Hello, the Opulent one here for even more misadventures. At this rate I will run out of ideas to describe this, but for now onto reviews.
A1c Blessing) I will consider the utilities of stuff like a Kushala shield, or even a Miasma shield from Vaal Hazak. That will need to be saved for later, like the Bonus XP event later in Season 1 of the anime.
Guest) Was that for Fitoria and Zofie? If so then things will be fun to say the least.
Setokayba2n) Filo and Fitoria aren't going to be different from canon. The former will still be in Naofumi's party, and Fitoria is Fitoria. When I mentioned a Malfestio in the last chapter, I was talking in regards to Zofie's monster companion. I have since changed the idea to something more interesting I think, but also makes sense. As for Fire Emblem, I haven't played the games at all, but I think the characters name was Tiki? Please correct me if I am wrong with that. My experience with FE is from memes and Smash Bros.
On that note, I shall prepare myself for the upcoming chapter.
Chapter 4: The Sapphire Hero
"Naofumi! Raphtalia!" I yelled out after meeting with the king, hugging the demihuman because it's always nice to. "I am going to start adventuring on my own, I already have a companion too."
Naofumi seemed a little stunned at the suddenness of things, but had remembered that Zofie said she would leave after the first wave. "I see, don't get yourselves in too much trouble, or I won't cook next time you visit." He teased my way.
"No, anything but that! I love your cooking!" I said, deflating a bit, this caused Avaritia to giggle a little bit.
"Hello Shield Hero, I am Avaritia. I will be accompanying Zofie from now on thanks to the good graces of King Aultcray." She gave a polite bow.
"Hello Avaritia, I'm Raphtalia, and mister snarky here is Naofumi." The Tanuki introduced them. Good thing as I finally recovered a bit to speak again.
"I have an idea if you two are up for it." I said with a smile. "Why don't we both get pets for companions?"
"That… doesn't sound like a bad idea, but where would we get one?" Naofumi asked, his hand on his chin in thought.
"Maybe Erhard knows? I would like to get Ava-chan here some gear as well since the King gave me a bunch of silver." I said, holding a rather large pouch with about 2500 silver inside. My naturally high strength made it feel weightless though, so it was no biggie.
"Alright, Erhard's it is then." Naofumi said before stopping as I tapped his shoulder.
"I think you need this as well." I handed him his own pouch with 2500 silver in it, much to the King's hesitance.
"Right, thanks Zofie. Now we can go." Naofumi said, making his leave with Raphtalia, Avaritia, and myself in tow.
(A trip to Erhard's and gear later)
I was in a slightly grumbly mood as the information we discovered wasn't what you would call… warranted. Erhard was nice about it though, but we had to make a visit to the Monopoly Man. Huh, where did that come from? Anyways, when we got there, it was business as usual, but luckily not of the slavery kind. I would have punched him if it was. Instead it was a little game he played called an.. Egg Gacha? I don't remember anymore, but how it worked is that we drew an egg, payed 100 silver for it, and we have to find out what it was when it hatched. He mentioned they ranged from Filolials, which are the birds that carried wagons I have been seeing giving me nasty looks, to types of dragons, or a Griffin. I don't know what a Griffin is, but he said they were great mounts to ride into combat with, so I guess I can take his word for it?
Naofumi and I drew an egg, paid the silver, and even got ourselves a starter pack which came with food for whatever we got, and other things. If I ignore the fact he sells slaves, He isn't a bad guy, he just does things to stay… happy? He is weird though, giving Raphtalia and Ava-chan odd looks. I told him to stop, and he did. We bid our farewells after that, and Avaritia and I headed to the Church to get my class up.
I approached slowly, feeling the energy that the Hourglass was channeling. This time though, it didn't seem hostile when the doors opened. While this happened, I noticed something in my vision, focusing on it pulled a menu up of sorts.
Zofie Jiiva Lv.80(max)
HP: 35,376
Attack: 2380
Defense: 3600
Resistances) Fire (15), Water (10), Thunder (10), Ice (10), Dragon (20).
