"We should be safe in here. For a while at least."

Naofumi followed Rachel deeper into the cave before coming to a stop.

"Why not keep going?" He asked.

"I don't know this cave system. The last thing we need is to be lost."

They were lucky enough to come across glowing crystals illuminating their path. This really did remind him of all those games he played that involved going into dungeons or caves. But this was real. He could smell the damp air and feel the jagged wall of rock.

"Here should be good." Rachel stopped before a cluster of crystals and sat down. "Let's wait for thirty minutes and go back out."

Naofumi nodded and sat across from her. Next to him, a crystal jutted out of the wall, bathing him in a light green glow.

As beautiful and serene as the scene around him was, it didn't dampen the feeling of contempt for those bandits that kidnapped him and Rachel.

"Why did they kidnap us?" What could he have that would make someone want to kidnap him?

"Probably because we're worth something to them." Rachel said. "I have money so that makes me an obvious target. You're the Shield Hero. They'd probably force you into a slave contract to do their dirty deeds. It's pretty common with bandits."

"Really?"

"Yep. Heard some fucked up stories in my travels."

Naofumi could only nod, not knowing what to say to that. He knew so little about human trafficking from his world, he didn't know if the same rules applied here. Given there were also demi-humans as well, it makes it all the worse when said out loud.

It was why he didn't want a slave. His name was already in the mud, what reason was there to drag it even further? Not that he cared what people think, but even he had morals.

Except good morals could only get him so far. Had he not acted out of intimidation, he wouldn't get where he was now. That still wasn't enough. He's still at a low level and didn't have any party members. Rachel didn't even count considering she rejected his offer.

"Why the long face, Shield Hero?" Rachel asked.

Naofumi met her gaze before shifting it to a crystal. "Just thinking about stuff."

Rachel could hear the dismissive tone and didn't press further. Good. He didn't need a therapy lesson at this point. Especially from her.

"Well, try to get over it," Rachel said. "Once we're out of here, we still got a long way to get back to Castle Town. If those bandits give up. I hope they do."

"Can we even be sure they'll give up?" Naofumi asked.

"They have to at some point. They can't keep searching forever. And they wouldn't be brave to kidnap us in the city. Not around the royal guards."

During his time at the castle, Naofumi saw several of the guards stationed around. In rooms, in hallways, in the mess hall, even in different parts of the city. They reminded him of those guards in England. Still, stern, and diligent.

The only time they'd move or acted on command was when they pointed their spears at him. Other than that, they just stood around. If he was a guard, he would likely be a bad one at that. He couldn't stand for who knows how many hours doing nothing. Speaking of doing nothing.

"I know you said you don't know the cave system, but can't we go further in? There might be treasure here."

"Or a monster that could kill us both," Rachel shot back. "Seriously, there's no telling what's in here if we keep going. With these waves going on, monsters hide in places you'd least expect them in. And I'm sure this cave has one. Which is why we're staying here."

She was right. Naofumi hadn't experienced a wave yet. And all his time playing dungeon crawling games taught him that caves were the hotspot for high leveled bosses.

But she was at level 28. That should be high enough to kill a monster or two. Just how many monsters are out there from these waves? The only information about these waves was when he was introduced to the king.

"Hey, can I ask you something?"

"Shot," Rachel said.

"Can you tell me about these waves? Like, how they happen or why they happen."

She must have some answers.

"Sorry, I don't really know the how or the why."

"Really?"

"Well, only the common knowledge about them."

"And that would be?"

"Just that they happened over a thousand years ago."

A thousand years? How was everyone in the country still alive?

"I don't know the specifics," Rachel continued. "The Legend of the Heroes is known throughout the kingdom, it's common knowledge. After the first two waves hit, a legendary alchemist helped craft the four weapons. Since then, those who were deemed worthy of using those weapons protected the country from the waves."

"And this has been going on for a thousand years?"

"Yep. That's the gist of it. You have to ask a scholar about this kind of stuff. I'm just an apothecary."

This was starting to give him a headache. Waves, legendary weapons, heroes, this was all too much for him. How could Ren and the others just accept this and now question it further? Why were they chosen to be the heroes if they didn't even have the proper training? Wait a minute…

"One more question." If this stuff was common knowledge, Rachel should know this. "You said the weapons were used by those worthy. Then why were the others and I summoned here? Shouldn't it be someone from this world?"

