Chapter 16 / Filolial Egg
"Whose stupid idea was it to walk the entire way to the next village?"
"The more you complain about it, the more it gets to your head, Itsuki."
Even though Naofumi kept giving out suggestions for Itsuki to bear with the tiredness, his friend was still dragging himself behind the rest of the group.
Naofumi didn't think it was that bad.
Then again, he wasn't used to having carriages bring him everywhere he needed to go. At the very least, Ren and Motoyasu were withstanding the distance for themselves.
"How much longer do we have to go?"
"It's been merely a day's worth of traveling," Eclair answered, "so I'd say we have another day left to go. It won't be too far off and it hasn't been bad as of yet."
"Lies. I'm going to die at this rate."
"How about we just take a break for now?" Naofumi suggested. "I don't think we can't leave Itsuki hanging behind like this."
"Should we set up a quick camp here?" Raphtalia asked.
"Yeah, thanks," Naofumi nodded. "After you're done, I'll whip something up quickly, so that Itsuki can get some energy back."
They found a small clearing between the trees off from the main path and once they reached it, Itsuki didn't stop at anything from collapsing onto the ground. His limbs spread out like a star.
Naofumi luckily managed to grab himself a pot before they left the last town. It wouldn't be the truth to say that he willingly bought it, but rather all friends all pushed the purchase onto him to make sure that he had all he needed to make proper meals.
This time, he was planning on a quick stew which used some of the monster meat they collected as a base, added with a few wild vegetables. It would take some time, but after an hour or so, they were able to get some food to Itsuki's lap before he could pass out from exhaustion.
"Ah! That hits the spot! Naofumi's cooking is always the best!"
He made enough to satisfy the entire group while he was at it. Eclair was starting to get used to the taste of Naofumi's food, but every bite still gave her enlightenment. Even Raphtalia couldn't stop her tail wagging, simply getting a whiff of the scent.
"Do we really have to walk…?" Itsuki complained after the meal was finished.
"We can't be using carriages," Ren responded. "Not only does it take money, but we can't really risk ourselves in interacting with people more than what we have to."
While they weren't broke, they didn't have access to consistent income either. Even when the heroes put their money together in one pile, it wasn't anything to be especially proud about.
"If we headed off like that, we wouldn't be able to sustain ourselves with materials." Motoyasu answered. "Traveling by foot allows us to fight monsters along the way for materials, whether we use them for strengthening methods or money."
"At least the encounters with monsters have been quick," Eclair said.
"It actually takes us longer to break down the materials into separate parts," Raphtalia chuckled.
Raphtalia and Naofumi assigned themselves to dismantle the monster parts, but Ren lent a hand as well. Considering how Raphtalia and Naofumi depended on monster materials to previously make income, they thought that they would be relatively quick, but Ren's hands and technique were far superior than their efforts combined. It certainly cut down on time, thanks to him.
The thought, however, led Naofumi to glance over to his menus once more.
Since everyone was still relaxing before hitting the road once again, it might have been a good idea to sneak in some time to work on his strengthening methods. He was upgrading his shields based on how much he thought he would be using them, but when it came down to efficient uses of his materials, only time would tell if his assumptions will be correct. His friends helped him out a bit, but even they were simply doing guesswork.
To start off…
[Light Metal Shield + 4] 20/30 UC
(Equip Bonus / Mastered) Defense 1
(Special Effect) [Magic Guard], [Light Counter] (Medium)
(Mastery Level / Awakened) 24
(Item Enhancement) [LV5] Magic Up (Medium)
(Spirit Enhancement) Cave-Dwelling Monster Damage -10%
(Status Enhancement) Magic Defense 10+
This was probably one of his stronger shields, boasting a high rating across his defensive parameters. Although it might have been worth investing a bit more into it, he wasn't too confident that luck would assist him again. He already felt pretty grateful that the methods allowed him to make it that far and besides, he wouldn't want to put materials to waste.
