Spear of a New Path

by Chazonic

Motoyatsu had always been the main unwitting instigator of doom, despite his status as the Spear Hero. But what happens if someone else was summoned in his place? Someone who wasn't as naive, but was lacking in self-confidence. A Spear Hero who believed in the Shield Hero no matter what. The Spear Hero was supposed to value and protect his friends after all. (OC x harem warning)

6. False Voices Unto Hope

I should probably put a disclaimer here: this story doesn't accurately reflect on my opinions. I do not mean to insult people of a certain… hair color, it's simply a part of my character's backstory and personality.

Also, just to clear some things up, since you guys already know who just met Chazon, Rino and the mage girl at the beginning of the story that he let go are not the same people. I'm operating under the assumption that in canon Rino joined Moyatsu's party at a later point due to him flirting with her. While some of the changes I made might be a bit of a stretch, also keep in mind that, thanks to Chazon replacing Moyatsu, there will be plenty of things different here than in the original story.

May 7, 2021 Update: I know Rino's official haircolor now. However, I wrote this chapter before the Light Novel containing her appearance details and, unless I were to do some serious re-writing, would clash with the narrative I have going on. Don't worry, I'll have her change into her official appearance at a later point.

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Chazon leveled a slight glare at the girl, who looked confused before she realized something. "Oh, I should probably introduce myself. My name is Rino and I'm a beginner adventurer!"

"Chazon. Charmed, I'm sure…" Rino completely missed the sarcasm in his voice and bowed to him, which made him grunt in irritation. "So what the heck is a "beginner adventurer" doing out here in a cave that many more experienced adventurers have failed to explore?"

Rino held the tablet she was holding out in front of her with a sigh. "I come from Lerno Village, which is currently experiencing a famine. When I heard information on a miracle seed that exists in this cave, I thought I would go see if I couldn't find it myself. Of course, when I first got here, I couldn't find the actual entrance until you came along and showed me."

So she followed me in here like a lost puppy… just great, like I needed my day to get worse. Chazon shook his head. "I respect the fact that you wanted to help your village, but this is no place for someone like you. If you "overheard" this valuable information, then you also know that only a Cardinal Hero can get through this place." He gives her a pointed glare.

"I-I-I know that! But I just can't stand the thought of my friends and family suffering when there's something that could help make their lives easier! That's why I followed you, because I wanted to join your party so that I can help." Rino gave Chazon a pleading look.

Chazon wanted anything but a red-headed girl to join his party. Not only were all his betrayals and bad impressions of red-heads in his world still a sore spot for him, but the ONE red-head he trusted in this world had accused Naofumi of rape and ruined his life. "Sorry, but I'm not accepting party members at this time. Just go back outside and I'll come back with the seed you need."

Rino felt like she was hit in the heart as she looked shocked. "But… weren't you just wondering how to read this inscription?"

"Are you saying you have a way of reading it?"

"Yup!" Rino waves the tablet she was holding in front of her. "Someone in Castle Town gave me this as thanks for dealing with some Usapils that were causing her trouble. I didn't remember ever meeting her before, but she told me that it was good for translating older text into Melomarc's written language before running off to tend to some business."

Shit, she's got me there. Even if I were to take it off her hands, I can't read any words in this world to make actual use of it. I really, REALLY don't want this, but if I want to get the seed without anything bad happening to me, I need someone with me and she's my best shot since the carriage driver probably doesn't want to enter this place.

Chazon pondered a bit until he finally let out a reluctant sigh while pinching the bridge of his nose. "Very well, you win. BUT, this is only a temporary arrangement. As soon as we're done here and have returned to Lerno Village, we'll be disbanding. Am I understood?" Rino flinched at how hard his voice had become before nodding weakly. "Then let's get started…"

Chazon debated on if he should send Rino a party invite before figuring that he should be fine with her being a much lower level and with beginner gear at her disposal. She accepted his party invite and he noted that her name and various bars appeared under his name as his party member. She's only level 4? I might have to babysit her more than I thought… what a drag.

Rino on the other hand felt like her world-view was a bit broken. She had heard in Castle Town that the Cardinal Heroes, save the Shield Hero, were virtuous people always willing to help those in need, yet the Spear Hero seemed all too keen on giving her the cold shoulder. She quickly perked herself up, though. Perhaps he's just being cautious about who he lets into his party. I'll just have to show him that he can trust me!

