"Chazon-kun! Come quick!"

Chazon was startled from his slumber the next morning by Rino's excited voice. "Is something happening?!"

"Yes! The eggs are hatching!"

Due to the fact that the eggs would hatch at any time, Damalus suggested that everyone takes turns keeping an eye on them. That way, whatever hatched from them would be greeted by at least one friendly face.

Chazon didn't take long to go where the eggs were kept. Turns out the rest of the household turned up for the hatching as well as both eggs rocked. "Well we already know one is a filolial, but I'm curious as to what the plumage color will be. Plus, it'll be interesting to see what kind of egg Rifana and Kardia picked out."

The first one to fully hatch was a black-feathered filolial chick with green eyes, which everyone cooed at. Chazon in particular was joyful. "Hey there, little guy! Welcome to your new life!" He stroked the chick's head and wings, which made him chirp with happiness.

Kardia looked at Chazon with curiosity. "How do you know he's a male?"

"He's in my party list as a tamed monster, which shows me his gender as well." Chazon lifts the chick and rubs his head against him, pure joy on his face. He then turns around and shows the chick everyone else. "Say hello to your family!" The filolial chirped at everyone as if to say hello.

Damalus chuckled. "Just don't forget your other egg, lad! We wouldn't want to be showing favoritism already, you hear?"

"You're right. I just couldn't help myself." Chazon gave the chick to Rino, who chirped happily at her as she stroked his feathers. "Who's our other monster companion going to be?"

The other egg's shell had somehow grown soft while the creature inside moved about. Eventually, it poked a hole through the egg and started crawling out, looking like a caterpillar. Rino looked at the insect with surprise. "That looks like a caterpiland!"

Kardia nodded, only to note something as the creature fully exited the egg. "I don't recall caterpilands having that kind of color scheme, though."

It was pure white with red and orange lines running along its body. Chazon checked his status magic and noted that she was a female. "For a bug monster, she's actually quite cute." He rubs a finger against her affectionately and she lets out a soft squeak.

Damalus stroked his mustache. "You might have a very rare variant of a caterpiland here, lad. I'd say the girls chose a good egg."

Kardia smiled at that, though Rifana didn't know what to think. She hated bugs, but this particular one was actually kind of cute. Perhaps caterpilands are all this cute and I've never seen one before…

Chazon picked up the caterpiland and introduced her to the family as well. Rino had passed the filolial to Rifana so that he could get used to interacting with all of Chazon's party members. "What are you going to name them?"

Chazon tapped his chin a few times. "I left everyone out of the decision when I picked up the filolial's egg, so I'll let you guys decide that. As for the caterpiland… How about Amber?"

Amber squeaked in joy at her new name, which made Kardia smile at her. "She likes it! Rino-sama, how about you pick the filolial's name?"

Rino thought before saying "How about Obsidian? Sure it's a somewhat similar name to Amber's but it just feels right to me." Obsidian chirped happily at that.

"Then that's what we'll call them then. Welcome to the team, Amber and Obsidian!"

Damalus chuckled as he made for the door. "I'm gonna head out and gather some Red BioFruits for our two new mouths. It's got good nutrition and we've got it coming out of our ears."

"I'll make some breakfast after you return with the fruit. Sorry girls, but it would be rude to start eating before our newborn party members." He got a round of nods at that. He made sure to absorb the remains of the eggs in case he got something useful.

Monster Tamer's Spear III

Equip bonus: Monster growth correction (Medium), Monster stat manipulation (low)

And here's my ability to manipulate how our two newest members grow. He checked their base stats and noted that Obsidian was going to be a fast, hard-hitting physical attacker, so he manipulated his stats to reflect that. Amber seemed to have a focus on magic… and both defenses oddly. I guess despite being a bug, she has good defenses. Having 2 defensive party members could be a boon, especially if one has a focus on movement and the other on magic casting.

After getting everyone fed, they left the village to get some more exp for the new party members. Chazon modified the distribution to slightly favor the new additions, but plenty still went to the demi-humans.

Rifana took to using her magic iron shield well; thanks to her still having something of an attack stat, she could easily shield-bash enemies if they got too close. Already she fulfilled her role as a defender nicely as she covered Kardia whenever she chanted spells to use. Chazon and Rino made sure they were fine as Rino continued her dual blade training.

Chazon went off and planted more BioPlant seeds to speed up the leveling process for the four party members who need it. He had managed to finagle level 25 BioPlants and tested out his skills he got from the Heavensward Mauler parts. Heaven's Piercer was a throwing skill that ignored defense and dealt light damage but could only be used with the Heavensward Mauler Feather Javelin, while the Light Spear skill was basically a light-aspected Fire Spear. Both skills proved potent in taking down BioPlants.

