Chapter 3: Don't feed the Trolls!
Weirdly enough I can't shorten Phy Def, Mag Def or else it deletes itself which is annoying.
Talking: "When I get older, I will be stronger."
Thinking: 'They'll call me freedom just like waving flag.'
I don't own anything all rights go their respective owners.
"You're an idiot."
"A highly functional idiot, thank you very much."-Conversation between the Shield Hero and the Spear Hero.
Naofumi plants the cheap fork into her mouth. Chewing without thought. She was seated alone in a dark corner, Naofumi scowls. She knew exactly why she was seated in the deadest area of the inn, tucked away from the other tables. The owner was afraid of her little entourage of sentient balls, but despite the fear, the owner didn't want other customers to see her, so she was shoved into the dim secluded area. Naofumi tightens her grasp on her fork, she could spot various criminals and lowlife hanging around the bar easily. Gangsters either making deals or drinking the swill that's considered alcohol here. They were dirty, stinking of booze and blood. Strumpets wearing the bare minimum, showing off as much skin as possible, swaying the hips and sensually touching random customers, in hopes of enticing them to a bedroom. A den of degeneracy and crime and even here, Naofumi was looked down upon, by the scum of the town. The mere thought of it makes her seethe.
She harshly slices another piece of the disgusting meat on her plate, it seemed on the verge of rotting. A slight stench masked by thick grease. Red berries with discolouration at the bottom. Despite the disgusting state of her dinner, Naofumi eats it without complaint, she couldn't taste it and maybe that was for the best. If she could, she would most likely vomit at the vile taste of her cheap dinner. A miniscule silver lining.
She notices two men approaching her spot: The messy haired blonde had the appearance of a weasel or rat, his face long and thin, he wasn't imposing in any sense, more skinny then muscle. His partner however wasn't much better. He looked like a fat pig, his face sweaty and greasy. His nose was large, almost comically so. Naofumi slips the last of her meal into her mouth, already watching the approaching males with a cold gaze.
"Lookie here, if it ain't the Shield Hero!" The skinny blonde says with a grin on his face. He plants his hand on the left side of the table. The fat one stands on the right side of the table, Blocking Naofumi in. "You seem all alone, no party members or friends around you." His fake sympathy made Naofumi's frown harsher. "How about we become your friends girlie? Maybe even join you?" The blonde throws their head back, a mocking laugh escapes him. "Hahaha! Aren't you lucky?"
Naofumi hums. "The party will be based purely on performance. If you do well, you get paid well, if you do nothing you get nothing. As leader I get 40%, you can do whatever you want with the rest. I'm not paying for your equipment or repairs for said equipment." There wasn't a stutter or delay in Naofumi's voice.
The two men frown at this. The blonde almost snarling at Naofumi. "Wha! Don't be cheap, if we're going to be joining you and fighting monsters, we expect a advance!" The brown haired one nodding in agreement, edging closer to Naofumi.
Naofumi huffs, her voice condescending, as if she was talking to a dim-witted child. "I don't see why I have to pay in advance, I have no guarantee you two will even be good in a fight."
The blonde kisses his teeth. "You're a stuck-up bitch," The blonde looks Naofumi over, a lustful twinkle in his eyes as he licks his lips. "but, you're pretty easy on the eyes. How about instead, we have you offer your body up in advance." The blonde stands in Naofumi's personal space, presenting a dagger to her as a warning. The fat one smiles, revealing his blackened teeth as he attempts to stroke Naofumi's cheek. He doesn't get close as Naofumi strikes, from her seated position she slams a live balloon on the fat guy's crotch, the balloon chomping down on the man's genital, the high pitched scream echoes throughout the bar and could even be heard outside as the fat thug drops to the floor, attempting to tug off the balloon latched onto his privates. The skinny one attempts to stab Naofumi only for her to smack the blade with her Shield, causing the dagger to shoot straight into the ceiling, impaling itself. The skinny blonde with horror stares at the blade before looking back down at Naofumi. She growls as she slams two balloons on the man, one in his face and the other unsurprisingly on his dick as well, the blonde lets out a wail as he attempts to pull off the balloons, backing up as he slams into the wall, desperately attempting to pull off his unwanted friends.
