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 22
Path To Magic Stone Mine
6/14/0000: 1000
Third Person: Omni
After learning everything he could and making connections with the various persons of interest that the accessory seller taught him, he invited the Witch to a mine where he learned that magical crystals were. He, Eclair, Raphtalia, and Filo were the others of the group in the mine.
He had learned several things from the connections, such as Ren defeating a dragon over east and Motoyasu saving a village from a famine… though with the context front he treasure-chest picture, something would be happening to the village.
The person with who he is most connected with had no real feats that others knew of. It would seem that she went the silent vigilante route. Itsuki was just not known besides a rumor of being part of a resistance group in another country.
Melina, Senka, and Rino were sent out to find out which village Motoyasu saved and report the situation to him when they get the chance, they were sent after leaving the merchant as to not draw suspicion.
"I'm surprised that you learned where to find that gemstone so quickly." The witch facing directly opposite of him said with that kind voice of hers.
"Sadly it is not all good news," Naofumi said with a bit of a sigh, when was the last time he had any good luck come his way?
"It would seem that it is in a rather dicey location," Naofumi said with closed eyes and crossed arms. Thinking back on the information given by the man in charge of the mines. Filled with monsters since a wave.
"Naofumi-sama..." Naofumi looked out the front of the carriage to see a temple carved into the cliff face, much like how a person would build their home inside of one if they were unable to build one.
_(DUNGEON FIGHTER ONLINE)_
"The temple was once a notoriously evil alchemist's base of operation." The witch said as she looked at the temple that they were inside. Currently, they went into a cave that was not well-publicized.
"I never knew that there was a tunnel here." She remarked as Naofumi held the torch beside her. Raphtalia, Eclair, and Filo were up farther front as their vanguard in case anything were to try and attack them.
"According to the miners, no one dares approach this place due to monsters settling in it. Be alert." Naofumi said with a calm tone as they all used even steps to walk forward.
"Hmm, it is the same chest that Elena showed in that photo." At the relative end of the hallway, they reached a chest that, like Naofumi mentioned, was the same in Elena's photo, though this time he could read the words better.
"We pray that this seed never reaches it out of here. It is a horribly twisted manifestation of our wish for nobody to starve." Naofumi already elt a monkey's paw at work. It seemed that the village that was originally stricken with famine would be his next stop after getting Filo some clothes.
"Master, there is a path that way." Filo was acting as their observer as she pointed out another direction they could go in. They turned to it, Naofumi observing for any real discrepancy.
"Filo, hurry," Naofumi said while walking down the path with the rest of the group. Filo was still behind at the moment.
"Master. You see…" Filo was about to say something to the backs of the party before something disturbed her.
"For crying out loud. If you can't listen to me, then I don't need you anymore." She heard the uncharacteristic tone of her master's voice. She quickly ran over to get to them.
"Wait. A monster footprint, and a large one at that." The witch looked at the ground which was indented in due to the size of the creature.
"Well, we have an idea on what we have to fight later… though it is good to be alert-" Naofumi spoke when the torch in his hand suddenly went out, he already knew that something was wrong.
"Naofumi-sama," Raphtalia said as Naofumi looked over. He was infront with the witch right now to observe the print so they were behind them at the moment.
"Stay Calm," Naofumi said while glancing behind him to look at the three girls behind him.
"Hey witch, what is happening?" Naofumi asked while turning his head back to the front, he already could barely see with the light now gone from the cave.
"I never want to see Naofumi ever again." The voice of Raphtalia said, though Naofumi already thought something was wrong, it was far too close to him to be the real her… and it definitely was not a Satori that was voicing out inner thoughts of a person.
"Don't let the voices mislead you." Naofumi's thoughts were confirmed by the words of the magic fighter.
"The monsters here provoke you by saying the things you least want to hear, in the last voices you want to hear them." Naofumi already felt that they were being a far more malicious threat than the ape youkai. Several more words in the party's voices were grating on Naofumi's nerves.
"As the source of thy power, I order thee. Decipher the laws of nature and restore our sight! Fast Anti-Bind." The witch used her magic to get rid of the illusion that they were placed under. A force quickly erupted from her wand and into the front of her.
"Filo, blow them away!" Naofumi immediately commanded when he saw that they were bats that were causing the issue. The witch had restored their sight but he did not know how long it would last.
