Author's Note: Before we begin, if you find the story boring and not willing to wait for the action to start, please stop reading now. I have gotten a few reviews already about this, even though in my last chapter I told you all that the last few chapters were world-building chapters and that I often put in a lot of details before getting to the action. If you don't like this, please stop reading, as I'm not interested in hearing how you think the story is boring. The only time I want to hear that is if you got ideas on how to make it less boring.
And yes I am following canon at the moment, but I'm not the only one who does this, others do this too, only changing parts to fit their needs like I have. Sure they might not use as many words and go into such detail as I do, but as I said in the last chapter I often do this and I'm not about to change now. So if you don't like this, please stop reading… whilst I'll be trying to stop following canon as much, I won't be changing how much detail I'll be putting into the story.
Chapter Eleven…
Birth of Astaroth!
We begin our chapter with Beloukas leading the Shield Hero to his office, or what people called his office seeing how he barely uses it seeing he rarely was here. Naofumi had to admit he was surprised that the office wasn't anything special, all the office had was a few chairs of different sizes and a fancy desk that didn't look too expensive that was covered with different notes and papers, it was so underwhelming he had to ask why didn't he have a more fanciful office but before he could.
"If you're about to ask me why or where my office is, you don't need to bother," Beloukas told Naofumi, "as technically, it is, but at the same time it isn't. You see, I don't see any point in having an office with a lot for fancy-looking furnishings and such, especially given my job description requires me to travel a lot."
"Makes sense," admitted Naofumi, "although I expected that the room would look more to slaverer's den, to fit your trade."
"Ha, ha, you're not the first person who told me this." laughed Beloukas, "Anyway, down to business."
"Yes down to business." agreed Naofumi as pulled his money bag and counted out the coins to pay for Raphtalia. He had only pulled out sixty silver coins from his shield, as he feared he might be robbed if he carried all his money in his money bag. So he only put so much in his money bag and kept the rest in his shield.
"You've overpaid, Sir Hero, you give me thirty-one silver coins." Beloukas informed Naofumi, as he counted the coins that the Shield Hero gave him.
The Shield Hero just smirked at this as he said knowingly, "For the ceremony for Raphtalia's first crest. Sure you might have given me the second crest for free, but you were already paid to do so for Kumiho and her first crest was paid by whoever sent her, but not Raphtalia. So you were going to try and wring more money out of me somehow, weren't you?"
"You're indeed more wise than I give you credit for." Beloukas said with a smirk, happy to deal with a person who knows how the business game was played.
Naofumi knew that if he paid up-front, it made it hard for the Slave Trader to say anything about it afterwards. The Shield Hero would like to see Beloukas try to get more out of him now.
Now Naofumi was going to ask for the remaining of the slave ink that had his blood in, but before he could though, Beloukas said, "Before you leave, we still have more business to attend to, namely your Slave Owner Licence."
"Fuck…" muttered Naofumi, in the excitement of finally getting some help to fight, he forgot all about the Slave Owner Licence. Ulthane informed him that if he wanted a slave, he would need a licence to do so. So with a dark look, he asked the Slave Trader, "So are you going to flince me out of some more money somehow to get this licence? I don't think it'll be easy to get one for me seeing how people feel about me."
"Oh, it might be easier than you think." Beloukas smirked as out of the desk drawer, he pulled out some paperwork, "You see, the people that wanted to help you, knew that you would have some problems in getting the proper paperwork, so they were able to get some for you."
"But how?" Naofumi asked suspiciously, giving the Slave Trader a dark look that warned the merchant that he would be in a world of pain if he fucked with him.
"Oh those eyes, I love them." the Slave Trader told Naofumi, creeping the Shield Hero out a bit, "Either way, to be honest I have my suspicions, but at the end of the day I don't really care how they got them." Beloukas informed Naofumi, "At the end of the day they are official and I'm getting paid into giving them to you for free. So as long as I'm getting paid, I don't really care."
Naofumi sensed the man knew more than he was letting on, but seeing how he was getting a free licence to own a slave, he didn't care. The strange little man can keep his secrets.
"Anyway, I've got two Slave Owner Licences here for you, one each from your two secret helpers, and both of them are legitimate. But knowing you, you might want to have one as your official copy and the other as a substitute." smiled Beloukas.
"What do you mean?" asked Naofumi, wondering what this man was up to.
"I can use one to create an official licence for you and the other one I can use to create a fake licence for you, something I would presume you would want with how this kingdom is treating you right now." the Slave Trader informed the Shield Hero.
"How would that be useful?" asked Naofumi, "If a person asks for the slave to see their Status Card, wouldn't their master's name be on it?" Naofumi wasn't sure how these Status Cards worked, but he expected that as a slave, their master's name would be on it and so everyone would know who they belong to. Sure he had thought about getting a slave in the last week, but he expected that once people learn who they belong to, the slave would be treated just as bad as him, like not being served and such.
"Normally if they brought the slave in a legal Slave Auction House, but buying a slave on the Black Market is different." explained the Slave Trader, "As a Slave Trader can give a slave the ability to hide who they are as well as who their master is, the ability is called Fake ID, this allows the slave to create a fake Status Card with a new name and a false name of their master."
"Hmm," hummed Naofumi, "that is good, can you give the same ability to their Master to hide their identity? As if their master is around them, a person might ask for their Status Card too, which would reveal their true identity."
"Sadly I can't give masters this ability, which is why the Fake ID can be dangerous for the Master." Beloukas admitted with a sigh, "That's why I advise people who buys slaves from me, if they need something underhanded done, they send the slaves alone, not go with them. Not unless they are willing to learn the ability called Fake Out."
"Fake Out?" asked Naofumi.
"It's an ability that allows a person to set up false information, so that if someone has the ability to read your stats or you give a person your Status Card to look at, all they would see is the stats you want them to see." explained Beloukas.
"How does that help me?" asked Naofumi, "Does Fake Out, also alters or hides my name too?"
"Sadly no," Beloukas admitted to the young man, "at least not at first, if you use it often enough, the ability becomes stronger and it'll allow you to change it. But not many people are willing to put in the work or the effort to get the next stage of the ability. It is believed that if you use this ability long enough, it can give you more abilities, but other than a handful of people wanting to hide their name too, no one bothers to fully master the ability. As it takes way too long to master and by the time someone does master it, if they weren't smart enough to hide that they have slaves or connected to the slaves from the black market, it is most likely the kingdom learnt who the person in question real name and face, making it hard for it to actually be effective. The clover ones though, well they find the skill very useful."
As Naofumi heard this, it reminded him of his shields and abilities back in his own world where you can level them up and be able to give you better abilities to work on. So he asked, "So how can I learn this ability? Can I buy the ability or do I need someone to teach it to me?"
"You can do either, but if you want to buy the ability, the stores will normally want to see your Status Card first, even her in the Black Market." explained the Slave Trader, "And for someone to teach you, well, unless you are lucky to find someone who doesn't mind who you are, you'll have a hard time learning it."
"I see." sighed the young Shield Hero, unhappy about this, but still, if his slaves were able to learn this ability, it would be for him. As they could do jobs for him where he could not. So with another sigh he asked, "So how does this Fake ID ability work?"
"For this ability to work, I would normally need some fake documents, like from the kingdom the licence is from, where the slave was bought and such. Which I have thanks to the people who want to help you." explained the Slave Trader, "Then all I have to do is give them a new name to go with their Fake ID and we're done. It shouldn't take more than a few minutes for each of your slaves."
"Can I change their fake names whenever I want?" asked Naofumi, he asked as he feared that if someone connected the fake names to him, he might need to change it at some point.
