Reviews:
SentinalSlice: I hope you're less annoyed at Elina by now, I'm trying to make her character growth good. Plus, I think it would make for a boring story is every character was always happy and upbeat or completely edgy like so many people seem to be inclined to do. As for Motoyasu, in canon, Naofumi was always behind the other heroes in terms of levels, and it will be the same case here, even with the levels provided to him by the waves and Motoyasu now has the best armor Melromarc has to offer. While Wireframe will make the fight straightforward at first, I plan to throw some stuff in there to make it exciting, so don't worry, I'll do my best when the time comes.
drmcgraw186: Motoyasu will be launched to the moon and it will be funny. Mark my words.
Exiled Soul Nomad: Same dude. Same. One of the things that annoys me most are people who either think they know everything when they're actually dumber than bricks or they are actual pieces of garbage who think they are the greatest things in the world. Who does that make you think of, I wonder?
rantingbanshee: You brought up some REALLY good points and like I said in PMs, I'll do my best to correct them in the future. I've also edited chapter 11 so Naofumi doesn't seem as weak (at least he doesn't to me). Curse series will also play into the story, but it'll come a little later and Wireframe will have more utility, I just want a little focus on characters outside of Naofumi. Even though it feels like I rushed through the review here, this was actually one of the best reviews I've gotten, I really appreciate the criticism man. I hope you continue to enjoy the story :)
Mangahero18: Wireframe is a rock band, they're pretty good, but I personally like the name more than the music, it just fits really well. Also, yeah Itsuki's cursed series was rushed because it wasn't originally planned, but I thought of it late into the chapter and it was the perfect opportunity to deviate from canon and make some interesting situations later down in the story. Also, Wireframe might be able to do that, but who knows. Maybe chapter 8 does haha.
FendarianT: Glad you're enjoying it, also yeah, the Hydra drops were kinda bad, sorry about that. ;-;
R-king93: Thanks man, hope you enjoy this one too.
D3lph0xL0v3r: She may have been an ass, but don't forget, everyone always has past experiences and backgrounds that shape who they are in the present. I'm not just talking about my story but real life too. If someone is being a dick to others, maybe they're just having a rough time at the moment and don't know how else to get rid of the stress. It's always best to be open minded towards others. Unless they're idiots who do it for fun.
Slackboy101: Still haven't checked out the series, sorry man. Also no, Motoyasu deserves all the humiliation.
Azure Star Dragon: Yeah, rantingbanshee made a really good point about that and I edited chapter 11 to try and fix it. I'll try to make Naofumi seem not as fragile in the future. Silver is classified as a guard currently because that's her class. Right now, she isn't a queen as she hasn't been chosen by Victoria but she'll come around soon enough.
SomeCallMeDrunk: Stupidity is a virus and too many people catch it every year.
Knight of Fire: Thanks man! And don't worry, Wireframe will be used more and the Stand Arrow Shield will come in to play soon :)
A Shield's Stand
Chapter 12: Haven't I Met You Before?
With the wave ended, that left the party of five a lot of free time on their hands before the next wave even began, both in Melromarc and in Shieldfreeden. Granted, there were probably other waves in places like Siltvelt going on currently, but the group didn't have the time to handle those nor did they really want to right now, especially with how hectic the last couple of days had been.
In fact, in the last week alone, the group had grown by two members (one of which was constantly cuddling with the shield hero), fought through and completed a dungeon, rode an actual Hydra through a border wall, escape Melromarc with that Hydra, kill that very same Hydra moments later by turning their leader into a literal mach speed cannonball, meet with several of the Shieldfreeden council, and finally fight off an entire wave.
If that doesn't describe a hectic week, what does.
Interdimensional Aquatic Striker Shield
DEF: +1
MDEF: +2
AGI: +1
You can buy bait for this monster at the Bass Pro Shop in Memphis, Tennessee
Interdimensional Aquatic Warrior Shield
DEF: +2
MDEF: +3
DEX: +1
Skill [ Water Attack Resistance (Small) ] Learned
They look scary, but the 'Perfect' creature from Courage was scarier
Interdimensional Giant Squid Shield
DEF: +3
MDEF: +4
AGI: +1
DEX: +1
Skill [ Tenta-Grapple ] Learned
We do not speak of tentacles in anime. WE. DO. NOT.
