Spear and Shield

by RandomUsername1

(AU) (Female Naofumi) What happens when the Legendary Spear gets the person it wants instead of the backup that was Motoyasu? You get a American who wakes up in a new world who is all of sudden the Spear Hero which comes with many perks but being a Hero isn't all sunshine and rainbows as he's soon to find out.

11. Chapter 10 Maze equals Evil

Chapter 10: Maze equals Evil.

All rights go to their owners.

Talking: "Money doesn't matter if it feels for you."

Thinking: 'I used to worry every day, now I've got better things.'

"Fuck is this? Silent Hill?"-Kane Stone.

The sun starts to shine on the little campsite the party has made it's been a few days since they left Castle Town which turned out to be a boon to them as they had started gaining more XP from the monsters they killed. Throughout the campsite, birds can be heard chirping their songs on the branches of trees or while flying overhead. Kane is sitting in the wooden chair right next to the campfire. He spins the skewer that has meat on it and opens the pot of boiling cooking oil he made from animal fat, he pulls out some potatoes from his inventory and starts to slice them into small pieces over the pot, whistling as he does so.

"Sheeeeen!" A shout of anger echoes through the forest, disturbing the birds resulting in them flying off. Kane looks at where the shout originated from, pausing in slicing the potatoes. Shen in his child form runs out of the treeline going right for Kane. As soon as Shen reaches Kane; he hides around the side of Kane, using Kane's bigger size to hide.

"...Rifana?" Kane looks down at Shen who responds with a nod while looking around the sides of Kane for the very angry Rifana. Kane chuckles. "Been there. So what did you do?"

Shen doesn't stop looking around. "I might have thrown a slime in her hair as a prank."

Kane snorts, going back to slicing the potatoes. "Well that was a big mistake, Riffy really cares about her hair." Kane shakes his head. "I mean she goes fucking ballistic when you make a prank with her hair and she can hold a grudge." He unconsciously rubs his back.

Shen looks up at Kane with morbid curiosity at what might happen to him. "...How did she get you back?"

Kane looks behind him, looking out for Rifana. "Well, it took some time but when we were still in Riyute village she worked together with Iw… uh Naofumi which resulted in balloons smacking into me at Mach 10, or at least it felt like it was going Mach 10."

Shen tilts his head. "What did you do to mommy to make her mad?"

Kane looks off to the side. "I have no possible idea why she was mad at me." A memory replays in Kane's mind of him scaring Naofumi in the forest resulting in her making an adorable squeak. He runs away but not before he teases her on the squeak resulting in her vowing revenge.

"Where is he!" Kane turns to the voice to find a dishevelled Rifana, her normally well-groomed pink hair is covered in blue slime which is dripping down from her head, Her eyes are like slits, staring right at Kane.

Kane smirks at the sight. "That a new fashion statement Rifana?"

Rifana's eye twitches. "...There's a lot of balloons in this forest Kane, just want you to know that."

Kane laughs, raising his hands to calm her down. "Alright, alright. Who are you looking for?"

Rifana snarls. "You know exactly who I'm looking for."

Kane shrugs. "I ain't got a clue."

"So who's that hiding next to you?"

Kane pauses for a few seconds before turning to look at Shen who stares back at him in response. "...Run?"

Kane nods. "Run." Shen doesn't hesitate at all and bolts out of the area, Rifana follow behind although she's lagging due to her being no match for the Dragon boy's speed. Kane gives a soft laugh to himself at the situation between the two before going back to preparing the food. Kane absorbs two things while preparing the food.

Monster Fat Spear unlocked! (+0) +3 Cooking Skill.

Self Made Cooking Oil Spear unlocked! (+0) +4 Cooking Skill.

---

Kane sets up the table while waiting for the food to finish cooking, he sits down in one of the chairs and opens up his help menu.

Help Menu:

He skims through most of the help menu, having already figured out most of the information in there by first hand.

{...You should look into how to deal with the Waves a bit more.}

By Gungnir's suggestion, he finds the tab and opens it, reading over it. "...Kinda wish there was some tips or tricks to fight against the Waves in there to be completely honest."

{You will have to make do besides there are two things you can do to make the Waves easier. Register people to be teleported alongside you or the best way; add them to your party.}

Kane's brow raises. "Why does it matter if they're in my party or not?"

{Have you forgotten your perks already? Right now your current party members are extremely powerful stat-wise but your presence perks essentially buff their already impressive stats by double, now imagine that but with a whole army of knights or adventurers.}

Kane tilts his head in confusion. "Is there a limit to party members?"

{No, so you may gather as many people to join your party to help defeat the Waves.}

Kane whistles. "Shit, I'm starting to get how strong these party buffs could be."

{Strong for your party members but a detriment for you as monsters are more likely to attack you than anyone else.}

Kane hums at this. "Well, I guess I can't keep getting OP shit without having a catch."

{It's why you should be improving yourself, learn how to use the Spear or at least improve the Spears you have unlocked; I mean how many items do you have that can be used for Status Enhancement but you don't do so, how many ores have you collected from monsters that you don't use to upgrade other Spears.}

"I'm trying to get the Siderite Spear maxed out alright besides some of those items I want to use to upgrade my armour or make new Spears."

{Fine but you do not need all of those parts, some of them would be better used for improving the Spear via Status Enhancement.}

"Next time we go back to Castle Town I'll get Erhard to look through my shit, any good parts he picks out I'll keep, and of the unwanted or filler parts I'll absorb for Status Enhancement or sell it off."

{Good, you're somewhat planning for the future although you still have no idea when we will go back to Castle Town.}

Kane looks back at the food thinking the conversation between the two of them is over.

{I wish to know, what is your plan getting the Strengthening Methods from the other Heroes?}

"What are you talking about?"

{The other Strengthening Methods from the Sword and Bow Hero. It stands to reason that if you and the Shield Hero have differing Strengthening Methods then the Sword and Bow Hero would also have their own methods.}

Kane pauses for a moment staring at the Spear. "...Fuck, you're right."

{So you don't have a plan}

"Nope and I don't think there's any point in making one since Itsuki and Ren aren't gonna give up any information willingly especially Itsuki."

{...I would chastise you for being impulsive but I won't deny seeing you beat the other two Heroes was entertaining, even more so when I could feel the Weapons fuming at their wielders.}

"Heh, It was pretty fun smacking them around, their bullshit about being Heroes kinda pisses me off."

{Although I'm not exactly pleased that you got into a fight to defend the Shield Hero. You do realise she's our rival correct? Yet you defend and even strengthen the Shield Hero, the reason probably being you wish to bed her despite her being your rival.}

"She's your rival no let me rephrase that, the Shield is your rival, not mine." Kane shrugs his shoulders nonchalantly. "I do want to fuck her but see Naofumi could be a dude and I would still help."