Rachel gazed up at the ceiling, thinking, before gazing back at him. "500 years ago, the four heroes were killed in a wave. The kingdom couldn't wait until the next ones were chosen. So, they instead summoned heroes from somewhere else. Like I said, I only know the common stuff. A scholar would know a lot more about it."

That wasn't as helpful. It was better than what he heard from the castle. But not much.

And if these waves have been going on for a thousand years, then there was no way in hell he would go back home. Why did it have to be him, of all people? An otaku shut-in.

"How long has it been?" He asked. He just wanted to get out of here and rest at an inn.

"Maybe twenty minutes. Ten more and we can-"

"GRRRRR."

They both stilled. The growl sent waves of shivers down Naofumi's spine. The growl sounded like it came from a dog. But what kind of dog lives in a cave. A monster dog.

Rachel practically bounced back up and drew her ax. With her other hand, she summoned a flame bright enough to light the cave.

Naofumi was right. The growl did come from a dog. Only, it wasn't a normal dog. This dog had two heads instead of one. Their glowing red eyes pierced through his soul, sending another wave of shivers.

"Shit." Rachel thrust her hand forward and fire shot out like a flamethrower. The dog jumped back, crying in pain.

"Let's go!" Rachel grabbed Naofumi by his hand and they ran further into the cave.

"What was that?" Naofumi asked. Rachel had let go of his hand and ran behind her.

"A Cerberus! It's a monster that came from the waves!"

His first wave monster. He didn't get to read the cerberus' stats before running.

They ran further in, the barking of the cerberus growing closer and closer. This was far different than being chased by a regular dog. This dog had only one thing on its mind. To kill.

After what felt like an eternity of running, they entered a large chamber big enough to fit a mansion. Several more entrances decorated the walls leading to who knows where.

When they reached the center of the chamber, they spun and faced the entrance where they came from. When the cerberus entered, Naofumi got a good look at the monster. It had the appearance of a Doberman, only larger. Its sharp teeth were larger than his fingers.

"How do we kill it?" This being his first wave monster, he needed to know how to kill them. Now that he had a good look at the monster, he read its stat. Level 22. Six levels lower than Rachel. With her here, she should be able to kill it.

But even weak monsters could have the advantage.

"Just aim for the heads. That's their weak spot." Rachel gripped her ax tightly, waiting for the cerberus to attack.

The beast circled them, growling. Then it leaped, teeth bared.

They both jumped out of the way, barely avoiding the dog's bite. Rachel rushed forward and swung her ax down only for the beast to jump to the side.

"Shit!" She jumped back when the cerberus leaped forward again. Not having enough time to swing, she held the ax by the shoulder and knob. The Cerberus bit down on the body. They pushed back at each other, their strength matched.

"Shield Hero," Rachel called out. "Now's about a good time to be a hero and kill this thing before it kills me!"

"Give me a second!" Opening his skill tree, Naofimi scrolled through each skill only to have them locked. All he had was his leaf shield. Nothing. Damn it!

"Woah!" Rachel stumbled back on to the ground. She glared at the two heads. To show fear was to show weakness. She wasn't going to die in this cave.

Using her mind's eye, she drew the poison sigil. Once the sigil shattered, the cerberus glowed green. It let go and Rachel pushed back. The beast whined, stumbling from the poison. This time, Rachel was ready.

"Die you fucking dog!" She brought down the ax, decapitating one of the heads. Blood gushed out from where the head was.

Naofumi stared at the blood. When Rachel brought down her ax, time seemed to still for him. He'd seen violent stuff happen in video games. But he wasn't in a game. He could feel the earth beneath his feet. Feel pain when hit. Smell the air. Everything was real. Including the beast and the blood. The metallic scent coating the room.

The cerberus stumbled back, yowling in pain. The remaining head shook itself and barred its teeth. The poison spell had worn off.

"You're mine now you little shit." Rachel dashed and swung. The cerberus jumped to the side, causing Rachel to hit crystals on a wall. The crystals shattered, several shards landing near Naofumi.

He picked up one of them and an idea popped into his mind. If a blade of grass could make his shield transform, would the same happen with a crystal? Only one way to find out.

While Rachel held off the beast, he let his shield absorb the crystal. The skill tree popped up and a new shield was unlocked. The icon was that of a crystal jutting out of a rocky core. The crystal shield.

"Fuck!"

