Author's Notes: If you have a question, instead of leaving it in a guest review, either sign in and leave a review or send me a PM, don't leave it as a guest review. Doing it that way makes it hard for me to reply to you and I really am trying not to leave notes at the start of each chapter unless I have to. So if you have a question that you want an answer to, please sign in and ask in a review or send me a PM and I'll try and get back to you. Seeing how I have no other way to answer this guest reviews questions and feel that they should be answered in case others are thinking the same, I'll do it here:
Now if you could explain why the fuck do you need the readers to do your job, that'd be great.
I believe that I said this before, but I find that readers could come up with something that I cannot think of or miss and so I would like to hear what you have to say. Not only that, but I like to see what the readers want in my stories and if possible if their ideas fit with my ideas then I'll add them. I have some learning difficulties that make it hard for me to come up with ideas, it would sometimes take me weeks to months to think of something.
So I ask the readers for basic ideas, and if useful it might help me come up with ideas for the next few chapters. More often than not, just a basic suggestion would help me come up with something different and create a new path that I wouldn't have normally thought of. That and it helps me to see what the readers want in my story, as I do want them to come back. Sure I don't always use their ideas, but their ideas/suggestions might kick start something in my mind. And whilst there are many who don't like writers asking for help with ideas, there are many like me who do ask for help.
Isn't it what reviews are for anyway, feedback and for ideas for what happens next or in the future? I'm just more open to what I want from my reviewers and point out ideas I would like to hear from them.
Why do you need both Naofumi VS Motoyasu and Naofumi VS Renka? Just pick one, and don't make him go to the banquet.
Simple, both battles are key points for Naofumi and the other two heroes, to get them down the paths I want them to go. If you don't like that, that's down to you.
You need reason as to why Renka would pick a fight with Naofumi, are you stupid? She gets angry because of something. The end.
You think that is that easy, but I want her to have a believable reason for her to fight Naofumi, not because she is angry over something unbelievable. Don't want her to attack for mindless reasons like she can't control herself, don't want her to be like a mindless beast who attacks without reason. Because I don't want to take weeks, months or weeks to think of something, I ask my readers for help. Sometimes it helps, sometimes it doesn't, but I find it normally does. If you don't like hearing me asking for help, skip the notes altogether.
If you have a problem with my story, please sign in so I know who I'm talking to and we can talk about the problems if you're willing to help.
WARNING: Not edited just yet, this chapter might change later on.
Chapter Twenty…
Final Preparations - Part 2!
Kingdom of Melromarc, Castle Town, 29th of January 740:
Time to the next Wave: D1 H23 M45
It was just over an hour since Naofumi began talking to Beloukas, during the talks they came up with what Naofumi wanted from the base for now. An inn or two, a few simple places to sell things, even using a few old buildings to sell slaves out off. The story if someone asked was that a new bandit came into the kingdom wanting to make a name for himself. He decided to use the abandoned village as a base so that he had somewhere to rest, and possible to get more bandits there to gain information and money, seeing how he was only starting out and was using his smarts to do things,
After talking to Beloukas and Raphtalia and Kumiho getting the documents and pass to become a travelling merchant, he decided to get something to eat seeing how it was early hours since they woke and ate something. They would need something to eat before they went to see Ulthane about getting some new weapons and armour for his slaves.
The day was going well for Naofumi so far, so whilst he could taste his food, he was in a good mood that he wasn't all that bothered. The three of them were eating their meals in the dark corner of one of the local taverns, so as not to be bothered by those who had a problem with the Shield Hero and demi-humans.
But as he was eating, he lost his appetite when he heard one of the four voices that he didn't want to hear: Motoyasu.
"Woah, is that you Naofumi?!" Motoyasu called out.
The damn Spear Hero had just entered the tavern, surrounded by gaggling women
One would say that he hated the guy, but they would be wrong. It was more than hatred, he couldn't put what he felt for the damn Spear Hero. All he knew was that at that very moment, he wanted to kill him there and then. But he held back seeing how he knew that it would create problems with him with the kingdom. Not only that, but it would make it very difficult to defeat the Waves should he kill one of the Cardinal Heroes.
"Whilst you might have some decent armour now, I thought you would be trying to level up instead of being in here hiding." the Spear Hero said with a sneer.
Naofumi sighed at this, this man if you could call him one, sickened him.
Naofumi had to admit though since they last met, the fool changed a lot. Motoyasu looked like a completely different person from how he had appeared only one month prior. He was clearly at a higher level, and with much nicer equipment. It wasn't iron, it was shiny like it was made from silver, and beneath it, he was wearing a beautiful crimson set of clothing. It was probably imbued with all sorts of great skills.
Through the breaks in his armour, Naofumi could see the chainmail. He was obviously thinking seriously about his defence. The Legendary Spear had changed as well. No longer some flimsy thing, the new spear looked vicious and powerful, and Naofumi had to admit the design was pretty cool. And the tip was... well, it looked sharp.
"..."
Naofumi decided not to say anything, seeing how it wasn't worth wasting his breath on him. Naofumi turned around and continued to eat his breakfast with his women.
"Hey! Lord Motoyasu is speaking to you! You should listen."
There it was, the source of all Naofumi's anger and bloodlust. In fact, if someone took notice of the gem on his shield, they would have seen that it had a hint of red in it
That woman was speaking out from behind him, sticking her tongue out, mocking the Shield Hero.
This bitch, Naofumi told himself that he would kill her someday. But not that day, as much as he would love her to die, it would create more problems than he wanted, starting with her father would kill him if he killed her. Maybe if he had any luck, she might die in the upcoming Wave and he wouldn't have to deal with the damn bitch again.
"Lord Naofumi? Who might this be?" asked Raphtalia, as pointed at Motoyasu, she knew that she couldn't call her master, Master around others.
"..."
Instead of answering her question, Naofumi opted to stand up and leave, he had lost all appetite. As he started to walk off, his slaves followed him.
But as they were leaving, he saw Itsuki and Renka appear in the doorway.
"Tsk."
"Ah, Motoyasu and... Iwatani." Itsuki sneered at Naofumi's surname.
Itsuki looked instantly annoyed to see him, but quickly recovered his bearings and spoke softly and respectfully. Naofumi bet he hated the fact that he was able to escape and sell the slaves to the mayor of the Village of Lute. Not like the Shield Hero care, he needed money and so did what he had to, to earn it. If people didn't like it, well fuck them. They shouldn't have believed the Bitch Princess and turned their backs on him, because of them, he was being forced to do things that he wouldn't normally do.
"..." Naofumi decided not to bother with the Bow Hero, there was nothing he could say to him to change his mind about our hero. He, like the rest of the heroes, thinks this is a game, and so can act how he likes, thinking he can change things with ease, as it was part of the game. He didn't realize this was the way of this world, that things that they believed were wrong, like slavery, were fine in this world. That was part of how they kept things going, pay off debts, punish the guilty and the like.
Renka had also come and walked up to us in silence, pretending to act cool. But she had a good look in her eyes, a look that told him that she wanted him dead for what he meant to have done. Her equipment was undoubtedly much stronger than when her journey began.
And then, both of their companions popped up one after another. From what Naofumi saw, other than Renka's companions only being female, the hero's companions were more or less the same as before. But looking at Renka's companions, whilst most of them had looks of hate for the Shield Hero, the blue-skinned woman in Renka's companions, gave him a look that she was intrigued by him. That she had some interest in him more than wanting to hurt him. Not only that, but she felt off, something about her didn't seem right for some reason. It didn't feel right, but before he could voice his thoughts about this, Motoyasu opened his mouth.
"Just who are these beauties?" Motoyasu asked as he pointed at Raphtalia and Kumiho, "They are simply adorable." Whilst she didn't say anything, Naofumi could see that bitch wasn't happy that her Hero was hitting on some demi-humans.
She wasn't the only one who was angry by this either.
