A/N: (Note/Disclaimer) All recognizable characters belong to their respective owners. Such as Neopeople for Dungeon Fighter Online(Also known as Dungeon & Fighter) and Aneko Yusga for The Rising Of The Shield Hero
Note 2:
("Human/Speech")
("Thoughts")
(Attacks/Weapon names)
(Other/Foreign/ Speech & Text/Book/Scroll)
(Actions/POV)
(Titles/Flashback/Time/Dates/Place)
(Narration & Everything else)
('Demonic Speech')
("Demonic Thoughts")
Hero And Fighter Chapter 9
Raphitalia's Dream
Third Person: Omni
"Raphitalia… do you remember the stories of the four heroes?" Her father asked her while they sat in front of the fire… her on his lap.
"The ones with the Sword, the Bow, and the Spear… And the one with the Shield…" She states all the cardinal heroes for her parents to hear. Her mother was knitting something besides them as she listened on the conversation.
"The Shield Hero in particular has treated us quite well." The man of the house expounded on the one who had the most positive impact on them.
"Really? I'd like to meet him." She stares up at her father with wondrous eyes.
"If you are a good girl… I am sure you will meet him someday." The mother spoke while putting down her needles for a few seconds. The family smiles together.
Suddenly the landscape changed, it was not the warm home within her memories. It was instead the town that she grew up in… but something far more terrifying than ever before.
Monsters ran across the streets… attacking residents indiscriminately. The skies painted were red, most likely coming from being sunset… but it cast a dangerous undertone to the entire situation.
She was running away from a certain monster… a dog with three heads with her parents behind her. But the thing leads them onto a cliff face… one that dropped into the ocean.
"We are sorry Raphatalia…" Her father's bloody arm places itself infront of her, he is trying to shield the child as much as possible.
"We want you to live… so forgive us for this selfishness one day." Her mother states as they all back up another step… one that caused Raphitalia to fall off the cliff.
She watched her parents be torn up as the fangs of the three-headed monster brought down the center one to feast on it. The blood staining itself in her mind…
Forest Near Castle Town
5/20/0000: 2000
"Well, despite the night, they did well," Naofumi whispered to himself as the fire cracked under his watch. He had gained some shields from the minutes that they were in the forest. The Fish Shield, Egg Shield, Sky Egg Shield, and the Blue Egg Shield. The Sky Egg Shield did come at quite a good time when it came to preparing the fish, it is not like he is used to cooking over an open fire but Simple Recipe I was able to help him.
"It is only going to get harder from here on, so savor the respite away from the storm." He said to himself in a pondering manner, it was something said by a Des while they were playing DFO together a few days before he got transported. Something that he came back from closing his game store for the night. Gosh, it felt like it has been weeks since he got here, but it hasn't even been one.
"Oh yeah, I have an offline mode in DFO." He thought to himself about his old world, remembering the sudden patch that allowed the download of their characters to test stuff out in offline play, it was mainly used to figure out combos and wouldn't affect your actual character in the server.
"I wonder if I can use the data somehow…" Naofumi pondered about the data of all his characters that was on his laptop, he backed up the characters every time he logged off so it was the latest. He even had the information of the rest of his guildmates on his hard drive, though less current when compared to his own. The only reason why he would even think of having that much data on it was due to it being Des's gift and having an insane storage capacity, fast read and write speeds, and an extremely fast CPU.
"Wait, if Melina is here… What happened to her data on the computer?" The sudden thought made him think about the strange appearance of his Battle Mage. He hadn't really checked in the last few days due to everything on their plates. And wouldn't even be able to experiment till she comes back in two days.
"No please no… Father! Mother!" The sudden cries of a companion snap Naofumi into his big brother mode immediately, quickly cradling the young girl in his arms while using a soft voice to coax her back to a restful sleep.
"Shh… it is okay… there are others besides you… I am beside you…" Naofumi gently rocked the girl back and forth under his cloak. Very much like the first night in this world, he was able to get her to sleep well after a few minutes.
"Right then… should have expected this." He casts a glance over to the other of their current group. Still sleeping soundly, she lay with the blanket he provided. She looked ready to fight immediately though… she was definitely not a nobleman's daughter unless he was a knight or a combatant of some kind.
"Good, she didn't have an interrupted sleep cycle… they need as much of it as they can get to become healthy," Naofumi mumbled to himself after confirming before trying to remove Raphitalia from his body. Only for her to hold onto him like he was the only lifeline in this world… which is true not that he thought about it.
"Silly girl." Naofumi remarks before adding some more wood to the fire and starting to blend up some cold medicine, sadly he had no containers to put them in beside the four canteens that he had on him until he looked at the leaves around him. Making sure to put the concoctions into the shield he gained the Small Medicine Shield and the Small Poison Shield. Tomorrow night they would be at the inn, just cause he needed to ascertain the quality of the meds that he would be making.
Unbeknownst to Naofumi, Senka was watching the entire thing as she acted dead to the world. A slightly surprised glint in her eye as she watched the warmth the Hero gave off. She quickly shook it off in order to observe the area once more, though her reset level inhibited her ability to do so. It was not long before she fell asleep due to exhaustion.
