head, "I'll get some clothes ready."
"Thank you, Elhart," I said honestly and he just gave me a dismissive grunt. Gently, I placed my hand on the small of Karania's back and she looked up at me.
"Don't worry, it'll be alright. We're just here to get you some clothes," I said softly to her and she gave me a shaky nod. Looking at Elhart, she bowed her head submissively and followed him into the back.
Christ on a bike, that sounded wrong.
Left alone, I let out a tired sigh and decided to open up the two new menus I had unlocked. On the Party Menu, I saw Karania's name pop up with three boxes to select; Stats, Magic and Class. And what I saw, well. There was something a bit off.
[John's Party.]
.
[Stats.]
[Karania, The Kitsune Slave.]
[Level: 1]
[Race: Demi-Human Kitsune.]
[Attack: 1]
[Defence: 1]
[Agility: 1]
[Magic: 6]
[Magic Defence: 2]
.
[Magic: First Grade.]
[Attack:]
[Lightning Bolt.]
.
[Affinities.]
[Lightning: 100%]
[Support: 100%]
[Attack: 85%]
[Recovery: 50%]
.
[Class: Slave.]
[The Slave Class is bound to their master. They share experience as they fight alongside each other and the Slave is powerless against their master's will.]
[The Slave Class currently benefits from; Slave User Blade III.]
I...don't really know what to make of this.
Why does Karania already know magic? The slave trader told me she just has potential in magic and he even clarified that she didn't know any spells before I made my purchase.
Did she hide it? I suppose so but why didn't she use it to escape? Or hell, fight back? She didn't even use it before the slave crest was put on her and now she can't do anything because if she even thinks about fighting or killing me in my sleep, the slave crest is going to kill her.
The slave trader wouldn't hide this. He would've jacked up the price higher if he knew about this, for sure. He would've treated her better as well, if not simply to make more money. I knew his type well enough; smart and pragmatic without any excessive sadism. He wasn't in the slave-trading business because he was a sick fuck, he was in it because it was incredibly profitable.
Which still made him a sick fuck, just not a sadistic one.
I need to unlock the Equip Bonuses of these Slave User swords as fast as possible though. One thing I discovered is that instead of putting more stuff inside them, I can simply use the blade forms to unlock the Equip Bonuses, wracking up Mastery in the process as well.
Would've been helpful if I knew that. But whatever.
I checked out the Slave Menu but it wasn't anything interesting. Just more or less a contract between me and Karania; that she had to tell me the truth at all times, that she couldn't attempt to hurt or kill me, besmirch my person and that she had to follow my orders.
I removed the clause about trying to kill or hurt me because I had some plans. As I did this, Elhart came back and he stood behind the counter, his broad and stocky arms crossed as he stared at me with hard eyes.
"The Shield Hero, I can understand. I might not like it but it's a fact that he needs someone to fight for him and no one is willing to party up with him now," He started off and I gave a slow nod to his words.
"So I gotta ask; what's your excuse, John?"
"I need someone to teach me how to read and write," I said plainly and Elhart's brow furrowed hard at my words, "And Karania, that girl, can read and write."
"...How much did you pay?"
"150 silver."
Elhart looked at me for a moment, his expression going through a complicated mess of emotions that seemed to be on the verge of shock or wanting to punch me in the face.
"You...paid 150 silver for a kid to teach you how to read and write? Instead of just...asking someone?"
"Ask who?" I said bluntly, "Elhart, my reputation is in the trash and I lit it on fire but not before taking a massive steaming piss on it. No one is going to join up with me now, at least no one that I can trust. And teaching someone a new language isn't the sort of thing where you sit down for an hour and it's over."
"So you think a kid is gonna teach you any better?"
I let out a huff of frustration that was aimed at myself, "I was planning on buying an adult but I stupidly asked for magic as a side benefit and he showed me her and...fuck."
"Look, don't tell anyone this or I'll be pissed," I said sternly and Elhart cocked a brow at me, "But she reminds me of someone from the world I was summoned from. Same race, almost the same features. Fuck, the situations they were in weren't even that different. I couldn't just sit back and do nothing after seeing that."
That was it, in the end. Regardless of anything I said, that was the complete and utter truth.
Karania reminded me of Haruhime. And that's why I bought her because I can't just stand back and do nothing while I can do something.
