Before we get started today, I'm gonna go over some things that you guys have commented on. First of which, Naofumi's attitude in the last chapter was intentional. He had just gotten out of the "trial" over his rape accusation and, barring later points in his career as the shield hero, was at his most hateful and enraged here. When he's angry at everything on top of the paranoia that comes from thinking everyone is out to backstab him, he's definitely not going to be thinking straight and that includes lashing out at Chazon for not being there for him as a friend, regardless of what Chazon said he was doing.

Secondly, Chazon not unlocking any spears was also deliberate. When he followed Naofumi's lead and tried to pick up a sword, he figured the "Legendary Weapon rule violation" would apply to EVERY weapon, including spears. That's why (in my honest opinion) neither hero knows about the Weapon Copying system. Plus, Naofumi already had innate knowledge on absorbing materials for new weapons (in his case, shields) while Chazon didn't since he wasn't aware of The Rising of the Shield Hero series in his world of origin and hadn't played anything that would make him think to do so.

With those being said, enjoy!

Chazon woke up feeling the most rested he's ever been. The past few nights have been hard on him from all of the heartache he's put himself through, but this last night had been fairly blissful for him.

Maybe I'm becoming more of a morning person now. God knows I need to be one if I'm to make the most of my days before the wave arrives.

He headed out the tent feeling a bit upbeat, only for all of his hair to start standing on end. While it was fairly warm temperature wise, an unnatural chill fell in the area and there were very few noises being emitted in the forest. It almost felt like time stood still.

Chazon became afraid that it was a bad omen; the moment the forest stopped sounding alive was when something bad was going to happen. Animals always had a sixth sense for danger, meaning it was always better if there was lots of activity going on.

Packing up and quickly eating one of his rations instead of cooking breakfast, he knew he had to leave fast for a more active part of the forest. Not just for exp grinding purposes, but to remove the feeling of dread that had begun seeping into his heart. With everything needed shoved into his active inventory, he quickly set out.

After some walking, while the forest was still silent, the feeling of dread slowly left Chazon. Despite that, he kept his spear drawn out of paranoia, knowing that it could just be a false sense of security. In his old world, there were plenty of dangerous predators that could move quietly, and his father always told him to never let his guard down while hunting.

It wasn't long before the feeling of dread returned… with reinforcements.

Chazon saw what looked like tracks ahead. Even in this new world, he was no stranger to using tracks to hunt down monsters for exp and materials. As he approached, however, he realized that these were unlike any he has seen up to this point.

Dire Wolf tracks were small and numerous, Murderous Crows left behind feathers from taking flight, and Treant tracks were very unique and easy to identify.

These prints were massive like Treant tracks, but were very clearly from a more animalistic monster. Chazon could identify 6 toes on each print, each bearing its own claw, and there was a trail of red to the side that had stopped at a certain point.

Blood…

He dipped his armored finger into the tracks and found that it was still somewhat muddy, allowing him to easily scoop some up. He took a whiff of it, and his entire body grew cold in that very instant.

The tracks were fresh… very fresh…

It didn't smell like mud at all. It clearly had an odor of sweat and… blood.

Whatever made these tracks… made them recently…

Erhard gave Chazon a hard look. "You're almost level 5 right now, yet some of these creatures average level 10 with some being even higher, so you'll need to be extra careful. In addition, I've heard that a powerful monster has been seen wandering some of these forests that's at LEAST level 15, so stay as far away from it as you can; it's killed a few parties of adventurers already. If you see it, just run."

He heard a sound and immediately whipped around, spear pointing at whatever made the noise, only to see an abnormally small wolf behind him. He lowered his spear a bit when he saw it was only level 5… only to lower it completely when he heard the wolf whine, its tail tucked between its legs.

It was scared.

The wolf quickly approached once the spear was lowered, not to attack but seemingly to seek comfort. It was when Chazon was petting it that he noticed that something was around the wolf's neck.

He didn't get a chance to take a closer look when a horrible chill ran down the entire length of his spine, similar to what he felt during that one time while hunting in Canada. He looked over at where he felt like he was being stared at.

There, standing on its four six-clawed paws, was a giant bear. Its fur was matted and feral looking, the claws looked incredibly savage, and the teeth that could be seen were sharp and uneven… and tainted with red.

And above all else was its single, unblinking eye that looked at Chazon with a mixture of hunger and contempt. It got up on its hind legs and let out the most savage roar he has ever heard as a purple arrow appeared over its head.

Cyclops Mauler

Level 16

DANGER!

DANGER!

DANGER!

The Mauler got back on all fours and started running at Chazon. He immediately turned tail and ran as fast as his legs could carry him, with the wolf following suit. He was only level 7, a whole 9 levels weaker than the monster that was giving chase. He knew he stood no chance in hell of beating it; he didn't need his status magic blaring alarms at him for that much.