[Two-Headed Black Dog Shield + 3] 16/30 - UC
(Equip Bonus /Mastered) : Attack 3, Defense 1
(Equip Bonus Skill - Mastered) : [Alert Shield] (Small)
(Special Effect Skill) : [Dog Bite Counter], [Howling Shield]
(Mastery Level) : 92
(Item Enhancement) : [LV3] Counter Damage Up (Medium)
(Spirit Enhancement) : Small Monster Damage -6%
(Status Enhancement) : Attack 2+
While [Dog Bite Counter]'s damage was pretty noticeable compared to all of the other counters that he had, he didn't know how necessary it was to have a damaging shield like this when he had five other people that could support him on the damage front. It was still able to lock down the opponent more effectively with a tighter grip and a longer maximum duration, if that was some consolation prize.
There was also [Howling Shield], the skill he just received by strengthening it. It had the ability to slow down all opponents in the area and while the slow wasn't as effective as the one applied on [Dog Bite Counter], it had the bonus of being able to interrupt spells casting.
He still had no idea how to use Motoyasu's spirit enhancement method effectively. It didn't help that it appeared that spirit enhancement was tied to a niche, depending on what he threw in there. He'd been trying to figure things out properly the moment he could speak to Motoyasu about it, but apparently, that was simply part of the enhancement.
[Book Shield + 0] 0/15 UC
(Equip Bonus Skill - Mastered) : Compounding (Small), Compounding Recipe 1
(Special Effect) : Compounding (Medium)
(Mastery Level) : 30
(Item Enhancement) : 0
(Spirit Enhancement) : 0
(Status Enhancement) : Magic 1+
Although the [Book Shield] was not for combat, he was able to make better medicine with this which could result in the group not needing to buy additional stocks if he was able to make stuff as good as the marketplace. Obviously, that equated to more savings. While his recipe book was slightly limited for now, he was on a careful lookout for shields that could provide more recipes.
The [Book Shield] was also handy in hiding his shield in plain sight. There wasn't a reason to not see if it had anything else to offer in which it did. From upgrading the shield, it strengthened the bonus of his compounding effectiveness from small to medium if the shield was out.
He decided to invest a bit into [Book Shield] for now, considering that he hadn't been too hard-pressed for anything relating to combat. Supporting the party through additional high-quality items might have boasted better results in the long run and if not, they could still try and turn a profit off them.
After finishing up, Naofumi went off to wash the pot with Raphtalia's help in the nearby river.
Itsuki looked like he could survive a few more hours as he rolled his ankles to make sure he was mentally ready for the remainder of the trip, but he glanced over to his friends.
"Are you sure we can't get our own private mode of transportation?"
"It would be nice to have," Naofumi pondered.
"If we could get our hands on our own carriage, that would be perfect," Eclair answered. "It would still take a week or two normally by carriage to reach Melromarc's borders by itself, not to mention the remainder of the trip to reach Faulbrey's borders, so I can't imagine how long it might take by foot."
"If it was that easy to get one, I think the streets would be filled with carriages," Ren shrugged. "Something tells me that whatever it takes to get a monster and a carriage, it's not going to be cheap."
"Well, if we do get one, we can move at our own pace at a good rate, right?" Raphtalia asked. "If we ever do get into trouble, we don't have to run away by foot. We can get out much quicker."
"Maybe we'll find something in the next town that could help us out," Naofumi said.
"I wouldn't hold my breath."
"You never know."
They headed off back onto the main road, following the path down to the next settlement.
It didn't take long for them to cross against an unexpected encounter.
Motoyasu stopped in the road, noticing that there was a cart in the way. People looked like they were surrounding the transportation while he noticed that a person had been tied up and thrown off to the side. His face wasn't distinguishable from the distance, but his body language was showing fear and distress over what the other folks had been doing. Dressed up in rugged outfits and armor, it didn't take much to assume that this was a bandit's highway robbery.
He glanced over to his friends briefly, seeing that everyone already had an idea of what they were going to do. Motoyasu drew his spear and rushed to the scene.
Itsuki hit one of the bandits while he stayed behind them, knocking them down and causing the bandits to be alerted of the incoming group. Motoyasu simply kept his eyes on his selected targets as he swung his spear and slammed it into one of them.
The bandit was sent like a projectile as his body flew into one of the trees. Motoyasu didn't think he was capable of something like that, but it was probably because he had time to sit down and do the strengthening methods that he was slacking on for a while.