It was a selfish action, meant to soothe my own ego and conscience. I know that. But I was a selfish person.
Elhart's sigh was filled with pity that I hated and frustration that I could practically feel. He shook his head at me and gave me a look that I couldn't discern whether it was pitying or disappointment.
"I wasn't wrong about you being a piece of work, alright," He eventually said and my shoulders lifted up in a light, helpless shrug, "Well, you don't seem like the type hurt people, let alone kids-"
"No, never," My words came out like daggers of iron, my eyes meeting Elhart's surprised stare with a pinning stare, "I have not and will never hurt a child. I'm not a hero or a saint, despite what everyone calls me around here but I have never, ever hurt a child. You have my word on that."
I can abide by and understand quite a few things. Things like theft, murder, drugs and what have you. I might not like it but usually, some people deserve to be killed or I can see why people would drown themselves in drugs.
But I have never stood by and let a kid get hurt in my presence. It is the one thing I can't stand by and watch.
But I just did, didn't I? I doubt Karania was the only kid in that slave trader's possession. And yet, I left. Without doing anything for them.
Forget about hypocrisy at this point. I'm just a walking pot of bubbling shit that can't keep his morals straight.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
"John," Elhart's voice broke me out of my stormy and dark thoughts and I saw his expression shift to something akin to worry.
"Don't do anything impulsive, now. It won't get you anywhere."
I let out a slow, heated breath as I tried to calm myself down. I ran fingers through my hair and I felt them impact against the sword on my back.
It wasn't working. I wasn't calming down. I felt a familiar haze fall over my mind and I made a move towards-
"Master, I'm done," A quiet, submissive voice spoke through the red haze hanging over my mind and I looked over to see Karania wearing actual clothes for once. A light blue shirt and some pants that seemed easy to move in. The collar around her neck was still tightly bound around her neck, meshing with her outfit.
And like that, the familiar red haze was lifted from my mind, just making me feel tired. With a sigh, I gave Karania what I hoped was a comforting smile and I beckoned her closer to me.
"Come here for a second, Karania," I asked and she did just that, shuffling her feet towards me. When she was close enough, I knelt down to her level and placed my hands on her iron collar.
"I can try and get that off if you want," Elhart asked me and Karania's eyes brightened at the offer, looking at me hopefully.
"Thanks for the offer but I got this," I said to Elhart, my hands gripping the collar tightly, "Karania, close your eyes for a second and lift up your head."
She did just that and after making sure that none of her long hair was caught, I started slowly breaking apart the collar with my bare hands. It made an awful noise as I pulled apart the metal but with a loud snap, it came off and fell to the ground.
"Damn...didn't expect that," Elhart said in a mutter and I gave a shrug. Karania opened her round eyes, the yellow-gold pupils seeming brighter than earlier as she felt her neck and found it bare. I looked down at the shattered collar bits and I decided not to let anything go to waste.
[Due to the usage of iron collars, restrictions on The Chain Blade have been lifted.]
[The Chain Blade]
[A Sword Form you unlocked by feeding the Legendary Blade an iron collar! With this blade, you can chain down your foes with shackles of iron!]
[Locked Equip Bonus: Skill: Chain Bind]
[Special Equip Effect: Range 1]
[Mastery: 0/100]
[Rank: Low.]
The Chain Blade was an awkward blade because the sides of it were angled downward. Taking a closer look, I saw that the blade had segments that were evenly divided from each other.
Nice. A sword whip. I can't wait to see how fucking terrible I am with this.
"You really let nothing go to waste, huh?" Elhart said to me and I shook my head. Karania looked at the new blade with the interest and awe a child should have towards things like this and it made me smile a bit. Quickly though, I changed it to its previous form of Slave User III.
"Thanks for your help, Elhart, really. How much do I owe you?"
"Consider it on the house, John," He said with a sigh, "After what you spent, you can't have that much coin left. If you want to pay me back, feed her first before anything else."
"Will do," I said easily enough. With that done and I'm pretty sure my relationship with Elhart is in the dumps, I left with Karania in tow. If it wasn't for the slave crest on her chest, I wondered what we looked like to other people?
I hope I don't run into those other two right now. I can't say I'll rightfully be able to hold myself back if they tried to start something again.
