A Shield's Stand
Chapter Three: Family Is Found, Not Given
Review Time:
SomeCallMeDrunk: Thank you for the praise! And you are kind of correct in your guess. Certain characters in the story will be capable of seeing Naofumi's stand, but for right now, that's far in the future and I gotta do a lotta planning for that to happen.
D3lph0xL0v3r: Thank you so much for the compliment! I'm glad to see you enjoyed the chapter! Naofumi's stand will be revealed in due time, so until then, ya just gotta wait. As for Rifana, I have her stat growth made to be less of an all-rounder like Raphtalia (sort of) is and more so of a typical assassin with a twist.
calderoneric758: I didn't really think of a pose for Naofumi, I never really thought about it too much. Also, I did not know that, but that is a really cool tidbit of info.
NarutoisNumber1Ninja: Thanks so much! Yeah, I never really liked the slave seals too much so I just threw those away. Yes those will affect certain future events a bit, but that's in the future. For now, you have to wait for the stand haha.
Guest: I will say that the stand cry is kind of irrelevant to the stand ability. I just put Ikari in there because I wanted there to be some form of Naofumi's canon rage to be there while also not betraying the character I'm giving him in this story. As for the royals and other idiots, I have plans for them :)
RedFistCannon: I was very unaware of that, however, for the sake of the story, I am going to progress as if that rule doesn't exist because that would absolutely destroy every idea I have for future chapters haha. And I did read your story, while personally its not my favorite read, it was still very enjoyable to read, so thank you for the recommendation. Also, I didn't take your earlier comment in offense, so no worries. Constructive criticism is good :)
KRKing: Those are some interesting ideas to hear. As for Raphtalia's strength, the stats won't matter too much in the story to be honest. I'll reference them every so often but mostly I'll just use phrases like "his defense is too strong" and stuff like that. As for the shield rule, I responded to RedFistCannon about that and just as I said to him, I will ignore that rule, cuz I think its dumb. And don't worry, Naofumi will be getting plenty of shields and funny little descriptions.
gaming is served: I WILL GIVE YOU MORE :)
SentinalSlice: Thanks for the kind words man! I'm glad you've been enjoying the story so far, and I've been getting better with the speech words like said, says, exclaimed and all that jazz, so enjoy that! I really enjoy making this story so its nice to see people appreciate it :)
Returning from the mine ended up becoming a little bit of an ordeal.
It began with the three celebrating their victory over the two headed cerberus, easily their hardest battle yet. However, as they were celebrating, Naofumi was reminded that he did not escape without injury, as his shoulder still had several large puncture marks spewing blood at a steady rate, courtesy of the oversized dog's attack.
At least, I got a good shield out of the dog… Naofumi thought happily as he watched over his two adopted children.
Two Headed Cerberus Shield
ATK: +1
DEF: +4
MDEF: +3
AGI: +2
Skill [ Dog Bite ] Unlocked
Skill [ Fire ResistanceSmall ] Unlocked
Whoever let the dog out needs to learn some responsibility
So they decided to forego any further mining, beginning their walk back to Lute, their already mined light metal ore in their bag. Naofumi led the party, his incredible defenses protecting him in the event of a sudden attack and granting Rifana and Raphtalia enough time to prepare their weapons.
Naofumi opened the sack, wincing at the movement of his shoulder, looking inside to see five clumps of Light Metal Ore. He frowned a bit, hoping it was enough to pay for his treatment and some future rations. It was then he heard a pair of rapid tearing noises from behind him. Naofumi turned, expecting an enemy to be attacking his children, only to find Raphtalia and Rifana, both their faces beet red as they tried to cover their now teenage bodies, their previous child sized outfits ripped all over and barely hanging on their shoulders and covering much less than they should be.
Naofumi blinked, staring wide eyed at the two children he had practically adopted, now teenagers in the blink of an eye.
Rifana spoke first with a confident look in her eyes, "What's wrong Naofumi? Can't look away?" Her shaky voice betrayed her bravado.
Naofumi pointed at the two, "...What happened?" He asked, "Why are you two teenagers?" Raphtalia opened her mouth to respond but Naofumi cut her off, "Actually, it doesn't matter right now. What does matter is getting you two some fitting clothes," he continued his walk towards Lute, "You two head back to camp, I'll bring you some clothes when I get back."
Rifana walked off with a confident stride and a beet red face while Raphtalia shyly hurried behind her.
It didn't take much longer from there to arrive at the village and find the shopkeeper who he initially spoke to. After selling the few Light Metal ores they had managed to gather, earning a respectable 25 silver due to its current rarity as well as being the one responsible for clearing out the mine, Naofumi was pointed toward the Village Lord's home.
