Author's Note: Welcome back. I don't have much to say so enjoy chapter 4. Leave a review letting me know what you like, don't like, what feels rushed, etc.

Disclaimer: I don't own ROTSH or Kaiserreich as they belong to whatever companies own them. I just own my OC.

Decided to change the template of thoughts to make it easier to read when put next to actual dialogue.

"Quotes."

Thoughts

"Reading"

Forest Edge, Outside of Castle Town

January 7th, 0843 Hours, 1944

Alice stood back to back with Rifana as she held the trigger spewing out another burst of .45 ACP. The modern ammunition tore through the small pack of orange balloons as they exploded into dozens of pieces. It had been a week ever since their first day together and in order to be as ready as possible for this "wave" thing, they had trained and fought nonstop with the only breaks being for food, sleep, and using the bathroom. This grinding effort had begun to pay off as Alice had become level sixteen and Rifana fourteen. Rifana swung Alice's M3 Knife, making a gash on a balloon heading for her and subsequently popping it. Smiling at their current success, she failed to notice another sailing from her left.

"Rifana, 10 o'clock watch out!" Alice shouted over her SMG.

Barely catching herself, she thrashed wildly in the air, missing the balloon as it made contact with her chest and knocked her to the floor, dropping her HP by a couple digits. Alice retaliated by slamming the stock of her Thompson into the balloon, sending it flying several feet back before a loud bang rang through the air. Glancing over at Rifana, Alice noticed the now pre - teenage weasel demi - human holding the M1911A1 she gave to her with a small plume of smoke leaking out of the barrel. Before anything, she took a moment to look around and assess the area, finding it now clear seeing as that was the final balloon in this patch.

Shouldering her Thompson, Alice extended a hand to the weasel demi - human who was still sitting flat on her butt who promptly took it. Getting up with a slight grunt, Rifana smiled at her savior. "Do I have to remind you that the handgun is for emergencies, at least until I'm level 23?" Alice asked the girl.

"Yes mom." Rifana rolled her eyes.

Alice chuckled which Rifana reciprocated with a smug smirk. Her age is definitely showing. It's so weird watching someone go from barely being nine years old jumping all the way to fourteen week. She thought. "Yeah yeah, insult me all you want. It sounds like you want to be left behind."

Rifana froze at Alice's crude sense of humor. Alice paused for a moment, looked at her face, and saw her eyes committing the thousand yard stare every combat veteran was familiar with; that was until tears started flowing. Oh shit oh shit I fucked up big time! Instantly recognizing her mistake, Alice embraced the girl in a gentle hug to calm her down."It's ok, it's ok Rifana, I'm not leaving you. You're staying by my side, shhhh. It's ok. It's ok." She said softly, stroking her hair to try and calm her down.

"Please… d- don't say… t- that." Rifana begged through her tears.

"I won't ever again, I promise. No more jokes like that." Alice didn't mind continuing the embrace until Rifana collected herself, after all it was her fault. A few minutes later, Rifana's tears dried up and she took a deep breath to recompose herself. Letting go, Alice took a step back before placing a hand on her shoulder. "Are you good? I'm sorry for saying that, my sense of humor seems to be more screwed up than I thought."

"It's ok, I know you didn't mean it. It just hurt to hear."

"Duly noted. Let's take our minds off of it by picking up the balloon scraps alright?" Alice asked.

Rifana nodded slowly. "Yeah, yeah sure."

A few silent minutes later, the pair reconvened and placed the sizable amount of scraps they had acquired into Alice's rucksack. Adjusting the pack in a more comfortable position, Alice smiled at Rifana and softly rubbed her head causing the young demi - human to pout while her cheeks flushed red with embarrassment, a reaction Alice enjoyed having a laugh at. "Let's head back to Erhard's before we sell off these scraps, it looks like you're ready to wield a bigger blade." She suggested.

Quickly marching in step behind her, Rifana followed Alice as they made their way back to Castle Town. "So, Alice, what exactly was America like? You've told me about all the freedoms and liberties it had every time we sat down to eat dinner, but what was it like socially? How were demi - humans treated compared to regular humans. And you always mention some kind of war, what war?"