By the time a break was needed, Rifana and Kardia were level 21 while Amber and Obsidian were level 12. Chazon decided to call it quits there for the day so that the demi-human girls could handle the inevitable growth spurts. What he wasn't expecting was his two monster party members to suddenly start growing rapidly as well. Obsidian more than doubled his size while Amber was longer and bigger around.

Both monsters had lots of affection for their other party members. Both bonded very well with Chazon, but they loved the three girls to bits as well. Chazon's more affectionate way of raising them rubbed off on them.

The next day saw Kardia and Rifana go through their next growth spurt, but it wasn't as painful as before. Their personalities had somehow changed overnight as well; Rifana had retained her girlishness but become an awkward klutz as well. She kept falling up the stairs or tripping over small obstacles on the floor, which made for some awkward scenarios. She always bounced back from her incidents though, more than likely thanks to her focus on defenses.

Rino mentioned that Rifana's breasts and overall figure was looking very nice, which prompted Chazon to slam his head into a wall, not wanting dirty thoughts about someone who was over half his age despite how she looked now.

Kardia, on the other hand, was… something else. She had a serene and elegant air about her, like she was the personification of calmness. Her patience was off the charts as well; Rifana had accidentally spilled food on her and she merely giggled it off. Like Rifana, her body also grew quite nicely, though she was more slender than her fellow demi.

Both girls didn't have ravenous appetites anymore; Damalus stated that it was a sign that they stopped growing. The two were lucky that Rino had clothes for them when they got older, though Rifana could barely fit in them with her new body, which warranted a trip to the tailors. By the time they were done, Rifana had an outfit similar to the one she wore as a kid except with more red in it as her out-of-combat outfit. Kardia had what was basically a shrine maiden's outfit on, which Chazon thought was extremely fitting for both her role and her new personality.

The two monsters grew even bigger, though oddly enough their appetites never increased all that much. It was still healthy, but they never needed to eat more than what was figured. Obsidian turned out to be a racing filolial hence his speed, while many people couldn't figure out what kind of caterpiland Amber was.

After a few hours of grinding on both wild monsters and BioPlants, since the arena's construction was proceeding apace, Amber's very species suddenly came into question when she perched herself off one of the BioFruit trees… and wove a cocoon around her. Kardia in particular was surprised. "She really did look like a caterpiland, but they don't do this normally."

Chazon looked at her. "So she might be a different monster than a caterpiland?"

Damalus looked at the cocoon with wonder. "I haven't seen a bug monster do this. Granted, most of them try to metamorphosis in areas outside of reach but if Amber's not a caterpiland, then what exactly?"

"Perhaps I can help with that as well." Glenn approached the party with a book in his hand. "One of the traders gave me this monster encyclopedia in exchange for a few bushels of Red BioFruit. It also contains mythical monsters thought to only be legends, so once your monster companion exits her cocoon, you can identify her species then."

Rifana looked at Glenn with a bright smile. "Thank you, Glenn-sama!"

"I'm just glad you girls are looking lively as usual. It seems only yesterday that Chazon-sama bought you off that slave trader as a couple of little girls and now you're fully grown!"

Chazon facepalmed at that. "Because that was at least two days ago, Glenn." Everyone laughed at his deadpan voice.

A couple hours later, Amber emerged from her cocoon. She had transformed into a moth-like monster with brilliant white wings that had various red and orange markings on them that almost resembled the sun. Kardia quickly skimmed through the pages of the encyclopedia and gasped softly. "Amber… is a Solar Empress!"

Rino looked at the designs on amber's still drying wings. "I can see why she would be called that. But how come we've never heard of a Solar Empress before?"

"Probably because it's considered a mythical monster like the Filolial Queen, according to this book." Kardia showed them and the page even had an illustration of the empress. "Supposedly, they went extinct long ago before the waves hit this world the time before this time."

Rifana looked at Amber in wonder. "To think we picked out the egg of a mythical monster after all." The weasel had gotten used to the fact that Amber was a bug and the beautiful wing patterns only made it easier on her. Plus, Amber's eyes were surprisingly animated and it toned her creepiness factor down by a lot somehow.

After letting her wings dry off, Amber started flying around to the amazement of everyone watching. Eventually, she landed on Chazon's head with a few chirps of joy… which made everyone laugh because she looked like a giant bow on his head. He was not amused, but stroked Amber's head anyways when she brought it down.

Obsidian had also turned into a fully grown filolial within two days, which greatly confused everyone except for Chazon. "I absorbed the eggs and they gave me a spear that causes growth correction in monsters. I guess this is what it meant."

Rino looked at both monsters in wonder. "Only a hero can raise monsters up this fast."

Chazon beckoned Obsidian over. "Come on, boy. Want to go for a run with me?"

