Author's Note: I'm looking for the reviewer/PM sender who sent me an idea for a shield, the idea I believe was where Naofumi gives his shield a core of the chimera. It would give Naofumi the ability to alter his slaves/monsters, like giving Filo diamond wings after feeding her egg with a diamond or a crystal. I can't find the PM and so I'm looking for whoever sent me the idea so that they can resend the idea. I hope whoever you are, is still reading the story and remember the idea.
Chapter Nine…
Demons and an Angle!
Naofumi didn't have to wait for long for Crusch come out of her Master's store wearing what looked to be like a leather shirt with some arm guards and a leather skirt around her waist. Naofumi only noticed that the only part of her that looked off with a specially-designed footwear that looked it like razor-sharp talons covering both her feet. He also noticed that she was wielding not one but multiple weapons going from a bow with a few arrows, a large shield and finally a sword on her hip.
"Before we leave, can I ask why you're wearing all that and I would assume a blacksmith would actually wear chain armour?" Naofumi asked.
"That's actually a very bad idea," explained Crusch as she looked at Naofumi and shook her head, "You need to know what your fighting style is before you choose any armour or weapons. Then you need to think about how you would need to alter it. As a lizard-folk, I naturally have thick armour around my whole body. It takes quite the hard swing to actually break through it and seeing how high my level is, I'm pretty safe to walk around in a few monster areas without having to worry about them hurting me. But it's still good for me to wear some armour, but wearing too much bulky armour can slow me down or hinder my movement not the various parties ideas. Normally I only use ta sword and shield combination to fight but you need to learn how to protect against long-range and close-range enemies so I'll be helping you to train lower out."
"Is there anything we should do before we leave town?" Naofumi asked the young lizardwoman.
"Unless you need to stoke up on items, we should go to the town's church, My Lord." Crusch informed the Shield Hero.
"I need to pick up some basic supplies that the bitch stole from me and something special but why would we need to go to the church for?" asked Naofumi, wondering why he should go there.
"Ok and don't you know My Lord?" Crusch asked in confusion and worry. Confusion, as she thought that someone would have told her Lord why he had to go to the church, as it was one of the most important things if he was going to fight the Waves. Worried, as she was about to tell him something that would make him angry, that was something she didn't want but knew that he had to know about this.
So with a deep sigh, she explained, "The reason that we need to check on the Dragon Hourglass to see how much time we have before the next Wave. I thought the king would have told you, heroes, this gives you time to level up and prepare "
"You gotta be kidding me," Naofumi said darkly, "I knew about the Dragon Hourglass, but I just thought that it only warned them about the First Wave. The damn king never told me that I would need to visit the hourglass to learn about the time left before the next Wave, nor did he tell me where it was. Damn it, once again it looks like that the bitch and her father wants me dead, what fuck is wrong with them?" This was like the hundredth time he'd thought this; they hated him all because of the actions of the last Shield Hero.
He had to wonder, was all this hate for the Shield Hero because he helped some demi-humans to gain more freedom, or was there something more. He couldn't see all this hate, for one thing, there had to be more to it right? But he knew that there was no real way to know for sure, as they say, history is written by the victors not only that, but the information could be long gone and only a handful knows for sure like the royal family. If that was the case, he knew for sure there was no way in hell that he would see such information. So he could only guess that there's no to this, never knowing the full story as to why he was hated by the bitch and her father.
Naofumi would like nothing more than to let his anger go, to do something to let his frustration go, but he knew that he needed to keep calm. He needed to show the people of this town that he wasn't like the person that they thought him he was. So taking a few deep breaths, Naofumi said, "Let's do this… I may not like how this damn kingdom has been treating me, but I do need to know how long before the next Wave so I can be better prepared for it."
On the way to the church, Naofumi went to a shop to get some rope and some of his supplies back that was stolen, so that he could get the Rope Shield like from his dream. The problem was that the store that he went to wouldn't sell him anything, all because of the so-called crime that he meant of committed. So waiting outside, he had to ask Crusch to get the rope for him, which she did happily. But through the window, he could see that the storekeeper wasn't happy as they knew who Crusch was buying the rope for. But because of who her master was, they couldn't risk upsetting him so sold the rope to her.
Once she got the rope for him, Naofumi fed it to his shield to create the Rope Shield. And whilst he was walking to the church, Naofumi checked its stats, for just equipping the shield he got fifteen physical defences and twenty magical defences. For its other skills, it was as follows:
Rope Shield - Level 1
Requirements:
Level 5
Equipment Bonus:
Air Strike Shield (Unmastered!)
Special Effect(s):
Rope - 4m long
Naofumi felt bothered that he only got a skill and no stats from this shield, he had hoped to get some decent stats from this shield. As he really needed them if he wanted to get stronger. But from his dream though, the Air Strike Shield had a decent skill to protect people with, at least that was something. If he couldn't learn any magic before the Wave hits, he would need to learn how to use the Air Strike Shield in different ways. But that would be for later, for now, he had to check how long he had before the attack happens.
Now it wasn't long before he got to the church, but along the way and when he got into the church, he got dark looks. If looks could kill, he was sure that he would have died a hundred times over. Naofumi had hoped that some wouldn't believe the lies that were going around about him, but other than Crusch and her Master, no one seemed to believe in him and made him wonder if it was worth saving this world.
Once in the church, Naofumi went up to the huge hourglass, it had five glass orbs with sand running through it, on either side of the orbs, were golden dragons. As he got close to the hourglass, a beam of light came from his shield that hit the hourglass that showed how much time was left.
D23 - H22 M45 - S10
D23 - H22 M45 - S09
D23 - H22 M45 - S08
It would seem that he had just under twenty-four days before the next Wave would hit the world. Naofumi was glad to hear that he had more time to train than he expected. Sure, under a month wasn't much time to get stronger, but with the ability to level up and these skill points that do so, if he trained right and get the right shields, he could become strong enough to defend himself with ease.