"Well, on Earth, demi - humans are not a thing. All we have are regular humans and the accompanying fauna species. As for the war, how do you know about that? I haven't exactly talked about it after our first day together." Alice questioned.

"You sometimes talk in your sleep. And with these," Rifana paused, pointing up at her ears." I always hear you talking to some General guy before you wake up. Who's he?"

Alice stopped, pinched the bridge of her nose, and sighed. "I'll give you the full scoop after we make it back to town and have some dinner ok?"

Rifana slowly nodded. "Ok. It probably means a lot to you, doesn't it?"

"More than you know. Tell me, do you know how the Cardinal Heroes are summoned?" Alice asked the curious weasel.

"An ancient ritual done by royal members of the church. Everyone knows that." Rifana responded.

"That's what it seems like, but in reality it's much darker. Rifana, promise me you can handle what I'm about to tell you." Alice recommended firmly, staring deeply into Rifana's eyes..

Rifana stared the grizzled veteran right back with a semi - confident degree. "I promise."

"Ok then. The truth is Rifana, those that are summoned are people who were recently killed within the vicinity of a piece of literature or media that details the scenario of this world." Alice explained, pulling out her newspaper and handing it over. "Look at that summary right there and how it parallels with the issues currently at hand with this world."

As her eyes scanned the summary of the The Records of the Four Cardinal Heroes, her eyes widened as the information presented was a near perfect one - to - one match of what she experienced with the first wave and the stories her parents had told her about the Cardinal Heroes. "So wait, your world knows about ours?" Rifana questioned.

"I doubt that exactly. To all of us who looked at it, it just seemed like another fantasy story; and now here I am living in it. You see that section where it said the four heroes were summoned from another world? It turns out that we're all from different worlds, and the way we got summoned was… we were killed."

"Wait, what?" Rifana shook her head, flabbergasted at the mention of Alice dying. "How were you killed? You're standing right in front of me." She tried challenging.

"It's not like that. I was retreating back to friendly lines after trying to be a stupid hero and I paid the price for it. A bullet hit me in the back and blew apart my chest. My squad, my friends, tried saving me; I bled out in two minutes." Alice described solemnly, placing a hand where the .308 round left its exit wound.

"So the Cardinal Heroes are just dead people from other worlds?" Rifana asked, barely wrapping her head around this new revelation.

"In short, yes."

"Alice, I'm sorry you had to experience that. It must have been horrible." Rifana said, empathizing with her friend.

"You don't need to worry about me." Alice replied, her stoicism reaching through her voice. "If I hadn't been killed in action when I did, I would never have met you and Raphtalia. I would have never been able to save you."

Rifana smiled at that. "And for that, we're both eternally grateful." She emphasized with a little bow.

"Enough about that for now, we don't need the day ruined by depressing backstories. C'mon, let's get back to Erhards and get you some better gear." She said. Smiling, Rifana popped back into step following right behind the individual she found herself more similar to than she previously thought.

The silence that filled their short walk from the hills just outside Castle Town came to an end shortly after they entered the bustling metropolis. Making their way to the market district that housed Erhard's oh - so - precious smithery was quite the opposite. The racism of Melromarc creeped through its warm exterior as quips and hushed remarks about Rifana being a filthy demi - human were tossed around just loud enough for the pair to hear. With every insult that came her way, the closer Rifana scooted to Alice who, in turn, shot death glares at the escalators and met a hand wrapped around Rifana's shoulder.

Finally making it to Erhard's shop, they quickly stepped inside to avoid any more harassment and we're immediately met with the loud and overbearing greeting of the smith. "Bow sis! Little lady! How are you?" He asked as he looked them up and down. "Wow, you've certainly undergone a change, I barely recognize you kid. You've grown into a fine young lady." He complimented as he rubbed her head. Rifana only grumbled in response, causing both Alice and Erhard to laugh at her plight. "Are you treating her right? Three meals a day and all that?" He questioned Alice.

"If I wasn't, I would never be able to live with myself. How's Raphtalia? We haven't seen her since I stormed out of here when Naofumi screwed up." Alice asked, an eyebrow raised curiously.