The filolial chirped happily and kneeled down, allowing his master to mount. After he was situated, Obsidian took off to run a few laps around the village; despite Chazon's armor weighing them down, he was still really fast. After a few laps, Chazon had him stop. "You really are speedy. Sorry, Rino, but you're not going to be the only speed demon in our party."

"That's fine. Any advantage in the waves is a good advantage!" Rino smiles at Obsidian, who rubbed his head against hers.

Chazon took the time to review his party. Both him and Rino reached level 31, Rifana and Kardia reached level 28, while Obsidian and Amber reached level 23. We are making progress. Sure, Rino and I aren't leveling up much, but I'd rather get all my party members caught up before I allow us more exp for levels.

"Chazon-sama, Rino-sama! Over there!" Rifana had spotted something rapidly approaching the village from the ground. The dust-cloud kicked up from it was rather big.

The nearby villagers started freaking out. "The Porcupine King is here again! He's the one who destroyed our seed stocks about a month ago!"

So that monster is what made the famine as bad as it was. Chazon grabbed his spear with a determined look. "Listen up everyone, this thing probably has a bunch of lackeys escorting it. Stay frosty and be careful of getting blind-sided because these things are smarter than they look." He looks back at the nearby villagers. "Alert the militia in case some of the porcupines get by us!" They nodded and ran off.

When the king got closer, Chazon was able to analyze it:

Porcupine King

Level 40

Jeeze, this thing is stronger than the Mutated Mauler?! Then again, we have a much bigger party, even if most of us are sub-level 30. He looks at his party. "Rino and I will handle the king, the rest of you focus on the weaker lackeys. They seem to average about level 25, so stay frosty. If you clear the minions out, then engage the king carefully with us." Rino drew her Dual Mutated Mauler Blades she got from Chazon while he switched to his Chimera Lion Halberd.

Rifana brought her shield out, thankful that she decided to wear the magic iron medium-plate armor that Chazon was able to modify for her as she entered a battle stance. Kardia simply flicked her tail wistfully as she called forth her magic reserves. Both Amber and Obsidian were ready to go as well; it would be their first real fight and they refused to disappoint porcupine king let out a growl as it approached with its subjects, which caused the spear hero's party to engage.

Turns out that Rifana's defenses were already tough enough to weather the lesser monster's spines as they bounced harmlessly off her. She couldn't do too much damage to them, but she was able to keep the monsters off Kardia as she alternated between Faust Light Bolt and Faust Shadow Bolt.

Obsidian was far too fast for the monsters to keep up with; the ones he attacked could barely react in time to the filolial in front of them before getting a sharp kick or claw to the face.

Amber proved her worth when she could fly out of the jumping reach of the monsters, only to shower them with scales from her wings. The orange ones created mini explosions on contact, the red ones burst into flames, while the white ones blinded those looking at them. Some scales turned out to be duds and remained inert, but nobody cared at the time.

Chazon and Rino kept the big boss' attention on them, with Rino fully showing off the results of her training with Xia. The amount of grace she now had was almost distracting to Chazon, though he made sure that the boss was on him thanks to using a myriad of skills to wear the boss down. Between Light Spear, Savage Strike, Air Strike Javelin, and his jumping skills, Chazon had a lot of bases covered.

Especially so when his other party members had cleaned up the king's minions and started attacking the king itself. While it did get a few lucky shots in at Obsidian and managed to pierce Rifana's defenses, Kardia was on top of it with her healing between offensive spells. The kitsune was outfitted with MP potion holders so that she could quickly drain one and keep casting.

Thanks to Chazon's and Rino's efforts, the quills on the monster's back had become considerably shorter. After a struggle which lasted a few hours and even an attempted escape, the king was eventually dethroned by Rino's final blow.

Chazon noted all of the level ups around: level 35, 34, and 31 were the new level counts. "Heh, and this thing thought it could win because it was much higher leveled than us. Good job everyone!" He got a notification in his status magic, but chose to ignore it for now.

Rifana cheered loudly. "We did it! I can't believe I was able to fulfill my role adequately!"

"You should have more confidence in yourself, Rifana." Kardia smiled at the weasel. "You defended me well as I was casting spells."

"You two make a good battle pair." Rino told the two demi-humans. "Rifana-chan might not do much damage, but she can keep enemies off Kardia-chan and allow her to launch powerful spells." The two nod at her, tails wagging.

Chazon chuckled. "Let's not forget Obsidian and Amber. They did exceptionally well for their first real battle." Both monsters let out a joyful cry.

"Once again, you have saved us, Chazon-sama." Glenn had approached the battlefield after it was confirmed that the king was dead. "Your party has improved insurmountably during your time here and it warms my heart. If the other heroes are just as good as you, then we needn't fear the waves."

"You give me too much credit, Glenn, but thank you anyways. Besides, we've still got a lot of room for improvement if we are to-" Chazon was cut off when a green light flashed behind him. When he looked, he joined everyone in looking shocked.