As he was leaving the church, he noticed an hourglass symbol had appeared on his hub, as he focused on it, it showed the time left before the next Wave would appear. 'At least I can keep track of how much time I have.' Naofumi thought to himself, somewhat content at the results of going to the church. Now that they finished with the church, with nothing else to get, Naofumi and Crusch left to go to the fields to level up. During which point Naofumi invited the young lizardwoman to his party.
o0OoO0o
Once the two were in the fields, Crusch asked, "My Lord, could you tell me the shields that you think is useful in a fight?"
"Well I do have two shields that I can use right now," explained Naofumi, "I have the Appraisal Shield that allows me to identify monsters and other things, and gives me defence and attack bonuses against monsters, but only after I appraised the monster enough times. The other shield that I find useful is the Tantric Shield, it attracts monsters to me. I have two other shields that might be useful to me, the Spiked Iron Shield and the Rope Shield, but I can't use them until I'm level five."
"What do these two shields do?" asked Crusch.
"The Spiked Iron Shield gives me a counter-attack so that those who attack me, would get hit by spikes." explained the Shield Hero, "The Rope Shield has an ability called Air Strike Shield and seems to allow me to use rope."
"Interesting," Crusch said thoughtfully, "it would seem that we need to get you to level five before I can help you train My Lord. Once I saw what they can do, I'll know how to help you train."
Naofumi would prefer to level up instead, wanting to catch up on the levels that he lost out on because of the bitch playing him and be on the same level as the other heroes. As they walk from the church, he tried to keep his anger under control, he was thinking about his Attribute and Skill Points and how he could level them up without wasting the points that he gained from levelling up. That's when he remembered that for some of them, he could do so by doing certain things. So if he wanted to save the points and put them somewhere useful, he would have to train.
Before Naofumi could ask what she had in mind for training, a red five-foot circle appear with a pentagram within it. Then a few seconds later, the earth opened up to reveal a demonic pit where flames were coming out of it. But a few seconds of it appearing, Crusch pulled Naofumi away as more than a dozen light blue-skinned demons appeared. They were giving off a demonic aura and they were at least seven-foot tall.
Naofumi saw as a few of them coming out of the pit, they were holding massive swords, Cleavers. They had craggy faces with a strange eerie smile as they began walking towards the castle. Naofumi took a closer look at them, saw that they had glowing red eyes and the four horns on their head that showed off the demonic image they wore nothing from the waist up as his chest was covered into serpent-like tattoos rippling under his muscles. They were wearing a black leather-like jeans, with brown straps, and metal kneecaps. Naofumi also saw that they were wearing an arm gauntlet, which had a demonic-looking face on them. They also had stunted wings on their back.
As these demon-like creatures appeared and Crusch pulling Naofumi away, the Shield Hero had to ask as he tried and failed to stop Crusch! "What's going on Crusch, what are those creatures?"
"They demons My Lord," explained Crusch as they hid behind a huge boulder, "they are known Phantom Guards, one of the foot shoulders of the Demon World."
"What are they doing here and why aren't we dealing with them?" asked Naofumi, as he watched the demons get closer to the town.
"I don't know why they're here for, they normally stay on their own land on one of the floating islands." admitted Crusch, "As for why we're not fighting them, will you're not going to fight them, but I will be. You're too weak right now to face them."
Wanting to know what level these demons were, Naofumi transformed his shield into the Appraisal Shield and appraised the demons. Doing this Naofumi learned that these demons were known as Phantom Guards and their levels were between ten to fifteen, and their max HP was around 1200 and that their max attack was around 200 whilst their max defence was around 120.
Naofumi could see why Crusch pulled him away, he was indeed too weak against these demons, he only had fifty-five points in defence. He realized that he would have no chance of defeating them, in fact, he would more than likely get himself killed. (He was no fool to think that if he died, he would respawn in a church or at some alter. When he died, he was dead and no way back.)
"My Lord, stay here whilst I deal with these demons," Crusch told him firmly, "if one comes near you or I'm overwhelmed or losing, run back to town as fast as possible and warn the others. I'll try and hold them back as long as I can until reinforcements come."
Naofumi looked unhappy about this, unable to help the lizardwoman, but he knew that with their attack and defence, he wasn't able to do much to help. They had attacks that could pass his defence with ease and kill him, but still, he hated the thought of someone defending him and he wasn't able to do a thing to help in return. All he could do was hide behind a boulder.
"But…" began Naofumi, but Crusch interrupted him as she took out her bow, "But nothing My Lord, yours along with the other three Cardinal Heroes are more important than any life, most people would be honoured to give up their lives so you can live, to defeat the Waves of Calamity. Please, if the worst happens, run straight back to my master and get help, don't try and save me. I need to try and beat these creatures before they get to the castle."
Before Naofumi could say another word, tell her that seeing how they were only roaming about they could return to town and inform them what was happening, Crusch quickly notched an arrow and fired it at the first level ten demon, hitting them right in between the eye, causing him to fall down dead and giving him 60 EXP. In doing so though, all of the other enemies immediately looked towards her and let out a roar as they charged. Here the lizardwoman jumped over the rock and charged at the enemy, firing arrow after arrow to get closer to them.
Naofumi wanting to know if she had any luck in defeating these demons, used his Appraisal Shield to appraise her, to see what her stats were.
Appraisal Shield Levelled Up!
Naofumi was shocked that the shield would level up at this point of time when he was in danger. Part of him had to think that of all times for one of his shields to level up, it had to be now. Either way, he looked at Crusch stats. She was level thirty with HP of 1500, her attack was 350 Magical Defence, 150 whilst her Defence was 300.
Seeing her stats Naofumi was a bit confused, he had thought that for someone at level thirty and a blacksmith her stats would be better for someone at level thirty.