{...Why?}

"Because why not? Do I need a reason to not be a dick and help when I can?"

{You think valuing yourself above the Shield Hero, OUR rival is being a "dick"?}

"Yes because again she isn't my rival."

{She is your rival, just because you say she isn't doesn't make it true.}

"Nope, she isn't, seriously what's your beef with the other weapons?"

{It's… complicated.}

"Like?…" Gungnir doesn't respond. "Nah see you can't say it's more complicated than you think and then go all quiet as if being cryptic is cool." Kane looks at Gungnir for a few moments, waiting for a pop-up that never comes. "Ah fine be all secretive but I'm not going to fuck over Naofumi just cause she's got a Shield stuck to her arm." Kane looks back at the pot. "Oh shit!" He rushes to the campfire cooking the food, thankfully the food isn't overcooked at all resulting in him letting out a sigh of relief. He drains the pot. He's about to shout out to the group but he decides to take one of the potatoes he's cooked and absorbs it.

Potato Spear unlocked! (+0) +2 Cooking Skill.

"Pretty sure people who train to be master chefs would blow a fucking fuse at how easy it is to make food in this world." He turns around and shouts out to the forest. "Hey, Food's ready!"

He hears shuffling from one of the nearby trees, he tilts his head upwards finding leaves beginning to fall and glide in the warm summer air as Keel jumps down from a tree branch. "Finally, I'm starved."

Kane tilts his head at this. "Wait you were up in that tree this whole time?"

Keel sits at the table sighing as she does so. "Yep, I saw you talking to your Spear, you going insane Kane?"

Kane snorts. "Probably."

"Well, I think I would be a good Spear Hero replacement just so you know." Keel looks at Kane with a sly grin who returns the grin with a smirk.

"Yeah, then you have to deal with Gungnir being super secretive and constantly fussing about you not being serious enough."

Keel slightly turns her head, her brow raising in a curious manner. "Gungnir?"

Kane shrugs, a straight line on his face. "That's what I call the Spear. Turns out all the Legendary Weapons are sentient."

"Seriously?" Kane nods, making Keel lean back in her seat. "Huh. I've never heard of the Legendary Weapons being sentient before."

"Yep, they're all sentient and all have a feud match against each other. I might be the only one who gets the Legendary Weapon that talks though since Iwi hasn't mentioned it at all."

Leo appears from the treeline walking up to the table while Keel and Kane are talking to each other and takes a seat, he looks around the area looking for the missing two party members. "Where's Shen? He's normally the first one here for food."

Kane looks off in the direction where Rifana and Shen ran in. "Shen made the big mistake of fucking with Rifana's hair, they'll be here eventually… well at least they better be here eventually."

The group wait for a few minutes before Rifana returns, her hair cleaned with all the slime in it with Shen walking in a bit later, looking at the ground. Shen and Rifana both sit down at the table without saying a word although Shen keeps his distance from his still slightly angry demi-human. Kane shakes his head with a smirk and gives everyone their fair share of food, after doing so he settles down in a chair to begin to eat his own serving.

Hearty Steak and Chips: +20% to HP and Physical Defence!

Kane hums at this. 'I guess I'm getting stat boosts from the food now that my cooking skill is high.'

---

The party starts to pack up the campfire, getting ready to leave. Rifana looks up, hearing leaves crumbling underfoot. Watching a large bear-like monster charge out of the forest. Surprisingly the bear is actually injured which goes unnoticed by the party. The two sides stare at each other for a bit before the party jumps into action ready to kill the bear.

Rifana pulls out her bow and draws it, letting the arrow go, digging straight into the bear's eye making it roar in pain. Keel charges in with her sword at the ready and slashes the side of the arm cutting off its front leg. The bear stands on it's hind legs right to hit Keel before Leo runs between them and blocks the attack leaving it open for Kane and Shen to finish off the bear. Shen punches the bear in the side while Kane stabs it repeatedly in the neck.

194 XP gained!

The bear drops to the ground, its life draining.

Would you like to harvest this monster?

Kane presses yes and the process of harvesting the bear begins.

Bear Hide Spear unlocked! (+0) +11 Phy Def.

Bear Bone Spear unlocked! (+0)+7 Phy Def.

Bear Meat Spear unlocked! (+0)+7 Phy Def, +2 Cooking Skill.

Bear Paw Spear unlocked! (+0) +12 Agi, +12 Atk

Bear Ear Spear unlocked! (+0) +7 Phy Def, Small boost to awareness.

Bear Eye Spear unlocked! (+0) +2 Hunting, +2 Analysis, +2 Fishing.

Bear Tooth Spear unlocked! (+0) +14 Atk.

Bear Claw Spear unlocked! (+0) +14 Atk.

Bear Heart Spear unlocked! (+0) +2 Atk.

New Skill unlocked! ?:?

Kane tilts his head at the Skill he unlocked from the Bear Heart Spear, he's about to ask Gungnir what's going on with it before Rifana speaks out. "Something else is coming."

Shen nods. "I can smell someone."

They all bare their weapons ready, waiting until a man comes out, he has a spear and shield at the ready. He steps forward, looking over the bear or rather what little was left of it. The man grimaces at the sight, disappointment visible on his bearded face. Kane looks over the man seeing that he's around his 50s or 60s he's wearing armour that's a mix between leather and scale, his face gaunt which Kane assumes is because of his age. There's wisdom in his grey stormy eyes but also a sense of mental exhaustion. The man sighs, staring over the body.

"So you killed the bear and completely picked it clean."

Kane looks at the remains of the bear and then back to him. "...Gonna take a wild guess and say you need it for something important?"

"Didn't need the bear alive, what I needed was its meat. It would be enough to at least feed the village a bit."

Kane tilts his head a second time. "Huh?"

"Lerno village is suffering a famine."

Kane's eyes widen at that, both at the situation and the familiar name. "Shit well as an apology for pretty much stealing food from your mouth I'll come with you."

The man huffs. "No offence kid but I don't see much point in bringing you back."

Kane smirks holding out his hand and opening his inventory to pull out a Usapil he's harvested. "I got way more than this by the way."

Leo scoffs. "That's an understatement."

The man looks at the meat in shock. "...How did you do that?"

Kane chuckles and waves with his hand. "Magiiic. Nah I'm the Spear Hero so I get an unlimited inventory among other things."

"You're the… Spear Hero?" The man stares at him in disbelief.

"Yep."

The man stares for a bit longer before shaking his head. "...I guess a Hero would be one of the few people who could help us."

Kane looks at his party who all nod back. "Well lead on then."

The man pauses before turning around walking off to which Kane and the others follow directly behind.