Interdimensional Reptilian Striker Shield
DEF: +2
MDEF: +1
AGI: +1
In this land, there are three sentient creatures: Frogs, Toads, and Newts
Interdimensional Reptilian Warrior Shield
DEF: +3
MDEF: +2
DEX: +1
Skill [ Earth Attack Resistance (Small) ] Learned
Call Spiderman, have him know we caught one of his villains
Interdimensional Giant Reptile Shield
DEF: +4
MDEF: +3
AGI: +1
DEX: +1
Skill [ Fire Counter ] Learned
How did Fox learn Pyrokinesis? Is that ever actually explained?
Regardless, the group had a lot of time on their hands which they ended up using in a number of ways. Firstly, they went around the country a bit, helping out where they could. They helped some villages with monster problems, some with food shortages by running deliveries, and generally trying to be good samaritans. Being the party of a legendary hero meant they had some amount of responsibilities after all.
When they finished doing all they could for the places around the country, they spent a chunk of their time just destressing from the absolute insanity of their lives. Having lazy days in whatever inn they were holed up in, chatting with the locals (as much as they could since most of them revered them as saviors), or just relaxing in each other's company. They even got to know General Forh pretty well when they spent some time exploring Ilmita. The man was a hardass when he felt was in a crummy mood, but when you caught him in a somewhat decent mood, he could be quite personable.
The biggest surprise had to be Elina and General Forh getting along the most despite the general's own reservations about Elina with a human. A couple of spars later and the two ended up forming some sort of rivalry, always trying to outpace the other in often meaningless bouts of competition.
So far they had several drinking and eating competitions, a couple arm wrestling bouts, several footraces, some hand to hand spars, and a single wrestling match. And if you were curious, the record was 14 - 12, with Forh winning.
Even so, if one were to ask any of the female members of the party what time spent in Shieldfreeden was their favorite, they would almost unanimously answer:
"THE HOT SPRING!" Rifana and Raphtalia shouted out in pure glee as they approached their destination in the more mountainous region of Ilmita City.
Ilmita had been built alongside the base of a nearby hill, since it was the flattest area of space and was near several hotspots for resources. The three nearby rivers granted the bustling city with more than enough food and waterside advantages, the hill provided the city with a near endless supply of valuable ores for processing and the flat plot of land between the two made the location a goldmine for anyone looking to build a city. In addition, the hill also ran over a bit of a hotspot in the earth, making for a great location for a hot spring.
"Ahhhhhhh," Rifana sighed out as she slipped her body into the heavenly waters. "After all the running around we did, it's really nice to just get a moment to relax."
"I completely agree," Raphtalia mumbled as she sank her body up to her nose in the water alongside Rifana. She tried avidly to ignore the splashes Silver was making as she swam around the spring.
Standing at the entrance to the women's hot springs was Elina, looking less than impressed with the pocket of spring water. "I think you two are insane. You freaked out this much over a small tub of warm water? I don't get what the big craze is with these hot sprin-" Elina paused as her foot touched the water, "Ok, that's pretty good but I think you two overhyped this a bit."
Rifana just shrugged in response while Raphtalia responded, "Not everyone here grew up having easy access to warm water for bathing." She raised her hand, pointing in the air as a little thought bubble appeared, "Most of us just bathed in a small river nearby. We only got it once before we ended up with Naofumi."
Rifana snapped up to attention, "Oh yeah! That one adventurer knew fire magic and was nice enough to warm up some water for us!" That was a pretty great day for everyone at the village.
"Alright, fair enough. I guess this is pretty great if you didn't grow up with warm water." The conversation came to a lull, the silence reigning over the four girls, except for the small splashes and giggles from Silver. Ever since the wave finished, Raphtalia and Elina had been on better terms, so instead of constant fighting between the two, now it was awkward silence with some arguments thrown in to spice it up every so often. Rifana was so proud of them.
Instead of trying to force more conversation, the three settled for just relaxing and soaking in the incredible heat of the hot spring while Raphtalia scolded Silver every so often for splashing around a little too much.