Either way, all Naofumi could do was stand and watch as Crusch fires six arrows as she ran towards the demons, she barely scratched three of them well separating a few of them by having them try and dodge out of the way of the attack given that she was running closer.
Seeing how the arrows weren't doing much effort in dealing with these demons, Crusch dropped her bow and immediately pulled out her sword. Naofumi didn't blame her, bows were for range attacks, the moment that the enemy comes running at you, that weapon is useless unless you got the height advantage. It also helped if she was able to get in a hit, but not only were these demons were faster than they looked, but their huge Clavers allowed them to shield themselves. So the only option was to attack them at close range.
She did as much damage as she could by using the bow and arrows, she pulled out her sword and got into a fighting position and waited for her enemies. She didn't have to wait for long, as within seconds, the first one immediately charged at her, raising his sword high into the air. Where a few seconds later, brought the cleaver down with a devastating amount of power, however, Crusch just smiled as she raised up her shield and tilted it sideways causing the sword to let out a loud scraping sound as it was redirected down the path of the shield and away from her.
But that was not all she did, she continued the move by shifting her sword and thrusting it forward, stabbing and piercing the demon's arm, doing a great amount of damage. But knowing that she could not waste any time with how many demons there were, she immediately pulled her blade out of the arm of the demon and pushed it away with as much force she could with her shield, knocking it to the side.
But as she did this, she saw another demon trying to hit her on her side, so to protect herself, she quickly raised the sword and used the enemy's own momentum to increase her own speed. By doing this, as her sword made contact, it allowed her to spin faster as she slammed her shield right into the next demon. Making sure that the demon wasn't able to make a counter-attack, she quickly used her clawed feet and jumped onto its stomach sending the claws digging straight into his gut.
She then took another step, clawing his chest to do another step on his face badly clawing it, as she jumped up as high as she could and saw into the middle of the crowd with reluctant she unstrapped her shield and tossed it in the middle of a group of them flat side up. Here she started to chant, "I ordered thee, decipher the law of Nature and summon a scorching fire that burst and incinerates my target. Fire Burst!"
As she finished her chant, magical symbols appeared whilst she was still in mid-air, where a red magical energy came from her hand and went into the shield. Here the shield became like fire, as a huge blast of fire shot towards four of the demons, killing them instantly. The four demons were at level ten and on their deaths give Naofumi 60 EXP each, which allowed him to level up to level three.
LEVELLED UP!
+10 Health!
+10 Defence!
+5 Mana Points!
+5 Spirit Points!
+10 Skill Points!
As she landed within the flames, something that didn't seem to hurt her, Crusch pulled out her hammer and cleaver.
Naofumi could only watch slack-jawed at how Crusch was fighting against these demons so far, with how she used her shield. Sure, she used it to block the attacks, but she also used the shield to redirect the attacks too, not only that, but she used the shield for her fire spell. Now that she's dropped her shield and bow, he had to wonder what she's going to do with her hammer and cleaver, more specifically how is she going to use them.
As Crusch quickly shuang her cleaver into one of the other demons, she was able to get a good cut on him causing him to fall down where she immediately turned her heel and swing the hammer onto another one, crushing him to the ground with the hammer. Killing these two-level twelve demons, he gained 70 EXP for each of them.
Now, not wasting any time, she immediately turned using the moment of the swing to swing the sword again into the next few demons. But the problem was that as she was attacking some of the demons, one was able to catch her off guard. Seeing this, Naofumi moved as fast as he could to block the attack, whilst he was able to block the attack, he was pushed back a few feet and lost eighty points of his health, leaving him with ninety points of health.
Crusch gave the Shield Hero a sad smile in thanks as she pushed him back behind the boulder for his own protection, as she immediately brought her hammer up and smashed it into the ground to create a shock wave to knock all the demons around them back a few matters. Here Crusch used some sort of fire attack with her sword that sent flames from the sword that killed the demon that attacked her and harmed Naofumi, this one was level 15 and give them 110 EXP. As another demon attacked her, she once again used another fire attack, but for some reason, Naofumi didn't get any EXP whilst Crusch levelled up to 31.
Naofumi had to wonder why he wasn't able to gain any EXP when the last demon was defeated, when he was able to with the others. But his thoughts were interrupted when he saw an arrow flew down and change direction to hit the demon that Crusch was fighting, killing it instantly. Looking above to see where the arrow came from, Naofumi was shocked to see Itsuki above him. What shocked him wasn't the silver and gold armour he was wearing, but it was the beautiful white wings that were on the back of the armour. He could feel and the radiant energy he could feel coming off of them would seem to make the demons weaker and Flinch away at his presence.
Itsuki was wilding a golden bow with a red handle and curved tips, not only that, but it possesses multiple heart-shaped holes carved into its limbs, with extra appendages surrounding its handle that come together in the shape of a heart.
Seeing Itsuki, Naofumi saw the Bow Hero pull the string of the bow back were three light arrows appeared, where they were let go at the demons, it would seem the arrows were homing arrows. As they went after the demons, they try to dodge them at first or even when they try to outrun the arrows but they kept on chasing them until they get and killed them. With the defeat of these demons, the seven adventurers that joined the Bow Hero appeared and chased after the demons where they and the Bow Hero defeated the rest of the demons with the help of Crusch.
With the demons were defeated, Itsuki landed next to his group looking concerned. Seeing this, a man within a heavy armour and a huge moustache asked, "Lord Itsuki, what's wrong?"
"I didn't get any EXP for defeating those monsters." Itsuki informed his group as he transformed back to his normal self.
"Strange," said a female bow user, "we were able to gain the EXP from defeating those monsters. I wonder why you weren't able to get any?"
"I have no idea," Itsuki answered worriedly, then he thought of something and said as he looked around, "the only reason I can think of is that there's another hero around." Then he spotted Naofumi who was hiding behind the boulder, seeing the Shield Hero, the Bow Hero called out, "You damn coward Naofumi, get out here."
