Chapter 5: Confrontation
After they all left the weapon shop, they went to the tavern in Miohus Village for dinner. After that, they booked an Inn for the night. Of course, the boys and girls have different rooms.
"Just absorb all of these monster parts. Even if you already had the weapon form from the parts, it will go automatically to your inventory." Tomori said to Akira.
"Okay." Akira holds her staff like a vacuum and absorbs all of the materials on the floor. "Wow, there's a lot of beeping in my head."
"You're gonna get used to it. Anyways, I gotta go now. I don't want Rylon to corrupt Ivaran."
"But Emil is with them, right?"
"Akira, you don't know anything about boys. Even as we are speaking right now, maybe Emil joined Rylon to corrupt Ivaran. I dealt with a rebellious Ivaran before. And I don't want to deal with corrupted rebellious Ivaran now."
Akira chuckled a bit. "You sound like his mom or something."
"Well, it's for his good, I guess. Both of his parents are already dead. And he's young. He still has much to learn other than sticking with me fighting the waves until it's finished. "
"I see…" Akira knew that Tomori cared so much for Ivaran, but not to this extent.
"Maybe I can find him a wife before I leave this world."
"Woah, woah, woah, woah, woah?! A wife?! He's 13 years old, Tomori! He's still under age!"
"Oh, Akira. You didn't take into account that the age of consent doesn't exist here. Besides, he looks like he's 20 plus years old. I'm sure he can pass as an adult. And I need to find a suitable partner for him…"
Akira thought that this goes beyond caring. He's actually becoming his mom for real.
"Umm… How about we left the 'find him a wife' business aside. And I think you should really check on Ivaran. You really didn't want him to be corrupted, did you?" Akira said to him.
"You're right! I must stop the dirty minded males from corrupting my innocent child!" Tomori left the girl's Inn room.
Akira then just lay down on her bed. " Sigh* I thought he would be more mature since he's the oldest hero Among Us. But I guess people have their own childish side."
"What is she thinking? Did she really think that I'm going to find a wife for Ivaran? That kid hasn't mastered the art of Rizz yet. And he has been corrupted by me. There's no corruption in this world that can overcome my corruption." Tomori thought as he smiled widely. "Though, finding him a wife is kind of a great idea. At least he isn't lonely after I siueee away from this world."
Tomori then saw Mizune by the windows of the Inn. He then gets closer to her.
"Tomori-dono? Is there anything that you wanted with me?" She said.
"Yeah," He then lay back on the walls next to the windows. "First of all, I wanted to thank you and your friend for helping me escape back then from those… Church's Shadows? I think that's what they called it. Even though I didn't arrive in time to stop the accusation, I'm still grateful that both of you helped."
"…" She didn't say anything.
"I wanted to ask a question." Tomori's eyes changed to red and red lines appeared on his face. "When will the queen arrive?" Even though he has unlocked the Bless Series, he still can access the Blade of Anger. The reason he's angry right now is because the queen hasn't arrived yet. He wanted to smash Tadashi's ego and destroy the princess (literally) for messing with him.
"… I didn't get informed about the queen's arrival yet, Tomori-dono." Mizune spoke up as she really saw that Tomori wanted answers.
"I see… And why is that?."
"The queen is still negotiating with the other countries to prevent wars from happening."
"And why is that?"
"It's because of the summoning of the Cardinal Heroes."
"Because of us?" This is something new that Tomori had heard.
"Yes. Originally, the queen went to discuss about which country get to summon the heroes with the other country's leaders. The Shaft Hero supposed be summoned to by Welle, the Projectile Hero supposed to be summoned by Handler, the Magic Hero supposed to be summoned by Imperian and the Blade Hero supposed to be summoned by Klinge."
"But Welle decided to summon all of the heroes in one place which leads the other country's leaders being mad. So the queen is negotiating with them so they wouldn't attack Welle and started a war. Am I right?"
"Yes."
"But why?"
"The waves is happening even outside Welle. They're mad because they thought that Welle is keeping the Cardinal Heroes for ourselves. But in reality, the church is the one pulling the strings. The pope even convinced the king to summon the heroes after the first wave has struck our country."
"If there's waves happening outside this country, meaning that there's another hourglass other than the one inside the church."
"Yes. The church has made every attempt to not let the heroes know about the existence of another hourglass."
"And I would say that they really did a bad job at it. Not only that they failed to kill me twice, but they also didn't prevent me from talking to you."
"Intel's shows that the church has taken a step back from attempting to kill you. Fearing that you will get more stronger."
"That's why there's no one tried to ambush me for the past 10 days." He don't if that's a good thing or not. "They f*cked up when they sent that minotaur. If they sent another high level monster, then I can just kill it and get a huge amount of EXP. If they're one step ahead than me, then I will be two steps ahead them."
"And I see that you already did that." Mizune said to him.
"So what I should do now knowing the queen wouldn't return back for the moment?"
"I suggest you wait. The pieces of the puzzle will fall by itself, Tomori-dono. Don't worry about it."
"Okay…" Tomori isn't convinced by that. But there's nothing he could do now other than wait for the queen to return.
"It's getting late now. I think I should head to my room now. Please excuse me." Mizune then goes to her room.
Sigh*
Tomori just sighed and went to his room where the other three boys slept. Both Emil and Rylon are already asleep will Ivaran is reading the grimoire.
"You haven't slept yet?" Tomori asked him.
"I don't feel tired yet. And I thought it would be a good time to read the grimoire."
"I see…" Tomori then lay in his bed. "Ivaran, can I ask something?"
"Yes?"
"What do you want… To do after the wave is finished?"
"Huh?" Ivaran doesn't understand his question.
"You know that I'm going back home after the wave is finished, right? I'm just wondering if you had anything in mind after that."
"No, I haven't…" The thought of Tomori leaving him didn't cross his mind.
"Is there anything you wanted to do after the waves?" Tomori asked again.