"Yeah it's easy enough," Beloukas informed him, "all you have to do is open their Status Window whenever you want, and alter their Fake ID as you see fit, like their stats, names, even their skills, to hide what they really can do."
"Hmm, I see that's very useful." hummed Naofumi, "If I'm able to open their Status Window, what would I be able to do with it?"
"Unfortunately not much, you can give them a few new skills/magic if you buy them, you can remove a limited amount of skills." the Slave Trader told the Shield Hero.
"What do you mean by limited?" asked Naofumi.
"Like if they have cooking or blacksmith abilities, once they know how to do them the memory of them stays and they'll always be able to do them." explained Beloukas, "Now, say your slave has the ability to use Fire Magic and you remove the ability to use it, sure they'll have the memory of how to do it, but the ability would be sealed and they won't be able to use it."
"Hmm I see." Naofumi hummed at this, then with a dark smile he went on to say, "It isn't much, but it's better than nothing I guess, at least I can make sure they have the abilities that'll serve me the best."
"Oh I do love it when I get customers who know how to get the fullest out of their product." the Slave Trader said with a smirk.
"So tell me, what kingdoms are these licences from?" asked Naofumi.
"One is from this very kingdom Melromarc and the other is from Siltvelt." the little man informed the Shield Hero.
"The hell?" Naofumi asked in shock, Siltvelt wasn't too much of a surprise, sure he wasn't expecting it, but seeing how it was a demi-human kingdom who thought he was like a god and so would do anything in their power to help him, he could see them doing something like that. Lending him help where they can. But the biggest shock was the licence Melromarc, he honestly thought that other than Ulthane and Crusch, everyone else hated him. "Who the hell here wants to help me? I thought that they all hated me here."
"I wouldn't say that, those in the kingdom who are still here are too afraid to help you." Beloukas informed him, "As they fear what might happen if they do, as so far the king has already warned people that they would be punished if they did. Sure they might be cowards, but the king's power goes far whilst his wife is away. Even if she was here, there are those loyal to him and those who hate what you represent."
"Fucking hell." swore Naofumi.
Beloukas just smiled at this as he went on to explain, "And the one who is behind the licence here are out of the kingdom, it could be someone is trying to solve some of the problems that the king is causing." Then seeing how the Shield Hero was going to ask who it was, the strange man stopped him as he said, "Before you ask, I can't tell you who they are, as it is part of the deal. But I can say they have enough connections to be able to get you these licences."
"Damn it…" said Naofumi, he was hoping to meet these people, to see what else they could do to help him.
"Either way, which of the licences would you like as your fake and the other one as your real one?" asked Beloukas.
Naofumi had to think about this for a few minutes, wondering which would be the best one to use. Than a dark thought came to him, "I would like the licence from Melromarc to be my fake one and the licence from Siltvelt to be my real one." Naofumi said with a dark smile.
"Oh, why would you want that for?" asked the Slave Trader, loving the look Naofumi had, guessing what the Shield Hero had planned already.
"Simply put, I want to rub this kingdoms noses in it should they learn that I have a slave, letting them know that Siltvelt was the one to help me out when they wouldn't." Naofumi said with a smirk.
"I thought as much, that'll upset a lot of people." Beloukas said with a smirk of his own.
"Like I care, they piss me off, so I'm just returning the favour." Naofumi told the man with a shrug, not caring who he upset.
"Fair enough." the Slave Trader said simply before asking, "So for your Melromarc licence, what name would you like to use."
Now Naofumi had once again had to think about this, he wasn't really good at naming things, he would normally pick something simple. But for this, he wanted a name that meant something. As he thought about it, he realized that if people thought that he was a demon, he should have a demon name from his own world. He knew he couldn't use any demonic names from Japan, as if he did, the other heroes would be able to guess who he was. So that left with the Eastern part of the world, from what he remembered reading from their culture, they had many names to pick from, but the three most powerful demons were Lucifer the Fallen Angel also known as Satan, the ruler of hell. The other demon was Beelzebub, who was meant to be the Prince of Demons. And lastly there was Astaroth, the Great Duke of Hell and Treasurer of Hell, who commands forty Legions of Demons.
In most books that Naofumi read, it was said that they were known as the Evil Trinity, with Lucifer being the strongest and Astaroth being the weakest of the three. Now Naofumi knew he couldn't pick Lucifer, as if the heroes world were like his as he suspected, Lucifer would be well-known. That left Astaroth or Beelzebub, but Naofumi decided to use Astaroth for two reasons. The first is that depending on what anime they had in their worlds, they would know the name of Beelzebub so might put things together and realize who he was that way. The other reason was that he didn't like the idea of being named Beelzebub, because the demon's name meant Lord of the Flies and the demon meant to look like a grent fly. This was something that Naofumi didn't like, so he went with Astaroth.
In fact, getting this fake identity helped Naofumi in another way too, seeing how he wanted to become a bandit, Naofumi wanted a way to keep people learning that the bandit was him. So having this new identity would help a lot, he could use it to become a bandit and no one would know who he was. All he needed now was to find a way to disguise himself so that no one could tell who he was when he was being a bandit, as he didn't want to get arrested.
So deciding on the name, the young Shield Hero said, "For the fake one, I would like the name on it to be Astaroth."
"Sure Shield Hero, can I ask is there any reason to the name?" the Slave Trader asked out of interest.
"To mock this kingdom," explained Naofumi, "you see Astaroth was meant to be the name of a powerful demon in my world. So to mock this kingdom, I thought I would use a demonic name. I highly doubt either this world or the other heroes would know the name."
The Slave Trader chuckled at this, he loved the idea of this, the Shield Hero mocking the king and his daughter and they would never know it. "I love how your mind works Shield Hero, or should I call you Astaroth?" Beloukas asked with a smirk.
Naofumi just smirked at this, as he said, "When it's just the two of us call me what you like, in Black Market area it's Astaroth, otherwise you don't know me."
"Fair enough," Beloukas said with a bow of his head, "so if there's nothing else, let's sign these paperworks so that I can finish sorting out your slaves."
"There's one other thing, do you sell clothes, armour and the like?" asked Naofumi, hoping that he could get some gear here and now, so he could leave right away.
"Not really," Beloukas informed the Shield Hero, "matter of fact, as a travelling slave merchant, I don't see the point of selling clothes and equipment. I might come across items that might be of interest to some of my special customers, so I would get them to sell onto them."
Naofumi was shocked to hear this, he expected that the Slave Trader would have a few items another way to gain income. Either the strange little man didn't think about it, or he didn't see the point of it, which was foolish, as that meant he was losing another source of income. So Naofumi thought to himself that if he pointed this out, he might gain a useful ally. As he might one day come back here for more slaves to help him in the Waves, so he said, "And you call yourself a businessman."
"And what do you mean by that?" Beloukas asked with interest, wondering what the Shield Hero had in mind.
"When I leave here, like many other past owners, I'll go to the shops and buy new clothes and equipment for them so that they are useful to me." Naofumi told the older man.
"The point of this?" asked Beloukas, although he had a good idea as to where the young man was getting at, but wanted to make sure.
"My point is that the money would be going to you instead of the shops," Naofumi said as he saw that Beloukas was getting the point, "if you had the clothes and equipment, you can get the money instead of the shops down here."
Beloukas never really thought about it, this was because most of his money was in gaining new slaves and finding people to sell them. He never really cared about selling clothes and equipment, he thought if the owners wanted them, they would be able to get them elsewhere. He never thought about selling the stuff to get more money out of it too.
"Thanks for the idea Shield Hero," Beloukas thanked the young man, "up 'tel now, I only thought about selling slaves, I never thought about the benefits of selling clothes and equipment. I'll have to look into getting some stock in soon for the future."