Rino had always been an optimistic girl, to the point where her village started calling her "The Little Light of Hope" that refuses to go out even in the depths of despair. She refused to let something like this get her down as she moved forward to translate what was on the pedestal.

Chazon noted that she had perked back up again, which somewhat concerned him. If she's always like this, I'm going to have a hell of a time trying to keep her out of my party afterwards. Maybe if she just didn't have red hair then I'd be more inclined to trust her, though how she got that tablet is a bit suspect in and of itself.

"Got it!" She suddenly said, knocking Chazon out of his thoughts. "It says something along the lines of, "If you wish to claim the treasure of the cave, destroy the guardian that protects it before the flames of beginning extinguish".

"The "flames of beginning" probably refers to the torch on the pedestal. We must clear this place before it burns out, huh?" Chazon thought it was a bit too easy of a clear condition, especially for a dungeon that is supposedly dangerous to all but Cardinal Heroes. Or maybe nobody else was able to translate the inscription, wasted too much time, and whatever happens after the flame goes out is what drives them out. Perhaps they thought the heroes could read it?

"I guess all we have to do is light the torch and get through as fast as possible!" Rino grabbed another torch off the wall and moved to light the center one.

"Hold on!" Chazon stopped Rino in her tracks. "Need I remind you of this "guardian" that exists as the final objective of this place?" Rino simply tilted her head in confusion, which caused him to facepalm. "You're only level 4! I highly doubt you're gonna be able to do anything to it, especially if it's above level 15. Are you ABSOLUTELY sure you want to risk your life in here?"

"Yes." came her quick answer, which stunned Chazon a bit. "I… know I'm not strong, but I still want to do all I can to help! After all, my wish is to save my village." She put her free hand over her heart with a look of determined optimism.

Urrrgh, she really isn't going to back down isn't she? Chazon sighed at that. "Fine, if you're that determined then all that's left is to see if you can live up to your own words. Actions speak louder than words, after all." She nodded enthusiastically. After lighting the center torch, the door opened and they both went in, with a timer appearing on their status screens showing how long they had to clear the dungeon. Chazon kept a wary eye on Rino while making sure to keep the other on whatever could jump out in the darkness.

It didn't take long for monsters to jump at them from the darkness. The mouse-like monsters, aptly-named Scavenger Mice, were all level 10 or 11, forcing Chazon to make sure Rino didn't get attacked by any of them due to her low level and lackluster armor. They were very basic enemies otherwise. He didn't even switch from the Torch Spear; a good whack over the head with it while still lit and a Mouse gets ignited, with the third strike busting its head open.

After dealing with the five that had jumped them, Chazon gives Rino an incredulous look. "And you were going to deal with swarming level 10 plus enemies by yourself how?"

"I-I would have found a way to deal with them… or gotten around them somehow!" She gives him a nervous smile, which he facepalms at.

Chazon was about to carve the bodies when he reminded himself of the time limit. He knew he wanted as many spears unlocked as possible, but carving would waste valuable time and he might not get much of anything anyways. "Screw it!" He puts the corpse of one Scavenger Mouse on the jewel and it ate the entire thing, much to the surprise of both present.

Monster corpse detected

Would you like to disassemble and absorb: Scavenger Mouse?

Notice: Usable materials will be stored in the materials inventory.

Chazon mentally affirmed to allow the spear to disassemble the corpse itself. I doubt there is much to be gained from keeping materials from this monster anyways and I'm not about to test if the meat is edible or not; will probably just use it as bait or something.

Disassembly commencing

Total corpses required for spear unlocks: 1 / 3

Estimated time of completion: 1 minute

Chazon shoved two more corpses into the jewel, which bumped completion time to 5 minutes, but the spears gotten from the corpses would automatically be added to his spear list for later unlocking. He'd have to go look for their equip bonuses later. So the main advantage of carving monsters myself is that it's far faster than simply letting the legendary spear do it all. Good to know.