Walking up to the home, Naofumi could see the distinctions between the normal villager's house and the lord's own home. The Lord's home was well lit and had small detailings while most other buildings had less lighting and barely any detailings in the wooden walls. However, the biggest difference was in the door itself. The Lord's door was made of a much darker wood, and had a small viewing window on the top of it.
Naofumi approached the door and gave a polite knock, waiting for a response. A few moments later, an elderly man exited the house. He had a red scarf that reached down to his knees, a couple facial scars adorning his chin and gray hair but was slowly going bald. He saw the young hero and he excitedly greeted him, "Thank you Sir Shield Hero! Your actions in ridding the wave monsters from the mine have greatly helped our struggling village. We can now harvest Light Metal Ore once again thanks to you," he spoke with a dignified tone.
Naofumi rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, "It really wasn't an issue, sir. I'm just glad the people here won't be struggling anymore and me and my party were able to get some decent XP from the monsters in the mine."
The lord smiled, "Such kind and noble words! Sir Hero, I must reward you for your deeds."
Naofumi went to refuse but remembered his party's… predicament. "I don't want to take away any of your village's funds so I have to ask for something else, if you can that is."
"Whatever you need, Sir Hero, I will do what I can to procure it for you," the lord responded.
"Well… would anyone in your village be able to sell me women's clothing for teenagers? Some of the younger party members have uh… hit a bit of a growth spurt," Naofumi spoke awkwardly.
The lord paused for a moment, rubbing his chin in thought, "Well if it's women's clothing you want, we might have some leftover clothing from some of the children who outgrew them," he turns to Naofumi, "How big are your party members?"
A small blush showed on Naofumi's face as he remembered the event which spurred this sudden shopping trip. "Well, they're about this tall," he raised his left hand up to mid chest, "and this wide," he spaces his hands a distance apart.
The lord raises his eyebrows knowingly, "And their chests?"
Naofumi coughed, his small blush now covering his whole face, scar and all, "W-well, I wouldn't- you know I- uh…" Naofumi submits to the lord, miming out the sizes to him.
The lord wolf whistles at him, "You, Sir Hero, you have got yourself some fine women in your party."
"D-do you have the clothing or not?!" Naofumi shouts, done with being embarrassed.
"We sure do, Shield hero, let me go get it for you. I'll meet you by the village gate to see you off."
Naofumi nods, looking pointedly away from the lord.
Naofumi reaches the camp, Raphtalia and Rifana's clothing bundled in his arms. He sees a small fire lit and loudly announces, "Raphtalia! Rifana! I'm leaving your clothes next to the fire, I'll look away so please tell me when you're done changing!"
He sat on a stone, facing away from the camp, trying avidly to ignore the rustling of the clothes behind him. He instead thought back to what the lord had said as he left the village.
Naofumi took the clothes from the lord, his blush finally having calmed down. He thanked the lord before asking, "Do you have any other jobs you need us to do? We'd be happy to help."
The lord shook his head, "If it's quests you're looking for, you won't really find those here. The only quest we really had was the mine kill quest and we had posted that in the guild a few weeks ago."
Naofumi raised a brow, "Guild?"
The lord looked surprised, "You don't know about the guild? Then why would you come here if not to answer for the quest?"
"Me and my party were just looking for work and strong monsters anywhere, honestly."
"Well in that case, you might want to go back to the guild in Castle Town. They should have all the work a hero like you would ever need."
"We're done!" Naofumi heard Rifana call out to him. He stood up from his place on the rock.
So there's a place where we can just sign up for jobs? That would have been nice to know before, Naofumi thought with a sigh.
Naofumi turned, seeing Raphtalia and Rifana dressed in their new clothes. Between the two, Raphtalia dressed far more modestly, wearing a beige long sleeved low cut undershirt with a red and black battle dress over it, ending mid-thigh. On her side sat the familiar dagger Naofumi had gotten her as a kid. Her hair had grown slightly longer, now framing her sharper face far more nicely than it had as a kid. Seeing her tail wagging from behind her, Naofumi could see that it had gotten slightly bushier and longer. Her ears had also gotten just a tad bit bigger from her child size.
Rifana had taken the far more… revealing outfit. She was wearing a purple fur laced shoulderless top that showed the little bit of cleavage that Rifana now had. The top flowed down, excellently outlining Rifana upper body before splitting off into a slitted dress, showing off Rifana's legs up to mid thigh, with the dress ending at the middle of her shins. She had a wide smile on her face, enjoying the attention she received from her personal hero. Much like Raphtalia, her tail had grown longer and her ears larger.
"So Naofumi, how do we look?" Rifana asked excitedly.
Naofumi took everything in (ignoring the parts he shouldn't) before giving the two a wide smile and an accepting nod, "You two look great! If you don't like the outfits, we can find more when we head back to Castle Town, that sound ok?" The two teenage demi-humans nodded, "Ok, now can you explain why you both suddenly turned into teenagers?" Naofumi asked in a strained tone.