"No problem, it was my pleasure." said Naofumi, not going to ask for rewards, as he knew if he asked for a reward, it would be difficult for him in the future. As asking for rewards from a potential ally would look bad, and he would need an ally like Beloukas, seeing how he had an ear out in the underworld of crime. "So can we finish up here, I would like to see if my product is ready. If possible, I would also like any remaining ink you might have, as I fear someone might use it against me in some way." He was thinking about his blood, in a few games he played along with some of the Web/Light Novels that he read, they had it that people could use his blood against him in one form or another if a person got hold of it. So to prevent this, he wouldn't allow his blood left lying about where anyone could use it. Not only that, but he wanted to see if he could create a new shield with the ink.
"Sure, I have no problems with that." said Beloukas, as the two begun to finish the paperwork.
o0OoO0o
Once they were done, the two went back to get Raphtalia and Kumiho. As they returned to the room that Naofumi's slaves were in, Naofumi found them naked and kneeling on the ground waiting for him. Upon seeing him, both of them welcomed him back by saying, "Welcome back Master."
Whilst Naofumi wouldn't admit it, there was a part of him that enjoyed the sight, the two of them naked and kneeling in front of him. He had to wonder, did his anger or hate twist him even more than he first thought? Before today, he would never have thought that he would enjoy the sight like this. He enjoyed reading about it in manga and novels, but he knew it wasn't real and so would never happen. But now, even if there was a part of him knew it was wrong, he liked the way the two were right now.
'At long last, I'm finally getting the respect that I deserve.' a dark and twisted part of him thought. But shaking it off for now, he said, "You two stand up, we're leaving in a moment."
"Yes Master!" the two of them said at once, as they stood up. When they saw Beloukas walking towards them, Raphtalia shivered in fear.
"You have nothing to fear," Naofumi reinsure the young girl, "he is going to give you two an ability to hide the fact that I'm your master."
"Wh-why is… that Master." asked Raphtalia, as she coughed.
'I'll need to do something about that if she's going to be any use to me.' thought Naofumi, he couldn't have a weak slave fighting for him. But answering her question, he said, "A few reasons, but the main reason is that there'll be a lot of time when I don't want people knowing who you belong to, so this ability well prevent people from finding out. At which point, when you have this ability on, or if I tell you too, I want you to call me Master Astaroth and the rest of the time, unless told otherwise, you'll call me Master Naofumi. Is that understood."
"Yes Master!" the two of them replied with a bow. Whilst Raphtalia was a bit unsure about this, she was willing to do what her Master told her, Kumiho on the other hand, knew all too well the need to have a different name, so had no problem with this.
"Before I do this, I would like to know, what names should I use?" asked the Slave Trader.
"Hmm," Naofumi hummed thoughtfully, unsure about this, so he was allowed his two slaves decide, "you two, I'm awful with picking names, so what would you two would like to be called?"
"Master, can you tell me what this ability does before I pick a name?" asked Kumiho. And so Naofumi explained how the ability worked. Once he was done and Kumiho understood it, she said, "In that case, I would like to be called Vixen."
"Are you sure about this?" asked Naofumi, "As unless I see a reason to change it, you'll be using the name a lot. I know you said you don't like the name, so I want you to have names that you are comfortable with."
"We're your slaves, so you could call us whatever you want and even if it's uncomfortable, we would just have to bare with it." Kumiho told her Master.
"I understand that, but I just want to give you this one opportunity to decide for yourself, as you'll won't have many times like after today." Naofumi told her.
"I understand and I thank you for this opportunity." Kumiho thanked her master with a bow, "But either way, I still want to be called Vixen, as I told you, I like it when you call me it."
"I understand," said Naofumi before he turned to Raphtalia and asked her, "What about you, what would you like to be called?"
"Cough, cough, n-no master… I, I never thought… about it and… unable to come up… with a name." said the weak girl.
Seeing how the girl couldn't think of anything, Naofumi thought about it for a few moments, until he thought of a name. A name that he got from an old anime back from his world called The Eccentric Family, where in it there was a Tanuki girl like Raphtalia seemed to be, called Kaisei. So he thought that until Raphtalia could come up with her own name. "Seeing that you can't think of one, how about the name Kaisei. At least until you can come up with a name for yourself."
"Th, that's fine… Master." Raphtalia said shyly.
Naofumi sighed at this, sure he wants his slaves to be loyal and dependent on him, but he didn't want them this shy. He would need to work on this, so that this shyness wouldn't become so annoying. But that was for later, for now he needed to get out of her and level his two new slaves up. So turning to Beloukas, he said, "You heard the names, can we start."
"Of course Shield Hero." the Slave Trader said with a smile, as he walked up to them as he altered the crest a bit until a new Status Window appeared in front of Naofumi, which showed him the Fake ID details.
Upon seeing this and his new name Astaroth as the owner of the slaves, a thought occurred to him and so he asked, "Is it possible to change the owners name in the Fake ID?"
"It is possible, but I wouldn't see why you would want to." said Beloukas, "As without the proper paperwork, you would be asked a lot of questions as to why you have a slave that doesn't belong to you."
Naofumi smirked at this, as he said, "Not if I told people that the slaves belonged to someone else and that I got them as part of a job, seeing how I can't attack. Like some sort of protection job for a merchant caravan or merchant who needs some product delivered but can't do it themselves. I'll make it out that the slaves were theirs and I'm just borrowing them for the mission."
"You're an interesting lad Shield Hero," Beloukas said with a sly smile, as he finished the Fake IDs "I don't know anyone who thought about using the Fake ID the way you have."
"Maybe that's because they're not in the same position as I am, where I need to think of ways to get money and such without people knowing who I am." Naofumi told him.
"Very true." admitted the Slave Trader.
"Have you finished with my product?" Naofumi asked the little man.
"I have." Beloukas told the Shield Hero with a smile.
"In that case, you two get dressed we'll be leaving once you're done." Naofumi told his two new slaves.
"Understood Master!" the two slaves said together as they got dressed.
Once they were dressed, Beloukas showed Naofumi and his slaves out of the warehouse. But as they got to the exit of the warehouse, the Slave Trader pointed to a medieval looking market stall, something until now Naofumi didn't realize was there when he first came in. The stall had huge eggs on it."
"Could I interest you in taking part in a monster egg lottery. Pay a hundred silver coins and you'll be guaranteed to get at the very least a Fiolial or a Chocobo. You'll win a monster chick and if you take care and raise it well, you can at least double the value of it, even more depending on how you raise it."
"Chocobos?" asked Naofumi. He knew what Filolial was, but not a Chocobo, not unless you were talking about the birds from the Final Fantasy games that he used to play. But he didn't think they would be in this world, would they?
"Master, you might have seen them in town," Kumiho began to explain, "they are huge birds, look a lot like Filolials, but with slight differences to them, other than Filolials are normally white, whilst Chocobos normally yellow. Another thing, whilst Filolials can be used in some races and also pulling carriages, you can even put armor on them but it has to be light or it would hinder their speed and movability. Chocobos on the other hand are mostly bread for racing and pulling carriages to but they can wear heavy armor and are much faster than the Filolials but it comes with the price that they are not as movable as the Filolials meaning they can't take sharp corners easily."
"I see…" muttered Naofumi to himself, it would seem that Chocobos really were in this world too from what Kumiho told him.
"And what's more, if you hit the jackpot, you can win a dragon type monster worth twenty gold coins." Beloukas went on to explain about the eggs.
"So it's like a gacha game then." Naofumi muttered to himself.
"What's a gacha game?" asked Raphtalia, with Kumiho nodding along, wanting to know about this too.
"Oh, don't worry about it, it's something from my world." explained Naofumi, leaving it at that, not wanting to explain the details of the game to them."
"So would you like to give it a shot?" asked the Slave Trader.
