A Special Kind Of Magic
Chapter 6
"The dragon core, give it to me." The large bird demanded, towering over them with its round frame.
Naofumi looked over to Raphtalia, who donned her helmet and pulled her sword out of the ground. When gauging Petra's reaction, she seemed to be on edge, ready to flee.
One wanted to fight, one wanted to run. Guess he was going to be the tie breaker.
"Sorry, it was a gift. It's mine now." Naofumi then placed it against the shield, letting it take in the strange crystal.
Dragon Emperor Shield Series Unlocked
Woah holy shit that was a lot of shields. Dammit he was going to have to look into the history of dragons and their species now huh?
A large stomp of a claw in front of him shook the earth, taking them off their feet for a second. The filolial queen glared down at them, lowering her beak to be right in front of Naofumi.
"Give that to me, you don't know what you hold."
"Nope, but I'm gonna find out." The man shrugged, then examined the feathers that stood atop its head.
"While you may be the shield hero and are of importance to this world, your allies are-"
Naofumi wasn't listening, continuing to eye the feathers. Mentally commanding his analysis shield to appear, he soon discovered the drastically high level this bird was, alongside that the feathers sticking up from her head had some very special properties. He pulled out the book from the library, the one that brought him to this world and flipped the pages until he landed on a specific one.
Filolial queen, raised by a hero, helping take care of the waves around the world. Murdered past heroes to-WHAT?!
"You killed past heroes of this world?!" Naofumi shouted, stunned by what he read. You know, maybe that wasn't wise to bring up in front of the murder chicken.
The queen seemed to grow more and more impatient with him, being ignored several times. Yet now she had his attention. "If the heroes are incopitent, or are unable to work together to stop the waves, this world will fall. In order to summon new ones all current heroes must be dealt with."
"So killed?"
"Yes, so tell me shield hero, what level are you?"
Naofumi smirked, knowing that with Raphtalia taking down that massive creature he would have gotten a bunch of experience by now…..if it wasn't for the fact that she no longer registered to the FUCKING PARTY SYSTEM! Ok, she didn't have a level, and he can't use any of the previous party system tools he could before with her. Not that they did, but it would have been helpful for the waves.
"Well?" The queen grew more impatient with him, her murderous intent growing.
"Level thirteen." Naofumi coughed, now getting the look from Petra.
"No studying for the next three days." She said as a matter of fact.
"Come on!"
"You need to be at least level thirty by the time the first wave hits."
"But there's so much we're discovering! So many shield options! Plus-"
*CRACKOOOM* Lightning flooded through the skies, Naofumi being pulled by a line of webbing into Petra's arms and now atop of a nearby building. Looking down from her arms he now saw Raphtalia standing directly in front of a large scorched area of the ground, on the other side the filolial queen.
"This is your one warning." Raphtalia said, tilting her sword to aim directly at the queen. "Yield."
"Ignorant child, if your master has put his responsibility onto others' shoulders the world will be doomed."
The tanuki girl's eyes narrowed harshly, thunder echoing in the clouds above. "I have no master, and Naofumi is more than a level."
"Then you have chosen death." The queen stepped forward, ready to kick the small child away in order to-
"Wah!" Raphtalia fell into a circle of orange energy, the source vanishing as soon as it came. Looking up, the shield hero and his accomplice were now gone, their presence nowhere to be found. He escaped her, no chanting, no use of the teleportation that the heroes can use. Just, gone.
As she stood there, puzzled by the outcome a small portal opened above her head. The queen felt the shield hero's presence return, above her!
*snip*
The portal closed on her feather, not harming her but increasing her annoyance with this hero. Very well, she knew where to find the heroes for the next wave.
Naofumi put the feather into his shield, smiling as he read the text.
Filolial Queen Shield series Unlocked
The smile vanished once he saw that most of them were beyond his use right now, because he had too small of a level. Speaking of which…
"Training, now." Petra commanded, standing at the door of the cabin.
"Let me just record the findings of-"
"Actually." Raphtalia interrupted them, setting her sword to the side. "I want to see my friends."
The man pointed right at her, nodding in agreement. "Ok, that does need to happen sooner rather than later."
"For her." Petra let her spiderlegs sneak out from under her cloak, grabbing Naofumi's own and hoisting him in the air. "We, are going to make sure you won't die if someone throws a spear at you."
"It was one time!"
"You only die once."
"Psh, jokes on you I already died once!"
"..."
"What?" Raphtalia took a few steps over, looking Naofumi over. "How?"