To his surprise, Raphtalia was the first to speak up, "This is normal for us Demi-humans. When we reach a certain level, we age rapidly to the next stage of our development. That's the main reason so many humans see us as nothing more than monsters."
Naofumi frowned at that last piece of information. If that was why Humans saw Demi-humans as trash, then it would certainly explain their harsh treatment and the slavery that occured in Melromarc. They are treated more like monsters or pets than people. Naofumi shook his head, he had saved Raphtalia and Rifana from that fate. He shouldn't doubt himself now.
He had two teenagers to look over now.
Arriving at Castle Town caused a bit of a stir as almost everyone recognized Naofumi for the crimes he had been convicted of, spitting harsh words at him as they passed. This continued all the way to the guild's front doors. The front of the Guild Hall building had the word 'Guild' written in cursive above the front door.
At least their designer isn't lying, Naofumi chuckled to himself.
Walking in, Naofumi observed the room before him. The guild hall was split into three sections: a front seating area, a side bar area, and a section in the back for the reception and services. The seating area had seven large tables for parties to discuss quests or just rest and relax for some time. The bar was the smallest area of the building, shoved off to the side where Naofumi could already see two drunkards leaning against the counter. The reception area was where most parties in the room had congregated around, and behind a wooden counter sat three receptionists.
Naofumi, Rifana, and Raphtalia all entered quietly, however, it wasn't soon before most eyes in the room had landed them on the Shield hero and his party. Many of them were narrowed in anger and hatred, the bow hero, Itsuki, being one of them.
Istuki hadn't seen Naofumi since he was convicted of his crime only a single day after they were summoned. But it didn't matter anymore, not entirely anyway. He had been given his punishment, narrowly avoiding death due to his status as a hero, but as annoying as it was to admit it, all four heroes were needed to fight the waves, so for the time being he would tolerate the criminal's presence.
Naofumi was unnerved from the hundred hateful stares that focused on him, but when he realized many of them were focused on the two teens behind them, he steeled his glare and met every pair of eyes, not budging until they looked away from fear. Once he had done so, he and his party walked towards the reception counter. The three receptionists there were all vastly different, likely to appeal to the different tastes of their patrons who regularly entered. The woman on the right was short, so much so that her head barely reached over the counter. She had neon green hair and wore the standard uniform of a blue vest with a black undershirt. The girl in the center was easily the most eye catching. Her curvy figure and unblemished skin was an easy call to almost any man who entered. Like her coworker, she also wore the standard uniform.
As much as Naofumi would like to meet with either of these two, it was clear they didn't share the same wish. Both glaring at him hatefully from behind the counter, leaving Naofumi with the final woman, who hadn't even noticed him.
She towered over him, even hunched over as she was to fill out paperwork. She was incredibly muscular to where her uniform was straining to hold her and her face had several scars adorning the left side of her face, giving her a far more rugged look than either of the other receptionists. On top of this massive frame, sat a small amount of bright pink hair and kind eyes that anyone could easily fall into. Naofumi approached the woman and called for her attention.
She looked up and her kind eyes and resting smile immediately fell into a frown and glare, "Here to take a quest?" She said curtly.
"Yes, but we would also like to sign up to officially be adventurers," Naofumi replied kindly, doing his best to ignore the hulking woman's gaze. Naofumi knew he had to sign up because he saw another adventurer doing the exact same thing through the window of the guild.
The woman just groaned in frustration mumbling 'another one' to herself, "Fine, I'll be right back." She stood up and disappeared into the door behind the counter. Naofumi didn't have to wait long before she showed again, throwing down a knife and some sort of parchment on the counter. "The guild needs some form of identification for every adventurer, so we use this parchment to absorb the blood of the adventurer," she explained bluntly.
Naofumi looked at the knife worriedly before taking and trying to cut into his thumb lightly. However, as expected of the Shield Hero, the knife didn't come close to piercing him. He passed the knife over to Rifana who looked upset at being asked to do the deed. Hesitantly, she put the knife up to Naofumi's thumb and tried to cut it. Just like Naofumi, she couldn't cut it. The woman just sighed.
In the end, it took the combined effort of Rifana, Raphtalia, and the receptionist to cut the Hero's skin. Naofumi placed his thumb on the parchment, watching as the blood was easily absorbed into it, before an identical copy to his stat screen displayed itself on it.
The woman looked surprised at the parchment before her face reset to its resting scowl, "186 defense, guess that would explain why we couldn't cut your thumb. Alright, you two, we already spent too much time on this crap, so get over here."
Rifana and Raphtalia's stats were also taken after significantly less effort.
"Congrats," the woman tonelessly said, "You're adventurers, now what quest do you want?"