The other bandits screamed, not knowing what just happened, but everyone else had been quick on their own takedowns. Ren struck down two of them, as did Eclair, giving them no time to react. Naofumi, on the other hand, stopped two more bandits in their tracks, leaving Raphtalia for a clean attack on them and knocking them out.
The remaining bandit gaze upon the quick takedowns, backing up in fear. He tried to run off, but Motoyasu instinctively aimed his spear. It ignited in a light as a transparent spear appeared over his shoulder. Grabbing it out from the air, he tossed it forwards like a javelin.
"[Air Strike Spear]!"
It struck the retreating bandit in the back, but the wound looked deeper than Motoyasu intended. Blood was pouring out of him like a broken pipe. It wasn't fatal enough that he would die instantly, but if they left the bandit there, he would eventually bleed out.
"You didn't have to go that hard, Motoyasu," Naofumi whimpered.
"There is one setting on [Air Strike Spear] and that's forward. I didn't mean to knock him out in such a violent and bloody way…"
"I got bandages and medicine stocked up, so we'll treat his wounds. Do you mind helping out, Raphtalia?"
Sheathing her sword, the demi-human nodded. "Of course."
"I'd say just leave him for dead," Ren groaned. "No reason to waste our medicine on a bandit."
"He deserves such an end if he was willing to cross innocent lives like that," Itsuki agreed.
"Yeah, but it's going to leave a bad taste in my mouth if he does die. I don't really like the idea of my friends becoming murderers like that."
"... Fine," Ren sighed, glancing the other way. "Do whatever you want."
Since Ren, Itsuki, and Eclair were tying up the bandits, Motoyasu decided to attend to the carriage driver. He walked over and knelt down to help the man out.
"How are you hanging in there?"
"Thanks for the help. I was worried that they were going to run off with the carriage."
"Don't worry about the carriage."
Motoyasu used his spear to easily cut the rope off the man.
"I just came out from Iroda, hiring a few bodyguards to help escort me over to Castletown," the man said, dusting himself off. He had a few bruises on his body, but he wasn't letting it keep him down. A wryly laughter came from his hoarse throat. "Unfortunately, it seemed like the bodyguards I hired were in collaboration with the bandits, which resulted in such a manner."
"You're lucky we were able to cross you by chance."
"First, I need to check up on my carriage."
The man scurried over to his carriage and opened up the back. Motoyasu, being curious, followed him to see what was so important that the bandits would have wanted to attack him. Motoyasu was thinking that the encounter was for valuable equipment.
Instead of that, he was met with an assortment of—
"Huh? Eggs?"
"Yeah. I was paid to bring them over to the capital for one of the customers I have. He's the actual monster dealer while I'm just the supplier, so I wouldn't know what I would have done if any of the items broke with how rough the bandits were handling things here."
After inspecting for any damages, the man looked relieved to see that everything was in order. Motoyasy glanced over, seeing how the others were dragging the bandits off to the side of the road. The idea was to leave them here, then alert the knights of the nearby town of the location for a proper capture.
Both Naofumi and Raphtalia looked as if they were able to stop the wound from the bleeding bandit, but Ren still went over to tie him up to make sure he wasn't going anywhere.
"I'm going to have to head back to Iroda, unless I can hire you folks to help me reach the capital. Considering how you've helped me here, I'd say you can be trusted. It'll pay decently well."
"Sorry, but we're heading away from the capital right now," Motoyasu answered. "We're on a guild request, so we need to get to our destination as soon as possible. We would love to help otherwise."
"Oh, no worries. I suppose it was a little selfish of me to ask in the first place. At the very least, would you hear me out? Could it still be possible that you could bring me back to Iroda?" The man glanced over to the bandits. "I fear that there may be others, waiting for a chance to strike."
"I think that's something we can do. We were heading that direction anyways."
"That's perfect to hear. Come along."
The man secured the eggs tightly before walking over to the front, checking up on the monster that was pulling the cart, but Motoyasu was surprised that he didn't notice what it was earlier. He didn't actually know what it was, but he'd seen a few of their shapes on the streets of the capital.