However, he also knew that he couldn't run forever. The common joke with bears back in his world was that you didn't need to be faster than the bear, just the person running beside you. He always shot them down because he had to deal with a grizzly bear chasing him at one point, which traumatized him. They are fast for their size; they WILL run you down if given the chance.

He knew the Mauler would outrun him, that it will eventually catch up to bite or swipe his head clean off. As such, his eyes quickly darted around for an escape route while he ran; the escape route that saved his life from the grizzly bear.

A sturdy, yet tall tree, which Chazon found. Realizing that the wolf that came to him and was now running beside him must have had friendly interactions with humans before, he quickly scooped the animal up despite its yelps of protest, slung it around his neck, and started climbing the tree he picked out.

His heart was pounding out of his chest from the mix of fear and adrenaline as he struggled against the weight of both his armor and the wolf on his neck as he tried to climb fast. Half-way up the tree, he heard the Mauler roar again signaling its fast approach.

Come on, Attack stat, I need you now more than ever! With one final surge of strength, he managed to perch on a sturdy tree branch that was well out of the Mauler's reach. The monster tried to swipe at him, clearly showing that it had bad depth perception if it couldn't tell he was too far away, before resting on all four claws and growling up at the spear hero.

Now I just need to make sure it doesn't try to climb up after us and we should be golden. If the Mauler shared some of the same attributes as bears back home, then it relied on its nose and ears more than its eyes, or eye in the Cyclops Mauler's case.

That nose was also its weakness; if a bear tries climbing up after you, hit it in the snout to dissuade it from climbing any further. When the Mauler started climbing up, Chazon did exactly that. After the first kick, it roared at him and kept climbing. Chazon kicked a second time and decided to use his spear if it kept going after that.

Thankfully, two kicks were all it took to dissuade the monster from climbing up any further. It slunk back down to the ground, growled up at the human and wolf perched on the tree, and began leaving the area.

Chazon breathed a sigh of relief over the fact that he was safe for the time being, but decided to stay in the tree for a while longer. He allowed the wolf around his neck to perch herself on the branch. He discovered her gender when she brushed her privates against his head by accident.

After the wolf had settled down outside of the occasional whine, Chazon started petting her as he looked at what was around her neck. What he found surprised him. "You have a collar on you, complete with a tag!" He was able to grab the tag and turned it to read.

Error:

Failed to read

Figures as much. This world has an entirely different alphabet than mine and while it shares some passing resemblances with english, it seems my Legendary Weapon can only do so much for me. Shaking his head, he pet the wolf again, which caused her to start wagging her tail. "Sorry girl. I wish I could tell who your owners were, but I can't read."

She let out another whine but stayed put anyways, leading Chazon to conclude that she was remarkably well trained. I wonder if that's how my ancestors created the domesticated dog. Finding wolves that were more passive and friendly and breeding them for those traits.

After an hour had passed, Chazon decided to risk climbing down the tree with the wolf in tow. After the both had touched the ground, she immediately darted a distance, only to look back at him with a whine. "Do you want me to follow you, girl?" She looked back in the direction she was heading and let out a few more whines, which led to him following her through the forest.

Along the way, they encountered the standard fare of monsters that were absent while the Mauler was present. It was clear that even the Treants feared the beast even though they offered little in sustenance. While it was awkward to kill Dire Wolves while his guide was a wolf herself, it didn't seem to bother her though she did stay a good distance from any fights that were started. What is this, an escort mission?

The one upside is that he was able to quickly reach level 8 due to most of the monsters being encountered were level 10 Treants. He has fought a few monsters above the level 10 average, but they seemed to be few and far between, presumably either deeper in the forest… or already killed by the Mauler.

Chazon legitimately felt like he was in a Monster Hunter-style horror movie leading up to the Mauler's reveal. Another thing was that remembering Erhard's words reminded him of Metroid Fusion and Adam telling Samus to "just run" if she encountered the SA-X.

I'm not sticking around here any longer than I need to. The moment I find out what this wolf wants to show me, I'm getting the hell out of dodge.

His wolf guide let out a whine, which brought him out of his thoughts. When he looked ahead, he stopped dead in his tracks and did his best to force down the urge to vomit on the spot.

Laying on the ground in front of him was… what could barely qualify as a body of a human. the stomach and chest were brutally dismantled, his limbs were scattered around, and blood was everywhere. The head, male judging from the facial hair, had a look of pure terror plastered onto what was left of it.

Did the Mauler do this? This is just pure cruelty at play here!

The wolf nosed the intact half of the head with a few whines before letting out a few low, mournful howls. All of Chazon's nausea was instantly replaced with pure sorrow. "Your owner… you wanted to show me your owner, girl?"