"I don't know…" Ivaran is just now an orphan. His village is destroyed while his friends have been sold into slavery. If Tomori leaves him, he hasn't any purpose. It would just return back to square one.
"Well, you ought to start thinking about it now." Tomori pulled a blanket over his whole body. "Good night…" In an instant, Tomori went to sleep mode.
"…" But as Ivaran read the grimoire, he started thinking of what he should do after Tomori left this world.
When the morning arrives, all of them go to the Tavern for breakfast.
"So, where are you guys going next?" Tomori asked Akira.
"I'm thinking of leveling up for a bit."
"I see. Wanted to meet up at Vadge's shop in around three days? I wanted to talk about strategies for the waves. If we're lucky, we will meet Reika and Tadashi there. But the problem arose if he didn't want to cooperate with me."
"Hmm… You're right. Maybe me and Reika can convince him to join."
"I think that would work." Tadashi is the number one simp, after all. He will blindly follow girls.
After they finished eating, they left the Miohus Village and parted ways with each other.
"Well, that's an interesting experience." Tomori said.
"So what do you want to do, Tomori-sama?" Ivaran said.
"Hmm… How about we go to the village around… There." Tomori pointed in a direction. "That village is close to the mountains. Maybe there's a lot of strong monsters there."
Both of them then walked to the village.
They arrive at the village and pay for the entrance fee. They continued to walk until they reached the center of the village.
"This village here isn't as developed as Miohus Village." Tomori thought as he looked around the village. He also registered this place as a teleport target. "I think we can enter the mountains that way. Let's go."
Ivaran followed Tomori as he walked through the mountain entrance. As they venture deeper into the mountain's forest, they feel like there's a mist appearing inside the forest.
"Are the mountains really that cold?" Tomori thought as he focused on finding the ways inside the forest.
"Tomori-sama, the mist is too thick. I can't see what is in front of me." Ivaran said to him.
"Yeah. I can barely see anything."
"Should we return back?" Ivaran suggested.
Tomori thought that's the best choice that they had right now. "Yeah, let's return back-"
Bam*
Tomori fell to the ground as he felt like someone bumped into him.
"Is there anyone here? I'm sorry that I bumped into you. These mist are too thick for me to see." Someone said to him.
"Wait," Tomori recognized who that voice belonged to. "Reika? Is that you?"
"Wait… Tomori? Are you the one that I accidentally bumped into?" She said.
"Seems like it. Are you alone here?" Tomori asked her.
"No, I'm with my party members. But we lost each other as we went deeper through the forest."
"I see…" Tomori then sent a party invitation to Reika. "Accept it."
Without asking, Reika immediately accepts the party invitation. Then, a new list that consists of Reika and her party member's names appears on Tomori's status menu.
" Transport Blade!" Tomori selects everyone on the list to teleport to the center of the village.
After they teleported to the village, a couple of gasps could be heard from Reika's group.
"Seems like three people left her party." Tomori sees only two girls in Reika's group.
"You already unlocked the teleportation skill, Tomori?" Reika asked. She's wearing the same clothes as Tomori, which is black long sleeve shirt and black slack pants. But Reika also wears dark blue gloves, dark blue boots, dark blue small cape and a chest guard made out of metal.
"Yeah."
"Which means that you're already above level 50…" Then, she saw Ivaran standing next to Tomori. "Is that your party member?"
"That's right."
"My name's Ivaran. Nice to meet you." He said to Reika.
"My name's Reika Ishikawa. And I'm the Projectile Hero. Nice to meet you as well." She said.
"My name's Lowri." A girl wearing armor similar to Rylon said.
"And my name's Thea." A girl wearing black robes said.
"I'm sure you guys probably know me by now, but either way, I'm Tomori Tanaka, the Blade Hero." He introduced himself to Reika's party members.
"Don't worry about your accusation, Sir Hero." Lowri said. "From what Miss Reika had told me, you have been accused of. Not saying that I believe you didn't do it. I still need to be wary."
"It is the same for me." Thea said.
"Don't know that having people kind of believe you didn't do something horrible feels good." Tomori thought to himself.
"Oh, by the way." Reika spoke up. "Why are his ears pointy?"
"What? You didn't know? He's an elf. To be more accurate, he's a half-elf."
"Elf? There's no elf in CPO…" Reika wondered to herself.
"Don't tell me that you don't know that demi-humans also exist here?"
"No, I don't."
" Sigh* I guess you haven't fallen deeper into the rabbit hole."
"What do you mean by that?" Reika asked him.
"I think what the Sir Hero is saying is that it's a good thing that you didn't know of it." Lowri explained to her. "Demi-humans are a rare sighting in Welle. Some of them are adventurers, while the other ones…"
"I think you have made it clear for her." Tomori said to Lowri. "And now that you know they exist here, but not in your game means that some information could be different here."
"I see. This world isn't a game then…"
"Do you believe that you're in the game for two weeks straight?" Tomori asked Reika.
"No. I do have my doubts as the monsters here are different, the quests are also a little bit different then what they entail in CPO."
"Which makes me wonder, why are you in the mountain's forest?"
"I received a quest from the villagers here to slay an evil dragon living on the mountain. It's one of the quests that's similar to my game" Reika said.
"Is that so? What did the evil dragon do to these villagers that it needed to be slayed?" Tomori asked.
"Huh? Well… They didn't say anything about it."
"Wait… So you just blindly accepted the quest without knowing whether the dragon is evil or not? Does the quest in your game tell the backstory of it?"
"No, it's a side quest. Why would it need a backstory?"
"Exactly! Because it's a game. They can make whatever the plot wishes so it can be relevant to it. And this is not a game. Look around you. Is this the village that was attacked by an evil dragon?"
Reika looked around her. The people in this village are fine without having to fear knowing that they are living near a dragon.
"I can't blame you, Reika. Even I would think the same. The ones who requested this might want to take advantage of you. I know in some cases that dragons have treasure hidden somewhere in their cave. Maybe that's their goal. They wanted to hog all of it."