---

Kane and his party follow the aged man back to the village. Upon entering Kane is rather haunted at the sight. Men and women completely skinny, their faces just as gaunt as the man who led them here. Kane spots a few children who while not as malnourished as the adults are still unhealthy skinny. A man stands before them, his grey beard showing his age, he speaks to the man leading Kane and his party. "Who are these people Griffin?"

The now named Griffin looks back and nods his head at Kane. "Blondie over here is the Spear Hero apparently." Whispers go around, anyone who wasn't paying attention to the newcomers surely were now upon the revelation that one of them is the Spear Hero.

The man looks at him with shock. "Y-You are the Spear Hero?"

Kane rubs the back of his neck, stepping forward. "Yep, heard you've guys been having famine problems, and considering I fucked up this guy's hunt I figured I should help out."

The man bows. "Thank you Spear Hero! I have an idea that could be perfect in helping our village."

Kane waves the man off. "Don't bow and I think you should save the idea at least until after everyone here gets something to eat."

The man straightens out. "I… How Spear Hero? There isn't enough food to go around."

Kane smirks. "Keel helps them bring out tables, Leo and Shen go get me some firewood, and Rifana you help me cut the food. Hope you don't mind Usapil because that's pretty much the one monster that's edible and I have in large amounts." His party nods with Shen and Leo already walking off while Keel and Rifana wait for the villagers

The man stutters. "W-What?"

Kane decides to show him and pull out a chunk of Usapil from his inventory. "I've got… I don't know how much but it's a lot, way more than enough to feed you all, although some spices and herbs would make it taste a lot better, also some big pots would make cooking a lot easier." Everyone stares at him. "Quicker we can this done, quicker you can all eat." Those words essentially kicked everything into action with the villagers pulling out pots and herbs and such to Kane with help from Keel while Rifana and Kane start to set up the cooking apparatus.

Kane is looking over the food he's preparing and looks at something and picks it, giving it a sniff. "...Kinda smells like garlic… fuck now I want garlic bread." Kane goes back to preparing the food and getting it ready for everyone but his craving didn't go away at all.

45 minutes later.

Kane pours a serving of Usapil stew for everyone, even Shen and Keel despite eating not too long ago. Kane walks back to the pots of stew.

Usapil Stew: +15% Agility.

The man who bowed to Kane walks up to him. "Spear Hero."

Kane turns around and looks at him. "What's up? You want another serving, still lots to go around."

The man pauses looking over at the pots. "Maybe after since I need to talk to you."

Kane gestures with his hands to continue. "Go ahead then."

"As the mayor of this town, I am begging for your aid with our famine."

Kane scratches his cheek. "Uh-huh, look I have no idea how to fix your famine problem besides hunting and farming but other then that nada."

The lord shakes his head. "Hunting is a dangerous profession even more so with the Waves about. Monsters and such could attack while you go out so you need to be strong enough to deal with the occasional but well… We're more farmers than hunters so we aren't strong enough, normally this wouldn't be such an issue but our crops have withered." The lord sighs. "Although not all hope is lost, there is a supposed miracle seed near the ruins that can pull us out of this dark spot."

Kane nods. "A miracle seed huh?" Kane looks over at all the villagers, seeing them eat away at their heart's content, despite how skinny they all are life seems to slowly come back into them, some even standing up to get more servings. "Eh fuck it why not, let's go be Indiana Jones. You know where these ruins are?"

The man nods. "We know the general area and that the miracle seed is IN a ruin but we are not sure which ruin exactly."

Kane hums at this. "So I could find the seed in seconds or days, not liking that."

The man bows. "My apologises Spear Hero."

Kane shakes his head. "You don't have to bow besides nothing to apologise for, just need to figure out how to go about this."

"What do you mean Spear Hero?"

"I don't want to be spending days searching for this seed if you guys don't have any means of feeding yourselves."

The elder man nods at the logic. "I see, you are most kind Spear Hero."

Kane shrugs. "I have my moments, I gotta ask though if you know where this seed is why not send Griffin to get it?"

The lord sighs. "Griffin is an extremely competent fighter but the problem is he's just one man and he is one of the few capable of fighting off monsters so he mostly brings in what little food we can hunt."

"Well… you got any other info that could help us with the seed? Like the entrance to the ruin has some sort of… marker we can look for."

"No, all we have is the legend that the seed is sealed in one of the ruins."

Kane double takes at this. "I-Wait what? The seed is sealed?"

Before the two can continue their conversation a woman walks up. "Excuse Spear Hero may I take some more?"

Kane looks at her. "Huh? Oh yeah, go for it." Kane opens the pot for the woman and pours a serving for her. She smiles at this and walks off.

The lord sighs as the woman leaves and explains. "Legends say that an alchemist used to live in this region and created a seed that could help with our famine problem but for some reason, he sealed it away."

"Now I don't think this is gonna be as simple as grab the seed and that's it, to be honest with you."

"I know, it is… strange that the alchemist did such a thing." Kane snorts at this. "But we don't have much choice. That seed is our last hope besides it's only a seed, how much damage can it truly do?"

Kane hisses. "Don't say that you'll just jinx it into being the worst fucking thing to ever happen like… super cordyceps or something."

"Cordyceps?"

"I'm not going to talk about it, thing gives me the creeps but what I'm saying is this seed could result in something even worse than you could imagine."

The man seems to somehow age 10 years, he slumps, his back hunched as he looks at the ground. "I know… it's just that there is no other option all we have is the hope that the seed is not as dangerous as the alchemist thought."

Kane huffs, looking up and finding his party mingling with the villagers. "Does it have to be in the village? Maybe plant the seed in some location only you guys know where to find it."

"But then we run the risk of others stealing it, not only that but bandits could become a problem down the line if they learn of its location."

Kane looks up at the sky and sighs. "Fuck this rock and a hard place bullshit, let me get the seed first hopefully we're just stressing over a pretty much harmless seed, you mind showing me where to go?"

The lord nods and walks away to which Kane looks at his party. "Shen, Keel, Rifana, Leo! I need you all to come here."

The party looks at Kane from hearing their names and walk over to him. Keel crosses her arms. "What's up?"

"The sky." All the demi-humans shake their heads at the awful joke. "We gotta talk, long story short the mayor heard of some miracle seed that could fix this village's famine problems-"

They all smile, Rifana speaks up. "That's great!"

"Not entirely. This miracle seed was sealed away for some unknown reason so it could make this situation even worse."

Leo hums. "So what's the plan?"

Kane looks at them all. "The plan is me and Shen go get this seed, flying there shouldn't take too long but finding it might so you three stay here and help hunt for food."

The party all look at each other, Leo looks up at Kane. "Is this really a good idea?"

Kane shrugs, a straight line forming on his mouth. "Guess we'll have to find out."

The lord approaches the party as he says this with a map on hand. "Spear Hero, look here." The mayor straightens the map, pointing to the village and then to the ruins. "This is where you have to go."