A thought struck him, one that drove his sorrow even further home. He probably had family… a wife… children…

Adventuring sounds like fun and games on paper, but it's things like this that prove that it's not a game. It's a dangerous job, one without any guarantee of pay and could either kill you or leave you crippled for life. Many people become adventurers seeking treasure and glory. Most don't make it back home alive.

He noticed something glinting where the head was still attached to what remained of the body. He grabbed and pulled it off, revealing it to be a tag. An adventurer's name tag, according to his status magic. He clenched it, untold waves of emotions flooding through him at that very moment as he closed the remaining eye of the fallen adventurer and prayed.

Chazon wasn't a religious person, even back in his old world. He shared his parents' disdain for religious people who have the "holier than thou" attitude and was convinced that religion does more bad than good. But even he has standards for how much he dislikes something; praying for a deceased soul was something he was fully willing to do.

After praying, he beckoned the wolf over to compare the tags. One set of words on both tags matched up, meaning that set was the man's name. "Come on, girl. Let's get you back home." After one more look at the desecrated body, he began making his way towards the forest exit using his map with the wolf in tow.

After some time walking, the same chill he felt earlier settled over his body. He looked around and saw what it was: the Cyclops Mauler was once again a good distance away from him, eyeing him with the same look of hunger and contempt from before.

Chazon looked between the tag that was still in his hand and the Mauler until he started clenching the tag. No sorrow remained in his heart and fear had vacated. Not even despair held any sway over him.

He looked at the Mauler with his fist clenched tight, nothing but hate in his gaze. "You think it's funny to just waltz over to a place like this just to kill any adventurer who just wanted to get their feet wet?" The wolf whimpered and backed off from Chazon; his voice held nothing but pure malice.

The bear got back up on its hind legs and roared at Chazon, clearly deaf to the spear hero's murderous intent. The roar didn't instill fear into him, but rather fed the hate that had begun festering in his heart.

He hated this monster for killing so many innocent travelers.

He hated this world for its untold levels of cruelty shown both by its people and by its creatures.

He hated how powerless he was when he was supposed to be a hero.

Putting the tag away as the bear got back on all fours and started rushing at him, he gripped his spear. "No more running… no more games… I'll end you right here so that none will die undeservingly ever again!" With that battle cry, he rushed at the Cyclops Mauler.

Chazon quickly stopped in front of the Mauler and noted that it had raised one paw to swipe at him. He quickly dashed in the opposite direction, making sure to slash the monster's side on the way by. It tried to stop in its tracks, but the spear hero had quickly turned around and managed to stab it in the back with all his might.

The attack drew blood but he couldn't get the blade any deeper, presumably because he was only half the monster's level. He did see that he was doing damage to the Mauler's HP, meaning that he can still kill it in a battle of attrition. The main issue was not getting hit.

The Mauler roared in pain and quickly turned around with a sweeping swipe. Chazon managed to roll out of the way before engaging the monster head-on, but using the spear's reach and the creature's lack of depth perception to keep himself out of harm's way. Every time the Mauler went in for a swipe it was either dodged or counter-attacked via a slash to the forelimb that attempted the sweep.

His luck wouldn't hold out for much longer. After a few more side-swipes and even a hard thrust into the monster's side, he wasn't able to move out of the way for an attack he didn't see coming. The Mauler managed to fake the Hero out by lifting one paw, only to drop it and swipe with the other, which had caught Chazon mid dash.

Thanks to his plate armor, the damage wasn't as bad as it could have been, but there was still an immense amount of pain from his side. Unfortunately, the monster capitalized on Chazon's stunned stillness by landing a much harder strike. The armor once again mitigated the brunt of the blow, but there was so much force behind the strike that it sent Chazon flying to the side.

Shitshitshit, give a monster an inch and they take a fricking mile! He rolled out of the way of another strike, this one aimed for his head, before downing an HP potion to reduce the pain in his ribs. His chest-plate was twisted in the sides from the prior strikes, but still offered some protection from a head-on attack.

Chazon went with a new strategy; instead of dodging to the sides or back-stepping, he'd slide under the strikes to get a few quick thrusts into the Mauler's side and underarm. Due to how the bear needs to angle its strikes downward, it couldn't reach the hero in time to hit him.

The monster did another fake-out with its swipes, but instead of attempting to swipe after a faked out one, it actually rushed at Chazon in an attempt to bite him with its cruel-looking fangs. While he did get out of the way of the fangs, he wasn't prepared for the force of its body slamming into him.

The mauler wasn't moving very fast, so it didn't do much damage, but it did what it needed to: disorient Chazon enough for the Mauler to line up another strike, this time doing a rising strike rather than all of the downward ones it has been using. Chazon attempted to dodge it, but horribly underestimated how long the claws were.