"I see…" When Tomori said it like that, it all made sense to her. She didn't think it through.
"Well, now you know it, what are you going to do?" Tomori asked her.
"I mean… Sigh* I don't know. If the dragon isn't really evil, then I have no reason to slay it."
"Hmm… How about we meet the dragon and ask it for ourselves?" Tomori suggested.
"What?" Reika is confused.
"There's a fifty-fifty chance that dragons in this world can talk." Tomori speculates this due to him watching so many Isekai anime with talking dragons and dragons that can transform into humans.
"The Blade Hero isn't wrong, Miss Reika." Thea said. "Talking dragons do exist. There's also a rumour saying that dragons can also take a human form as well."
"Damn, I hate it when I'm right." This just proves that Tomori is an Isekai genre enjoyer. "So, are we on this one?"
"It doesn't hurt to ask the dragon. But how do we want to get through the mountain?" Reika asked him.
"Hmm… Ivaran, is it me or the mist inside the forest… Seems unnatural?" Tomori asked his companion.
"Now that you mentioned it, yeah. It does seem unnatural. But it can't be magic as there's no traces of mana around the mist." Ivaran explained.
"Is there any magic that is similar to the mist?" Tomori asked.
"There is. But as your companion stated, there's no traces of mana around it. Meaning that it couldn't be magic." Thea replied.
"Is it really not magic? I think that mist there is too advanced to not be magic. Unless the dragon is skillful at magic, it can hide the traces of mana." A lot of things appear in Tomori's mind, thinking about what could the mist actually be. "If the dragon is behind the mist, then I think we can ask it to let us meet it. Want to give it a try?"
"It's better than nothing." Reika said.
"Seems like we're on an agreement here."
All of them then went to the mountain's forest. And as expected, the mist appears again.
"Ivaran, can you cast light magic?" Tomori asked.
"Okay. Low Light!" An orb of light appears on Ivaran's palm and it goes above his head.
" Shine Blade!" Tomori uses a skill that makes his sword light up. He raised his sword above his head. "Try staying closer. Or you guys are just going to get lost as you did the last time."
"Got it!"
They all follow Tomori and Ivaran as both of them lead the expedition to the mountain.
"The mist here is getting thicker the longer we stay inside of it." Tomori said.
"Tell me something that I didn't already know, Tomori." Reika replied to him.
"Well, I think it's the time for it." Tomori cleared his throat. "To the dragon who is behind the mist, can you let us have an audience with you? We meant you no harm. We just wanted a few answers. When we are done, we will take our leave."
They waited for a few minutes. Then, the mist started to slowly disappear for them to see a path.
"I didn't know that it was that easy." Tomori said.
"Yeah, me either." Reika agrees with him.
All of them then follow the path that was shown to them.
After walking for a few minutes, they arrive at the place with a huge cave entrance.
"Is this the place?" Tomori asked Reika as she said the quest is similar to her game.
"It is. But the cave entrance isn't supposed to be THIS big." She replied.
"You reckon that the dragon is stronger than the ones in your game?"
"By the look of it, I think it does. It is supposed to be a quest that can be defeated by a group of level 30 players."
"That doesn't look like it now."
Thud* Thud* Thud*
Then, a huge dragon with dark purple scales walks out from its cage.
"It even walks like a human. Usually this kind of dragon is supposed to be a high level boss in a RPG game." Tomori thought to himself. "Don't pull out your weapons. Except for Ivaran. I don't think a shield could be threatening to that dragon."
All of them look up to the dragon's face.
"What wishes that you wanted to talk to me, the wielder of the Holy Weapons and their companions?" The dragon said in a terrifying tone.
"It even knows who we're." Tomori elbowed Reika to tell her to answer the dragon.
"I have received a quest stating that you are disturbing the peace of the village down this mountain."
"And what proof do you have?" The dragon asked. "I have stayed here for a few centuries. I haven't even touched the humans at the village. Not only that, you're the first group that wants to have an audience with me after so many years."
"So that means you haven't even gone out from the mountain for more than centuries?" Tomori asked.
"Yes."
"Oh wow, now that's the next level of being a hikikomori." Tomori thought to himself.
"I see… It seems that we are wrong about it. I owe you an apology for that." Reika said to the dragon.
"Hmm, if that's what you wanted to ask. Then leave. This is no place for a human."
"Seems like we got our answers. Let's get out of here." Tomori said.
As they are about to leave, the dragon smells a scent.
Sniff* Sniff*
"It can't be…" It's a scent that the dragon hasn't smelled for so many centuries. "The wielder of the Holy Blade Weapon." The dragon is called Tomori.
"Yes?" All of them stopped when the dragon said that.
"Can you come closer to me?" The dragon asked.
Tomori gets closer to the dragon. It then brings its head to Tomori's level and sniffs the hell out of him.
Sniff*
"Why the hell did a dragon want to smell me?"
After the dragon finished sniffing Tomori, it stood back up.
Poof*
A huge smoke comes out from the dragon's body. After the smoke is gone, there's only a girl who had the same height as Reika standing where the dragon used to. She has a black hair and purple colored eyes.
"What in the f*ck just happened? The dragon transforms into a human?!"
The others besides Tomori gasped seeing the dragon transform into a human.
"Are you a descendant of a woman called Toshika Akane?" The dragon asked Tomori.
"That's Toshi-nee name. Can she be…" There's a lot of speculation inside Tomori's head. "No. But I'm her nephew though."
"I see… No wonder your scent is similar to her." The dragon said with a smile on her face. "My name's Daela. But you can call me Ela if you want. And let's say that I was close with your aunt back then."
"Wait… Daela? The Ring Hero?!" Tomori is shocked to meet one of the people that the book listed.
"Former Ring Hero. I quit being a hero centuries ago." Daela said to him.
"What?" Tomori didn't know that people could quit being a hero just like that.
"Hey, Tomori!" Reika gets near him. The others also follow her. "Can you explain what's going on? Do you know her?"
"No."
"And who's this Toshika?"