Naofumi had to think about this, sure he might have the money to get at least one egg, but he needed to save his money to buy clothes and equipment for his new slaves. Sure the outcome could be useful seeing how he might get a Filolial, something he wanted to get, but he couldn't spend that much just yet. Not until he could get a steady income first.
"Thanks, but I used most of my coins to get Raphtalia," explained Naofumi, "so I need to use the few remaining to get my slaves new clothes and equipment."
"I'm sure you do!" Beloukas broke out in gales of laughter, not believing him, like he knew the Shield Hero was lying to him.
"Let's go you two." Naofumi told Raphtalia and Kumiho as he was about to lead them out of the wearhouse.
But as he was leaving, Beloukas called out to him, "Hey kid, would you be interested in a job?"
"Are you offering me this job because it was part of the deal you made with the people who want to help me?" Naofumi asked the man darkly, not wanting to be indebted to people who weren't willing to talk to him face to face, these sorts of people he couldn't trust.
"Oh no my boy, oh no, I'm offering you this job as you interest me." admitted Beloukas, "There's something about you that makes me think that things about to get interesting and helping you might help me down the road. You did say you need money and here I am offering you a job to get some. If you agree, I can help you with the shopping around here, as people in the Black Market or the rest of places down here, don't trust strangers and might not be willing to help you, but I can help you with that problem if you agree to help me."
Naofumi had to admit that the damn man got him there, he did need the coins and at the very moment he wasn't able to get any other work. Not only that, but he was right, people down in this underground crime land, no one would be willing to help him seeing he was the Shield Hero and his new identity was new and no one knew him so might be hard to get them to trust him. So he had no option but to agree, so he asked, "Fine, I'll take your job offer, not like I have much option if I want to earn coins. So what's this job?"
"Just a simple delivery," Beloukas said with a smile, "I have a few slaves that I need to deliver to the mayor in Lute Village. His village was attacked by the monsters that were left over from the First Wave, they killed his villagers and slaves that helped around the village, so he wants more. I would go myself, but I have a few things I need to do around here. Now I would send one of my own men, but seeing that I want to help you out, I'll send you instead. As once you give the slaves to the mayor, you can keep the money that he gives you."
"What about you?" Naofumi asked suspiciously, "I don't see you letting money go without getting something in return."
"We just meet, but you know me so well." the Slave Trader said with a creepy smile as he tried to hug Naofumi, but for the Shield Hero pushed him away. "But you're right, I wouldn't give money away for nothing, but you see, he paid me over half for the slaves already. So he would only be giving you what he owes me, but seeing how you need the money and seeing like I said that there's something about you that makes me think that things about to get interesting, I want to help you out. As in the long run, I think what you do will be beneficial for me."
"Is there anything else I should know about the job?" asked Naofumi.
"Just one thing, apart for the monsters that you might come across, you might come across a group who might try and free the slaves." explained Beloukas, "You see, over the last few years there's a new group going around trying to set all the slaves free for some reason, so they try and take them from their masters as well as those who are bringing the slaves to their new masters like you'll be doing."
"Oh I see… so there are those sort of people here too, not that I'm not surprised." Naofumi said aloud, "What I am surprised about, is that it took this long for a group to appear."
"You know these sort of people Shield Hero?" Beloukas asked in surprise.
"Not personally no," Naofumi told him, "but in my world's history there were people like that who tried and succeeded to free slaves from slavery and stop slavery altogether."
Beloukas paled at the thought, his business was all about slavery, if this group succeeded in stopping slavery altogether, it would mean the end of his business. He would have to talk to the other Slave Traders about this, to see if he could stop them. That would have to wait, for now he had to finish his business with Naofumi, so he said, "So tell me Sir Hero, are you still willing to take the job?"
Naofumi was uneasy with the job, he felt disgusted that he was even thinking about agreeing to this job. He was going to take part in selling people to another person, taking away the slaves free will to do anything anymore. But the problem was that he didn't have any other job requests coming to him, seeing how the damn trash of the king and his bitch of a daughter made it near impossible in getting quests and so earning money.
'It's not like you are innocent anyway,' a dark thought popped into his head, reprimanding him, 'didn't you just get yourself two slaves just now, stealing their future and free will from them? What makes you any different to those who are buying the slaves from this Slave Trader.'
Naofumi knew that this dark thought was right, he was just as bad as them. Sure he could think to himself that it was for the Greater Good, that he needed them so that he had a full range of fighting. But it didn't mean the other heroes would see it that way, not only that, but he wouldn't be surprised that when people learn about this, they would turn on him. 'Double standards my ass.' Naofumi thought darkly, knowing that even if the people had slaves, they would turn on him for doing so too.
Thinking about it for a few moments, he decided to swallow this feeling of guilt and bury it down. Like it or not, he needed the slave himself, feeling guilty about this won't help him. It's not like slavery was illegal in this world, so what if people might see him more of a demon. Well at least this way calling him the Shield Demon, he would have committed a real sin to be called a demon.
"Seeing how I don't have any other offers for jobs and I need the coins, I accept the job." Naofumi agreed to the job offer. As he did agree to this job though, a status window popped open in front of Naofumi.
Slave Deliver Job Accepted…
Rewards:
1000 EXP (Unclaimed)
? Coins (Unclaimed)
Naofumi couldn't believe what he was getting this window, he had to wonder if it was something that everyone had or if it was something to do with him being a hero or part of his Strengthening Method. He would have to ask Ulthane about this. For now he would have to see if he would be able to get some new clothes for Raphtalia and equipment for both of them, as he couldn't just have Raphtalia wear rags.
But before he left, he said, "You said that you can help me with getting new clothes and that."
"Ah yes, I did, didn't I, here have this." With that the Slave Trader gave him a silver skull ring, the skull was wearing a black top hat just like the Slave Trader was wearing. Not only that, but the hat had also had a card on it with the number three on it. "If you show it to anyone here, you'll find that people will be friendly towards you. All I ask is that you don't upset them unless they bad mouth me or you first."
"I have no problem with that." agreed the Shield Hero as he took the ring from the had no idea why the ring was so important, neither did he really care, if the man was important and this ring helped him, Naofumi didn't care. With a nod Naofumi was about to leave as a new status window open and his job was updated:
Slave Deliver Job Accepted…
Rewards:
Slever's Signet Ring (Claimed)
1000 EXP (Unclaimed)
? Coins (Unclaimed)
"Oh and Shield Hero, before you go, the ink that you asked for." Beloukas called out before Naofumi could go far, he handed the bottle of ink that Naofumi wanted. Not only that, but the Slave Trader walked behind the stall and picked up two hooded cloaks and gave them to Naofumi, "It isn't much, but I think it'll help you out hiding who they are."
"Thank you." Naofumi said simply as he threw the cloaks to his slaves and told them to wear them, he also told his slaves to use the Fake ID. After which, the three of them left the warehouse and went shopping.
o0OoO0o
Naofumi brought the two girls some several pairs of clothing for his new slaves, for Raphtalia, he got her a few pairs of red battle dresses which were made of reinforced and durable clothes, with some leather padding added for a bit more protection. As for Kumiho, although she already had an outfit, Naofumi wanted to get a few more just in case they needed them. So he got her a miko outfit, the outfit was made of a white kosode and a red hakama, it was the kind of outfit she liked to wear when she could. As for weapons, he decided to go and see Ulthane about them, as he was the only one he could trust to give him weapons.
Naofumi was somewhat surprised, as when he showed them the Slever's Signet Ring to the stores, they seemed to acknowledge even more. Saying that a friend of the Slave Trader was welcome in their store, where they would be treated fairly. So whilst he was shopping, he got supplies that he wasn't able to get back in town without Ulthane's help.