A list of options appeared before the three, ranging from support in overtaking a local dungeon to regaining lost items. However, the hero and his party were looking for the best XP they could handle and before long they spotted a kill quest for a small goblin encampment near Araki Village. The recommended level was 24, which the three were all fairly close to, so they took it.
The woman hands them a wooden token, "This is your permission from the guild to try the quest. Return with it and proof of the completed quest and you will earn the posted rewards. If another adventurer completes it before you, you won't get anything."
The three nodded as Naofumi handed the token to Raphtalia. "Thank you so much for this, I know not everyone would serve me as I am now, especially as the Shield Hero, so I really appreciate this," Naofumi said with a light smile.
The woman's brows raised a bit at this, likely not expecting the supposed rapist to be so soft spoken, "It's my job, kid. The name's Elina Poli, mind telling me your and your party's names?"
Naofumi just nodded again, "My name is Naofumi, and behind me are Rifana and Raphtalia," Raphtalia nervously waved at the hulking woman while Rifana gave a grin. "It's nice to meet you," he stuck out a hand. Elina took the hand in a very strong handshake.
"Same, kid."
With that, they left. As they exited, Naofumi turned to look one more time at Elina.
"What's wrong Naofumi?" Raphtalia asked.
Naofumi continued to gaze in worry, "It's nothing Raphtalia."
As they walked to Erhard's shop for new weapons, Naofumi thought to himself,
She doesn't look happy.
From there, it was a relatively simple affair. Shopping at Erhard's ended up with Raphtalia getting a proper sword for her and Rifana upgrading her dagger and surprisingly taking up an axe as well. When questioned she just responded with, "I like it."
Then, after a day's travel they ended up in Araki Village. Unlike Lute, Naofumi was met with many hateful stares, which meant the news had to have reached here before he could, which was unfortunate and would make information gathering just that extra bit more annoying. When they revealed they were there to help with the goblin encampment, most people scoffed at them and just walked off. It wasn't until Raphtalia entered the local tavern wearing Naofumi's cloak to hide her demi-human appendages that they finally got something close to information.
First, the goblin encampment was at the base of a large and steep hill to the southwest, resting beside a lakeside. Secondly, the goblins had access to a goblin champion, which made normally fairly standard monsters into a genuine threat as a goblin champion passively raised the stats of any nearby goblin by a tremendous amount. To make it even worse, the goblins also had several warrior goblins at the ready, all commanded by the champion.
Unfortunately, that was as far as they got before a man recognized Raphtalia as the person with the Shield Hero asking questions about the goblin kill quest. She was then chased out of the tavern.
Seeing that the villagers wouldn't share anything else so that the Shield Hero and their party could fix their problem for them, Naofumi, Rifana, and Raphtalia left for the village to do some personal scouting.
The trip didn't take very long at all. Maybe half a day at worst, which made the villagers' situation all the worse since they were at risk of a raid at any given time. The three newly registered adventurers looked over the encampment, a series of straw and twig huts, with two of them appearing to be bigger than the others.
"Wow… that is much bigger than I thought goblins were supposed to be," Rifana spoke, her voice filled with trepidation.
Naofumi looked at the weasel teen, "They're normally smaller than this? Then it must be the champion's boost doing that then."
Raphtalia spoke up, "You're probably right, Naofumi. Goblins are supposed to be three feet tall at the maximum, but looking at them now, they're easily seven feet tall."
Naofumi scanned the three goblins he could see, they're info popping up:
Goblin Villager
Lv 17
Goblin Villager
Lv 15
Goblin Warrior
Lv 21
"The highest level villager I can see is 17, so we shouldn't have to worry about them too much, especially since they're not classed as warriors. The problem is the one in armor," he points towards the one in armor, "is the same level as me, and he's likely not the strongest one there."
The two nodded, "So what's the plan then?" Rifana asked, "I doubt we could just charge in swinging, they're way too many of them for that."
Raphtalia nodded, "Maybe if we could somehow create a diversion, we could take out a couple of the smaller warriors to see how much of a threat they can be. But even with Naofumi's incredible defensive ability, I don't think he can withstand attacks from an entire encampment of boosted goblins."
Naofumi nodded in agreement. He didn't know if he could tank those hits and frankly, he didn't want to test his luck.
"The area around us doesn't lend well to sneak attacks. The lakeside is shallow so they would see us the very second we surface and the hill doesn't have any places to hide behind," Naofumi observed their surroundings.
"We could wait until dark to sneak in," Raphtalia suggested.
"Then we wouldn't be able to fight efficiently. We would have no sight and we would be just as susceptible to sneak attacks ourselves," Naofumi pointed out the flaw in her idea, "While normally that wouldn't be a bad idea, the goblins have a much better idea of the layout of their camp than we do."
"So that doesn't leave us with many options. I think our best opportunity is pairing Naofumi and me," Rifana points to herself, "to distract the bastards while Raph comes in from the opposite end of the camp. That way we can fight them with strategy on one end and stealth on another."