"Eh he's been in and out a couple of times. As for the pipsqueak, she's doing alright. Naofumi's still got a cold shoulder to everyone around him, but Raphtalia seems to smile when he's around so I'd say they're doing just fine. They came in just last night if you believe it; they were picking up a new weapon for the kid and might I say she has a good eye for quality." Erhard smirked.

"Really? That's what we're here to do too!" Rifana exclaimed. "Alice said her knife was getting too small for me and so I should get a big girl weapon." She explained, jumping up and down in excitement.

"I didn't say —- you know what, that works." Alice cut in.

Erhard chuckled. "Wow, she's got possibly more energy than even Raphtalia, whatever you're doing don't stop. As for weapons, let me pull out my finest assortment." He said, walking around the counter and tracing his finger over the swords before grabbing a few and placing them on the countertop. "Alright, here we have iron, magic iron, magic steel, and silver iron swords. Go ahead, take your time and pick which one you want." He nodded at Rifana.

At the sight of really the first major choice in her life in a long time, her eyes lit up like stars in the night sky. Going over to each sword, she traced her fingers along the blade, picked them up and felt their grips, weight, flexibility, and maneuverability. After taking a few minutes on this process, she ruled out both the regular iron and silver iron as their blades were too short and heavy respectively, narrowing it down to either the magic iron or magic steel swords.

"What's the main difference between these two?" Rifana asked, pointing at the magic swords.

"We'll simply put, they are magically enhanced versions of their base material variants. So magic iron is just an enhanced iron sword while magic silver is, well, an enhanced silver sword." He explained simply.

"How much are each?" Alice asked.

"Well the magic iron I'd put around fifty silver while the magic silver I'd say seventy."

Alice's eyes widened as she began coughing from surprise. "Holy shit Erhard. I barely have forty five silver left. Can we haggle down the price to around thirty so I can still buy things afterwards?"

Erhard paused for a moment considering the offer. "I'll only sell you the magic iron for that price. I do need to make a profit to keep my business afloat you know?"

Placing a hand at the orange gemstone, a bag of thirty silver coins appears in Alice's hand who then placed them in Erhards counter. "I know, I know, taxes and all that." She relented.

Picking up the blade, Erhard's thick, leathery gloves handed the new weapon over the counter to the excited looking Rifana. "Let's give the lady an opportunity to try it out with some test swings, shall we?" He asked Alice. "I don't see why not." She shrugged. "Follow me, I've got something set up out back." He said, opening a door in the back room and stepping outside. Following him, the pair of novice monster slayers saw several wooden training dummies alongside a forge, anvil, and several tools; no doubt where he makes and tests his wears.

Alice placed a hand on Rifana's shoulders. "Remember what I taught you. This sword is larger and obviously has more weight so you need to utilize your body more rather than your arms when maneuvering the blade, otherwise you'll lean too much into it and ruin the attack." She mentored the younger female who nodded, listening intently on her instructions. "Alright, give her a few swings."

She went through the hours of knife training Alice gave her and tried to properly attack without moving her elbows too much. They key word being tried. Too many times Rifana threw herself off balance, her slices and stabs appeared weak and unorganized, and her footwork began lacking. As she raised the sword up to make another attack, her wrist was caught mid - swing as an olive - gloved hand prevented her from continuing.

"You're sloppy. I told you to not use your arms as much, but rather your torso." Alice lectured, letting go. "Take a swing from the right and use your shoulders to motion the blade, it's not a saber or dagger." She said, her instructions to the point.

Laying her blade at a downward angle, she stepped forward and swung from the right side in an upward motion. Clearly she did something right as Alice's fresh orders rang through her ears just as much as the thwack of the wood and straw dummy target's arm that now had a large gash in the bottom of it.

"Hey, great job kid. Killed it like a professional, well almost." Erhard joked which Rifana scoffed at.

"Don't pay attention to him, Rifana. Now, swing from overhead while aggressively moving your body forward by pushing one of your feet in order to use your body as extra weight behind the attack."