The whole bar stares at Naofumi, some with looks of humour, others with confusion and a few with looks disgust. She quickly vacates the bar, having already finished her meal and wanting to leave before anyone can attempt to call the guards on her. It was a good thing she left, as a patrol of guards rush to the bar, a random individual she spotted in the bar guiding them, most likely assuming they would be given a reward for helping in the arrest of the Shield Hero. She runs, unseen by anyone. She doesn't stop for a few moments, ending up in a dark alleyway.
Naofumi pants, bent over as she heaves for the much needed oxygen. "I... probably should of put more effort in P.E." She stood up. Looking back in the direction of the bar she ran from. "Assholes probably only came to that shithole because I was there." She grumbles, resting her head on the wall of the damp alleyway. "What do I do? I can't farm monsters because of my extremely low attack, I can't level up without farming monsters, and I can't increase my attack without levelling up." Naofumi scoffs, anger filling her. "It's a cycle that I have no escape from."
"You appear concerned, young miss." Naofumi turns her head to her left, finding a short creepy man hidden in the shadows. His twisted white grin shining in the darkness.
Naofumi growls at him. "Who are you? Better yet, what do you want?"
The man pokes out through the encompassing darkness, giving Naofumi a proper look. He was short, far shorter then even her and she wasn't even that tall to begin with. He was however very nicely dressed. A tuxedo with a boa attached to the collar of his tuxedo. A tall top hat, to compensate for his height most likely, his glasses rest on his nose. "Were you not looking for party members?"
Naofumi rolls her eyes. She wasn't in the mood for this song and dance again. "Why should I trust you? You are by far the most suspicious person I've seen in this area."
The man laughs. "Trust? What a silly notion. What I offer you is people that are incapable of betraying you, incapable of breaking your orders or demands." Naofumi glares at the man, crossing her arms. The man however, bows in response. "I have heard all about you, Shield Hero, how you fight alone with only monsters by your side." He stands straight up again. Peering into Naofumi's eyes. Her frown seemed permanently etched into her face. Her brows pulled together, causing her to always seem angry, her jade eyes were the worst, they seemed cold but underneath the thin layer of forced stoniness was smouldering hate. Her glare so deep it was as if she was trying to peer into his very soul.
It almost sent a chill down the man's spine. Despite the malice Naofumi exudes, the man finds himself smiling even wider. "Your eyes are magnificent, I think you, will be a excellent customer. Come with me, I have... something that may help you in your damned situation."
He walks off, Naofumi not following at first, before sighing and walking after him, quickly catching up due to his short legs. The two walk off together, into the alleyway, the moon hanging overhead.
The sun shines through the window onto Kane's face. "Ugh." he stretches his back until he hears a pop in his spine. He kicks off his blanket, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. He stands up, his golden hair messy. He throws on his leather armour, he grimaces at the low defence stats. Kane decides to check over his new Spears to how many he's unlocked and to refresh his memory on their stats.
Royal Guard Slime Spear: +20 Atk, +20 Agi, +10 Phy Def, +10 Mag Def, Medium bludgeoning resistance.
Royal Squire Slime Spear: +10 Atk, +7 Agi, +4 Phy Def, +4 Mag Def.
Latex Spear: +12 Mag Def, +8 Phy Def, Medium resistance to diseases.
Phone Spear: +9 Atk, +9 Agi, Medium resistance to Blinded.
Narcotic Spear: +10 Mag Def, + 10 Phy Def, + 6 Atk, High resistance to Panicked.
Kane lets out a snort.
Speaker Spear: +20 Mag, + 5 Atk.
Earphone Spear: +17 Mag Def, +8 Mag, Medium resistance to Deafen status effect.
Currency Spear: +8 Atk, +8 Mag.
Bronze Spear: +4 Atk, +4 Mag.
Silver Spear: +8 Atk, +8 Mag.