Kane outstretches a finger at the map. "Any chance I could take that map? I wanna absorb it."

The mayor shrugs and hands Kane the map to which he takes and places it on the red gem of his Spear.

Map Spear I unlocked! (+0)

New Skill unlocked! Map of Melromarc: summon a magical map that shows the entirety of Melromarc.

Kane activates Map of Melromarc and finds a red Spear icon on the map and then the ruins, noticing they are in the mountain area. Kane nods. "Alright, I'm going to leave these three with you to help with hunting in case I take too long while me and Shen are gonna go get this seed." He pets Shen on the head as he looks at the mayor, who looks back at Kane with a grateful smile on his face. "Alright, Shen go transform out of sight and bring the clothes back to me."

Shen nods and runs off, breaking line of sight. The party waits for a few moments before Shen in his Dragon form comes running back with his clothes in his maw. The mayor takes a step back in surprise at the sight of the fast Dragon running towards them. Kane takes the clothes out of his mouth and places it inside his inventory before hopping onto Shen's back.

All the villagers stop the feast and look at Kane while he's on the back of Shen, Kane points in a direction to which Shen unfolds his wings and with great strength flaps them to create flight, eventually, the two go flying off leaving behind the amazed villagers and his party.

7 minutes later

The two are still flying through the air despite how serious this was for the future of the village, Kane couldn't stop smiling as he flies around with Shen. He raises his hand and feels the air against it. "Hey uh, D-Kane."

Kane looks down at Shen who still flying ahead. "What's up Shen?"

"The sky." Shen looks back with a smug smirk to which Kane pets him on the head chuckling a bit, Shen looks ahead. "Can I take a break? Eating all that food has made me sleepy."

Kane snorts. "Sure go ahead and land."

Shen doesn't hesitate and starts to get lower and lower before entirely stopping and landing. Kane hops off him, kicking the ground with his legs to stretch it. Shen transforms back into his human form to which Kane looks away but pulls out clothing for him. Shen takes it and gets dressed. "Can you carry me now, I'm still tired."

Kane picks Shen up, placing him on his shoulders. "You good up there?" Shen nods holding onto Kane's head. Kane activates the map skill again to see how far away he is from the ruins before walking off in the direction he needs to go.

---

Kane keeps walking on the dirt road heading to the ruin with Shen slumped on his shoulders against his head, holding on tightly. He looks ahead watching the grass sway to the cool summer air, Kane activates a song as he walks, singing along with it, Shen on his shoulders joins in and copies Kane but missing a few words in the song. "Oh my god, oh my god this feeling's just begun. I'm saying things I've never said, doing things I've never done. Oh my god, oh my god when I see you I should run but I'm frozen in motion and my head tells me to stop. Tells me to stop-" If Kane wasn't listening to music he would have heard the carriage behind him which eventually overtakes him and stops ahead of Kane making him stop, turning off his music. Kane walks up to the side of the carriage and finds two… really big Filolials.

"Hi, Kane!" Kane turns to find Raphtalia in the driver's seat of the carriage.

Kane smiles at the familiar. "Ralphy! Been a while huh?" Kane turns his head to find Naofumi standing in the back of the carriage with her head poking out the front, staring at Kane. "Good to see you too Iwi." Kane chuckles.

Naofumi nods, her scowl lessening. She steps out of the passengers' side of the carriage and stands at by the side of Raphtalia in the driver seat. "Kane." She turns, looking for the others in his party before a sudden shout comes from the Shen on Kane's shoulders. Shen suddenly seems to become filled with energy. "Big Sis Raphtalia! Mommy!" Shen jumps off Kane's shoulders right into Naofumi's embrace.

Naofumi steps back at this, surprised at the sudden affection. 'Wait... Mommy!?'

Naofumi stares at Kane, as for Raphtalia and the Filolials stare at the child although Raphtalia looks at the scene with confusion while the Filolials stare at the child with jealously. "You mind explaining to me why this child is calling me his mother?"

Kane shrugs. "It's Shen and since you bought his egg so he considers you his mother… Because that makes sense."

Naofumi looks down at the boy noticing his horns. "Shen?" The dragon boy looks up at Naofumi with a smile on his face. "Ah, so he transforms too."

Kane nods before pausing and tilting his head. "Yep. Wait what do you mean by too?"

Naofumi motions her hand to the Filolials pulling the carriage who is still glaring at Shen. Kane's head tilts back. "Ohhh. Both of them?"

Naofumi nods again, she gestures to Shen who's hugging her chest. "You mind telling Shen to get off."

"Shen you heard her." Shen pouts before eventually doing it, turning around and flying back to Kane's shoulders.

Naofumi places a hand on her hip. "So where are the others?" Raphtalia leans in curious to know where her friends are.

"They're back in Lerno village. Me and Shen were supposed to fly somewhere quickly but he got tired so I'm walking for the rest of the journey."

"Where are you going?"

"Ah some ruins in the mountains, apparently there's a miracle seed there that could help Lerno village with famine."

Naofumi nods. "Well you're in luck I'm going past that area I could give you a ride if you make it worth my while."

Kane tilts his head. "Do monster materials count?"

Naofumi crosses her arms with a dark smirk on her face. "That'll work just fine, hop in the back." She goes back into the body where the passenger seats are.

Kane goes to the back of the carriage, grabbing Shen off his shoulders and climbing into the carriage. He sits on one side, placing Shen next to him. Naofumi sits opposite of the two. "So how have you been dealing with Shen transforming?

Kane turns to Shen who in return looks back, Kane turns his head back to Naofumi. "...By telling him not to transform in his clothes?"

Naofumi's eyes harden. "That's it? You don't use the Slave Seal at all?"

Kane stares at Naofumi, slightly confused. "Yes? I told him he's not allowed to transform while wearing clothes and he needs to do it out of sight, I don't need to use the Slave Seal at all."

Shen smiles and joins in the conversation. "Dad asked me not to transform in my clothes so I don't rip them so I did it because I'm a good boy, right dad?" He looks up at Kane with a smirk on his face.

To which Kane sighs with a smirk on his face and pets Shen on the head. "That's right." Shen beams under the affection.

Naofumi grumbles, completely ineligible to anyone in the carriage, she sits up straight with a huff. "Mommy is complaining to herself." Shen blurts out while staring at her.

"Yep."

Naofumi glares at Kane, she clears her throat repositioning herself in the seat to get more comfortable. "...Moving on! Monster materials; what do you have?"

Kane goes through his inventory, pulling pieces of monsters and handing it Naofumi who holds out her Shield, showing off the gem in it. He grimaces as he places the more gory parts on the gem of her Shield. Naofumi looks over her new Shields with a small smirk while Kane shakes his bloody hands with his tongue out of his mouth, making noises of disgust. Naofumi looks up and sighs. "Here, you big baby." Naofumi tosses him a glass bottle of water to which he catches and walks off to the end of the carriage to wash off his hands.