Naofumi sighed at this, but having no real reason to hide anymore, he came out of hiding. And with a sigh, he said, "Unlike you, I haven't got any attack points to fight off those creatures and who are you calling a coward Mister I can fly in the air away from my opponents? You're up there in the sky with the capability to fight whilst staying safe, whilst the rest of your group fighting on the ground fighting up close and personal." said Naofumi, annoyed at the Bow Hero for calling him a coward, when he did the exact same thing but had a way to fight.
As much as Itsuki hated Naofumi for what he did, he couldn't blame the older man in doing what he did. He too might have hide too if he didn't have the attack points or defence to do something, then again, unlike Naofumi, he considered himself as a true hero. So even if it meant he would die, he would stand up and defend the people in the name of justice.
"It wasn't until today, thanks to Crusch, that I was able to gain another level." Naofumi informed the Bow Hero, as he pointed the lizardwoman out.
Hearing this, Itsuki looked at the Demi-Human, when he saw that she was wearing a collar he asked, "Why is she wearing a collar for?"
"Because Lord Itsuki, she's a slave." explained one of Itsuki's companions.
"What!?" Itsuki asked in outrage, believing that no one, especially a hero, should have a slave, it was against his version of justice. "You bastard, why do you have a slave? We're heroes, we aren't meant to have slaves."
"First off we are in a different world where rules are different and in this case, where slavery is legal in this world." Naofumi informed the Bow Hero, "Next, she isn't my slave, she belongs to someone who is willing to help me. Lastly, what right do you have to say that I can't have a slave, when it's legal for me to have one? So if I'm unable to find a companion, I'll need to find another way to gain companions, if it means that I need to get a slave or two so be it."
"But as heroes, we have to show higher standards, show them what is right." Itsuki told the Shield Hero, pushing his own version of justice onto the older male. "We have to show them that slavery is wrong and shouldn't be allowed."
Naofumi couldn't believe the young male, the Bow Hero was delusional to think that he could change the thoughts of those in this world about slavery by himself. Sure, he too thought that it was wrong to have them depending on the situation and how it's properly done, but he wasn't delusion to think that he could alter this world's beliefs on how things should be done. Right now, all they should be focusing on, was fending off against the Waves not stupidly trying to change their laws or worse, get into their religious beliefs before they jump ship back to their worlds. Until it was over, they shouldn't try and alter things. As making big changes such as stopping slavery can make you enemies where you don't need them.
But he knew from the way that the Bow Hero talked, Naofumi believed that nothing he would say to Itsuki would change his mind about slavery or anything else, so it was best not to say anything. But instead, he asked, "Whatever you say Itsuki, do whatever you want and I'll do the same. But I do have two questions for you, first, is why are you back here in town? I suspect with the level you are now, these monsters have low EXP for you, so why come back? Second, how were you able to transform into that angel figure?"
"The reason that I'm here is because of my power to transform into an angel." Itsuki told Naofumi smugly, knowing that he had one up to this loser, this weakling that wasn't him. It felt great not being the one that was weak. He wasn't going to bully those who were helpless and would help them and the innocent, but he wasn't going to help someone who was a rapist. "I was informed by my companions, once I told them my thoughts as to what a hero meant to be, about cores that can give me extra powers, in this case, they informed me about how I could get a core that allows me to transform into an angel and use Holy Magic. Been told that if I use it often, the core becomes stronger and gives the user new powers and abilities. Hearing that, I couldn't turn down such a power, not even if it cost me one gold coin, as such power can help me to bring true justice to this world."
'So that's what a core power looks like.' Naofumi thought to himself once he learned what the power was about and to learn that it becomes more powerful as you use it, he couldn't help but think how useful it was to have one. But as he listened to how much it would cost to get one, he knew that unless he made one, it would be some time before he would be able to get one. But then again, that was a Transformation Core, as he called it, he wasn't sure how much getting a core that altered a person stats could cost, it could be cheaper. But he realized that as a so-called rapist though, it could cost much more than normal either way.
"I see," Naofumi said simply, "in that case I'll see you around, for now, I need to get levelling up if I want to survive in this world." And with that without another word, the Shield Hero walked away from the Bow Hero and his group.
"Listen, if I hear that you have a slave, I show you my justice…" began Itsuki, but Naofumi waved it off by saying, "Yeah, yeah, whatever…" not really caring what the fool thought or said. As he said, he needed to level up if he wants to survive in this world. So he and Crusch went in search for somewhere for Naofumi to level up.
o0OoO0o
"So that was the power of a core?" Naofumi asked Crusch.
"A low-level one yes." admitted Crusch.
"Does that mean that the core came from a dead angel?" Naofumi asked in interest, finding it hard that an angel could die.
"Maybe, but at the same time an angel could have shared its power to create such a core." Crusch informed the young hero, "You see, there aren't as many angels as they would like to fight against the demons, so they give some of their power to create Angel Cores to create Holy Warriors to fight against demons. It would be up to the owners of these cores to make the Angel Cores stronger. It is rumoured that the Pope has an Angel Core that has become an Archangel Core."
"Really?" Naofumi asked with interest, he found it hard that a Pope would go out and level up. "I have to admit that I can't see someone like a Pope to go out and kill demons and monsters to level up."
"You do know that a Pope wasn't always been one right?" the lizardwoman asked Naofumi, which he had to admit was true, "He was once a priest and as such, he would have to protect towns and villages from demons and such, where he would be able to level up over the years. Each priest or nun would have an Angel Core to help fight off the demons with ease, it would be up to them to level up their core and acquire The Power Within. For a priest to become the next Pope, it is believed that a priest is required to have their Angel Cores become an Archangel Core. Which means defending the people and fighting against demons."
"I see, so if Itsuki works it right not only would he have the powers from upgrading his Legendary Bow, he would have powers of an Archangel." Naofumi thought out loud, "Hmm, he could become someone powerful who can stop by himself."
