Shield Hero: A New Hero

Chapter 12

Daenerys was the first to pounce, only to be knocked away as the creature dodged her, kicking with its back legs. Makoto rushed in next, slashing with her sword as I moved in to help.

As I went to attack, the Nue swiped its front claw at me. Ducking under the creature's paw, Makoto wasn't quick enough, she got hit and was knocked into the wall of the cave.

Standing back up, I stabbed the Nue in its chest. The creature roared as the snake tail bit down on my left shoulder. Gritting my teeth, I used my second dagger to stab the snake. Pulling away, I moved back as sparks began to circle the creature.

Jumping back, the area around the beast was struck with lightning. Taking the chance to catch my breath, Daenerys and Makoto rejoined me.

Once the lightning stopped, Makoto rushed in and slashed at its head while Daenerys took on the tail. With it distracted, I ran in and slid under it, stabbing it in the neck. Coming to a stop under it, I ripped my dagger through its flesh, causing blood to drench my face and chest. Pushing my dagger further down its body, it was suddenly pushed off as Daenerys slammed into its side with her talons. As it lay dead, I got the XP from it, jumping from level 44 to 46.

Getting to my feet, I wiped the blood off my weapons before sheathing them. Daenerys changed into her human form as I walked over to the creatures body. "What're you doing?"

"Getting a new addition to my arsenal." I replied. Pulling out my dagger, I cut off one of the creatures claws and the snake head. Feeding them to the jewel on my dagger, my skill menu opened up showing more skills. "Tiger claw dagger... And Venom blade..." I read the skills. "Interesting." raising my blade, I thought of the tiger claw and watched as the blade of my dagger changed. The blade grew a few inches and turned into an almost exact image of the claw. "Hm." I got a few stat upgrades with this blade as well. Two percent speed when using it as well as a bit more resistance to cold. As for the venom blade, there weren't any stat upgrades except for resilience to venom as well as adding venom to the blade itself.

"Can we go now?" Daenerys asked.

Standing back up, I turned to the way we came. "Yeah." looking down at my blood soaked clothes, I grimaced. "Ugh."

Once we left the cave, we got back on the carriage and began heading to the village. Taking a little less time to get back, since I memorized the way, we parked and hopped out.

As soon as my feet hit the ground, the same elderly man approached us. "Is the beast dead?" he asked.

"Yeah." I gestured to my clothes. "Here's your proof." I placed my hand over my eyes. "I'm gonna smell like crap for the next week."

"Excellent!" the elderly man smiled. "About the killed beast. Of course, here is your payment." he handed out a bag of coin.

Taking it, I glanced inside to see it filled with silver. "Thanks." I attached the bag to my hip. "Now, where can I was my clothes?"

Minutes later

Down by the river, I was washing my cloak and shirt since they were the ones drenched in blood. My pants were quite dirty so I was washing them, too.

That elderly man also gave me a shirt and a pair of shorts to wear while my clothes dried. He even gave Makoto some clothes for when she needed to wash her outfit as well. Daenerys didn't need any, though. Guess one of the perks of having transformation clothing is that they never get dirty.

Once I was done washing my clothes, I hung them up on a low hanging tree branch while I got the blood off my face and out of my hair. I shook my head to get most of the water out before putting on the shirt the elderly man gave me. Once I did, I felt a sharp stinging sensation in my shoulder.

Standing up from my kneeling position, I ignored it as I grabbed my clothes and headed back to the village. Makoto and Daenerys were waiting for me by the main gate. Walking passed them, they followed. "Now that we got that out of the way, let's start heading to another village. See if we can't find more work."

The two agreed and we got back in the carriage. Hanging my wet clothes from the roof of the carriage, I stepped into the 'driver' seat and took the reins. Makoto hooked Daenerys up before climbing in back.

Following the road, I let myself get lost in thought to pass the time.

A few hours later

"Master!" Daenerys shouted, snapping me out of my thoughts.

"Huh, what's wrong?" I noticed the carriage wasn't moving. "Why're we stopped?"

"There's a group of people up ahead." she replied.

Looking ahead, I counted a little less than a dozen people. Each one of them looked shady. "Bandits."

"Bandits?" Daenerys repeated.

"Approach slowly." I told her. "There's probably more near."

Reaching the group, they all pulled out their weapons. Coming to a stop, I leaned forward. "How can I help you?"

"Give us your coin!" one of the bandits ordered.

"I don't think I will." I said as I hopped down from the carriage.

"It's either your coin or your life!" another bandit growled.

Hearing footsteps behind me, I glanced back to see half a dozen more bandits blocking the way we came. "You're forgetting the third option." I said.

"And what's that?"

Pulling out my weapons, Makoto joined my side, her sword at the ready. Moving over to Daenerys, I quickly unhooked her from the carriage. Turning back to the bandits, I smirked.

Placing a hand on Daenerys, she looked to me. "Handle the ones behind us." I told her. "Me and Makoto can take them."

Daenerys nodded before turning her attention to the bandits behind us. "Last chance to just hand over your coin and walk away." the bandits told us.

Throwing my second dagger at one of them in reply, it sunk into his thigh, causing him to fall to the ground. Rushing forward, Makoto kept some of them busy while I engaged the rest.

Making sure not to fatally injure any, I sliced their legs to incapacitate them while dodging their attacks as best I could. Once the last one fell, Daenerys, Makoto and I rounded them up. "Alright," I felt a sharp pain in my left shoulder. Ignoring it, I wiped off my daggers and put them away. "Now, I want-"

"You're the dagger hero, right?" one of the bandits asked.

Turning to face them, I placed a hand on my hip. "Yeah, he is!" another spoke. "The shield hero's buddy!"

I crossed my arms. "It's our lucky day, fellas!" the first bandit said. I turned to the bandit and saw a smirk cross his lips. "We'll go to the king with this." he continued. "Tell him that you attacked us for not worshipping that piece of shit shield hero. I mean, why not sweeten the pot while we're at it? Say we caught him forcing himself on a woman and when he saw us, he attacked. Or maybe, forcing himself on a girl. Or even-"

Feeling anger rising, I pulled out one of my daggers. The bandits fell silent as I approached the one who was just talking. In one swift motion, I slashed my blade through his throat.

Hearing a gasp come from behind me, I looked back to see Makoto and Daenerys, in her human form, watching. Daenerys looked shocked but Makoto just stood there, staring. "Why did you-?"

"He deserved it." I cut Daenerys off, turning back to the other bandits. "They all do. I mean, how many people have they stolen from? Killed? How many women have they forced themselves on? I'm just making sure they can't do that again. Now, you can either help, leave, or wait for me to finish."

Approaching another bandit, Makoto walked up next to me. Glancing at her, I saw she was just as furious as I was. Drawing her sword, she shoved it through one of their chests.

One by one, we went through and killed each bandit. When the last one was killed, I began loading them into the back of the carriage. After that was done, I hooked Daenerys up and had her take us somewhere in the forest. There, we dumped the bodies.

Feeling that same pain in my shoulder, I gently rubbed it to try and ease it a bit. "Listen to me, the both of you." I said, getting Daenerys and Makoto's attention. "This never happened. They've probably stolen from and killed more people than I can count. Don't feel bad for them. They had this coming."

Daenerys and Makoto both nodded. "Good." I walked passed them and towards the carriage. "Now, let's get going."

End of chapter 12