While it wasn't the greatest idea in the world, it was the best one they had, so the three adventurers spread out to take on the camp. Naofumi summoned his ghostly hand as Rifana followed behind him, taking the axe from its place on her back and readying it to be used while Raphtalia split off from the others, heading off to approach the opposite side of the camp, sword at the ready.
They didn't bother to hide their presence, instead approaching the front where a couple goblin villagers easily saw them and ran off to alert the others.
"Rifana," Naofumi called, "If at any point an attack is coming and it's going to hit one of us, I don't care how hurt I am already, let me take it. Your defense is far lower than anyone else I've seen so far. I don't want you to get hurt because of me."
Rifana opened her mouth to protest but before she could, several goblin warriors arrived, dressed in crude leather armor, wielding crude spiked wooden clubs, and ready for a fight.
"We'll discuss it later, but for now, just listen to me alright?" Rifana begrudgingly nodded.
And just like that, the fight began.
(to help the fight flow a bit better, I will refer to the goblins by their level numbers)
Three goblin warriors, levels 22, 21, and 24 charged the two. 24 smashed their club into the ground, Naofumi and Rifana splitting off to dodge the brutal swing. Naofumi parried another attack by 22, commanding the hand to crash into the goblin warrior as he did so. 22 stunned, Naofumi grabbed his arm, using his upper body to throw him towards 21. The two, temporarily down, Naofumi joined the fight against 24.
Rifana had been chopping away at the larger goblin, who was unable to contest with her ridiculous speed. Several gashes covered 24, each one made at pivotal points for movement, further crippling him. Naofumi dashed in, delivering a strong blow to 24's right knee, forcing him to kneel before kicking him into the other two warriors.
"Tether!"
A rope sprung from Naofumi's Legendary Shield, wrapping around the three warriors, trapping and tying them together. Rifana dashed forward to seize the opening, swinging her axe towards 21's neck, striking it and severing it.
The combined strength of 22 and 24 quickly snapped the rope off, leaving them free to rejoin the fight, if a bit injured. Several other warriors and even some villagers joined the fray, with Naofumi and Rifana's enemies now totalling seven. They all rushed forward together, forcing the two to avoid a multitude of blows. 19 and 19 both had their attacks blocked as 22 connected a blow to Naofumi's side. It didn't do too much damage to the Shield Hero, but he wouldn't feel comfortable allowing Rifana to tank a blow like that.
Naofumi shoved 19 off him, his ghost arm breaking the struggle between Rifana and 19, allowing her time to counterattack, chopping 19's arm off before kicking him away. She ducked under a punch from 20, kicking his knee out and delivering a chop to his head, killing him instantly.
Naofumi Bullrushed into the corpse, sending it flying into 21, 22, and 24. He was recoiling from the impact when he felt another hit to the back. He turned quickly and commanded the ghost hand to swipe at him, knocking 19 back. Seeing an arm coming from the corner of his vision, he raised his shield, stopping yet another attack before he felt a kick to his stomach. He rolled to absorb some of the impact before Rifana crashed into him. He grabbed her, supporting her. She was covered in bruises but not cuts thankfully. Naofumi looked at the status of his party, seeing him at 80% health, Rifana at 78% and Raphtalia at 57%.
"This isn't working, we need to retreat, Raphtalia isn't doing too well on her end either, so we need to signal to her and leave right now!" Naofumi ordered.
"Sure thing Naofumi! Leave it to me!" Rifana called out. She leapt forward, springing off of the heavily injured 24, delivering a quick chop to his head before leaving and heading further into the encampment.
Naofumi cursed, he didn't want her to head further into danger! She could get trapped along with Raphtalia and he wouldn't be able to get them out. He put those thoughts off as he dodged a punch from 22, blocked a swipe from 19 with his shield and a kick from 21 with the ghost arm.
"Dog Bite! Tether! Airstrike Shield!"
Oh he could feel the drain on his body.
His shield changed to the cerberus shield before the dog head stretched out, biting onto two of the closest goblins. A rope then shot out, catching another two by their ankles before the translucent form of the Airstrike Shield appeared, which he commanded to vibrate quickly up and down. He jumped on it, and thanks to the quick movements of the massless shield, he was launched into the air, flying over a good portion of the encampment, dragging the four goblins behind him all the while. He spotted Rifana and Raphtalia, surrounded by twenty-something goblins on all sides. Angling his body towards them, he started to fall, landing on the ground with a massive crash, the four goblins behind him landing on top of a few goblins, killing all of them instantly.
"We need to go! Now!" He screamed out to his party members as he readied in a familiar stance. They realized the plan and latched on to him quickly, "C'mon! One more time!" He strained his body, "Bullrush!"
