Look Yuri, I know we said we'd convince him to not kill Gaelion but how do you propose we go about doing it? Lucatiel asked.
Yuri didn't pause, but he definitely thought about it for a moment, he'd been thinking this privately for a little while but he wondered the possibility of the spear, sword and bow heroes being reincarnated individuals. He gained knowledge of them before his original world died, 'vanguards' of the waves. They're purpose was to basically screw the world at any cost. Granted, Yuri only ever encounteredonethat was a cardinal hero, his world's flute hero. The prideful, arrogant piece of shit pretended to be smart and refused to take responsibility for anything.
It was a relief to watch her die, it didn't even make the waves harder she was so useless. In fact if she had died earlier… they're world might have been saved. Yuri hadn't gained the ability to commune with other weapon spirits yet, but now he could imagine the hopelessness the flute spirit felt at having chosen an utterly incompetent backup hero.
A vassal hero however, was different. He'd encountered several of them. They were easy to spot as they all seemed to share the same type of personality: arrogant, selfish and narcissistic, several of them were self-proclaimed geniuses but in reality they merely retained whatever they knew during their lives on earth. They don't care about the lives of others, believing it to be all a game.
Yuri hated it, because he was once similar. He didn't take it seriously, believing it to all be a game… it was only when the fucking rabbits came in force; their hunger so everlasting that they wiped out an entire country, not even a trace of humanity existed after… Then, he started realizing how real it was. And how screwed the world was if him and the other heroes didn't get their act together.
Too little, too late. Yuri thought bitterly. But it didn't matter anymore, his world was gone.
Yuri, I can't see your thoughts so you need to actually respond to me. Lucatiel said dryly. A wave of guilt washed over Yuri, here he was in a body that wasn't his brooding over something that couldn't be changed, instead of focusing on something that could.
"Sorry. I just figured that talking to him normally would have been fine, you said he has half a brain so I figured I could talk him down normally, I've worked with bigger idiots and lost causes."
Unless he's a vanguard… Yuri thought darkly. Then I'll have to kill him.
A loud roar suddenly resounded throughout the forest, the sheer spectacle of it sending a cold chill down Yuri's spine, a status affliction appeared in his HUD: Nervous, 10% damage reduction for 5 minutes.
Yuri began to run in the direction, his body screaming at him to pivot and fuck off in the other direction. He ignored it. He entered a rocky clearing, arriving just in time to see a massive purple-blue dragon get hit with a magical sword beam. The dragon screamed in a mixture of pain and rage and blew fire down on his attackers.
"Galelion!" Yuri shouted in concern, that shouldn't have hurt him... he looked to where the magic was coming from, he saw what had to be the sword hero-who had somehow acquired the dragon slaying sword within a group of four people.
It's… it's hard to see, like there's static in my eyes but… Ren being in a party is something I wasn't expecting, he likes to do things by himself.
"Because Gaelion is on a whole other level of power, he's only holding his own because of that damn sword." Yuri stepped out of his burrow, he felt the familiar power of the ring and his confidence rose.
Whoa whoa whoa! You can't get in the middle of that fight, you'll be burned to a crisp in my body! Lucatiel shouted, Yuri winced, a sharp pain piercing his head.
"That's the whole reason I'm here Lucatiel! We can't just turn away now!"
But it's MY BODY! YOUR dragon may be important but you'll do nothing but get us killed!
The battle suddenly turned dramatically, Ren and his party missed on their attacks, and Gaelion swooped down and slammed a massive claw into the ground, Ren and his mages got out of the way, his tanks weren't so lucky. They were crushed into the ground, clearly unconscious but seemingly alive, which meant that despite his anger Gaelion was holding back.
Gaelion shouldn't be holding back. He was a benevolent dragon by all standards, but he was still a fucking dragon. He dashed up the hill and behind a rock-face, trying to get a closer look. Suddenly, his jaw dropped.
Hiding in the cave and crying, was a Demi-human girl, a child. She seemed to be a dog of some kind. She was crying for her dad, wailing whenever Gaelion got even close to being hurt. Yuri's blood chilled, and he could even hear the sudden ragged breaths Lucatiel was taking.