The claws dug their tips into the side of his face and gave him three bleeding wounds on his cheek, which made the spear hero go down with a loud cry of pain.

The pain is… unbearable… almost like I have lung cancer again, only it's screaming in my face.

Chazon feebly tried to scoot away from the Mauler to give himself some breathing room. Noting a nearby tree, he managed to roll right up next to it, causing the Mauler's claw to get stuck in the bark and giving the hero enough time to down another HP potion.

He got back up, hate slowly giving way to pure determination. The determination to keep fighting and avenge; to win in the face of impossible odds. He had made his ultimatum.

He wasn't backing down

Naofumi and Raphtalia were in the forest outskirts gathering ingredients for Naofumi to blend into more medicine for Raphtalia's sickness. Erhard told them that it was a good spot for medicinal plants due to the forest having more diversity than the plains.

They were expecting some tougher fights once they approached the forest, but it was eerily silent with a distinct lack of monsters to fight. Naofumi chose to keep going into the forest despite the demi-human's protests that it could be more dangerous than initially thought. She still wasn't used to fighting monsters that bled.

"M-master, I hear something going on in the distance…" Raphtalia's ears twitched with the sounds of conflict, though she couldn't tell who or what was in the battle.

Naofumi simply scoffed. "Probably one of the other heroes or some random adventurers killing monsters. Nothing to concern ourselves with." he responded in a dry tone.

Raphtalia looked in the direction the sounds were coming from with a concerned look before Naofumi ordered her to pay attention to their immediate surroundings. After he gathered enough herbs for the day, he planned to sleep one night inside Castle Town before returning to Erhard for a new weapon for Raphtalia and a suggestion for where to go next.

Raphtalia said nothing as she stood guard while her master gathered using his Leaf Shield. However, she heard something that made her flinch in horror and brought back all-too painful memories for herself. Even Naofumi heard it and, for the first time since the rape accusation, he felt concern for someone other than his companion.

It was a cry of pain.

Isn't that… Chazon…?

"Master? W-what should we do?" Raphtalia was panicking now. She was afraid that the Shield Hero would leave someone to die fighting against something that was potentially out of their league.

"... Let's get going." Naofumi grabbed the last herb in the immediate area and walked towards the direction the sound came from, much to his companion's surprise. He actually did feel a bit guilty for unloading onto Chazon on the day of his rape accusation. While the Spear Hero certainly wasn't there for his friend like he should have been, Naofumi had treated it like the whole thing was his fault, which was unfair to him.

He didn't know that bitch was two-faced when he let her join me.

There was another reason for his slight amount of guilt, but he pushed those thoughts down for now. Especially when he heard a loud clang, causing him to run towards the sound only to stop as he beheld the scene in the clearing.

Chazon's armor was bent, broken, and tattered in various places as he was panting from how much he was fighting. There were various bloodstains across his armor and one of the marks on his face looked like it was still bleeding. Yet despite all of it, the spear hero had a look of determination, like he wasn't going to back down.

Across from him was a rather savage looking bear monster, sporting many wounds of its own, but still full of fight. Naofumi's status magic identified it as a Cyclops Mauler and its level was-

LEVEL 16?! Chazon's only level 8, yet he's fighting what is basically an elite monster that underleveled… and without a party to boot…

He was kicked out of his thoughts when Chazon shocked him by changing his stance. He was initially wielding the legendary spear like you would think to: both hands on the shaft with the tip pointing forward.

He suddenly spun the spear and held it in a new way: behind him with only one hand on the shaft. What is that idiot doing?!

Naofumi felt Raphtalia pull on his cloak and looked down at her. "S-shouldn't we try to help him?"

He was about to answer when the both of them heard Chazon speak. "Sorry, but I'm not dying to you just yet. Nobody else is going to die to you, I'll guarantee it if it's the last thing I do!"

Naofumi realized something with horror. He doesn't know what happens if a hero dies! Yet there was something holding him back. Even from how limited his interactions with him have been he has never seen Chazon, the hero with the most self-confidence issues, with such a determined look. A look that made Naofumi want to hang back and let the Spear Hero prove himself.

"M-master?"

"Quiet! This is his fight. Besides, we don't get any good exp rewards if I join in anyways and I don't want you anywhere near that thing." That made Raphtalia whimper, but she followed her master in backing away from the scene.

Chazon wasn't dumb in regards to how his two spear stances worked. His first one emphasized strong strikes in exchange for little versatility when it comes to movement options. He made due with what he had, but it became clear that he wasn't beating the Mauler at its own game.

That's why his stance changed. Wielding the spear as he was now emphasized mobility, combo potential, and fast strikes in exchange for striking power. He wanted the mobility above all else since that was the main reason he was getting banged up in the first place; he wasn't capable of dodging as efficiently.