"Maybe, but very unlikely." Crusch informed Naofumi, "Even if he gains great power, remember, all four heroes are needed to defeat the Waves of Calamity as each Wave becomes much stronger than the last. Even if the Bow Hero gains the Archangel Core in time, he'll still have problems defeating the Waves alone."
"Shame, I was hoping that I wouldn't have to lift a finger for this damn world." Naofumi grumbled a bit, unhappy that he wasn't able to find a way out of helping this damn world.
Crusch was upset that the people of this kingdom had destroyed Naofumi's faith in this world, that he was hoping to find a way out of saving it himself. But she had faith in him, as even though he was looking for a way out of helping in defeating the Waves, he was still willing to do what he could to help. To her, it meant that he wasn't all bad, as he could have easily sit back and do nothing and let the Waves destroy the world.
Either way, it was her job to help him level up for the next week, so wanting to deal with that for now, she asked, "So how much experience points do you need for your next level?"
"Hmm, seeing how I got some great EXP from that last fight, I was able to level up to level four, so that wasn't too bad." Naofumi informed the demi-human with a small smile, "But for level four, let's see…"
With that he happened his stats to see how much EXP he needed for level four:
Level 4:
403/420
Naofumi was shocked to see that he didn't need as much EXP as he feared he would have needed. So seeing this, he informed the young slave with him, "I only need another seventeen experience points to become level four."
"Oh my! I have to admit this is a surprise," admitted Crusch, "normally it would take someone a few days to get to level two maybe three if they were lucky. So seeing how we don't normally appear around here, for whatever reason that they appeared here for, these demons were a great help to you. Not only were you able to level up from one battle, but even I grew a level from them. Normally it would have taken us a few hours to a whole day of hunting the right monsters to level up, as the monsters around here normally giving no more than 1 EXP to 20 EXP or so if you are lucky. So it normally takes a while for people to level up around the Castle Town."
Naofumi had to admit that it was understandable in some ways, with people living in the area they couldn't keep the monsters becoming too strong or they could hurt a lot of people. So they used adventurers to keep monsters from becoming too strong, which meant that the monsters wouldn't give too much EXP. Normally that wouldn't be too bad, as it would give adventurers gain experience in fighting and gain a few levels overtime before they had to face something much stronger. But for Naofumi he wasn't too happy about it, as he had low attack points and only Crusch to help him, so for him, it felt it would be harder than he wanted to level up.
"I am upset we weren't able to get any material from the demons," Crusch said sadly, "not only might you have gained a new shield or two, but my master might have used some of the cores even their skins and bones. By the time we get back there, the guards most likely would have gotten to them and give it to the other blacksmiths in town."
"Damn it!" cursed Naofumi, he couldn't believe it, because he had problems with the other heroes, he walked away from some possible high levelled shields all because he wanted to get away from one of the damn heroes that give him problems. Not only that, but thanks to his actions, he lost material that the people who were helping him could use. Whilst he might not like this world nor care what happens to it as long as he could get home, he did care about his debt and he had one with Crusch and her master, seeing how they were helping him when no other would.
So with a deep sigh, he said, "I'm sorry about that, but I just couldn't be around him for too long, not only with the way he spoke back there but with how he and the other heroes treated me, I wanted nothing to do with them unless I'm forced to."
"I understand My Lord," said Crusch, "but next time would it be possible to harvest the monsters/demons before we leave should we come across the heroes again?"
"If it's Itsuki, as long as he doesn't say or do something that pisses me off, I'll try." Naofumi informed the young lizardwoman, "But if it's the other two heroes, especially if the bitch of the First Princess, I can't promise you anything, just thinking about them makes my blood boil."
"I understand My Lord, I know why you have a problem with them, but you cannot let that problem hinder your growth." Crusch tried to make the Shield Hero see sense, "Yes we might have walked away from some good materials back there, but it's not a big deal given that the knights should give some of those materials back to my master, most likely not the good parts given that we're helping you but will still get some. However though, the real treasures are from the Wave Bosses and the minions that are spawned with him, you are the Shield Hero you will be able to protect all of those around you.
"But it's going to be up to the others to beat the Waves, if you let your anger for the other Heroes get hold of you like it did back there, then you would be making yourself weaker for no good reason. As if you can't stand being around the other heroes, you'll be missing out on all the great materials for new shields whilst the others well get the better weapons. You would be lucky to get the leftover parts and that might not even be the good stuff, forget about new shields, but also better armour or/and new weapons for your companions should you get any."
Naofumi knew that Crusch was right, that if he constantly avoided the heroes, he wouldn't get any of the good material from the Waves and would be making himself weaker in the long run as they made themselves stronger. But the problem was that out of the four people he was trying to avoid, he didn't want to deal with three of them. Not after everything that has transpired since he got here, he wasn't ready to deal with them, if it meant that he might not get great shields from the Waves so be it. He'll look for other ways to get stronger items and powers, he just wasn't willing to deal with them right now. Yeah, he knew he was being foolish, but the anger and hate that he had, he didn't know if he could be around them.
"Listen, I know you are right, I shouldn't constantly avoided the heroes," admitted the Shield Hero, "however, with everything that at least two of the so-called heroes put me though, I don't know if I can deal with them so soon. So once again, I'll try with the Bow Hero, but no promises with the rest of them." Naofumi told her firmly, not wanting anything to do with them.
Crusch realized that she wasn't going to get anywhere with the Shield Hero on this subject at this time, so she decided to put things back on track: helping her Lord to get stronger. To help him get stronger fast, she would have to take him somewhere where the monsters had high levels. But the monster around Castle Town and the nearby forest, the max levels were around five to ten, but unlike demons and a few rare monsters, they don't give out more than 20 EXP. Whilst that would be fine normally, she wanted to make her Lord as strong if not stronger than the past Shield Hero.