Now as they were walking around the town, Naofumi went down an alley to put the slave ink into his shield where he got a new shield.
Slave Trainer Shield - Level 1:
Equip Bonus:
Growth Adjustment (Small) (Unmastered)
Slave Status Adjustment (Small) (Unmastered)
EXP Bonus: 5% (Unmastered)
Whilst the shield itself just gave him the basic defence of five defence and five magical defence when wearing the shield, the equip bonuses seemed to be very useful to make the slave stronger.
Looking up what the Growth Adjustment did, Naofumi learned that the ability would make it so that the slave would reach their peak potential growth. So if like Raphtalia, who has a weak body, as she levels up, she would get a better body, become stronger and faster, as the skill would fix it so that she would grow in a specific direction. Which was useful, he would have to look later to see if he could make any adjustments himself or if it was out of his hands.
As for Slave Status Adjustment, he already expected what it would do for his slaves and when he looked it up to make sure, he found he was right. As his slaves level up, their stats would be better than before, so over time become stronger.
And with the final the 5% EXP Bonus, whilst not much, it was a good amount depending on how much EXP his slaves might get. Sure at the start it would be only about one extra EXP, but it was better than nothing. But if he guessed right, as he levelled the shield up, the bonus EXP would go up too and so give them more EXP for the slave.
Naofumi hoped that as he levelled this shield up, he would get some decent skills to make his slaves stronger. He didn't really want to only have extra experience points.
Once they were done with the shopping, Naofumi told his slaves that if anyone asked about them, they belonged to Beloukas and he had hired him to help to level them up. When asked why, Naofumi explained he didn't want people to know that he had slaves yet, as he was worried what people might do if they knew. The two nodded at this order and agreed to it.
So once they left the underground market district, they went back into town and went to district Ulthane's shop. When they entered the shop, Ulthane was behind the counter, with Crusch nowhere to be seen. Upon seeing Naofumi and his slaves, Ulthane asked, "Oh Lord Naofumi you're back, who are these young ladies with you?" Here Naofumi told the man what was going on, where afterwards Ulthane said, "I see, I'm glad that you have found people that you can trust, even if you had to buy them."
"WIsh there was another way around it, but this is the best I can do thanks to the bitch and her father." Naofumi said darkly, before careering up a bit and asking, "So where's Crusch? I thought she would be here, she said she was going to teach me something today."
"I just sent her on an errand, she should be back soon." Ulthane informed the young man.
"Okay, in that case, can I get some weapons for Raphtalia and Kumiho please." said Naofumi as he pointed to his slaves.
"What weapons would you like for them?" asked Ulthane.
"Hmm for Raphtalia, I would say some small and basic, seeing how she never fought before." Naofumi said thoughtfully, "As for Kumiho, hmm, Kumiho, what would you prefer to use seeing how you said that you're good at combat, I let you pick your weapon."
"I'm able to use any weapon that you want me to use Master." Kumiho said with a bow.
"I understand that, but I want you to be able to use weapons that fits you. I don't want you to have something that'll hinder you." Naofumi informed her.
"In that case Master, I normally use three blades, a katana, a wakizashi and a tanto." Kumiho informed her master, "But seeing how you don't have much money at the moment, I'll take a tanto, it's small and easy to hide if I have to. And should anyone learn that I'm a Sex Slave, they would suspect me to have a small blade, so a tanto would be ideal for me to have."
"Okay, that's fine," Naofumi told her before he turned to the black smith and said, "so I would like a tanto and a small weapon that you think would suit Raphtalia."
Hearing this, Ulthane brought out a few level one tantos for Kumiho to pick from, where he got a few knives for Raphtalia to test out. In the end, Kumiho got a steel tanto with a red handle and sheath, with ten attack points to it. As for Raphtalia, in the end she ended up with a bronze knife which had eight attack points to it.
"Okay, Raphtalia, Kumiho these are your new weapons. I expect you both to use it to fight monsters. Do you understand?" Naofumi asked them, as he gave them the weapons.
"I understand master." said Kumiho with a bow as she took her weapon.
As she took her weapon, Raphtalia looked terrified at the weapon. Sure she thought that she was willing to do whatever it took to keep her new Master happy, but now she was holding a weapon, she wasn't too sure, she had some doubt about it all. But she knew that if she didn't do what her Master asked of her, she would be sent back to the Slave Trader where she would more than likely die. So fixing her eyes to her Master, she could only nod in agreement.
Naofumi then opened his cape only to reveal that he had several Orange Balloons there. As he removed one and held it, Ulthane smirked as he said, "So I see that you still got some of them with you."
Hearing this, Kumiho had a look of amusement and entertainment, with a hint of an impressive look as she looked upon the Balloon Monsters biting into her new master without causing him pain or any damage. At the same time though, Raphtalia looked wide-eyed in fear at the monsters in front of her and stepped away hiding behind Kumiho.
"Well, it helps to keep people from bothering too much if they knew that I would set a few of these upon them." Naofumi smirked at this, then he looked a bit disappointed as he went on to say, "I have to admit I'm a bit sad at how weak this town is if they can't handle a few Orange Balloons."
"You have to remember, most people in town aren't adventures, most people around here are at max level ten." explained Ulthane, "Only those who were adventures before settling down have higher levels."
"Don't get me wrong, I understand that, I really do, but if you live surrounded by monsters, you would have thought they would know how to deal with low level monsters with ease?" Naofumi let out his thoughts about this, "What if some of these monsters got into town and no adventures or guards were around and unable to escape, what then? Not only that, but what if you were going to another town, village or just outside the town for some reason, what then?"
Ulthane had to admit that the Shield Hero had a point there, one he never thought about before. Maybe it was down to him being stronger and taller than most, that he never thought what could happen to others, as he could handle himself with ease. Because of this, he wasn't sure what to say about this.
Seeing this, Naofumi decided to get on with what he had planned for these girls but first he wanted to talk with you one more thought, "And one more thing I just realized, if you get HP and higher-level skills through leveling up, shouldn't it be a good idea to level up just to be more healthier and safer, staying low level and losing out on those abilities and perks kind of seem stupid." Naofumi said as he removed one of the Orange Balloons and held it out to Kumiho. "You told me that you were able to fight, so I want you to prove it to me and kill this Balloon."
"Of course Master," Kumiho said with a smile, "could you throw it up so I can show you what I can do!"
Naofumi just shrugged at this, unable to see why he shouldn't, so he threw the Balloon high in the air, where Kumiho jumped up and attacked as if it was nothing. She was able to defeat it after a few hits it popped.
Naofumi: 1 EXP
Raphtalia: 1 EXP
Kumiho: 1 EXP
Whilst Naofumi was happy about this, Kumiho looked down.
"I knew my strength would go down when my levels were reset, but I didn't remember being this weak when I was level one." Kumiho unhappily said to herself, "Before I could defeat such things with one hit."
But Naofumi wasn't really listening, as he didn't care about her past, but what she can do for him now. Sure it would be nice if she was stronger, but she was good enough for his needs right now. Realizing that he hadn't checked her stats yet, he did so right now:
Name: Vixen. Race: Demi-Human Kitsunes. Class: Slave. Guild: None.
Level: 1 EXP: 1/60
Status: Slave.
Owner: Beloukas
Special Abilities:
Shape Changer.
Magic Affinity:
Healing.
Summoning.
Fire Magic
Health Points: 100 Mana Points: 70
Physical Attack: 10 Magic Attack: 30
Physical Defence: 20 Magic Defence: 20
Dexterity: 10
Stamina: 120 Carry Weight: 120 lbs
Elemental status
Fire Attack: 10, Resistance: 5. Electricity Attack: 0, Resistance: 0.