"I'm going to blow you away!" Filo was extremely angry at the flying rodents and swung her wings, causing a gale to blow them all away and sharp winds to cut them to pieces.
"Are you all okay?" The witch asked as the spell finished, all the bats were dead due to the wind Filo gave off. The place was returned to darkness.
"Yes, I am fine." Raphtalia quickly responded with a slightly tired smile.
"I am good," Eclair stated with an even tone, though she was still slightly unsettled from the words that the bats had said.
"I don't know when this will come in handy…" Naofumi said while looking through the new shield unlocked by the bat pieces. Voice Gengar Shield was what it had unlocked, Sound Save Endurance (Small) was the mastery skill and the signature skill was Megaphone, Now that he thought about it, relaying information to an audience would be a good use for it.
"Let's get going." Naofumi returned to a standing position after relighting the torch that he was carrying earlier. He could finally see around him once more.
"You won't abandon me, right master?" Filo suddenly asked, Naoufmi quickly understood it had to do something with the words said by the bats. He quickly went over and pat her on the head.
"I will always stand beside you till you leave the nest," Naofumi said with a slight smile, after a few seconds of patting her head, he went to the front of the formation they decided on. When everyone got into position, he motioned for them to go forward.
"Something is here." They finally reached the actual entrance of the cave, lit up by a bunch of glowing minerals. Filo already sensed the presence of something within, though it was already a suspicion that Naofumi had before coming in.
"That is the gemstone." She said while looking at the back of the cavern, but a monster was taking a nap at the far edge of the cavern. The head of a monkey, the legs of a tiger, and a viper for a tail that was staring directly at them as it flicked out its tongue.
"It is a Nue, a bit on the small side but still dangerous." The witch helpfully said though Naofumi was already slightly familiar with the Youkai. It was like a Japanese version of the Chimara… and the shield might just label it as such.
"This will be rough." Naofumi already did not want to fight any battles higher than them, which this monster was not, and any battle that would be fruitless. Though it might give a good amount of experience when he thinks about it.
"The gemstone is right there, but we can't get it." The Naofumi said while observing everything, as the leader of the party, he had to make plans for the battle.
"Alright, Filo, Eclair, Raphtalia. We are the front line. Witch, you are the support. Small Shield." Thankfully he had a lot of good damage dealers, so it was up to him to keep them safe.
"Going." Raphtalia, Eclair, and Filo rushed off as he finished the basic roles of the party. The monster dodged Raphtalia jumped up and tried to kick her with its hind legs.
"Air Strike Shield," Naofumi stated while causing the monster to jump upwards into Filo's attack. It was forced to him, to which Naofumi blocked. Eclair came up with a flurry of slashes to the abdomen of it before rushing away to stay out of damage.
"No!" Filo quickly brought Naofumi away from the monster after kicking the monkey face. It quickly brought out a discharge of lightning in an area of effect attack.
"Zweit Fire Blast!" The witch used her spell to have it focus on Naofumi, which was infront of it. Naofumi spotted Raphtalia uses her illusion magic. When she got close, he noticed a twitch in its movements.
"Eclair, block it!" Naofumi yelled out, the snakehead of the Nue launched an attack at Raphtalia, but before it could reach her, Eclair showed up in between them and blocked the attack with a steel shield that she got from the bandit's weaponry.
"What is it using… smell?" Naofumi asked himself as he tried once more observing its movements. Eclair gave enough time for Raphtalia to take a slash at the snake, though it only did some moderate damage.
"No, sound. It is really sensitive to sound." Filo responded as she landed them in an area away from the zone that the eclectic discharge affected.
"That gave Naofumi an idea, the shield that he was unlocked when the bat monsters were around, he already had it equipped before the battle in order to get the mastery bonus like usual.
"Filo, yell into this as loud as you can." Naofumi knew that she could yell far louder than him. He quickly motioned for everyone to get behind him before he let her
"Everyone, cover your ears," Naofumi ordered while he readied for Megaphone himself. The ladies quickly did as ordered when they noticed the shield that he had gained.
"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH" Filo yelled in it, the sound waves echoing off the enclosed space that they were battling in. While it was bad for their ears, it was far worse for the chimera that had extremely sensitive hearing. In fact, the eardrums of the monster burst, blood pouring out in a torrent.
"Finish it!" Naofume ordered as the girls immediately went to work. Raphtalia and Ecliar stabbed its heart and snakehead respectively before backing off to allow for the witch to stun it with her spell.