"I guess I owe an explanation to you guys."
After telling them about his aunt, who Tomori thinks she used to be a Blade Hero from the past, all of them just stayed in silence to hear what he said.
"So you knew the power up methods from the guide book that she wrote?" Reika asked.
"Yeah."
"And you also know the game mechanics from it?"
"Yes."
"Man… This is getting confusing…" Reika said as she scratched her head.
"I didn't know that one of Tomori-sama family members used to be a hero from the past." Ivaran said.
"Has she ever talked about her hero times with you, Tomori?" Daela asked him.
"Not that I recalled."
"I see…" She looks disappointed. "I guess she doesn't want you to know about her time as a hero."
"Right… But I have a ton of questions. But first of all, are you a dragon in the first place?" Tomori asked her.
"Isn't she a dragon?" Reika asks as she's confused by Tomori's question.
"No, Projectile Hero. I'm not a dragon. I'm actually what the heroes from the past called a Humanoid, an artificial monster."
"Artificial monster?" Both of the Cardinal Heroes said in confusion.
"Yes. I'm a genetically altered being that was created from scratch to look like a human. There's a lot of kinds of Humanoids. But I'm one of the few that hasn't died yet. And the reason as to why I can transform into a dragon is that I have a dragon genetic inside of me."
"Okay, now this is too much for my brain to handle." Tomori then moves to his next question. "Why did you quit being a hero?"
Daela just looks at the sky. "I don't really remember. As Humanoid age, our memories get really vague. But I know it's because I've been doing the same things every century. Fighting the waves, the Guardian Beasts, etc. That's why I'm here alone. It's so that I can get away from that. I've lost so many comrades due to the waves over the centuries. It's like the waves wouldn't even stop. It always keeps coming…"
All of them sympathise with her.
"Seems like she faces a lot because of the waves." Seems like Ivaran isn't the only one who got their spirit broken by the waves.
"So you're really alone here for more than centuries?" Reika asked.
"Yes. It's hard at first, but after a few decades, I managed to live without interacting with anyone."
"That's really not a healthy lifestyle." Even though Tomori is an introverted person, he still thinks that he needs to have a human conversation for a while to stay sane. "But you really don't remember the past that much?" Tomori asked Daela.
"I remembered some of it. I still remember the past heroes like Toshika. But the moment we spend together is really vague in my mind. As if it doesn't even exist in the first place. My memories now are only filled by the moment that I stayed here."
"I think you should really leave this place. You're going to be insane if you don't."
"I think you're right. But this is the only place where I felt safe."
Tomori is thinking about how he can help her. But all of it requires her to leave this place which she isn't going to for the moment.
"I'm not sure if I can help you right now…" Tomori said.
"You don't need to. Staying here is my choice after all. And I think you all should leave right now. You guys need to get stronger to fight the waves, right? Then staying here isn't going to do you any favours" Daela said.
"Well, she isn't wrong. But I felt bad leaving her alone like this." But she's right. Staying here wouldn't do them any favours. "Well, I guess we should leave then. Come on guys."
Tomori stood up. The others also stood up as well.
"Oh! I just remembered! Please wait here for a moment." Daela rushed back into her cave and came back holding a stone tablet. "This is a magic scripture for learning the spells exclusive only to the Holy Heroes. I think you should have it."
Daela handed the stone tablet to Tomori.
"Oh, thank you so much." He said to her.
"It's the least I could do at the moment." Daela said. "And you know… Even though you didn't look like Toshika, you reminded me of her."
"Well, she's the one who raised me for 16 years. Maybe she rubbed off some of her personality on me."
"Is that so? No wonder you're alike." When Daela thinks about Toshika, she's reminded of someone who's really close to Toshika. She wondered what reaction he would give knowing that Toshika's nephew is the Blade Hero of this generation.
"Are there any more parting gifts you wanted to give me?" Tomori asked her.
"Maybe the next time you visit. Oh, and I wanted you to be wary about a group of people wearing full clad armors." Daela warned him.
"What about them?"
"Just be wary. They could be nice or hostile to you."
"Okay."
Tomori then returns to the group and they all walk out from here.
"I wonder if this is just a coincidence or fate. But either way, I felt like he could change things that the other heroes from the past can't. Stay safe, Tomori Tanaka." Deala said as she went back to her cave.
"Wow… Now that's an interesting experience." Tomori said as they all arrived at the village back.
"Yeah. Didn't think that your aunt used to be a hero. You're a guy with a lot of surprises, Tomori." Reika said to him.
"Maybe. And hey, I didn't get to ask why your other party members left your group."
"Oh, that… It's because of me trying to investigate the church. The other three that left apparently support the church and they were very against me digging the church background. So they all left our group." She explained to him.
"Okay, how about you two then?" Tomori asked Reika's party members.
"Our family doesn't support the ways of the church." Lowri said.
"Yes. And we're serious about fighting the waves with Miss Reika unlike those three." Thea continued.
"I see. Oh, about this then," Tomori pulled out the stone tablet from his inventory. "Daela said that the Holy Heroes can learn exclusive spells from this magic scripture. Ivaran, can you help me out here?"
"Of course." Ivaran gets closer to Tomori to help him read the scripture. "Hmm… This is different from what I'm used to, but I can recognise the letters."
Ivaran then explained to Tomori about the magic scripture.
"I see. Okay then, let's try this." Tomori put his hands on the stone tablet and started casting the words inside his mind.
"As the source of power, hear my words and weaken my target!"
Tomori then receives a notification, saying that he needs to choose a target to activate his spell.
" Low Verringern!" He chose Reika as his guinea pig.
"Huh?" Reika then knelt to the ground like her energy just disappeared from her body. "My stats… All of them went down!"
"Holy smokes…" Tomori just gained an OP debuff spell that doesn't explode.
" Verringern… I never heard that kind of spell before." Thea said.
"And it seems like we won't get the same spell." Meaning that the Verringern spell is only exclusive to the Blade Hero.