Water Attack: 0, Resistance: 0. Light Attack: 0, Resistance: 0.
Wind Attack: 0, Resistance: 0. Ice Attack: 0, Resistance: 0.
Earth Attack: 0, Resistance: 0. Darkness Attack: 0, Resistance: 0.
Naofumi was happy with these stats and by the looks of things, the Fake ID was working as it should be, seeing that her fake name and master was being shown. With her having some attack and Resistance in fire, she could do well with fire. From what she told him, she didn't use it much seeing it was her weakest of her Magic Affinity so only used Fire Magic on her weapons. That didn't make any sense to Naofumi, sure it might be her weakest skill, but it didn't mean she should only use it for basic things like on her weapons. Given time and training, Naofumi thought that even the weakest skill like an elemental skill could become strong. This would be something he would have to deal with, as he'll need all the abilities he can get to survive the Waves of Calamity.
Either way, at least he knew how good she really was and what he got to work with, seeing how she knew Healing and Fire Magic, she would be a great help in one of the upcoming Waves. As if his dreams were right, he would be facing the undead soon and they had the same weakness as the undead in the games he played back in his world, then her Healing and Fire Magic would be very useful against them. He could even have her teach him some Healing Magic.
Either way, he now had to see what his next slave could do, so taking out another Orange Balloon from himself and held it out to the young girl. "Okay now, you're up next Raphtalia. I want you to stab this and pop it."
"I... uh..." shuttered the young girl, now that she was facing a real monster, her hands were shaking and she nearly dropped her new sword. She wasn't sure if she could do this now.
But the problem was that Naofumi wasn't having any of this, he brought them to fight for him and he wasn't about to let her get out of it. "That's an order. Do it." He ordered her firmly.
"I... No!" She obstinately shook her head. Sure she told herself that she would do whatever it took to make her master happy, but this was something she wasn't ready for, to kill a living being, even if it was a monster. The problem was that she was a slave and because of this, the magic behind the crest that binds her to her master, also punishes the slave for disobeying their master too.
"Ugh..." screamed the young girl as the crest took effect and punished the girl by shocking her. Neither Ulthane nor Kumiho made a move to help her, as they knew that she had to learn that she couldn't say no to master no matter what. What their master says, goes, no matter what. They also knew that in the end this would help her too, teaching her to become a better slave.
Whilst Kumiho didn't act to defend the young girl, she said to her softly, "Raphtalia, he is our Master now, we were brought to fight for him. If we don't, not only do we get punished, but we could be sent back to the Slave Trader. You don't want that do you?"
Raphtalia shook her head at this, seeing how if she was sent back, she could end up dead in a few days.
"See? If you don't attack it, you're the one who gets hurt. And if you're aren't willing to fight, I'll have to send you back to the Slave Trader to find someone who will." Naofumi told her darkly. The young man didn't like the idea of the young girl being hurt like this, he wasn't a total monster, but he needed this to happen. As with her and Kumiho, he wouldn't be able to level up and become strong for the Waves ahead of him. For him to be strong, he had to make his slave strong and to do that, he had to make sure they can fight willingly or not. It was an endless circle where things that they don't want to do have to happen.
Cough! Cough!
Her face was twisted in pain, and her hands were shaking. She steadied her grip on the knife.
Raphtalia settled her nerves, braced herself, and stabbed at the balloon from behind.
"You're weak! Try harder!"
"...?! But!"
She had bounced backwards from her last attack. Recovering, she steadied her footing and lunged forward for another attack, and another, and another until finally her balloon finally popped.
Naofumi: 1 EXP
Raphtalia: 1 EXP
Kumiho: 1 EXP
"Nicely done Raphtalia." Naofumi praised the young girl as he rubbed her head. She shot him a confused look in response. She couldn't understand how he was demanding and forceful one moment, but nice and kind the next moment. But the other two in the room smiled, as they knew that even if you were the toughest of bandit lords or powerful nobles, as long as you treat the slave right, you get more out of them. But at the same time, they had to know when to be trough so that the slave knew who the master was and that they were willing to punish the slave if they disobey their master.
Either way, Naofumi wondered why she was weaker then Kumiho, he thought that Raphtalia would be just as strong as her sister slave. So he checked her stats
Name: Kaisei. Race: Demi-Human Half-Tanuki. Class: Slave. Guild: None.
Level: 1 EXP: 2/60
Status: Slave
Owner: Beloukas
Special Abilities: None.
Magic Affinity: Unknown.
Health Points: 50 Mana Points: 10
Physical Attack: 5 Magic Attack: 5
Physical Defence: 5 Magic Defence: 5
Dexterity: 2
Stamina: 20 Carry Weight: 2 lbs
Elemental status
Fire Attack: 0, Resistance: 0. Electricity Attack: 0, Resistance: 0.
Water Attack: 0, Resistance: 0. Light Attack: 0, Resistance: 0.
Wind Attack: 0, Resistance: 0. Ice Attack: 0, Resistance: 0.
Earth Attack: 0, Resistance: 0. Darkness Attack: 0, Resistance: 0.
Caution!
Because of ailment status, the health and stats of the slave is lowered!
To counter this, you'll have to cure the slave for them to fully regain health and stats!
'Hmm, so she isn't at full strength.' Naofumi thought to himself as he saw this warning in his status window. It would mean that if he wanted his slave at full strength, he would have to cure her first. It was a pain, but it was something that had to be done if he wanted to get stronger. Knowing that Crusch taught how to make a cold medicine just in case he needed some and he made some, he could start her healing now before they went out to level up.
"Hey Ulthane, would you mind keeping an eye on the girls for me for a few minutes?" asked Naofumi, "I need to go to my room and get my bag."
"No problem Lord Naofumi." Ulthane told the Shield Hero, where Naofumi left the room and got his bag.
As Naofumi returned, he pulled out a small clay flask as he told, "Raphtalia, drink this, this should help you with your cold."
She looked at the greenish liquid inside the flask for a few seconds, unsure about the looks of it, but she didn't think that her new Master would hurt her, so she obeyed the command. Her ears perked up. She was expecting that whatever this drink was, it would be bitter and weird. It had an acidic and tangy taste, far more bitter than any medicine she had before. It was so good she ended up choking, having to spit the drink to free her throat.
"Damn it, don't waste it, it took me a while to make that!" Her master scolded her, for wasting the medicine that he made, as he gave her another flask filled with another batch of the took awhile for him to make it, and he didn't want the medicine to go to waste. He knew he was being mean to her, but those eyes of her, they were reminding him of her and so made him take his feelings out on the poor girl.
When Raphtalia heard this tone of voice, she was scared he would strike her, like her last Master did, so she raised her hands to protect her head. But the hit never came, instead he ordered her. "Make sure to drink this one, that's an order!"
Seeing how this was an order, she uncorked the flask and began to drink the medicine.
"Bleeaaaggghhhh…" Raphtalia winced at this, the medicine was so bitter.
"Don't waste good medicine, damn it!" He grabbed the flask and sat by her side. Naofumi would make sure she drank the damn medicine.
"But it's bitter, and it hurts…" She complained, trying to dodge the flask of medicine.
"It only hurts because you're not drinking it!" sneered Naofumi, but seeing the looks that Ulthane and Kumiho were giving him, mainly Ulthane, he realized he had to act another way. So with a sigh, he knelt next to the young girl and said softly, "Listen Raphtalia, you might not like the taste of this medicine, but if you want to get rid of your cold, you need to take it for a few days."
"B,but, it's so bitter." repeated Raphtalia.
"I know, but most good medicine is meant to be bitter," explained Naofumi, "from where I came from, the more bitter the medicine is, the better it is. They make it bitter so that they don't take it unless they have to. You do want to get better and stronger don't you."