I didn't know much about the restaurants around here but a general rule was always to go to a noisy one. A noisy restaurant means it has loads of customers which means it cooks good food. After finding one, I entered it with Karania in tow, her hand still clasping on my shirt.
"Welcom-!" The waiter started to say before he stopped, his eyes going wide at the sight of me. The inside was fairly filled, the smell of cooked food wafting in the air.
"A table for two please," I asked politely, glancing down at Karania who seemed practically glued to my side, shaking, "And one that is away from other people, if you don't mind."
It can't be me. She didn't shake this badly when she was alone with me but it seems like she can't handle crowds well.
Well. Just my luck.
"O-Of course, sir! Just f-follow me!"
The waiter led us to a nice if small table meant for two people, hidden away in the corner. He let us sit down and I watched as Karania climbed on the chair, seeming...well, she wasn't shaking anymore now that we're away from people.
"Not good with crowds?" I asked her. Karania looked at me and slowly shook her head.
"S-Sorry, master," She said, bowing her head to me. I wanted to tell her to stop that and just call me John but I don't know whether being too forward here was a good thing or not. She seemed like she was relaxing now, so it was probably best just to let her adjust.
"I'll have whatever is cheapest," I said to the waiter who gave me a shaky nod before I looked at Karania. She didn't seem to take an interest in anything around us, keeping her gaze down.
"And what do you recommend for kids?" I asked the waiter, making Karania's head snap up and look at me.
"W-Well, we do have a special for children that have proven very popular."
"Then get that for the kid here," I said and the waiter gave another nod and he left like he couldn't leave fast enough. Karania looked at me intently, her mouth moving to say something but she stopped herself.
"If you have questions, you can ask them, you know," I said lightly to Karania, looking at the little girl in front of me, "I really don't mind."
I have to word my sentences carefully here. I kept the clause about lying to me but only because I want the truth and nothing else.
Speaking of which, I fucking knew there was a thing to detect lies. The fact that the king didn't even bring this up during the shield kid's trial speaks fucking volumes.
"Why...why are you treating me like this?" She asked in such a scared, pitiful tone that I felt my heart clench tightly within my chest.
"Well, what answer would put you more at ease?" I asked and Karania blinked slowly at my words, "That I paid good coin for you and I don't want to damage you? Or that I'm willing to look after your wellbeing?"
"But you're the Sword Hero," She said to me, making me frown, "Y-You're not supposed to help Demi-humans."
"Says who?" I asked Karania and she glanced down, unable to look me in the eye. It was a bad move because it means she didn't answer my question and almost immediately, she grabbed her chest, heaving with pain.
Fuck sake. She needs to stop being so timid or otherwise she's just going to hurt herself.
"You don't have to tell me," I said as quick as I could and I could feel the connection to the slave crest calm down and Karania wiped away at her eyes, "But if you don't want the slave crest to hurt you in the future, you need to listen to what I say and tell me the truth. I can't keep watching what I say around you all the time."
Karania nodded weakly at my words, breathing heavily, "B-Back home...we were told that the Shield Hero w-was a friend to Demi-humans. B-But the other three Heroes were d-devils."
Another religion? Sounds like it. Why else would she say devils? And if there is a religion for three Heroes, it's not a stretch to consider there is a religion for just one Hero.
"And what do you think? Do you think I'm a devil?" I asked Karania who seemed hesitant on answering. She was going to shake her head but she stopped herself for a moment.
"...I don't know, master."
Going by how the slave crest didn't react, I knew she was telling the truth. There are a couple of reasons why I kept that clause but this was the main one. The more she learns that I'm not going to punish her for telling me the truth, the more confident she'll be.
Hopefully anyway.
"That's fine. You can make up your mind later," I said lightly and Karania just seemed confused, her fox-ears twitching. Immediately after that, her nose twitched and her head snapped up. Following her gaze, I saw a waiter come holding our meals and they couldn't be more different from each other.
I was given a bowl of watery, cabbage soup that looked more like a pool of dirty water. Fuck, it probably was for all I know.
Karania's meal was like a little buffet of small slices of steak, a meat patty, some...deep-fried food? And rice? With a little white flag on it?
What the fuck? Rice? Fried food? Isn't this place like medieval in terms of technology? How the fuck do they have fried food? And rice? What the fuck?