Petra too, was suddenly stumped by the revelation. Naofumi sighed, realizing this wasn't a subject to be avoided. Yet this hardly seemed like the time. "Ok, so in my world we have our own threats. Someone managed to get their hands on six stones with infinite power and used them to wipe out half of all life in the universe with a snap of his fingers. I was one of the unlucky ones. Five years passed, and someone else collected the stones to bring everyone back. Yes, I died, but now I'm back."
Petra lowered him, checking for any indication he was lying. She didn't feel the need to use a spell, he was too honest for his own good. "Can we use those to fight the waves?"
"No." Naofumi shook his head. "The stones are gone now, destroyed."
After standing around for a few minutes of silence, Raphtalia went forward and hugged Naofumi with her small stature.
"I don't want you to die."
He knelt down, embracing her in return. "I won't, and neither will you. We'll beat the waves, stop them for good, and prevent as many deaths as we can."
Naofumi was shocked by what happened next. Glancing over his shoulder, Petra was right next to them, wrapping the two in her own arms.
"I'm sorry for pushing you two harshly." She whispered to them, squeezing them in her gentle grip.
A silent promise was made in Naofumi's heart. To take the waves more seriously, to put the world's safety as his priority, and especially these two. His studies, while important, would be useless if they couldn't save them.
The Queen sat in her temporary crimson throne, the cushions feeling just right underneath her as she tried to forget about the stress of preventing a global war. Her nightgown hung loosely on her frame as she tried to focus on the warmth of the fireplace contrasting the chill of the night air through her window.
Orange sparkles were her only warning to adjust herself to be more presentable. Naofumi, dressed in his signature robes entered, followed by a small knight with a ridiculously large sword, someone she could only assume was Petra hidden under the dark cloak, and one of her loyal shadows.
"I apologize for my attire." The queen sat up straighter as her guests entered. "I was under the impression you were coming here tomorrow."
"Well, there wasn't exactly a set date." Naofumi shrugged, uncaring for the somewhat indecent exposure before him. "Anyways, every two weeks right? Well here we are."
"Indeed. So, what progress have you made in uncovering the secrets of the waves?" The Queen asked, not expecting much progress in that realm. She hoped he kept his promise and prioritized fighting them before trying to stop them.
"Not much without actually encountering one yet." The man said, then had a wide grin. "You're local magic on the other hand, has been rather intriguing to me."
Oh great, a tangent. Before she or her shadow could stop him Naofumi pulled out his touch screen shield and showed her several images of Petra casting a spell with several notes on the side.
"You see, spells have certain structure and requirements to make them work right?" He started, and didn't give her time to respond to the question. "Here all you have to do is generalize how you want the spell to be executed, say the words, and pray you have enough mana to accomplish it."
"Is there a point to this?" She asked, only to be ignored.
"BUT! This magic circle in the transmuting portion reveals that it's not actually using the mana you use, but instead transmuting it through a point of origin to which doesn't actually impact the spell at all!"
That in of itself was interesting. This magician claims that mana isn't actually fueling the spell. Though, he was a stranger to these lands and probably was confused by a system set up thousands of years ago.
"Not only that but half of the actual spell isn't written in the casting layout." Naofumi then brought up two images of magic circles that she had never seen before on paper. "Here's the most interesting part though, at one point Petra here was trying to show me a simple spell in our little hideaway."
A quick look to her shadow, and she got a response she hoped not to have. She shook her head, the shadows didn't know where this hideaway was.
"When we're there, Petra can't use magic."
"...what?"
"Exactly!" Naofumi shouted in excitement. "Your magic system doesn't work anywhere else but here! There's a dependent factor of your spells that is bound to your world!"
As interesting as this information was, Queen Melromarc didn't see how this was useful information. This talk seemed better suited towards a magic obsessed group who studied it constantly.
"Were there any other interesting encounters you have had so far?" She tried asking in attempt to steer him away from his ramblings.
"Well, nothing much but training really." Naofumi turned around and pushed Raphtalia forward. "We did get ourselves a new party member! This is Raphtalia, a Tanuki demi-human."
The Queen looked over the girl who stood confidently before her. She was young, underdeveloped. Hopefully she would be high enough level for the shield hero's first wave. Though there was something different about her, like how she possessed the strength to carry all of that armor and that weapon. He must have bought her for a fairly high price. It's a shame he had to resort to purchasing a slave, but it was understandable given the harsh treatment he received in his first few days in her country.
No thanks to her husband and daughter.
"That's all we needed to share." Petra said, already moving back to the portal. "Come along, you need to practice the spider shield series."
"We've already got you though. I don't see why I need to climb up walls and shoot webs." Naofumi followed her, Raphtalia trailing behind.