"Y, yes, I… I do." Raphtalia told her master.
"So you need to drink the medicine, as over the next few days taking it well make you better." Naofumi told her.
"I, I'll drink it." said Raphtalia as she forced herself to drink the bitter medicine.
Wondering if this made any difference to his slave, Naofumi checked her stats once again:
Name: Kaisei. Race: Demi-Human Half-Tanuki. Class: Slave. Guild: None.
Level: 1 EXP: 2/60
Status: Slave
Owner: Beloukas
Special Abilities: None.
Magic Affinity: Unknown.
Health Points: 55 Mana Points: 12
Physical Attack: 7 Magic Attack: 5
Physical Defence: 6 Magic Defence: 5
Dexterity: 3
Stamina: 25 Carry Weight: 2 lbs
Elemental status
Fire Attack: 0, Resistance: 0. Electricity Attack: 0, Resistance: 0.
Water Attack: 0, Resistance: 0. Light Attack: 0, Resistance:
Wind Attack: 0, Resistance: 0. Ice Attack: 0, Resistance: 0.
Earth Attack: 0, Resistance: 0. Darkness Attack: 0, Resistance: 0.
Naofumi was glad to see that some of her stats did get better after taking that one of his flasks, so taking a few each do should allow her to be at full strength in a few days. So with a smile he said to her, "See Raphtalia, some of your stats of recovered. So if you take the medicine a few times a day for the next few days, not only will you recover from your cold, but also your stats will return."
Raphtalia couldn't believe it, this medicine not only helped to regain some of her stats, but she also felt a bit better than before. If this medicine could help her heal and regain her strength, she would be willing to take it, no matter how bitter it might be. So with a small smile she said, "I, I understand Master, I'll, I'll take your… medicine."
"Good girl." Naofumi said with a smile, as Kumiho and Ulthane appoverally.
"Master, can I ask why can't you use a weapon?" asked Kumiho, wondering why he brought them to fight for him.
"Because each time I hold a weapon that wasn't a shield, it would shock me and the weapon would fly out of my hands." Naofumi explained darkly, not liking to be reminded that he couldn't hold a weapon.
"So would you use a weapon if you could, even if it keeps shocking you, causing you pain Master?" Kumiho asked her Master carefully, knowing this was a sore subject, but had an idea that might allow him to use a weapon, even if it meant some pain in doing so.
Naofumi had to think about this, it would seem that Kumiho had an idea or he didn't think she would bring it up like this. So the question was would he be willing to go through pain only so that he could use a weapon as well as this damn shield? The answer was so easy, he didn't have to think about it, he would be willing to walk through hellfire bearfoot if he could use a weapon to help him fight and defeat monsters, it was a no brainer answer. "Yes, I would use a weapon even if it meant me going through pain whilst I'm holding it." Naofumi told her without hesitation or second thoughts, "But the problem is that every weapon I have seen through flies out of my hands the moment I hold them."
"Have you heard of wrist blades?" asked Kumiho.
"I think I have," admitted Naofumi, as he thought back on his history and a game he bravely played, "in my world's history, people had blades on their wrists, normally hidden."
"Well in our world Master, Beastmen use them openly here, so I thought you could use them too." Kumiho informed her master.
"Hmm, not a bad idea, but the problem is that I have seen such weapons in this kingdom." said Naofumi.
"Sadly, because these weapons are normally connected to Beastmen, they don't normally sell wrist blades in Melromarc." explained Kumiho.
"Well I think I can help you with that." Ulthane told the Shield Hero.
"You can?" asked Naofumi, "I don't remember seeing a wrist blade around the store."
"Well it's in the workshop in one of the cupboards," explained the blacksmith, "it was a custom made weapon that I made a few years back. But just as I finished it, the owner died in a dungeon, so I kept it locked away seeing how no one wanted it. Give me a minute and I'll get it for you to look at." with that the Maker left the three along for a few moments until he went to get the wrist blade.
After a few minutes of waiting, Naofumi asked with interest, "So tell me, what does a wrist blade look like in this world?"
"Well, it all depends on the wearer and what they want from it," explained the fox slave, "but basically, it is an arm guard that shoots out between one to three blades, either made out of leather or some kind of metal. I remember having an arm guard where it protected my knuckles so they wouldn't bruise, in fact, I added a metal knuckle bits to the arm guard so that it had an added punch to it when I wasn't using the blades. My blades were used for silent kills, so that I could get in close to my target and kill it without anyone else knowing I was there."
The way that Kumiho told him about her weapon, it reminded him of the weapon in the Assassin's Creed games that he heard about back in his world. Why the Assassin's wrist blades to kill their targets without being noticed, he only played the game once. He never was good at it, he was always getting caught on going for the sneak kills, so didn't bother with the game any more.
Just before anything else was said, Ulthane came back with a weapon in his hand. For Kumiho and Raphtalia, they never seen such a weapon before, but for Naofumi, he thought back to a movie back in the 1980's Predator and all the fanart and movies from it since. It was a leather arm guard with a box on it, which had two, three inch blades sticking out of the box. If Naofumi was right about this, the blades should be longer, as they should be retractable blades, popping in and out of the box.
"Is that a Predator's blade?" Naofumi asked in shock, he never thought he would see such a weapon in this world
"It is in fact, although the person who designed this called it the Predator's Guard," explained the blacksmith, "he wanted a weapon that he could attack and defend with, so he came up with this. Although I'm surprised that you would know what this was, seeing how this is a one of a kind weapon."
"You can say that whilst the design is slightly different to make it more of an arm guard, the design is based on a famous weapon back in my world." explained Naofumi, he didn't think they would understand movies and such here, so he didn't mention it. "How is it that a design from my world came up here?"
"Hmm, it is possible that the person who designed it was a Reincarnator." Ulthane told them thoughtfully, upon seeing the confused looks, he went on to explain, "A Reincarnator is someone who died in another world, but they were reborn into this world."
"You're saying that reincarnation really is a thing?" Naofumi asked in shock, "In my world many people believed in such a thing, it helped most who feared death, believing that once they die they would one day be reborn again. But most, like me, were unsure about it, but you're saying that it really is a thing?
"It is Lord Naofumi," Ulthane told him, "I have met a few Reincarnators in my time, most are prideful, arrogant and self-proclaimed geniuses."
"So they are all stuck up assholes." Naofumi summarized, making the girls blush at the way their master was talking.
"More or less yes," Ulthane smirked, "but the person who designed this weapon was different, he cared for the people around him. It was a surprise when he died in a dungeon, but it meant to be one of the most powerful dungeons on one of the floating islands."
"Floating islands?" asked Naofumi in shock.
"Haven't you seen the one in the sky?" asked Ulthane.
"No I haven't," admitted Naofumi, before asking, "why would I look up in the skies when I don't have to? So far I haven't needed to do so seeing all of the monsters are on the ground? And if they are floating, wouldn't it mean they keep on moving, so unless I was looking for them, I wouldn't be seeing them anyway depending when they were in the area."
"True, if I remember right the last floating island, Kurken, passed Melromarc a few nights ago and if I remember right it was cloudy at the time. So you wouldn't have been able to see it even if you were out there." explained Ulthane as he remembered that night, where the three of them were indoors when Kurken florted past the kingdom.
"So how do we get to these floating islands?" asked Naofumi, hoping that if he knew how to get there, he could leave this god forsaken kingdom.
"By an Air Ship of course," the Maker said as if it was the obvious answer, "you would need to take the Dragon's Gate to transport to one of the Air Docks and catch a ship from there."
"Damn it, so I can't get to the floating island just yet." Naofumi muttered to himself, before asking, "Why can't I use the Dragon's Gate to get to the floating islands?"