Obsidian had just turned into a big, owl-like filolial. Some of his black feathers had a slight purple tint to them and his eyes held even more life in them than before.

Rino looked at Chazon. "What… kind of filolial did you get again, Chazon-kun?"

"I… I was told he was built like a racing filolial… what is even going on around me anymore?" Chazon sighed, but managed to stroke Obsidian's feathers reassuringly. "I suppose you're more than ready for your carriage, huh Obsidian?" He let out a very happy chirp at that.

Kardia tapped her chin in thought. "Are we leaving Lerno soon, Chazon-sama?"

"Well I was kind of thinking of getting the arena built and set-up before going, but something tells me we can't stay too long in one place." Chazon nods at his party. "Who knows, perhaps there are other places that need help or protection out there. That carriage will prove useful now that Obsidian is big enough to pull it."

Glenn decided to give Chazon the push. "Now that the porcupine king is dead, it'll be a long time before a new one shows up. That was the last real danger our village faced, so I'd personally recommend traveling around and seeing who you can help."

Rifana thought about it with a slightly sad face."Could we stay a little while longer? I know we can teleport back any time thanks to the Aetheryte Crystal, but I kind of want to spend some more time with the villagers before leaving."

Chazon, Rino, and Kardia knew why she was like that. Her last home got destroyed and only recently was she accepted in a new home; it seemed a bit unfair to make her say goodbye to it so soon. "Then let's call a compromise. Until everyone is fine with leaving Lerno for an extended period of time, we'll stay a while longer. Obsidian, let's just drive your carriage around the village for practice."

After getting said carriage set up properly and attached to Obsidian, he had never looked happier than when he was able to start pulling it. Rino mentioned that she heard of filolials who had gotten depressed over not being able to pull carriages, so Obsidian having one right away was a boon for him. Amber showed her support by flying alongside him as he pulled. Rifana was slightly queasy, but mentioned that Raphtalia was a lot more vulnerable to riding on carriages than she was. Kardia showed no discomfort if she felt any.

Chazon took that time to check what his status magic was notifying him of. What he saw shocked him.

Blood of the Spear (passive ability)

Unlocked at level 34

Enables or enhances growth correction and stat manipulation bonuses for Companions, Slaves, and Monsters.

Can this…? He checked his party's stats and, sure enough, he can manipulate their stat growths even more now. A bit late, but I can help them grow more the way they want now. Rino's stats were the only ones he had yet to manipulate, so he dropped her defensive growth potential and distributed it evenly into ATK, MAG, and AGI. Rino's my mixed attacker with a dash of healing, Kardia is my magic attacker who can heal and support, and Obsidian is my dedicated physical attacker. Meanwhile Rifana is my agility tank with a side of magic attacking and Amber will be a magic-caster tank, while I just go with whatever role is needed.

Chazon gave Obsidian a big hug, which the filolial chirped happily at. Despite growing into a much bigger than normal filolial, it made Chazon love him even more, though he did make sure to pass his affection around as much as possible. Rino blushed when he gave her a hug, which made Kardia smile mischievously.

When they had gone to collect Obsidian and Amber from the stables the next day for more leveling, they were nowhere to be found. "Uh… where did they go?" Rifana asked out loud, looking around in confusion.

Chazon folded his arms. Both of them had vanished from his party list as well. "The stables show no sign of a struggle, and nothing is broken that would indicate that they escaped. Did they randomly teleport?"

He looked at the Aetheryte Crystal when Kardia started tapping his arm. "I think I found them…" She pointed at the floor.

There were two naked children sleeping together on the floor. One was a black-haired boy while the other was a white-haired girl.

Rifana widened her eyes at that. "Who are they?"

"That's the 50 gold question here, Rifana." Chazon and Rino went into the stable and nudged the two sleeping children.

The girl woke up first. She looked around a bit sleepily, only to suddenly snap awake at the sight of the party with bright red eyes. "Papa!" She was hugging Chazon's legs before anyone could react.

W-w-w-what?!

"Chazon-sama, care to explain?" Kardia held her hand over her mouth, presumably trying not to laugh.

"I KNOW NOTHING!" Chazon outbursts, face beet-red, before looking at the little girl. "Who are you?"

"You don't recognize me, Papa? I'm Amber!" She suddenly showed a pair of familiar looking moth wings on her back.

That floored everyone present. "Amber?!" Rino looked at the now stirring boy. "Then… is that Obsidian as well?"

Chazon withdrew two sleeping blankets from his inventory and wrapped one around Amber while petting her on the head between her antenna. "Perhaps. Obsidian, is that you?" He kneels down to the black-haired boy.

"Yes, Daddy?" The boy let out a yawn before smiling brightly at Chazon. On his back were a pair of black-feather wings.