So to do that, she had to take him elsewhere to level up, in fact, she knew a few places to go, but to go there they had to take the Dragon's Gate to get there. As it would take a few days to get there otherwise instead of a few moments. So with an idea in mind, Crusch said, "My Lord, follow me, I'll take you somewhere where I sometimes train and get materials."
"Thanks, but are you sure that it'll be safe for me to be there?" asked Naofumi, realizing that wherever Crusch was taking him was dangerous for someone who was low level like him.
"As long as you stay out of the fighting, you should be fine." explained the demi-human, "But this will help you to level up faster."
Naofumi was glad to hear this, he wanted to get stronger any be it getting new shields or levelling up and using his skill points to do so. So with a small smile, he said, "Lead the way Crusch."
With that Crusch lead Naofumi to a small field near Castel Town, in this field, there was a huge archway that reminded Naofumi of a picture of Arc de Triomphe in a book he once read, but way, at least four times bigger. But unlike the Arc de Triomphe, the archway had a stone dragon's head on top of the archway, with claws on either side of the head. There was a stone stairway leading to the entrance of the archway, which had a stone guardian on either side of the entrance. The guardians were of what Naofumi looked like Warrior Makers, with armour and huge axes in each hand. As for the entrance, there was a swelling reddish portal in the centre of it.
There were many people here, mainly people with caravans either normal or merchant ones, there were also some mounts only here too. Wondering what was going on here, Naofumi asked, "What's going on here, what's that archway about?"
"This is the Dragon's Gate, it's a portal to allow you to get to other kingdoms and islands with ease instead of taking a long caravan or boat travel to where you want to go to." Crusch informed the Shield Hero.
Naofumi was looking at all the different kinds of mounts there were in the area, he was amazed, there were many beasts in the area, huge and small. There were the basic big yellow birds that he saw around, there were lizard-like, turtle-like, scorpion-like and bug-like creatures, he could swear he even saw a crab-like mount. In fact, one of the most noticeable creatures there was a huge snail. The snail had a shell that had a door and windows, it looked like it was like a house that could hold at least five people. Naofumi couldn't think that such creatures existed, but here they were, some leaving whilst others were waiting. Not in Naofumi wildest dreams did the Shield Hero would ever believe he would see such a sight.
As they walked up to the Dragon's Gate, Crusch walked up to one of the guards and told them as she handed a strange-looking key, "I would like the Dragon's Gate to be opened to Bleakrock for myself and my companion." here she pointed to Naofumi as she left out who he was, as she was worried that the guards wouldn't allow him through if they knew who he really was. She also hoped that they didn't know what the Shield Hero looked like and if they did, with them being so busy, they wouldn't notice until it was too late.
But luck wasn't with her though, as whilst the guard give Crusch a look of contempt, it was nothing compared to the look the guard was giving Naofumi. The young hero believed that he would be dead a hundred times over, it would seem that whilst the guard might not like demi-humans, he hated the Shield Hero even more.
"Whilst you might have the rights to use the Dragon's Gate because of you being Ulthane's assistant, but the Shield Hero, hasn't got the right to do use the Gate." the guard informed them darkly, "The king forbid the Shield Hero from using the Dragon Gate."
Naofumi once again wanted to blow his top at this, the damn king and his bitch of a daughter has once again screwed him over, making it hard to do anything. But before he could go on one, Crusch put her hand onto his shoulder and pulled him away.
As they left the area, Crusch sighed as she said, "Forgive me, My Lord, I had hoped that we could have left before anyone could realize who you are. As I wanted to level you up as much as possible so that I could spend the rest of the week training you."
"Don't blame yourself over this, it wasn't your fault." Naofumi told her kindly, before his voice went a bit darker, "Blame lays on the king and his damn daughter and the sheep of this kingdom, if it wasn't for them, we wouldn't be in this place now."
Crusch could see Naofumi's point and sighed sadly that the young man was beginning to see the people as sheep, not that she could blame him. She too thought that most of the kingdom's people were sheep, treating her race and other non-humans as third-class to second-class citizens, all because the kingdoms feared them for no reason.
For a long time until recent years, Melromarc treated all non-humans, third-class citizens. Its thanks to the new queen that they were treated as second-class, but it is just barely done though. As because the kingdom is so big, the queen can only do so much and things slip by and non-humans are still being treated badly.
It's the same with a few kingdoms, it's only two or three kingdoms that treat non-humans somewhat fairly. But whilst they were treated fairly, there's just some fear here and there in this kingdom, worried what the non-humans might do. It's because of this fear that they were treated like second-class citizens instead of third-class, to try and keep the peace so no fights would break out. But if possible, if they could get away with it, people would treat them like dirt, to show the non-humans their place.
Either way, it was Crusch's dream that one day everyone would be treated the same, she hoped that a Shield Hero would do this. Like the last Shield Hero helped the demi-humans get their own kingdoms. Part of her hoped that this Shield Hero would be the one to do this, but she feared that with the way the king and his daughter have been treating him, along with the people/sheep believing their word about the rape and so treating her Lord like shit, the new Shield Hero would only do the bare minimum to help, just enough so that he could get by.
Crusch knew that there was very little she could do to change his mind, all she could do was to show that not everyone was out to get him. To show him that other than her and her master, there were people out there worth protecting and helping. She just hoped it was enough.
Her thoughts were broken as after taking a few deep breaths, Naofumi said, "This might be for the best anyway."
"How so My Lord?" Crusch asked a bit confused.
"If I left for this island of yours, I might have missed out on some decent shields here." explained Naofumi, "Whilst I might hate that I'll be levelling slower than the other heroes, I can get many more new shields then them. As I suspect that their main goals would be finding high-grade material and to level up quickly as possible, by going after the much more powerful creatures to get much more powerful weapons and ignoring the weaker ones. Not realizing that the smaller ones are just as good, because you can stack them up. Sure it might take longer, but at the end of the day, as long as you get enough of them sooner or later they're going to make a difference. Especially given that sooner or later I'm going to get those materials too. It's better that I train and keep on collecting new shields, as I don't know how to fight and I'm weaker than them."