It also smelled really, really good. Karania looked down at the meal before, her mouth numbly hanging open as she looked down at the dish in front of her. I think I saw a bit of drool start to appear on her lips before she looked up at me, her gaze wide and wondering.
"Go on, it's all yours," I told her while I decided to dig into my piece of shit soup. It wasn't the worst thing I've eaten but it came close. I suppose I did ask for the cheapest meal but jesus. A sprinkle of salt would be nice.
"T-Thank you!" She exclaimed and she took the knife and fork, eagerly digging in with ravenous but controlled motions. It was a bit curious to me to see her, a child slave, use utensils to eat. She wasn't a clean eater but I was half-expecting to just grab the food with her bare hands and start digging in like a wild animal.
Is that racist? I feel like that might be racist.
Her tail shook from side to side, her ears twitching and flicking as she ate her meal with relish, her cheeks puffing out. I looked down at my own meal, a wooden spoon filled with a brownish watery soup.
Fuck being poor. Whoever says money can't buy you happiness is a fucking idiot.
Regardless, I decided to just let Karania enjoy herself for now and eat my own meal in peace. It was nice to have a calm moment in the whirlpool of shit that was my current life.
Karania finished faster than I did, shockingly. When she was done, not a single rice was left on the place that was practically licked clean. She had a wide, fulfilled smile on her face that matched her better than the despondent look from before. I finished up my own meal quickly which I had to force down with a grimace.
"I take it you enjoyed that?" I asked Karania and she blushed, whether in embarrassment or something else, I couldn't tell.
"V-Very much so, master. Thank you."
"It's fine, Karania. But there is something I'd like to ask you," She blinked in confusion at me, tilting her head, "I was told that you had potential in magic. But I've been looking at your...well, let's say status and I noticed that you already know a spell, Lightning Bolt."
I was scared to approach the subject but I decided that the sooner I knew about whatever the hell was going, the better. Going by the downcast look she gave, I gathered that something was off but it didn't seem traumatic.
Hopefully anyway.
"I didn't mean to deceive you, master," She said faintly but no longer with a stutter finally, "But...my magic is filthy. It's not right. I was told to never reveal it."
...Huh?
"How so?" I asked calmly and she shuffled in her seat for a moment, unable to meet my eye.
"Because it's not Illusion, master."
I waited for the next part but it never came. She seemed to shrink underneath my gaze for a bit and I rubbed my forehead. The restaurant was starting to fill up with more people and I noticed they were sending glances towards us which made me think that Karania also noticed.
With that, I paid for the meal with 2 silver and let them keep the change as we left. I decided that we should probably go somewhere without people and I decided that the fields out from here were a good place.
"We're going to visit the fields," I told Karania who looked up at me, "I want to see your magic, if you don't mind but we might be out there all day. Have you ever camped outside before?"
If she already knows a spell, I can buy some supplies for camping easily. Who knows, I might still be able to get Karania an extra spell if she wants.
"I...only sometimes, master," She said quietly and I knew what she meant. Probably the only times she camped out was in a cage.
"Well, don't worry about it. I've done it plenty of times so you won't go cold or hungry," I promised her and the look she gave was faintly hopeful.
Slowly but steady. Slowly but steady.
"Master. May I ask a question?"
"What's up?"
"Uhm...do you know the Shield Hero?"
"Well," I said with a frown, thinking over the question. I didn't really know the shield kid. We were co-workers, I would say but that felt like it was going a bit far.
"Out of the other two Heroes, he's probably the one I like the most," I said with a shrug to a wide-eyed Karania, her hand still holding onto my shirt as we walked together, "Wouldn't say I know him though."
"I...I saw him. When he bought Raphtalia," She spoke out, surprising me, "His eyes...they weren't kind eyes."
"You worried about her?" I asked gently and Karania gave a small nod of her head. I guess it made sense, from what she told me about how the Shield Hero was supposed to be a friend to Demi-humans while the Sword Hero was supposed to be some sort of devil.
"Well, don't be. The shield kid wouldn't hurt her. Hell, I think he's doing his best to protect her right now. He is the Shield Hero, after all," I said with full confidence and Karania relaxed by my side. I was half-tempted to ask what she thought of me when we first met but I decided not to push it for now.
I was glad that she seemed to trust what I said more than anything else. It wasn't a lot but it'll do for now. Walking out of town and the various stares we drew, I found myself once again in the fields outside the city, now with Karania in tow.
