"A level 40 cap?" asked Naofumi with a frown, "I'm nearly at 50."
"Shield Hero," said Arabica with exasperation, "You are a Hero, even the Star Heroes aren't subject to level caps. My brother recently surpassed level 100. The Filolial Queen, despite the blessings you grant her, isn't a Hero."
Naofumi said nothing. They resumed walking. Well, Naseem and Arabica walked while he sat on Murasaki. The Filolial was massive, having grown rapidly from being small enough to lift in his hands to being taller than him and capable of lifting him up casually. But that size did not fully show how absurd her stats were.
She was only at level 35. Her stats exceeded that of Arabica. He'd been amazed at that, but the level 40 cap ruined his plans. Without an Hourglass, normal people of this world could only reach level 40.
Another chain. A reason he would be forced to deal with the filth in this world.
Siltvelt was slowly looking like his best choice.
"Arabica, Shield Hero," said Naseem sharply. The draconic demi-human more than used to the sudden commands from the wolfman didn't hesitate. Naofumi followed and cast Reinforce, a supporting skill that reduced casting time.
Arabica quickly cloaked them in an illusion that made them invisible when viewed from above and hid their mana signatures for a time. Not perfect, and in some ways, very suspicious that their signature vanished, but it was a better choice than being detected.
Naofumi looked upwards and kept a hand on his Filolial's head, stroking it to keep the intelligent bird calm, his heart beating faster and faster.
A dragon drifted high above them with two people on its back. It circled the area they were in before darting forward.
It was the fourth dragon they'd seen in the past two days.
They didn't move for another two minutes before Naseem nodded at them. Arabica nearly collapsed. She used the violet Filolial for support and held her head with her eyes closed. The spell she was using was meant to work on a person, using it for multiple people was apparently stressful.
Naofumi could see that she couldn't keep this up. He frowned, vaulted off Murasaki and said, "Sit. We need to keep moving."
Arabica protested a little, but her fatigue won out. She was out the moment she sat on the Filolial's soft feathers.
Naseem looked a little worried. Naofumi shared his concerns. Arabica had been the only reason they'd stayed hidden from the intensified patrols. Already their movements had slowed drastically. What should have taken two days had been over five. Backtracking, hiding for long periods and spending time on Murasaki had wasted time.
"Shield Hero?" asked Naseem.
"We need to keep moving," he said, remembering the map, "We're close."
The wolf demi-human took a deep breath and nodded. "Understood."
Murasaki chirped in agreement, and soon they were moving again. Slowly and carefully through the forested area that was fairly difficult to navigate. The canopy ensured that they were hard to see from the air, but the terrain was only something they could traverse because all of them were super-powered.
Every step was a struggle. Not because of the physical aspects of travel, but due to the cold reality that he did not understand what he was doing. Siltvelt was an option, but he wasn't stupid enough to think that going to a place where he was worshipped wouldn't have people against him. There would be people who cared about the Shield Hero, but none would care for Naofumi. They would want a useful Shield Hero to serve their goals and nothing more. Worse, he could imagine that plenty would prefer that the so-called God was away from their country. No ruler would want someone like that to compete against them.
But staying in this fucked up country wasn't an option.
The Filolial tapped his head with her beak. An attack that he has seen crush in the skull of monsters.
Naofumi brushed her off, "What?" he asked, irritated. She tapped him again and chirped sadly. It took him a long moment to see that she was trying to cheer him up. "Leave it."
The bird obeyed, but reluctantly. Naseem studied their interaction. A glare from Naofumi ensured that the demi-human said nothing.
Naofumi kept walking. He didn't need cheering up. What the Shield Hero wanted was a useful attacker and an actual fucking plan! He paused mentally and caught himself. No, that was secondary. What he wanted was out of this prison. Naofumi glared at the Shield. He seethed at the thought of that worthless King, the bitch and Motoyasu who'd gotten him in this mess and the idiots who were so willing to toy with his life.
The kidnapped Japanese promised himself that he wouldn't forget that again.
