A Shield's Stand
Side Story 1: Ren and a Dragon Lady, Sitting in a Tree
'Today has been way too much to handle,' The Sword Hero, Ren Amaki, thought to himself.
First, he went grinding for some more monster materials and levels. If he wanted to stand any sort of chance at keeping pace with Naofumi, then he needed to be as strong as possible. Normally, standard fighting like that wouldn't tire him out too much, but during every fight he had to make sure the monster egg he had purchased wasn't damaged in any way. It was a little anxiety inducing but he managed.
When he returned, late in the night, he had hoped for a quiet night of rest, but that was apparently too much to ask for. As he was paying for a room for the night, a knight crashed through the door of the inn, calling for Ren. Apparently, the King had found out about Naofumi's plan to depart from the country and wanted his help in defending the border so that the 'Shield Devil' would be unable to escape. It would have been a bad situation for the both of them had it not been the fact the King had wrongly assumed Naofumi intended to flee to Siltvelt. Well, it still meant he couldn't get any rest, having to spend the entire night keeping watch for a threat that didn't exist.
The worst part about it all is Motoyasu and his gaggle of girls just wouldn't shut up. The entire night, Motoyasu barely kept watch and instead spent most of the time messing around with the girls in his party. Seriously, for a legendary hero, he was way too lax on his job. Well, Motoyasu probably still thought this world was a game. But he could still try to be a little quieter. All the knights posted with them were starting to get sick of the hero's antics.
But, with the slight wiggling of the egg he kept in the container by his side, that lack of energy disappeared forever, completely forgotten in the excitement that could potentially be the hatching of his new partner.
Ren watched the egg shake again, enamoured as small cracks began to form on the edge of the shell. Thinking quickly, Ren pulled the egg from the container, holding it in his hands, making sure not to drop it. Another shake, another crack. Another shake, a piece fell from the egg. Another shake, Ren could see a scaled and clawed foot try to poke it's way out of the opening. Then the entire egg fell to pieces, revealing to Ren a small red lizard-like dragon stretching its limbs experimentally as it relished in its newfound freedom from its imprisonment. Just like the egg shell the hatchling was kept in, the dragon had a splattering of black spots littering its scales. The hatchling met eyes with Ren, freezing just as its new master had before chirping happily and clumsily toddling forward to push its head into his finger.
Ren's eyes teared a little at the display, "I'll call you Riza."
In all honesty, Ren was a little worried. While this world was incredibly game-like, he was sure no animal was supposed to grow at this rate. In just three days, Riza had gone from an adorable hatchling to a full grown land dragon. While that was concerning in its own right, that didn't take into account some of his dragon's… eccentricities. He couldn't be sure, but to him it seemed like the dragon was just a little too loving with him. In many instances, Riza came up from behind him and flopped on top of him, practically crushing him under her weight as she sighed in satisfaction.
While that was a little weird to have happened, it just got weirder when he tried to ride her when she was fully grown. He got all the equipment needed and set it up but Riza seemed to be enjoying it when it was tighter than necessary. It only got worse when he actually mounted the dragon. Riza let out a high pitched squeal as he settled down. Ren just tried to ignore it as he issued out an order for the land dragon he rode upon.
"Alright Riza, let's start out a little slow, ok?"
That was all he got out before Riza bolted forward at speeds rivalling cars back in his (apparently futuristic) world, Ren screaming all the way.
It only took one more day for it all to get unspeakably weirder. Ren awoke from a very peaceful sleep, the last day having taken more out of him than previously thought. He then realized he was laid out on the ground instead of being curled up in Riza's scaled but surprisingly comfy body. More than a little alarmed at her sudden disappearance, Ren shot up but a strong grip around his right arm stopped him. Looking down, he came face to face with a red haired, very busty, and also very naked woman sleeping next to him. She had red scales lining the frames of her face which trailed down her body's sides all the way to her feet, covering both arms entirely yet leaving her… center exposed. On her behind was a thick scaled tail.
Ren's face blew up into a furious blush as he covered his eyes and tried to lightly pull his arm from her strong grasp. But, because God is a cheeky bastard, the sleeping woman responded by pulling his arm closer to her, inadvertently hugging it tightly between her chest.
If Ren was blushing before, he was steaming now. It was then the woman decided it was a wonderful time to wake up.