"So before we start, I'll ask you straight out, Karania. Do you want to use your magic?" Standing in a field of tall grass with those weird balloon monsters prowling around, I made sure we were safe with a few swipes of my blade.
I could feel the kid stiffen slightly beside me and I made sure never to swing towards her. She didn't seem too put off me killing the balloons thankfully but she gave me a fitful glance, her fists balling on her clothes.
"I-I can't, master," She said to me and I didn't miss how she didn't really answer my question.
I bit down my sigh as I calmly sheathed my blade and looked down at Karania who couldn't meet my gaze. Putting a hand on her shoulder, I could feel her trembling under my grasp. I knelt down to her eye level and did my best not to let my heart wretch through my throat as she gave me a terrified look.
"Karania, I come from a different world," I started talking to her, gently and I could see confusion flick across her wide eyes, "So if there's some sort of taboo or crime that I'm not understanding, you have to explain it. But I'll ask again. Do you want to use your magic?"
She opened her mouth but no words came out. Poor thing looked torn in half, her tail completely dead behind her and her ears twitching like mad. Eventually, without a word, she gave a painfully slow nod.
"Hey, look at me," I tried not to make it sound creepy as best as I could and when she did, I gave her a smile that seemed to confuse her.
"Look, Karania. I'm not going to beat around the bush or dance around the subject. If you want to use your magic, then use it. The only person that can stop you is you, get me?" I said to her and her gaze went behind my head, her eyes widening. I glanced behind me to see a red balloon monster biting down on the back of my heel.
Huh. Didn't even feel that.
I reached behind me to grab the thing and it writhed and moved fruitlessly in my hands, trying to escape. I stood back up and I took a couple of steps back to give the kid some space.
"If you really don't want to use your magic, then just don't. As I said, it's up to you kid. But if you do, just use Lightning Bolt on this monster. It's as simple as that."
I didn't know Karania well enough to tell exactly what she was thinking. The poor thing looked down at her shaking hands, biting down on her lip. Gently, she touched her back and she let out a slow, shuddering breath.
"M-Master...if I use my m-magic, it might hurt you," She told me softly but that wasn't an excuse which was good. Smiling at her concern, I shook my head.
"Trust me kid, I'm a lot tougher than I look. Just concentrate on casting your spell."
She gave me a weird look but my honesty must've shown through as she let out one more breath and brought her hands together.
"I am the source of all power…"
Oh? A chant? So it isn't too dissimilar from magic I already know. Okay, that's a good starting point.
"And I command you to answer my call," Karania's stutter wasn't anywhere to be found as she spoke clearly and strongly for the first time. Around her hands, crackles of golden-yellow lighting flickered to life. Her eyes of the same shade gained a new spark of life in them as she directed her hands to the balloon monster in my hand.
Cupped in her tiny, little hands was a rabid ball of electricity.
"Strike him down! First Lightning Bolt!"
With those words, Karania thrust out her hands towards the balloon monster and the furious arc of lightning flew like a golden arrow. It popped in my hands with the merest touch of Karania's electrical spell and it carried on flying far beyond into the sky.
Not bad, not bad at all. I looked at Karania and I could see her breathing heavily but there was a fire in her eyes now that made me smile.
It was the most alive I've seen her.
"Good work, Karania," I said to her with a smile and she gave me one in return, bright and alive.
So it was magic then. Alright then, I can work with that.
"How do you feel?"
"I feel fine, master," She said without stuttering and going by how the crest didn't react, I could tell she was telling the truth.
Funny how that works, by the way. The slave crest will inflict pain on the slave if they're lying so why wasn't it used on the shield kid or Myne? It would've been real simple and I refuse to believe that the king didn't know about that.
What a joke. For me, this was the final nail in the coffin. The shield kid didn't rape Myne. He was framed, which was pretty obvious from the start but I just had to make sure. You never know with these kinds of things.
"So how do you feel about popping some of these things?" I asked Karania and I could already tell what she wanted. Her ears twitched and flicked on top of her head and her tail swung around her as her face lit up.
"Really?," She said with a bashful tone but she was terrible at hiding her emotions. I gave a light shrug, looking around us for a moment.
"How much ExP are you getting from this anyway? Are the ones I'm killing going over to you?" I asked her as I found another balloon bounding towards us, a yellow one. I picked it up again, the whole thing feeling light and rubbery.