Naofumi got a bit angrier at this, how dare this bastard try and hit on his women. If it wasn't for the fact that he needed the fool alive, he would be more than happy to burn the bastard for looking at them the way he was. But the red in the gem of the shield grew a bit more.
"Who they are, are none of your concern." Naofumi informed the other hero darkly, "Girl's we're leaving."
Oh, the girls knew the warning signs, they saw them before when they ran into Itsuki and Renka. Crusch warned them that if their master ever became like this again, it was best to help him to leave the area before something that couldn't be undone could happen. So they were more than happy to leave with their master.
But Motoyasu had other plans, he approached Raphtalia and Kumiho with filthy motives while affectionately introducing himself.
"Nice to meet you, young misses. I'm one of the Four Cardinal Heroes summoned to this world to help to defeat the Wave." Motoyasu introduced himself, "My name, Motoyasu Kitamura. I'm honoured to make your acquaintance. May I know your fine names?"
"Oh, you're the Spear Hero, aren't you?" Raphtalia asked darkly, knowing who this bastard was and what he did to her master,
"So you heard of me then?" Motoyasu asked the demi-human, missing how Raphtalia was talking to him.
"Oh I know who you are, and I know what you and the princess did to him." Raphtalia told the hero, as she stepped back so that she wouldn't hit him and make things worse for her master. "In fact, you and the other heroes should stay away from Lord Naofumi and us."
"What are you talking about?" Motoyasu asked in shock, not knowing what was going on.
"Motoyasu, these are slaves that someone allowed Naofumi to use." Itsuki informed the Spear Hero with a hidden smirk, hoping that if he couldn't free the two slaves from Naofumi, Motoyasu could. Sure it wasn't a hero like a thing to do, but if he wasn't strong enough to deal with Naofumi, he hoped that Motoyasu was.
"What!?" Motoyasu asked in outrage, "How dare you use such beauties as slaves and force them to fight for you?"
"First off, these slaves aren't mine, they belong to someone else, who hired me to see how slaves would be like when levelling up with a Cardinal Hero." Naofumi lied, using the cover story that he came up with should these fools try something stupid, "I told the other heroes this already. So whilst it is legal to have slaves in this world, I don't own them, I'm just helping them to level up. Nothing more, nothing less."
"But we're heroes, although it might be okay for people here to use them here, we have to show people that they don't need to use slaves." Motoyasu told Naofumi, trying to sound bigger than he really was.
"Maybe that is true, but I was hired to protect and help these ladies to get stronger," Naofumi half lied to the fool, "so seeing how getting jobs is difficult thanks to your sweet little princess, I have to take such jobs."
Whilst you can say that Motoyasu was stupid and often think with his dick, you can also say that he can sometimes know when he was beaten and tries another route. It wasn't often, but in this case, it did happen. So he looked at Raphtalia and he gave her a warm smile and said, "Can you please tell me who your master is? If he wants to see how you level up with a hero, you can join my team. You wouldn't have to fight at all apart for dire circumstances, I would be doing all the fighting for you." Then looking at Naofumi he smirked as he said, "If you stay with Naofumi, you and your friend will be in danger." Seeing Naofumi's face darkened at this, knowing what the bastard was getting at, the said bastard went on to say to him, "Tell me that I'm not right, or do you not have the guts to do so?"
Naofumi knew what Motoyasu was playing at, using his words to mean two different things, both of which hurt him. On one part Motoyasu's words was a dig at how the girls could be raped by him, which for the first time since it happened, Naofumi felt a bit of guilt over raping Kumiho, even if it was down Kumiho that it happened. But somehow Motoyasu made him feel guilty over it.
Now Motoyasu words were also a dig over at how they could be badly hurt during battle, something that Naofumi was worried about too. Sure Naofumi had become darker and cold-hearted, and even though he knew that when fighting it was bound to happen that one or both of his slaves would get hurt, it didn't mean that he didn't feel something about the dig. Over the short time that they were together, much to his shock, he had slowly begun to care for them in his own way and was worried about them getting badly hurt or worse killed.
But before he could say or do anything, he was shocked that Raphtalia went face to face to Motoyasu and said, "I know what you're getting on Lord Motoyasu, but let me tell you something from spending time with Lord Naofumi, he isn't that kind of man." Raphtalia defended her lord and master, "First off, our master wouldn't allow us to be near him if he did what the rumours say he did. Second, whilst he might be rough around the edges, but, he has done nothing more than to protect us. He hasn't forced to do things that he was rumoured to have done
Just seeing these people, these stupid heroes and that woman, made Naofumi feel the hate and anger that he had been dealing return it made him sick. It made him hate the whole world even more.
Naofumi started walking toward the entrance that Ren and Itsuki were blocking. They parted and made room for him to pass.
"We'll see you when the wave comes.".
"Try not to hold us back."
Itsuki's cold, business-like response, and Ren's obnoxious, over-the-top confidence wore on Naofumi's nerves. He turned his back on them. He turned to see Raphtalia and Kumiho following him out.
"Let's go." Naofumi told them.
"Oh. Yes, Lord Naofumi!" the two slaves said together.
'God, they had made me so miserable.' Naofumi thought to himself as he was leaving, but then a thought came to him, more like a warning he had to give so that these heroes at least were warned.
"Listen, just a head up, try and not get yourselves killed okay." Naofumi told the three assholes, "If one or more of you die, it'll make things hard for the rest of us."
"What on earth are you talking about?" Motoyasu asked the Shield Hero, wondering what the rapist was talking about.
"I've learned over the last few weeks that if only one of us were killed, it would make it near impossible for the rest of us to defeat these Waves." explained Naofumi, "So whilst I don't like you lot, just be careful out there and don't die until we have dealt with these Waves."
"What nonsense are you talking about?" asked Renka, "Sure if one of us heroes with real weapons died I can understand, but someone with a shield? How would that be of a loss."
"She's right," admitted Itsuki with Motoyasu nodding in agreement, "if one of us were killed, then I can understand it becoming difficult to deal with the waves, but if you were killed? I can't see the problem."
Naofumi greeted his teeth at this, wanting to shout and beat some sense into them, but he knew it would be lossless.
"Believe what you want," Naofumi told them with a sneer, "but don't cry and bitch when you need a shielder to defend you against whatever powerful monster or demon you might face and I'm not there to do so."
"Like we would need scum like you." Motoyasu told him.
"Whatever, I give you fair warning about this, I can leave without regret." said Naofumi, as he and his slaves left the inn before the fools could say anything.
When they left the inn, instead of going to the blacksmith as Naofumi planned, he made his way out into the surrounding fields. He wanted to take his stress out on some of the monsters in the area, not the Balloon Monsters around here seeing how his attack power was higher thanks to his shields and skill points added to the ability, he could defeat them with ease. So he went for the wolves in the area.
Whilst his attack points might be high enough to deal with the Balloon Monsters without a problem, dealing with wolves and other monsters were still a problem. Which meant they were decent enough so that he could take his stress out on them and don't have to worry about them being killed too soon, which he was thankful for. As for the next hour, he fought against these wolves, thinking they were either one of the other heroes on the bitch that started all this.
o0OoO0o
It was just over an hour later that Naofumi finished dealing with beating the wolves, which helped with dealing with his stress in seeing those fools, Naofumi and his slaves went to Ulthane and Crusch. To finally get some new weapons for Raphtalia and Kumiho, it was high time they got stronger weapons.
Upon entering the shop, Ulthane was dealing with a few hooded customers, when he was done and saw Naofumi and his girls, Ulthane said, "Naofumi, it has been a while, how are you three?"
"We're good, in fact, we came to get the girls some new weapons and armour." Naofumi informed the Maker.
"I see, so girls what weapons and armour do you want?" Ulthane asked Raphtalia and Kumiho.
"If I may, I would like a tanto and katana, if possible, if not both, I would like a katana." Kumiho informed the blacksmith and her master.
"AS long as it isn't too expensive, sure I don't mind, we got the coin to get you both, seeing how you have helped me so much."
"Thank you Master." Kumiho thanked her master.
