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 10
Aegis Inn: Castle Town
5/22/0000: 0800
Third Person: Omni
"One kid's meal, two of the chef's recommendations please." Naofumi went with a regular order in his mind. It was not like he could read what the menu stated. And he also knew that Raphitalia would not really know the language either.
"Like this," Naofumi said while repositioning the spoon in her hand, making the unfamiliar gesture that one associated with food. He quickly demonstrated how he ate with the grip. He quickly did the same for Senka who was having a few issues with her movements… The two looked a lot better now that he cut their hair. He even got a new shield out of it.
"So these are our teammates huh…" A familiar voice came through as the young mage of the party walked to them in her Teana form. Melina observed the two with a critical eye… especially the young human woman. Despite the obvious starvation that she went through, she had the physique of an agility fighter… like Nix.
"Not like I can say anything about being untrained… I literally fell whenever I charged at something with my spear." She said with a good-natured chuckle as she got her usual breakfast order. The others had stopped eating to look at her while Naofumi just ate the food in order to memorize the tastes of the ingredient combination.
"Well, mister trainer… let's see how well you did yesterday." That was what she said before starting to eat quickly. Naofumi just motioned for them to finish their meals… it was best to ease them back into full courses if he went too fast they would just get sick instead.
"As you probably guessed, this is the most senior member of the party besides myself, Melina Pandemonium." She just pouted slightly at the insinuation of her age, she was only 16 after all.
"So, what are you trying to get them to be?" She asked with some interest, somehow speaking despite the copious amount of food that she is eating.
"For Raphitalia, the raccoon girl, Sword Master. As for Senka, a scout. Though in particular, a Ranger." Naofumi already knew that she did not discriminate against anything really. Though she did have a fiery temper when it came to hurting her allies… but that came with more physical classes anyway.
"So, you got what I requested?" Naofumi asked while finishing off the rest of his plate.
"Got the holy water easily… the sand however I was not able to get… despite it generating a new amount every time a wave ends. Thankfully I played it off as magic research purposes to throw them off the trail." She pats the rucksack beside her with a smile on her face.
"Turns out the national religion has me as the demon…" Naofumi remarked with an annoyed expression as the two others felt a bit of a disconnect from the conversation going on… especially Raphitalia.
"Well… that sucks, it seems that you will have only one chance in there. It seems that you can only rank up with a dragon hourglass. So either a single time there, going to another country or finding an abandoned one." She said while finishing her own meal.
"Rank up?" The first time he had heard of the world exclusive detail in the people of the world.
"We get classes the cap at level 100… but then you need to do a Class Upgrade, which I call rank up, inorder increase your stats and get a new class to level up.
"I get the feeling that would have blindsided me… thanks for investigating Melina." She just grinned as they stood up from their table and stretched out their bodies.
_(RISING OF THE SHIELD HERO)_
Forest Near Castle Town
5/22/0000: 1000
"Now that we are away from prying eyes…" Naofumi brought the three grades of holy water to his shield. The swift unlocking of three shields was what greeted his eyes. Only one was equipable by him at the moment.
"Shield Of Blessings I" Naofumi changed his shield into the first of the three in the line. A shield similar to the small shield he started out with was what appeared. It was white in coloration and had golden accents in the form of angel wings. He immediately felt the rage that hid itself weaken slightly.
It was bigger than it, however, if it were in the same orientation as the small shield, it would have reached his bicep and about 4 inches from his hands. It provided far more defense than any other shield before it. The mastery bonus was Light Healing Magic Affinity Up… which mainly helped with curing curses.
But it had something that all the other shields didn't, a Signature Skill. From the sudden help popup, Signature Skills only were available while equipping a shield. Holy Water Creation I granted by Shield Of Blessings I allowed him to make low-grade holy water with SP.
"Isn't that Ellen's shield?" It is exactly like the Savior's signature shield. Though the emblem of wings and a halo were not on the original's shield. That and the lack of a floating sigil made of light.
"It is different… extremely similar though," Naofumi stated while testing his movements with it, like when he was summoned before, he was quickly getting used to the new shield.
"Well, we need to figure out spells then," Naofumi remarked while putting it on the list of things in his mind, though now he got medical crafting supplies crossed out.
"Anyway, it is time to see whether we can work as a cohesive unit. Besides my defense, roles must be split up." Naofumi started putting his head into the planning stages. They needed more ranged fighters, archers mages. There was no one in the backline. They now had three close-range damage dealers and a defender. Though Melina could switch to any position after gaining chasers.
"Right then, Melina, Raphitalia, and I are on the vanguard. Senka is our scout/harasser." Naofumi stated while standing up, motioning for the other two to stand behind him.