Royal Guard Slime Spear-Slippery Agility: Increase spellcaster agility by 25% when activated, drains SP while active.
Royal Guard Slime Spear-Seismic Leap: Jump into the air and hit the ground with a seismic force which deals physical damage, this skill becomes even more powerful the higher you are as such when using this skill falling damage is heavily reduced.
Latex Spear-Protective Seal: Protect yourself with a seal which can ward off poison and diseases, drains SP while active.
Phone Spear-Spear Flash: Emit a bright and sudden light from your Spear to temporarily blind your foes.
Phone Spear-Spear Light: Emits a constant light.
Phone Spear-Spear Photo: Takes a photo which can be magically recreated.
Speaker Spear-Spear Deafen: Emit a sudden loud noise to deafen opponents.
Speaker Spear/Headphone Spear-Spear Player: Play music, either random songs or specific ones through your Spear either out loud or so you can only hear it.
Kane smiles. "I get to kill monsters while vibing to music, what's not to love?"
Red Slime Spear unlocked: +4 Atk, +2 Agi.
As he looks through the Spears, he find himself looking at the Red Slime Spear which causes him to suddenly remember about the Status Enhancement. "Ah shit, I completely forget about that."
He quickly pulls up the help menu and swiping through it, looking for the Status Enhancement, instead he finds a tab labelled Strengthening Methods. With a hum he presses it making the tab expand. The Status Enhancement that he was searching for was in this group, along with various others.
Absorption: The Spear can absorb monster materials and items to create new forms of the Legendary Spear, each form has their own prerequisites. These new forms can either increase stats, create new skills, abilities or perhaps all three.
Weapon Transformation: The Spear can transform into different forms which grants new equip bonuses including stats, skills, and abilities. The new form's boosts can be permanently maintained even if using other forms if the prerequisites has been met.
Weapon Copy: The Spear can copy other types of of pole like weapons, these copied weapons are stored for later use. Equip bonuses may have prerequisites to unlock for the copied weapon.
Smelting: You can power up a piece of equipment by using ores, this has a chance of failure which will completely reset the Smelting process on the piece of equipment.
Status Enchantment: Stats can be increased by using dropped monster items.
Spirit Enhancement: Absorb parts of monsters' souls to imbue the Spear with special powers.
"That's pretty fucking metal to be honest."
He closes the menu after he finished reading all of them, he doesn't notice all the Spears suddenly having a +0 on them. 'Well enough fucking around, need to go do my routine and check the job board in the guild.'
Kane goes about his daily routine; restocking his potions, purchasing snacks and so on, after finishing his restocking he walks to the guild wanting to go check the job board in the adventurer's guild.
Kane steps through the doors of the guild and find the building packed with people walking around, some eating in a group, others singing and dancing and even fighting although it was quickly broken up, Kane walks towards the job board and looks through the jobs placed on the board, he doesn't find anything that is extremely interesting or lucrative, Kane's laziness at fault, as the good jobs had already been taken while he slept in. He wanders through the town, exploring the area with his hands stuffed in his hoodie. Bright smiles and warm greeting are thrown his way, he responds in kind, with a nod and a smile.
He moves past the hustle and bustle of the town, entering Erhard's shop, wanting to browse his items. "Yo, Erhard." The jangle of the bell announcing his entrance. "You in?"
"Yeah! I'll be right out." A yell emits from the back of Erhard's shop, Kane walks up to the counter. The familiar hulking figure steps up to the counter. "Spear Kid. What can I do for you?"
"I need a upgrade in-" The recognisable jangle is heard, Kane turns to face the new customer, Erhard doing the same.
"...Stone." It was Naofumi. This was the first time the two have seen each other since the trial, it wasn't a inspiring sight. Her baggy bloodshot eyes had shock in them, not expecting to see Kane.
"Lassie... that ain't what I think it is, right?" Erhard said, his arms crossed as his lips turn into a deep frown.