"They are, master," She told me with a soft but natural tone, "But I'm only getting one ExP from them."
"That's good," I said and she tilted her head at me, confused. I pulled out my sword and showed it off as it was still in its Slave User Blade III form.
"This is called the Slave User Blade III form. I got it when I put the slave ink mixed with your blood and mine into the sword," I started explaining to her and with a few bored swipes of it, I popped some more balloons, "I haven't figured out all the nitty-gritty details as of yet with this thing but this form, along with two others, will really help you get stronger. But to unlock that stuff, I need to use these forms for a little while."
"Sure, I could kill some really strong monsters and get you to level…I don't know, 20?" I hummed for a bit as I popped another balloon that was nibbling on my ankle and I saw Karania's eyes bulge wide for some reason.
"But that's stupid thinking and only short-term gain. If I unlock these forms as soon as possible, you'll get way stronger than you would normally."
Karania's hand went to her slave crest and there was a weird look in her eyes as she stared down at it. And truthfully, that was one of two reasons why I let it stay on her. Ironically, having her as my slave will make her that much stronger with the Slave User series.
The second was, well. As sick as it was, I did buy her for a reason. To help me read and write. Until I get to that point, I can't risk her running off. It's as simple and as awful as that.
"Uhm, master? Can I ask you something?"
"Sure, what's up?"
"W-What about master's level?" She asked me and if there was any question that I expected, it wasn't that. Karania looked a bit scared as she talked but nowhere near as scared as she was when we first met at least.
"Master is the Sword Hero. Y-You have a duty to stop the Waves," I gave a nod as if to make sure she wasn't stepping on any landmines and while I disagreed with the word 'duty', I wasn't going to grill her over that.
"S-So isn't it more important for master to get stronger? I'm...just a slave."
"Truthfully, you're not exactly wrong. That chain of thinking makes sense," I said to her without an ounce of a lie to be found in my words but she must've heard something in my tone as she looked at me strangely. I popped another balloon, more out of instinct than anything else and around me was a bunch of skins now.
"But there are two problems with what you just said. First is, I'm just one guy. If the Waves were the sort of thing that one person could deal with by themselves, then there wouldn't be four Heroes nor would we be pushed to have a party to help us."
Karania accepted that easily enough but I could see a creeping fear enter in her expression. She swallowed thickly and opened her mouth to speak but nothing came out. At least at first.
"Master," She said quietly, almost whispering, "Am...am I going to fight the Waves?"
"No," I said quickly and clearly, which seemed to shock her, "Karania, I bought you so you could teach me how to read and write this world's language. Admittedly, I might be asking a bit much from you considering you're just a kid and all but we'll see how it goes."
"After that, I'll release you and you can live out your life," I told her truthfully and her whole body stiffened at my words. I thought it would make her happy, but the reaction I got wasn't really what I was hoping for. The solemn silence, the way she seemed to retreat into herself.
God. What has she been through?
"But master doesn't have a party," She said and once again, I found myself thrown off by what she said, "So will master end up fighting the Waves alone?"
"And therein lies the second problem," I told Karania who tilted her head at me, "I can fight alone. I'm strong enough for it, more than anyone probably realises. But I can't really grow beyond what the sword lets me."
Without Hestia to update my Falna and without me able to level up like everyone else could, I'm pretty much stuck with the sword's bonuses. It wasn't a huge deal for me but it sucked a lot.
"Uhhhmm..." Karania mumbled, no doubt confused.
"Don't worry about that, Karania," I said with a sigh and I could tell she fought to hold back any words that might've slipped through, "Come on, daylight's burning. We got a long day ahead of us."
The kid gave me a slow nod, her ears twitching and a pensive expression on her face. I held the balloon up high, still fruitlessly trying to get out of my grip.
"When you chant your magic, do you have to do that everytime?" I asked her and she surprised me with a shake of her head.
"No, master. I can shorten the chant but the spell will be weaker."
Fair enough but that was good. For some reason, Karania's eyes lit up as she spoke about her magic, a glint in her eye as she stood up straighter.
"Show me," I told her and she held up her hands towards the balloon.
"First Lightning Bolt!"