"Sadly no," Ulthane said with a sigh, "because for whatever magic is used to make the islands float, it interferes with the gates and so they can't transport people to the floating islands. Instead we are forced to use sky ships to get to the islands in the sky."
"I see, so it'll be awhile before I can get to go to one of these islands." Naofumi sighed, before he went back to looking at the wrist blade, "Well let's see if I can really use this weapon or not."
With that Ulthane gave the weapon to hold, as expected, the weapon shocked him as soon as Naofumi held it. But what wasn't expected was that the weapon hit the shield, but instead of dropping onto the floor, the shield sucked the weapon into it and a status window opened in front of him.
Predator's Guard…
Equip Bonus:
Attack 25 (Unmastered)
Defence 10 (Unmastered)
Stealth (small) (Unmastered)
Stun (small - blade shields only) (Unmastered)
Leap (small) (Unmastered)
Special Effect:
Blade.
Bleeding - (small)
"HELL YES!" yelled Naofumi, whilst it was his second shield that gave him some attack power, it was his first shield that gave him attack points in the double digits. Now he should be able to defeat those damn Balloon monsters with ease, along with some of the weak levelled monsters too.
"I take it that you got something decent from that." the blacksmith said with a smile.
"Oh yeah sorry about that, I wasn't expecting the shield to suck in the weapon like that." the Shield Hero apologized to Ulthane, who he wanted to keep on the good side of the man.
"No worries, when it comes to the Legendary Weapons, you'll need to expect the unexpected." said Ulthane, "So what did you get." In which Naofumi told the man, where the Maker whistled at this and the two slave girls were unsure how to act, seeing how they weren't sure what the Legendary Shield could do. "I'll be, who knew that this weapon would make such a weapon now. This would mean that you can now put up a fight against the monsters out there."
"Oh only those who are low levels or got low defence." Naofumi said with a sigh.
"Maybe, but at least you can help your slave to leave up easier so that later they can help you." the blacksmith informed Naofumi.
"True." Naofumi admitted, feeling down but at the same time knowing that Ulthane was right.
"So what are your plans now?" asked Ulthane.
"Well I'm going to spend the next few days levelling Raphtalia and Kumiho up before going to do a job for Beloukas." Naofumi told the man.
"So Beloukas has offered you a job?" asked the Maker, "He isn't one to offer work to those who he doesn't really know or trust. You must have made an impression for him to offer you a job."
"It isn't much, just delivering some slaves to a village mayor that's all." explained Naofumi, "I'll be going once I have levelled Raphtalia and Kumiho up a bit, during this time I'll be leaving here so that we can deal with living in the wilderness." Whilst he might have had some camping experience back in his home world when he was younger, however, he knew that camping in this world would be different, more dangerous, so it would be better to deal with seeing what it is like in an area with low level monsters. This way they can learn what to expect and set up plans for nights to make sure they are ready.
"You must really impressed Beloukas, as he wouldn't allow just anyone to do these jobs for him." Ulthane informed the younger man.
"Yeah it's a job, something that I can't turn down seeing how I need the money." Naofumi said with a deep sigh.
"True," admitted Ulthane, seeing how Naofumi would take such a job, "so does this mean you'll won't be back tonight."
"That's the plan." acknowledged Naofumi.
"In that case, once you're finished with Crusch, I would like you to see me before you leave. As I got something for you." Ulthane told the young hero.
"Thanks Ulthane." thanked Naofumi.
Just then Crusch entered the shop, "Master, the product is delivered and the stock you asked me to get is in the forge."
"Thank you Crusch, I appreciate it." the Maker told the lizardwoman, "You can spend the rest of the day with Naofumi and his new slaves."
"Good afternoon Lord Naofumi, I'm glad that you got yourself some slaves that can help you out now." Crusch said with a smile, happy that the one that she and most demi-human's worship had finally got people he can trust, even if they were slaves like her. At least he knew they could be trusted and that's what mattered, "Does that mean you're ready to leave us soon?"
"It is and I would like to thank you for your help over the last week," Naofumi said with a bow, "you and your master are the only two people I know I can trust. Sadly I'll be leaving here tonight, as I got a job but before that I need to level my slaves up and get used to sleeping outdoors in this world."
"In that case Lord Naofumi, let me teach you what I wanted today and allow me to help to try and level your new slaves a few levels today." said Crusch.
"Thanks Crusch," thanked Naofumi, "let's get started." And so with that, Crusch and Naofumi, with Naofumi's slaves, left to go to the fields.
To Be Continued!
Author's Note - PLEASE READ TO THE END: 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.
I would like your help with creating a new shield. I need a monster that is able to split into two so that Naofumi can gain a shield that can split into two. The idea for this shield comes from a Captain America shield that I found on the net: marvelcinematicuniverse . fandom f/p/3120688743317524913 (Remove gaps) I hope you can give me a monster that allows me to create this shield. I was thinking of some sort of gemini monster/demon monster/mini-boss/boss, but need ideas for looks.
In fact, as I was thinking about it, there could be Zodiac Weapon Sets from monsters/demons that the heroes could get, what do you lot think? Got the idea when looking when looking up ideas and powers from powerlisting . fandom . com and found Zodiac Empowerment. Let me know of your thoughts.
Now I would like to ask what sort of magic/cores should the heroes have. For Itsuki, I was thinking of angel magic along with some magic that could help him being an avenger of the innocent - if you got some ideas I would like your thoughts. But the thing is I'm not sure what to do for the others, I want them to become stronger than the original heroes, so if you have any thoughts I would like to hear them. I would like ideas for what elements that they should use, as I want them to have an elemental power.
Now I would like more ideas for powers that Naofumi can get for levelling up the Slave Shield other than Enslavement I'm planning to give him. As for the the EXP Bonus part for the shield, for each level the level goes up the bonus exp goes up 1%. I hope you can help with extra powers, I have a few ideas like giving them a Limit Break, where the slaves would have a bar to fill up so that when the bar is full, they can gain bonse effects for a short while, allowing them to become even stronger than normal.
Okay I have learned from that the polls on fanfiction is fucked up, he told me that some people who might have voted one way but meant to to pick another. Because of this, for should Naofumi have sex with a young or older Raphtalia, I'm leaving this open for one more chapter and I go with reviews instead of the poll.
At the moment, going by reviews it's like this:
Older: Review: 18 PM 1
Young: Review: 20 PM 1
So if you have already voted by review you don't have to vote again, but if you voted by poll and not review, you'll need to leave a review to let me know what you want to happen. So you know, if you reviewed in the last chapter your vote won't count in this chapter. Also to keep things fair, I'll be only accepting signed accounts for votes, as just reviews could be used by others to force a result on their side.
The only time I'll be accepting Guest Reviews is if they leave few lines sentences giving their thoughts about the chapter, or why you believe it should be older or younger. If a Guest just says Older or Young or a one liner along those lines, the vote won't be accounted for. For the vote to be accounted, Guests need to leave a decent review. This is the only way I can think that'll make things fair.
Because I was told of this problem, I'm reopening the Lust Shield idea again, to make it fair. So for the next two chapters, the poll if Naofumi should be allowed a Lust Shield well be open. One vote per reader and guest reviews will need to make a decent review apart for yes do a Lust Shield or no don't do a Lust Shield. You'll need to give your thoughts to the chapter or give me ideas for powers and skills the Lust Shield should have. Those who vote with one liners or yes do a Lust Shield or no don't do a Lust Shield won't be counted, these votes will be removed.
This is so that it'll be fair to all, as there could be those who might want to stack the poll to their favour. I'm making it so that guest voters will have to make an effort, as those who are trying to stack the votes won't want to go through all of that trouble. I'm sorry for doing this, but I'm trying to make the voting fair.