Both my monsters turned into humanoids… and are calling me their dad. Maybe I need a reality check…

Everyone took to the newly transformed monsters quickly. Amber was a bundle of energy that, while a handful, was also a ray of sunshine to everyone. Obsidian was more down-to-earth than Amber, but carried no small amount of cheer in his heart. Chazon's affectionate nature meshed well with Amber's bright personality and Obsidian's playful nature; both of them loved him even more than before.

While Rino knew she wouldn't get as much attention anymore, she still felt gratitude in her heart towards everyone in their party. Chazon-kun… I hope you'll never succumb to despair anymore, not when everyone here loves you.

Turns out that Obsidian can turn back into his filolial form while Amber can only show or hide her wings. Both cases quickly showed that regular clothes won't fit the bill as the blankets promptly ripped with Obsidian's transformations, though he did feel guilty about it.

Because there was no way to create magic thread in Lerno and the traders had already left, Chazon convinced his party members that they needed to return to Castle Town to get some transforming clothes for the two. The tailor did make them some temporary clothes until they can get some transforming clothes, though Rino made Obsidian and Amber promise not to transform randomly until they got said transforming clothes.

Chazon remembered something and brought out a certain scrap cloth. "Can you make… or rather recreate flags?"

That made the tailor surprised. "I can indeed, though it's not something I do often. Is there a particular flag you want?"

"There is. Rifana, come here!" She came over with a puzzled look. "This scrap is a good reference point, but would it be possible for you to try and draw what your old flag looked like?"

"You… you're actually going to have it remade?!" Rifana said with tears of happiness in her eyes.

"I told you before, it's clear your village held the Shield Hero in high regard in the past and that flag is clearly important to you. As such, I'm commissioning it now so that it'll be ready by the time you'll need it."

Rifana nodded at that as she was given a pen and paper to draw the full flag. After some time, she wondered if she couldn't change it just a little… before deciding to do so. When it was done, Chazon noted that there was now a spear on it. "How come you added a spear?"

"Because… you've given me and Kardia a new purpose in life after saving us from slavery, even though we wound up becoming your slaves anyways." Rifana admitted sheepishly before correcting herself. "I wanted everyone to know that you, the Spear Hero of today, is just as kind to demi-humans as the Shield Hero."

"You didn't have to… but thank you for your thoughtfulness." He gives her a kiss on the head.

Rifana did her best to fight off a blush despite her wagging tail. Oh no… I know he's affectionate like that, but… what happens if we accidentally kiss each other's lips?! T-then I'll become pregnant and… I won't be able to help him… and it'll become awkward and… oh no...

After paying for everything, Chazon had everyone load up into the carriage after one final goodbye. Damalus made sure to see off his daughter once again, though he chuckled when both Amber and Obsidian called him grandpapa. That made Rino blush heavily due to the two kids calling Chazon their father. Kardia once again had a mischievous smile on her face when she glimpsed Rino's face.

Chazon turned to Glenn. "I don't know when we'll be back, but we'll be seeing you when we do. My only request is this: if the shield hero comes into town, please treat him with kindness. He's a good friend after all."

"Rest assured, the shield hero will be treated as a friend here in Lerno. We'll even inform him of the Aetheryte Crystal's functions if that is alright to you." Glenn smiled at the party as Chazon gave permission; he could never deny a request from the savior of Lerno.

Chazon made sure to add Amber and Obsidian to his party as companions before they set out so that they could still gain exp from any monsters that tried to attack them. With how fast Obsidian was, the only ones who could kill monsters was Kardia and Rino due to using magic rather than melee.

Since he could leave it to his party members to defend the carriage, Chazon checked through his inventory. He noted a bunch of porcupine souls and tried using them on his Stone Golem Spear, resulting in a Pierce resist bonus (7%). He also noticed that he got a new ore, but when he attempted to use it he got an error message saying it was the incorrect type of ore. He tried it on his Vicious Raven Javelin and it worked. That's a rude wake-up call if I've ever seen one. Guess only certain ores affect certain weapons.

Traveling was all fun and games until they stopped by a river on the second day. There, Chazon was forced to confront one thing he hadn't realized up to that point. There are 4 girls… and only 2 boys in my party counting me. What…

As such, when the girls decided to bathe in the stream, Chazon chose to hide in the carriage to avoid any possible… mishaps. I… I mean, I wouldn't mind looking at Rino but- NO STOP BAD! Doing his best to ignore his hormones, He distracted himself by going through his spears and organizing them while stroking Obsidian's hair affectionately in his human form. Obsidian was confused as to why his Daddy was acting weird, but he enjoyed the affection nonetheless.