Kane sits back down after washing his hands, as he does so Shen rests his head on Kane's lap. "I got some new info on how our stuff works by the way."

Naofumi's head moves, looking straight at him with speed Kane thought wasn't possible. "Well? Go on then."

He opens up his help menu. "So there's something called Monster Slaying Expertise, basically it's a milestone system where if you kill a certain amount of monsters you get a buff against that type of monster, in particular, some give you permanent buffs not just against monsters."

Naofumi looks over her menu, her eyes widen. "Yep, just got it, anything else?"

Kane looks over the rest of his help menu. "Uhhh, Combined Skills? That's something I unlocked."

Naofumi tilts her head. "Combined Skills? What like two party members combine their skills into one?"

Kane opens his mouth and then closes it, thinking a bit more on what Naofumi said. "T...That's not what I meant at all but now I wonder if what you just said might actually work." A sudden pop-up appears on his HUD.

Combo Skills unlocked!

Multi Javelins+Fire+Wind = Air-Burst Flare Javelins: Fire multiple Spears with magic of Fire and Wind.

Incendiary Blast+Earth = Volcanic Explosion: Fire a Spear that explodes on a timer which shoots out burning rocks.

Toxic Blast+Wind = The Cloud: Fire a Spear which explodes into a dark red cloud that poisons anyone inside it.

Spear Slash+Fire = Cerberus Slash: Slash your opponents with a fiery attack.

Kane stops reading and attempts to wave off his HUD. "God! this shit is so annoying when it covers my vision."

"So it works?" Naofumi looks off in the direction. "There it is. Alright, so what are Combined Skills?"

After a few moments when Kane's vision is finally no longer impaired by the onslaught of Combo Skills on his HUD, he speaks. "Combined Skills are just that; Skills combined into one. For example, when you gave me that pipe, I unlocked a Skill called Airstrike Javelin but see I already had another Skill called Lance Toss so the two of em turned into a combined Skill called Multi Javelins where I can summon as many Spears as my SP allows me."

Naofumi's eyes look down before she smirks, reading all the new Combined Skills she just unlocked.

Kane looks over one more thing that he doesn't recall telling Naofumi. "You can also specialize in a type of potion so for example if you specialize in healing potions, your healing potions will become stronger because of it."

Naofumi pauses, reading something out that can't be seen by the others. "Can I change it anytime I want?"

Kane shrugs. "No idea."

Naofumi rubs the bottom of her chin while Kane looks up to the roof of the carriage, hearing the slight snoring of Shen on his lap. "...I'm gonna take a nap." Kane rests his head on the fabric covering the passenger side of the carriage.

"Go ahead, I'll wake you when we get there." Naofumi speaks out, not looking up from her HUD. Kane hums in response, closing his eyes and before long the embrace of sleep takes him.

Kane's breathing turns steady and rhythmic. Naofumi looks up, watching Kane rest with Shen's head sleeping on his lap, a small smile forms on her face as she watches the two sleep peacefully. A few minutes pass, Naofumi still watching Kane and Shen sleep peacefully. She hums, looking back at her options. Eventually, she picks the healing specialization, wanting to make her healing potions even better. Something that would be extremely valuable during a time of catastrophe.

---

Kane stirs, feeling something softly nudge his leg, to which he mumbles incoherently. "Kane get up."

Kane groans and slowly opens his eyes. He finds Naofumi staring at him, in his peripherals he can see Shen sitting upright swaying his legs. "...Are we there yet?" Naofumi nods to which Kane stretches, popping his back before covering his mouth while he yawns. Naofumi stands up to which Shen quickly hops up and latches onto Naofumi's arm. She looks down at Shen, not even bothering to get him off, and walks out of the back of the carriage with Shen holding on to her.

Kane stands up and hops out of the carriage, he covers his eyes as the sun hits it. "...How long was I out for?"

Naofumi turns her head back to him. "...Probably 30 minutes or so."

Kane whistles. "Damn, Filolials are fast as fuck." Shen pouts, still holding onto Naofumi.

Raphtalia walks up with the Filolials in tow. "They can go even faster but… I get sick when they go too fast." Her ears fold on themselves.

Kane turns to Raphtalia with a raised brow before nodding in understanding. "...You get motion sickness huh?" Raphtalia nods, looking embarrassed, Kane chuckles. "My little sister is the same." He sighs at the thought of his sister. "Always keep your head straight on a fixed point, you'll get sick if you look out the side view and watch moving things, also breathe fresh air."

Raphtalia nods with a grateful smile. Naofumi tilts her head. "You have a sister?"

"Yep." Kane looks off into the distance, finding a giant structure built into the side of the canyon. "...Hopefully that seed is in there."

Naofumi crosses her arms with a sigh. "I'll help you find this seed, could work out in my favour."

Kane smiles and he turns to look at Shen. "Go get changed, Shen." Shen nods and runs off to the side of the carriage, out of sight.

Naofumi and the others apart from Kane watch Shen runoff. "What's he doing?" Shen answers Naofumi's question by walking out in his Dragon form with his clothes on his back, trotting towards Kane. He picks up the clothes and places it in his inventory wordlessly before petting Shen on the head. Naofumi watches the whole scene with jealousy, turning around with a grumble. Naofumi opens up her HUD and sends Kane an invite.

Iwatani Naofumi has invited you to a Heroic Party! Accept or Decline?

Kane presses accept, his HUD updating.

Iwatani Naofumi-LVL 32 Shield Hero.

Raphtalia-LVL 33 Demi-Human.

Sakura-LVL 16 Filolial.

Filo-LVL 16 Filolial.

Kane Stone-LVL 60 Spear Hero.

Keel-LVL 44 Berserker.

Rifana-LVL 44 Sentinel.

Leonidas-LVL 44 Weapon Master.

Shenron-LVL 21 Dragon.

Naofumi pauses, looking over the party in her menu. "...I see you no longer have that level cap, what was it in the end?"

"Something called a Class-up, once you hit level 40 you gotta Class-up at the Dragon Hourglass and they can choose some special class which boosts stats depending on what you pick but the amount of options though is just pure fucking insanity." Kane rubs his forehead.

Naofumi hums. "I'll keep that in mind." Naofumi walks off into the direction of the ruin. "Let's go." The others follow wordlessly, entering the giant structure. There's no hallway or anything just a single room with man-made walls and pillars. In the centre sits an ornate brazier with a torch next to it. A stone next to the brazier has inscribed letters in it but it's completely ineligible to Naofumi. "...Kane can you read this?"