Speaking of the little bird girl, she had gotten a little better with her clinging to Naofumi. When he was busy, she would settle for smothering the life out of her shield plushy Naofumi had gotten her when she had first hatched. It had only been a short while since then and already the plush was starting to look worn from excessive cuddles. She almost never let it out of her sight and even now, it stood upright against the wall of the spring area so it didn't get soaked and fall apart even faster. Sometimes she brought it with her to a battle with monsters and they were sure the poor thing only survived because of Silver's metal feathers blocking any and all attacks the plushy might have taken.
Said bird girl chose then to interrupt the peaceful quiet that permeated the area by popping out of the center of the spring, splashing water over the other three women relaxing. Raphtalia and Rifana survived the water attack with only a little bit of water getting in their hair, however, Elina was not as lucky, her fluorescent pink hair getting soaked and sticking to her face.
Raphtalia proceeded to give a light scolding to Silver for the action while Rifana watched Elina and her hair situation. Elina spat the hair from her mouth and brought her colossal hands to wipe the water from her eyes. She rubbed her palms in real good trying to ignore the light stinging the action caused.
Rifana sidled up to the giant of a woman, interest and curiosity gleaming in her eyes. "So, we all got some scars over the time we've been with 'Fumi, but you had yours from before we even saw you in the guild hall. How'd you get it?"
Elina paused her rubbing for a moment. She lowered her hands and frowned slightly in thought. "It's… personal." Rifana thought that was some solid progress on getting through to the giant. Had she asked that when she first joined, Elina probably would've thrown things at her in a rage before throwing her as well.
"Ah, sorry if I brought up any bad memories." Rifana apologized, "I just think it's a pretty cool scar, y'know?" With every word Rifana spoke, Elina's frown only deepened, so the subject was dropped entirely. Ignoring the now tense aura between them, they focused on the spat between the two youngest members of their group (yup, Rifana is older here, deal with it).
"...but it's so boring here! I wanna swim around and have fun but all you three want to do is take a nap!" Silver accused while pouting, "And don't lie, I know when you lie!"
Raphtalia sighed a little, "It might be boring, but you have to be considerate of what other people want sometimes. That's what Naofumi always does, and we should try to follow his example. What would he say if he saw you right now?"
…
Naofumi sat alone in the male spring area, his only company being his thoughts. 'Maybe I should see if I can find a guy who wants to join up with us.'
Despite some of the issues the trip brought up, most of the party members would still say it was one of their favorite moments of the time they spent in Shieldfreeden. But alas, not all was meant to be as eventually the time for the Melromarcian wave would soon dawn on them and preparation had to be made. As such, it was decided that the party would return to the country that hated them so dearly. It would be smart to reacclimate themselves to the harsher conditions of resting in the wild rather than receiving preferential treatment for being a legendary hero and his party.
It would also be a good idea for them to rejoin with Ren to catch up and make a plan for the wave. Silver was probably the most excited to meet Ren as knew he had a monster egg himself after she was told exactly who Ren was and why they were meeting up with him. Naofumi would also like an explanation why Silver was a human girl instead of a bird girl, but he doubted Ren had all the answers.
So, with some goodbyes and promises to return to some of the locals they had come to know as well as an oddly emotional Kane, the party of five departed for the border, inspecting the repairs as they passed the wall, apologizing for the trouble as they did so.
The group tried their best to avoid any villages since Naofumi was still a wanted criminal for supposedly burning down a fair portion of the capital alongside a multitude of other 'crimes' but who's keeping track really? Eventually, the group ended up rolling through a town they were unfamiliar with, their hoods up and their voices silent. However, they left the town extremely confused. The village locals occasionally spoke good of the Shield Hero despite the man having not even been in the country for a large portion of the month.
Another two days later as they passed through another village, they heard the same good mentions of the Shield Hero. What finally drove the nail in that maybe his name was slowly being cleared through some unknown means was their pitstop in Araki village. The very same village that had done all in their power to display their utter hatred when they had asked for information for the goblin village quest was now gossiping about the apparent good deeds of the Shield Hero.