Naofumi looked up and to his horror, the beast had Rachel pinned to the ground. Even with one head, it was still powerful. It was biting down on the handle of Rachel's ax as she pushed it away. Or tried to. With her legs pinned to the floor, she couldn't roll away from the beast.

The beast reared its head back, letting go of the handle. Rachel's neck was exposed. One bite from that thing and it'll kill her.

"Crystal shield!"

Just as the beast was about to bite down on Rachel's neck, Naofumi ran into the beast, knocking it off of Rachel. The beast cried out in pain. When Naofumi pushed it back, he was surprised to see blood on his shield.

His shield had taken on a crystal-like appearance, glowing blue-green with spikes coming off of it. That's why there was blood on it.

"Thanks." Rachel stood and readied her ax again. "Time to end this. You got my back, Shield Hero?"

Did he? What reason did he have to protect Rachel? He could high tail it out of here and leave her to fight the beast. She was skilled with her ax and can wield fire magic.

But just a few seconds ago, she was pinned down, staring at death in the eye.

The air still had the metallic scent from the decapitated head. Had he not intervened and shoved the beast from Rachel, her blood would be what he would smell.

That, and she did save him from being sold off to bandits. She had every opportunity to leave him behind. But she didn't. She untied him, gave him food, and tugged him along to hide from the bandits. She didn't need to do any of that, yet she did. Was it out of kindness? Maybe.

Trust. A fragile thing. Like glass, it could easily break.

It could also be fixed.

"Yes." He would protect her the way she protected him.

"Good. Let's do this."

They both charged at the beast. Naofumi could see its HP was almost empty. All Rachel needed to do was decapitate the last head and it'll be over.

The beast leaped at them. Big mistake. Naofumi stepped in front of Rachel and held out his shield. The beast was pierced by the crystals. More blood came out. He shoved the beast away. It backed away with a limp.

"Now!"

Rachel heaved her ax up in the air and brought it down. The sickening sound of flesh meeting blade echoed through the chamber. Like before, blood gushed out of the beast, its head dropping to the floor. The body stumbled for a bit. It then collapsed.

The two stared at the body. This thing should not have existed. No creature like this should ever roam the land. But it did. And there were more out there.

"Finally." Rachel heaved out a breath, putting her ax away. "That's the last time I'll go to a cave unexpectedly."

Naofumi could agree to that, at least until he was required to go into one for a mission.

"You OK?" Rachel asked. She looked unharmed save for a few scratches and blood stains on her shawl.

"I'm good." He didn't feel anything in his body was damaged. Other than the adrenaline rush leaving, he was fine.

His status opened up, surprising him. He saw the EXP points going up. 75 EXP. His level jumped from 3 to 9.

That wasn't all he saw. On the upper left, he saw Rachel's HP and BP displayed below his. Did this mean she's his party member?

Rachel dug into her satchel and pulled out two vials containing a blue liquid. "Here," she handed one to him. "It's a potion a witch taught me how to make. It'll heal us." She uncorked the bottle and drank it. A soft blue glow surrounded her before disappearing. Her scratches were gone and she didn't look as tired.

Naofumi uncorked the vial and sniffed it. It smelled like blueberries with some mint. When he drank it, it tasted bitter but as it went down, there was a sweet aftertaste. His body glowed and the glow disappeared not long after. His HP was fully restored, along with Rachel's.

"Thanks for the help back there." Rachel said. "You saved my ass from becoming dog food." She smiled at him, and it was a genuine one.

No one has thanked him since coming here. She was the only one who didn't show any animosity or hatred toward him.

"No problem." This was something he was going to have to get used to. Back in his world, he lived in his own little world of video games, manga, light novels, and a decent understanding of human behavior. Had he met Rachel back home, maybe they could have become friends?

"Why help me?" That was something he needed to know. They were strangers. He even threatened her with blackmail yet she still helped.

Rachel looked at him like he asked a dumb question. "It was the right thing to do," She replied. "You needed help, and I helped. It's why I became an apothecary. To help people. You may have been an asshole to me, but I won't leave you behind to get killed."

She placed her trust on him, someone who is the thorn on the kingdom's side.

He didn't know how to respond. He just stared at the floor. Could trust easily be regained after being betrayed?

"Let's get out of here," Rachel's voice brought him back. She was making her way to the entrance where they came from. "The bandits should be gone by now."

She stood by the entrance, waiting for him.

Following her meant placing his trust in her. He had no real reason to trust her other than she saved him. She could very well be another Malty and betray him.