In essence, one stance emphasized his attack, the other emphasized his agility even with heavier armor weighing him down.

Before, he was barely able to dodge out of the way of the strikes the Mauler was making. Now he started dancing around all of the strikes with better ease, quickly darting in and out of range to do some quick stabs and slashes, and never letting the monster have time to breath.

The Mauler decided to try and change this up by swiping from both sides in an attempt to make Chazon disengage. However, he did something nobody in his audience was expecting: using his spear to pole vault over BOTH arms and even over the fangs of the monster.

He quickly grabbed onto the monster's back hairs and began slashing away, doing what he can to chip down the monster's HP. Despite using what is, for all intents and purposes, a level 1 Refined weapon, he was doing damage. Slowly but surely.

The Mauler roared in frustration before attempting to fling the pest on its back off. Chazon landed with a bit of unsteadiness, but was ready for the next attack as he reengaged. He even ran up and jumped off trees to gain height advantages and mounting opportunities.

Eventually, the Mauler decided to do a desperation attack by rearing back and putting all of its weight into a single, savage strike. Chazon saw a chance to end the fight and the monster's life, but he also saw that he would put himself in mortal peril by doing so.

Looks like this is the end of the line… for the both of us!

Dashing forward, he planted his spear into the ground while it was aimed at the Mauler's chest and willed it with all his might to stay put. He heard a shout of some kind from a fair distance away, but couldn't comprehend it in time.

The claws ripped through the plate armor and into Chazon's body which flung him away, but the spear stayed put in the ground long enough for the Cyclops Mauler to impale itself dead on it, complete with its heart ripped out of its body and stuck on the blade of the spear.

Chazon landed harshly on the forest floor, his status showing that his HP went from 80% to 5% and falling due to bleeding. Yet he couldn't feel any pain at that moment; he couldn't feel anything.

Anything but satisfaction as he saw the exp notification against the slowly darkening world. At least… I killed it in the end. Now… nobody else will have to… die to it ever again…

The last thing he comprehended was someone shouting his name in front of him, but he couldn't recognize them as he blacked out.

As Chazon slowly regained consciousness, the first thing he comprehended was the crackling of a fire despite the environmental heat dictating that it was only afternoon. The second was how sore his entire body was, both from how much he strained his muscles from some of the stunts he pulled and any blunt-force trauma the Mauler put him through.

I'm… alive still?

His eyes fluttered open and he saw the forest canopy with the light of the sun streaming through the tree branches, with his status magic informing him that he's level 11 now. He barely had a moment to wonder how long he was out for when someone said, "You're finally awake."

That voice… Naofumi?

Chazon looked down and saw his fellow hero compounding medicine across the fire. He tried to get up, only for his body to complain at him with increased soreness which caused Chazon to hiss. "Careful, I only barely managed to heal all of your wounds. You're going to be extremely sore after that battle, especially with that reckless stunt you pulled."

That got the Spear hero's attention. "You… saved me?"

"It took almost every healing potion on me to keep you alive," Naofumi stated in a dry voice. "Killing powerful monsters is good and all, but how's getting yourself killed going to help any of us?"

Chazon simply shook his head. "I had to… that thing has killed too many people to be left alive." He looked at Naofumi with a small, yet pained smile. "I… thought you hated me… but you saved me anyways. Thank you."

Naofumi grimaced at that, his guilt from earlier returning. "Forget about it. Besides, Raphtalia was the one who saved you in the end. She heard your battle before I did and if it wasn't for her, you would have died on your fool's errand."

"Raph… talia?" Chazon heard something shift to his side and looked at it. He beheld a small girl with brown hair, pink eyes, a tail, and a pair of raccoon ears. Not a raccoon… possibly a tanuki?

He immediately noted her eyes. While there was some light in them, he could tell that not too long ago she held little happiness in her soul and looked more akin to a zombie. That she had suffered a lot up until this point.

Shaking his head, he gave her a smile. "So you're the one who helped save me… you have my eternal gratitude." He bows his head to her.

She gives him a concerned look. "C-Chazon-sama… you aren't… going to die, are you?" She sounded terrified that he was going to keel over on her.

Shaking his head again, he beckoned her to come closer. After looking at Naofumi, who simply rolled his eyes, she drew closer and held his hand with one of her tiny ones, only to realize just how warm it was. "I'm not done yet. Thanks to you, I can keep going."

She lowered her head. "Thank goodness… I didn't know what I… what I would…"

Realizing how she was feeling, Chazon lifted his other hand and rubbed between her ears. "You're such a sweetheart… don't think about what could have happened. Be proud of what you have done instead. After all…" Chazon closed his eyes briefly before opening them with kind eyes "Fate can be cruel, but a smile better suits a hero. I'll forever be in your debt."