"As much as I love praise, this is getting to be more than a little suspicious." Rifana speaks from the back of the wagon. "From what I can tell, they're being genuine in their emotions, but this is way too drastic of a turnaround." The rest of the party, sans Elina who really didn't care for her reputation, agreed and wanted to get to the source, Naofumi especially.
"But why do I have to go?" Elina whined as they sent her out into the village. "I don't care what some crummy assholes have to say about me."
"That may be, but right now, they know what me, Rifana, and Naofumi look like, and I don't think Silver would do much good turning into a human girl and running around unsupervised." Raphtalia spoke as she peeked out from the wagon curtain. She dipped back in as a villager turned the corner. When the woman left, Raphtalia popped out again, "Just pretend you're a random adventurer asking about the Shield Hero for a bounty."
The last words caught Elina's interest, "A bounty, huh? I can definitely work with that."
"Wait what. Elina what do you mean by that. Elina! Get back here! What do you mean!" Raphtalia whisper shouted at Elina as the giant waltzed away, a devilish smirk on her face.
Walking around the village, Elina caught wind of a couple tidbits of information but it wasn't enough to quite go on as a lead. Some random conversations about saving a random traveler on the road or fighting off some monsters were all she heard about but she supposed that was some of Shieldy's more recent actions. Sure, it was respectable to help others when it didn't benefit the person at all, but it wasn't enough to cause this much of a shift in their perception if what the rest of her party had told was true.
'Gave a person medicine, fought a monster, gave medicine, gave medicine, free transport, some more medicine, killed a Hydra - yeah that was pretty fun - fought a monster, stopped the madman behind the Castle Town rampage, fought the wave with valor - wait wait wait'
Elina stepped up the pair of villagers, a young couple by the looks of it, her size dwarfing the other two and a shadow covering her right half of her face, highlighting her scars on the left, "You mind repeating that?"
The couple, not expecting a giant of a woman to march up to them and demand information, took it fairly well, they were only intimidated a lot. "C-come again?" The man spoke up, masking up his fear.
Elina smirked, she missed doing this with her old party, "You said something about the Shield Hero. Right now, I need some information on him for a job. You mind telling me what'cha said?"
"You haven't heard?" The woman said to the giant, "People are saying the Shield Hero wasn't actually the one to burn down Castle Town. A guy has been going around the country telling people that he was in the same inn as the Shield Hero when the Bow Hero attacked with some weird type of flames before going on a rampage. As it turns out, the Shield Hero broke down a wall when they were trapped and freed everyone inside from their deaths."
Elina masked her surprise, "Nah, I've heard that already, I guess I misheard you." She turned away to leave but the woman spoke up again.
"If you're going for the bounty, you might as well quit. First of all, no one has seen the Shield Hero or his party since they left for Shieldfreeden weeks ago and second of all, you're going to have to fight through a lot of people to get to him. I don't know if he's as kindhearted as some people are saying he is, but if the castle town rampage was a lie, who knows what else was?"
With that the woman walked away her boyfriend sputtering as he tried to follow and escape the giant before anything happened.
"You're making waves, aren't ya Shieldy?"
"They said all that about me?" Naofumi asked as he pointed to himself in shock. "Didn't these people hate me the last time we were here?"
"They finally saw how awesome my Daddy is, I'm so happy!" Silver hummed to herself. The crew brightened at the girl's sheer amount of cheerfulness.
"This is great and all, but won't this make things with the King and any other enemies worse?" Raphtalia spoke with some worry.
"Ehh, let them come. We're getting the support of the people so they'd be crazy to just attack us out of nowhere. If we had anything to fear it would probably be assassination attempts but they think we're still in Shieldfreeden right now," Elina said.
Rifana put a hand to her chin in thought, "That's true enough, but they could have some way of tracking us, plus Silver is a pretty big attraction being as big and distinct as she is."
"You're just jealous of how shiny my feathers are," Silver said with a pout.
Rifana laughed a bit at the display, "I definitely am, all I got are these ears and this weird tail. No cool feathers like you." Silver smiled confidently and held her head high with pride.
Ignoring the now wheezing Rifana, Raphtalia continued, "I think you three may be taking this a bit too lightly, we may have the support of some of the people but there are still many who'd rather see all of us dead and that includes the country's entire religion and its rulers."