Crusch realized that her Lord was right, what made her want to hit herself. Because she wanted so badly to level up Shield Hero so he could catch up with the other Heroes, along with some strong and powerful shields, she completely forgot what her master told her when she first started out as a blacksmith. That as a blacksmith, they should take things slow and easy and not to rush ahead or her work would suffer in the end, not only that, as long as they weren't too bad, a master blacksmith can use rubbish materials to create decent weapons and armour. Sure not the best, but for starter armour, they would do. So whilst best materials are often the best option, you shouldn't rule out some of the useless materials in the hands of a master blacksmith, as not only could they make decent things out of it, with cores and stone, the second-best armour and weapons can go far.
Because of things and remembering that she wasn't dealing with a normal adventurer who only needs to get training and the best equipment and gear with higher levels to make them strong, she was dealing with a Cardinal Hero. With Cardinal Hero, they had a different set of rules, rules that she could only dream of.
"You're right My Lord, I'm completely sorry that I almost did a horrible mistake," she said with a bow, "I was treating you like a normal adventurer and not like the Cardinal Hero that you are. Where your rules of becoming stronger is different to a normal adventurer who only needs some training and levelling up with the best items shops can sell them. You need monsters and other materials that you can absorb into your shield." she said with a smile, "Now before we do anything, I think we should get you to level 4 and try and get you to level 5 today to unlock some of your shields. As I have a few ideas I would like to try out with your Rope Shield, as that could be the most useful skill you might have and well be handy in a fight."
"If you think that's for the best I'm all for it." said Naofumi, wanting to see what Crusch what has planned.
"Now let's go to an Imp Camp that I know of," Crusch told Naofumi, "these can give us 20 EXP with ease, but normally people don't face them until they are level 8 to 10, as they are around level 10 and have some decent defence and attack so need to be a higher levels before facing the imps. But with me helping you, as long as there are some in the camps, we should be able to level you up to level 5 in a few hours."
So with that Naofumi followed Crusch to a few camps that she knew that had Imps in, but none of the camps had any Imps. Along the way to the first camp, Naofumi levelled up his Bonus Skill Points which was already at Level 2 which gave him an extra five skill points to use. So with ten Skill Points to play with, as he planned to, he placed six Skill Points into Bonus Skill Points. Naofumi was pleased to see that in doing so, he gained five extra Skill Points instead of four as he thought he would get. This left him with four spare points to play with, which he wasn't sure where to place them yet, so he decided to wait until he levelled up again. Now to get the Bonus Skill Points to Level 4, he needed to have nine skill points.
If Naofumi was honest with himself, he was going to wait to use the points until he levelled up again seeing how he only had 17 EXP to go for the next level up. That was until he realized that he would be losing out on extra Skill Points. Sure he only gained five extra Skill Points, but as he thought about it, with this method of his to get stronger, every Skill Point counts if he wants to get stronger, more so if he wanted to level up his shields with Skill Points too. So for now, it was best to get as much Skill Points that he can get before using the leftover Skill Points on something more useful.
Naofumi hoped that when he levelled up again, he would get some Attribute Points, as he would need it to add another point into Intelligence so he can get more Skill Points. As if he didn't, he would have to work out where else to place the other Skill Points.
Either way, during the search for the Imps, they came across a few small groups of Balloon Monsters, which give them 16 EXP, leaving him one point away from levelling up. But after three hours of searching for the imps, they found a small group of ten imps that were at level 8.
These Imps were about three-foot tall creatures with a tall, a pair of wings and pointed ears, another noticeable thing about the imps was that they had two horns and they had sharp claw-like hands and toes. But that wasn't the most noticeable thing about the imps, not the most noticeable thing about them was that they had a gem in the centre of their head. Crusch informed him that this was a core, something that other than being used to make armour and weapons stronger, give Alchemist powers, unlike anything other people could dream of.
It all depended on how the blacksmith or Alchemist used them. As to use the cores, the blacksmiths would have to play around them to fit into the armour and weapons, so the results can differ from each item. As for the Alchemist, it all depends on what they want the core for. They might want it to summon an Imp to do their bidding, or they might want to use the core to use the imp's powers for their own or boost theirs or their companion's stats.
This got Naofumi thinking, he didn't realize that there was so much work in using the cores. But that wasn't going to stop him from trying, as being an Alchemist would be the only way for him to be able to fight.
Anyway, Naofumi was shocked at how hard they were to defeat, they were fast, dodging the attacks with somewhat ease. Crusch explained whilst these were weak, it didn't mean that they were easy to defeat, as they were fast and only those who trained to fight monsters with such speed could defeat them. The lizardwoman also told the Shield Hero that the speed was their secondary defence, for those who were high levels.
But for those who are the same level as them or slightly lower or higher than them, whilst their physical attack was weak, their fire magic was great. Not only that but their defence too, making it as if they were near impossible for low-level adventurers to defeat. Because of this, adventurers leave these Imps alone unless they are high level and good with speed attacks.
But Crusch was able to defeat them with somewhat ease, sure it took a while because of their speed, but she was able to defeat them. In which he gained 200 EXP from their defeat, which allowed him to level up to level 4.
LEVELLED UP!
+10 Health!
+10 Defence!
+5 Magic Attack!
+5 Magical Defence!
+20 Stamina!
+15 Skill Points!
+4 Attribute Points!
When Naofumi levelled up this time, he was shocked to see that his stamina had gone up. Up 'till now he hadn't really thought about it, as he never felt it go down. Then again, apart from rushing in to defend Crusch in the last fight, he hadn't done anything to make his stamina to go down, not only that but he ate and drank some of the food that Crusch give him now and then.