The portal soon closed, leaving the queen with her shadow who knelt in respect.
"Report."
"Beloukas and Idol Rabier are dead."
Her eyes widened in surprise, not for Idol's death but for Beloukas's. He was a decent supplier, keeping the underground stable with him controlling the slave industry in the heart of Melromarc. Through him, she learned the actions of many lords and their priorities. Not only that, he was the top supplier of the best shadows she ever received.
"What happened to the slaves?"
"Gone."
"Dead I presume?"
"No, gone." The shadow repeated once more. "We could find no trace of where they went."
This was troublesome, demi-humans unaccounted for. While she didn't like the widespread slavery and the racism against the demi-humans to know that a minority was making moves without her knowing was concerning. If they escaped and gave the information to Siltvelt, that could provoke them to make the first move.
"And what of the others?"
"The three heroes have been making steady progress alongside their companions. The sword hero in particular is frustrated with Malty but firm with her. Your daughter has been keeping things in order according to your will, not overstepping her authority."
That was a relief.
The queen gazed out the window, examining the stars that began to reveal themselves as the clouds passed by. "My husband?"
"He has spent his time murmuring and visiting the churches often. No clear plotting against your will has been identified."
"That's what I worry about. He is a man of action. His plans are rarely thought out and are impossible to predict, but are carried out with firm execution. If he should act out against my will you are to find the shield hero and Melty to inform them of whatever he is doing. Instruct them to halt his actions until I decide what to do with him."
"Yes my queen."
The shadow vanished, leaving the queen to stir in her thoughts. She was expecting to have a more detailed report, more information on the dealings in her kingdom. Quiet was good, being uninformed was worse. Two high influence individuals are dead with their assets vanished. Either vigilantes, Siltvelt, or soon to be revolutionaries are beginning to move all somehow avoiding the eyes of her shadows.
There was one possibility that remained in her mind, that Naofumi and his party were behind these disappearances. Yet remembering the slave crest upon Petra's hand reminded her that she could not act against her or threaten the integrity of the kingdom. Even if that one was somehow unable to stop her, the first crest would be certain to prevent Petra from doing anything that would displease her.
A Few Weeks Later
A bright portal emerged in the streets of Melromarc, some of the civilians moving aside to make way for whatever would emerge. Naofumi stepped out, with Petra and Raphtalia behind him in their human disguises. They walked through the crowd as the portal closed right behind them.
"Why don't we just go straight to Ehart's?" Petra asked.
"It's good to take a stroll through the local area, remembering that there isn't just our destination around us." Naofumi spoke with some joy, only to turn and see Raphtalia was focused on the device in her hands.
Damnit, he shouldn't have given her a smartphone yet.
"Hey Raphtalia?"
"Hm?" She hummed, not looking up with her earbuds in.
"Whatcha watching?"
"Stuff."
"...what is stuff?"
He didn't get a reply, Raphtalia too zoned into whatever she was looking at. Ugh, he really hoped he wasn't like that when he was a teenager. Even after the three of them have spent a long time leveling up, Raphtalia didn't grow older. The moment her stats literally broke, she stopped aging. He wasn't sure if that was because a demi-human's age is tied to their level, or that Mjolnir's magic was changing her to become more asgardian.
"Anyways, let's go see the man for old times sake. Perhaps he can make my cloak fly this time."
Finding the blacksmith's shop wasn't hard, it was one of the few places they actually went to in this world. Naofumi opened the door, happy to see the man at work sharpening a sword.
"Hey there baldy!"
"Now who you callin-" The man rose up, about to throw out whoever was making fun of him until he saw who it was. "Careful there, I nearly came over there to stomp your face in the ground."
"Yeah but you would never do that." Naofumi chuckled, then grew a little more concerned over the lack of response. "Right?"
"Anyways whose the little lass you've got with you? And more importantly whose my competition with her equipment?"
Naofumi pushed Raphtalia further up, who was still glued to her screen. "This is our new party member Raphtalia, and before you break open my head like a watermelon her magic grants her this armor." Simple way of explaining it but it technically was true.
"Hello there miss! I'm Erhart, I'm the guy responsible for making sure...can you hear me?"
Raphtalia wasn't looking up, just staring at the screen. Tired of trying to get her attention, Naofumi unplugged her headphones, letting the phone blast whatever she was listening to.
"Aaahh~"
Raphtalia crushed the phone in her grip, blushing furiously as she scowled at Naofumi who stood there frozen.
"Why did you do that?!" She screamed at him, only for Naofumi to blink as he still tried to process what he heard.
"What were you watching?" Naofumi asked gently.
"I-it was just some show ok!" Raphtalia sputtered out. "It wasn't a-anything bad!"