With the skill, the three were boosted through any and all obstacles in their way, coming to a stop at the edge of the encampment. Rifana and Raphtalia got off and helped support the exhausted hero as they escaped quickly.
They ran for about an hour, putting good distance between them and the furious goblins. Rifana and Raphtalia helped Naofumi down to rest before quickly joining him on the ground. While they expected it to be a little messy, none of them thought their plan would fall apart so quickly. They were all completely overwhelmed by the goblins' sheer numbers and unexpected power. Just one hit to Naofumi had dealt enough damage to slice off six percent of his health. If they were capable of doing that to him, he worried for the damage Rifana and Raphtalia had taken.
He forced himself up to sitting position, looking over the two teens. Rifana had a couple bruises forming on the visible areas of her skin, but nothing worse. Raphtalia had a couple deep cuts and tears in her clothing, which would explain the lower health he had seen.
"Are you both alright?" He asked worriedly, "Any major injuries that we need to look at?" Both girls groaned in pain, but shook their heads no. "That's good, I was worried when I saw how hurt Raphtalia was," he sighed in relief, "Rifana." The weasel girl's ears shot up and her tail stiffened at Naofumi's stern tone, "Mind telling me why you ran headfirst into the center of the camp with no plan at all?"
The weasel girl sputtered revously, "Well, you see, the funny thing is… uhhhh-I was worried about Raphtalia and I needed to get to her as quickly as possible." She nodded at her answer, eyes closed with a confident smile.
"And how were you going to get her out of there?"
"Well I was… going to… uhhhh-"
Naofumi gave a handchop to her head.
"I'm glad you acted quickly to save Raphtalia, but you can't just act. You have to think as well. All you did was put yourself in danger along with Raphtalia. Please… next time you try to rescue someone, go in with a plan, no matter how rushed it is."
"Ok…" Rifana answered quietly.
Naofumi turned to Raphtalia, "What happened on your end? How did you end up in the center of the camp?"
Raphtalia answered, "I met a few goblins on the outskirts of the camp and one of them managed to get away, so I chased them down but it was a trap. I got surrounded soon after," her disappointment rang clear in her voice.
Naofumi spoke clearly to her, "Sometimes, it's better to let your enemy escape. You never know how the future will turn out. They might help you later on or you might not get drawn into a trap, either way, it's a pretty good outcome. But sometimes, letting someone escape isn't an option, and for those times, you have to be willing to do whatever you can to end them. You just have to realize which situation is which and it will work out."
He drew the two in for a hug, "I don't care about any of that though. I'm just glad we're all here now." The others wrapped their arms around him as well, Raphtalia crying into his chest and Rifana sniffling a bit.
Once they had calmed down, they separated.
"Either the guild and the town lied to us, or they really don't know how dangerous these goblins are," Raphtalia stated.
Rifana quickly grew angry at the injustice Naofumi was facing, "Those bastards! So what if we're Demi-Humans! We're trying to help those dumbasses and they tell us false info to get us killed?! How could they?!"
Naofumi put his hand on her shoulder, "It's alright, It doesn't matter what they told us, because we know more now. We just need to go in with a different strategy."
Rifana looked away, still annoyed at the actions of the stupid Humans who tricked them. Raphtalia walked up and tugged on Naofumi's sleeve. He turned to her.
"I'm sorry Naofumi, if it wasn't for us, the villagers wouldn't lie to us about the goblins."
Naofumi rushed to console her, "Don't say that, it's not your fault. It's their fault for not being willing to look past our appearances."
Raphtalia didn't look very reassured and spoke again, "Naofumi… do you really care about Demi-Humans?" Rifana looked at Raphtalia in shock. Her ears were down, her tail tucked between her legs and tears pricking the edges of her eyes. She must have been thinking about this for a while.
Naofumi wrapped her in a tight hug, motioning for Rifana to join as well, which she did without hesitation, "To be honest with you Raphtalia, I don't." Raphtalia stilled at the answer, and he continued, "But I'll tell you what I do," she looked up at him, tear tracks present on her cheeks,
"I care about family, and you better believe you two are part of mine."
Night rained over the goblin camp, the moon casting barely visible light over it. A few goblin warriors patrolled the outside of the village, looking for any hint of the three adventurers who attacked earlier in the day.
One goblin warrior saw a strange shape poking out from behind one hut and approached it. He poked it with his club and seeing no reaction began to turn around. Without warning, he was grabbed and felt his throat get slashed from behind, unable to call for backup and choking on his own blood, he turned to retaliate while he could, only to get cut down by an axe, the moonlight reflecting in the head of the weapon.
Several other goblin warriors met the same fate. Tricked, stabbed, and cut down. Soon, the entire southern border of the encampment was left devoid of patrolling warriors. Suddenly, the black of night was erased as a roaring fire began, covering several of the straw and stick huts in the camp. The goblins running out on fire and spreading the flames further. Before long, haf the village was encased in flames, half the population burned to death. The goblin warriors searched for the culprit, spotting a shield reflecting the light of the fires surrounding them.