He walks up to the brazier and looks it over. "...Nope, that torch looks important though." Kane takes the torch and lights it in the brazier. A wall to the side shifts, rising to reveal a hallway. Naofumi looks at Kane who shrugs back in response and walks ahead of the group, holding the torch they follow behind him. The hallway has directions, all three look the same exact same. "A fucking maze? Whoever made this was clearly pure evil."

Naofumi looks ahead. "Which way should we go?"

Kane after a few moments raises his finger and points in each direction. "Eeny, meeny, miny, moe." He finishes on the left side of the maze.

Naofumi stares at him in disbelief. "...Are we seriously going to go that way?"

Kane shrugs. "The nursery rhyme has spoken, we go to the left." He walks ahead of the group and due to him holding the only light source they quickly follow.

The group makes turns, attempting to find their way through the maze. Kane holds out his Spear which lights up. He hands Naofumi the torch who takes it wordlessly while staring at his Spear. "What's that Skill?"

Kane looks off deeper into the shadowy hallway. "Spear Flash, I got it from letting the Spear absorb my phone… still pissed I couldn't charge it in this world, could play Temple Run, or Fruit Ninja or something man such bullshit magic doesn't charge my phone."

Naofumi rolls her eyes while the others look confused at Kane. "...Just take the lead."

A purple field envelops the entire group darkening most of the groups' vision apart from Kane due to his blindness resistance. 'God, I hate that annoying asshole so much. He's only useful for giving me parts.' A voice can be heard whispering right into Kane's ear speaking English, he assumes it's Naofumi or something pretending to be Naofumi.

He tilts his head and rubs his ears with the palm of his hand. "I didn't like it when Silent Hill 2 whispered in my ear I sure as shit don't like it now." He notices a dark figure flutter above him, disappearing from his sight into the dark abyss above him.

Kane looks up, waiting for a sign of monsters, not noticing the glare from Naofumi or the sad look from Shen. He raises his hand in a finger gun gesture and aims it at the ceiling. "Bang." A large number of magical Spears shoot up into the ceiling.

17 XP gained!

19 XP gained!

24 XP gained!

24 XP gained!

26 XP gained!

27 XP gained!

27 XP gained!

A bundle of notifications pops up about XP gain a few seconds later a bunch of monster corpses drops to the ground, the voices stopping instantly. Kane lowers his hand, walking up to one of the monster corpses, and absorbs it.

Voice Gengar Bat Spear unlocked! +5 Agi, Small resistance to Sound Wave. (Equip effect: Megaphone.)

Kane shakes his head, sighing as he does so. Shen slams into him, pushing his draconic head into his hand, tearing up. "Y-You're not gonna leave me, right dad?"

Kane looks down at the upset Dragon. "What? No course not." He rubs the Shen on the head, wiping away his tears. "Come on now, don't cry if I leave you; who's gonna help me annoy Rifana?"

Kane smiles at Shen which makes the Dragon sniffle a bit, somewhat calming down. "Yo-You promise?"

Kane crosses his chest with his finger. "Cross my heart and hope to die, buddy."

Shen tilts his head, confused at this to which Kane elaborates. "It means I promise."

Shen nods to which Kane rubs his head again.

Kane looks at all the others. "Look whatever you heard someone else say it was nothing more than a mindfuck."

Naofumi's party all nod with varying emotions apart from herself, who instead focuses on something else. "Torch is going out. We need to hurry."

Kane nods and turns around. "Back to it, if you hear anyone's voice in your head, don't listen to it."

The group goes back to walking, making twists and turns. They find more monsters that attempt to influence them again but it's ignored.

Voice Gengar Rat Spear unlocked! +5 Agi, Small resistance to Blindness. (Equip effect: Megaphone.)

Eventually, the party finds themselves at what they believe is the end of the maze. They stand in a large room with a strange statue standing in the centre. The room begins to vibrate and shake, they look around finding the cause of the shakes emanating from the statue.

Guardian Golem LVL-47

The Golem moves, shaking off the dust and moving its arms making the joints in its body creak. It stomps the ground with enough force to make the entire room vibrate. It begins to slowly walk its way towards the group. Kane transforms his Spear into its Siderite form. "Got a plan?"

Siderite Spear: (+3) +115 Atk, +70 Agi.

Naofumi watches the Golem and its movements. "It's slow but powerful so speed is key. Best if we take out its limbs since it seems like they're not as protected and it would weaken it making it easier for us to take it down."

Kane nods at the logic, he activates a Spell

"Hear my call and quicken my allies. Fast Boost!"

A red field envelops everyone individually before dissipating, leaving behind the speed boost.

The Golem swings down at the party to which they all split up, Kane goes in for a swipe trying to slash between it's joints but he misses and hits the stone, slightly chipping it. It swings for him with a backhand to which Kane jumps back creating space between him and the Golem, feeling the wind as the fist misses him.

Raphtalia charges in slashing at its leg, which isn't very effective, Shen, Sakura, and Filo charge in, attempting to cause damage to it. Shen spews a gout of flame straight at the lower half of its body which it completely ignores it. While Filo and Sakura kick it in the head, making the Golem stumble but it regains its footing. It raises an arm and throws it down in an attempt to crush Shen. "Airstrike Shield!" The Golem's arm slams into the green Shield that blocks it from Shen. The Shield transforms into a Dragon head and spews flames at the offending arm.

Kane charges in, jumping on its back, climbing it to its neck. He starts to slash at the base of its neck, slowly cutting through the rock. The Golem attempts to grab Kane. "Airstrike Shield!" Another magical Shield blocks it yet again before being punished by the Shield by again transforming into a Dragon and spewing flames onto the same arm, the arm is red hot and even melting in some areas. "Sakura, Filo, Raphtalia help him get through the neck, Shen you and me keep burning it!"

The rest of the party springs into action. Shen takes a deep breath in before spewing it out at the legs again. Naofumi stands at the ready. Kane with the help of the others starts cutting into its neck, the Golem attempts to grabs and stop the party but every time it tries it gets stopped by Naofumi's Airstrike Shield and is punished for it. In a bid to get off its opponents it jumps up and hits the ceiling before crashing into the floor, making the entire room shake even more violently with even some rocks falling from the ceiling.

Kane drops to the ground with Raphtalia by his side, Filo and Sakura land on their feet, quickly picking up the two. Kane looks up to the Golem watching it slowly turn to them before raising its foot. Kane charges a skill in mind but stops at the sight of Shen flying straight into the Golem's neck. Shen digs his claws into the Golem's neck and puffs in before letting out a sapphire flame that burns so hot you could feel the heat just by looking at it.

The flame melts away the already damaged stone before burning the rest of it's neck. The Golem stumbles and falls to the ground, Shen lets go of the Golem and safely flies to the ground watching the Golem. A giant scorching hole in the space separating the head and body as with what was left could no longer be called a neck.