Motoyasu approached as the man was seeing if the monster was hurt. If he had to compare it to anything, it was almost like a feathered-up ostrich, coloured in a beautiful golden shade.
"A beautiful one, isn't she?" the man asked him.
"Yeah, she really is."
"Gweh!"
The monster looked happy to be praised in such a way.
"This filolial has been by my side for some time now," the man chuckled, stroking its neck to calm it down from the stress it received from the ambush. It never made an attempt to run away from the carriage though, despite the danger.
"Fweh! Fweh!"
"A filolial, huh…?"
Motoyasu instinctively reached out, trying to intimate the man in how he petted the monster. It didn't flinch from Motoyasu's movements, letting him feel its soft feather. It made a purring sound, but it was obvious that the filolial liked the gesture.
It was really adorable.
"You got a good smile there."
"H-huh? W-was I smiling?" When the man pointed it out, Motoyasu's hand landed on an emergency ejection, moving over to the back of his head. "I… didn't even realize."
"Say, I didn't see that you've brought a carriage with you. Were you traveling by foot?"
"Yeah. That was the idea."
"I know I asked you to return alongside me to protect the cargo, but perhaps you would like to have a seat in the front here?"
"Wait, would that be alright with you?"
"I offered. Didn't I?"
Motoyasu accepted the offer, but he went over to the others to make sure they were alright with the plans he accidentally decided for everyone. None of them minded it, in which it really prompted them with a fast way to get to town. Itsuki, of everyone, was the most pleased with these results, slumping himself right into the carriage.
-/IV/-
Once they reached Iroda, they contacted the knights about the bandits. The rumors of the heroes probably haven't reached this town, but as long as they didn't do anything suspicious, there shouldn't be a reason for them to be suspected. It helped tremendously that the man they helped out had close friends with the knights on guard, so they didn't even look back once they made it into the heart of the town.
"I suppose this is where we part ways."
"I'm going to see if I can find any trustworthy people to help with transportation duties. I was a bit unorganized this time around, but hopefully, I'll be taking this as a learning experience that it's better to be late than to be robbed." The man laughed at his own humor before giving the heroes a deep bow. "In all seriousness, I really do wish to thank you for what you've done."
"Hopefully, we won't cross paths again in such a way," Naofumi chuckled. "We probably should get going and find an inn for tonight, as well as restock ourselves."
"Thank you. Good luck on your guild request."
"Guild request? What are you—?"
Both Ren and Itsuki nudged Eclair, both of whom figured out that it must have been an excuse that Motoyasu provided. Nevertheless, Eclair quickly caught on then and there.
The man glanced over to Motoyasu as the group started to walk off.
"Actually, do you mind if you come with me for a bit?"
"Huh?" Motoyasu pointed to himself. "You're asking for me?"
"Of course," the man nodded. "You've piqued my interest a little, so I'll ask you for a little of your time. I promise I won't take too long, but I can't exactly do what I want without the proper supplies."
Motoyasu looked back to his friends, but they were all fine with it. Naofumi told him that they'll stay over at the inn down the street here and wait for his return if it wasn't going to be a short time. It would give Naofumi and Raphtalia some time to go off and sell some of the materials they set aside, while Ren headed off to do some grinding for experience.
"Alright, take me over."
Riding the cart over, the man brought him over to a ranch on the outskirts of Iroda that he had owned. They passed by fields of filolials that looked over in curiosity, garnering more of Motoyasu's attention as they settled into the stables.
The man unbuckled his filolial off from the reines, so it could stretch out its body by moving about, but it constantly started close to its carriage as if it was constantly gravitating to it. Motoyasu could remember some of the light conversation they made while on the road. None of it hit anywhere personal like the details of their circumstances, not that Motoyasu would be inclined to tell the truth.
However, Motoyasu found himself engrossed and interested in the man's stories. Through the ups and downs of the business, and life in general, they were both side-by-side. It was something about the bond that the man and his filolial had that intrigued him, but as the man returned to his side, Motoyasu returned from his thoughts.
"Come, follow me." The man beckoned Motoyasu to walk with him. "I would have given you one back there, but I didn't have the appropriate items to complete the interaction."
"Give me one?" Motoyasu frowned. "What do you mean by that?"