'Crap, crap, CRAP! I don't want to be branded a pervert!' Ren thought in panic before bracing himself for the inevitable slap he would receive.
The woman yawned and stretched her long shapely legs before sitting up. She looked at the situation before speaking, "It's nice to see you taking initiative for once Ren, now time for your reward!" The woman leaned forward, pursing her lips only for Ren's other hand to halt her advance.
"Wait! I didn't mean for this to happen! I swear! I don't even know who you are!" Ren spoke in a flurry of words.
The woman pouted at that, "You don't recognize me? I'm hurt, Ren. I can't believe you wouldn't recognize your own mount."
"...WHAT?!" Ren screamed.
It didn't take long from there to get everything Riza needed for her human form. She got clothes from the tailor using the magic thread they made at the magic shop. Riza ended up dressed in a black corset (cut low for reasons Ren did not want to state) and a red long sleeved jacket she always wore open for her upper body and a pair of black pants with a hole for her tail that hugged her legs a little too well. To finish the outfit off, Riza wore some black accented combat boots, making her look like quite the fighter.
"Do you like it Ren?" Riza asked with a lilt in her voice. Ren looked away awkwardly before nodding. Riza smiled in success. "Now I know what to wear to our first date."
Ren spat out in surprise before choking on his own air.
'Why me… I just wanted to be wholesome and take care of a cool dragon,' Ren thought in despair as Riza sent Ren a wink while she caught a sword between her scaled fingers. 'Well, I guess it's not all bad…'
While Riza could be a handful to deal with (especially since technically speaking she was only about a week old) but she could fight really well. Her scales were incredibly tough and so far, nothing had really managed to break through their toughness, not that he wanted to test it out, and her clawed hands made for excellent weapons that could mow down enemies faster than most of the swords Ren had access to could. Then there was her tail which, through earlier testing, had managed to shatter through three trees lined up next to one another in a single blow. And all that wasn't even taking into account her dragon form which made her even faster and stronger than she already was. But, he could do without the overly flirtatious and obsessive personality Riza had somehow developed.
They both finished off their current enemy, regrouping back to back in the center of the bandit hideout. Ren had decided to test Riza's combat capabilities with a relatively easy mission, just some low level bandits that had begun to harass a town near the outskirts of Melromarc. So far, they had managed to handle the entire mission with total ease, not even breaking a sweat thanks to their vastly superior strength.
"Riza, I need you to take down the tower the archer is on. He's really starting to get in the way of the fight," Ren informed his red haired partner.
"I'll do it if you take me on a date," Riza said with a flirtatious wink. She didn't even wait for his response before charging towards the tower, fending off the multitude of attacks that got in her way before swinging herself around and using her tail to pulverize it in two.
Ren tried to ignore the burning blush on his face as he went back to the fight.
"C'mon Ren! Just one date? Just to see how it goes?" Riza asked pleadingly.
"No Riza, I will not take you out on a date and that is final. I just can't get over how… strange it feels," Ren responded.
Riza stared wistfully at Ren before a seductive smirk graced her features, "Are we talking a good strange or-"
"Well aren't you a fine piece of meat?"
The two adventurers turned to the unknown voice, seeing a slim well built man in a suit of armor standing a couple feet from them and quickly approaching. Looking a little closer revealed a knight's insignia on the man's shiny armor and sword sheath.
"If you weren't a damn demi then I would ask you out right here and now, even then I might be willing to make an exception just for you," the knight spoke without hesitation.
Riza scoffed at the knight, bringing a scowl to the man's face, "Like I'd ever consider a pig wearing armor, besides I got myself a real man already."
The knight grit his teeth in anger, throwing his hand forward and grabbing Riza's left arm tightly, "Listen here you disgusting demi, no one refuses the fourth in command of the royal knights, you hear me-" From his grip alone, it would have been child's play for Riza to break out of it, but she never got the chance. Within a second of the grab, Ren had rushed forward, grabbed the offending arm, snapped it in two, and thrown the knight to the ground. He grabbed the deplorable knight by his armor's collar and brought him to his face.