_(DUNGEON FIGHTER ONLINE)_
"15 enemies spotted. Rushing towards the front of the formation." Her report was swift as she observed from her main force position. Naofumi quickly brought the attention to himself by knocking loudly on his shield, if it were fighting against human enemies it would be harder.
"Main priority is Melina getting chasers, Raphitalia, keep restrained for a bit while she does so. Senka, intervene when both are overwhelmed." Naofumi quickly stated while blocking several of the attacks from the assortment of monsters, the Shield Of Blessings I helped with its larger surface.
"Right!" Melina was quick to do several sweeps with her spear, doing a moderate amount of damage to each of them as the magical orbs appeared behind her. Raphitalia quickly cut one that was about to run off as Naofumi blocked the attacks to the mage.
"Melina, switch to mid and provide support, Raphitalia, switch into the main attacker." Naofumi quickly ordered while covering the backstepping mage. He really needed a taunt skill in order to fight properly.
"Raphitalia!" Naofumi shouted while blocking a chain of 5 enemies, Raphitalia quickly slashes the monsters without much fuss though her movement with the sword was a bit slow.
"20 more enemies incoming, 20 degrees right at 15 seconds," Senka reports while knifing a monster that got within Melina's guard, saving her from using a chaser. That gave them enough time to finish the 15 original monsters.
"Melina, send a chaser out now. They are grouped well enough." Naofumi quickly ordered, to which the spear user obliged. A group of 8 were all damaged by the first chaser that she had.
"Raphitalia, attack the rightmost position. I'll defend flank." Naofumi stated as the child quickly rushed the right corner of the enemy forces, though it was more like a bunch of groups packed together.
"Right." Raphitalia slashed the 5 monster group off to the edge, showing a very quick growth in her swordsmanship has progressed between the two attacks. The combat progressed like that a few times with all of them getting comfortable with the other's movements.
_(RISING OF THE SHIELD HERO)_
Town Of Lute
5/23/0000: 1000
"So, how much is it?" Naofumi asked the merchant with a calm tone, Melina was at his side to act aking to a guard of his. The other two were slightly away from them, close enough incase a fight were to break out.
"Bout two silvers in all." The merchant appraising the rabbit fur stated it was a fairly well-cut piece of fur, something that Naofumi's Dissection helped with.
"Right… Do you know of anywhere that we can earn money quickly?" Naofumi asked now that he knew the merchant wouldn't rip them off.
"The ores from the mine over there would fetch a decent amount but…" The man with a bandana said while looking over at the most glaring area in the village.
"What is the catch?" Naofumi asked as Melina was doing the silent bodyguard act that she was forced into with a game of rock paper scissors.
"It was overrun with monsters from the first wave… no one dares to approach it any more." He remarked with an annoyed tone at the reminder.
"I see." Naofumi looked with an appraising eye, it would be close-quarter combat mainly, and chasers would be a bad idea to use… at least the larger ones.
"Seriously… I don't even know what our summoned "Heros" are even doing." He remarked with a shrug… Naofumi felt that the others were not doing a good job, though he knew that they were still strengthening themselves. They had left far before he did though. He needed to find a way to stay in contact with Itsuki though.
_(DUNGEON FIGHTER ONLINE)_
Outskirts Of Lute Village: Abandoned Mine: Entrance
5/23/0000: 1230
Naofumi had finished his lunch before the others in order to try absorbing anything that was left behind in the miner's shack. The last user was dead and anything inside was a free game.
"Let's see…" Naofumi looked at what was inside the warehouse, several pickaxes, a coil of rope, and finally, a sharpening stone like one would use on knives or swords.
"Nice…" Naofumi quickly put all of the items in, getting in return a set of three shields. Pickaxe Shield, Rope Shield, and Sharpening Shield. Mining I, Air Strike Shield, and Sharpening I were the mastery bonuses of each shield. Air Strike Shield created a shield in front of a target. Mining I showed a higher concentration of ores. Sharpening I allowed him to sharpen weapons better.
However, the Rope Shield and the Sharpening Shield both had Signature skills. Rope, which allowed the shield to dispense a rope that will latch onto an object, and Automatic Sharpening, allowing a large consumption of SP over 8 hours to result in the placed weapon being sharpened and regaining a good condition.
"Let's try it… Rope Shield, Air Strike Shield!" Naofumi quickly switched to the named shield and quickly used its skill. A glowing green transparent shield about as tall as himself was created a few feet infront of him.
"Got a new skill huh… That might help us in battle better." Melina remarked from the door into the room.