Other attributes unknown.
Party)
· Avaritia Drakevow (Lv.20)
· Unnamed Egg (Lv.1)
I never noticed this before, and it even gave me a good idea of how the sharpness of my blades work, and other things. I even had an item list, how cool was that?
"Miss Zofie, you okay there? You have been spacing out for a moment." Ava-chan snapped me back to reality, several numbs looking at me with either nasty looks themselves, or confusion.
"Sorry about that, I found out I have the Status thing the Cardinal Heroes have…" I took in a breath as I looked to a Nun. "Is this the place where I get a class up?"
"Yes it is, right this way. Don't try anything stupid though. We're lucky it hasn't acted up since before the Wave." The Nun said, and I caught a glimpse of a guy with a fancy hat. Was he some important church person? Only time will tell.
We got up to the Hourglass, and while I didn't have a Cardinal Weapon, I opened up my Status Magic to see a new menu. It gave me several options to class up, but one caught my eye. It was simply labeled the 'Sapphire Empress.' I looked at the little thing of text underneath, and while not great at the written language, I understood enough to know it sounded awesome, so naturally, I picked it. I then checked my stats to see if anything changed.
Zofie Jiiva Lv.80 (Unrestricted)
HP: 40,000
Attack: 2960
Defense: 4200
Energy Units (MP): 10,000
Resistances: Fire (15), Water (10), Thunder (10), Ice (10), Dragon (20)
New Skills!
Supercritical State: When Below 35% HP, gain 25% Attack, but lose 25% Defense. All attacks gain Dragon Element.
Star of the Sapphire Empress: A Massive Immolation of Dragon Energy spanning a 100 meter diameter. Any creature within 50 meters will be vaporized unless behind cover, Cardinal and Vassal Heroes cannot die to this attack, but will be critically injured. Takes 8000 MP to activate.
Geothermal Siphoning: Restore MP and HP by 25% by absorbing bioenergy for 20 seconds, cooldown of 5 minutes.
Party Bonus)
Jiiva Divinity: Party Members take 100% Damage Reduction from Star of the Sapphire Empress.
I blinked a few times seeing the new information, a wide smile on my face. This creeped the Nuns out a bit as the power settled, giving my wings a more star like appearance in the membranes. Seeing their expressions, I stopped smiling.
"Sorry, got really excited at the stat boosts." I sheepishly said with a giggle, and they seemed to understand.
I did an early Class up for Ava-chan as well so she can wait until she hits level 80 to do it again. She chose to go down the Dracophage Route so she can use her bugs to fight with her. She got a large bump in stats too, her Energy equalling mine at Ten Thousand, probably because the bugs take a lot? Either way, I am proud of her as am I to myself.
Once things were settled, we left the Church to go an explore things that needed to be done. A trip to the Adventurers Guild seemed like a good place to start. We were getting hungry anyways, so it was convenient to say the least. It seemed that even before we entered, there was some activity going on, sounded like cheers more than anything. We didn't get our answer until we walked in, where a neighboring warrior was having a jolly good time it seemed, arm wrestling his way to free food. I already had my fair share of arm wrestling today, so maybe another time.
Avaritia and I sat down away from most people, and ate peacefully… until a beer mug hit me in the back of the head, full of alcohol still. A group started laughing before mentioning something about me being too young to be an adventurer or something like that. Ava-chan did calm me down, saying that leveling the guild building wouldn't do me any favors if I got mad. Seeing how they didn't get the reaction they wanted, one approached me.
"Playing the quiet game, eah? Now that I see you better, I bet you could fetch a good price in the sl- GAH!!" His words were cut short as my fist landed where his diaphragm was, knocking the wind completely out of him. He honestly pissed me off, and I wasn't sure if he was the one that threw the mug either.
"I am not in a good mood, sir. If you don't want me to hurt you more, then leave, please…." I said, my tone holding in a bit of anger, and my hair was glowing red along the edges. He got the message crystal clear, and left to his table after recovering. It seemed that the other people saw my hair, and were now very wary of me.