Kane looks at Erhard confused, before turning back to Naofumi. He spotted it this time or rather her. The terrible state of Naofumi was at the forefront of his mind but the little girl by her side was even worse. Kane's eyes widen and his mouth opens in shocked disgust. The girl was extremely malnourished. Kane could see her ribs poking against her raggedy shirt. Her arms looked like twigs. Her eyes, ingrained in Kane's head more then anything else. The poor girl's eyes were devoid of anything, no emotion, no life. Just empty.
Naofumi doesn't say anything, she walks up to the counter, with the girl following close behind. Naofumi slams some coins on the table. "Here's payment for the cloak, get me a small weapon and some clothes for 8 silvers."
Erhard doesn't move for a second before he lets out a deep sigh. "Be right back..." He moves into the back storage room of his shop.
"Naofumi... what the fuck are you doing?" Horror in Kane's voice as he speaks to Naofumi.
"Arming my slave." Naofumi states as if it was so simple, she doesn't even bother looking at Kane, whether out of shame or callousness, he couldn't tell.
Kane's horror turns into anger. "What the fuck do you mean arming your slave?! It's just a kid, Naofumi! What the fuck is the matter with you?!"
Naofumi turns to him with a snarl. "I need party members, Kane. This is the cheapest and most reliable way."
"Then just get some party members from the damn guild!" Kane almost roars in fury. The little girl recoils in fear from the anger in Kane's voice, causing him to wince and temper himself, but his anger is still present.
Naofumi's lip twist in contempt. "I'm banned from the guild, besides I can't trust them, everyone that tried joining my party attempted to manipulate me into buying equipment or tried stealing what little I had." Kane opens his mouth but it's interrupted by Naofumi. "And no, I can't just punch monsters, Stone. My attack stat is a pathetic fucking one. It takes me five minutes to just kill one balloon with my fists." Kane opens his mouth then slams it shut. He grits his teeth as he clenches his fist. The two just enter a tense silence.
Erhard enters back into the main room shortly after. The towering blacksmith hands a set of clothes and a dagger to Naofumi who in turn gives it to the malnourished girl by her side. "Go into the changing room and put this on." The slave girl stares up at Naofumi blankly. "Do I have to order you?" The girl shakes her head.
Erhard motions to the changing rooms for the girl, she walks off, pulling the blinds to block the view of the changing room. Erhard, Kane and Naofumi stand around, the tension returns tenfold, the atmosphere of the room stifling. Kane leans his back on the counter once again, chewing the inside of his mouth, his fists clenched. Erhard stoically stares at Naofumi. Naofumi herself clenches her fists, her chest tightening, she looks at the two of them. Gazing into their eyes for a moment. "Don't you dare judge me, either of you." It was hard to tell if that was a desperate plea or angry demand from Naofumi, perhaps both. "This is the only way I can survive."
That was the problem wasn't it? Kane was fuming, he wanted to call her a monster for purchasing a child slave, rage and yell at her for such a thing, but he... couldn't, he just couldn't. He couldn't guide his anger towards Naofumi. She was thrown into a bad situation with no easy way out. Kane softens, even Erhard stoic gaze turns a bit more sympathetic.
Minutes pass, nothing but silence could be heard. The little girl eventually pops out, with new clothing. A holster with a short sword in it was attached to the girl's hip.
Naofumi huffs. "You sure took your time." The little girl mutters a meek apology, Naofumi shakes her head. "Whatever, Raphtalia, take out your weapon." The now named slave girl blinks in confusion. Naofumi moves her cloak, revealing a number of balloons stuck on her body like ticks. She doesn't even show any pain from the bites of the balloons. "Try to kill this."
Raphtalia takes a step back in shock and shouts. "A m-monster?!" Both Kane and Erhard were also surprised at the appearance of the monster, had it been biting Naofumi this entire time?
Naofumi grabs a balloon attached to her hip. Holding it with both hands. "I hold it for you, just stab it."
Raphtalia takes a step back and shakes her head. "I-I don't want to." She said it by pure accident, regret washes over her immediately. Her ears folded on itself.
Naofumi's eyes narrow, her frown deepens. "That's an order, if you don't do what I say, it will only make you suffer."