Elina leaned against the inside of the wagon, "Listen raccoon, I don't think we have much to worry about the knights or that dumbass king, but I do think we should watch out for one conniving bastard. The pope."
"The pope?" Raphtalia and Naofumi asked in sync.
"Yeah," Elina followed up, "I only saw him once or twice as a kid, but he's dangerous. He looks like a sweet old man but you can never tell what he's truly thinking. I don't doubt he's got some sort of plans in the works for us all right now."
"We can't forget the roles of the other two heroes," Naofumi interjected. "If there's any sort of plan it'll probably involve those two since they both hate my guts." It had been a while since any of them had seen either of the two and frankly they were glad for it.
While Naofumi believed that Motoyasu could come around as well as Itsuki, if given enough time to calm down, the others weren't as optimistic about their odds. Motoyasu was an absolute idiot that would follow the word of a pretty woman without a single thought of his own. They very much doubted the blond moron would ever have a thought of his own. As for Itsuki, whatever the bow did to him turned him into a remorseless monster and he would have to pay for those actions sooner or later.
The group returned to more lighthearted conversations after that and their journey through Melromarc continued smoothly. They met a couple groups of people along the road and asked about the Sword Hero's whereabouts, eventually learning that he was rumored to be stocking up for the wave back in Castle Town, with some monster girl in tow.
"So Swordy got himself a brat too?" Elina teased.
"Hey! I'm not a brat!" Silver claimed from her place in Naofumi's arms as he carried her through the gates of the town, all their faces concealed with hoods. People had stopped believing that he was the one to have burnt down Castle Town, but he did still have an official bounty on his head, so they had to be careful.
Even after the damages, Castle Town was still a huge city, so Ren could realistically be anywhere, however, there were some spots Ren was more likely to be. And with this thought in mind, Naofumi and the crew entered the familiar shop, coming to re-meet a friendly face tending to some of the weapons. The group lowered their hoods, revealing themselves the the blacksmith.
Erhard turned from the sword he was polishing and saw the group, "Kid?!" He exclaimed as he walked forward to greet his favorite hero. "I was starting to worry the knights got you, but here you are, just as smiley as ever, huh." Looking around the group, he saw some new and familiar faces, "And it looks like you got yourself some more friends to join you." He prompted.
Silver jumped from Naofumi's arms and ran up to the man, "Hello! I'm Silver! Daddy talks about how great you are all the time. He says you helped him when no else would, so I wanted to thank you for helping Daddy!" She raised one hand up for a high five which Erhard gladly returned, her other still clutching the shield plush.
Erhard smirked, "Daddy? Don't tell me you've been getting busy with your party, kid." The man was obviously teasing. The girl looked to be around seven or eight years old, so it couldn't have been any of their children, even with constant leveling, but it was still fun to mess with them. Naofumi, Raphtalia, and Rifana broke out into wild blushes, all stammering over each other trying to correct him. Erhard burst out laughing, "Gods, it's great to have you three back. I missed messing with you all."
Naofumi sighed, "Jeez, Erhard. You almost gave me a heart attack. Anyway, no, she is not a child we… had, and she isn't one we just found on the side of the road. She hatched from a filolial egg a couple weeks ago. Also, this is Elina Poli, she's brought a little chaos to the group but she's helped us more than enough to make up for the trouble she makes." Elina avoided looking at Erhard.
"She hatched from an egg?" Erhard questioned.
"Yes."
"...ok." It was better for everyone if he just accepted it. "So what do you guys need? The shop's a little sparse right now since the wave is around the corner, but if I have something you want, I'd be more than happy to sell it."
"Actually, we're looking for Ren and we thought it would be a good idea to wait here for him." Raphtalia spoke up.
"What, so I'm your hangout spot now?" Erhard teased again.
"Pretty much!" Rifana said with a bright smile.
Erhard just sighed a little. He couldn't be mad at the genuine smile she gave. "Well, he was just here. Kid didn't say much but the monster girl he had with him said they were going to the apothecary. If you hurry, you can catch them before they leave to train."
Naofumi and his group nodded, "Right, thanks so much Erhard, we'll try to see you after the wave." The rest of their group said their goodbyes, Silver and Rifana's being a little more energetic, before leaving through the door.