The man chuckled as they turned to a room that was locked off. With the keys in his hand, the man opened up the entrance to let himself inside. While he asked Motoyasu to stay outside the door for a little, he shortly returned with the answer Motoyasu was briefly searching for.
"This… is an egg?"
"Indeed, it is."
Within the man's arm was an egg, similar to the ones on the carriage, but the difference was that it had been in an incubator. Motoyasu glanced in between the egg and the man, slightly widening his eyes.
"I want you to have this, as a sign of my thanks."
"Really? I don't think we did anything special."
"Even so, I'd like to show my appreciation to you in some manner. If I had given you the egg by itself, it wouldn't hatch for a while, but under the effects of an incubator, you'll find that you'll have yourself a filolial of your own in no time."
"It's a filolial egg?" Motoyasu reached out to receive the egg from the man, being extremely careful. "And you're just giving it to me?"
"I can feel an untapped passion for these monsters. You're very curious about them, so I'd be a terrible person if I didn't let you experience a bond with one yourself."
Little pets were available to players in Emerald Online, so it wasn't an unfamiliar territory to Motoyasu in mere concept. He always thought they were relaxing to have around, even if they didn't really add much to the core gameplay. However, having a virtual pet was significantly different than having a real one in his hands.
His red eyes gazed upon the egg in his arms, so warmingly and so preciously.
"This was one of the eggs that I was intending to sell alongside the others to the monster trader, but I think he'll understand if I provided one to the group that saved the entire lot. He usually puts some of these eggs into a lottery system, mixed in with some rarer eggs."
He went into a different room, allowing Motoyasu to come in with him.
"We'll have to set up a monster crest on the egg, so that you'll be able to control it once it hatches. It's only there is a security feature, just in case that the little filolial becomes a bit rambunctious. They have a lot of energy to throw out, but a simple crest should be enough to handle it."
Something akin to a petri dish was pulled out from a drawer and he placed it on a counter. He grabbed a bottle of black ink and poured a bit of it into the dish. Motoyasu placed the egg incubator down as he removed the glass cage, asking Motoyasu to step up to the petri dish.
"Now, put a bit of your blood into the ink. You might have to use your spear since I can't find where I threw my pen-knives."
"Not a problem."
Motoyasu removed his spear and came close to the ink. As he was pricking the surface of his thumb, the gem of his spear started to glow. He wasn't sure why it was doing that, but he tried to hide it before the man could see. The wound was a bit bigger than he wanted it to be in that hastiness, but he managed to pull the spear away before the light could shine too brightly.
A few drops came out from his thumb as he instinctively licked the wound to make sure it wasn't going to continue spilling everywhere. He wasn't sure if the man saw the spear's reaction, but the weapon would only react if there were materials that could unlock more forms or variants.
Could it be that the ink had the ability to unlock something else?
The man took the dish and with a brush, he painted over the symbol on the egg. As the drawing was completed in its trace, though it skipped out on the finer details, the symbol changed to a red color temporarily before it turned back to black.
Without much delay, a notification appeared before Motoyasu's eyes.
It said [Monster in Training] in a place where a party member could have been slotted in.
More menus were added into his Status Magic and it appeared that showed him with the basics of rules when it came to owning a monster. He noted all of it for when he had the time to sit down and read it, but the man seemed to be pleased everything went well.
"Congratulations. You're now the owner of a soon-to-be filolial."
"That was pretty simple."
"It's not exactly the most complicated of magic."
Motoyasu walked up as the man closed the incubator back up, letting its contents be protected within the glass. Seeing the man immediately move over to put back the ink, he decided to just bite the bullet.
"Hey, uh, would you mind if I take some of the ink as well? I can pay."
"I don't mind at all."
The man found a few spare bottles on the side and took one of them, filling it up to a certain point. Although it might only be enough to unlock the weapon forms for two of the four weapons, Motoyasu didn't think he should overstep his boundaries and ask for another bottle. The man was already giving more than what Motoyasu had expected to receive.
Once the bottle was clipped onto Motoyasu's belt for safe-keeping, Motoyasu felt a bit of relief that the man asked nothing further than that.
"Thanks. I appreciate all of this."