"If you want, consider that repayment for the silvers and camping gear you gave me a few days ago," Naofumi curtly replied. He suddenly looked a bit more solemn "And… I'm sorry for yelling at you that day. You didn't deserve all of the blame, yet I laid it on you anyways. I still hold you responsible for not being there, but…"

"I understand. I know what I failed to do that day and suffered the consequences for it." Chazon closed his eyes. "I'm… just happy you are willing to talk to me, even after that."

Raphtalia widened her eyes; he wasn't shifting blame or anything of that nature, rather that he's accepting it and making no excuses for himself. Does… he not value himself…?

Naofumi sighed. "Don't think I saved you just because I wanted to. You… weren't present, but the Trash King told me something after I was brought in. If a Cardinal Hero dies, the waves become exponentially harder for the remaining ones, hence why I still have my head."

That bit of information horrified Chazon and he began shivering, which caused Raphtalia to squeak in concern. Then… the stunt I pulled there… would have doomed everyone?! I did what I did just because I figured my death would save innocent lives from being meaninglessly lost… only it would have happened anyways.

"Don't you dare think down on yourself just because of that, though." Naofumi glared pointedly. "You're alive, and that's all that matters."

"Yes… you're right."

Chazon petted Raphtalia again to comfort her, who couldn't help but wag her tail at the affection. He doesn't care that I'm a demi… Deciding to risk his ire, she hesitantly asked, "do… you not find me repulsive?"

That question dumbfounded Chazon while Naofumi stopped what he was doing and watched closely, though he had a feeling it won't turn out bad. "What are you talking about?!"

"I… I'm a demi-human and we're reviled by humans…"

"So?" Was his matter-of-fact response. "Doesn't matter if you're human or demi-human, you'll always be you. And I know for a fact that you're a sweetheart; nobody is going to convince me other- ow my sides."

Raphtalia had hugged Chazon mid-sentence which he reciprocated, her tail wagging furiously. He really doesn't care!

Naofumi chose then to fill Chazon in on why she reacted that way. "Just as a heads up, demi-humans are considered on the same level as monsters in Melomarc, to the point where the only way they can avoid being treated like targets is to be someone's slave."

"Slave?!" Chazon looked shocked when he heard that word. He looked down at Raphtalia again and saw a sort of purple crest on her chest and put two-and-two together. That's how… you two met and…

Naofumi stiffened when he saw Chazon look at Raphtalia's slave crest, only to look confused when a resigned look appeared on the Spear Hero's face. "You're not going to get mad or lecture me on owning her as a slave?"

"How can I?" Chazon looked solemnly at the sky. "You had no other choice; what had happened to you forced you into a position where something like that was your only option." He looked at Naofumi. "A necessary evil forced upon you by a world filled with cruelty. All I ask... is for you to take good care of her…"

Naofumi scoffed at that. "Are you threatening me?"

That got a small chuckle out of Chazon. "I'm in no position to make threats; they'd just be empty. I'm more so begging you."

There was silence for a small amount of time before Naofumi changed the subject. "What do you plan on doing with that Cyclops Mauler corpse?"

Chazon looked at the corpse; his handiwork. "Carve it for materials, maybe use the fur or leather for reinforcing plate armor." He looks back at Naofumi. "How about you take some materials off of it as well. You did save me and I'd feel wrong to let you leave empty handed." Naofumi simply nodded at that. "How about you guys get first picks? Anything you don't want, I'll carve and take myself."

That earned another sigh from Naofumi. "If you're certain. Raphtalia!" The demi-human squeaked in surprise before quickly moving to start dismantling the corpse.

Chazon sat by and watched Raphtalia go to work. She was clearly afraid of blood, but he didn't say anything; if she was to be a good companion to Naofumi, it'd be best if she started working on her fears now. Still… this world really is cruelty incarnate if a sweetheart like her was forced into slavery...

She gave Naofumi a section of fur from the Mauler's back… only for him to have his shield absorb the fragment, which dumbfounded Chazon. "Wait, is that another way to store materials in your inventory?"

The question made Naofumi dumbfounded in turn. "No… I'm absorbing materials to unlock new shields for use- WAIT, we have an inventory?!" Chazon nodded and demonstrated it by pulling his last HP potion out. "Would have been nice to know sooner! Carrying the tent you gave me was a pain!"

Chazon grimaced at that. I don't envy you on that front but… Shaking his head, he pointed at Naofumi's shield. "What I want to know is what you mean by "unlocking new shields for use". I thought we could only use the weapon locked to us!"

Realization dawned on Naofumi when he realized what Chazon meant and shook his head in disbelief. "You mean to tell me that you took out a boss monster that was DOUBLE your level with what is literally a level 1 weapon, with no other stat gains other than what you got from level ups?!"

"W-well I did Refine it once for a bit more attack but... yeah."