Raising the flat blade over her right shoulder, she took a step back before quickly pushing her left foot forward and bringing the weapon down which would have worked as intended if she didn't slam the toe of her shoe into a small rock littering the ground causing her to stumble. Barely catching herself on the dummy, Erhard bellowed out a hardy laugh at Rifana's clumsy mistake while exhaling through her nose before picking up the rock and throwing it several yards away. "Again. And this time, do watch out for any differences in terrain. A move like that will be the death of us in the field."

Rifana nodded assuringly that Alice took a grain of salt too. Quickly taking a breath, Rifana performed the maneuver a second time with some success. Her final stance was clearly something that could be worked on, but the cut she made on the target was very clean, leaving behind a nice split in the wood where the collarbone was located.

"There's a lot we need to work on, but practice makes perfect, especially on a new weapon. Thanks Erhard, I'd like to stay and have Rifana train all day, but we have a few more things to do around town before heading back out." Alice smiled at the bald man.

"Hey, no worries. Come back anytime, preferably when you have money." He smirked at the pair.

"Will do. I'll make sure to bring a good girl slip to get a discount." Alice quipped back.

Erhard laughed as he slammed a fist on the anvil he had been leaning on. "Oh god, you are the wittiest person I've met in a while."

"Thanks. I don't try, unlike you."

Erhards laughter seemed to just intensify. "Oh my gods. Get… get outta here before I ki— kick you out." He said in between breaths.

Stepping back through the shop and out onto the busy market district, Rifana excitedly put her new sword in its scabbard now placed on her hip. "So, what now Alice?"

"We head over to the bounty board that I saw in the inn we stayed at last week, find a good paying job, and take it. No doubt with my old and your new hardware, we should be fine." Alice said, patting her Thompson. "But before we do that, we do need to sell off these balloon scraps at the monster parts merchant."

"Then lead the way." Rifana nodded.

Making their way through the crowded markets, it took a little longer than usual with the amount of people stuffing the roads. In a sort of militarism dystopian way, Alice kind of wished for Martial Law just for the ease of movement. At least we blend in more with the crowds. She thought, looking at the pros to such a situation.

"Hey, you stupid demi!" Someone shouted in their direction which Rifana habitually looked for the source of. "Yeah that's right I'm talking to you!" The clanging of metal made its way through the masses. As the entity came into view, it revealed itself as a tall royal knight who had a red plume on the top of his helmet, brown eyes, pale skin, and a mustache that could have rivaled the Kaiser's with a smug look on his face.

Alice glared at the man. "What do you want?"

"Shush, bow hero. This doesn't concern you." He responded, keeping his gaze focused on Rifana. "Well, well, well, what do we have here? A demi strutting around where it's not supposed to be." He said, grabbing the collar of her dress.

Barely two seconds later, the muzzle of Alice's Thompson was placed against his exposed cheek. "Think about your next set of actions very carefully." She warned him, her voice laced with venom. The nearest civilians stopped in shock and horror at the display of one of their knights being 'threatened' which formed into a circular gathering after a few moments.

He stood there as still as a pencil, unsure of what to do as he held his breath and sweat began dripping down his forehead. "Bow hero, weren't you ordered by the king to not interfere with such endeavors?" He asked, his voice trying to sound confident.

"Last I checked, I don't take orders from some stuck - up royals, especially not one who actively promotes discrimination." She emphasized, pushing her Thompson further into muscle tissue of his cheek. "Let. Her. Go." She ordered slowly, yet sternly.

Weighing his options, his voice cracked as if he was going to say something, but ultimately kept his mouth shut as he released Rifana. Satisfied, she lowered her Thompson from the man's face, but instead of leaving it there, she raised the weapon and rammed it right into his teeth, surely knocking one or two and knowing full well she'd get in trouble for it later. But that would have to wait as she grabbed Rifana's wrist and dragged her back into the crowd of shocked onlookers.

Brikard's Inn, Castle Town

January 7th, 0921 Hours, 1944

Standing at the same receptionist desk she stood with Olivia and Welst at, Alice rang the bell for the second time in her life.

"Coming!" Shouted a voice she recognized from behind the wall. Rushing through the door that separated whatever office may have been back there and the front desk was none other than a surprised looking Mark Brikard. "Oh, Ms. Schmitt, I wasn't expecting to see you here again after I heard what had happened. You have my condolences about the royal knights manhandling you in such a way." He said before looking past her shoulder. "And who might this young woman be?" He inquired.