As if the very earth moved the room starts to shake again, with dust and grounded earth falling from the ceiling.

3201 XP gained!

Monster Slaying Expertise milestone unlocked!

Level up!

Kane pats Filo on the chest and walks up to the Golem, kicking it for good measure. "...That was fun, good work everyone especially you Shen for that very nice ending." He gives a thumbs up to Shen who trots over to him to which Kane starts to pet him.

Naofumi stands next to the Golem, harvesting it. She stands up and walks over to Kane, handing him the Golem parts to which he takes it with a nod and a thank you.

Guardian Golem Fist Spear unlocked! +30 Atk.

Guardian Golem Core Spear unlocked! +35 Mag, +35 Mag Def.

Guardian Golem Chest Spear unlocked! +20 Phy Def.

Guardian Golem Foot Spear unlocked! +20 Phy Def.

New Skill unlocked! Endurance of Atlas: When activated suffer a 25% reduction in Attack but a 25% boost in Physical and Magical Defence.

He opens up his MSE menu to look at the new milestone he hit.

Golem 2/6

Guardian Golem 1/1 +15% Physical Defence.

"Did I do a good job mommy?" Shen looks up at Naofumi with a smile, his tail swaying behind him.

Naofumi looks down at him and sighs, patting him on the snout. "Yep."

Filo and Sakura barge in. "How about us!"

Naofumi groans, facepalming. "Yes, you two did good too."

Kane laughs at the scene, petting Shen on the head before petting Filo who pushes her head in. "We're almost the dream team we just need Leo, Keel, and Rifana here then boom, and nothing stopping us."

Raphtalia smiles, before hearing something behind her. She turns to find a chest sitting there, right next to a stone pillar with an inscription on the top. "Look. A chest."

Naofumi and the others turn to where Raphtalia is looking to find as she said a chest. "...How did we miss that?"

"...Tunnel vision." Naofumi looks at Kane with disappointment and disgust at the pun. "You can't deny that was a good one."

"You should be ashamed of yourself." Naofumi walks up to the chest while shaking her head. All the monsters turn to look at Kane who shrugs, a prideful smile on his face. He follows behind Naofumi, reaching the chest, he looks at the seemingly ordinary and well-maintained chest. He attempts to read the writing by its side but he realises the same language as the inscription at the beginning next to the brazier.

Kane crosses his arms, Naofumi standing next to him. "...Kane I don't think this seed is going to help the village in the long run."

He sighs and rubs the back of his head. "Yeah I know, still better I take this and figure out what to do with it than to let it sit for someone else." He jams the Spear in between the gap of the chest, once he gets the Spear in nice and tight, he slams his foot on the end of the Spear, forcing the chest open. They all look inside to find an ominous seed. It's red while giving off a soft glow. "Even fucking looks evil." He goes to pick it up to which Naofumi reaches out her hand to try and stop him but it's too late and he grabs it, to her relief nothing happens to which Kane places it inside his inventory.

BioPlant Seed.

'Even the name is a bit suspect.' Kane turns around to look at the party. "Well, guess we should go then." They all nod and start to leave except once they leave the final room they notice the layout of the maze has changed or rather became less of a maze and now just a hallway.

Naofumi stares at Kane as he walks ahead. "...Kane, why is it you were the only one who didn't trust the voices you heard?"

Kane shrugs nonchalantly. "It was obviously fake, pretty sure it was meant to imitate you-"

Naofumi tilts her head. "Me? Why was it so obviously not me?"

"Why would you be thinking in English?"

Naofumi's eyes widen at the so obvious reason. When she heard Kane's voice in her head she felt rage at him, thinking he was about to betray her but now that she thinks about it, the voice was in Japanese despite him never speaking Japanese once. The anger she felt slowly changed to shame. "W-Well what if it wasn't English? Would you still doubt it?"

"Yep, dark spooky cave where some alchemist guy worked, and then all of sudden I gain psychic powers which results in me hearing people talking shit about me? That's just shady as fuck and I've learned from coyotes not to always trust what you hear."

"R-Right, that is pretty suspicious now that I think about it."

Kane looks back a bit before turning ahead. "...I don't know what I said in your mind but if it was anything harsh or cruel know that I would never say that people I care about."

Naofumi hums, not responding.

Eventually, the group ends up outside. Naofumi looks at Kane. "You should plant that seed around here, we can take it down if it's a problem and rip out the seed that way you'll definitely know if it would be dangerous or not."

Kane nods. "Good idea." He starts digging, to find a suitable patch for the seed.

The others watch him apart from Shen, Filo, and Sakura who join in digging although they were just digging for the fun of digging. He finds a patch of dirt and plants the seed, resulting in the plant suddenly sprouting, slamming right into Kane making him go high into the sky. "...He just had to jinx it didn't he?"

The plant turns into a massive tree, with a big blossom in the centre which opens up to reveal an eye. "What in fuck's name is that? How does sticking an eye on a plant make it better in any sense of the word."

Naofumi shouts up to the top. "Having fun up there Kane?"

"Tons, come and join me, we have cookies and milk."

"I want cookies and milk!" Filo charges at the tree and climbs it to get up to Kane, finding no cookies or milk to her absolute dismay. "B-But you said there would be cookies and milk."

"...I can give you some meat instead how about that Filo?"

Filo nods with drool at the side of her beak.

The monster tree attacks Naofumi and the others on the ground floor while. A group of monsters spawns from the tree's branches going for Kane and Filo. Kane slices the plants with extreme ease although the liquid in the stationary ones slightly sting when they hit skin. "Careful Filo, some of them acidic."

51 XP gained!

Filo nods "Mhmm!" She charges in and slams her talon into a humanoid plant, killing the plant instantly.

Kane looks down at Naofumi and the others watching attempt to fight off the plant. He watches more and more plants spawn. "Ah fuck this, Filo fly away I got a plan." 'Burning Thrust!' Kane's Spear alights changing it to Siderite form before activating Spear Jump off the tree and then Seismic Leap in succession, Filo upon seeing Kane jump-off she follows suit herself, sliding down the vines of the tree. Kane slams right into the eye of the tree. Smashing it before making it completely combust, spreading to other parts of the tree.

673 XP gained!

The tree eventually crumbles, leaving behind only smoldering parts and even some surviving seeds. Kane picks up one of the seeds and absorbs it.

BioPlant Spear unlocked! +10% Potion reduction.

PlantRiwe Spear unlocked! +5% Potion strength.

Mandragora Spear unlocked! Small resistance to Poison.

Skill unlocked! Plant Reform: Adjust a plant's stats to your preference.

Skill unlocked! Plant Analysis: View a plant's stats.

Kane picks another one of the seeds and analysis it.