Ironically enough, the girls had to do their best not to snoop in on Chazon once he and Obsidian were cleaning off as well. Rino especially was blushing like mad. Ohhh… I think I caught a glimpse of Chazon-kun after he took his shirt off and… AAAAH HE'S HOT! I want to look but... It didn't help that while Kardia was doing her best not to snoop as well, she was goading Rino into doing so in spite of her personality.

Thankfully no snooping occurred on either gender's time bathing.

The evening of the next day resulted in a chance meeting. "Daddy! There's another carriage up ahead coming this way!"

Rino was driving at the time, so Chazon came up front to check it out. He looked… and saw a filolial that looked similar to Obsidian, albeit white with pink in the feathers. Huh, while Obsidian can transform and talk, perhaps there really are other filolials that look like- wait… is that?

While the beak of the other filolial started moving like it was talking, it was the person in the driver's seat that caught his eye. A certain brown-haired tanuki girl was holding the reins. Rino gasped at the sight. "Chazon-kun! That's…!"

"Obsidian, pull over!" Obsidian let out a confused noise, but complied as Chazon leaped off the carriage and rushed towards the other one.

Raphtalia had noticed a black filolial that looked similar to Filo up ahead, but the moment it started pulling over, a familiar face jumped off and started running towards them. "Filo, stop! Naofumi-sama, It's Chazon-sama!"

"Chazon?!" Naofumi was out of the carriage as fast as he could and saw the Spear Hero running towards him, Rino driving their own carriage to the side. "It is. And he's... okay!"

"Naofumi! Raphtalia!" Chazon called out to the two, who both disembarked as soon as their filolial stopped. As soon as they met up, Raphtalia gave Chazon a hug. "Oof, Raphtalia, what's-"

"I'm sorry, Chazon-sama! I never… I didn't offer you any words of comfort and... "

She gasped softly as Chazon hugged her back. "It's fine. Naofumi needed the comfort more than me anyways, and I'm not just saying that." He broke the hug and gave her a smile. "I'm just glad you two are doing alright."

Naofumi noted his tone and attitude. "Chazon are you feeling better? You know… after that whole ordeal in Castle Town?"

Chazon nodded. "A lot has happened since we last met. Don't worry, I'm better than ever… thanks to a certain someone."

As if on cue, Rino showed up with a joyful look. Both her and Raphtalia hugged each other as Naofumi patted Chazon on the shoulder. "I'm glad you're doing better. I've been worried about you this whole time because of… you know."

"I'm glad to see you full of life as well." Chazon notes the setting sun. "Why don't we both stop here for the night? Make a collaborative campsite between our parties." Naofumi nodded at that as Chazon turned around. "Oi! We're setting up camp here. Get your tails out here!"

Raphtalia gave Chazon a surprised look. "You have more party members now?"

"Yup… and let's just say you'll be reuniting with a certain someone." He gave her a smile, which made her tilt her head.

"R-Raphtalia-chan?!" The tanuki turned and saw Rifana in front of Chazon's carriage. "Raphtalia-chan is that truly you?!"

"Rifana-chan!" Raphtalia wasted no time in rushing towards her long-lost friend. Rifana tried to as well… except she tripped on her way, which made everyone sweat-drop and Chazon facepalm with a grimace.

Rifana shook it off no problem and made the rest of the way to hug her childhood friend. "Raphtalia-chan! I missed you!"

"I missed you too, Rifana-chan!"

Naofumi smiled at the scene. "What are the odds?"

"Honestly, probably very small but it happened anyways." Chazon smiles at Naofumi. "While those two are having an emotional reunion, how about you introduce me to your new addition? Obsidian, come over here!" The back-feathered filolial approached with a puzzled look.

Naofumi realized what Obsidian was and smiled. "Right. Her name is Filo and… she's a glutton."

"Master! I'm not a-" Filo slapped a wing over her beak in shock. I wasn't supposed to talk around strangers. I hope Master doesn't deny me dinner...

Chazon got a chuckle out of that. "So that's how it is. Anyways, this is Obsidian. Obsidian, what am I to you?"

Obsidian cocked his head in confusion. "You're my Daddy! What else could you be?"

Naofumi grinned at being right while Filo looked shocked before becoming very happy. "You can speak too!" She suddenly transforms into a blond-haired little girl with white wings and rushes forward. "You're the first one I've met that's just like me!"

"You are as well... Except…" Obsidian gave Chazon a worried look.

"Don't worry, I gotchya. On my mark." Chazon grabs a blanket from his inventory. "3, 2, 1, go!" Obsidian transforms and he covers the humanoid filolial with the blanket so he wasn't naked.

Filo rushed forward and hugged Obsidian. "Yaaay! We're the same! I hope we're going to be good friends, Kuro-kun!"

"Er… my name is Obsidian, but if you want to…" He had a light blush on his face at already getting a nickname from one of his own kind, much to the two hero's amusement.