Naofumi glanced over to Petra, who wasn't giving any hint as to what Raphtalia was watching. Slowly, Naofumi picked up the broken phone and placed it on the counter.
"W-what are you doing?" Raphtalia asked in hesitation.
Naofumi said nothing, just moving his right arm over the left as green magic symbols began to form around his forearm. A small mandela formed in his palm, and he turned it counterclockwise. "Please don't let me sully the works of Cagliostro's spells on my first application of his studies."
Raphtalia watched in horror as the damage of the broken smartphone began to unwind itself, reshaping the phone to how it's supposed to be. The screen lit up, the horrible truth revealed to everyone.
It was anime, Raphtalia was a fucking weeb.
"It's just s-sword art online!" The armored girl came up, standing firm towards Naofumi. "I was looking up cool sword shows a-and this one came up! I-it just happened to have some w-weird scenes when-"
"Raphtalia." Naofumi turned around, his emotions undecipherable to the girl. "Don't watch this trash."
"W-what?"
"SWORD ART ONLINE IS TRASH!"
Turns out Naofumi was too, well educated on anime.
"If you want good starter content you go with Full Metal Alchemist, shit is dope! Or something like Attack on TItan, One Punch Man, Re:Zero, Erased, Death Note, Parasyte, Little witch Academia, Plastic Memories, Silver Spoon, Konosuba, Izetta The Last Witch, Gurren Lagann, Kill la Kill, No Game No Life, That Time I got Reincarnated as a Slime, Outbreak Company, Journey of Elaina, Demon Slayer, Amagi Brilliant Park-"
He kept going, adding more and more shows onto Raphtalia's phone as he continued to add to her watch list.
"But never, EVER, watch Sword Art Online! It's almost as bad as in Another World with My Smart Phone!"
"...Are you done?" Petra asked Naofumi, who continued to be stuck adding shows to Raphtalia's phone.
"For now, but I have like sixty other shows to add." Naofumi held the phone back to Raphtalia, who wisely put it away for now.
"Well, uh, besides whatever was happening…" Erhart gave another look towards Raphtalia's sword that laid on her back, the massive piece of metal that seemed to perfect to leave unexamined.
"Excuse me." He asked gently. "My name's Erhart, you're Raphtalia right?"
"Yes."
"Is it alright if I take a look at that sword?"
Taking the massive weapon off her back, she held it over the counter. When Erhart placed his hands under it, she didn't let go.
"You might want me to set it down first." She warned him.
"Trust me, I'm stronger than I look." He smiled back.
The girl looked over to Naofumi, who just nodded.
"Ok then, try not to get cut."
"Don't worry I'll, HRNG-" Erhart's arms were flattened under the blade, pinning them against the counter. Luckily they weren't broken, but it felt like they were about to. Try as he might he could not get his arms off the table until Raphtalia freed him with a light grip.
"Damn, you're strong kid." He huffed, rubbing his sore hands.
"Only those who are worthy may wield Mjolnir." Raphtalia put the blade back on her back, deciding to look around the shop.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Erhart asked.
"It's a special enchantment." Naofumi began to explain. "Whoever is deemed worthy by the weapon will be able to use the powers associated with it."
"I don't know if I could make something like that." Erhart mused, pondering on how he could even begin to make something like it.
"I wouldn't try." Naofumi shrugged. "It would take decades to replicate it, with my help of course."
"I hope you didn't come to show off your find." Erhart rose a brow towards the young man's direction.
"I'm actually here to show you this." Naofumi pulled off his cloak, handing it to the man.
Erhart examined the material with a spy glass, eyes widening when he read the enchantments. "Self repairing, user health increase, base stat increase on top of percentages, damn kid you put everything into this."
"It still can't let me fly."
"Hahaha! Only you would have standards that high!"
"Anyways, I have a couple ideas on how we might be able to do that." Naofumi pulled another identical cloak out of his inventory, one that didn't have any current enchantments but lots of notes pinned to sections of it.
Erhart began to read over them, having to read some of the notes several times over to understand them. "I've got to admit I never tired applying enchantments to treat the target as a different material, or use lock points as a moving factor, or a lot of this stuff."
"If I'm right." Naofumi pointed at one of the sections. "I can negate any possibility of flammability by having the enchantments circulate a resupplying source of vacuum principals over it-"
"-making it completely elemental proof without adding multiple enchantments!" Erhart exclaimed, beginning to see the possible applications to be done. "Of course, that would require a major mana source. Does your magic count as mana?"