Rino watched Chazon do his business with awe in her eyes. She knew the Legendary weapons were unlike any others, but seeing them in action was a sight to behold. She was even more amazed when he extinguished his Torch Spear and changed it to his Cyclops Mauler Claw Glave. "We'll be relying on your torch for light going forward if we want to be efficient. Stay frosty."

"Y-yes sir!"

Rino was happy that she was being useful to Chazon now. Meanwhile, the Spear Hero was wary of letting the girl he distrusted have control over his light source, but he'd rather be able to properly kill the weaker swarming monsters with single hits. Besides, I can make her earn her keep this way, since she won't be doing much fighting.

The duo encountered another small swarm of Mice, which made Rino grow to level 5 much to her surprise. "I've been getting a lot more exp since joining your party, Chazon-sama. Do the legendary weapons boost exp gains?"

"I don't know. How long did it take you to reach level 4?"

Rino thought about it for a second. "I think it took me a week to level up to level 3 at Castle Town before I left and was barely able to kill enough weak monsters around Lerno Village to reach level 4 before arriving at the cliffs surrounding this place."

Wait, seriously? I reached level 3 on the first day of hunting I did and approximately a week to reach level 12! Chazon quickly cleared his throat, not wanting the red-head to know he didn't have party members. "I guess my other party members didn't comment on that back in Castle Town." Still, this means I'm power leveling her unwillingly. This is not how I wanted things to go…

The cave seemed pretty straightforward for a dungeon outside of a few branching paths that didn't take long to reveal themselves as dead ends. The only enemies that seemed to harass them were the Scavenger Mice, and they were pathetically easy to deal with once Chazon used his more offensively viable spears.

At some point, however, they encountered a rather dark area that seemed to smother even the torch's light. This made Chazon switch back to his Torch Spear and ignite it for better visage. "This area is cut from a different cloth than the others. Keep an eye out for-"

"Why did it have to be the Spear Hero?" Chazon stopped dead in his tracks when he thought he heard Rino speak. Looking back, he saw a look of confusion on her face. Looking forward again he pressed on. "I don't actually need him to save my village."

This is… weird. Am I hearing Rino's thoughts or is she that good at speaking when I'm not looking? He immediately wondered if that really was what the girl felt… that she was no better than the red-headed bitch that ruined Naofumi's life.

"I could have made a better hero than him! Perhaps I can… quickly run him through and take everything he has!" Chazon clenched his teeth, his hate slowly getting the better of him as he heard more of her treacherous words. "Besides, even if I can't get the weapon, I bet the armor will fetch a pretty coin."

Chazon was about to stop and say something out loud when he felt something trembling grab his free hand. When he looked he saw it was Rino, who was looking down at the floor with her body trembling with an indiscernible emotion.

"After all, they did say this place was dangerous. It would even make it too dangerous for a high-and-mighty Cardinal Hero!"

Something's wrong. I'm looking at her, but it didn't actually sound like it was coming from her… nor does it seem like she's thinking it... Chazon started looking around, some sort of mist gathering in the corners of his vision.

"I've heard stories of adventurer's running out of the cave screaming for their lives. I don't know the details, but I recall one account that the adventurer suddenly didn't trust anyone he was with and ran from the cave fearing them. He didn't see or hear from them ever again, nor did he want to"

The carriage drive said that, didn't he? If these were behind all of the adventurers leaving this place terrified, then… It clicked in Chazon's mind. Whatever was here, it was putting into his head words from his only companion that he didn't want to hear. Words of betrayal and backstabbing.

"This could be my chance, I'll just use my sword to-"

"That's enough fun and games." Chazon finally said out loud as he looked around the darkness. He noted some odd shapes on the ceiling of the tunnel they were in, but was too high to reach with the light of his Torch Spear. "Playtime is over. High Jump!" He leaped up at the ceiling and saw what was up there.

A small hoard of purple bat monsters identified as Voice Gengars immediately screeched at him as he brought the light close to them, which caused Rino's voice to stop speaking. "So it was you guys… you chose the wrong hero to mess with." Chazon's voice got dangerously low as he swiped at the group with his ignited Torch Spear, setting a good number of them on fire. The rest tried to attack, but like their terrestrial cousins, most of them only took three hits thanks to his attack stat.

After dealing with the swarm of 6 Voice Gengars, He turned to Rino, who had remained rooted to the spot. "Rino, are you alright?"