"No, I should be thanking you." With his back turned, the man screwed on the lid for the ink bottle before he placed it back into the drawers. "I suppose it's not everyday that a person would be saved by the Spear Hero, so I had to show my thanks in some capacity."
"We were just doing our—"
Motoyasu stiffened. His blood turned cold.
It sounded so clear, so there's no way he could have imagined it. When it sunk in, his foot instinctively took a step backwards, not knowing what else to do, as a cold sweat dripped from his forehead while his arm held onto the incubator tightly.
When did he realize?
"I'll take your lack of response as that my assumption was correct."
The man closed up the drawers and dusted himself off, but Motoyasu was still on guard. He glanced back to the door, trying to reach out for the handle for a quick escape. He could feel the sweat escape from his palms, slightly slipping itself on the handle.
However, his shoulders loosened when he looked back at the man's face. There hadn't been any negative emotions behind his words. He held the same smile as when he was saved by the group.
"Don't be so worried," he said, raising his hands to show that nothing was hidden in his sleeves. "I'm not too keen to be involved with whatever politics is going on in the country. As far as I know, I was saved by a group of people."
Motoyasu felt relief rushing through his body. "I thought you were about to capture me or something like that…"
"Against my benefactors? I couldn't never!" the man chuckled. "What type of person would I be if I turned in the same people that saved me? Especially if I've just given them a gift from my own hands, but I suppose the way I phrased it did sound a bit ominous. Sorry about that."
"Better this outcome than what I was thinking. So uh, what gave it away?"
"Not everyone can toss a transparent spear at their enemies."
[Air Strike Spear] might have been a bit of an obvious attack to indicate that he had some identity with spears, but maybe it was because it used SP. That in itself wasn't something too considerable, which is probably why he used it in the moment, but if he thought about it carefully, the normal people of this world may have had HP and MP, but SP was something exclusive to the heroes. His previous party members never had anything like that when he asked about it.
"You should probably be more careful when pulling off things like that."
"Yeah, I'll… keep that in mind."
The man made an amused chuckle.
"You do appear to be a good person, so we'll leave it at that for now."
"I'm guessing I'd be overstepping my boundaries if I said we needed a carriage as well."
"You wouldn't. While I'd be happy to provide one, I don't have any on hand right now. The only thing I can do is wish you luck in finding a carriage for yourself once the filolial is grown up."
"Well, you've already done a lot by giving a monster egg."
"All that a monster egg supplier can do for the Cardinal Heroes." The man walked himself out of the room as Motoyasu followed him back out. "If you have a world to defend, don't be so humble about things that people are willing to provide to help your cause."
The man got onto his carriage after equipping the reines back onto his filolial, prompting Motoyasu to return to the seat by his side. He was going to be given a ride back into Iroda where he left his friends, but this time, he was returning with potentially a new party member.
"The world you're saving belongs to us. It's simply that sometimes, those who wish to play politics will do everything they can to hold power, even if that comes at the risk of the world. You best keep your eyes open constantly to watch your own backs. This may be a beautiful world, but every light has its shadows."
"Yeah, of course," Motoyasu nodded. "Thanks again."
-/IV/-
"I guess that was pretty convenient." Once Motoyasu placed the egg on the table in front of everyone else after explaining what happened, Ren was the first to comment on it. "I didn't actually think we would get a monster already, not to mention one that can pull carriages."
"It still has to hatch and grow up though…" Itsuki sighed.
"We don't have access to a carriage yet," Eclair responded, "so it should provide us some time to find one. However, I don't expect it to be as easy as being given one like the filolial."
"How much longer will it take to hatch?" Raphtalia asked.
Eclair leaned in, reading some characters on the side of the incubator.
"It says here that the egg may hatch soon, starting from tomorrow."
"Oh my. That's very quick."
"That must have been the reason as to why the merchant provided an incubator to you," Eclair continued. "I heard that they usually help accelerate the hatching of a monster. If they were left by themselves, it would take about a week or two for them to hatch."
"... Do you even know how to raise the thing?" Itsuki asked, raising an eyebrow at Motoyasu. "If it's going to hatch out that quickly, that won't give us time to prepare for it."