"Can I trust you to keep a secret, Brikard?" Alice asked him.

"Of course Lady Bow Hero. After all I must hold any information patron's desire to inform me of, that is of course if it's not standing in the way of any investigations."

"I'll take that as a complicated yes. In short, the king left me with few options for party members due to some association issues which forced me to find a demi - human slave, a term I use extremely lightly." She explained.

"Oh? Well that must be quite the story. However, she looks very healthy despite being in such a position." He commented.

"Because like I told her, with me, she is anything but a slave. And if the king ever throws a temper tantrum because of it, he can kiss my ass because I'm not giving her up for anything." She rubbed the top of Rifana's head.

"Well I must say that is very noble of you Ms. Schmitt. You are a true example of a hero so, please, allow me to provide you a complimentary room anytime you choose to stay at my establishment. Do you have any preferences on what room you may like?" He asked.

"You're not going to take no for an answer, are you?"

"Indeed so. Consider it a thank you gift for doing your part in continuing the queen's desegregation policy."

Looking over her shoulder, Alice raised an eyebrow at Rifana. "Anything you want in our room?"

"A bath." She replied, her smile infecting Alice.

"Ok so, one with a personal bathroom and a single bed large enough for two occupants. Otherwise, I think we're fine."

"You must have a fine taste for the simpler things." Brikard said, writing down the two item requests. "Alright, I'll have it ready by this afternoon if you decide to stay. Now, is there anything else I can help you with?"

"Actually yes. That board over by the entrance, I can't exactly read this world's language yet, but I know what price tags look like. Can you let me know of the best paying job that isn't overly dangerous?"

"I would normally say no to such a request, but considering your legendary status and that strange, yet powerful weapon you wield, allow me to fill you in on what we have on the bounty board for today."

Lute Village, Melromarc

January 7th, 1132 Hours, 1944

Alice and Rifana stepped through the small, gated fence that surrounded the village called Lute. Alice smiled at the name of the place, it was short, quick, and easy to remember. Looking around, she was surprised by how busy it was with people bustling about when there must have been only around one hundred fifty occupants, two hundred tops. The buildings seemed to mainly be made of wood surrounding a large tower that held two knights, one who stood guard at the base of the ladder and the other at the top lazily keeping an eye out on the surrounding area.

Guard duty, I know the pain all too well. Just sit around and act busy gentlemen, it'll be over sooner or later. She thought. "Rifana." She said, getting the attention of the distracted weasel. "Take these and head over to the market; try your best to make as much money as possible." Taking out the small bag of balloon scraps, she placed it into the hands of the girl. "And remember, if anything happens, you scream. I'll be by your side in ten seconds. Got it? I need to ask around, find out specifically where that cave is."

Rifana simply nodded with a meager "Mhm." Most of their respective encounters with strangers and/or authority figures in the last good period of their lives had so far been an eighty - twenty ratio when it came to who was a friend or foe. This made Alice's, and by heavy extension Rifana's, erring on the side of caution near unilaterally justified.

For the first time since they met, Rifana split away from Alice's side who herself went over to the slacking guard. With any luck, her name wouldn't be that widespread in the short time she'd been here, mainly because of Naofumi and his name's headline news. "Excuse me." She waved to him. "I'm looking for a mining cave that had been taken over by a couple monsters recently after the first wave. Would you happen to know of its specific location?"

The knight, who she could now clearly see was barely in his twenties, whistled at her before looking her up and down. "I do ma'am, but why would you want to go there? It's dangerous and we've been waiting for a detachment to arrive for a few days now to clear it out." Taking out the pamphlet Mark showed her detailing the job, she lifted it in front of his eyes for him to read. "Do you have any party members to help you? That's quite the bounty for only one person."

"They're off getting any extra equipment we may need to complete the bounty. Which way from here is the cave? I don't want to be here any longer than I have to so I can go home." Alice said, taking off her helmet and running a hand through her puffy brown bob to emphasize her 'annoyance.'