_(DUNGEON FIGHTER ONLINE)_
5/21/0000: 0700
"Here, drink it." Naofumi immediately noticed the awakening of the demi-human on his body. He quickly unscrews the cap on the liquid medicine that he made and pours it into a leaf cup that was manufactured a bit earlier.
"Bitter!" She made a face and sound as she took in the first few drops of it, immediately spitting it out. Naofumi suddenly remembered that they put sweeteners in medicine nowadays to make it more palatable.
"Sadly there is no juice at the moment. Just tough it out and drink it down as quickly as possible." Naofumi states with a quick comment. Forcing her to take the option that would make her healthy. In the end, he had a retching raccoon girl and an empty leaf cup. He checked the canteen, only another dose of it left for the other slave.
"I know you are up, hurry up and get over here to take your medicine." Naofumi already knew that she was up, habits that were ingrained since young did not suddenly leave you after all. Despite the stoic expression she had on her, Naofumi could tell that she was apprehensive about the medicine.
"Take it yourself or have me do it for you," Naofumi stated when she looked at Raphitatia taking in and spitting out water in order to get rid of the after taste in her mouth… To no avail, it seems.
"Bleh" Was all he could get from her… it was far quieter than the sounds that Raphitalia made when she consumed the bitter concoction. Maybe he should have diluted it with water if it was able to elicit a reaction from her as well. She quickly did the same as her co-slave to what seemed to have no effect.
"Alright then, today we are going a bit deeper into the forest-" Was all he could get out after the comedic actions of the two before a sudden monster came out of the bushes.
"A rabbit…" That was all he could say before it immediately tried to attack Raphitalia. Naofumi quickly put his arm out to block the attack, making it bite into him much as the balloons did to him before.
"Raphitalia, stab it! Senka, scout the area now!" That was what he roared out while making sure to have a good hold on the rabbit. Senka quickly disappeared from her spot in order to look for any more threats.
"It will bleed if I do…" Raphitalia was scared, and to Naofumi that made sense. It was not like the comical beings before, no, it was a monster shaped like an animal… one that would bleed on death.
"What's wrong? Quickly, stab it!" Naofumi yelled out again to the frightened lass.
"I am scared of blood." And it was something that Naofumi noted, hemophobia and fear of monsters… along with what he heard from the nightmare last night allowed him to piece together the tragedy that happened to her. The seal flared to life for the first time, forcing her to the floor.
"Remember my words from before, we have no time to be frozen in fear! My responsibility is to fight the waves, and I need party members to fight alongside me right now!" Naofumi gave emphasis to the last part of his sentence. Making sure that the monster didn't escape despite it not doing any damage to him.
"I can't look after you when that happens if you don't fight now!"
"You are going to fight the Catstrophey…" The one thing that stood out amongst the words he stated… something must have happened in the last one, specifically the tragedy in her past.
"It is a duty I am forced with," Naofumi stated while taking a look at the rabbit on him… her real first blood.
"Got it…" Raphitalia quickly pulled the knife into her hands as she stood from her spot on the ground. In a manner reminiscent of the scene in the weapon's shop, Naofumi brought out the rabbit in front of him for her to stab. With a yell, she stabbed into it, spraying blood everywhere.
"Master… I will keep on fighting for you." Covered in blood, she looked at the young man who was only kind to her in the past day. It was very much emotional whiplash she felt from the extreme change in the situation.
"Right." Naofumi looked at the rabbit in his hands… it slowly bled out into the ground as the scout of the group showed herself once more.
"Soundings are clear." She stated quickly, Naofumi knew that she didn't talk about the rabbit in order for him to get Raphitalia's trauma under control.
"This really is not a game huh." Naofumi once again reaffirms the thoughts running through his heads… and the resolution to not allow more blood to be spilled from him or his group. He silently broke down the corpse and put the materials into his shield… getting two different ones. The Usa Meat Shield and the Usa Leather Shield giving a Dissection Ability I and a boost to agility.
_(RISING OF THE SHIELD HERO)_
Merchant District: Castle Town
5/21/0000: 1300
"Need a sword and a pair of daggers," Naofumi stated while putting a sack of silvers on the counter. Remembering the distinct combat styles that the two of them showed.
"A shorter one would be best… This short sword made of iron should do right?" The smith looked through a box of swords before bringing out one that was sheathed. Raphitalia quickly picked up and unsheathed it, testing movements with it.
"Hey boss, do you know where we could go with our current equipment… not just us but Melina as well?" Naofumi asked when he returned to the counter, while the smith was looking through the box Senka was already looking through the selection of daggers he had out front. The hero had already set the map down on the counter.
"With your stuff, it would be here." He pointed out a spot on the map, Lute Village. Naofumi took out a more transparent paper that had various markings and placed it over the map, marking the point that the shop owner pointed to.
"Alright then. Thanks for the info and gear." Naofumi says while motioning for the two others to accompany him out of the store, after Melina finishes up with her stuff they would go over to the village.