"So Raphtalia, what weapon do you want to have?" Naofumi asked his youngest slave.
"Can I have a look round master?" asked Raphtalia, "I want to see the different swords that you have, to see if there is one that calls out to me."
"Sure you can Raphtalia." Naofumi said with a smile. He wanted them to use weapons that they felt comfortable in using.
A decent and cheap tanto and katana, along with decent armour for Kumiho cost Naofumi three gold coins. As for Raphtalia, in the end, she decided to get an enormous broadsword that reminded him of the sword used in a game back in his world known as Final Fantasy VII, where the main character used such a sword called Buster Sword. In fact, to Naofumi's surprise, this sword was also called Buster Sword, the size of it was the length of Raphtalia. Although it was a bit hard for her to lift it, Raphtalia was able to.
When asked why she wanted such a sword, Raphtalia said she wanted to build her strength and using this would help her. Not only that, but not only would this sword do more damage once she mastered it, but she could knock the enemy back and possibly stagger them so that she and Kumiho could have an easier time defeating the monsters they faced.
Naofumi was shocked that she wanted such a sword, but if she wanted it and as long she could use it, he would allow her to have it. Both she and Kumiho have been a great help to him, so if these are the weapons that they wanted to use, Naofumi would allow it. But until she could fully master the sword, he would get her a basic long sword so that she could have something to fight in the upcoming Wave. So with the armour and new weapons, it cost Naofumi five gold coins for the new gear for Raphtalia.
Once Naofumi got his girls armour and weapons, Ulthane closed the shop and took the three of them to his warehouse where they found Crusch and Atla. To Naofumi's shock, he saw that they were working on the carriage that he designed a while back. He had wondered what happened to his designs, he lost track of them just before getting Raphtalia and Kumiho, but it looked like Ulthane found them and was building parts of it.
"So you found my designs." said Naofumi as he looked at the carriage in awe, they had only got the first half done, but it was great to see it built. The carriage was sixteen feet by twenty-eight. Sure it might seem big for a carriage, but it was meant to be like that, as he and his slaves would be using it to use it as a travelling home so that they wouldn't have to worry about paying for inns.
So this part of the carriage was split into two, divided by a wall: the front would be where whoever was driving the carriage would set. The front wasn't anything fancy, just a two-seated box chair, with cushions to make it comfortable. It was a box as they would store hidden items here. Now once you entered the back end, it would be a small room with at least a huge bed and a desk and maybe a few chairs and a table. He hadn't thought about it.
When he designed the carriage, he put in the huge bed not to share with his slaves or anyone else, but because he wanted a comfortable bed to sleep in. For all he cared at the time, any companions that he had would have to either sleep on the floor on this floor on the second floor that he designed for storage or camp outside. But now though, Raphtalia and Kumiho would be sleeping in the bed with him.
Now when the second part of the carriage was made, it would be about seven foot longer. As part of it would give whoever was driving the carriage some cover whatever weather they might face. Not much sure, but it was better than nothing though. Also, the overhang would allow a few touches on it, so that if they were travelling at night, they would have some light.
"Yeah, seeing how you said you had plans to get a Filolial, I thought that I would build this carriage." explained Ulthane.
"You didn't have to do that." Naofumi told him, sure he was going to ask him once he had the money, but not until then, as he didn't like owing people anything. Owing someone something could cause him trouble and so tried to make sure that he never owe anyone anything.
"I know that, but seeing how this kingdom is against you, I thought that I help you out where I can." Ulthane informed the young hero, "You need someone who's on your side and is willing to help you. This is just a small thing I can help you with interfering too much."
"Thank you." Naofumi said with a bow of his head. He knew that as a Maker, Ulthane couldn't help too much as they believed in keeping the balance and not interfering in the affairs of the world unless they had no other option. It didn't mean that they wouldn't do something if they saw monsters or demons attacking someone, they just wouldn't go out and search for trouble. As the name of their race suggested, they were markers first and fighters lastly.
"No problems," Ulthane waved the thanks off, "I know that Filolials love their carriages, so I thought it best to build something you designed. I have something for you for when the carriage is finished, a Carriage Gem." Ulthane said as he gave Naofumi an egg-shaped amber opal gem.
"What's a Carriage Gem?" Naofumi asked as he looked at the gem.
"It's an expensive item that allows you to store a carriage in a gem." explained the male Maker.
"If it's so expensive, why are you just giving it to me?" asked Naofumi. Sure the Maker didn't say that the gem was free, but the way he spoke made the young man think it was.
"Normally I wouldn't, but seeing how it is already paid for but the owner is dead and no one came to claim it, I thought you should have it." explained Ulthane, "You see, an adventure came to ask me to create this for him seeing how he had a Filolial and knew the problems he would have if he lost his carriage, so to prevent this, or lower the risk of losing it, he paid in full for this Carriage Gem to keep his carriage safe when not using or unable to use it, by storing it in the gem. In fact, this gem allows you to hold up to five carriages in it."
"I see." Naofumi said in awe, unable to believe his luck, it would seem that today was one of those lucky days for him. First, his carriage was being built and now this Carriage Gem to store his carriage for when he is unable to use it for whatever reason. "Out of interest, what happened to the adventure who bought this gem in the first place?" Naofumi asked, wondering how and why this adventure was killed, he was worried that whoever killed the adventure was after this Carriage Gem.
"Don't worry, nothing sinister about their death," Ulthane reinsured the Shield Hero, suspecting what he was thinking, "the adventure was killed during the First Wave from what I was told. So giving the gem to someone who is fighting the Waves seems like the right thing to do."
"I see, in that case, thank you," Naofumi thanked the Maker, giving the man a rare smile, before asking, "are there any other gems like this?"
"There's one other, a Storage Gem." Ulthane informed the hero, "It was designed hundreds of years ago by an alchemist when they learned that the Cardinal Heroes had their own way to store things. It took a few years to design his own version of the storage skill, but he was able to create a gem that could do such a thing. In fact, it is better than what the Cardinal Heroes have."
"Oh, how so?" Naofumi asked in interest, wondering how these gems could be better.
"Whilst they have a limit to how much they can hold, which the Cardinal Hero's storage don't, these gems allow us to change our clothing if we have any clothes in the gem at the time." explained the Maker, "This is something from what I have told the Cardinal Hero's storage can't do. With the gems, we go into our status menu and pick what clothing we want and a few moments later we get new clothing without the need to change. Those who have these gems for clothing, only change to get undress for baths and to be with their lovers, or to wash the clothes."
"I see." Naofumi hummed thoughtfully, finding these Storage Gems useful when it comes to changing clothing. "So how much is it to buy one?"
"It would be one gold coin," explained Ulthane, seeing the shock faces he went on to explain, "you see, I would need to get the gems, then I would need to do a few spells on the gems so that I can store things in them and change clothes too, after which, I need to create a necklace or something so that the person couldn't lose it."
Hearing this, Naofumi could understand why it cost so much, sure the spells were free, but it would be the time and buying the gems and the necklace that would cost the most. That and the time management to make the whole thing. With just Ulthane and Crusch running the shop and making the times, if they are going to create something new they would need to sell the items high to make up the lost time and money from selling something basic.
"Do you have any to sell right now?" asked Naofumi.
"Sadly, no," Ulthane admitted with a sigh, "I just sold my lost lot of Storage Gems last week. I haven't gotten around making more, it would take me a few days to make them.
"In that case, when you do make more, could you hold a few for me please?" asked Naofumi, liking the idea of changing clothing with ease. It would save time and they can change armour depending on the fights too.
"I have no problems with that," the Maker told the hero, "I can make it within a week or so, as long as I don't have other special order items to make."
"That'll be fine." Naofumi told the blacksmith, then a thought came to him and so asked, "Just a thought, but would it be safe for me to place the Carriage Gem into my shield."
"Not unless you want people to know you're a Cardinal Hero," explained Ulthane, "as because the magic used in making these sorts of gems are one of the few items that you can't use magic to swap for another item. So if someone saw you swap the item for another shield, they would know you're one of the Cardinal Hero's."