"Unfortunately no, but I have something to solve that." Naofumi reached into his shield, pulling out a small piece of the Dragon Emperor shard. "This guy here is gonna make everything possible."
Petra came up, examining their work with mild interest. Enchantments could be very beneficial to whatever item she had them on, but she hardly felt like she had the time, or someone that would teach her.
Glancing to her left, she briefly considered if Naofumi would be a good teacher….Nope, he wouldn't.
"And what about you?" Erhart asked Petra, gaining the girl's attention. "Do you want me to see what we can add to that cloak?"
"I'm good." Petra then pondered on her equipment. Not her cloak, but her weapon. "Actually, could you apply an enchantment to my weapon?"
"Oh? And what kind of weapon are we dealing with?"
*clunk* "A gun."
Erhart gazed at the strange contraption. One quick use of his spyglass revealed no magic, but a variety of mechanics and materials. "...Kid, what the hell do you keep bringing in here?"
Petra holseted her weapon on her hip, letting her cloak hide the advanced tool of killing. She lowered her hood, letting her red haired disguise be visible to all. Raphtalia strolled alongside them, humming along with a song that played in her headphones. She didn't wear a helmet, storing the extra features of her armor in some sort of magical lightning cloud to let her braided drape over her shoulder.. Naofumi took the lead, rubbing the corner of his emerald cloak. He seemed the most disappointed, unable to duplicate the features of one Sorcerer Supreme.
"Someday." He sighed, deciding to put his focus on other places for now.
"You've still significantly improved it." Petra told him flatly. "You have more defense than I would expect of someone three times your current level, just in your cloak."
"But it's still just improving already existing features." Naofumi then turned around walking backwards and talking to her. "I mean, we managed to apply a permanent spell to your gun! Completely silenced! Erhart said he never knew any enchantments to do that!"
"He also mentioned he never knew a weapon could be that loud."
"Well just becau-Mph!" Naofumi walked into someone, bumping into them rather harshly.
"Hey! Watch where- oh, it's you." Motoyasu's voice greeted them, the man turning back around to pretend he didn't notice, then returned to look at Raphtalia and Petra.
"Hi there! I'm the legendary spear hero, Motoyasu Kitamura. And who are you two lovely ladies?" He stood in front of his party, aka his personal harem, in front of the church's doors.
Petra said nothing, silently looking to Naofumi. His eyes widened in slight understanding and then whispered in her ear. "Right, sorry, every time I apply the disguise spell, you come across as a new person every time. Even if you look the same, he sees you as someone new."
"Wait a second." Motoyasu's eyes narrowed at the wires hanging down Raphtalia's head. Feeling the shift in the mood, Raphtalia took her earbuds out. He smirked at her, leaning against his spear in an attempt to look cool. "You like jazz?"
"Aren't you the guy who stabbed Naofumi?"
"A-oh, so he mentioned that. There were some...misunderstandings."
"More like a bunch of stupid ass accusations." Naofumi stood in front of Raphtalia, eyeing down the spear hero. "Don't sugar coat it, take responsibility. You took the side of a liar and a fool and tried to kill me."
"I-I was trying to stop you!" Motoyasu stood up against the shield hero.
"What else did you think was going to happen if you throw a fucking spear in my..you know what, this is a waste of time." Stepping ahead, Naofumi ignored him and began to go inside the three hero's church.
"Now hold on a second!" Motoyasu stepped in front of them, his arms out. "Ok, I messed up, but you still haven't explained that girl you had as a slave."
"Huh?"
The spear hero narrowed his brows at the man, doing his best to appear threatening. "Why should I trust you with these girls?"
"I don't need something as cheap as your trust." Pushing the spear hero aside, Naofumi made his way into the building. Petra moved past the man and Raphtalia tucked her earplugs into her pocket.
"You two!" Motoyasu called out to the girls, who barely looked behind towards him. "Please listen, I can help you. You don't have to stay with him! Join my party, and I'll make sure you're taken care of."
Petra smirked, humored by the offer. Raphtalia though, gave him a chance.
"Do you have wifi?"
"Um...no."
"Goodbye then."
The spear hero stood there, trying to think of anything else to persuade the girls to leave someone as sketchy as Naofumi. He watched as they walked away, following him like it was natural. How could Naofumi get wifi though?
What he would give to have ten minutes on the internet.
Naofumi rubbed his hands on his face, trying to just forget about all of that. Every time he saw that idiot it all came surfacing back. It didn't help that the imbecile just couldn't let things go. And when he can't let it go, Naofumi ends up feeling it all over again.
"Shit." Petra said to his left.
He dared to peek through his hands, ah, the bitch.