"The next time you call yourself the most useless hero of us four, I'm calling you out. Being able to win against such odds with such a weak set-up boggles my mind." Naofumi shook his head with a sigh as Raphtalia looked at Chazon in concern, realizing her earlier thoughts were true. "I can't, in good conscience, leave you out to dry like this since we have to deal with the waves together so you'd better listen up!"

Naofumi explained to Chazon how to unlock new shields or spears by absorbing not just monster materials, but practically anything if one thinks to try it. An example is the Leaf Shield that allows him to increase the quality of herbs picked while it is equipped, which he switched to in order to demonstrate switching.

Sure enough, Chazon tried putting a herb leaf into his spear's jewel and unlocked the Leaf Spear, complete with similar effects to Naofumi's Leaf Shield. "While you can access a shield/spear after obtaining it, unlocking it by keeping it equipped for a certain amount of time adds the stats of that particular weapon to your total stats as well as access to the skills that weapon has on other weapons. Special effects cannot add to your overall stats or ability count unless you have that weapon-form equipped, so keep in mind what weapons you want to use in a given situation like. What's on the Leaf Spear only applies if the Leaf Spear is active. In addition, some weapons require either a prerequisite level or weapon to be unlocked, so keep an eye on your web of spear forms.."

Chazon nodded. "So by unlocking weapons through this method, you can increase your stats without the need to level up." He looks at Naofumi. "If you've gotten a head start over me, then your stat total is probably much higher than mine right now despite me having a 6 level lead on you."

"I wouldn't go that far." Naofumi crossed his arms with a frown on his face. "Unfortunately, you're going to have to go back and hunt monsters in past areas if you want to unlock their respective spears."

"Er… about that…" Chazon rubbed the back of his head awkwardly before opening his material inventory and showing it to both Naofumi and Raphtalia.

Naofumi took one look at the numbers and face-palmed. "I think we found our pack-rat hero."

"What can I say? I have a hard time determining what I need and what I don't." Chazon looked back at his inventory. "This is going to take a while, though... unlocking all of these spears."

"We've got time to burn and you still need more time to recover." Naofumi sighed. "All we came here for was herbs to make more remedies for Raphtalia's sickness, so I'm not in a big rush…"

What followed was a montage of Chazon feeding every monster material he had collected up to this point to his spear to unlock new forms for stat increases. He even gave Naofumi some materials that he needed to fully unlock certain shields as he went along, including materials he got while hunting in the forest. The result is both heroes gaining the potential of becoming much stronger than they were before without any leveling, especially Chazon.

What was interesting was that the Murderous Crow feathers unlocked something unique:

Murderous Crow Feather Javelin

Equip bonus: AGI bonus (very low), 'High Jump'

Special effect: Fall damage mitigation (low)

Guess 'High Jump' is my first movement based skill. Would have been wonderful for that last fight… and from a monster that's an annoyance at best, which is ironic.

Chazon saved the piece de resistance of the whole thing for last: the materials from the Cyclops Mauler. Thanks to some spears giving him a passive bonus to his carving prowess, he was able to more efficiently carve more materials faster while giving Raphtalia some pointers, with the main points of interest being the fur, claws, fangs, and meat. Naofumi noted that bones and organs simply count as fangs and meat respectively in most monsters, meaning the already extracted heart was just another piece of flesh. Thankfully, the spears unlocked from the Mauler only needed one piece each, with the first being the heart:

Cyclops Mauler Flesh Spear

Equip bonus: +2 to material carving

Just another bonus to carving, which is good. Can never have too many materials. Chazon chuckled to himself for reinforcing Naofumi's observation that he was a "pack-rat hero".

Cyclops Mauler Fur Spear

Equip bonus: DEF bonus (low), MDEF bonus (low), Water resistance bonus (low)

Naofumi got the same bonus from the fur on his shield, which marked the first elemental resistance either hero got.

Cyclops Mauler Fang Pike

Equip bonus: ATK bonus (low), Hunger resistance (low)

Special effect: Speed eating bonus (low)

Speed eating… really? I guess if I'm in a hurry I can eat on the fly, but I never took bear-like monsters to be speed eaters…

The greatest point of interest came from the Claw of the monster:

Cyclops Mauler Claw Glave

Equip bonus: ATK bonus (low), 'Savage Strike'

Special effect: Slashing bonus (medium), Thrusting penalty (low)

Chazon noted the skill attached to the spear as his first offensive skill, as well as having a hefty chunk of attack attached to it. The equip bonus worked in his favor as well; he favors using slashing strikes more than thrusting attacks, making him wonder if he should've been the sword hero instead.

Switching to the Cyclops Mauler Claw Glave, he noted how primal its appearance looked. The shaft was completely covered in fur, the hilt containing the legendary spear's red jewel was made of bone, and the blade looked like a thicker version of one of the Mauler's claws. I'm guessing this thing is a reverse glave and I think I can see why it has a thrusting penalty. Stabbing with a claw isn't exactly going to work unless you angle it just right.