"And how come you can learn spells properly? I need to use a Crystal Orb to get a spell." Reika said.
"Don't know. Maybe it's because I'm a fast learner."
"When did you start learning?"
"Yesterday."
"Damn… Where do you get the cheat codes, Tomori?" Reika jokingly said.
"It's called studying. And I tell you, I don't like it either. But if it makes me stronger, then I would become a bookworm just to get stronger."
"But in no way can someone just learn to cast a spell after studying for a day."
"Don't blame me for being better at magic than you. You need to get your game up, Reika. The waves will hit in six days. There's no time to idling around anymore."
"Yeah, you're right." She said. "But can you turn off this debuff spell? It's hard for me to stand up."
"That's the fun part. I don't know how."
After waiting for a few minutes for the debuff to come off, Reika can finally stand up. Tomori then gives Reika the stone tablet.
"Hmm… Thea, can you help me with this?" She asked her companion.
"Of course, Miss Reika. But you need to learn the basics first. And I don't think that you can learn the spell in just a few days. So I suggest you take things slow."
"Okay… Seems like I can't learn the spell before the wave arrives." Reika said to Tomori.
"It's okay. You can keep the stone for now. And I'm planning for us to meet up at Castle Town in just three days with Akira and Tadashi. Maybe Tadashi wouldn't be able to learn the spell in time, but I reckon Akira could."
"You think Tadashi is going to cooperate with you?"
"Can't you convince him to cooperate?"
"I would rather not. I don't like the type of guys like him."
"Well, I guess we're on the same boat here." Both of them chuckled a bit. "What are you going to do now?"
"I guess I could grind in another place to get my party members to level 40 so they can get a class up." Reika said.
"Class up… I think it's time for Ivaran to get his class up." Tomori thought to himself. "Alright then. I should get leveling up as well. See you guys in three days."
"Okay."
Both of them shake hands and parted ways with their party members.
"It seems like you had a good relationship with the other heroes, Tomori-sama." Ivaran said.
"Not the Shaft Hero, Tadashi, though. That guy is crazy simp. I would recommend you to not get close to him."
"Is there anything bad about him?"
"You're going to know if you meet with him face to face. Anyways, let's get grinding."
Both of them go to the open field filled with monsters. Tomori then started destroying the forest's monster ecosystem.
After continuously gaining EXP and reducing their levels for three days straight, Tomori is now level 70 while Ivaran is level 40. Tomori teleported to in front Vadge's shop with Ivaran. He saw that both Akira and Reika were standing on the side of the shop with their respective party members.
"Yo! Am I late?" Tomori said to them.
"Not at all. Reika just arrived here." Akira said.
"I see. Have you shown her the stone tablet?" He turns to Reika.
"I'm about to." She replied.
"Alright. I had some business with Vadge. You can explain about the stone tablet to her while I do my business."
Tomori and Ivaran went inside the weapon shop.
"Oh, Blade Lad and the elf kid." Vadge said as he stood at the counter. "And I guess I could call you the elf kid anymore."
Vagde looks at Ivaran who clearly has grown up for the past few weeks.
"I have to thank Tomori-sama for what he did to me." Ivaran said, expressing his gratitude to Tomori.
"I see. And you're just in time." Vadge then brings two crates with a set of armour in it. "I just finished these bad boys yesterday. It's been a while since I handle materials like this. But it is exciting."
Tomori looks at the crate that has his armor. It has the maroon short sleeve leather jacket, white metallic breastplate, maroon leather gloves with vambrace and maroon leather boots with greaves.
Ivaran's set of armor is the same as Tomori. But the difference is that the leather clothing is grey and Ivaran has shoulder pads, elbow guards and thigh guards.
Both of them wear their armor inside the dressing room.
Crimson Crest Armor: Defense Up, Size Adjustment, Slash Resistance (Strong), Impact Resistance (Strong), All Magic Resistance (Medium), Magic Up (Medium), HP Recovery (Weak), MP Recovery (Weak), Magic Defense Processing, Automatic Self-Repair
Tomori also wears his favourite maroon cloak over his armor. "I look more like a fancy bandit than a hero."
Is this Vadge plans all along? Trying to make Tomori look like a bandit rather than a hero? Tomori ignored it and went out from the dressing room.
"You look great, Blade Lad." Vadge said to him.
"Thanks…" Tomori doesn't know if he's being sarcastic or not.
Ivaran also left the dressing room. His armor looks bulkier than Tomori's despite having almost the same design.
"The Silvery Crest Armor is great, Vadge-san." Ivaran said to the blacksmith.
"You need to look at the ones who make it." Vadge said smugly.
"Yeah, yeah. It's good. Here." Tomori handed over 1100 silver to Vadge.
"You give me 100 more silver, Blade Lad."
"That's interest for making you wait for almost two weeks to pay you. And you have been helping me since day one. That 100 silver means nothing to me compared to the help that you had given me."
"I see…" Vadge said. "Well, if you're going to give me free coins, then I'll gladly accept it." Vadge knew that Tomori would insist for him to keep the silvers. Instead, he will invest the coins to make something for Tomori in the future.
"Oh, yeah. BTW, your dwarf friend sucks." Tomori said while clearly annoyed.
"You mean Terry? Don't mind him. He's like that when I first meet him as well. You just have to hang out with him. That can make his heart soften a bit."
"Maybe later. If I had time." Tomori said to him.
"Okay. Go break a leg, Blade Lad! Can't have you died in the waves. You are one of the customers that brings fortune to me." Vadge said with a smile.
"Of course! Come on, Ivaran."
"Yes!"
Both of them left the weapon shop.
" Sigh* I'm too old to get sentimental." Vadge said as he stored the silver coins.
"As the source of power, hear my words and empower my target!"
" Low Steigern!" Akira cast her newly learned spell to Emil.
"My stats… It increases tremendously!" Emil said as he looked at his status. Finally, he has achieved the stats of an average human.
"How can you learn the spell so fast?" Reika asked her fellow female hero.