Turning to his left, the knight extended an arm. "Roughly half, maybe three quarters of a mile southwest of here, you'll find the mine. I suggest you take lanterns or have someone with light magic with you because I can't guarantee the torches in there are still lit."

"Thanks a lot. I better go round up my party, we want to be in and out by sunset." Alice said, turning around and heading to the small market area of the village.

"Wait!" The knight exclaimed.

Turning back to face him, Alice raised an eyebrow. "Yes?"

The man stayed silent for a moment. He clearly wanted to ask something either embarrassing or flirty because his face was turning deep red. "Who are you and where are you from?" He mustered up the confidence to ask. "After the second wave, I - uhhh, I - I, I want to hang out." He barely stuttered out.

Alice smirked at him. "I'm Alice, and sorry, but unless you can travel to Faubrey and back before the third wave, it's going to be hard."

The man's face dropped as his shoulder deflated and he stared down at his boots, clearly thinking he had missed his shot at trying to flirt. Alice, not a cold hearted monster, walked back up to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Don't feel bad about yourself because of the circumstances. You'll find someone someday, today's just not the day. Keep your head high, understand me?" She half questioned, half ordered. The knight just nodded in response. "Good, I've got to go now. Thanks for the information."

Back at the line of street vendors, a roughly 5'5 weasel demi - human waltzed her way through the market, keeping an eye out for any monster part traders in the sea of food stands and material peddlers. Spotting a man sitting behind a rug with rabbit pelts, she decided he might be the best bet. Walking up to the man, she did a small bow of greetings. "Hello sir. I have some orange balloon scraps my friend and I would like to sell. How much could I get for them?"

The merchant raised an eyebrow and looked her up and down. "Show me how much you have and their quality, then we could negotiate a price." Nodding, Rifana unceremoniously dumped the small bag of scraps on a blank space of the man's rug. "Hey, be careful of my wares! I'm trying to run a business here."

Rifana momentarily froze in place before stuttering. "I - I'm sorry sir. It was a mistake, it won't happen again."

"It's fine, just be more careful next time when doing business." He responded softly, waving her off. As he began tallying up the impressive amount of scraps she had at her disposal, a hand suddenly grabbed Rifana's arm from behind her followed by a voice. "Rifana?"

Jumping in shock and surprise, she quickly spun around with a hand reaching for her sword before seeing who it was. Standing before her was the scary looking shield hero Naofumi and her best friend Raphtalia. Her eyes widened for a moment before she opened her arms and wrapped them tightly around her friend who appeared to be around twelve years old.

"Rifana, where's Alice?" Naofumi's still cold voice asked.

"She's… uhhh somewhere. I haven't seen her in a few minutes ever since she told me to sell our monster loot while she asked for the cave for our bounty." Rifana explained.

"Well no need to worry any longer because I'm right here." A recognizable voice came from behind Naofumi. Turning around, the three of them saw a familiar female in an olive - green uniform carrying a large rucksack. "Naofumi. I suppose you're doing well?" She nodded and asked the man.

"As best as we can considering the country hates me." He replied, his cynicism still very prevalent.

"And what about you Raphtalia?" Alice asked, kneeling down to the girl's eye level. "Is Naofumi treating you well? Did I need to kick his ass a second time?" She asked smugly.

"I'm ok. Please don't hurt Master Naofumi, Mistress Alice. He's taking care of me much better than that Rabier guy." She compared him.

"I'm guessing he was your previous capturer?" Alice inquired.

The mood immediately swung in a somber direction. "Idol Rabier. He's a fat pig of a noble who Beloukas mentioned when talking about us in his slave tent. He's a cruel, cruel man, left untouchable with the current laws in place." Rifana informed Alice and Naofumi, giving them a crash course in local politics.

Of fucking course he is. Why wouldn't he be? We'll just have to deal with him later. Maybe he'll stand trial once the queen is back, god I hope so. Alice thought. "We'll deal with him when the time comes. No doubt you both have bad memories about him so let's shave those off for now. Naofumi, Raphtalia, what are you two doing here?"