"To hell with this! I'm sorry sword hero but were out of here." One of the mages suddenly said and took off in the opposite direction, the other trembling one not far behind.
"What! You stupid NPC's! How can you abandon me when I'm paying you! What kind of game design is this!?" Ren shouted, narrowly avoiding more fire. "FINE! I'LL SLAY YOU MYSELF!"
Suddenly, Yuri was assaulted by darkness, not the physical dark though. He felt anger and greed radiate off the young Sword hero. "It'll all be mine then, the drops… the money. And I'll be the strongest one, stronger than even that piece of shit Lucatiel."
What…? What did I do? Lucatiel's voice sounded hollow in Yuri's mind. It aggravated him, the kid had to stop brooding so much.
"That doesn't matter right now, he succumbing to the curse." Yuri began to get closer to the cave, a plan forming in his mind. He had to do this swiftly, Ren was giving in to his negative emotions which was the worst possible outcome.
Ren… I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you… but what did I do?
"Hello? Do you hear me kid?" Yuri asked the little girl, she froze up in fear and slowly turned towards him before backing up into the wall. Tripping and scraping up her legs.
"S-Stay away! Daddyyyy!" The child screamed. Fortunately, Gaelion was so focused on fighting Ren and the woken up tanks that he didn't hear her.
"I'm not going to hurt you, I'm not with the Sword hero." Yuri said gently and got down on a knee. "I'm trying to help Gaelion. I'm a friend."
"How do you know daddy's name? Daddy hasn't interacted with humans for a long time." The girl was still up against the wall, scared. But she wasn't backing down, there was a… glare in her eyes, a protective instinct that Yuri wasn't expecting to see, was it because of her dog-genes?
"My name's Yu-Lucatiel. I'm the Ring hero." Yuri backpedaled quickly, the last thing he wanted was a confusion In between his plan, he showed her his ring, which was currently in it's base form.
"I-I've never heard of a Ring hero, how do I know you're trying to save daddy?" The girl challenged, it seemed her concern for her dad outweighed her fear somewhat.
Yuri felt a little discombobulated. He wasn't sure how to react to not being known by someone. suddenly, his ears popped as Gaelion let out an ear piercing roar, blood splattered on the side of the mountain as his side opened up. Ren was grinning triumphantly, his sword glowing. He got a lucky hit. "Gotcha jerk!"
"NO!" Yuri shouted, so loud that The sword hero and his party froze. Deciding that there wasn't anymore time, he quickly snatched the girl and dashed on top of the rock-face in clear view, ignoring her squealing and kicking.
"REN STOP! YOU DON'T WANT TO KILL THIS DRAGON, HE'S NOT AN ENEMY!" Yuri shouted so loudly his voice was straining, but it got his attention, Ren's eyes widened and he lowered his sword a fraction.
"L-Lucatiel? What are you… No. Stay outta my way! These drops are mine!" Ren's grip on his sword tightened and he dashed forward.
"Don't do it Ren, you're being tricked by the church! They're trying to con you into killing Gaelion!" Yuri flung his hand forward and suddenly, Ren froze in time. A minuscule pip of his mp went down, Lucatiel numbly realized that Yuri just froze time without even speaking.
"Don't try to manipulate me you bastard!" Ren shouted back, unmoving. "YOU abandoned US! The church is the one that uncovered all your lies! You and Naofumi can both go to hell, I can't believe I ever trusted you two-faced jerks!"
"The church has hated the shield hero for centuries Ren, and have been trying to make the other three heroes their walking pawns for even longer, I don't know what they said to you but I didn't abandon you. The only thing I've been against you for is your attempts at killing a war hero!"
"IT'S A DRAGON LUCATIEL!" Ren stabbed his sword into the ground in frustration, free from the skill. "IT'S A MONSTER! AND YOU'VE KILLED PEOPLE, HOW IS THAT ANY BETTER!?
"A monster who's a father. Look at the girl in my arms Ren, you're murdering her father right in front of her. And for what? A bit of corrupt gold? The guild asked me to hunt Gaelion down too, but I didn't. Trust me Ren, you're being used. The guild and the church are affiliated, as well as that whole town."