He had no idea how the food here worked, would it be like in-game that he played that food and drink recover mana, health and stamina. He had tried to use his Appraisal Shield to find it out, but for some reason, his shield wouldn't appraise the food nor anything that wasn't a monster, demon or demi-human/human. It was like he was blocked to appraise such things, not only that, but he couldn't absorb any of the food that he tried to give his book, thinking that he had to do such thing first before he could appraise food. So he couldn't be sure about it.
But whatever the case was, he got some more stamina which would be useful for when he needed it, but not only that, but he also had some more Attribute Points that he could use, something that he had hoped would happen. So placing two Attribute Points into Intelligence, he levelled Bonus Skill Points, which would now give him 23 Skill Points next he levelled up next. To level this skill up again, he would now need twelve Skill Points to do so
With 2 Attribute Points and 10 Skill Points to play with, he placed another two points into Bonus Attribute Points so that he would have 5 Bonus Attribute Points whenever he gets some next. As for the reminding points, seeing how he hadn't yet figured out where he wanted to spend them other than Intelligence Bonus Skill Points to get more Skill Points, he had no idea what skills and attributes to level up. It was something he knew he would have to work out soon, but he also knew that he would need to use the Skill Points for his shields too. So he knew he had to think carefully and why he wants so many Skill Points so soon. All he knew that he had to figure it out soon, otherwise he could remain weak.
But as he thought about it, he'll wait until he got to level five, as that's when Crusch was planning to train him. So until he knew what the training plan was and how it would affect his Strengthening Method, it was best to wait before deciding what to do with his points.
After dealing with his points and seeing that he would need 720 points to level up next and he already got 199 so far, Naofumi wanted to hunt for some more Imps or whatever else that would give him high EXP. But Crusch reminded that her master had a few jobs for her to do in the afternoon, and because they had to hunt for the Imps, they were already running a bit late as it was. So they had to return to town.
Naofumi wasn't happy about it, but seeing how Crusch had other commitments, he knew he had no other options to return to turn. But he was happy to see that he had levelled up two times that day, so it wasn't too much of a bad day, it would give him time to think about what he could do with his reminding points. Not only that, but Crusch suggested that he should look into some guilds, as that could be a way for him to earn some coins.
He knew well enough what Guilds were about and normally would be happy to try and join one, but after everything that has happened, he wasn't all that hopeful of joining one. As by now they would have heard about the lies about him and would be more than happy to keep him away from them. Naofumi cursed the bitch and her father, as they ruined the one thing he wanted to try since he learned about how this world worked, to join a real-life Guild. He had so much fun helping in the ones that he was back in his world, he wanted to see what a real-life Guild would be like.
But Crusch persuaded Naofumi to join, as she believed that not all guilds would be so hard on him, as there were a few shady characters in each guild. So it is possible that at least one guild would allow him to join him. Naofumi wasn't all that convinced, he knew that it wasn't all that simple. But yet, he had a little hope left in his heart though, that not everyone in this kingdom were total assholes like the ones he faced so far. So he was willing to give it a try, at the very least for a way to get coins for the future.
So once gathering the material that they could from the Imps, they returned back to Castle Town.
To Be Continued!
Author's Note: Here ends another chapter, I hope that you have enjoyed the story and if you did, I hope you leave your thoughts about this chapter. Now I know that I said I would be doing an Omake of the Dragon Overlord next, but life happened. First once again my laptop had to be sent back into the shops to be sorted, whilst it was in the shops, I got an idea for this chapter and I had to write it out before I forget it.
Once I started this chapter, any and all thoughts about anything else left me and I couldn't think about anything else but this. Another problem was writer's block, I knew what I wanted to write, but I just couldn't get the words out, not only that, but the mood to write kept coming and going and it took me over a month to write this chapter. In fact, I had more here, but it was getting over 15k words, so I ended it here. The plan was to finish the chapter with Naofumi meeting a certain Slave Trader, but I thought it was better to end it here.
Now I need your help, with me giving Itsuki having the Angel Core, what Transformation Cores do you think the Sword and Spear Hero should have? I was hoping something different other than an Angel Core, as that would be Itsuki and his group thing. My friend Raven thought that Renka could get a Dragon Core whilst Motoyasu, as a joke or I think it was, Motoyasu could get the Succubus Core. But I would like your thoughts about this, please. I might not have Motoyasu have a core, as I can't think of one that could fit him, so any thoughts for him would be helpful.
I'm still after your thoughts about the notes from past chapters and shields and OCs ideas, so if you got some time, before leaving a review, please look back at the notes and give me your thoughts. Not only that, but please if possible think about some shield ideas. The main shields that I'm looking for at the moment are ones that can level up by Skill Points and gain new abilities through levelling up the shields.
Sneak Pick from Chapter Nine!
Deciding it wise to ignore him, Naofumi kept it betray you. As without help, you're unable to level up and get stronger."
Hearing this, Naofumi stopped searching the bodies for now and looked at the older man. There was something strange and annoying about him, he seemed to know more about him than the man let on, but yet, Naofumi had the feeling that this man didn't mean any harm to him, or at least for now.
"I'm not sure what that has anything to do with you." sneered the Shield Hero, standing up and got into a small defence stance, ready if the man tried anything funny.
"What if I could say that I can help you with recruitment so that you might stand a chance against the upcoming Waves?" the strange little man asked the Shield Hero.
"If you're talking about party members, after these guys, I don't think I want any right now." Naofumi sneered at this, not only that, but right now he didn't have the funds nor the desire to hire a greedy capitalist. Someone who might turn their backs on him if he got a better offer.
"Party members? Ahaha, please." scoffed the little man, "Oh no, I'm not offing you party members, no, what I'm offering you is something far more reliable and useful."
"For example?"
The man slid over in the Shield Hero's direction.
"Interested?"
"Don't stand so close, you creep."
"Ahaha. I like your eyes kid. Fine then, I'll tell you."
The gentleman puffed out his chest, looking very important-like, spun his walking stick, and pontificated, "A SLAVE!"