"I see, in that case, you'll be looking after the Carriage Gem." Naofumi told Kumiho as he threw the gem to her.
"Master?" the vixen demi-human asked in confusion.
"Well, you have been driving us around more, so I thought that I would point you as the official driver from now on." explained Naofumi told her, "That as should anyone learn that people you're Sex Slave, other than being my bed warmer, they'll expect you to do very little other than maybe driving your master's carriage. No one would expect you to fight unless your life is at risk."
"I understand Master." Kumiho said with a bow, and she did. It was what he brought her for in the first place anyway, for him to have sex with her whenever he wanted. Sure, it took a long while before he used her for that reason, but should anyone learn about her being a Sex Slave, as her master said, they would expect her to be a bed warmer and carriage driver, not a fighter. So as long as no one learned that she too was a fighter, they would underestimate her in a fight. So she could see where her master was coming from.
"What about me Master." asked Raphtalia.
"Well, I brought you for a fighter, so if people learn that, they would expect you to be ready to fight, not driving a carriage." Naofumi explained softly, "It doesn't mean you won't be driving the carriage too, it's just that Kumiho would be looking after the Carriage Gem unless she is unable to."
"Okay, Master." Raphtalia said sadly, wanting to do more for her master. Sure she understood why he was doing this, but it didn't mean she was unhappy.
"Now, Atla, I would like to ask you a few things about the Waves seeing how the next one is in less than two days away." Naofumi told the female Maker.
"Sure, how about we get something to drink and we talk about it." Atla told Naofumi.
"Fine with me." said Naofumi, as he turned to his slaves, "You two can do what you like, stay here and help Crusch here or go out and do whatever you want. I'll meet you two after lunch where we'll go into the fields and try and get a few more levels before the next Wave happens."
"Okay Master." the two slaves said together as their master left with Atla.
o0OoO0o
"So Shield Hero, what would you like to know?" asked Atla as they sat down in Ulthane's kitchen after making a drink for the two of them, wondering what the Shielder might ask of her.
"I was wondering if you could tell me what I could expect from the Waves?" asked Naofumi, "What sort of monster should I expect to fight?"
"Sadly, I can't tell you that." Atla admitted with a sigh, "As each Wave is different from the last. All I know is that the monsters or demons from the Waves come from different worlds, and to stop them you would have to defeat the boss-type monster of that Wave. That or wait for the time to run out."
"You're saying there's a time limit?" Naofumi asked in shock, not expecting to hear this.
"That's what I have heard anyway, not sure how true it is though." admitted Atla.
"Hmm…" Naofumi hummed as he thought about it, it was strange to think that there would be a time limit to these Waves. But then again, if these worlds that had Waves were set up like a game world like this world, it would make some sense.
As in the games that he played in his world, big events where you have to fight big bosses and such there would be a time limit. If you fail to defeat the boss in time, you wouldn't be able to gain the rewards from that event and so could make the rest of the game harder for you. Then things would reset as if nothing happened. But in this world though, he didn't think it would work that way, as it was real and not a game and such, if you lose people stay dead and things stay destroyed. So in this world, it was better to defeat the boss as soon as possible and not wait around like some world if it was a game, trying to defeat some normal monsters to get stronger before facing the boss.
As Naofumi thought about it, from the little he could understand, he realized that the time gap between Waves was for the heroes to get stronger so that they didn't have to waste time. And the monsters that they face were to prevent them from getting to the boss and so lose any weapon materials from that boss and so making them stronger.
"But, I can tell you that whoever is in your party at the time would be transported with you to wherever the Wave is." Atla explained to Naofumi who nodded at this.
Whilst it wasn't much, at least he learned two things from this, first is that he gets teleported to where these Waves were and so he wouldn't have to worry about travelling to wherever they were. Next is that any companions or those who were in his party would be teleported to the Waves with him, this would be useful should he ever get anyone to help him to fight with the Waves. He wouldn't have to worry about how they would get to the Waves with him.
"Whilst it isn't much, this information can be useful, so thank one," Naofumi thanked the Maker for letting him know this, "Now, could you tell me what you know about these Vassal Heroes that Ulthane told me about?" asked Naofumi.
"I'll try and tell you what I know." Atla informed the Shield Hero.
"In that case, do you know what this world's Vassal Weapons are and who wilds them?" asked Naofumi. Sure Atla might not know who these Vassal Heroes were, but she more than likely knew what they are. If she knew this, he could keep an eye out for those who wild these weapons and see if they were Vassal Heroes or not.
"Before I answer that, you should know that the Vassal Weapons are known to this world as Seven Star Weapons and their Wielders are called Star Heroes." explained Atla.
"But what about the eighth one?" asked Naofumi, wondering why they were known as Seven Star Weapons and not eight.
"Because they don't know about the eighth one." Atla informed him, then holding her hand up when Naofumi was going to ask a question she knew he would ask and said, "I'll get to the eighth one in a moment, let me tell you about the other seven first. The seven weapons are the following: the Axe, Hammer. Gauntlet, Claw, Staff, Projectile and finally the Whip. Out of these seven weapons, I know of only one known Wielder, the Vassal Hero of the Staff, King Aultcray Melromarc XXXII."
"How can that trash be one of these Vassal Heroes?" Naofumi asked in shock and anger, he couldn't believe that this damn man was a Vassal Hero, not after how he treated him and his hatred for demi-humans. Then again he had a problem with this world and was a Cardinal Hero, so that didn't mean much.
"I don't know the full story, but it is said that Aultcray fought the previous Staff Hero to the death and became worthy to become the new Staff Hero." explained the Maker.
"What do you mean worthy?" asked Naofumi, "I thought you would need to be summoned to be a hero."
"I don't know how it really works, but the Cardinal Heroes are the only ones summoned to be a hero." Atla informed the Shield Hero, "You see, the only time the people of this world see the Legendary Weapons are when they are summoned with the Cardinal Heroes. People can only summon them and the Cardinal Heroes with special artefacts and only when the Dragon Hourglasses start to run when the Waves of Calamity appear."
"And the Vassal Weapons?" asked Naofumi.
"They are already in this world, waiting for those who the weapons believe are worthy." Atla told Naofumi.
"Are you saying that these weapons, even the Legendary Weapons, are alive?" Naofumi asked the Maker.
"I don't think they are totally alive, but semi-sentient, at least the Vassal Weapons, not sure about the Legendary Weapons." explained Atla, "The Vassal Weapons are in this world all the time and don't need to be summoned nor have anyone being summoned from another world to use them, but the problem is that not just anyone can use them."
"What do you mean?" asked Naofumi.
"When the weapon doesn't have a Wielder and someone finds a Vassal Weapon, many people try to use it. But no one can pick them up, no matter how strong or skilled they might be." Atla informed the Shield Hero, "But there have been stories where someone unskilled or just a basic starting adventure being able to pick one of these weapons or the weapon appearing in front of a person. It's also been said that these weapons can teleport themselves to different locations in the search of those who they believe are worthy to use them. So that's why I think these Vassal Weapons are semi-sentient."
"But what makes a person worthy of these Vassal Weapons?" asked Naofumi.
"That no one can figure out," admitted Atla, "as each person known to be a Vassal Wielder, each has different backgrounds and lifestyles, so no one knows what makes a person worthy of being a Vassal Wielder."
"I see." Naofumi said with a sigh, it wasn't much of a bother to him seeing how he couldn't use them anyway, but he would have liked to know more about them either way just in case he ran into one and maybe have either Raphtalia or Kumiho chosen Vassal Weapon. "So what are these weapons' role in the Waves?"
"They have two roles," Atla told him, "the first is to help the Cardinal Heroes with the Waves. Either fighting against the Waves that the Cardinal Heroes can't get to for one reason or another, the second reason is to help the Cardinal Heroes level up."
"I thought that Heroes couldn't work together?" Naofumi told the Maker, as he remembered the warning that he could when he first got to this world.