"C-Chazon-s-sama." She looked up at him with tears in her eyes. "P-please… please don't… don't leave me…" For the first time since meeting Rino, Chazon looked directly into her eyes. He saw how scared she was; how much her fear had begun encroaching on her hope, like she was fighting a losing battle in maintaining her optimism

Chazon had a hard time separating fake positive emotions with real ones, which is why anyone who had an overly positive attitude could easily fool him into thinking they were being genuine and why he was treating Rino earlier with a dismissive attitude. One thing he can tell apart from the genuine thing were crocodile tears; he's seen them too many times in his world to be fooled by them anymore.

Rino's tears were genuine, as was the fear and sorrow in her eyes.

Chazon decided to drop his callous attitude from earlier for the time being. "Rino… let me guess, "I" said some unkind things to you?"

"I… I heard you say how worthless I am... why I could never save my village… that you were going to leave me for dead in this place…" She closed her eyes as her tears started running down her face as she started full-on crying. "That I would never save anyone no matter how much I wanted to! That I was so worthless that it's the reason why nobody ever wanted to party with me in Castle Town!"

Chazon began to see why she was by herself, and that she was the "companion" the middle-aged man was talking about. You had tried so hard to find a party with other adventurers… but none of them would because you're a greenhorn…

He realized something that made him hate himself. Replace the fear with hate, and she was in a similar position Naofumi was in. Nobody wanted anything to do with either… and felt like they were all alone.

He hated how he treated her in the beginning… all because she had red hair.

I'm a fool…

"Rino, look at me." She stopped crying, opened her eyes, and, for the first time since meeting Chazon, saw how much kindness was behind his own. "You're not worthless in any regard. In fact, you were very brave, albeit a bit foolish, in coming here to try and save your village. It shows just how much you care about your friends and family."

He cups her face with a hand as she lets out a sniffle. "Everyone starts out as beginners at some point. Heck, about two weeks ago I was dropped into this world with no more adventuring experience than you had starting out. The important thing is the willingness to grow and learn from mistakes you make." Rino hiccuped and nodded at that, leading to Chazon to hug her. "You'll make a fine adventurer one day, one that your village will be proud to have raised. All you need is time and a guiding hand."

"I… I understand." She broke the hug and dried her face before they locked eyes again. Chazon saw the hope in her eyes finally winning against her fear, that she genuinely wanted to help him. "I want to make my village proud. I want to make you proud to call me a party member, even if I'm only a temporary one!"

I really was a fool… but how can I discern her emotions so well just by looking into her eyes? He suddenly received a reminder notification from his status magic and decided to look. What he saw shocked him:

Soul of the Spear (passive ability)

Unlocked at level 12

Discern the true intentions of the one you focus on. Also provides resistance to attempts at twisting one's reality.

"Eyes are the windows to the soul" Peng Liyuan

Chazon suddenly remembered a deep wish he made when he was 12 years old: He wished he could read the true emotional state of the people he interacts with after having discovered that his best and only friend had committed suicide because of him.

Still, I'm glad that I was given a chance to fix my callous attitude towards her. She really is pure hearted and I would forever curse myself if I was the one to corrupt her.

He pets Rino on the head. "Then let's continue through this cave and get the seed at the end. For the sake of your village!" She nodded enthusiastically, though Chazon missed the blush she had at being petted on the head.

Chazon double checked how much time they had left… and realized that they had plenty of time left. Pretty generous, but considering what the Voice Gengars do to people, I can see why nobody finished this place.

He decided to quickly carve the Voice Gengars with Rino's help rather than have his spear process the corpses. He noted that the wings were good materials for working into armor, while the rest of the body was good for unlocking one new spear:

Voice Gengar Spear

Equip bonus: AGI bonus (low)

Special effect: 'Sonic Thrust'

I doubt this swarm will be the last one we have to deal with, so having a sonic attack will make dealing with them easier. Chazon looked back at Rino again, no longer wishing that she was off his back. She had a look of determination and had recovered from her experience with the Voice Gengars.

As they continued through the cave they encountered more Scavenger Mice, though this group only had 3. Chazon decided to let Rino get some more fighting practice in. "Want to try and take out these monsters? I'm sure you can handle them just fine as long as you're careful."