Naofumi already mastered all the older shields and got their bonuses, the ones like the Balloon Series didn't really take all that much time. Only about 30 minutes in total of equipping each. Using skills that came with the shields also hastened Mastery. The stronger the shield, the more mastery was needed in order to master it.
"More options are good," Senka stated as she made herself known to him.
"Alright then, let's head down," Naofumi stated, trying to keep his inner otaku in check now that he has a big glowing shield to defend with. Though Melina and Senka could tell he was slightly excited by the prospect. He changed to the Pickaxe Shield to gain mastery as they went down.
_(DUNGEON FIGHTER ONLINE)_
"Master… what should I call you?" Raphitalia asked while holding one of the three pickaxes that were in the shack. Naofumi paid no mind to it as he carried one of the torches into the mine.
"Call me whatever you like, this knucklehead can't even decide a Nickname herself." Naofumi pointed at Melina without even stopping his steps. The other two easily keep up with him. They were also holding pickaxes as well. She just stuck her tongue out at him.
"It seems we are here," Naofumi stated while looking across the cave, putting out the torch to save on fuel. They didn't need any more light considering the crystals were the main light source.
"To make it a bit easier on us, Senka, Melina. You are going to be in your own pair, mine up the obvious deposits of materials. Raphitalia you are with me. You are going to be looking out for monsters as I mine." Naofumi looked at his mastery progress, only another 15 minutes out of the original 1 hour.
"Right then, see you in a few hours," Melina states while walking away, merrily holding her pick as Senka follows behind her. Naofumi turns to Raphitalia with a warm smile.
"Let's get going, can't have them getting more than us," Naofumi stated with a good-natured voice. She nodded in determination.
_(RISING OF THE SHIELD HERO)_
Naofumi swung the pick into the light blue crystalline ore. A green cursor was above it, much like the red ones that appeared over enemies that he noticed. He, after picking up the ore, noticed his pickaxe shield mastery was finished. The raccoon girl noticed dog tracks on the cave floor.
"This will catch us a pretty penny." Naofumi already got one earlier to put into his shield, unlocking the Light Metal Shield. Raphitalia stared at the two-headed monster that walked forward from the depths of the mines. She dropped to the ground as its image flickered with the one in her nightmares.
"No!" Raphitalia yelled out, causing Naofumi to immediately turn from his work, already switching to the Rope Shield. He quickly noticed the two-headed dog jumping at her.
He quickly brought the girl into his arms before jumping off the cliff, much like the time Raphitalia fell off during the first wave. He immediately knew something was different in her reaction to this particular monster.
"You alright?" Naofumi reeled himself to a rock spire with Rope, both of them were wet with the underground lakewater. Making sure to have a good grip on her, he didn't mind the water.
"Dog monster… killed the villagers. Even mother and father." She sobbed lightly as he carried her in a fireman's carry. He observed the dog with two heads jumping down the rocks to them.
Word Count: ~2500 words
Date Completed: 12/18/2020
Note: And it is left on a cliffhanger. Hope you all enjoyed it.
FFN:
None
AO3:
Robbie2413: Those 2 kids ran since Raphtalia warned them to was for naught if it was a smack upside the head. Kinda like a Gibb slap.
I am not too familiar with DFO because I never played it so I'm in the dark.
So Senka glares at the shadows... The Melromarc Shadows... why do I feel like that Senka was a Shadow? There is a parallel between this story and Shall I Show You a True Shield? by RyujinMaou. That parallel seems to become more and more apparent. In the story, Naofumi buys a human from Beloukules who turns out to be a captured Shadow of the Queen and she knows about the Shadows as well, she does tell Naofumi and well there are some hard feelings between her and the Shadows. 17 chapters and RyujinMaou is at the part in canon where Naofumi faints due to the blood loss of using Blood Sacrifice you should read it, it is really good. Anyway back onto the train, so why would Senka be glaring at the Shadows if she wasn't one of them formally or otherwise? Why does it seem like she has a slight grudge against them? I mean they are sweating LOL.
Wow yeah, this was a really long train of thought. Anyways good chapter, I always look forward to seeing the next one.
Response: Well, it at least taught them to not harass people… maybe. Children are idiots.
Fair enough, I haven't even played it myself for a while, and haven't even played the newest dungeons on it. I am mainly winging it cause there is no real talk about the story on youtube… as much as i wish there was.
From my reply to Dcraus back in chapter 8. Surprise Surprise, she is not a demi-human… You can probably guess part of her identity if you read Shall I show you a True Shield? By Ryujin Maou (which I do recommend reading). But she is similar yet different, considering I want a scout/assassin, it felt fitting. There are two factions of Shadows following Naofumi at the moment.