"You're lucky I'm a forgiving person, so be thankful that I'm not cutting off your arm for touching Riza like that. Do it again and I'll make sure you can never hold your sword for the rest of your life, you deplorable excuse for a knight," Ren tossed the knight to the ground, the man scurrying to his feet to escape the enraged hero, cradling the broken arm.
"So how about that date now, Ren?" Riza smiled towards the teen.
"Are we really going to kill a dragon?" Riza asked calmly. Even though she was a dragon herself, she really could care less about anyone other than Ren, so screw them if they were against Ren.
Ren considered his words before answering the dragon he rode upon, "If what the townspeople say turns out to be true, then we very well may have to. I'd rather prefer avoiding a fight, so if the dragon ends up being malevolent, we will first attempt to try to relocate it away from the nearby village. If that fails, we will have to take it down. Be ready for a tough fight."
He could feel Riza tense from under him. He smirked to himself. Even though Riza may be a little… overbearing to say the least she was still a reliable fighter and party member. So what if he considered her his daughter, nothing wrong with trying to take care of a monster child.
Coming over the crest of the next hill, Ren and Riza came to see a dark cave filled to the brim with… furniture? Approaching the opening, they heard some shuffling from one of the corners of the cave. Shaking there was a small demi human girl.
'Is the dragon keeping her captive here? No, she's too clean and the furniture around here seems to be for her. So she's living here, but why?'
Before he could think further on the situation a furious roar crashed into them from behind. Turning around they came face to face with a rather angry purple pureblood dragon.
"Ah," Ren spoke his surprise lamely. He coughed into his hand, "I'm very sorry for the intrusion, but if you would be willing to answer just a few questions, I will leave with no resistance, sir dragon."
The roar from the dragon calmed to a consistent growling before the dragon pulled its head from the cave and waited for the two in the flatland just outside.
"Why have you come here, human?" The dragon growled out.
Ignoring the surprise that the dragon could speak, 'of course they can, nothing else makes sense so why not?' Ren appealed to the dragon. "I come here on the request to eliminate a dragon that has been reported to have been assaulting the livelihood of a nearby village. I would like to assess the situation myself as I would very much prefer to avoid an unnecessary fight. However, seeing the cave over there, I do have to ask why you have a small girl in your care."
At Ren's words the dragon flashed its very sharp and very dangerous teeth at the hero. "Of course those damn humans wish to remove me from my home. I have done nothing of which the humans accuse me of and I shall not explain why my child is under my care. What I wish to know is why you scared her. Answer carefully human."
Riza took this opportunity to transform next to Ren, taking on her human form to the surprise of the dragon, "I do not take well to threatening those I love, pureblood. It would do you well to rescind your words."
"Interesting…" The dragon mumbled. It took a breath as its scales lowered themselves back down, giving the dragon a much more calm appearance. "It would seem you are one of the legendary heroes. While that does not absolve you from my suspicions, it does alleviate some of my hostility towards you. My name is Gaelion, and inside that cave is my daughter. I would appreciate it if you refrained from frightening her anymore than you already have, Sword Hero. I took this territory as it was the safest place I could offer her from hostile humans that wished to enslave her following the first wave."
Ren listened calmly to Gaelion, seeing now this was just a father protecting his daughter, no matter how strange the pairing was. But who was he to talk, he was a legendary human hero taking care of a transforming week-old land dragon that wanted romantic relations with him, so he could look past it.
"I see, I'm sorry for having scared her. On the matter of my mission, it would seem someone attempted to take advantage of my abilities to remove you. For that, I apologize. I will do what I can to see that these people receive proper punishments."
"That would do much to please me, Sword Hero. I have already had to fend off attacks from human in our other homes so I appreciate your intent. See to it that you follow through with your words, Sword Hero. The mistakes of your predecessors did much to anger me, yet I will offer you a chance to prove to me you differ from them, use it well."
Walking back down the mountain, Ren and Riza were silent.
"So, was it just me or was he eyeing me down with some serious interest," Riza said questioningly.
Ren just sighed in exhaustion.
Notes:
As promised earlier (before the impromptu hiatus) here is a little side story detailing some of Ren's escapades with Riza.
Thank you to everyone's well wishes, my family member is doing much better now and is on the way to recovery. Again, thank you so much. I'll try and finish up the next chapter of the main story by tomorrow, but it might not be done till Sunday. See you all later :)
- RandomA99