With the meal not being pleasant anymore, I quickly finished before heading to the quest board to see what I could do. One did catch my eye, it involving a dragon hunt… sort of. It seemed a dragon moved in around the time of the wave, and was taking more supplies from a village than it could replace, and it blocked off a mining shift. They recommended level 40's at least with a class up, so no issue with me, nor Ava since her class up booster her stats much higher than normal due to it being at a lower level than the norm.. well once she hit the capped level of 80 now.
"Hello? I would like to take this Dragon Hunt quest." I said with full confidence when I got to the desk. I got a skeptical look from the guild manager there, who was seemingly judging me on my appearance.
"I'm sorry miss, but it says level 40's with a class up and above." The desk lady said, wiping off her glasses.
"Oh, don't worry about me, I am level 80, and I soloed the Wave boss yesterday." I said with a smile. This caused the whole Guild Hall to stop in their tracks.
"A little kid like you killed the Boss of the Wave alone?" One person asked with a fearful tone.
"Yeah-huh, If he was older than he was, it would've been fun since Teostra's are really smart fighters." I responded, the desk lady looking at me like I grew a second head or something.
"You're jesting, right?" the desk lady asked, her own voice shakey.
"No, why would I need to lie?" I asked in response, and I swore I saw the lady's face pale several times over.
"O-okay, I will take your word for it then, since it's late, you should rest up in the inn." The lady suggested.
"I can work with that." I said as Ava and I accepted the hunt. There wasn't anything to say about killing it, just diverting it elsewhere maybe. We spent a good night's rest at the Inn once we cleared a couple things with the Innkeeper.
(The next day)
Little did I know the Sword Hero was also on the quest until we were on the same caravan together, so that was fun.
"Hi Ren, did you enjoy the party last night?" I asked with my usual, chipper tone.
"The party was alright, though I am having some second thoughts about Melromarc." Ren replied as Ava and I listened into his reasoning, which was sound outside of a couple of possible problems once he said them.
"Despite that, I still think it's good to help them." I said, most everyone else nodding in agreement.
"The kids right, if we don't help out anyone we can, what kind of heroes does that make us?" One said wearing some sort of knight armor. His voice sounded like that big, beefy guy with the silly hair. The Admiral was it?
"Yea, but we are up against a dragon, that could mean problems for the future if we perish." A mage said, a little anxious about the whole ordeal.
"Who said we had go kill it?" Ava then pointed out. "The quest only said to make it move to a new location was all.
"You make a good point, so who will be the bait in that case?" The knight guy asked. Without hesitation, I raised my hand.
"I will see about going first. I am a dragon as well, even if in a humanoid form." I replied, getting some interesting stares. Then the questions came.
"Can you breathe fire?" "Do you hoard gold?" "How often do Bards seduce you?" "Does Holy Magic hurt?"
I sighed a little bit at this, but elected to answer them all.
"Sort of, No, What is a Bard, and Haven't tested that yet." I said in rapid fire fashion. This seemed to calm people down a little bit as we arrived at the village.
It was a relatively small settlement, having no more than 20 or so houses, and a handful of other buildings. The people there were mostly human, but I could smell something was off about them. I had a gut feeling that they weren't being all that truthful when they exaggerated things about the Dragon. It almost offended me. While I had my back turned, I heard a couple of laughs, and some muttering. Luckily, Ren was nearby, and they walked away with a grimace to their tone.
I swear they intentionally make it hard to like them. At least when I was an actual dragon, they kept me from destroying the ecosystem accidentally.
"Ren, let the people know Ava and I are going to see where the Dragon is. Depending on what happens, I will come up with a plan." I said to the sword hero before picking up Ava, and using my wings to take to the skies…. Something I quickly learned scared the ever living Flash Pods out of Ava. I slowed down to calm her down, but she was still jittery by the time we landed.
On top of a flat spot on the hill we were on was a Dragon alright. He was about the size of a Kushala or Vaal, so not too big, but he was darkly scaled, a mix of blue and purple it seemed. He noticed us immediately, but made no move to attack, which meant he was either too tired, or just passive.