"B-but-" Ren started, but Yuri interrupted him by holding up a hand. Gaelion swooped down again, from a glance his wound wasn't fatal, but he couldn't take too many more hits like that.
"Wyndia…" Gaelion whined, and Ren actually dropped his sword along with his jaw.
"You-you talked.."
"Daddy… help me." The girl sobbed, Yuri let her go. And she ran away into her fathers wing, clutching him and sobbing. Gaelion looked down on her with so much fatherly concern it made Yuri's heart clench a little. He wondered if it was truly him feeling emotion, or Lucatiel's soul.
"Let me tell you what will likely happen if you continue this Ren, and listen to me: If you kill Gaelion, after you're gone the villagers will probably sneak up here and loot this place. They will find this demi-human child, and they will sell her into slavery. This isn't some game where it all ends happily ever after, the humans of Melromarc don't care what happens to anybody but themselves." Yuri didn't want to fight the kid to stop him, that wouldn't help Lucatiel's friendship with him. But he would if he had too.
"I…. I understand…. I'll stop… I'm so sorry." Ren fell to his hands and knees. Eyes fixated with the dirt. The tanks with him gave each other a look and took off into the trees, the opposite direction of the village, they forgot their weapons and were so low on health it was ridiculous. They would be easy monster food.
"Wyndia… my child, go back inside the cave. I'll be right there." Gaelion commanded his daughter. When she was gone he moved closer to Yuri and lowered his head. "Thank you Ring hero, you've saved my life and stopped the boy from making a foolish mistake. I will not ask as to how you know my name as full thanks."
Yuri smiled slightly, and nodded. "I'm happy I could help Gaelion, if you'll hear me out though… you both should find a new place to live."
"I'm already planning on it, I thought it would be safe here. But I suppose humans will be doomed to repeat the same mistake of greed… just like that stupid sword hero there." Gaelion glared at the hero in the dirt before looking back to Yuri, gaze almost kind. "You feel just as benevolent as your predecessor… don't change boy."
For a moment, Yuri felt afraid. Not because of the comment, but because he could feel wrath so overpowering it could buckle the knees of a god. Ren was very lucky Gaelion was holding back, and perhaps even luckier that he hadn't disappointed the dragon back then.
"You were a hero once, protected humanity even after they slayed and sold your children… I could never be as kind as you." Yuri smiled sadly at Gaelion. "But I'll do my best. Just as I have since I came to this world."
"...How do you… never mind. Remember this, Sword hero. Not every monster is your enemy. I wouldn't have attacked you if I thought you weren't going to hurt my child." Gaelion glared down at the sword hero again.
Ren didn't respond. Gaelion flew back to his cave and left with Wyndia a few moments later, limply flying. Yuri walked to Ren and… sat down in the dirt with him in silence. It was quiet for a long time, the only sound the whistling of the wind.
"The church somehow managed to trick me into believing you and Naofumi were terrible people… even after everything that happened to you two… and everything we've been through. They made up some elaborate story that you two were together in trying to Rape the first princess and covering for each other… I knew it was a load of crap, but I was just so angry that you left us…" Ren offered the information of his own accord, he still wasn't looking up and his voice had a somber tone.
I only left to grow stronger… I didn't want you guys to worry about me anymore. Lucatiel suddenly spoke up again, surprising Yuri a bit. He'd been oddly silent the entire time, perhaps he was just shell-shocked.
"I left to grow stronger, after what happened to me last wave… I didn't want you guys to worry about me anymore." Yuri relayed what he said to Ren.
Ren suddenly looked up, his eyes angry. And hurt. "Do you really think that's an excuse? All of us. All of us, were worried, even Motoyasu. For you to just dip out without saying anything… and for fucks sake it got worse when Motoyasu challenged Naofumi to a duel, claiming that he was the reason you disappeared…"
I had heard rumors of them fighting, but to think it was like that… god… I screwed up so badly. Lucatiel whispered. It's like they all regressed back into their former personalities somewhat… is this my fault?
No, it's because they're idiots. Yuri told him silently. When people have nowhere to grieve they do what's most reliable. Deny. You seem to have a powerful effect on those around you, think on that for a while.
I will. Lucatiel promised.