"Chazon-sama, I won't let you down!" Rino drew her sword with her torch in the other hand as the Mice attacked. While it was clear that she was inexperienced, she had a good amount of agility for her level, though her attack left a bit to be desired.

Calm down, Chazon. She's only level 5 against level 10 plus enemies. If anything, she's probably fairing better than you when you were at level 5.

Chazon quickly skewered one of the Mice that tried to circumvent Rino's sword and attack from the back, which brought the monster close to him. The poor girl took at least 6 hits with her sword before one Mouse would die, but showed potential as an attacker. After killing her second one, she reached level 6. "I really am leveling up faster!"

Chazon nodded as he patted her on the shoulder. "You're only going to get stronger from here on out. Let's keep going like this; I only hung back that last battle to see how you battle. From here on out, we fight as a team."

"R-right!" Rino couldn't describe how happy she was feeling at that moment. He trusts me… he trusts me to fight alongside him! Maybe what happened back in that dark section was what changed his attitude towards me. She still wondered why he was treating her the way he was in the beginning, but she figured she could ask after they were done and on the way back to Lerno Village with the seed.

True to his word, Chazon and Rino started fighting like actual party members. Even when the hordes of rats grew bigger than before, they were a lot faster in dealing with them than doing so solo against smaller groups. They reached another dark section of the cave, however Chazon switched to his Voice Gengar Spear instead of the Torch Spear since he's expecting them to appear in areas like this now.

"Now that I've gained his trust, I should-"

"Oh no you don't, Sonic Thrust!" He jabbed his spear towards the ceiling and a sonic shockwave erupted from the tip with a rather unholy screech. It had the effect of causing the voices to stop and all the Gengars fell to the floor, stunned. "Run them through before they recover!"

Rino figured out that the Voice Gengars were responsible for the nasty things "Chazon" was saying and ran them through with a frustrated look. "How dare your kind make me feel that way! How dare you turn Chazon-sama into a cruel person!"

Chazon winced at that, guilt coming back from how he treated her at first. She really is owed an explanation and an apology after we are done here…

Rino had reached level 7 and Chazon managed to grow to level 13 when they reached a rather large room, which Chazon was suspicious of immediately. "This must be the last room in the cave…"

"Chazon-sama, look at that treasure chest!" Sure enough, there was a large red chest at the other end of the room. "We did it!"

"Don't celebrate too soon. We have one last obstacle in our way if we want that miracle seed." Chazon had seen rooms like this all too much during his video gaming career. It was a bona fide boss room.

The whole room shook like an earthquake before a large stone-brick object fell into the center from the hole in the center. It unfolded to reveal itself as the foreshadowed guardian of the treasure.

Stone Golem

Level 18

Only 2 levels stronger than the Mauler and I'm only 5 levels under it, but Rino's a whole 11 levels weaker than it and with only 10 minutes left to destroy it. Should we cut our losses and level her up a bit or…

He looks at Rino since the Golem didn't seem interested in attacking first. She had a look of determination on her face once again. "Don't worry about me, Chazon-sama. I know I'm not high leveled like you are, but I know we can do this!"

Chazon sighed at that. "Very well, but at the first sign of things going badly for us, we're retreating. Saving your village is great and all, but I'd rather not have to sacrifice our lives for it." She nodded in affirmation at that.

The Golem looked at the two as they approached. "YOU SEEK TREASURE? MUST DESTROY ME! PRAY FLAMES OF BEGINNING HAVEN'T EXTINGUISHED!" With that, the Golem charged forward, causing the two to roll out of the way.

Switching to his Cyclops Mauler Claw Glave, Chazon decided to test the waters a bit. "Savage Strike!" The first hit did mark the stone armor, but the preceding 6 smaller hits barely did a thing. Guess this Golem's defense is through the roof. The stone armor doesn't let any damage clock in on its HP, meaning that even Needle Thrust won't do anything to it. However if it fights similarly to the Mauler, then it's slow but powerful. "Rino! Keep an eye on its movements and never let it catch you. This thing is slow, but it'll pack a mean punch!"