Before Elina could leave, Erhard grabbed her hand. The whole time she was in the shop, she had avidly avoided looking at the man. Erhard just sighed, a weary look in his eyes, "It's good to see you find another group, Elina. Keep them safe for me, will you?"
"I will." Elina left the shop without another word.
It didn't take long before the group found a familiar voice talking to what sounded like someone flirting with him. They got a little closer to see Ren and a very gorgeous woman standing just outside the apothecary's shop.
"No, Riza, I'm not comfortable with that, so please stop asking," Ren basically begged, weariness evident in his soul.
"Aww, c'mon Ren, just one date? Just to see how it goes?" The woman, Riza, asked.
The group got closer and they could see Riza wasn't just some random human woman asking for a date, but was instead a very curvy grown woman with scales lining the sides of her face, slits in her eyes, and a large powerful tail trailing her. Her face and exposed tail also had some black dots scattered around. The group looked between the woman and Silver, silently comparing the two. Meanwhile, Silver growled at the woman, who apparently sensed a filolial nearby, turning around to meet a small silver haired girl with silver wings on her back. Her exposed scales rose slightly as she tensed.
"Riza, what's wrong-" Ren paused as he saw Naofumi and his crew. He tried to put on a cool face, "So, it's been a while since-"
"Oh, drop it Swordy," Elina cut him off, "We already know you're a nerd so there's no use trying to hide it."
Ren lost his cool face and started to sulk in a nearby corner as the rest sweatdropped. Once the dragon girl, Riza coaxed him out to talk, they moved away from the crowded streets. "So you're telling me you're egg hatched into a silver filolial before turning into a little girl?" Ren groaned into his hands in exasperation. "I could've gotten a sweet little girl but instead I got a hot and flirty dragon. God help me."
Naofumi pat Ren on the back in sympathy, "Yeah, I've been meaning to ask about that," Naofumi started, "She hatched from the egg you picked as a baby dragon, right?" Ren nodded in his hands, "And a couple days later she turned into a gorgeous woman, right?" Ren nodded again, "And now she's flirting with you?" Naofumi asked.
Ren gripped the collar of Naofumi's shirt in a tight hold, "She had been flirting with me every single day and I don't know how to handle it. Naofumi I named her after my friend and now she's flirting with me, it's so fucking weird, please help." Naofumi just sweatdropped.
"Anyway, I got some very important stuff to tell you," Naofumi said seriously. Ren picked up the message and calmed himself down. "You probably already know this, but I managed to make it to Shieldfreeden," Ren nodded in response, "We met up with the council behind one of their major cities and they told me a lot of stuff. Most importantly, most countries have their own set of Waves of Catastrophe, and so far, we've only been handling Merlromarc's."
Ren's eyes widened in realization, "You mean…"
Naofumi nodded grimly, "Yeah, a lot of people have died because we were lied to. I already helped out Shieldfreeden with a wave, but there are still a lot more we have to deal with." Naofumi let the words sink in before continuing, "Now, I have to ask, have you seen or heard of Itsuki anywhere?"
Ren shook his head, "No, since he attacked the capital, he hasn't been seen as far as I know. The church is getting desperate, Naofumi. You need to be careful."
"Right."
"So, what's our plan for the wave?"
"Well, we don't know where it will happen so we should be prepared for anything really."
"Right, but we should be especially ready to defend a village or take down a giant. The Shieldfreeden Wave had two giants as its boss. One of them slapped me off a mountain into the ground at like… uhm… ok it slapped me really hard and I went really fast."
"So the waves have had a chimera and two giants as its bosses. There's not much correlation there but it seems to be following the trend of generic video game bosses."
"Really? What's so generic about a three headed chimera and a giant lizard and squid?"
"There was a giant squid?!"
"Yeah, why?"
Ren blushed, "Its nothing, forget it."
Meanwhile, the rest of Naofumi's group was keeping the two hatchling apart, their natural aggression making them glare at one another. "My Daddy is better than yours!" Silver shouted out.
"Oh please, you might have a father, but I'm the one with a Daddy," Riza said seductively. Raphtalia blushed at the implication.