She stood there next to Ren, the hero waiting behind Itsuki as a glowing beam descended to his bow from a tall hourglass. Their party members were there, all examining the shield hero and the two companions with him.
"Oh, you're here." Ren spoke with little emotion. Huh, you know what he was kinda like Petra. But Naofumi knew Ren would never be as cool as a super spy spidergirl. Though those bags under his eyes were new, probably, Naofumi didn't try to memorize the features of every guy's face.
"Yep, gotta get registered." Naofumi tried to loosen himself up, be as cheerful as he could again. Even if it was in her presence. He waited for her to say something, to curse him, accuse him of something they had already gone over. Nope, she just stood there, barely acknowledging his existence but not outright ignoring him.
"Excuse me."
Both heroes turned to Itsuki, who was approaching Naofumi.
"When did you get new companions, and how did you get them?" The bow hero asked, not hiding his suspicion in the least.
Well, at least the kid was outright asking instead of accusing.
"I caught this one stalking me." Naofumi pointed his thumb to Petra, who stiffened at the accusation.
"And soon this one started hanging around us like a lost puppy." He chuckled as he pointed towards Raphtalia, who gave him a punch to his leg in response.
"Naofumi freed me from salvery, and gave me the option to either live a comfortable life or join his party." The shorter girl explained. "Though if I knew how lazy he can be I might have changed my mind." She jabbed with a small smirk.
"Studying, is not being lazy." Naofumi corrected. "In fact, have you read the history books about Asgard yet?
"Training is more important." Raphtalia shot back.
"I think bad taste in shows is more important to you."
As the two continued to playfully bicker at one another, Itsuki felt his fears be put at ease. While there were some false accusations sent his way, there was still a cloud of uncertainty around Naofumi. With how little time Itsuki actually got to spend around him, and with Naofumi being injured while the Queen cleared his name, they never got to really talk to the odd shield user. There was one question on his mind that never left from the beginning.
"Do you have that book?" The bow hero interrupted, seeing Naofumi and Raphtalia being held up by their collars by the cloaked redhead.
"Oh yeah, that one!" Naofumi said, like he wasn't being held similar to a puppy. He pulled a book out from his shield, then another, holding them out to Ren and Itsuki. "These are copies of the original, but they're a great help in understanding some key players, all sorts of monsters, general laws and beliefs of each of the countries, that sort of thing."
Ren cracked the book open, skimming the pages to see an image large dragon that laid next to a young demi-human. No alliance, no active threat, but very strong. It seemed domestic though towards the girl. Better not pick a fight with it. Maybe there was a chance to talk to it though, dragons are known to be very important for quests.
Itsuki himself picked a random spot and read about some of the basics on the local lands. One region seemed to be struggling with resources and the citizens were upset with the heavy taxes. He nearly assumed that there was a corrupt lord, but it turns out that he too was suffering alongside his people due to a couple bad years of harvest, thus the taxes being used to try and recultivate the lands. After the wave, he might visit and try to see what he could do to help.
What both of them were thankful for though, was that it was written in Japanese. Neither could read the local language.
"How do we know these are legit?" Ren asked.
"You'll just have to put them to the test." Naofumi shrugged, being placed back down. "I just use it as a general guide."
"Hm." Ren hummed, thinking over the book and its potential uses. Decided to put it to the test he flipped over to the description for one Myne. Compulsive liar, uses others to her advantage, overall bitch, yeah, it was accurate.
"Anything else you wanna know before I check out the hour glass?" Naofumi gazed up at the artifact, one of many scattered around the world to signify when the waves would start and allow the heroes to be summoned directly to the waves. It seemed, odd. Despite the advances of his own world they couldn't predict natural disasters this accurately. Perhaps it had some time related magic associated with it. In that case, he needed to look into these.
"How do you log out?" Itsuki asked.
….."What?" Naofumi's mind tripped over itself. Logging out?
"Yeah, you just logged out the first day you were here." Ren added, also interested in this information.
"...Are you guys serious?" Putting his hands against his back, Naofumi leaned back as he let the air out of his lungs slowly. "Guys, this isn't a game."
"Um, then explain how everything around us acts like one." Itsuki held up his bow. "Sats, experience points, monsters, waves of enemies? This is just like one I played back home."
"Same." The sword hero nodded in agreement.
"So far from what I've learned it's a form of well executed magic systems." Naofumi tried to explain.
"Magic, you're chalking it up to that?"
"Oh like that's what sounds fake compared to you guys being transported into a video game you can't log out of." After saying that, Naofumi examined Ren's general appearance. Dark hair, dark clothes, uses swords, if edge boy starts duel wielding Naofumi is gonna kick his ass. He refused to let this world turn into some knock off SAO.