A purple mark flares up on Raphtalia's chest. A cry of pain escapes her as she fells to her knees. Kane grits his teeth and takes a single step before Naofumi speaks. "I need her to fight, Stone. If not I'll have to return her and that's a even worse fate for her." Kane stops, a whirlwind of emotions conflicting in him.
Raphtalia doesn't sit on the ground for long, pulling the short sword from it's sheathe and charging at Naofumi. She weakly stabs the balloon, no killing intent or force in the stab, causing the blade to harmlessly prod against the balloon's rubbery skin. Naofumi shoves the blade away with the balloon, she yells, causing Raphtalia to flinch. "Put more effort into it!" Raphtalia takes a shaky breath and charges once again, letting out a battle-cry. "Kyaaaa!" She stabs the balloon with all her might, which wasn't much but it was just enough for the monster to pop, causing Raphtalia to fall onto her rear at Naofumi's feet.
The Legendary Weapons must not be in proximity of each other or the Weapons will suffer adverse effects to the growth of the Weapons.
"...Stone did you get a notification pop up about not being allowed in proximity of each other?"
Kane nods his head. "Yeah, I did. I guess XP really doesn't get shared with you if I'm in the vicinity." Kane was hoping that such a thing wasn't true, despite the warning on the first day.
Naofumi looks at Kane with shock. "Wait, I could earn XP off Raphtalia killing monsters?" Kane stares at her, his brow raised in confusion.
Erhard joins the conversation. "You made her a party member when you took her as slave didn't you? Didn't that woman with you early invite you to a party?"
Naofumi grits her teeth. "That bitch." Naofumi looks at Raphtalia. "Listen up. From here on out, I expect you to fight monsters for me. I bought you with my dwindling money, so, you'd better help me recoup your cost, at the very least."
Erhard dryly speaks. "Kid, you're not going to die a painless death." Kane sighs, shaking his head in disapproval. Naofumi doesn't look at either of them, she couldn't bring herself to.
Kane pops out a skewer with chunks of cooked meat on it. He kneels down, handing it to Raphtalia. The meek girl looks up at Kane, then the skewer. She gulps, the sight of food causing her stomach to rumble. Kane softly sways the skewer. "Go ahead, take it." Raphtalia timidly reaches out, her bony fingers scrape against Kane's grasp. She holds onto it. Kane recedes his hand.
"t-thank you." Raphtalia mutters.
Kane chuckles. Smiling down at her. "You're welcome kid."
Naofumi huffs, turning to leave. "We're going, come on Raphtalia." Raphtalia follows Naofumi, before turning around to Kane. He gives a wave, still smiling at Raphtalia. She returns a wave with her own, before stepping out of the shop, Naofumi closes the door behind her.
Kane's smile instantly disappears. Still staring at the door of the shop. "That was fucked."
Erhard nods his head. "She seems like a completely different person." Kane sighs. No response to Erhard's comment. "Anyway, how can I help you kid?" Erhard said, changing the subject.
"I need new armour, considering I don't have any more party members. My price range is around 300 silvers."
Erhard nods and goes to the back and pulls out a scale armour set with a leather hood. Kane takes it and goes into the changing room.
Scale Chestpiece: +20 Phy Def, +10 Mag Def.
Scale Legging:+15 Phy Def, +8 Mag Def.
Scale Gauntlets: +10 Phy Def, +6 Mag Def.
Scale Armour set bonus: Medium resistance to slashing, Medium resistance to piercing.
Leather Hood: +6 Mag Def, +1 Phy Def.
Kane nods his head at the stats, he walks back to the counter. "How much for this Erhard?"
Erhard crosses his arms. "I can give you discount price, normally it would be around 305 silvers but I'll sell it to you for 280 silvers."
Kane counts out the money and leaves a few extra coins as a tip. "Appreciate you man, see you later." Kane turns around to walk away.
"See you later kid, you know who to go to when you need good equipment." Kane chuckles and gives a wave backwards.