But… he was tired of being alone. Tired of all of this. If someone was with him, it'll make it all the more bearable.

Throwing caution to the wind, he followed her out.

When they exited the cave, the sun was still high in the air.

They broke through the forest and came back out onto the dirt trail.

"Looks like lady luck is on our side," Rachel said. "At this rate, we'll be back in Castle Town by sunset."

"It's still a long walk," Naofumi retorted. He wished he had done better in gym class.

"Quit your complaining. I have a tonic for soreness if it'll get you inspired to move."

What was inspiring about walking back who knows how many miles?

"As a reward for helping me, steak and wine are on me." Rachel pulled out some gold coins from her coin sack. "We'll be feasting like royalty tonight."

Steak and wine did sound good. The apple he had earlier didn't do much for his hunger, but the steak will.

"Come on," Rachel walked forward. "We're burning daylight here. The faster we go, the sooner we'll-"

An arrow whizzed by and struck the ground a few inches from their feet.

"What the-"

"They're here!"

"Get them!"

Bandits swarmed out of the forest with their weapons drawn. They were surrounded in no time, their backs against each other.

The swordsman with the dried blood stains on his blade stepped forward. His sword was pointed at Naofumi.

"You little fucks have been nothing but trouble."

"Said the prick who kidnapped us!" Rachel said with venom in her voice.

"I wouldn't be talking like that if I were you, little girl." He sneered at her. "You're surrounded. It was a mistake keeping you alive. We'll just take your money and the Shield Hero."

The other bandits agreed, cheering on the swordsman.

If fighting a monster dog wasn't bad enough, they now had to fight these bandits. Behind him, he could feel Rachel tense up. She couldn't get her ax at the risk of getting killed.

"Tie up the Shield Hero." The swordsman waved at one of his companions. A stout man came forward with rope.

"You will do no such thing!"

A black wolf broke through the bandits and stood in front of Naofumi. The stout man back away hurriedly at the sight of the wolf. The wolf growled, moving slightly forward.

Three more wolves broke through and stood in front of them. The bandits backed away only to move forward.

Naofumi could just barely make out the view from the bandits. Wolves growled and more showed up.

That was when he saw it. A man in armor was riding a very large wolf, as big as a horse.

"Who's he?" Naofumi asked. The man wore the same armor as the guards in Castle Town only his armor was black lined with gold. His bearded face had a cut going down his right cheek. He kept his blue eyes on the bandits. Behind him were other guards on horses.

"That's the captain of the royal guard," Rachel said.

"And the wolves?"

"They're his. He's a beastmaster."

"Beastmaster?"

"I'll tell you later when we're not surrounded by bandits."

"Now," the captain drew his sword, "I suggest you all drop your weapons. Or do you want to become a feast for my wolves?"

The bandits looked at the swordsman, waiting for his order. The swordsman looked back between the captain and Naofumi and Rachel. He sighed and dropped his sword. The others followed suit.

"Arrest them!" Guards swarmed in, arresting each bandit. When the last one was arrested, the captain climbed down from his wolf and approached them.

"Are you two OK? They didn't do anything."

"We're fine," Rachel said.

"Good. These bandits have been causing nothing but trouble. Thank the gods we finally caught them."

Up close, the captain had a regal look to him. Like he could pass as someone who belonged in the battlefield while also entertaining guest at a ball.

Naofumi made sure to keep his guard up. This man is close to the king. If he's anything like that old man, this guy could be just the same.

When the captain looked at him, he didn't see contempt in his eyes.

"Nothing happened, Shield Hero?"

What was his game? Surely he should've known what transpired after Malty accused him. Why is he acting concerned?

"I'm OK." He kept it short and simple. Nothing more, nothing less.

The captain nodded, accepting the answer. He put two fingers in his mouth and whistled. Two grey wolves came trotting. They were roughly smaller than the captain's wolf but large enough to carry a person.

"Let me get you two back to the city. Don't worry about them, they're tamed and wouldn't hurt a fly." He patted each wolf on the head before going back to his wolf.

The grey wolves kneeled down until they were on their bellies.

Naofumi looked at Rachel who only shrugged in response.

They climbed on the wolves and they rose up. Naofumi gripped on the wolf's fur, not wanting to fall off. This was so weird. It's one thing to be on a horse, but a wolf?

"Forward, men!" The captain's voice bombed.

And so they began their way back to Castle Town.