This was getting nowhere for all of them now, so Naofumi focused his attention at what he came here to do and held his shield up to the hourglass. Now he did happen to also be recording with his phone in his other hand, to study later, otherwise if he studied this phenomena now Petra was going to kick his ass.
But when the beam of light descended from it, Naofumi considered taking his chances with the spidergirl.
Meanwhile, when the other heroes were distracted, Petra saw Malty make her way over to her and Raphtalia.
"Hello." She greeted kindly, smile and all.
Raphtalia looked her features up and down, deciphering her identity from previous warnings. "Hi." She cautiously replied.
"I'm Myne, I-"
"Silence." Petra hissed, stepping forward into the princess's face. "You attempt to sway us with your serpent's tongue, but if you so much as utter anything to earn our trust through false intentions I will relieve the world of your filthy mouth."
The woman stepped back, anger flashing through her eyes. Malty did her best to restrain her impulses as she tried to retain her pride. "You think you can just talk to someone you just met that way?"
"This is hardly our first meeting." Petra felt the urge to execute the woman right then and there, killing a corrupt figure that had her claws into the lives of the citizens of Melromarc. Not yet, but if given even the slightest excuse Petra would do it. "But next time, it might very well be."
Leaving her with the ominous threat, she saw Naofumi trying to convince the nuns to let him dismantle the hourglass.
"H-heresy!"
"Please! This thing is practically surging with dimensional energy! To channel so much and process thousands of different spells in seconds is something that needs to be studied!"
Ren and Itsuki came up, trying to pull him away from further sacrilege. "Leave it alone, you're already registered, there's nothing else to do here."
"There's everything to do here!"
"Just leave the nice church ladies alone!"
"It's not the ladies I want, it's the knowledge hidden within this-"
"Naofumi." Petra said from behind the men, pausing their squabble. "Let's go."
"Fine." The shield hero relaxed, the other two letting go of him. "So, what do you feel like eating tonight?"
"Fish!" Raphtalia jumped over to voice her opinion.
"So a Burger King fish sandwich?" Naofumi set his shield to its portal form, ready to transport him and his companions.
"We have Burger King around three times a week." Petra reminded him. "I know for a fact that your world is not so limited in its options."
"Well if you're feeling so picky.." Naofumi began to summon a portal back to their cabin, the building now in sight through the gateway. "We could go to a buffet, like Chuck a rama or something."
"You can take them out?!" Itsuki shouted in surprise, peering through the portal.
"It's a gateway." Naofumi pointed towards the portal. "Basically just a door, that anyone can step through. As long as they're not bigger than the door."
Ren looked through it, seeing the relaxing cabin that sat on the other side. "So, anyone can follow you through?"
"Psh, you don't even have to follow me." Naofumi's point was demonstrated as Raphtalia and Petra walked ahead. "I just know how to open the doors."
"You mentioned a buffet." Itsuki pointed out, feeling his stomach start to grumble. "In, your world yes?"
Naofumi was silent, his emotions temporarily put aside as he looked at the two teenagers in front of him. Two kids, pulled from their worlds and straight into in person battles. They adjusted well, given how they treated everything as a video game. That's probably the only reason that they've done as well as they have.
Or, a coping mechanism to deal with being put on the front lines.
"You wanna come eat with us?" Naofumi stepped to the side, letting his temporary home be open to them.
"What about our parties?" Itsuki asked, looking back to his merry band of followers. Naofumi briefly wondered if any of them played a lute as they traveled.
"I think it might be a little bit of a culture shock if we took them to a modern world straight away."
"Well we can't leave Myne alone." Ren reminded him.
"Sure you can! I ditched her all the time!"
"SO YOU WERE DOING IT ON PURPOSE!" Myne screached, her rage finally boiling to the surface.
"There's also like five sneaky ladies around us right now." Naofumi then pointed towards one of the pillars, the ceiling, two windows, and nearby the front door. "I'm sure they can report to the Queen and Melty if she decides to do anything but go back to the inn, eat, sleep, and wait for you to come back in the morning."
Those last words were directed straight towards Myne, who could only scowl at the shield hero in return. The magician just smirked in return. When he returned his attention to the heroes he asked one final time. "So, you wanna have a meal that doesn't have a fifty percent chance of giving you food poisoning? "
Raphtalia dug into her fried chicken leg with one hand, then switched to the baked halibut on her fork in the other. Her hunger knew no end as she consumed her fourth serving with minimum manners.
"Sheesh girl calm down." Naofumi put a napkin to her face, Raphtalia lowering her food to briefly wipe her face. "You're almost as bad as them."