Enraged, they charged forward before tripping over an unseen object and having the back of their throats slashed open, dead before they hit the ground. The one lone surviving goblin warrior retreated, but neither attacker pursued. He entered the large hut in the center, and a rumbling from the inside was heard.
Naofumi and Raphtalia retreated as they killed another line of goblins, spending no more effort than necessary, as the goblins easily fell for their traps over and over again. If they continued at this rate, all the village would be wiped out by the end of the hour and all they would have to deal with would be the supposed champion that was in the camp.
Their plan, in truth, hadn't changed much at all from their original plan. One person would sneak around the outskirts and take out any single goblins while the other two created a distraction and used it to eliminate as many as possible. The thing is, setting fire to the entire camp was far easier, safer, and far more effective for the party. That and putting the far more stealthy Rifana on assassin duty with Raphtalia paired with Naofumi worked far better than their original configuration since Raphtalia could still stomach a few hits, unlike the far frailer Rifana.
They were setting up yet another trap when a massive roar echoed throughout the land. Raphtalia and Naofumi turned to the source, seeing a massive goblin burst through one of the larger huts. It was nearly twelve feet tall and due to its sheer size, no amount of armor could cover the exposed skin, so the goblin instead chose to adorn leather cloth around its privates. In its right hand, it carried a massive iron longsword
"Holy shit…" Naofumi said in disbelief.
Goblin Champion
Lv 25
Status: [ Enraged ] - ATK x 1.5
The Champion roared again before charging at the adventurers who dared to ransack his camp. Naofumi and Raphtalia separated. Such a massive and powerful target would require divide and conquer tactics to take down, knowing this, Naofumi raised his shield, loudly banging the metal frame three times.
They dodged the champion's mighty swings, parrying whenever able to, and attacking whenever they could, but no attack they did did much damage to the Champion, at most, Raphtalia was able to make small cuts to the tendons of the Champion's legs, yet they never came close to tearing.
After a minute of little progress, Naofumi saw Rifana running up from behind, a little blood from other kills covering her skin and clothes. Naofumi threw his hand forward, "Airstrike Shield!" the shield shot out, stopping in front of Rifana, giving her a perfect platform to launch from. She jumped, coming level to the Champion's neck, and wrapped herself around it. The Champion flailed, trying to dislodge the comparatively tiny person from his body, but Rifana's high attack led to one hell of a grip, as she refused to dislodge.
Taking advantage of its distraction, Naofumi ordered, "Raphtalia! Push it from behind!" The raccoon demi-human nodded in understanding, disappearing between the houses, trying to get into position. "Tether!" A rope shot from the shield, lodging itself into the hut opposite Naofumi. He pulled the rope taut, creating a perfect tripwire. Raphtalia rushed behind the giant goblin, ran forward and drop kicked the Champion, putting all her weight into it. While normally it wouldn't do much to the much stronger monster, it was enough force to make the Champion stumble towards the taut rope Naofumi had created.
The rope strained under the weight of the Champion as Naofumi pulled with everything he had, commanding his ghost hand to do the same. The rope held strong as the Champion fell to the ground with a thud. Spurring into action, Rifana, Raphtalia, and Naofumi gathered and put all their force into one swing of Rifana's axe (Naofumi didn't touch the weapon directly so he didn't get shocked). Just like that, the head of the champion rolled on the ground.
The three adventurers took deep, gasping breaths as they tried to collect themselves from the massive threat they had slain.
"Y'know," Naofumi began, "I did not expect this plan to go so well. Honestly, it feels like it went too smoothly-" Another massive club swung by, crashing into Naofumi's back and sending him careening through two stick and straw huts.
"Naofumi!" The two Demi-Human teens cried out. They turned to face their foe, fury coursing through their veins, coming face to face with another champion.
Goblin Champion
Lv 30
Status: [ Enraged ] - ATK x 1.5 [ Hatred ] - DMG TAKEN x 0.75
The two steadied their weapons, ready to maul the monster who even dared to injure their Hero. They dashed forward and the fight began.
Naofumi struggles to maintain his consciousness. He could hear the clangs of metal in the background and the roars of the fires that surrounded him. He urged his body to get up, to help Rifana and Raphtalia, but he was simply too injured to continue. He lifted his arm to his head, ignoring the shearing pain coming from his back. He brought it down, giving a small sigh of relief when he saw no blood.
Looking down, Naofumi saw the state of his right leg. The bone had snapped and pierced his skin, meaning there was simply no feasible way for him to put any amount of weight on it. So he opted instead to crawl. The hot ground was uncomfortable, but nothing the hero hadn't already experienced, his Fire Resistance Small skill negating the searing heat. Naofumi was simply in no condition to join the fight directly, so his plan was to support with his many varied skills to disrupt the second Goblin Champion that had sprung from nowhere.