"Zweit Fire Blast!" She intoned once more, sending a stream of fire over at the monster, stunning it till the spell was canceled, allowing for Filo to finish off the monkey head with a swift kick.
"You are still a bit inexperienced," Eclair said to Raphtalia, she had already noticed the flinching movement of the monster, though it was mainly due to experience honed from a countless number of spars with knights who faced real combat.
"Right," Raphtalia said with a determined expression and a nod at the words of her senior, though it was only really people that knew her true age that could tell.
"You all did well," Naofumi said with a smile as he looks over at the crystals, a hammer in hand in order to extract the minerals. He looks around to find some with good clarity to make into accessories at a later date.
"This looks good," Naofumi said while finding a cluster of crystals that met his requirements. The girls were all observing the cave in wonder, it is quite pretty. The witch checked the magic within the crystals to see if it would be good.
"Good eye, a chunk of this one would do fine." She said with a warm tone as Naofumi nods to her words. He takes a light swing at the section of the crystal bunch.
_(DUNGEON FIGHTER ONLINE)_
Castle Town: Magic Shop
6/15/0000: 1600
"This is making me tired…" Filo said while slowly spinning a thread of magic using the now repaired magic tool. They already had several spindles full of it. The thread was a shimmering white.
"That is because you are spinning a thread using your own mana. Endure it for a little longer." The witch said as she observed the proceedings. Naofumi sat to the side while looking at the wooden contraption… thinking about if he were to get other monsters.
"If we need some more thread, could we come here to make some more?" Naofumi asked with an even tone, they already got this service free this time due to actively getting the crystal to do so.
"Of course." She said with a kind smile when she looked at him.
"Come one, when you finish up I will get you a snack." Raphtalia enticed the girl with a smile, Filo immediately went back to the job spiritedly.
"You know it is a nice scene." Eclair softly said to Naofumi as they sat beside each other. It reminded him of when he saw her sitting in the cell of the castle… It felt strange to look at someone so like those Knights… Much like the feeling he gets when he first saw Melina's true form.
_(THE RISING OF THE SHIELD HERO)_
Castle Town: The Tailor's
6/16/0000: 1300
Naofumi looked at the young girl in the new dress crafted by the seamstress. White and blue made her look like an angel, especially with those wings of hers.
"Master, how do I look?" She asked while posing for the group. Naofumi nodded in approval for the craftsmanship and design.
"Very nice," Naofumi said with a smile on his face. Raphtalia was pouting slightly at the attention Filo was garnering from her master.
"Yay! Thank you, master!" She cheered as she jumped up to him, hugging him in the process. Eclair looks on with a slight blush and a smile on her face.
"Sure she looks cute." Raphitalia would at least admit the glaring fact that even she could not deny.
"Doesn't it? I did my very best to bring out every last bit of Filo's charm!" She was extremely happy with it, though Naofumi noticed the visible sleep deprivation. He decided to tune out the explanation that she would give in order to check his phone for messages.
Around a few hours ago, Melina texted him about the village and how he would have to be there to resolve the problem and heal the people. He could only sigh at that before putting that onto the to-do list at a higher rank.
He quickly thought about the route to take before deciding to get another egg from the slave merchant… maybe he would get a dragon this time around through the gatcha.
Word Count: ~2600 Words
Date Completed: 12/30/2020
Note: Almost new Year, might just update the other stories before returning to Haitus. Though I will probably finish up the fight with the zombie dragon and the Bio Plant.
Review Cove:
FFN:
None
AO3:
havefeith: I think you mistook Senka for Elena at one point in this chapter (chapter 21, in case people see this review/comment), around when the Accessories trader (and that's a word you spelled as "assessors") was in the party.
Here's hoping this derails more than it has soon, because you seem to be rehashing canon right now, for the most part. It's a legitimate concern at this point in time. The only issue is that you haven't read the LNs, as far as I can tell, thus don't know about all the other things going on.
Response: Senka was supposed to be scouting around and Rino was supposed to be in the carriage. As for spelling mistakes, they always slip past me despite my using a spell checker.
As for derailing canon, as I have explained in another Review Corner, the first season and major events till maybe the second or third season would be similar with things happening slightly different, (spoiler) such as Naofumi working with Itsuki at the refugee village in the east.