'Alright time to go get those jobs done.' Kane proceeds to the gate and leaves, heading towards the a green field, filled with an excess amount of balloons. Kane sighs and puts on a song just to make the tedious task go by easier.
An hour later.
Kane kills what was the last balloon in the area, completing the last job he took. As he starts to leave, he hears rustling in the bush to which a rabbit monster jumps out trying to attack Kane. He casually raises the Spear, the rabbit monster unable to stop itself as it impales itself on the Spear, the blade going straight through the centre of the rabbit's face, killing it instantly.
22 XP Gained!
'So how do I absorb this? Do I just cut off an ear or just shove the whole thing into the gem?' Kane's questions are answered by his Spear with a notification strangely enough
{Monsters can give many Spears depending on what is absorbed, some monster can give more then one Spear if properly harvested.}
'...Wait harvested? I don't have a fucking clue in how to skin a rabbit.'
{...some monsters can give more then one Spear if harvested, preferably it would be harvested perfect so as not to waste any materials but the material does not need to be perfectly harvested to create new Spears.}
Kane sighs and moves closer to the dead rabbit. "Fuck, this is gonna suck." Kane begins to cut apart the rabbit, although very poorly. after sometime and some errors he finally cuts off the rabbit's fur, Kane pulls off the fur which has holes and some meat still stuck to it. He grimaces at the gore, the innards of the rabbit spilling out. He shoves the bloodstained fur into the Spear's gem.
Usapil Fur Spear unlocked! (+0) +4 Agi, +3 Atk, small cold resistance.
'+0? Oh I'm guessing it's that Smelting thing from earlier.'
Usapil Meat Spear unlocked! (+0) +3 Phy Def, +3 Agi, +1 Cooking.
'Wait cooking? But I already know how to cook does the system even count for that or what?'
New Skill unlocked! Mom's lessons. (Cooking)
Kane gains a look of confusion before opening up his skills menu to look at the new skill he just got
Mom's lessons (Cooking): Your mother taught you a few things to help you in life, one of those things was knowing how to cook as such the food you make is extremely tasty but it also gives boosts depending on what type of ingredients is used.
'Weird perk but hey don't look a gift house in the mouth. If I open a restaurant and sell hot wings, I wonder how the people here would react. Would they go batshit mental from tasting it?' Kane's thoughts delve into a weird set of question as he proceeds to harvest the rabbit and absorb it's parts.
Usapil Feet Spear unlocked! (+0) +6 Agi, small bonus to luck.
Usapil Ear Spear unlocked! (+0) +3 Mag Def, small bonus to awareness.
Kane finishes harvesting the rabbit with his Spear and puts the meat in his inventory. Kane stands up and looks at himself, his upper torso and arms are coated red in the blood of the Usapil. "I'm gonna need a wash, look like Carrie on her prom night." Fortunately for Kane a lake was close by making it perfect for washing off the blood he got on him, as he's washing himself off he notices a plant growing by the side of the lake, Kane gets closer and pick the plant to absorb it.
Leaf Spear unlocked! (+0) +2 Mag, +1 Gathering.
'Gathering huh? Guess this is good for down the road when I need to gather plants, well might as well collect some while I'm here.' Kane decides to start collecting medicinal herbs in the area even allowing the Spear to absorb some more plant life to unlock new forms. After a few hours of collecting and fighting off monsters that interrupted Kane from collecting he decides that's enough for the day the sun has already set and his potions are running low. Kane starts to return home to turn in the jobs he's completed and to get some rest.
He eventually returns to the Guild to give in his jobs he's completed, as he starts to leave to go get some rest, something catches his eye, a man, a rather nondescript adventurer, wearing leather with iron pieces protecting his vitals spots, that's not what interests Kane, what he's actually interested in is the Spear the man is using. He walks up to man who looks up and stares at Kane with a calm look.
"Hey man, that's a cool Spear."
The adventurer's eyebrows rises quizzically.
"...Thank you?"
Kane smirks. "You're welcome, hey you mind helping a fellow Spear brother out?"
The adventurer crosses his arms. "Did you just to compliment me to ask for a favour?" Kane scratches his cheek.