"I'm… angry, I'm so angry it makes me want to break something. But not at you, not really…" Ren bared his teeth. "I'm pissed at that damn village, at the damn guild and the stupid church, how can a whole country be this shit!"
"Yeah I thought the-" Yuri suddenly stopped talking and motioned for Ren to do so too. He heard a rustling in the trees. Out of the woods came about half of Mirso's villagers, they all had bags and pickaxes and shovels. Laughing and shoving each other around. There was one who stood out the most, a guild member, he looked absolutely unbothered.
Because he was the one who gave Lucatiel the quest. And probably Ren too, which meant that he probably thought they were okay with what he was about to try. Too bad for him.
They froze like a deer in headlights when they saw them. Ren's eyes turned savage and Yuri started to feel no small amount of animosity coming from his sword.
The lone guild member stepped forward, a slave collar in his hand. A whip around his waist. Ren was angry at himself for not seeing it. The guild member grinned at them.
"Nice work Sir heroes! We heard the fighting all the way from the village, I wasn't sure if even you both would be able to take it down but I'm glad to see my faith wasn't misplaced." the people he was with gave a cheer at that, a bit of their nervousness fading.
Ren did not speak, Yuri didn't either. The guild member kept going, oblivious to their deafening silence: "Obviously you can keep anything you want from the dragon, but we're just here for the worthless demi-human. Well, worthless to anybody but her master… where is the dragon anyway?"
"Oh! I have an idea, we could sell her to that noble Idol Rabid! He loves torturing runaway slaves and will pay a premium for her." a guy behind them piped up, his toothless smile disgusting.
"It's Rabier idiot, at least get the name right. You probably don't even remember my name! It's Wilard! Wilard!"
"So it's true, you really tried to trick us into killing Gaelion just so you can sell someone to be tortured." Ren's voice was ice, and Yuri took a step back.
Ren's going to kill him, shouldn't you stop him!? Lucatiel shouted, Yuri winced again. The pain was getting worse.
Why would I do that when you also want to see him dead? Yuri asked, Lucatiel didn't respond. It was just a guess honestly, but he knew he was right.
Wilard shrugged noncommittally. "I don't really care otherwise what you think kid. Business is business, so how about you get out of our way so we ca-"
He was shut up by the sword entering his throat, the last sound he managed to make in his life a helpless gurgle before he died, a gross shick! From Ren pulling the blade out. Blood splattered the dirt as the others began to make pitiful scared sounds.
"Listen to me carefully, you miserable wretches. If I EVER hear that you came up here and looted this place, even a rumor. True or not. I will kill everyone here. I am a hero! Not your damn pawn. Now go, get out of my sight you trash." Ren flung his hand in dismissal, and the villagers scattered back down the mountain pass. Leaving their bags and pickaxes behind.
It wasn't until they were entirely out of sight that Ren loosened up a bit, he looked down at the fresh corpse silently. Before staring blankly off into the distance.
"This isn't a game." Ren said, it was more of a statement than a question, but Yuri still felt the need to confirm it.
"Correct. This is real."
"Then I just killed someone. Really killed someone with hopes, dreams. A life. A heartbeat... Maybe he had a kid, a lover… something."
"You did. But to be fair, he was a piece of trash." Yuri eyed Ren with interest, he didn't feel remorse when he took a human life, not anymore… but whenever he got an experience notification from it. It shook him, a reminder that this was just a game to the ones destroying worlds.
Ren turned towards Yuri, there was a grim resolve in his eyes that the teenager shouldn't have to have at his age, but it was there. "I… I don't feel guilty, I just feel like it had to be done… is that a bad thing?"
This was a question, one Yuri didn't know how to answer. "I'm afraid I can't answer that for you…. Do you think you'd feel bad if you killed someone innocent?"
Ren thought about it for a moment, then tears sprang to his eyes. "It hurts to think I almost took that dragon away from his child."
"Then that means you aren't insane. Or at least not completely. Which is good enough for me." Yuri deadpanned, Ren actually laughed. A bitter and hollow sound.
"I had been told this before by you… and I listened, and I tried to believe it then but… in the end I just couldn't… it seemed so ridiculous to believe I was reincarnated into another world after getting stabbed... I believe it now. Fully, truly."