"I'd just gotten some new shields for herbal medicines and tried selling some plants and whatever else to the local apothecary at Castle Town. Afterwards we stuck around at Erhard's for a few minutes to formulate a plan on what to do next which was when he mentioned you went over to the Brikard Inn to look at whatever bounties were posted, so we followed you from there to here." Naofumi explained. "Also your merchant man might be done making a deal for your scraps." He pointed out.

"The boy is right. I can offer you a total of three silver for all the scrap considering there's a few in good condition and you hauled quite a large sum here." He said, holding out a hand to Rifana who took the gray, metallic coins and handed them to Alice.

"Well since you're here, the bounty we have is to clear out a mining cave roughly half a mile southwest of here. We're being paid one hundred fifty silver for the job, so if you want to help we can split the prize fifty - fifty and earn a little more for selling off pieces of whatever monsters live in there." Alice offered him.

Naofumi's face tightened for a moment in deep thought. "Alright, sure. We need the money anyways." He remarked.

"Have you unlocked anything practically useful yet? I mean a shield itself if practical, but any offensive or supportive items rather than just defensive?" Alice asked.

"Well my offensive abilities are all right here." He gestured to Raphtalia whose tail was wagging. "I did unlock stronger medicinal shields, along with some others from an abandoned shack we found, so I could probably heal any of you guys if you get hurt."

"Honestly, that works for me. It saves my last two healing potions for something later down the line. If that's everything, then let's get moving. I want to be back at the inn by sundown." Alice ordered, taking the lead in the now small four man group.

Light Metal Mine, Melromarc

January 7th, 1203 Hours, 1944

The uneventful march to the taken over mine finally came to a close as the large cave opening surrounded by multiple sheds, crates, and strewn about mining equipment came into view. Alice halted the group when they came within roughly seventy five yards of the entrance. Raising a fist, Alice stopped the trio following her before she picked up a rock.

"Alice, is something wrong?" Naofumi asked.

"I'm just testing something…" She responded, throwing the rock a considerable distance. Landing in the cave with an echoed clack, there seemed to be nothing guarding the entrance. Looking back at Naofumi, Rifana, and Raphtalia, a half - hearted smile spread across her face. "Either no one's home or these things don't like standing guard." A light chuckle came from the two girls, but Naofumi stayed as stoic as ever. Alice resumed at her marching pace once again; now finally making it to the mouth of the mining cave, she turned on her TL - 122 flashlight that sat in her chest pocket. Its bright yellow beam bounced off of the humid walls, creating an almost mirror - like effect allowing the light to flow deeper in the cave than it normally would have. Turning back to the others, she looks at their faces to gauge their readiness with Naofumi's stoicism still prevalent, Rifana determinately holding onto her sword, and finally Raphtalia who had a fearful look in her eyes but nonetheless equipped her small blade. "Stick close, don't wander off, and not a fucking peep unless we make contact. Understood?" She ordered them.

Venturing deep into the cave, a strange grayish hue began glowing at the mouth of some diverging path that, when peeking her head in, Alice could only be described as a small chamber housing several ore nodes that seemed to be reflecting her flashlight. Oh why hello raw materials. You and I have a date after I'm done here. She thought. Continuing forward, after another five or so minutes of walking they came upon the wooden scaffolding of the actual entrance to the mine itself.

Several tools laid scattered on the ground and carts were smashed to pieces. Going over to a pickaxe, Alice picked up the metal mining equipment and put it on the side of her rucksack. Examining the scene a little more, her light shined on several deep indentations in the muddy floor. "Rifana." Alice whispered. "Take a look at these, do you recognize them by any chance?"

Rifana kneeled down beside her friend and looked at the three toed prints. She shrugged. "I'm not sure. So many bad things came out of the first wave, it could be anything really."

"Well shit. It looks like it contains claws with these little spaced indentions here." She said, pointing out small holes separate from the rest of the tracks. "It's probably around eight feet wide, no telling how long because the prints behind it are inconsistent, almost like two of these things roamed through here. The mud itself is also still wet, so this couldn't have been made any longer than three hours ago tops. Whatever made these is big." She said loud enough to echo a little. Lifting her head up, she stared deeply into the inky blackness that consumed the rest of the cave. Standing up, she brought her Thompson into a high ready position and trudged forward.