"Got it!" Rino circled around back as the Stone Golem focused on Chazon due to his first hit. "I need to find a weak spot for us to exploit, or we'll take too long!" Chazon noted what Rino was doing and nodded in approval. "Come on, where oh where… there!"

Chazon managed to notice what Rino pointed out: some sort of marking on the back of the Golem's neck. "Good eye, but you might have to be the one to hit it. This thing is stubborn- whoa!" Chazon narrowly dodged another punch from the Golem; it might be slow, but the punches come out fast if you don't know what to look for.

Rino squeaked in concern before focusing on the mark. "I can't lose focus! Chazon-sama needs me to do this for him!" She quickly climbs up the moving Golem and drives her sword as hard as she could into the mark.

The effect was instantaneous as the Golem's HP took a heavy hit despite the attack coming from someone 11 levels weaker than it. Chazon noted that it was a 25% decrease as Rino got flung off the neck. That's the ticket… wait shit, that means-

The Golem lost interest in Chazon and turned to where Rino landed. She cried out in surprise when she narrowly avoided a punch and started running around. "Nonononono leave me alone!"

"RINO!" Chazon knew that if he didn't do something fast, Rino would get killed just from ONE punch. He could take a beating thanks to how high his defenses were between his armor and the spears he had unlocked, but Rino had no such luxury. The Golem's back was shifting around as well, meaning that climbing was no longer feasible.

"Argh, here goes nothing. High Jump!" Chazon jumped right at the Golem's neck and drove his Glave as deep as he could force it. The Golem's HP dropped another 25% and it started freaking out trying to get the spear hero dislodged from its neck. Rino stopped against an open wall, only to quickly dodge out of the way of some rubble that had been flung her way.

At 50% health, the Golem had shed some of its stony armor. It lost some defenses, but became a bit faster as a result. Chazon found that out the hard way when he saw a punch coming, but wasn't expecting it to come out faster, grazing him. Rino knew she had to look for a new weakness; the neck no longer held a weak spot.

She noticed that something was glowing a light orange color from within the chest cavity of the Golem, but knew that more of the armor needed to be removed before it could be seen, let alone attacked. She decided to try climbing the Golem again, but when her sword clanged against the darker stone, the Golem stopped mid-attack and began shuddering a bit. "Is it… Chazon-sama, the Golem reacts to sound now!"

"How convenient that the boss of the dungeon is weak to something one of the monsters carries." Chazon said sarcastically before switching to his Voice Gengar Spear. "Sonic Thrust!" The sonic shockwave hit the Stone Golem and it started freaking out again. Rino yelped as the back of the Golem suddenly opened up and swallowed her into the stony recesses of the body. "Rino? RINO!"

"I'm okay! I'm inside the Golem now!" Chazon breathed a sigh of relief at that. "I think I see its core! Let me try to-"

"INTRUDER DETECTED INSIDE BODY. COMMENCE INTERNAL CRUSHING IN 10… 9…"

No! If that goes off, Rino's life is forfeit! The only thing I now know is that the Golem no longer likes sound! Deciding to risk it, he launched another Sonic thrust at the Golem, which made it shudder again.

"ERROR, SOUND DISRUPTION NOTED. RE ENGAGING INTRUDER!"

The made Chazon let out another sigh of relief; he'd much rather have the Golem focused on him than trying to crush his party member. "Rino! If you can see the core, attack it as much as possible! I don't care how pretty or valuable it might be, your life is more precious than some bauble!"

Rino blushed inside the Golem before shaking her head and focusing. While it was difficult to get footing while it was moving, she was able to scale up enough to start hitting the core with her sword. After three hits, the Golem freaked out again and started flinging rubble everywhere before attempting to crush Rino again.

Chazon launched another Sonic Thrust, but while it did stun the Golem, it simply restarted the countdown and he realized he was low on SP; only good for one more Sonic Thrust. "I can't stop the countdown! Keep attacking with all your might and I'll delay it as much as possible!"

"RAAAAAAAAA!" Came Rino's battle cry as she drove her sword into the Core with all her might. It resisted at first, but right as the countdown reached 2 on the third attempt, the core gave away to her sword, deactivating the Golem and making it collapse into a heap which leveled Chazon up to 15 and Rino to level 11

Chazon ran over to the ruins of the Golem and began digging his way through the rubble before a cough reached his ears: Rino was alive, albeit plenty dusty. That made the spear hero smile in relief. "You were amazing there. I don't know what I would have done if I were by myself facing that thing."