Guess it makes sense why the goblins were stronger than usual, he thought, there were two Champions boosting their stats simultaneously.
He saw Raphtalia clutching a broken arm, likely from a glancing blow, and Rifana having no injuries 'thankfully' but was well past the point of exhaustion. Despite their injuries, the Champion wasn't void of its own. It had several gashes and cuts covering its large body and was missing its left arm entirely up to the bicep. Naofumi spotted its forearm and hand only a couple feet from him.
He threw his hand forward, shouting, "Airstrike Shield!" The shield manifested and Naofumi threw it at the Champion's face, forcing it to block the projectile. "Dog Bite! Tether!" The two skills shot from the shield, wrapping and trapping the legs of the Champion. "Bullrush!" He shot himself forward, his broken leg screaming in protest at the sudden movement. Naofumi crashed into the unstable Champion, toppling it onto a burning hut behind it. The flames rapidly spread to the rags the Champion wore, setting the monster ablaze, the fire consuming it within a minute.
Rifana and Raphtalia rushed to him, worriedly checking him over as he chuckled. According to them, alongside the broken leg, his back had essentially become a giant gash, blood steadily flowing from it. Rifana, being the only one uninjured, took their medical supplies and wrapped her party's wounds to the best of her ability. By the end, Naofumi and Raphtalia's broken limbs had semi-splints and Naofumi's torso had become an identical copy of a mummy. There wasn't much cleanup to do, since monster's corpses decomposed far faster due to their much more magical composition, so all they had to do was take pieces of the different goblins to feed the shield.
Goblin Villager Shield
DEF: +2
MDEF: +1
Do not sell Goblin Villagers their own crops, they will respond with violence
Goblin Warrior Shield
DEF: +3
MDEF: +1
The typical middle school bully, except now it has medieval weaponry
Goblin Champion Shield
DEF: +8
MDEF: +3
Not quite the grindable mob anymore, huh?
Spiked Club Shield
ATK: +1
DEF: +1
Anything can be a weapon if you swing it hard enough
Stick Shield
DEF: +1
What's brown and sticky?
Straw Shield
DEF: +1
He'll huff, he'll puff and he'll blow your shield down!
The three left the burning village, the second Champion's arm in Raphtalia's hold as Rifana supported Naofumi. A few days later, and after the purchase of some much needed healing potions, Naofumi and Raphtalia's injuries had fully healed and the party had successfully turned in the quest, offering the arm as proof of their deed.
Remembering Elina's impressed look as well as the gaping stares of the other adventurers as they turned in the massive arm. Since the arm belonged to a Champion, along with their claim of there being two champions present, their reward was raised due to the level recommendation of the quest being higher than what was initially posted. In total, the three earned 1 gold and 21 silver for the quest, a respectable amount for the trouble they went through. After the purchase of the healing potions, they were met with a net gain of 86 silver.
Not bad for the family's first quest.
Naofumi Iwatani
Class: Shield Hero
Level 28
Weapons: Legendary Shield (Locked),「Otherworldly Ability」(Locked)
Bizarre Otherworldly Clothing
ATK: 35
DEF: 241
MATK: 28
MDEF: 189
DEX: 76
AGI: 113
ACTIVE SKILLS:
Otherworldly Arrow (Locked)
Otherworldly Arrow Lv 2 (Locked)
Bullrush
Tether
Air Strike Shield
Dog Bite
PASSIVE SKILLS:
Herbal Enhancement
Good Cook
Demi-Human Growth
Friend of Demi-Humans
Mining Boost
Chopping Boost
Fire Resistance [ Small ]
Raphtalia
Class: Demi-Human Child
Level 26
Weapons: Short Dagger
Children's Clothing
ATK: 112
DEF: 58
MATK: 84
MDEF: 30
DEX: 59
AGI: 112
ACTIVE SKILLS:
None
PASSIVE SKILLS:
Demi-Human Hearing
Undying Loyalty
Rifana
Class: Demi-Human Child
Level 26
Weapon: Short Dagger
Children's Clothing
ATK: 115
DEF: 31
MATK: 28
MDEF: 29
DEX: 114
AGI: 142
ACTIVE SKILLS:
None
PASSIVE SKILLS:
Demi-Human Eyesight
Undying Loyalty
Notes:
Here's another chapter! Sorry for the delay in posting it, I'm a college guy now and the move-in took a lot of time out of my schedule.
A fun little original side story and some bonding time? Who would've thought?
PLEASE TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK! I WAN'T TO IMPROVE MY WRITING AND YOUR REVIEWS HELP SO MUCH WITH THAT!
- RandomA99