"Obsidian is a good kid and a joy to interact with." Chazon thought of something and kneeled down to Filo. "Filo? Would you like a hug?"

Filo looked at him for a second before she remembered something. "You're the spear guy that Master and Raphtalia-oneechan keep talking about!" She dives into his arms as he laughs at her energy. "Mmm, you're so warm…"

"And you are precious, Filo. I'm glad I got to meet you."

Both of them laughed and Naofumi looked on with warmth in his heart as he saw his fellow hero give plenty of his own brand of affection to Filo. Chazon… I swear, you're like the beautiful uncle who always wanted to be a father. Except you are something of a father… and a proud one at that.

Chazon got up, holding hands with both filolials. "Apologies, but I have a soft-spot for filolials so I couldn't resist doting on Filo. I'm glad she looks-"

"PAPA!" Amber suddenly flew and collided with Chazon's head, which took all of his might not to fall forward. The white-haired girl was now clinging to Chazon's head. "I wanna meet everyone as well!" Naofumi noted the moth-like wings on her back with surprise while Chazon sighed in amusement.

After both parties set up camp and dinner was cooking, Chazon and Naofumi took the time to introduce each other's parties. Naofumi's party was surprised to learn that Amber was a Solar Empress, while everyone else was shocked to learn that Obsidian (Kuro-kun) was a Filolial King. He had gotten dressed in his temporary clothes and was now playing with Filo and Amber outside of the campfire circle the others made.

Naofumi told Chazon's party about the day after the duel, as well as all the events leading up to now. It included raising Filo in Lute, racing Glone to prevent Malty from jacking up the toll which made Chazon promise to check on due to Malty trying to ruin his reputation, becoming the "Savior of the Heavenly Fowl" as a trader, learning accessory crafting, and had been on his way to investigate rumors about the cursed seed of the Alchemist's Cave falling into Lerno Village's hands.

Chazon awkwardly rubbed the back of his head. "Yeah… I was the one who gave them that seed… or should I say "seeds" after planting the first one."

Raphtalia widened her eyes. "What made you do that?"

"Thanks to Rino having a translation tablet on her when she joined me, we knew that the seed would bring ruin if planted haphazardly. As such, I decided to plant it first in the middle of nowhere to limit collateral damage and kill the resulting monster that spawned. After that the BioPlant Halberd I got from it, alongside another spear, allowed me to manipulate the seeds so that they don't mutate into monsters."

Rino nodded at that. "Chazon-kun had brought a load of meat with him when he first arrived in Lerno and gave it to the residents. After that, he freed the river and had the seeds planted. The next day… Well the famine was officially over as the village already had a BioFruit surplus due to how fast the plants regrow fruit."

Naofumi nodded in approval. "Being cautious never hurts. Good to know you found a sort of "base" for you to return to at any point."

"Yeah. Not the greatest when it comes to equipment, but food is plentiful and I came up with the idea of building an arena to fight BioPlant monsters for anyone to level up off, since the exp gains from fighting a newly grown BioPlant is very reasonable."

"All without killing the ecosystem… very clever."

Chazon nodded at Naofumi's party. "I told Glenn, the Elder/Mayor of Lerno to accept you with open arms when you arrive. While you're not going to find any troubles there for the time being, it'll be a good place to trade for more food and relax for a bit. Plus… I may have cheated the system a bit and created my own teleporting service."

"Teleporting service? What do you mean by that?" Raphtalia was curious about that; being able to teleport would be a major convenience.

"All I can say is head to the Aetheryte Square and attune to the crystal there. You'll know what I mean then." Chazon smiled mischievously.

"Right… How about you go over what happened ever since you left the duel that one night? I know it might be a painful topic, but…" Naofumi wondered if it was a good idea to poke at old wounds like that.

"It's fine, I did kind of leave you guys without a word."

Chazon summed up the minutes after the duel succinctly: When he got to his Inn, Rino failed to show up so he rushed off to find her. After some help, he found her paralyzed in a brothel and on the verge of being raped, something Naofumi and Raphtalia blanched at. Rifana and Kardia knew some of the details, but it made hearing about it no less painful as it reminded them of their days as abused slaves.

Thanks to that night, he lost the ability to see color. "To quote someone from my world, "The purest and most thoughtful minds are the ones who love color the most." I never realized how much I took color for granted until all I could see was a world of grey." Rino held his hand out of concern and he smiled at her. "I would be stuck in the cold depths of my own despair without Rino… and until the day Rifana and Kardia came into my life."

He mentioned how he found the two in Beloukas' tent and remembered Raphtalia's words on the night of the duel. "Are you capable of such kindness? Are you merciful enough to extend a hand to a slave on the brink of death?"

Raphtalia stood up quickly. "Those words were never meant for you, Chazon-sama! When we first met in the forest, you showed me nothing but compassion and kindness, which is akin to extending your hand to a slave!"