"Why have you come here, Demihumans?" the voice asked in a low, but very masculine tone. Again, I felt offended. Did no one take my claims seriously?! I bottled this up for now.
"Hello there, fellow Dragon, I am Zofie, and this is my friend, Ava. The village below has ordered a kill on you for some reason, but they seemed rather fishy about things." I said with a kind tone as to not make him mad on accident.
The dragon paused for a moment, looking at me more closely. "If you claim to be a Dragon yourself, then prove it, otherwise leave."
That was much easier done than said as I just built up a moderate amount of Dragon Energy, enough for him to sense. While I didn't notice, his eyes widened a bit at the revelation. "Will this suffice? Its only about half my full strength, still getting used to it." I said sheepishly.
"Yes… yes it will. So the humans below wish to rid me, and for what?" He then asked, his tone somewhat dismissive, but angered.
"Something about livestock? I wasn't paying attention. All I know is the Sword Heroes party is there along with a couple other people. We all came from Castle Town." I said before continuing. "I don't think that's true though, and you don't look like you have taken their animals at all."
A guttural sigh comes from the Dragon, mostly anger. "Of course they would do that. I am the Dragon Emperor known as Gaelion, by the way." He introduced himself, and the title seemed pretty cool.
"Oh, you have a cool title too, Humans called me the Dark Light Dragon, Xeno'jiiva." I said with a bit of excitement. This made Gaelion chuckle a little bit. Did I mention he spoke without moving his mouth?
"Regardless of title, it seems like the Humans down the mountain wish for my gold rather than me… If I must fight them to keep it, then I will." He started to get up, Ava tensing up as she wasn't prepared for it.
"I didn't want to fight, rather solve this peacefully. Perhaps we could get you relocated to a less populated area?" I offered, but his head shook.
"I am here not for myself, but so my daughter may interact with humans more normally." Gaelion said, his tone softening.
"Oh, that makes things harder then…. Curse this young body of mine for not being able to adult right!! This makes me feel like a Dodogama on the Urragan tracks." I said, half venting, half complaining.
"Zofie, what are you on about?" Avaritia asked in a confused tone.
"It's a figure of speech, I will head back to the village to see what can be done." I said, but before I could, I heard something approaching. It was Ren charging at us with his sword in hand. My eyes actually bulged out a little at the sight, as did Ava's.
Gaelion was more prepared however, and used his superior strength to block the blade between his claws, sending him several meters back. He landed on his feet, using the blade to slow himself down. What the hell did those Villagers tell him?
"Uhhh, Ren? What's going on???" I asked innocently before the Sword Hero noticed me, perfectly fine. Did he ignore me until now?!? Headchops for him when this is over!!
"I thought the dragon already dealt with you." Ren said, somewhat ashamed.
"I'm a higher level than he is, with better stats." I then deadpanned, going over to headchop him to the ground. Gaelion seemed jealous of my blatant proclamation of strength, but it was true. With Ren, I used a little more force since he was a little more stubborn when info was mislead his way, and Motoyasu is well…. Motoyasu.
"Sorry, I forgot." Ren apologized to me before looking to Gaelion. "I also apologize to you for jumping to conclusions."
"Right, with that out of the way, let's get you to a place where the townsfolk can't kill you. I would leave a little of your treasure behind to make it look like we faked it." I said, making Gaelion tense up a bit.
"You wouldn't dare, young one." The dragon threatened.
He ended up leaving some of the treasure behind. He is also scared of the color of sapphire now.
(After an uneventful time with Gaelion afterwards, and meeting his daughter who is adorable)
Ren, Ava, and myself entered the Village once we were done, and I made a B-Line towards the person who commissioned the hunt. He didn't seem to like me much, but put up with it… sort of.
"Get lost pipsqueek, and let the adults handle the dragon." The guy said, thinking we were wasting his time.
"Bottomfeeding Aptonoth." I said with an unamused tone.
"What was that?" He now got really mad.