After a minute, the wooden beams and pillars of the initial mining entrance opened up into a grand cavern lit up by the reflective surfaces of several light metal ore nodes. Alice paused and looked around the room, astonished at how much available materials were just sitting here. If only we had access to mines like these, we wouldn't have lost the Midwest so easily. We wouldn't have had to leave them all behind. She thought solemnly.

A loud cry broke her from her guilt ridden thoughts. Turning towards the cry, Alice noticed Rifana and Raphtalia standing in shaky positions with Naofumi standing in front of them facing something. A closer look revealed two… pairs of glowing red eyes emerging from the darkness. Without wasting a breath, Alice brought the barrel of her Thompson probably on target and pulled the trigger. A screech of pain followed the bellowing echo of bullets before the creature with a dog - like body and two heads came charging out of the darkness.

One head came slamming towards Naofumi who parried the attack with his shield. The other however had other plans, coming down and sinking its teeth deep into Naofumi's arm, wounding the defensive man. Rifana, being the less scared of the two, swung at it widely with her sword creating a gash in its neck. Both of its heads reared back as blood came rushing out of the wound. Using this and her range to her advantage, Alice let loose another volley of .45 ACP striking its leathery hide, but it wasn't a decisive hit.

The injured head slammed into Naofumi's shield pushing him back a few inches while the other blindsided him and the girls, sweeping them off their feet. Now defenseless, one head went for Naofumi while the other rocketed towards Raphtalia who froze and screamed in fear, not ready to be consumed like her parents. Utilizing her blazing agility stat Alice rushed towards it, shoulder bashing it away from Raphtalia. Recognizing this new, immediate threat, the creature retaliated by returning the gesture, knocking Alice onto her pack before sinking its teeth into her shoulder.

A cry of pain escaped the Marines lips as she let go of her Thompson and punched the snout of the head. It wouldn't let go, and with each passing moment her HP decreased making her terrified as it dipped below twenty. Panic started setting in before she felt a sense of relief in her shoulder. Lifting her head, her vision was blurry, but she could still make out the images of her companions with the most important aspect being a blonde haired girl embedding a sword deep into the chest of the beast. It tried thrashing a head at her, but Naofumi's shield blocked each and every one of its attacks.

Raphtalia's figure suddenly came from above and stabbed the creature in its spine causing it to cry out in pain as it fell over, almost crushing Naofumi and Rifana in the process. As it barely clinged onto life, Alice reached over and grabbed her Thompson, leveled it by using her knee as a bipod, and pulled the trigger in rapid succession peppering the heads and necks of the beast, finally killing it.

+667 XP

Level Up!

Alice Schmitt

Level 20

+571 XP

Level Up!

Rifana

Level 18

Laying down again, she clutched her wound while grunting in pain, barely holding back tears. Rifana was the first by her side with a terrified expression plastered on her face. "Alice! Are you ok?! Please don't die on me! Please don't die!" She begged.

"Potion… rucksack." Alice responded between ragged breaths.

Barely able to think and act, Rifana scrambled to reach into Alice's rucksack, but it proved problematic as the woman just so happened to be laying on it. Naturally, and irrationally, she started rolling Alice over which wasn't a great idea as a scream followed by several curses came from her.

"Doing it like that will only make it worse." Naofumi stated as he walked up to Rifana clutching his side. "Here, I'll grab under her arms and you grab her legs, that way we can lift her up and Raphtalia can get her backpack off." He said, getting himself into position.

Rifana nodded and went to the opposite siding of her writing body and grabbed hold of her ankles. As the two of them lifted the quite heavy Marine, the previously relaxed pain surged through her body like an incendiary bullet tearing through her chest. The last thing her companions heard was a deafening scream before silence as she passed out.

Author's Note: Well there you have it, some exposition about their leveling and new equipment alongside some combat with Naofumi and Raphtalia. Also, just because Alice is the main protagonist doesn't mean she won't earn a few more scars on her journey. Anyways, that's chapter 4, I hope you guys liked it. Let me know what you liked, didn't like, what felt rushed, etc.