Fertility 9

Immunity 9

Mutation 13

Productivity 9

Vitality 9

Intelligence 1

Growth Potential 11

Variability 13

Special Ability: Drop a seed upon death.

Kane stares at the stats, completely confused. "...I have no idea what's good or bad."

Naofumi walks up. "What's the matter, Kane?"

"I'm looking at the stats of plant and honestly I have no idea what's making it go kill all humans."

"Well tell me the stats."

Kane explains it to Naofumi but for time's sake, she just picks up another seed and reads it herself. "I imagine Mutation is pretty bad."

"Yeah, I kinda agree but don't some people prefer mutations since it makes it more unique, like different colours and shit like that?"

"I'm not a botanist but my best guess on why it's so dangerous is Variability and Mutation, those stats are jacked up."

Kane lowers the mutation and Variability stat to 1 while boosting Growth Potential to the max. He tosses it on the ground to which it cracks the floor and turns the entire gravelly floor entirely green. "Might have just fucked the eco-system in this place." To his relief, the green slowly starts to decay, returning back to its earthly brown. "Shen, burn all the seeds and stuff, make sure nothing survives." Shen nods and begins scorching the remains

Naofumi tosses her own seed on the ground away from Shen's cleansing, it sprouts less violently like the original BioPlant or Kane's version. It noticeably doesn't have the eye and sprouts fruit. "Think I might have fixed it."

Kane sighs in relief. "Thank god for Iwatani Naofumi, I would have fucked this entire region up beyond repair if I had to keep fucking with these stats." Naofumi snorts, moving up to the plant and ripping it off. Opening it to find the seed within. She hands the seed to Kane who analyses the stats.

Fertility 6

Immunity 4

Mutation 1

Productivity 16

Vitality 6

Intelligence 1

Growth Potential 15

Variability 1

Special Ability: Drop a higher quality seed upon death.

He memorises the stats just in case. Naofumi looks at the plant, watching already starting the process of regrowing its fruit. "Looks like that village will be fine in the end."

"Thanks to you, you should come and join us." Kane stares at Naofumi with a small smirk.

Naofumi pauses, contemplating the offer before shaking her head. "Nah, I've got other jobs to do, I might go past it one day see how it's doing but other than that." She shrugs. "Was a good day though, got some powerful monster materials, new info on my Shield, and maybe a very profitable seed." She looks down at the plant before digging it up and taking the seeds along with it.

Kane nods. "Well then guess I should be off then Iwi, stay safe huh?"

Naofumi snorts again. "Yeah right, I should be saying that to you, Kane."

Kane shrugs. He's about to walk off before Filo interrupts him. "Hey Spear Guy where's the meat you promised me!"

Kane wordlessly pulls out some jerky he made and gives to Filo who eats it whole. "Gwuah! This is so good! Do you have any more?"

Naofumi shakes her head. "Filo, that's enough." Filo pouts but eventually relents.

Kane pets Filo on the head. "Next time huh Filo?" She responds with a big grin with her peak and nods.

Kane walks up to Shen who finishes scorching all the remaining seeds. "Ready to go back, Shen?" He nods to which he sits on Shen's back, waving to Naofumi and the others. "See you guys later!"

Shen joins in. "Bye, Bye!" He gets a running starts and flies off the two going back to Lerno village.

Naofumi and the others wave their goodbyes as Kane and Shen get smaller and smaller until they're completely out of sight.

---

The two finally get back to Lerno village to the cheers of all the villagers. The mayor walks up hope and tension filling him, Leo, Keel, and Rifana walk up behind him. "Well, Spear Hero?"

Kane hops off the Shen and pulls out the seed. "Your problems are solved by this." The whole village cheers.

The lord places a hand on his heart, smiling. He comes forwards and gently holds out his hand for the seed to which Kane places in his palm. The seed feels heavy to the mayor as if it's the village's entire future resting in his palm. He walks off and plants it in the centre of the town to which it sprouts and to the amazement of everyone already bares fruit. "T-This is truly a miracle Spear Hero, thank you so much!"

Kane chuckles. "If you want to thank anyone thank the Shield Hero."

The entire crowd goes silent and stares at Kane in confusion. "T-The Shield Hero?"

"Yep, the seed was even more dangerous than we thought but thanks to her the seed's most dangerous parts were removed."

"I… see." Murmurs can be heard around.

Kane gains a sly grin. "Hey now, think what you want but eventually when the seed pretty much ends your famine problem remember, she was the one who fixed it for you."

The man slowly nods. "Well… I want to thank you as well Spear Hero, for feeding us and going after the seed just to save our little village."

Kane shrugs. "Your welcome, moving on though I do have something to ask you."

The man nods and motions for Kane to follow. The two leave the crowd behind, with them staring at the BioPlant, constantly producing food and seeds. The two stand alone. "What was it you wanted to speak to me about Spear Hero?"

"Apparently you have someone who trains others in using Spears in this village, who is it? 'Cause I need some training myself."

"...That would be Griffin, I thought it was obvious due to him using a spear and shield."

Kane pauses before facepalming. "How the fuck did I miss that? Ah whatever, where is he?"

The lord gives Kane directions to his home to which Kane follows passing by the villagers who all make their way to the centre of the village, wanting to get a look at the miracle plant themselves. He finally finds himself on the outskirts of the village. The home is slightly larger then some of the other villager homes, considering Griffin's previous profession and him training spear users more space is probably needed. Walking up to the door he notices off to the sides is a patch of dirt formed in a circle with a bench not too far off. He knocks on the door. Griffin opens it slightly. "Spear Hero? You're back already?"

Kane nods. "Yep, that miracle seed was also fixed so the famine problem is pretty much gone now."

Griffin opens the door completely, the man smiling. "That's good to hear, this is a nice little village, the people here are kind. Starving to death is not a fate they deserve."

"Well it's not gonna happen now so might as well put it out of our minds. I gotta ask you a favour though."

Griffin's brow raises. "Which is?"

Kane holds up his Spear. "Can you teach me how to fight with a Spear?"

"...Fucking what?"

Omake: What's really going on through people's minds.

Raphtalia looks at Kane hearing his thoughts. 'What does water even taste like?'

She turns to Shen. 'I just want to set stuff on fire.'

She then turns to Naofumi. '...Wish I still had my body pillow.'

Then Sakura. 'The problem of being faster than the speed of light is that you're constantly living in- oh firefly.'

Finally, she reaches Filo. 'Gimme meat.'

End of Chapter 10

Honestly, I remade parts of the chapter since some of them had the magic shop owner being a part of cave but it felt too early for me so I took her out.

I kinda wanted to put Naofumi seeing Kane's true thoughts and it's where he asks the dumbest shit ever to himself but instead, I just made that the omake just as a little stupid thing.