"It's like a pet," Naofumi chuckled. "I don't think it should be that difficult."
"I'm sure Eclair knows how to raise one. If we're talking about filolials, I think the castle itself has some of them. I've seen them around the capital with some knights before.
"The knights aren't the one to raise them. We buy them and use them."
"... I… I see." Ren grimaced and looked away. He spoke with such confidence, only for it to be shattered on with a mere denial. His friends got a slight kick out of it.
"The menus have the bare minimum for what I should do with tamed monsters, but it doesn't go into any specifics." Motoyasu glanced at the egg, leaning in closely. "Damn it, I should have asked the merchant if he had a self-help guide in stock or something like that. I'd even take a small pamphlet."
"Maybe we could find them in bookstores?" Raphtalia suggested. "I think when we were looking for books the other day, I saw a few guides on various monsters."
"Don't forget about the additional supplies we may need," Eclair said. "I hear that baby filolials can be very hungry."
"Supplies…?" Motoyasu flinched and pushed himself upwards to his feet. "Oh, right! I almost forgot about this! And to think, I was nervous enough to ask for it too!"
Motoyasu took out the bottle of ink and placed it on the table. The others looked at it a bit confusingly before Motoyasu started explaining.
"I grabbed this from the man as well. It doesn't look like anything special, but it was reacting to the spear, so that means it would unlock a new weapon for us. Unfortunately, it's—"
"Wait a minute." Itsuki squinted at the bottle. "That looks familiar…"
"Yeah, I think I've seen something like that as well…" Naofumi pondered.
"It's…" Raphtalia pressed her hand gently on her chest. "I think that's the ink they used for the slave crest, back in that tent."
Itsuki and Naofumi flinched, but Ren merely shrugged.
"It's entirely possible that this supposed slave crest ink is generic ink that can also be used for monster crests as well. It looks like you guys aren't pleased with it, but there's no reason to make a fuss over something as small as that…"
"I… Yeah, I guess you're right…" Itsuki frowned.
"Anyways," Motoyasu continued with a whistle, "I was only able to ask for two portions, so that means we'll only be able to have two of us unlock new weapons here."
"You should take one of the portions, obviously," Naofumi said. "You're the one to bring it to us and from there, I guess we can decide who will get it based on the weapon it unlocks."
Ren and Itsuki nodded in agreement, allowing Motoyasu to take a portion and pour it directly into the spear's red gem. It took it in easily, as if it was like a drain, but once the gem stopped glowing, Motoyasu didn't see a notification pop up before him. He waited for a bit, being left only with a scratching head.
"I'm not getting anything."
"Is the weapon defective?"
"Please don't call the holy weapons defective, Sir Itsuki."
"There are probably multiple requirements for the weapon to unlock," Ren suggested. "Maybe Motoyasu hasn't accomplished some of them." He glanced over to Naofumi and Raphtalia before pushing over the second portion towards them. "Naofumi, take the rest."
"Huh? Are you sure?"
"Something tells me Itsuki and I will get the same results. You said this was similar, or rather the same, as the slave crest ink that was placed on Raphtalia, right?"
"I could give it a shot."
Nodding at Ren's deductions, Naofumi did the same with the rest of the ink, pouring it into his shield's gem. However, his shield reacted differently and immediately unlocked something for him.
[Slave User Shield +0] 0/15 C
(Equip Bonus) : Slave Maturation Adjustment (Small)
Not only that, he even got a second one.
[Slave User Shield II +0] 0/20 C
(Equip Bonus) : Slave Status Adjustment (Small)
"You got two…?" Itsuki gasped.
"The ink probably fulfilled multiple missing requirements that Naofumi was standing on," Ren pondered. "As such, I didn't think the holy weapons worked like that. I thought the only limitations were the levels required to use the shield."
"I guess we learned something new today then," Naofumi smiled. "That's always good, regarding our weapons. As much as it shows us some of the tutorials, it still leaves us in the dark about a few other things."
"Master Naofumi?" Raphtalia tapped his shoulder as she pointed to the window. The sun was starting to set beyond the horizon. "I think we should head out to sell our materials. It's starting to get dark out."
"Ah. Thanks for reminding me."