"That's for Cardinal Heroes only," explained Atla, "for Vassal Wielders, there can be two Vassal Wielders for each Cardinal Hero. Any more and the three of you will stop gaining EXP. It's the same if three Vassal Wielders worked together, they wouldn't get any EXP unless there's only two of them."
"Well that's useful to know, but the question is where are these Vassal Wielders?" asked Naofumi, "By now the news of the Cardinal Heroes being summoned would have spread far enough that they should know we're here. So why haven't they come?"
"I don't know." admitted Atla, a bit worried about this herself, "There are three reasons I can think of why they haven't arrived yet: the best reason we can hope for is that they are dealing with the Waves in other kingdoms/countries that you heroes aren't fighting. The second best reason is that the Vassal Weapons haven't picked their new owners yet and so no hero. Now the worst option is that something happened to the Star Heroes, they had either been captured or killed. The worst outcome of those two is if they have been captured, at least if they were killed, the weapons can try and find a new owner. But if captured, then that means they are unable to fight in the Waves and help the heroes."
For the first time in his life, he can say that being captured was worse than being killed. Okay, not always, seeing how they could be tortured. But still, the case remained, being captured didn't help him or the other heroes. However, there were two other Vassal Wielders, first the Trash King, "What about the King? If he is a Vassal Wielder, why isn't he helping in the Waves?"
"Hmm, I can only think of two reasons," Atla informed the Shielder, "the first is that until the Queen returns, he can't leave the throne without someone running it. The other is that the Staff sees the King unworthy and so he can't use its powers and so the King doesn't say anything about being a Vassal Wielder."
"If this Staff sees the King unworthy, and it has some sentient as you say these weapons have, why hasn't it sought someone who is worthy?" asked Naofumi.
"I don't know, but it's possible that the Staff could see the potential of the King being worthy again and so stays by his side." explained Atla.
"If you're right about him not being worthy of using the Staff, I highly doubt he'll become worth again." scoffed Naofumi, in his eyes, Aultcray was nothing more but scum, trash, for him to be the Staff Hero in the first place was shocking and that the king lied about being the hero. At least he learned something about these Vassal Weapons, and one unlikely Wielder or as they are known in this world, Star Heroes. Now it was time to learn about this mysterious eighth Vassal Wielder, "So what about this eighth Vassal Wielder, who are they and why doesn't anyone know about the weapon?"
"Will, let's start off with telling you what the Vassal Weapon is first, it's known as the Carriage Vassal and it has been hundreds of years since it has been seen along with its hero, the Vassal Hero of the Carriage." explained Atla, "Next part is somewhat difficult, as I'm not too sure about it, just rumours that were around at the time when our race first came to this world. You see, the person that meant to be the Carriage Hero is a Filolial but not any normal one, but a Filolial Queen by the name of Fitoria."
"A Filolial Queen? What's that?" Naofumi asked confused, "How can Filolials have queens? More importantly, how can one be a Vassal Hero?"
"Well a Filolial Queen, or King depending on their gender, are the next stage of Filolials, they become leaders of their flock." explained Atla, "This is a rare case for them, no one knows how it comes about. I myself have only seen three of them over my time here in this world. They are bigger, fatter and stronger than a normal Filolial - although they do have the ability to transform to look like a normal Filolial, which could explain why no one has seen more of them."
"But how can that make one of them a Vassal Wielder?" asked the Shield Hero.
"Because of their ability to be able to transform into a human," the Maker informed the Shielder, "they normally transform into a young-looking human, although one Filolial King that I met looked like he was in his late teens. So I'm not sure about that." Atla admitted as she thought about the race, "Now this Filolial Queen, Fitoria, became the Vassal Hero of the Carriage hundreds of years before we came to this world. And by the time we got here, there were only rumours of her being around."
"But that was hundreds of years ago, wouldn't she be dead and so if these Vassal Weapons are alive, wouldn't they have found a new owner by now?" Naofumi asked the Maker.
"If that was the case, people would say that there were Eight Star Heroes, not seven." Atla pointed out, "Not if she was still alive."
"How would that be possible?" asked the Shielder, "That would make her over a thousand years old."
"To be honest I don't know," admitted Atla, "it could be because she is a Filolial Queen. Some believe that the Filolial who becomes a Filolial Queen or King, live longer than normal Filolial. For me, that might be true, but to live to the age of a thousand, I think she gained some sort of skill or item that allowed her to live so long. It would explain the rumours about seeing a huge Filolial during the Waves."
"What rumours are these?" asked Naofumi, wanting to learn more about this Fitoria.
"Just that there was a huge Filolial fighting the Waves when the Cardinal Heroes couldn't for whatever reason, not only that but she was super powerful and could take on most bosses on her own." explained the Maker, "Sadly though they are just rumours, as anyone who knew about her was either killed during the Waves or disappeared somehow before anyone could learn more about her. Most people don't believe she existed at all. Whilst I never meet her myself, I know that she exists, thanks to meeting two Filolial Queens and one King who meet her once themselves."
"If she is real and so powerful, why are the Cardinal Heroes even needed?" asked Naofumi. By the sounds of things, this Filolial Queen could handle the Waves on her own, no need for him and the other Cardinal Heroes.
"Two reasons, the first is that no one believes she is real, she hides, never letting anyone find her to prove she is real. So no one could ask her for help." explained Atla, "The other is that there are loads of Waves all over the place, she alone couldn't deal with the Wave by herself, the Cardinal Heroes need to deal with the Waves themselves. I'm surprised that you and the other heroes haven't left this kingdom to help with the rest of the Waves."
Thinking about it, if more than one Wave happens at the same time, it would be near impossible for her to deal with all of the Waves on her own. So in that case he would let it go for now, but still, there was something in the back of his mind that this Fitoria character was going to be a problem for him. He had no idea why he felt like this, but he knew that he had to be careful of her and be as strong as possible just in case he met her.
As for leaving the kingdom, he went on to explain, "I don't know about the other three fools called heroes, but I would like nothing more but to leave this damn kingdom, but do you think they would just let me leave?" Naofumi asked darkly, "I don't think so, unless I get stronger, I wouldn't put it past them to try and kill me." Naofumi didn't know why, but he felt as if someone walked over his grave when he said this. He felt as if they did indeed kill him and he was brought back to life again and again. "Not only that, as there are certain shields I need to get first, ones that I dreamt about. I can't tell you why, but these shields are important to me surviving for the next few months in this world. So until I get them, I'm not leaving this kingdom."
"Well, I'll admit that there would be a few who try to kill you if you're not strong, so getting stronger would be wise." admitted Atla, seeing how the three church were one such group, she went on to ask, "But about these shields you're looking for, can't you just find them in another kingdom? Why wait around once you're strong enough to search for them? Can't you search for them elsewhere?"
"I wish I could, but from the feelings I get from my dreams, I can only get these shields here. So I'm suspect that I can only get them from the Waves here." Naofumi reasoned with the Maker, "But if you can guarantee that I can face the same Waves in this kingdom in another one, then I'm more than happy to leave this kingdom."
Atla sighed at this as she said, "I wish I could guarantee you that, but from what I can gather, no Wave is the same as another. But are you sure that these Waves are that important that you would risk everything staying here?"
"Do you really think I would stay here if I didn't think that they weren't important?" Naofumi asked with a snot, "If they weren't important, I would be living as soon as we were at least level forty."
"I understand," Atla said with a bow of her head, "I do have a warning though. If Fitoria really is real and you ever meet her, you should be careful around her."
"Why is that?" asked Naofumi.
"If the rumours are true, Fitoria kills all Cardinal Heroes that don't get along." explained the Maker, "So it's possible that with you heroes not getting along at the moment, she might kill you and the other heroes so that other heroes could be summoned. Heroes that could get along with each other."