There was no build up of energy like last time, no crackling electricity. With a simple yell, a thinner, weaker looking bolt of lightning fired towards the balloon and popped it all the same, but the bolt of lightning didn't pierce through as it struck the balloon.
"Nice job," I told her and she smiled at my words. Looking around, I saw the various skins around us and I gave a shrug.
"Help me gather these up. We'll sell them back in town."
"Of course master," She said easily enough without a fearful stutter. She was still a bit thin but not nearly as bad as some others I saw back in that tent. Gathering up the skins, I put them in the inventory of the sword for safe keeping.
"We'll keep doing this until the bonuses from the Slave User blades are unlocked. You up for it, Karania?"
"Yes, master!"
I didn't like how she kept calling me master but baby steps. I already made a lot of progress, far more than I thought I would make and I don't want to make her uncomfortable again.
I would say about an hour or two passed as I let Karania zap the balloons as something unexpected happened.
[Karania has become Level 2!]
"Master! I levelled up!" She said to me excitedly, smiling wide and happy. It was cute to see and it made me smile.
"Yeah, I saw. Good job, Karania," I resisted the urge to pat her head as I wasn't sure if physical contact would be a boundary or not but I smiled back at her anyway. I had unlocked the Slave User III and was currently using Slave User II to unlock that. Opening up the Party Menu, I went to see what had changed.
[Karania, The Kitsune Slave.]
[Level: 2]
[Race: Demi-Human Kitsune.]
[Attack: 3]
[Defence: 3]
[Agility: 4]
[Magic: 10]
[Magic Defence: 5]
Oh. Oh my.
The distribution wasn't split evenly but that made sense. If everyone levelled as the same, then everyone would be the same. You wouldn't have people better at magic or using weapons or so on.
I don't really have a reference point for how good this was though. I have to assume it was great, if nothing else. I can only imagine that it's good.
"Right, let's take a break for now," I told Karania and her shoulders sagged with relief, "We have a lot to do today, so we'll carry on later on the road."
"Where are we going, master?" Karania asked me curiously and it was nice to know that she felt safe enough around me to ask me something.
"A place called Riyute Village," I explained as I put the past of the monster parts in my sword's inventory, Karania looking on intently as I did so, "I got a quest to go there and clear out the monsters entering the mines. Before we go though, I need to get camping supplies, get my armour and see if we can't visit a magic shop afterwards."
I didn't miss how Karania's eyes shone at the mention of the magic shop and I didn't blame her. Magic was always an interesting subject and while I doubt I can use this world's magic, knowing more about it can only help me rather than hinder me.
With Karania's first level up out of the way, we made our way back to town and despite how my feelings were about this whole arrangement, they weren't nearly as bad as before.
But maybe I should tone down being a cunt now. I'm really not helping myself.
I have a kid with me now, after all.
.
.
Well that hiatus lasted way longer than I thought it would. At least it wasn't years again.
So I've always been upfront about stuff and well, this won't change. The reason why my hiatus took so long is primarily because of health issues that were fairly serious for me to deal with. That's not to say I suffered a couple of months but I had to concentrate on myself for the time being, along with a plethora of other, if minor, real life stuff to work out on my end. As of now though, I'm 100% fine and the issues I was dealing with turned out to be not so serious at all in the end.
So that's nice. Not dying of cancer is pretty good, I have to say.
With that being said though, I did write quite a lot of stuff that I plan on posting soonish. This was honestly the closest to being done and I thought I would use it as a sorta update for people wondering where the hell I have been. Of course, putting up another update for Crawling would alert more people but you know.
As for the chapter itself, I was a bit iffy on it because of the whole slave thing. Mostly because I feel like it might be kinda overdone at this point but I was actually having trouble trying to find out how John would get anyone to join him considering how much he sabotaged himself with, well. Everything. The thing is
Also, I'll admit straight up that I just got some things wrong the last / first chapter of this. I'm not really all that knowledgable on Shield Hero and while I do read the LNs for a quick reference and google, the issue is that I get quite a lot of conflicting information about stuff and sometimes have to fill the blanks myself. I got some shit wrong like the monster part stuff which I will rewrite to reflect that along with some other minor stuff.
Granted, this isn't really a full fic and more like a thing that I write to entertain myself, that isn't an excuse to lower my standards and write shit.
I can't think much else of anything to say right now besides that I'm glad not to be dead. That's always a good plus, in my opinion.