Ren ran his hands through his hair and let out a breath. "This isn't a game. And because of that I need to grow stronger. So we can save this world."
Yuri nodded his head, he was smiling now. Finally, finally. The sword spirit chose a decent second candidate. There might be hope for this world yet, if only the bow and spear spirits weren't so… annoying.
Suddenly, an agonizing pain went through Yuri's skull, so intensely that he let out a strangled noise and dropped to a knee. Ren was beside him in seconds. "Lucatiel? You alright? Did you get poisoned somehow?"
Worse, it was getting worse. The pain was agony. His nose started to bleed. And abruptly his vision disappeared entirely. He heard a jumble of voices, Ren's and… Lucatiel's before he finally passed out.
The last thing he heard was his HUD alerting him of a skill he unlocked.
Line break….
"You feeling better?" Ren asked, setting a mug of water on the table beside Lucatiel's bed. "I'm getting worried this is going to start becoming a theme."
"Well getting carried around means I can be lazy so it might." Lucatiel grinned at the young teen, sipping the water as he looked in his HUD. He was still positive that this skill would disappear if he looked away…
It was called Soul swap. It's ability was to switch souls with the spirit of the Ring at will, and since Yuri was the Ring spirit… well it's self explanatory.
We should be careful of being swapped too long, if you choose to use the skill that is. I would very much not have a repeat of a few hours ago if we can help it. Yuri said in Lucatiel's mind. The pain that caused him to pass out was a side effect of Soul swap. Use it too long and it forces you to switch back in a severely painful way.
Lucatiel heard some frustrated muttering coming from the desk across the room, Ren was sitting in the chair, thumbing through a book while glaring at it like a mortal enemy. It was kind of amusing to be honest.
"Something wrong?" Lucatiel asked, he got out of bed and walked over plucking the book out of Ren's hands, then his amusement was replaced by bemusement as he was reading… well, trying to. "What the… what language is this?"
"You can't read it either then, that makes me feel a little better I guess." Ren said, muttering something about a 'waste of good copper'. "It's probably the language of this world, our weapons translate what they say to us in Japanese… or in your case English since your American. But it's not that way for books, scrolls… there was even a cave carving I couldn't read. The shop-keep told me it was a book of minor medicines, I have no reason to believe he's lying but…"
"There has to be a way to learn to read it, it's be unfair for us to be handicapped like that." Lucatiel searched the help menu for a solution but found none. He made a 'mmcht' sound and tossed the book onto the table.
"You'd think so, but we also nearly died during the second wave so I think fair is a little out of this worlds spectrum. I'll say this, my game's waves weren't nearly as hard as this world's waves." Ren stood up and went over to the window, the afternoon sun was high in the sky. The capitol city a bustling smorgasbord for commerce.
"You know, from up here Melromarc doesn't look as bad as I thought it would. We can even see the market district…" Ren looked longingly out of the window towards the fields, this particular inn room gave an entire view of the city and you could even see outside it some.
"If you want to grind go ahead, I've got some stuff to do anyway." Lucatiel offered. "There's some materials I need to buy for Ultimate item creation, and I need to repair my armor as well."
"Normally I'd be halfway out the city already but…" Ren gave a meaningful look to the Ring hero, who looked suitably abashed. It wasn't surprising Ren wasn't entirely over it, kid's were impressionable.
"I won't disappear again I promise. At least not willingly." Lucatiel offered up a smile. Yuri made a humming noise in the back of his mind.
Thinking of something? Lucatiel asked. Or are you just terribly singing.
There may be a way to grow stronger without trying to power level, there were very few heroes who had the lucky method to just rely on level strength, most of the time they had a specific method… try asking him about his strengthening methods. Yuri said.
"Hey, Ren. How do you usually get stronger?" Lucatiel decided to follow Yuri's advice, it's not everyday you have someone with godly power in your head. "Aside from hard leveling I mean."
"It's called power-leveling… Well, you know how our legendary weapons can transform into other weapons and we gain the stats and abilities, as long as those weapons are equipped? Well my sword is unique in that regard, it has a mastery mechanic that allows me to master a weaker weapon, then transfer that weapons energy and immediately master a stronger weapon." Ren explained, swapping between swords periodically to show Lucatiel.