Chazon puts his weapon on his back and nods. "As much as I want to test out my new toys, I'd better recover first or I'll be in an even worse spot."

Naofumi looked up from his web of shields. "I'm going to hold you to it. We should probably get you back to town; that is our last stop for tonight anyways."

"OH!" Naofumi looked at Chazon in confusion over his outburst. "I forgot to show you how I'm supposed to strengthen my weapon!"

"You have your own system?"

Chazon nodded as he brought up his help guide page on Refinement Smelting to make sure he was going to explain it properly. "My system is called Refinement Smelting. I would give you an ore to try it yourself with, but I haven't gotten anymore, so you'll have to make due with an explanation."

Chazon summarized everything he learned from the help guide, but it was Naofumi who informed him that each individual weapon unlocked could be Refined, complete with the permanent stat bonuses. "If you're feeling lucky, you can basically dump some of your ores onto weapons you're not using for the increases in stats." Naofumi summed up succinctly.

"Yeah. Just as a heads-up, though, getting ores from monsters seems to be a very rare occurrence, so I'd personally recommend mining if you need more stat increases." Naofumi only grunted in affirmation to that.

As the trio exited the forest, the domesticated wolf from earlier found them again. Chazon managed to explain that she was harmless, but had lost her owner to the Mauler before he arrived in the forest.

The moment he mentioned the desecrated body, he inadvertently triggered Raphtalia's panic attack, which he quickly gave her a cooldown hug to try and make her feel better while Naofumi petted her head.

Half-way to Castle Town, Chazon hummed a bit. "I wonder if this is what it's like to go adventuring with a party..." He didn't bother trying to hide that fact since he figured Naofumi realized it by now.

The guilt Naofumi had forced down earlier in regards to that returned somewhat along with memories of how he found out about Chazon's lack of a party.

Naofumi scoffed as he walked towards Erhard's blacksmith, intending to pay the old man back for the clothes he gave the Shield Hero. "That stupid merchant thought he could pull the wool over my eyes?" The Balloon under his cape was proof that he needed to use every dirty trick in the book if he wanted to get stronger.

"Oh, sir Shield Hero?" Naofumi stopped in his tracks and looked at the person who called to him, who looked like a young girl in a mage attire. "I… know I probably shouldn't but can I ask you something?"

"Make it quick. I don't have all day." Naofumi dryly stated. If it was a question about the whole rape thing, he was going to-

"How is sir Spear Hero doing?" that made the shield hero do a minor double-take at the mage girl. "I-I mean, when we were in the castle, it seemed like you two got along, so I figured I'd ask you…"

"He's doing fine. Besides, shouldn't you already know? You're supposed to be his party member." Naofumi's voice had a slight edge to it now.

She shook her head. "No… he let all three of us go our own separate ways after we left the castle that day."

That revelation floored Naofumi. He genuinely thought that Chazon still had his party of three girls with him.

The mage continued, "He seemed to recognize that the three of us really didn't want to fight the waves, but we were forced to join a hero's party to serve as 'motivation' of some sort, and because of the stigma around the shield hero even before your accusation, we couldn't join you. As such, when he gave us the choice to leave, all three of us took it almost immediately… and I am starting to regret it."

'So Chazon is currently by himself out there?'

The mage shook her head and gave Naofumi a pleading look. "I know your reputation and I know I have no right to ask this, but please… can you look out for him? I'm afraid… that he's out there, hurt or even dying… all alone out there." with that she took her leave, sadness on her face.

All Naofumi could do was stare after her in shock.

That one instance was what caused Naofumi to finally let himself use the silver Chazon had given to him. While it seemed ironically cruel to buy Raphtalia to give himself a party member when Chazon had nobody, Naofumi figured that getting Raphtalia out of her situation would have been what the Spear Hero wanted; he was treating her better than he would have otherwise in honor of that even though he had to give her tough love with certain things.

I'm too prideful at the current time to say this to you, but… Chazon… you really did give Raphtalia a lifetime of kindness… He watched as the spear hero… his first friend in this cruelty-driven world, treated Raphtalia with unconditional compassion.

Just as a heads up, as you could see from a few of the weapons Chazon has unlocked, I'll be using more than just "spear" for the names of some of the weapons. The classifications I'll be using are: Spear, Lance, Javelin, Partisan, Halberd, and Glave (Glaves and Naginatas are practically the same thing, so I'll stick with just Glaves for the most part).

Also, no. I'm not taking Raphtalia away from Naofumi. Chazon simply treats Raphtalia with a lot of kindness while doing his best to be respectful of her growing bond with Naofumi.