"I learned to read magic scripture ever since we got party members. And I think my weapon also assists in a way that the naked eye can't see." Akira explained.
"I see… You're the Magic Hero after all. A hero specialised in magic. Of course something like this is easy for you to pick up so quickly."
"Did I miss anything?" Tomori asked while he walked towards them with Ivaran.
"I learned a spell called Steigern from the stone tablet. It's a spell that increases all of the target stats." Akira said to him.
"Well, that's the opposite of my spell, Verringern, which decreases all of the target stats."
"A spell that increases all stats and a spell that decreases all stats… I wondered what spell I could learn from this stone tablet…" Reika said.
"Maybe a spell that can let you steal another spell, or a spell that lets you absorb spells and turn them into MP." Tomori said, not knowing that he's kind of right about it. "But we need to focus on the wave first. It will hit in around 60 hours."
"You're right. But we need to get our party members their class up first."
"Then let's go to church then."
"Are you okay with it? I mean… Didn't they try to kill you twice?" Akira said.
"Of course not. But I'm going to follow you guys. I wanna see if they let Ivaran have a class up if Reika is around. But I expected the latter could happen."
"I see… That's a good plan. You wanted to see if they try to discriminate against you while we're around." Reika said to him.
"Yeah, that's part of it. Now let's get moving."
All of them moved in one group as they walked to the church. As they entered the church, they were greeted by a sister.
"Welcome, heroes. We had expected you to come-" But then the sister saw Tomori who's blending with Akira and Reika party members.
When Tomori saw that the sister was looking at him, he just let out a taunting smile. As if he's saying to her, "What are you going to do now?".
"Is there anything wrong?" Reika asked as she knew that the sister is disturbed by Tomori's appearance here.
"Nothing, Projectile Hero. This way." The sister leads all of them to the room that has the Dragon Hourglass.
"So, who's going to do their class up first?" Tomori asked.
"Akira's group can go first. You guys didn't mind, right?" Reika asked her party members.
"No at all."
"Of course not."
"You heard them."
Akira group's then go to have their class up.
"Are you sure about this, Emil?" Rylon said. "You can just increase your magic stats. This could affect your position in the group, you know that?"
"I agreed with Rylon. I understand that you wanted to contribute more, but this is going to be hard for you." Mizune said.
"I want this. I couldn't just sit back while you guys fight."
"If he wanted this, then let him have it." Tomori said to them. "He's trying to make an effort to become useful. At least you can respect his decision."
"Tomori is right… If Emil is trying to make an effort to become stronger, then we all should support him." Akira said.
"If that's the case then I don't have anything to say."
"Me either."
Both Mizune and Rylon back down.
"But don't let us down after this, Emil." Rylon said to him.
"I will." He proceeded to touch the hourglass.
After he finishes, Reika's party members are next.
"I guess it's Ivaran's turn now."
But as he tried to inform Ivaran about it, someone suddenly spoke up.
"Oh, is that Akira-chan and Reika-chan that I see there?" A voice that Tomori doesn't want to hear is here. Tomori turns around and sees the blondie that he didn't like, Tadashi. He's wearing chainmail under the shiny silvery armor. He also wears a golden cape as well. His girls squad also follows him inside the room "Hey, what's HE doing here?"
He clearly didn't like Tomori, even from the beginning.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't realise that you're dumb enough to not know that I'm here for my companion's class up." Tomori taunted him.
"Companion? There's even someone out who wants to join a rapist like you?" Tadashi said so that everyone in the room could hear it.
"Too bad I'm not in the mood to unalive him here and now."
"Don't disrespect Tomori-sama like that." Ivaran said as he moved in front of Tomori.
"And who are you?" Tadashi asked.
"I'm Ivaran. I'm Tomori-sama shielder."
"What? Really? All you could recruit is just a shielder? How could you survive for the past two weeks?" Tadashi said. "Shielder doesn't do anything aside from defending. It's a useless job in Citrine Online. No wonder you join a guy like him."
At this moment, Tomori's flare rose inside of him. His eyes change to red. The Blade of Anger is calling for him. Calling him to destroy the blondie in front of him.
"Hey, how could you say that, Tadashi?" Akira suddenly spoke up.
"Huh?"
"If you didn't know, Ivaran is a good shielder. He can swiftly block a monster attack and he's pretty skilled with magic as well."
"Even though the shielder doesn't have any high offensive capabilities, it is wrong of you to judge his strength based on appearance alone. I don't see him fight myself, but I know that he's capable." Reika said.
"Wait, why are you supporting him? In fact, why are you so close with Tomori? Didn't he tried to rape May?" Tadashi now is confused by this.
"There isn't enough proof besides the torn clothes. And also, the princess herself doesn't even act like someone who has been almost raped." Reika explained. "I knew someone who almost been raped in VR games before. And I tell you that it took her around a few months before she could return to normal."
"What are you talking about?" Tadashi still didn't understand.
"Ugh… Nevermind." Reika can't believe how dumb Tadashi is.
Tomori took a few minutes to calm himself. His eyes turned to normal. "Anyways, can we continue with my companion class up-"
"I'm sorry, but the Blade Hero companion can not go through the class up." One of the sisters there said. Then, she opened up a parchment of paper. "It's a direct order from his majesty."
"What?! But the companions of the heroes need the class up to get stronger to fight the waves!" Reika said loudly.
"I'm sorry, but it's an order from his majesty. Perhaps, if the Blade Hero apologises to his majesty, he might reconsider giving the Blade Hero companion his class up." The sister continued.
"No, he tried to rape May. He shouldn't be able to get the class up in the first place!" Tadashi joined the conversation.
"But there's not enough evidence to pin the blame on him!"
"Why are you supporting him, Reika-chan?" Tadashi asked her.
"Can't you see that Tomori has been discriminated against from day one? Are you too blind to notice that? And don't call me -chan. It sounds disgusting coming out from your mouth."