"What? Does she really think that would work?" Naofumi asked in shock, unable to believe that Fitoria would think that this would work. "Seeing how this kingdom treats me because I'm the Shield Hero, I highly doubt that it was all that different hundred of years ago, so I don't think that killing the heroes would make much difference. In fact, killing the heroes because they didn't like each other would make much of a difference. I say, as long as they work to get rid of the Waves, it shouldn't matter if they like each other or not. Like me, I don't like the damn others, but I'm willing to do what is needed to defeat the Waves, so that I can go home. I bet it was the same for the past heroes too."
"It's true, the Shield Hero has always had a rough time of it, because people believed that they are the weakest and useless of the Four Cardinal Heroes." admitted Atla with a sigh, "And whilst most of the time they don't get along with each other, they did have a common goal in defeating the Waves. So they dealt with the Waves in their own way and helped each other if they had to. But the problem from what I have learned is that there has been a time where even if they had the same goal to deal with the Waves, the Four Heroes couldn't work together at which point if the rumours are true Fitoria killed them so that new heroes could be summoned. In fact, whilst no one knows about it now, for whatever reason, the last Wave before our world came to this one, if the story is true, they had to summon the heroes four different times because Fitoria killed them as they couldn't get along."
Naofumi actually facepalmed at this, he couldn't believe that Fitoria would actually kill the heroes because they couldn't get along. He could understand it if they weren't doing their part in defeating the Waves, but because they couldn't work together with the other Heroes. How stupid is that? You didn't have to like or work with the other heroes, as long as they did their part in defeating the Waves.
"Is she stupid or something?" Naofumi asked in disbelief, "just killing the heroes because they don't get along is stupid, killing the heroes would mean the risk of this world being destroyed."
"That's why the Guardian Beasts are for," explained the Maker, "they are here to push back the Waves if the Heroes couldn't for whatever reason, but at the cost of two thirds the world's population. It's why the last Cardinal Heroes seals the Guardian Beasts, in the hopes that future Cardinal Heroes would be forced not to use them and defend the people instead of the world."
"You got to be fucking kidding me?" Naofumi asked in shock, unable to believe how foolish these heroes were. "They sealed away the last line of defence because of how many people would be sacrificed to protect the world. Don't get me wrong, I can see why they would do something like that, but unless they had a plan to stop the Waves of Calamity permanently, sealing them was stupid. What if they were needed, what if we and the future Cardinal Heroes weren't able to stop the Wave, we would need these Guardian Beasts. Please tell me that they left a plan for the future Cardinal Heroes to permanently stop these Waves."
Naofumi couldn't believe it, he wasn't sure which was more stupid right now, Fitoria or the previous Cardinal Heroes. Fitoria for killing the heroes for not getting along and so risking the end of this world, or the heroes themselves for sealing this worlds final line of defence all because the final failsafe costs lives.
"Sadly, I don't know if they had a plan or not, just that they didn't want any more deaths because of the Guardian Beasts." Atla explained to the Shield Hero, breaking him out of his thoughts.
"Deaths that could save the world and the remaining people in it if the future Cardinal Heroes were unable to push back the Wave." Naofumi said with a sigh, "Listen, I think I know enough, for now, thinking about the stupidity of Fitoria and the previous Cardinal Heroes is winding me up. I think I'll go and deal with some monsters to get more EXP. Will you be here when I get back?" asked Naofumi, wanting her to help him with learning more about alchemy.
"I'm here for a few more days before I decide what to do next." the Maker informed him.
"In that case, could you help me with my alchemy?" asked the Shielder, "I want to see if I can master any skills before the Wave appears."
"I have no problem with that," Atla said with a smile, "in fact, the Elders asked me to help you, heroes, wherever I can whilst I'm in the area." this was something that Naofumi wasn't sure about, but as long as she didn't force him to work with the fools, he wasn't going to say anything. "They also give me these…" as she said this, she pulled out four cores from a bag next to her.
"What are those cores?" asked Naofumi.
"They are Transformation Cores," explained the female Maker, "they'll allow you to transform into Makers whenever you want."
"Wow." Naofumi said in awe, "Why would your Elders give us these cores? Wouldn't they ruin your balance or something be topping the balance over that you care about?"
"Because like you, the Elders fear the worst for this set of Waves," explained Atla, sounding a bit unsure about the idea, "they fear that if you heroes can't defeat the Waves, with the Guardian Beasts and not knowing how to unseal them, this world could be destroyed."
"But you're against the idea aren't you?" asked Naofumi, catching the sound of doubt in her voice.
"Yes I am," admitted Atla, "I'm afraid that you heroes might misuse the core. These cores are from fallen Makers, seeing how unless we're killed, can live 'til the end of times. We have a few ancients that have that problem, two of which have died in this world since we came to this world. Out of those two souls, we can make many items depending on how many souls we need."
"Are you allowed to tell me this?" asked Naofumi, shocked that she would tell him something important as this. He thought that something as important as this they would keep to themselves, as people might use this information in some form to hurt the Makers.
"A few people already know this, so you knowing about this won't make much of a difference. And should anyone try to find the souls, only the Elders know where they are and the Elders are well protected so that no one can get to them." explained the Maker, "I want you to know the significance of these cores."
"Why though?" asked Naofumi, wondering why she would tell him.
"Because of your thoughts of becoming a demon." explained Atla, "Don't get me wrong, I'll help where I can, but I want you to consider your path real carefully. I've seen alchemists from this world and my own trying to make themselves and others into demons, but more often than not lose themselves to the demonic power and become twisted and evil. I fear that should you go down this path and lose all of your humanity and become determined to destroy those who hurt you, you would become unstoppable because of the Legendary Shield. And with no one able to stop you, you might destroy the world."
Naofumi could understand her fears, he had the same fears too. But with him lacking power, he needed something to catch up with the other heroes, something that could give him the edge in fighting the Waves. If it meant the risk of losing his mind, he would risk it, as he had no plans on dying in this world, not if he could help it. But that was something he would deal with later on, for now, his plans were to become a bandit to get money and power, he would only become a demon as a last resort, that or something pushes him over the edge.
"Did you tell your Elders of your fears?" asked Naofumi, already suspecting her answer, he knew he would have told them just to make them know what was going on and prevent it from happening.
"I did," acknowledge Atla, "but they believed, or more likely hoping, that because of the Legendary Shield, you would keep some of your humanity and don't mind you becoming a demon. In fact, they dealt with demons many times in their long time in living and going to different worlds. They believe that sometimes demons do a better job at ruling a world than humans could. As long as they aren't destroying worlds, races or trying to take over other worlds, they have no problems with demons."
"Thanks for telling me all this," thanked Naofumi, "whilst I would like to promise you that I won't become a demon, I can't, I need every ounce of power I can get to deal with the Waves. So if the time comes to use demons to strengthen myself up, I will. But until that time, I'll only use them for my shields and hope that's enough."
"That's all I can ask for." Atla said with a sigh of relief, "I don't want to worry that a Cardinal Hero could become a demon, who wants to destroy this world."
"That would be foolish of me if I did that," Noafumi informed her, "that would mean I couldn't leave this world, or should I decide to stay here, why would I want to destroy it?"
"True enough, but there are demons who don't think like that." admitted Atla, before deciding that she should move things along, "Listen, Sir Hero, I have to do a few things, so why don't we finish this later after you have done some grinding."
"That's fine with me." Naofumi said as he stood up and left the room where he went to get his slaves and went to gain some EXP.
o0OoO0o
Kingdom of Melromarc, Castle Town, 31st of January 740:
Time to the next Wave: D00 H00 M15
It was the morning of when the next Wave meant to happen and Naofumi and his slaves were waiting for it to happen. For the last day and a half, when Naofumi returned from grinding some EXP, he spent time with Atla learning about alchemy, whilst his slaves were helping with building their new carriage. It was a good thing too, as he finally got two skills because of it: Transmute and Synthesise.
Right now with Transmute, he can only transmute earth right now, but over time he would learn the other three elements and once he mastered them, he could control and use other elements: Ice, Lightning and Acid, just naming a few of them. It would allow him in time to build and create things that some could only dream of and some couldn't.