"Y-yeah. That Golem seems like it was built to be taken down by a group rather than something that can be soloed." Rino let out a few more coughs before smiling at Chazon. "But we won! We won because we worked as a team!"

As a team...

After extracting her from the Golem's "carcass" and making sure she wasn't hurt, they went over to the chest, only to see another inscription beside it. "Hmm, let me translate this one as well. I hope there isn't another condition we need to fulfill."

While Rino translated, Chazon knocked some of the Golem's stone off and fed it to his spear. The lighter-colored stones were just regular stones that gave the rather pointless Stone Lance, while the darker stuff actually gave him something interesting:

Stone Golem Spear

Equip bonus: ATK bonus (low), DEF bonus (low), MDEF bonus (low)

Special effect: ATK up (low), DEF up (medium), MDEF up (medium), AGI penalty (high), 'Spear Drive'

Looks like I found my tanking stance weapon. Holy agility penalty Batman… Chazon figured that having a spear that turned him into something similar to Naofumi would be a good idea; while he can protect himself by changing spear stances and dodging, he can't really defend any party members in a pinch. This spear changed that and gave him a way to play Defender for his party in case it's needed.

The difference between him using the Stone Golem Spear and Naofumi is that while the shield hero has no attack stat, he probably has pretty good agility. This spear turns him into a slow-moving stone wall with high attack and defences, but no agility to speak of.

I see what you did there, legendary spear… Though I wonder if the proper term I'm looking for is 'Mighty Glacier'... oh well.

He dug through the rubble a bit more and found the core that Rino had destroyed. It was an orange crystal of some kind and was still glowing despite being shattered. Chazon decided to try absorbing one of the smaller fragments of the core, only to be notified that he must absorb at least 25% of it to get the weapon, which he did so.

Golem Core Partizan

Equip bonus: ATK bonus (low), AGI bonus (low), 'Charged Skewer'

Special effect: ATK up (medium), AGI up (medium), DEF penalty (high), MDEF penalty (high)

One turns me into a stone wall, the other into a glass cannon. Is this supposed to outline the juxtaposition between the two roles, while referencing how we were supposed to take down the Golem as a team? I could see it being that way.

"Chazon-sama! I've finished deciphering the inscription. It's… disheartening…" Rino sounded saddened, which Chazon knew meant something was wrong as he quickly stored all of the materials from the Golem in his inventory. "The deciphered inscription says: "We pray this seed never makes it out of here. It is a horribly twisted manifestation of our wish for nobody to starve."

Then this seed would lead to ruin, not to salvation… Chazon looked at the chest for a moment longer before opening it anyways, much to Rino's confusion. "We came this far to get this thing, may as well grab it and see what it actually bears."

"B-but the inscription!"

"We'll figure something out. If I had to hazard a guess, this seed was meant to grow in extreme conditions quickly, but improper modifications made it turn into a monster plant of some kind." Chazon looked at the seed, which was a green, glowing spiky seed that he picked up.

Rino whimpered as she looked at the seed. "I hope you know what you're doing." She quickly shook her head, berating herself for not believing in him enough. "No, I believe you can make this work!"

"I swear on my title of hero that this thing won't reach Lerno Village proper until I KNOW it's safe to grow. I'm not taking a bet on the "chance" that it'll somehow be safe." Chazon put the seed in his inventory… which led to the thing being identified as a "BioPlant Seed. Amazing what using your inventory can do for you, mundane as it is. "Let's get out of here before-"

"Wait, there's an exit that wasn't here before!" Rino pointed at one of the walls to the side. It had been broken down by the Golem when it flung some of its armor earlier. "Did you want to see where it leads?"

"I suppose we can. If it's a shortcut back to outside, then we should be good."

There were more Voice Gengars down the path, but because both were well aware of their tricks, as well as both being much higher leveled than before, they were no problem. When they reached the end, they beheld a room full of glowing blue crystals.

"So pretty…" Rino gasped in awe, which Chazon agreed with.

I wonder if these things are magic in nature. Could be useful to gather some for future use in crafting armor… and possibly even weapons.