That's… actually a seriously powerful ability. Yuri seemed impressed. In theory, he could transfer energy from the base weapon into his strongest weapon and gain the stats from that, if it works like he says it does he could have more attack power than the bow.
Are you actually telling me the bow is stronger than the sword? Lucatiel tried not to show any physical reaction, but that logic didn't make sense to his non-gamer mind.
It was, back then for the previous bow hero at least, he had more attack power. A lot more, but the sword hero had a lot more all around stats. The spear hero as well for that matter, but his stats were all around weaker except for his speed and skill cool downs. Yuri mused.
What's the strongest cardinal weapon you've encountered? Lucatiel asked, he was genuinely curious despite being certain Yuri would just say the ring.
To his surprise though, Yuri answered differently: It was my worlds star hero, she was the only one who took the situation seriously from the get-go. she could draw power from the stars and do some incredible things with her star fragment, which was her weapon. She is the entire reason I am who I am now. The entire reason I went searching for revenge. The entire reason I became serious about protecting my world, even.
Lucatiel had to ponder that. He expected Yuri to be the only one of his worlds heroes to be serious, to find out he was one that wasn't was more than a little surprising.
"Lucatiel? You blanked out on me." Ren waved his hand in front of Lucatiel's face, snapping him out of his inner conversation.
"Right! Yeah sorry, your strengthening method is really powerful. I wish I could use it." Lucatiel said. Suddenly he heard a chime, and a message appeared in his status.
You have learned a new method to power yourself. You can now use: Energy transfer.
"Hey, I can use your strengthening method Ren! I just unlocked it!" Lucatiel told him, Ren's eyes widened as Lucatiel changed his ring to his balloon ring. Within a couple of seconds, a small bar above his hp gauge filled and he heard another chime.
You have mastered the black balloon ring.
"I just mastered my balloon ring in ten seconds, this ability is awesome." Lucatiel switched to his spider silk ring, ignoring the way his spine tensed for a moment. He watched as his balloon weapon lost it's mastery level and immediately transferred to his spider ring, giving him new abilities and making it's old ones stronger.
"Hey man, don't just leave me hanging!" Ren suddenly shouted. "If you can use my abilities, then that means I can use yours! What are they."
"Oh it's…" Lucatiel trailed off suddenly… realizing something that wasn't good.
He didn't know. Lucatiel could have slapped himself in the face. He didn't know what his own strengthening methods were, he probably could have been so much stronger than he was currently had he known about this.
Luckily Yuri knew, though not without a dramatic sigh: The ring can absorb the magical properties of other weapons and reinforce its own power through… a filter let's say, giving each individual ring type a 'level' you can grind up too, reach the max level before a time limit and those stats you absorbed are added permanently to your weapon.
"Dude… you're really screwing me by not remembering." Ren facepalmed.
"No, no wait I just remembered." Lucatiel lied, Ren listened dubiously while the Ring hero explained his power. At the end of it Ren sat there in silence for a while.
"I believe you." He suddenly said. "I want to use that as well." His eye's widened when a message appeared in his status.
You have learned a new method to power yourself, you can now use: Borrow power.
"Well then, I'd have to say I'll be uber powerful now with this under my belt." Ren looked excited for once, the prospect of growing stronger was exciting to say the least… with this, he would definitely be the strongest hero. That was the way he could save this world.
"I'm going to head out now, I'll be at the old man's shop if you need me." Lucatiel was out the door before Ren could say good-bye.
For a moment, Ren felt anxiety build inside him that quickly dissipated. Lucatiel wouldn't disappear again. Ren was reasonably confident about that. He noticed however that they weren't in a party together which made him frown.
"I suppose I should go try out Lucatiel's strengthening method." The sword hero was talking to himself as he shuffled out of the inn, flinching away from the NPC-…. The people giving him strange looks.
Ren was in the market buying potions when he caught a glimpse of Blood-red hair and heard a devious giggle. Then someone linked an arm with his, his entire body froze as that red haired woman smiled up at him. It was meant to be cute and adorable, but Ren refused to be fooled again by the bitch that was hidden inside.