"Amateur Bazel." Came my next insult.
"Kid do you know who you're messing with?" he then asked, cocking a fist back, but did no damage to me, even if he hit me in the face.
"A malnourished Jagras can hit harder than that, but enough with the insults… Gaelion is already gone, and I think nothing else is in the cave outside of plenty of gold." I said, though I couldn't be mad since my method, as rude as it was, worked.
"Well then… I underestimated you. Men, we will make haste to the cave now!" he said, a series of cheers went rampant among the people there.
"You underestimated the one who solo'd a Wave Boss. I can't tell if that is insulting, or you really are an Aptonoth under all of that clothing." I then teased, and I didn't know humans could change colors under the right circumstances.
Anyways, everyone got paid the amount of Gold the quest said we would get, Ran and I getting a small bonus for actually 'defeating the dragon, and not making things worse. With that done, Ava and I made our farewells, and journeyed onwards. It became quickly apparent we should have a Cart or something since I can only carry so much, as well as Ava. Our complaints weren't the least of our problems as soon, night fell, and we were both exhausted.
Little did we know was that we were in someone else's territory, and they didn't like intruders that much.
(The next morning.)
I woke to the feeling of something licking me, and whimpering slightly. Ava was already up by the time I sat up, so it seemed this little thing was just being nice. I looked down to see what looked like a black and purple little weasel dog thing on my lap. There were also bits of egg shell around, so that really only meant one thing. The baby monster was born, and now Ava and I are parents! Well, not in the normal sense that is.
"Ava-chan… what hit us yesterday? My head…. Hurts? Uhh, hello?" I opened my eyes more to see we were surrounded by birds…. And lots of them in a rainbow of colors. Did I mention they looked very hungry?
"Ummm, Zofie, it seems we're in Filolial territory… and all of us are partially dragon." Ava responded with a quickened tone.
"Is that a good thing, or…." I was ignorant of what she meant.
"Filolials hate Dragons…." Ava deadpanned.
"Oh…" I could only give a small laugh at the hoard of birds. "Nice day we're having?"
That went about as well as expected since they all tried attacking us with the intent to feast. Hell, I was struggling with having to carry Ava and the baby dog thing whilst flying. Out of context, this looked stupid, and something I'd see a Hunter do when making both Teostra and Lunastra mad. Replace two elder dragons with say… 200 birds, and its basically the same thing.
I had to think quick, and think quick I did. Placing Ava and the baby on a nearby tree, I drew my blades out, but kept the holsters on due to the fact I didn't want to kill them. I then went around, playing a game of Whack-a-Bord, and it was honestly a lot more fun than I expected. The birds were very agile, but so was I, making things a matter of who could react first. Most of the time it was me, and whoever lost just walked over to the tree Ava and the baby were at, and just sat to watch I guess? After most of them were taken care of, I had one more left, this one more regal looking than the rest.
I had a bad feeling about this…
Next thing I knew, I was having to seriously defend myself from this really, REALLY fast bird. I had to resort to using my manipulation of bioenergy to keep it at bay, but they were smarter than I thought as they slowed their advance just enough to bypass it as it only really damaged when it first explodes. It reminded me of how that hunter I fought as a full Xeno'jiiva went, and they had my respect. Lost in this nostalgic mindset, I got hit in the gut, hard, and flew into the tree next to everyone else, causing it to fall over from the impact.
After that, I laughed. Not the crazy, lost my sanity type, but an honest, pure laugh. I was hurting yes, and my health was cut by about a third from full, but I was happy. This must have caught the birds off guard as I slowly got up to fic my hair, and dust myself off. I had no intentions to fight further seeing as I didn't feel any real danger anymore.
"I concede this match, whoever you are. I can tell you are better than I am." I said as I went over to Ava, and sat down next to her with an audible plop. The Regal bird though, transformed into a girl about my size, and looked rather pretty.
"I see you are different than most dragons I have met." The girl said, her tone neutral, of a little cold. I think a Kushala would sound like this if I met one.