"Well is it a dope Spear."
The adventurer groans. "What do you want?"
"You got any tips and tricks on how to use a Spear?"
He looks at Kane with surprise and speaks with disbelief in his tone.
"...The Spear Hero is asking me on how to use his weapon?"
"This shit didn't come with a manual on how to fight with a Spear so... yeah I got to learn basically, so again you got any tips or tricks for me?"
The adventurer sighs.
"Keep your foes at range, go for vital spots, and use your hips to make more powerful thrusts." The man pauses thinking for a moment. "I would recommended an actual master to teach you. Look in Lerno village, there's a grizzled war veteran there, who has experience in training Spear users as I can tell you from personal experience."
Kane takes in all the info. "Thanks for this, my guy."
The adventurer gives Kane a blank stare. "Think nothing of it. You are the Spear Hero, the people of this country rely on you to protect it, if you can't properly use your weapon, people will die due to your weakness and ignorance."
Kane frowns at this, he gives the man a slow nod. "Right, well I'll go see your master then, have a good night."
"Safe travels Spear Hero."
Kane walks away, leaving the guild. He finds himself at the inn, he speaks his greetings to the Inn owner, as he goes up to enter his room. Once in the room, he begins to take off pieces of his armour, he pulls out the chair at the table and takes a sit, the man at the guild words still in his head contemplating them on his entire trip.
'That guy has a point, people's lives are riding on my shoulders and I have no clue how to fight properly fight with a Spear, who the fuck chose me to do this?' Kane's thoughts are interrupted by a notification.
{All Heroes are chosen to protect innocents and to stop the Waves.}
Kane looks at the message and grunts. "I'm gonna assume you chose me then."
{Yes, all Heroes are chosen by their weapons.}
"Why me?"
{All Heroes are chosen to protect innocents and to stop the Waves}
"But WHY me specifically?"
{...}
"Seriously? People could die and you don't even have a fucking reason as for summoning me? Look I'm flattered really but you should summon someone who actually knows how to fight monsters."
{You are the best candidate.}
"What the fuck does that mean?"
{Although you doubt yourself, you are the best Spear Hero candidate.}
"What. Does. That. Mean." Before the Spear can reply, Kane speaks again. "Actually explain to me this time, no cryptic half answer bullshit.
{...Normally The Legendary Weapons would choose their wielders from a specific group, this is due to the veil between worlds in the area being weaker, making it easier to transport people between worlds.}
"Wait you're talking about Japan aren't you? Is that why all the other Heroes are Japanese?"
{The name of the location is unknown to me but yes that is why all the other Heroes are "Japanese" as you say. My options were very limited, the few candidates I did have were... questionable at best so in a desperate effort to find a better candidate, I somehow pushed through the veil which took quite a bit of power but regardless I pushed through in another area and found you.}
"Yeah, you really found me at the perfect moment, didn't you?" He speaks with a mocking tone.
{First impressions of you were a little strange but once I began looking into your soul I knew you were the best candidate.}
"Hope you didn't see me in any exposing positions."
{...I avoided it as best I could but it was rather difficult considering with how perverted you are.}
"Riiiight and you looking wasn't perverted in any way." Kane said with a sly smirk on his lips. A sudden surge of electricity course through his arm. "Ow!"
{Moving on, I believe you could be one of the best of the Spear Heroes.}
Kane tilts his head. "Seriously?"
{I see the potential in you, it is up to you to overcome your challenges and even your own shortcomings.}
"My shortcomings?"
{Your impulsive nature, and your carefree attitude that borders on laziness at times.}
"Rude."
{You are attempting to deflect with humour.}
Kane grumbles at this. "Well, I'm only human, so, perfection is kinda out of the window."
{Perhaps, but one can still work on their own flaws, you are no different.}
Kane doesn't respond, instead he looks at the Spear trying to think of a comeback but finds himself unable to. "...I'm going to sleep now."
{I don't expect sudden change, I only want for you to think a little more of your situation in the future.}
Kane sighs at this, he begins to get into his sleep wear and crawls into bed, sleep took some time to come to him due to him thinking on what the Spear said.