After taking a decent number of crystals, a few were sacrificed to the legendary spear.

Magic Crystal Partisan

Equip bonus: MAG bonus (very low), MDEF bonus (very low), 'Air Strike Javelin'

"Do I finally get a spear that helps my magic stat out?!" Chazon outbursts, much to Rino's surprise. "I get the feeling this world doesn't want me casting magic anytime soon…"

"Same here…" Rino kicked the ground with a slight pout. "I wanted to become a mage, but the adventurer's guild said that my magic wasn't high enough to really consider it."

Sorry, Rino, but I have to agree with them on that to a degree. I checked your stats; you have a focus on agility with a sub focus on attack. While your magic isn't TERRIBLE… like mine… I'd say you're better suited to using fast-hitting physical weapons. Though I suppose either way you're going to be fragile; your defenses are garbage.

"Chazon-sama, there's a way out over here!" Sure enough, there was an upward incline that looked like there was light shimmering through. Following it led them outside on top of the cliffs that hid the Alchemist's Cave from people coming from Lerno Village.

I swear, come in from any other direction and you don't need the waterfall to get to it… what a ripoff… Shaking his head, Chazon brings up his map to confirm their location. "The carriage that brought me here should be due south from our location. We'll worry about scaling down the cliff when we get close." Rino nodded at that.

After a few minutes of walking, the earth started rumbling, causing the duo to lose their footing. "Did the torch at the entrance extinguish?"

"Must have. Let's stay still while we wait for this to-" Chazon was interrupted when the section of cliff they were on started falling away, which sent both of them careening off the expanding edge.

Due to his armor, Chazon had been falling pretty fast until he shoved his Vicious Raven Feather Javelin into the side of the cliff that had remained. When he looked up, he saw Rino falling towards him with pure terror in her eyes. "RINO, GRAB MY HAND!" She reached out for him and he grabbed her hand, forcing his javelin to slide down the cliff even faster.

When they got close to the bottom, the spear got ejected from the cliff. Chazon grabbed Rino and turned her upward so that she was protected from the brunt of the remaining fall, relying on his weapon's fall resist bonus to protect himself at the same time. It helped that some trees at the bottom helped break their fall as well.

"C-Chazon-sama! Are you alright?!" Rino did her best to get off of him without causing any more damage.

"I'll live…" Chazon grunted as he got up, his HP down to 70% from the fall and letting Rino land on him. "I'm just glad you're alright. You don't have anything protecting you from fall damage."

Rino sat there as Chazon got up, dusted himself off while wincing, and drank an HP potion to remove some of the pain. "Why… why would you do that for me…?"

He saw the guilt clear in her eyes and he sighed. "Perhaps to make up for my callous attitude towards you when we first met. I… owe you a proper explanation of why I was being a hard ass towards you."

Chazon told Rino of all the red-heads in his world that had never treated him or his friends good, with many of them being two-faced backstabbers. He also included the fact that he had decided to trust a red-head in this world, only for his first friend to have everything ripped away from him because of her.

After he was done, he bowed to her. "I… know I should have known better than to judge you by your hair color, but… what I did was wrong. How I treated you was wrong and for that… I'm sorry."

"It's okay." He looked up at Rino to see her with a sad smile. "You wouldn't be the first to treat me poorly because of my hair color. One of the reasons why adventurers in Castle Town never wanted to party with me was because of my red hair."

"Hearing that makes me feel like an even bigger ass... " Chazon clenched his hand, self-loathing filling his heart only to be shocked when she gently grabbed his hand with both of hers. "But… why?"

"Because… in the end, you gave me a chance. You're the first person besides the people in my village to give me a chance to prove myself. When those Voice Gengars started projecting "you" saying all those things… not only did you see past their lies, but you comforted me even though you must have been hurting from it as well." She gave him a tearful smile, one full of even more hope than before. "Thank you... for being there for me until the end."

She's too good… too good to me… Shaking his head, Chazon gave her the most genuine smile he has made since entering this world. "And thank you for staying with me till the end as well. We'll get you back home, I promise." With a bow, he walks a few steps away to start concentrating on his status magic.

Rino's face slowly started heating up. What… what is this feeling I got… when he smiled so sweetly at me?