_(DUNGEON FIGHTER ONLINE)_
5/21/0000: 1330
"Want one?" Naofumi asked after returning from selling the medicine to the pharmacist, after noticing Raphitalia looking at a few children playing with a ball made of what looked to be balloon pieces.
"Not at all. I don't want it at all." He could see the quickly moving tail behind her… it was blatantly telling him that she wanted one. He gave a good-natured smile as the cute act was playing before him.
"You can play with it after we get done working," Naofumi said with a smile after getting one from the nearby seller. Lightly tossing it into her arms to allow her to play with it while they walked to the inn.
"What are you looking at on Senka?" Naofumi observed the young woman with slightly curious eyes as she watches the shadows with a strong gaze… only he would notice now that he got a day to develop a profile of her tells. No matter how well trained in being monotonous… they still have personal habits.
"Nothing sir…" She silently glared at the shadow for a few more seconds before responding. She silently looked back at him with the same emotionless face. If it were not for being real-life, Naofumi would have thought that the shadows she was glaring at were sweating.
"Good day Athena." Naofumi nodded at the young woman before him, tomorrow is when Melina would be coming back. She smiled at the young man in a graceful smile that was extremely familiar to him… almost as if he witnessed it every day for years.
"Good day Naofumi… how many rooms for tonight?" The young woman of the Aegis inn asked quickly. She already knew Melina paid for a room here and left some money for a single room and a meal.
"Two… and if Melina is coming back tonight, three," Naofumi remarked with a smile of his own.
"New party members?" She already knew that he would usually place two to a room, and if he is renting three rooms, then he has two new ones.
"Yes, slaves… though I should ask for your stance on the matter." Naofumi quickly remembered that some inns didn't allow for slaves in their buildings… sometimes even forcing them into horse stables.
"They can't stay in their own room sadly… you will have to share it with the two. And personally… I see slavery as barbaric a majority of the time. But I see why you would have to use them." Naofumi nodded with a relieved expression… so no personal hostility, and he could get why slaves were in their owner's room… security was a big thing boasted here.
_(RISING OF THE SHIELD HERO)_
"Alright, I got our room…" Naofumi immediately noticed two boys playing with a ball… and Raphitatlia missing her own. He immediately put the strings together.
"Did no one teach you to never steal another's property?" Naofumi asked with a cold expression that he swiftly changed to… it was getting easier and easier to switch to it on will he realized.
"She isn't human… so she doesn't have any property." One of the boys said with the other nodding along.
"Maybe I should give you a bit of punishment for taking something that is not yours… and besides, would you really say that to foreign kings who happen to be Demi-Human?" Naofumi stated as he slowly walked forward, his aura becoming scary.
"Quick, run!" Raphitalia was the one to warn them, and they almost laughed her off if it weren't for the cold expression on his face. She really is a calm caring one. The boys dropped the ball and ran.
"You really are able to feel kindness huh…" Naofumi said in an amused expression, all he would have done was knock the kids on the upside of the heads. He looked over at Senka… it would seem that she was focusing on scouting instead of dealing with a playground squabble in her eyes.
"We are teammates now… it is good for us to watch each other's backs," Naofumi remarked while rubbing his temples after bopping her on the head due to not helping Raphitalia.
"Now come on, we need to test your new weapons. I have paid for the night and meals." With the final remark, all of them left to the meadows to get some more money.
Word Count: ~2900 Words
Date Completed: 12/17/2020
Note: Hope you all enjoyed the chapter.
Review Cove:
FFN:
Dcraus: hat and malty be tramaizted a person who were rape victims would months or years to recovered from their trauma like this
Reply: And of course that… even if they didn't have a clue 'bout mental health back then… and how to treat it.
AO3:
Robbie2413: Let me guess the new one is from Dungeon Fighter Online. So then Naofumi here is a lot more knowledgeable than canon Naofumi.
Ya know I somehow just got this feeling that in total with the way you are writing this in its sections it will most likely be over 50 chapters by the time you reach the second wave of Melromarc.
Also, it's a long story to Season 1 of Rising of the Shield Hero. Can you tell me it in 25 parts~? LOL RvB joke
In all seriousness, if you were to keep 6 chapters per episode you would most likely total this out at 150 chapters. That is if you plan to follow canon Naofumi's path.
I wonder if it would be wrong to assume that Naofumi is going to totally give the Three Heroes Church untold destruction AKA the ass kick of the century?
Reply: First up… Senka is not from Dungeon Fighter Online… though she might get some skills from it and with me taking a bit of inspiration from the Ranger's Apprentice Series by John Flanagan. If you are talking about Melina, then yes, she is from DFO… mostly.
The funny thing about it… I am actually going a bit faster than the pace of the Light Novels. But as things progress, I will be speeding up, hopefully. I am still working on world-building in the first chapters after all. (There is also the fact that EP 1 was almost an hour-long)
And finally, let's just say that the Church battle is not going to be only just Naofumi taking the major magic attacks while waiting for the good queen to provide reinforcements.