He pointed towards Ren and Itsuki, who were shoveling a variety of dishes into their mouths. Mac and Cheese, steaks, pizzas, five different fried foods, and just about every option that wasn't available back in the medieval world.
Of course, all of them had on simple clothes or disguises to blend into the restaurant. Too bad they still attracted the same amount of attention. Itsuki and Ren were dressed in simple pants and t-shirts, Ren wearing a leather jacket on top while Istuki wore a zip up hoodie. They stuck with their color schemes, which weirded Naofumi out. Did they just wear the same three colors their whole life?
Then again, he was guilty of that too right now. He wore a black long sleeve shirt with a green jacket over it, Petra sticking with her own black tank top while Raphtalia wore a simple yellow blouse. Their weapons were present, just as keychains instead of their full forms.
Itsuki finally took a moment to breathe between his bites, glancing up from his plate and back towards Naofumi. "You eat like this? All the time?"
"Nah, I eat cheap stuff." Naofumi confessed. "I don't make money often in this world, and I don't want to constantly transmute the coins I make in the fantasy world just to spend them here, otherwise I'm going to be a very broke hero."
"You'd make plenty if you sold food like this to the other world." Ren thought aloud, before guzzling down yet another icee. This guy just powered through a brain freeze! What a power move.
While Naofumi briefly thought about the idea, he didn't think he would have enough time to do his studies on top of training for the waves. Adding a business as busy as a restaurant would cripple his progress significantly.
"Let's do it!" Raphtalia immediately voted.
"Sorry/no." The shield and the spy said at the same time, surprising each other.
"Did we just agree on something that fast?" Naofumi asked.
"Usually not." Petra agreed. "But, you do often have good ideas. You just need to manage your time more wisely. Even your studies take more priority than running an establishment such as this."
"Wow, that's one of the nicest things I've ever heard you say to me."
"You also aren't very good at cooking." Taking a sip of her carbonated drink, Petra let Naofumi down as gently as she could. It unfortunately was with the grace of a man with cerebral palsy trying to juggle pebbles while on crack.
"It's not that bad." Raphtalia argued.
"Yeah! You eat everything I make!" Naofumi scooted closer to the girl who was more grateful for her meals.
"Because it's edible, and the tools combined with the ingredients you have access to are abundant. You have a grasp on the knowledge of cooking, but your execution still needs precision." Finishing her one last slice of ham, Petra padded her lips with a napkin and looked towards the two other heroes. They were young, inexperienced, and certainly lacked any form of discipline. She would have to judge their skills in the battle with the waves and see how behind they truly were. Naofumi was already a handful to get to train, but at least he had a variety of knowledge and other magical skills to use.
If the other heroes couldn't pull their weight, she might have to request Naofumi to find a way to give the legendary weapons to others. In just under two days, these heroes had to prove themselves.
"Just so we're on the same page." Ren spoke up, looking a little bloated as he addressed Naofumi. "You don't have a logout feature in your menu?"
"No Kirito, no I don't."
The sword hero sighed, looking like he just aged five years instantly. Not that it made him look old given how young he was.
"Then, I have a favor to ask."
"Hm?" Naofumi leaned forward, listening closely to the boy.
"I want to visit my home."
Hit out another chapter, honestly I was expecting to do the first wave this chapter but then I ended up writing a lot more and coming up with a bunch of ideas.
Any grammar mistakes please point out and I will fix them ASAP.
Let me know how well you like it and if you want to see more.
RedBurningDragon: Essentially, yes, though her body is nowhere near as strong as Thor's.
Perseus12: I don't plan on involving anyone else to train Raphtalia, but it would be a cool idea.
kirosyamcha: Yeah, but it's so worth having a mini Thor on the team.
Jebest4781: I plan on having her interact with her friends on a later date.
Azure Dragon of the East: That's the exact song I kept replaying when writing the scene! This is it though for pseudo avengers.
Marshman101: Glad you also saw her rocket fighting style.
Everyone: His growth is more subtle, and that change is only visible when he's pushed against the ropes of his limits. Also, you say that you want serious growth and progression for Naofumi but you also want this to remain a fun story? Those things don't exactly go together. Plus, writing this is entertaining for myself, even during the serious moments. You also probably forgot that this story is meant for me to just mess around with, and going only one route or playing off only one concept isn't exactly messing around.
AnimeFan13579: No more Avengers, we have enough.
Final Genesis: I still want to see how a Raphtalia war machine would have turned out, so maybe a mini story will come out in the future.
SentinalSlice: While those details might be considered canon, they weren't exactly clear in the MCU movies themselves.