"I can't argue there, miss." I giggled a bit as she was right, I was odd for an Elder Dragon. "I am Zofie Jiiva, the Sapphire Empress." I then introduced myself with pride. This caused the bird lady to pause for a moment, their eyes shaking a little bit. Naturally, I got concerned about this, and calmly approached her, checking to see if she was alright.
"Not again……" the bird lady muttered quietly to herself, but I managed to hear it just fine. She then looks to me with an unbridled anger I didn't notice before.
I then tilt my head in confusion. "Uhhh, miss, you're starting to scare me. Was it something in my name that made you mad?" I asked, shrinking down a little bit behind Ava when I got to her. While I could handle an intense glare from normal people, this felt different. I was genuinely scared now of this bird lady's glare. She must have noticed this as she snapped out of it soon after.
"My apologies…. I am Fitoria, Queen of the Filolials. I have a.. past with that title of yours." The bird lady then introduced herself, bowling slightly, though it looked stiff, as of she was suppressing her anger a little.
"Oh, I don't know about what the title means, I chose it because I thought it sounded cool when I did my class up." I admitted, rubbing the back of my head with a sheepish laugh. "If the past Sapphire Empress was a bad guy, you don't have to worry, I am a Hero."
This caught Fitoria's attention a little bit. "You were summoned here?" She asked, and I nodded. "What Cardinal Hero are you then?"
"Uhhh, none, I was just an extra. Though if I were to give myself one, I would say the Dragon Hero." I said, though that felt a little on the Banbaro crest.
"I see… I would have mistook you for the Sword Hero if I didn't see him earlier." Fitoria said with a slight grimace.
"Hehe… We were both here to get mister Gaelion out of here. Humans can be really greedy at times. I can't blame them though." I said with a smile. I then came up with an idea. "Hey, how about we team up? If I'm currently the strongest hero, and you beat me pretty easily, we would be nearly unstoppable in saving the world!"
"I'm afraid I cannot do that. While I appreciate your offer, it is my long lasting dislike for Dragons that makes me see this as not a good idea." Fitoria responded.
"Okay then, how about friends? I can imagine that once this is all said and done, I won't be going anywhere anytime soon, and I would like someone to keep me company." Wait, when did I become so forward thinking? My leveling must have effected my intelligence some.
"We shall cross that road when we get there." Fitoria walks past both Ava and I. "Please do me a favor, and make sure that the Heroes don't fight against each other? It is a promise I kept from long ago that I must uphold."
"I have been keeping them in check when I can, so hopefully I don't have to do too much." I said in response. By the time I turned around though, all the Filolials were gone, only a single feather left behind by the Queen.
"Ava…"
"Yes Zofie?"
"Let's go meet back up with the group, we're in need of some funds for saving the world."
"Of course, little Sapphire."
Finally, this chapter is done! And honestly I don't know how I handled things here. I honestly think I went too fast here with things. Curse my high school habits!!!
That does lead me however to my next questions.
Firstly, what do you think the Egg will hatch? That will be revealed next chapter by the way.
Secondly, I have been brainstorming ideas for new stories to replace 'Euphoric Aura.' What I would like is your opinions on what I should make.
Option 1: A completely reimagined version of Light in the Demonic Dark, my first story which has been removed for poor quality. It's a Destiny x Demon Slayer crossover with a Hive Loli as the main protag.
Option 2: An Avenger's Misadventures in this Beautiful World: A Konosuba x Fate story involving the Alter to the same Pyra from 'Herald of the Divine Sun' and her well… misadventures in trying to not set everything on fire… again.
Option 3: A different version of Euphoric Aura with a different premise and crossover. I will leave that up to you guys to choose if that is the case.
Thirdly, any suggestions for the story in general? This is as much your guy's adventure as it is mine, so please leave reviews if you can, I read and answer all of them.
That should do for now, hopefully I can get out of writers block soon so I can work on other stories. I haven't updated my Pukei-Pukei one for 4 months because I literally can't think of how to progress it lol. Anyways, I will see you in the next chapter, or whenever, so until then, Opulent one out!!