"I know that now, but in the depths of my despair, I thought differently. However… when I saw how much pain Rifana and Kardia, who was suffering from illness at the time, were in I knew it was more than just following your words." He nods at the two, who both held his hand when he extended it to them. "I genuinely wanted to save you two."

That got a smile out of Kardia. "And save us you did. Both from our pain and my illness."

Rifana nodded. "I was… scared of you initially because I saw how dull your eyes were. But you did your best to reassure me. I'll never forget your kindness."

Chazon nodded before telling of how he was directed to one of the ancient forests around the land to seek a Yggdrasil Leaf to cure Kardia. They went in, got told by the guardian to kill a Mutated Mauler… and how he, in his despair-befuddled mind, tried to save Rino from something she could have easily dodged. What happened after was Rino dispelling any self-doubts and how much he had been blaming himself by countering everything with what he did up to that point. "It's thanks to Rino… that I felt hope again."

Raphtalia smiled at that. I knew it… Rino-chan really did become your light in the darkness.

Chazon continued by saying the Mauler was slain, the guardian gave them the Yggdrasil Leaf they needed, and managed to concoct a Yggdrasil's Drought to cure Kardia thanks to Rino's apothecary father. Rifana noted how much he comforted her after curing the kitsune. "I never imagined that a hero besides the Shield Hero would have shown a demi-human genuine kindness the way you have... yet you did. You even gave Kardia her new name and gave us a choice with what we wanted to do."

"Though it was kind of awkward how he purchased us to free us from slavery… only for us to turn around and want to be his slaves anyways." Kardia admitted with an awkward smile. That got a chuckle out of everyone present.

"Yeah, but it was thanks to that I was able to purchase the eggs containing Amber and Obsidian. I guaranteed Obsidian because… I just really wanted a filolial, okay?!" Chazon outbursts with a blush on his face, much to everyone's amusement.

"You really do love your filolials, Chazon-kun. I still remember how much you acted like a little kid around a carriage driver's filolial on our way back to Castle Town for the second wave."

"RINO!" That was the third time everyone laughed at Chazon tonight, who just grumbled.

"U-um, Naofumi-sama?" Rifana spoke up shyly. "Could you teach me how to be a good shielder?"

Naofumi gave her a dumbfounded look, which amused Chazon. "My reaction exactly. She really wanted to follow in your footsteps, so I obliged. So far she's been pretty good with it; heck she took a direct hit from a boss monster that was 12 levels above her and kept on going, especially after a heal from Kardia."

Naofumi thought about it. "I'm not good at teaching, unfortunately. I am flattered that you wanted to mimic my way of defending, but the best advice I can offer is pay attention to your surroundings and your allies. Use everything at your disposal to get the upper hand." Rifana nods at that.

Naofumi gave Chazon his share of the reward from Trash which amounted to 1,000 silver, gave him a few monster parts for more spears, and also gave him an accessory that boosted attack, magic, and agility; something that Chazon immediately put onto Rino. In exchange, Chazon gave Naofumi all the monster parts he collected as well as information on a new strengthening method: Spirit Enchantment. "Once again, I'd love to give you something to let you try it out, but... I doubt you can trade monster souls."

He tried to give Naofumi some of the Yggdrasil's Drought, but the Shield Hero refused by stating that he was an apothecary in his own right and Chazon would need it more. "Have you tried absorbing some of it into your spear?"

Chazon gave him a dumbfounded look. "No… I would never have thought to do that…"

"You meant to tell me that you've never unlocked any of the spears that come from absorbing potions?" Chazon shook his head and Naofumi glared at him. "You and me, we're having another weapon-form session for you right this instant!"

"Ho boy…" What followed was Chazon getting a bunch of spears relating to the potions he had on hand, as well as anything Naofumi had made beforehand. They saved the Drought for last; apparently they only needed half a dose each to unlock the respective weapons.

Yggdrasil Drought Spear (level 80 required for unlock)

Equip bonus: Poison resist bonus (extreme), Acid resist bonus (extreme), Paralysis resist bonus (extreme), Sleep resist bonus (extreme), Sickness resist bonus (extreme), Disease resist bonus (extreme), Confusion resist bonus (extreme), Curse resist bonus (extreme)

Special effect: Potion enhance (extreme)

Naofumi mentioned that Mahoya wanted to speak with Chazon when he next returned to Castle Town, which was going to happen anyways since Chazon needed transforming clothes for Obsidian and Amber. The rest of the night the two parties ate delicious food cooked by both heroes and chatted happily with each other while the three humanoid monsters bonded, which reminded Rifana and Raphtalia of their childhood with Keel, though they were worried about her and how she was still in slavery. Despite that, it truly felt like a lot of things were right in the world at that time.