Naofumi got up from his seat, packing the materials from his inventory to a spare bag. He swapped back to the [Book Shield] and headed off, waving to his friends along with Raphtalia.
"Alright, we'll be off. We'll be back soon."
As the door closed, the three remaining friends slowly glanced at each other.
"Does Raphtalia really need to head off with him?" Ren asked. "Naofumi is more than enough to handle transactions, if we're taking into account his experience from Odin Spirit."
"Oh, you know why Raphtalia is heading off with him," Itsuki smugly answered.
"Let the two of them spend time with each other," Motoyasu chuckled. "With us around most of the time, they don't get very much time to spend together like that."
Ren sighed. "Whatever."
As the friends spoke vaguely about Naofumi and Raphtalia, Eclair was left somewhat confused, but quickly came to ignore the topic without trying too hard to understand it. It might have not been her business to stick her nose where it didn't belong, after all.
[SKIT 078 : Weapon Strengthening Opinions]
[Naofumi] : "I'm having a bit of trouble deciding which weapons I should enhance. You guys have any suggestions?"
[Itsuki] : "Go for something with raw power. You've got enough defense as it is, right? You should have some shields at this point that allow you to deal some damage. It could be useful when you're holding off by yourself at any point."
[Ren] : "Why would he strengthen a weakness when it won't do much for him? He should double-down on his defenses, trying to make himself so tanky that enemies can't get through him. He has us to do his damage for him, so he won't need any attacks in the slightest."
[Motoyasu] : "Hold on, you guys got it wrong. He needs to split everything up carefully to all his weapons, so that he could be prepared to use anything in his arsenal when it comes to the situation. It's always a bad moment when you're in the middle of a fight, only to think that an certain weapon would be extremely helpful, only to realize you would be putting yourself in an extreme stat-difference if you do choose to switch over to it."
[Ren] : "That's sound oddly specific, and I don't think Naofumi would even need to worry about that if he has the bulk to face anything."
[Itsuki] : "But what if Naofumi gets separated from us!? You don't know what's going to happen in the future! It's going to be important if Naofumi has a shield that can inflict a dependable amount of damage for himself!"
[Motoyasu] : "And spread himself thin on everything else? You guys have such a narrow mindset! If you're considering one scenario, you should consider all the scenarios here! That's why Naofumi's real choice is equally strengthening all of that at the same rate!"
[Itsuki] : "You're insane if you think we have enough materials for Naofumi to do that! Do you not understand how many weapons we unlock casually over the course of the past month, not considering the weapons we would be unlocking in the future?"
[Ren] : "That's why Naofumi has to focus on what his strengths really are and play to them. So defense!"
[Itsuki] : "No, I meant that to be a transition to my argument, for Naofumi to invest in attack!"
[Motoyasu] : "No way! Naofumi has to be balanced and be ready for everything here!"
[Naofumi] : "..."
[Naofumi] : "Why did I bother asking...?"
[SKIT 079 : Excessive Looting]
[Motoyasu] : "Ren sure is taking his time, wrapping things up with the bandits.
[Motoyasu] : "What exactly is he doing?"
[Eclair] : "Something he shouldn't be doing."
[Motoyasu] : "... Wh-what?"
[Itsuki] : "Oh, he's only looting them of their belongings."
[Motoyasu] : "What do you mean by that?"
[Itsuki] : "Their weapons, their equipment, their accessories, their spendable items, their clothes, their money..."
[Itsuki] : "I wouldn't be surprised if he tried taking their names at this point..."
[Motoyasu] : "H-hey, wait a minute. That feels a little excessive, don't you think? Shouldn't we do something about that?"
[Eclair] : "I tried stopping him earlier, but I was met with no results to show for it."
[Itsuki] : "I already told Eclair she wasn't going to budge him on that."
[Ren] : "Alright, I'm done. Let's get a move on."
[Motoyasu] : "..."
[Itsuki] : "..."
[Eclair] : "..."
[Ren] : "Hmm? What's wrong?"
[Motoyasu] : "They're naked, aren't they?"
[Ren] : "I left them with their underwear. I'm not cruel."
[Eclair] : "I don't think that's the concern here."