Finishing their meet-up with Ren, Elina convinced the group to head over to a magic shop nearby who she assured wasn't a religious nutjob. She argued it was a good idea to learn magic and the rest of the group agreed. Entering the door they came face to face with a rather old woman waiting behind an old wood counter. She looked up as the group entered, a smile of delight overcoming her features.
"Oh, The Shield Hero! It was about time you showed up here." The woman spoke kindly with a smile.
Rifana poked her head out from between Raphtalia and Naofumi, "It is?"
The old woman laughed, "Of course dear! Any adventurer worth their salt knows magic is invaluable to their journey. Honestly, I'm surprised you didn't visit after you stopped the castle town rampage."
Naofumi rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment, "Yeah, sorry about that, we (I) kind of forgot, but we're here now! Elina… why are we here again?"
Elina frowned, "To find out our magical affinities, Shieldy. You can't really do magic outside of your affinity so it'd be good for us to find out."
Raphtalia raised a brow, "You never did this before? But you started so much longer before us."
Elina shrugged, "Meh, never really saw a point in it."
Silver giggled to herself, "So you were lazy."
Elina sputtered indignantly, "I was not-!"
Naofumi approached the counter, ignoring the bickering family behind him, the woman just chuckled at his misery, "You sure have rounded up an interesting group, Shield Hero."
Naofumi laughed with her, "I really did. Anyway, how much do I owe you for some readings?" He pulled out his coin purse. So far the woman had seemed nice, but you never really knew how someone felt about him with all the rumors going around, even if some of them are getting cleared up unofficially.
The woman waved her hand at him, "Oh, there won't be any need for that, I still need to thank you for your actions in Lute! You saved my granddaughter from the wave and I haven't rewarded you yet!"
Naofumi tried to refuse her offer but a grip of steel latched on to his shoulder. He looked over it to see a terrifying visage of Raphtalia, "Naofumi, we haven't run a quest or sold anything for two weeks. Even with the funds we got from saving Shieldfreeden, we are starting to run low. Take. The. Gift."
The group blanched at the scene before them.
"...yes Raphtalia," Naofumi whimpered in fear.
The readings were taken for each group member and the results were as follows: Naofumi had a dual affinity for support and healing magic, no surprise there, Raphtalia had a dual affinity for light and dark magic, Rifana had a sole affinity for electric, Elina had a sole affinity for earth, and Silver had a dual affinity for support and water magic.
With their affinities learned and some tomes gifted to them by the old woman, the group set out for Lute. The ride didn't take long with Silver driving the wagon and within the second hour they were looking upon the familiar town they had come to be so entwined with. The guard stationed at the town gate looked at the wagon in surprise and then delight as the savior of the town he had lived in had finally returned to them.
Following the quick conversation with the guard, they were let in with no issues. Riding into the town itself was an experience though. The second they stepped from the wagon it seemed as though the whole town had run to greet them. And as nice as it was it was a little overwhelming for the hero and some of his party. After he saw the crowd beginning to scare Silver, Naofumi kindly but firmly asked for them to be left to their own devices. The crowd agreed with his request, leaving them after some more words to the young hero. Silver (in her human form) climbed up into Naofumi's arms.
"You ok?" Naofumi asked the girl in his arms.
"Mmhmm," Silver hummed in response.
"You'll have to forgive them, ever since you left the town, it's been rather dull here. You and your party just seem to give this town a certain life to it that no one else can produce," the mayor of Lute stated as he approached the party.
Elina smirked and proudly stated, "You're damn right we do!"
Raphtalia shook her head fondly at the giant of a woman while Rifana sidled up to the mayor, "So Mr. Mayor, we heard some weird rumors that 'Fumi didn't actually burn down Castle Town. Would that be your doing?"
Naofumi, Elina, and Raphtalia deadpanned at Rifana, 'But I/he didn't though.'
"You would be correct, young lady," the mayor admitted, "After Savior Naofumi went to such lengths to help our town, it would be a crime if we were not to go to such lengths to return the favor, would it not?"
"But how did you manage to do it? The whole country hated us before Naofumi was even summoned here," Raphtalia's curiosity led her.