"Damn, let her cook some more!" Tomori internally said that in his mind. And the look on Tadashi's face also satisfied Tomori.
"Akira-chan, why do you support him?" Tadashi is hoping that Akira is on his side of the argument.
"It's the same as Reika. And I think you should really doubt the princess, Tadashi. It seems to me that she's using you."
"What?! Can't you see the tears that he let out that day?!"
"Tadashi, even babies can fake their cries. And even the babies do a better job than that." Tomori suddenly said.
"Shut up!" Tadashi shouted at him.
"I think you're the one who should shut up and think. Is there any witness? No. Is there any other proof besides the torn clothes? No. And I'm interested in a person who definitely has a high amount of body counts? No. Even if I'm a rapist in the first place, I also have a taste. Also, I'm not interested in some cheap, overused second-hand product like her."
The last part is actually what Tomori wanted to say in his whole life. Tomori's face lights up as he sees that the princess felt offended by his comment.
"You!!!" Tadashi pulls his spears from his back, preparing to attack Tomori. But Ivaran stood between them with his shield on his arm.
"If you want to lay your weapons on Tomori-sama, then you have to walk over my dead body first." He said in a threatening tone.
The glare from Ivaran's eyes startled Tadashi.
"Offensive comment aside, Tomori's actually right. He hasn't been given a proper trial by the king." Reika said.
"Someone like him doesn't even deserve it in the first place!" Tadashi isn't going to give up. He thinks that there might be another reason why both Akira and Reika support Tomori.
"Shut the f*ck up!" Tomori said loudly to the point that the whole church could hear it. "All of these useless arguments won't get us anywhere!"
The whole room goes silent for a few seconds. Then, one of the sisters hands over the hourglass sand to Akira and Reika.
"I'm outta here. Let's go, Ivaran." Tomori walked to the door with Ivaran following him. But before he passed the door, he looked at Tadashi while letting out a villainous smile. He then left the room. The only reason he did that is to taunt Tadashi.
Tadashi is frustrated by it. But then he gets the conclusion that Tomori might have blackmailed both Akira and Reika to support him.
"I see… That's how it is… Don't worry, I will save both of you."
"Um… I think that I'm done here." Akira said.
"Yeah, me too." Reika said.
"Should we catch up with Tomori? He said that he wanted to talk about strategies for the waves."
"Yeah, we should."
Akira then got closer to Reika and whispered to her. "Should we invite Tadashi as well?"
"I don't think he really wanted to talk strategies with Tomori as of now. I think it's best if we don't invite him." Reika whispered back to her.
"Got it." Akira then turned to her party members. "Come on, guys. Let's get moving." She said to them. They then started leaving the room.
Reika gave a nod to her party members. They also leave the room as well.
Tadashi watched them as they all left the room.
"Don't worry, I'll save both of you from HIM!"
"Is there anything wrong, Tadashi-sama?" The princess asked him.
"No… Nothing. Let's continue with our class up."
"Blade Lad, I'm happy that there's a lot of people in my shop. But not when they're not buying anything." Vadge said to Tomori.
Tomori decided to make Vadge's shop as his meeting place.
"Sorry, I don't have any good place to hold our strategy meeting."
" Sigh* Seems like Magic Lass, Projectile Lass and their party is here as well."
"Oh, I forgot to thank you for showing me where Terry-san shop is." Akira said as she slightly bowed.
"Me tool. Your bows have helped me for the first few days that I've been here." Reika thanked Vadge as well
"Don't need to. You guys are fighting the waves. Of course I would gladly help." Vadge said to both of them.
"Attention please," Tomori said to catch all of their attention. "Akira, had you told Reika about the accessory method?"
"Yeah, she had." Reika said as she let Tomori see her bow gemstone which had the metal caps on it.
"Okay, now that it's settled, let us begin this discussion." Tomori takes a deep breath before continuing to speak. "Do both of you know what the purpose of this strategy meeting is?" He asked Akira and Reika.
"Is it to defeat the boss?" Reika said.
"Yes, and no." She is confused by Tomori's answer.
"Is it to save the people during the waves?"
"Yes." Tomori said.
Reika also considers that as the answer, but she thought the meeting is more to the "beat the boss" strategy.
"I wanted to ask Reika further about the waves. But we need to know the surface details first. Ivaran, can you tell us about what you see during the waves?" Tomori turns to Ivaran.
"Yes," Ivaran then went in front of them. "If you don't know, I'm actually a wave survivor."
This has caused a couple of gasps. But Emil, Rylon and Mizune already know about it when they have a conversation with Ivaran back in the Miohus Village when Tomori and Akira went inside the requestor's house.
"The first thing I see is that the sky changes to red. Then, a huge rift appears in the sky. A lot of monsters started dropping from the sky. And they wouldn't stop dropping unless the wave had ended, which takes at least a few hours to end. After that, the sky would turn to normal." Ivaran continued.
"You come from the village inside of Bassett Territory, right?" Emil asked.
"Yes. But the whole territory has been destroyed by the wave monsters. Even the lord there died fighting off the monsters while letting the other people escape."
"I didn't think that it's that bad…" Reika said.
"Did the king help you guys out?" Akira asked.
"No. After we buried the dead, some bandits dressed up as knights raided my village. They slaughter all the adults except the women and children." Ivaran then clenched his fist. "After they captured the rest, they sold all of us to slavery separately. I was bought by a nobleman with one of my best friends, Liyana. She's a ferret demi-human. The nobleman… Torture us every night. As the day went by, the torture get worse. After a week, he sold me back. That's the time Tomori-sama bought me."
Tomori knew some part of the story, but not this. He's starting to get disgusted by this country.
"I can't believe that you had to face all that…" Akira said.
"That just shows how much this country hates demi-humans. There's nothing we could do about it." Tomori said.
"But there must be something we could do!"
"Maybe, but not now. We have a wave to face. Reika, mind telling us the other details about the waves that we might not know of?" Tomori asked her.