Now whilst all he could do was use a limited amount of Earth, useless in fights right now, he could use it to create walls and training dummies. Which would help him train himself and his slaves. Next, he was going to learn Water, as combining the two would allow him to use wood, which meant he could create chairs, tables and such, even wooden swords. Which was useful. And should he master Earth, Atla told him that it was possible to create metal. It would be hard, but if he was able to master it, he could create weapons and other useful things.
With all the elements he could master, Naofumi wished he had something to create more time so he could learn all this. But with the need to level up and train to get stronger, he was limited to what he could learn and master. Not only that, but to create better things, he would have to have the basic idea of how they were used and created. So he couldn't just create say a microwave or anything he didn't know how they work fully, as he would just not be able to make it, it would turn out like a mess.
So for now, he was only able to learn the basic elements and master the ones that he believed would be most useful to him. And then he would have to try and learn how things work so he could create better things. All in all, so much to do, so little time to do it all in.
Next was Synthesis, whilst it was a new skill to Naofumi, he considered it a Strengthening Method, as it would help him make sure his shields and his slave's weapons were stronger. By using the ore, core, soul and other items dropped from monsters that he absorbed into his shield, he could change/add the stats and skills of the armours/weapons/item, or change the weapon or armour altogether, be it looks or skills.
This new Strengthening Method was broken down into two categories: Weapon Synthesis and Item Synthesis. From what Atla told him, was something that normally did happen as it was a singaller skill. But Naofumi suspected that this was down to the Shield, making it easier for him to use Synthesis. Atla had to agree that this was possible, seeing how little is known how the Legendary Weapons worked so anything was possible.
The only problem that he had were merchants, as once he used them, they were gone for good. So if he used one lot and decided to remove the use merchant for whatever reason, he couldn't get it back and so he would have to get more to replace it should he decide to do so.
Although he had a lot to learn about Synthesis, which skills would be useful to certain weapons and items, he had already made Raphtalia's and Kumiho's weapons slightly stronger. Sure it wasn't much, but every little bit that can make them stronger made him stronger. So it all helped.
Atla told him the night before that once the Wave was done, she would teach him some basic symbology. The kind from Rune Magic that alchemists can learn, but it would take a few days for Naofumi to learn. Seeing how he couldn't use weapons, any magic he can learn to fight instead he was willing to learn. He had to admit, he wished he could find some sort of Time Distortion skill that allowed him to have more time to learn everything that alchemists could do.
Either way, he was thankful for Atla's help, as he now had some basic skills to use and master and hopefully make him stronger. He was also thankful to the gift that she gave him last night, a Taming Core. It was a useful core, it would allow him to have a small interdimensional world where he could store monsters, where he could summon them when needed.
Whilst Atla advised him not to put the core into his shield unless he wanted people to know he was the Shield Hero, as they had the same problem with the Storage Cores as they can't be requiped with another item like most weapons and item, he did create a new shield out of it: The Taming Shield. This was one shield he wanted people to know he had, he would be known as the hero who used monsters to fight against humans instead of humans. As with slaves and timed monsters, he could trust them more than those who won't. They wouldn't betray him, they would be loyal and trustworthy, who wouldn't stab him in the back the moment that they could.
With the new shield, he gained the skills to tame monsters a bit easier and allowed him to enter the interdimensional dimension, which shouldn't be possible normally. When he entered the dimension with Atla, he found that they were on a small island where there were three goblins and two wolves already inside. It was something that Atla put in there as starter monsters, they were level ones though. Two of the goblins were known as Goblin Riders, they had spears and had the ability to ride mounts, which is why there were two wolves with them. The other goblin was a normal goblin, one that Naofumi could train to become a warrior, mage or archer. At the moment it had a basic sword and shield to fight with.
It was a shame that they were level one, as they could be useful in the upcoming Wave. But in the future Waves, once he levelled them up, he would use them. This way, he would have a small army to deal with the Waves and don't have to worry about needing other people who could betray him. In fact, apart from getting a Filolial or two, he was planning to get a new slave to help with the levelling up and fight the future Waves, seeing how they meant to get hard he would need more people/monsters to help him. So getting these monsters now were helpful.
Especially when he couldn't get any help from the adventurers around town.
As when he wasn't with Atla, he asked around the town if any of them could help him. As he knew he might need some help during the Wave. He wasn't looking forward to having them helping him, in case they betrayed him, but until he could get slaves or those he could trust to help him, he would need people to help him to deal with the Waves so he could survive this damn thing. But thanks to Atla, he wouldn't have to worry about this now, he could now use monsters in the Waves to do the fighting.
From learning from the help menu, he would be able to level up the shield and make the interdimensional dimension bigger and alter it to fit his needs to keep his monsters happy. As happy monsters would be easier to tame and control.
Either way, it was the day of the Wave and Naofumi, Raphtalia and Kumiho were in the turn, waiting for it to hit. They had about fifteen minutes before it happened.
Everyone in town knew this and was ready for it. The knights and adventurers were prepared for battle, whilst the citizens were locked up in their houses, in fear that the Wave would hit the town.
As for him and his slaves, they were as ready as they could be. They had new weapons ready to use, he was using his Light Metal Shield, as it had the highest base defence rating so far. They had potions and healing/mana stones that they might need. All they had to do was wait for the Wave to hit.
As he was waiting, he thought back to one of his recent shields that he got, one that he didn't take much notice of until now: The Fertility Shield. It had been almost two weeks since he got it, but until now he didn't look what it could do
The Fertility Shield
Equip Bonus:
Land Embodiment (weak) (unmastered)
Earth Skills Up (weak) (unmastered)
Sexual Stamina Up (small) (unmastered)
MP Up (small) (unmastered)
MP Recovery (small) (unmastered)
Special Ability:
Fertility Control
As Naofumi looked at these skills, Naofumi found them interesting, the Land Embodiment skill gave him limited control of the terrain around him. This could be useful to hide himself during the nights when sleeping, or when designing the areas in his interdimensional dimension altering the island to fit his needs to keep his monsters happy.
As for the Earth Skills Up, it meant to help with any Earth skills that he had, to make them better. Naofumi was grateful for this, as he hoped that once he mastered this ability, it would help with mastering the Transmute Earth Skill. If this worked out, he didn't have to spend as much time to master Earth for his Transmute skill. Only time will tell.
Now as for Sexual Stamina Up, Naofumi didn't think he would need more, it already took him a long enough time for his cock to go down already. He can go for hours before going soft and needing rest, he didn't need it to last longer. This was one skill he didn't want but got anyhow. He just hopes that he didn't get another Sexual Stamina Up any time soon, or it would take forever for his sexual needs to go down once he starts.
As for MP Up and MP Recovery, he was glad to finally get another shield that gave him more mana and an option to regenerate MP. He had been hoping to get one another one sooner or later, just glad it was sooner than later.
As for the Special Ability that the shield had, Fertility Control, this allowed him to control if those he had sex with would have his child or not. This was a somewhat useless ability for him, seeing how his two slaves had Sex Slave Mark's on them, which prevented them having his child unless he wanted them to. But still, could be useful should he fuck someone without the mark.
"Master Naofumi, do you mind if we talk for a minute?" asked Raphtalia, knocking him out of his thoughts, with a few more minutes before the Wave starts.
"Sure, whatever. What's up?" said Naofumi, wanting to make sure that she was ready for what was to come. He couldn't have someone who wasn't ready to join him and Kumiho, if he did, they might end up dead.
"It's just that... thinking of the wave and all that, it makes me feel emotional."
What was she getting at? Is she afraid of death or something? Of course, he would be in trouble if she or Kumiho died, so he had to protect them. This wasn't a game like the other heroes thought it was, it was real, where people got hurt and killed so he couldn't let that happen to his slaves without a fight that is.
Thinking about the other heroes made him a bit angry, thanks to the king favouring them and the town siding with them, they had the money to get better equipment. Don't get him wrong, Naofumi knew that at the moment, he had the best equipment that he could buy, but he was worried that it wasn't good enough. That they would get hurt if they weren't careful.