"In all honesty, we were lucky in that regard. The owner of the inn that the Bow Hero burnt down left the city for a quieter life. He ended up in our town soon after and we asked him to spread the word," the mayor retold the truth, "it took some convincing but he did it after he was offered some coin in return."
Naofumi interjected, "You didn't have to go so far for me, really. Please allow me to rep-GIVE YOU MY THANKS!" Naofumi changed his words the second he saw Raphtalia's glare from the corner of his eye.
The mayor laughed at the two, "It's fine, we have more than enough since we didn't have to repair much of the town after the wave. Besides, we still owe you so much after you saved all our lives. But we know how you are with accepting gratitude so we won't go too far with embarrassing you Savior Naofumi," The man said with a smile.
Before the group could talk anymore, the bell from the newly rebuilt bell tower rang, signaling coming danger to the town.
"Shit!" The mayor cursed.
The group of five ran for their wagon, they knew that the bell only rang when a danger was present. Since it rang so soon after they arrived, the king had to have known they were here and sent knights to apprehend them. They had to leave now. Before they could get in the wagon, a shout was heard.
"Naofumi, you bastard!"
A spear plowed into the ground in front of the wagon, halting their escape. The five turned to view the source, seeing the Spear Hero, Motoyasu, dressed in beautifly forged armor. Standing behind him were nine others, each one carrying the symbol of the three heroes church.
"You're dead, you hear me?!"
Naofumi Iwatani
Class: Shield Hero
Level 47
Legendary Shield,「Wireframe」
Bizarre Otherworldly Clothing
ATK: 58
DEF: 400
MATK: 49
MDEF: 310
DEX: 126
AGI: 181
ACTIVE SKILLS:
Stand Arrow
Stand Arrow Lv 2 (Locked)
Bullrush
Tether
Air Strike Shield
Dog Bite
Shield Prison
Lion's Roar
Iron Will
Minor Illusion
Tenta-Grapple
Fire Counter
PASSIVE SKILLS:
Herbal Enhancement
Good Cook Lv 2
Demi-Human Growth
Friend of Demi-Humans
Mining Boost
Chopping Boost
Fire Resistance (Small)
Fishing Proficiency
Monster Maturation Adjustment (Small)
Monster Status Adjustment (Small)
Quick Swim (Small)
Burn Resistance (Small)
Water Resistance (Small)
Earth Resistance (Small)
Raphtalia
Class: Demi-Human Knight
Level 42
Magic Iron Sword
Swordswoman's Dress
ATK: 178
DEF: 92
MATK: 134
MDEF: 48
DEX: 93
AGI: 178
ACTIVE SKILLS:
Crescent Slash
Formation
PASSIVE SKILLS:
Demi-Human Hearing
Undying Loyalty
Parry Profession
Rifana
Class: Demi-Human Rampager
Level 42
Steel Dagger, Magic Iron Axe, ?
Short Furred Covering
ATK: 191
DEF: 59
MATK: 56
MDEF: 50
DEX: 190
AGI: 234
ACTIVE SKILLS:
Blind Rage
PASSIVE SKILLS:
Demi-Human Eyesight
Undying Loyalty
Blood Rush
Elina Poli
Class: Human Thrasher
Level 42
Magic Iron War Axe
Plate Armor
ATK: 266
DEF: 108
MATK: 39
MDEF: 35
DEX: 84
AGI: 87
ACTIVE SKILLS:
Bloody Sunday
PASSIVE SKILLS:
Hard Headed
Stubborn
Adrenaline Rush
Armor Crush
Silver
Class: Adult Filolial Guard
Level 42
Steel Wings
ATK: 160
DEF: 202
MATK: 162
MDEF: 245
DEX: 63
AGI: 156
ACTIVE SKILLS:
Steel Wall
PASSIVE SKILLS:
Endless Hunger
Cart Puller
Undying Loyalty
Notes:
Motoyasu, don't you dare do anything stupid.
Thank you to everyone who left reviews! I realize now that Naofumi was slowly becoming a weak hero so I tried to correct what I could and I'll do my best to avoid anything like that in the future.
Ren's Side Story should be up sometime next week (probably around wednesday/thursday) and the next update will be this Saturday. See you then!
- RandomA99