"Oh, yeah." She is thinking about how Ivaran has suffered up to this moment. "In CPO, the waves are like a raid event. The ones who signed up to the waves will be teleported to the wave location. We can also teleport a vehicle to the waves as well. We won't be able to use any form of teleportation magic when we're in the waves. That's all of it aside from what Ivaran has told."
"Hmm…" Tomori started to make a strategy in his head. "I have a plan. First of all, before the wave started, we were going to form a party so that we would stay together when we teleported."
"That's a good idea." Reika said.
"And here comes the fun part. The three of us and our group will go to the village and evacuate the villagers to a safer area."
"But how about the boss then?" Akira asked.
"Tadashi and his group will handle it for the meantime. He's probably gonna head straight to the boss in the first place."
"Don't you think that he's going to go to the village to save the villagers?" Akira asked.
"I don't think so. He still probably thinks that this is a game. So he just thinks that the other people besides the heroes are just a bunch of NPC's."
"Yeah, that's how I thought it was in the first place. But this is not a game. It's all real." Reika said.
"But it will be a good thing for us. He could distract the boss while we evacuate the villagers to a safer area. Then, one of the us and their companions will stay to protect the villagers while the others assist Tadashi and his group to defeat the boss. And I propose myself for that role. It's not like me and Ivaran will gain any EXP for it. Though I hope you guys keep a few of the boss monster parts for me."
"Okay. Leave it to me." Akira said. Tomori nodded to her. "Although I think it's better for you to fight the boss instead. If the boss has a high magic resistance, I wouldn't be able to help much."
"The EXP is not the only reason that I don't want to fight the boss. It's so that I can avoid conflict with Tadashi. Not only that, it's because the two of you are a mage and marksman. It will balance out the fighting power so that the boss can be easily beaten. Tadashi is already a close quarter fighter. So me being there could cause a conflict and unbalance the fighting formation to fight the boss."
"To think that you already think that far… If you formed a guild in CPO, I reckon you can rise through the global ranks in just a few days." Reika said to him.
"I'm just making this plan by imagining it as a turn-based RPG game. So it might not be perfect. But I bet it's enough to safely evacuate the villagers. Here's the plan. Me and Ivaran will distract the monsters from the villagers. Rylon, Mizune, Emil and Lowri will evacuate the villagers to a safer area. Akira and Thea will provide magic support. And Reika, you're going to be one who's going to keep our back safe. After the villagers are fully evacuated, we move to the next stage of the plan. Is there anything that you guys wanted to add up?"
There's no one answering.
"Well, your plan is actually better than what I had in mind. I don't think there's anything left we can add for the moment." Reika said. The others also voice their agreement to Tomori's plan.
"Okay then, I guess that's it." Tomori said. "We will meet up in front of this shop an hour before the wave starts for any last minute adjustment to the plan. Are you guys on it?"
"Yeah!" All of them said.
"Well, I officially announced that this is the end of our strategy meeting." Tomori said. They all stood up and started talking to each other. "Reika, can I ask something?"
"Yeah?"
"You use a bow, right? Where's your arrow?"
"I wanted to ask the same thing as well."
"Oh, the arrows will appear when I pull the string."
"So the arrows come straight from your inventory?" Tomori said.
"Yes."
"How about skills, then? Do you still need to use arrows if you want to do a skill?" It's Akira's turn to ask.
"I don't need arrows to use a skill."
"Okay, that clears my question." Tomori said. "What are you guys going to do before the wave starts?"
"Maybe leveling up." Reika replied.
"I'm going to increase Steigern efficiency." Akira replied.
"Okay, see you guys in three days." Tomori said to them as they left the shop.
"Hmm…"
"Is there anything in your mind?" Reika asked Akira.
"No. It's just… Tomori is kind of amazing, you know. He really thought deeply about the plan. Not only that, he also has the skill to recognize someone's strength."
"Oh, I forgot to ask. Did you fight alongside him? Because I heard you said that Ivaran is a good shielder. So I speculate that you had fought alongside both of them before."
"Yeah. Both of them are really strong."
"How strong?" Reika really wanted to know that.
"Tomori is really strong when it comes to close combat. Not only that, he can also make a plan even if he's in a dire situation. And Ivaran is strong too. He's very keen about his surroundings and always quick to protect someone from an attack. Those two make a really good team."
"I see… Is there anything that you know of that makes both of them so strong?"
"Oh, Tomori and Ivaran get to level 71 and level 40 the next day after he got accused of." Akira explained.
"What?! How?!"
"Well, he said that someone from the church sent a level 100 monster to kill him. But he managed to kill it. But he doesn't come out there without getting hurt though."
"What level does he want to fight the monster?"
"Level 50, I think."
"How can he defeat a level 100 monster while he's level 50 at the time? But wait, level 50? How come he's level 50 in the first place?!"
"Do you remember when Tomori said that he almost died when he was accused of?"
"Oh yeah, he said that the church trapped him with a monster with a higher level than his. Which makes me question… How did he defeat them in the first place?"
"I don't know. He doesn't tell me that."
"I see… I can't think of any ways that he can defeat a monster who has higher levels than him. This country doesn't have any strong weapons to copy."
"Hey, do you remember when the knightd tried to bind him, but then he used a purple colored shock wave to push the knights away?"
"Yeah, he didn't activate any skill or special effects. You think that's what makes him strong in the first place?"
"I don't think so. I never saw him using anything like that when I fought alongside him."
"But he was… Really angry at that time. His eyes also changed to purple at that time. And I also managed to see that his eyes changed color to red at the church."
"So you think his eye color indicates when he uses the power?"
"Maybe. Let's try asking him later."
"Okay. I need to go to the magic shop now. See you guys later." Akira said as she shook hands with Reika. Both of them and their group part ways.
Hero Profile: Projectile Hero
Name: Reika Ishikawa
Age: 16 years old
Gender: Female
Height: 165 cm
Hair color: Navy Blue
Eye color: Azure Blue
Likes: VR games, archery, pudding
Dislike: Pushy man, swimming, guns