"Hello Sir Ren! Motoyasu-sama I found him!" Myne called. It was loud enough that people were beginning to look in their direction, and Ren could swear that the busy market got a little quieter.
Ren yanked himself away from Myne, immediately shaping himself into the 'cool-loner' he tried to portray himself as when he was first summoned to this world. He caught a glimpse of outrage from the red-haired witch before she switched back to 'kawaii' mode as Motoyasu walked up.
"Hey Ren, hard to find you." Motoyasu offered up, a grin on his face. The sword hero raised an eyebrow in response. Their relationship had been… tense to put it lightly, since the celebration, what did Motoyasu want with him now?
"What is it Motoyasu? You need something?" Ren couldn't quite keep the emotion out of his voice, it only wavered slightly but Motoyasu picked up on it.
"Hey don't worry man it's nothing serious!" Suddenly, the spear hero became more… shark-like. "Just saw you with Lucatiel when you came into the city, he's wanted for the murder of… a lot of church people apparently, the king was pretty vague when he gave the quest to me."
"….Is that so?" Ren asked, he walked back up to the shop-keep he was buying potions from, who suddenly looked very nervous. Her eyes were darting back and forth, unable to look anyone in the eye.
"I'll take these. Please." Ren placed five antidotes, five healing potions and five Soul-healing waters. For Lucatiel when they met up again.
"O-Of course sir!" The girl couldn't have been much older than him. About Lucatiel's age. She also had red hair. Ren was starting to hate that color. "Th-that'll be 350 copper please."
"So cheap? Usually it's more than that. Is there a special going on?"
"N-No sir hero! It's just-" The girl tried to explain, but suddenly a fireball hit the stand, hard enough that it knocked the shop-keep back into the stone wall behind her. She was down instantly, Ren ran to girl and checked her pulse relieved when she was still alive.
"What the hell are you doing!" Ren's persona cracked, and familiar anger was coming back fast.
The market went dead silent, aside from Myne who's 'I own the world' voice was coming out: "Sir Motoyasu doesn't like to be ignored! How dare you! And why are you buying soul healing waters!? You barely use magic, it's for that Ring-demon isn't it! They're in cahoots Sir Motoyasu!"
"I-is that true Ren? I saw you come into the city with him, but I-I thought it was because you didn't know. Did you know he was a murderer?" Motoyasu's grip on his spear was like iron, he was desperate for Ren to say no.
Ren wasn't able to speak, because Myne was spouting off again: "OF COURSE HE DID SIR MOTOYASU I TOLD YOU! THE ONLY ONE YOU CAN TRUST IS ME! ME AND MY FATHER! THAT'S WHY HE WAS BUYING THE WATERS-"
"SHUT THE FUCK UP!" Ren snapped, he utterly snapped. He drew his blade and in the same motion wrenched it down as hard as he could. He wanted to kill her. He HAD to kill her for what she did!
If Myne was even an inch closer she would have died. Instead, a grievous cut went down from the top of her breasts all the way down to her left leg. She let out an ear piercing scream as genuine agony washed over her as she began to cry and write on the ground pathetically. Blood pooling on the ground around her body.
All the anger left Ren at once, replaced by shame. "I-I-I d-didn't mean to-"
"REEEEEEENNNNN!" Motoyasu howled, his spear came flashing at Ren's chest, who just managed to push it away with his sword, the impact pushed him back and nearly knocked him off his feet, managing to stay upright by lodging his sword within the ground.
"M-Motoyasu I-" Ren tried to say, but then he froze. The ground around the spear hero was cratered slightly, and his spear… holy shit his spear looked demonic. It was black and the gemstone was stark red. The 'blade' of the spear was jagged and covered in carving all the way down the hilt. Very similar looking to a secret 'Demon lord' bosses weapon in his game.
Motoyasu's eye's were as stark red as his gem-stone. With red lines running down his face.
The spear hero snarled. People were running screaming. "I'M GOING TO KILL YOUUUU!"
The spear hero charged.
A/N: I like this chapter a lot. I hope you enjoyed it too, see you guys in the next one.