If they got out of it with just a few injuries, he supposed that was something to be grateful for. But they could end up dead.
If they did, he wouldn't be surprised if people of this world would look at their bodies and think: "They got what they deserved."
'I needed to stop thinking about it.' Naofumi shook his head, as he forced himself to stop thinking about such things right now. He had to concentrate on the fight at hand, to fight to stay alive for another month.
"We talked about it before, remember? What happened to me before you bought me?" Raphtalia asked her master.
"I do." acknowledged Naofumi, if he ever met her last master that hurt her so badly and killed her friend, well, just say he wouldn't be of this world for much longer. Sure he might not be the nicest of people as he used to be, but even he had standards. He wouldn't hurt his slaves for no good reason. He had to admit that Raphtalia had a hell of a time in this world. If it wasn't for him finding her when he did, she would be dead for sure.
"I'm... I feel really lucky to have met you, Master Naofumi." Raphtalia said with a bow
"... Okay." wasn't sure what to say to that.
"Because you taught me how to live and to be strong." continued Raphtalia.
"... Okay." Naofumi was tolerating her speech, thinking of it, halfway at least, as a job.
Because he didn't care. All he cared about was staying alive. It was Raphtalia and Kumiho's job to help him with that.
"And you gave me a chance, a chance to face the wave. To be the strongest Battle Slave." said the demi-human. She knew her role in this world and that there was nothing to do about it, all she could do was to become the best slave that she could so that she could protect her master and those close to him.
"... Okay."
"So I'll do all I can, for you. I am your sword, and I will stay by your side no matter what." Raphtalia said with conviction, "I'll walk into hell with you if I have to, help you become the best Demon Lord if that's what you want. Because of you, I'm stronger than I ever would ever dream of and because of that, I'll be whatever you want, be it your sword or bed warmer." Here she went red at the thought of what they had done so far in bed and couldn't wait to do more.
"Okay... Do your best." Naofumi told her. He knew how rude he was being. But, at the moment, it was all he was capable of.
Looking at the timer, he realized that there was a minute left before the Wave hit them. He braced himself and prepared to be transported.
5…
4…
Naofumi saw all around him how scared these people were, how the other heroes, guards and adventurers had braced themselves for what is to come.
3…
2…
People had become tense, realizing that in two seconds the Wave would be upon them and they didn't know where it was going to hit. They more than likely hoped that it wasn't in or around the town.
1…
0…
BOOM!
An enormous sound echoed through the land.
The next set of Waves had begun!
To Be Continued!
Author's Note - PLEASE READ 'TILL THE END: Here ends another chapter, I hope that you enjoyed the chapter and could leave some feedback on what you think of it. So you know this chapter was unplanned, as I was planning to have this chapter to be all about fighting the Wave, but the last chapter took a life of its own and so had to break the Final Preparations chapter into two.
Before I continue, I would like your thoughts, do you think I should have Quest Window pop up for Naofumi? Raven, the person who has been helping me, says it wouldn't be right, seeing how when the four heroes are working close together in the Waves, they wouldn't get EXP and so this would be unfair. Seeing how Naofumi would get something whilst the others wouldn't, so I would like to hear your thoughts…
Do you think that I have Atla knowing too much about Fitoria and the Filolial Queens/Kings? Raven thinks that I give Naofumi too much information about Fitoria, but seeing that there would be one more Wave before we meet Fitoria, I want Naofumi to know about her before meeting her and wouldn't know how to make it so that Naofumi learns about her before meeting her.
I thought that Atla would be ideal, she is over eight hundred years old in this version, and she has been in this world for around eight hundred years. So seeing how she and Ulthane could be considered as infants, they would be outgoing and wanting to learn things that caught their interest, so for Atla, the Filolial Queens/Kings and alchemy, and Ulthane blacksmithing. So would learn things over the years.
Now as you see, I added at least three other Filolial Queens/King, I did this as the Slave Trader mentioned he knew a bit about them. But if there was only one Filolial Queen and she kept to herself, how would the Slave Trader know about this. For this reason, I added three other Filolial Queens/King and explained why people hadn't seen more.
I had a few people saying that I have raped a child, Raphtalia, but I would like to clear a few things up about that. Yes there was rape in chapter seventeen, but it wasn't Raphtalia who got raped but Kumiho who's around sixteen, so not a child. I don't know why people thought she was a child. Yes, there was a sex scene with Raphtalia, but that was shorter and less detailed than the rape scene. I did this because of her age, and I knew that some people would be on my back if I put too much. Not only that, but it was consensual with Raphtalia. In fact, Raphtalia and Kumiho started the sex with Naofumi after the rape, not Naofumi. Sure he could have tried and stopped it, but he wasn't thinking straight at the time.
Now the rape and sex were down to Kumiho, the rape was where a plan went horribly wrong, where Naofumi thought he was in a dream where he would pay Bitch by raping her. If he knew it was Kumiho and not a dream, he wouldn't have done it. So he isn't deprived that he would rape his slaves, as I said, if he knew that what was going on wasn't a dream, he wouldn't have done it.
Now as to the Guest review who thinks that Naofumi raped Raphtalia in kid form, which if you read above HE DID NOT DO, you're right, right now has little reason to be evil and right now he isn't. He is just a bit darker than in the light novel and anime. (Before you mention the rape of Kumiho: I'll repeat that the rape was from a plan that went out of control and if he knew he wasn't dreaming, he wouldn't have done it.) The outcome of the upcoming duel and things that are coming, defeating demons and making them into shields, will be what makes him evil. At first, he'll gain the demon shields to gain power, to become stronger, but slowly these shields will change him into a demon lord. Not only that, but he has a bit more darker personality than in anime and LN, so his actions would be different too.
As for Naofumi being impulsive, are you reading the same story as the rest of us? He has planned things out, and when dealing with the heroes he tries to keep things calm and walks away from fights when he can. As for when dealing with those who treat him badly, he doesn't hurt them, but at the same time doesn't help them either unless paid or they got what he wants. All in all, Naofumi is dealing the best that he can with the information he got, reacting to the situations that are being thrown at him, the best way that'll keep him alive. If you think he is impulsive, please tell me how.
Now seeing how I'll be finishing part one of this story in two or three chapters from now, I want to let you know what I have planned next. After this, I'll be doing at least one chapter on the side-story of Shield Demon, where I'll be writing about Melty, to explain how she came to meet the Shield Hero. Yes, it's a bit early to do so, but I wanted to do her part for a while even if she isn't in the story yet. It'll just set the meeting up, it is to show how and why she meets the Shield Hero.
Not only that, but I'm hoping to write in a bit about the Queen, just like how I wrote some information about the king in the first chapter of the side-story. But instead of finding the information from Lilith, we'll be finding out about the Queen from her daughter. So it should be a bit different, or that is my hope. So if there's anything you would like me to add about the queen, please let me know.
Now once I'm done with Melty's part of the story, I'm planning to go back to one of my old stories, Magical Fallout, and do a few chapters on that. Been reading some post-apocalyptic manga recently that got my muse wanting to work on my own post-apocalyptic for a while now. So going to be working on that next.
Once I'm done with Magical Fallout, and maybe a few other stories, I'm going to go back to this story and the side-story to do some edits to add in some new information that I found out about the Waves. As I recently learned that Gods weren't behind the Waves, but they are a natural phenomenon occurring extremely frequently due to the manipulation of an ancient, all-powerful World Eater (which Noafumi named it) - a self-proclaimed God. There are a few other things that I have learned, so I'll be reading on the LN before I do more.
Because this is fanfiction, I can do what I want, but with the new information that I found out, I have a few new ideas for this story so will be needing to edit a few things here and there about the Waves. So I'll be keeping some ideas whilst changing others. I'll let you know what I have changed in part two, one change I can tell you well be the date. As I made the date surrounding when the Darksiders world came to this one.