The next morning
Kane slowly wakes to the sun beaming on his face again. "Fuck whoever placed that damn window there." He slowly gets out of bed, his plans on going back to sleep is basically impossible due to the sun.
He slowly puts his gear on preparing for the day, while doing so he stares at the bracelet with red gem, he feels the gem staring back. "...So what should I call you? Cause Spear is just a awful name.
{The Legendary Spear is my name.}
Kane rolls his eyes. "Yeah, no fuck that. I'm not calling you that every time I want to talk to you, do you not have a nickname or something?"
{...I am the Legendary Spear, no other name was required, you may name me something else if it makes it easier for you.}
Kane places his hand underneath his chin, he's distracted for a few moments at the small stubble starting to grow in. 'Damn, I need a shave.' After a minute or so of thinking he comes up with a name.
"How about Gungnir?"
{Gungnir?}
"Yeah Gungnir, the Spear used by Odin. Always thought Norse history was badass after watching Vikings."
{Who is Odin?}
"A Norse God, well, he's pretty much THE Norse God."
{You wish to name me a Spear you are currently using after a Spear a God used? Rather arrogant of you, don't you think?}
"Well, then I guess I'll just call you Stabby then."
{...Gungnir is fine.}
"You sure? I think the name Stabby reeeally suits you." Kane speaks with a sly smirk on his face, the newly christened Gungnir shocks Kane in response.
"Fuck!" Kane sighs "Alright, fine no more teasing you big baby, I guess we got shit to do anyway." His stomach grumbles. "Eat first, then go get some jobs."
Kane, for a few days grinds. Killing monsters for XP and materials, as well as gathering any herbs and such, working quickly and effectively. Once again he works into the night. Looking around to find night has descended onto the forest, the work making him lose perception of time. He looks up to the sky to find the moon directly over head. He sighs, finished for the day and planning to return before being disturbed by a familiar noise. Kane grumbles in annoyance. "Just fuck off, you damn critter." He tosses the Spear with deadly accuracy, piercing the skull of a Usapil.
67 XP gained!
Kane pulls his Spear out of the Usapil corpse, he harvests it for meat, leaving it in his inventory. "You'd think they learn but no." Kane huffing, as a plant stands in vision, not seeing it due to the darkness. He bends over, changing his Spear to increase his Gathering skill before plucking the plant, as he stands up he can feel something rumbling. "Better not be another Royal Guard Slime or I'mma be pissed."
Thump, Thump, Thump.
The noise becomes louder and louder as if approaching Kane. "What the fuck? Is Godzilla running around these woods?" Kane stops dead in his tracks and looks around for where the sounds are coming from.
"RAAAAWR"
A massive monster charges out of the dark treeline and straight for Kane. He dives to the side avoiding the monster's charge, Kane quickly gets to his feet pulling out his Royal Guard Slime Spear. He sighs, the monster obviously a bigger threat then the Royal Guard Slime. "I take it back, a Royal Guard Slime would be okay." The huge monster comes charging out again although this time Kane was prepared and side steps slashing at it's hamstring as it passes by, despite cutting at it the cut didn't go deep enough to do any severe damage to it's leg.
The two circle each other waiting for the other to make the first move, the monster's patience runs out first and makes another charge to which Kane sidesteps again slashing at it's hamstring again which went deeper then last time, he quickly back steps to create distance between him and the monster, the two stare at each other, the monster realising charging wasn't doing it any favours. Kane looks at it's name this time while staring at it.
Adult Cave Troll LVL-53
'A Cave Troll huh? So it's nocturnal or at least prefers the dark.' Kane decides to be the aggressor this time, he charges up Spear Flash as he runs to the Troll to leave it open for an attack.
"Spear Flash!"
The Troll reacts as Kane expected and covers it's eyes after being Blinded, Kane quickly follows up by slashing the Troll's chest and even stabbing his kneecaps to try and cripple it. The Troll still not fully recovered from being Blinded starts to thrash wildly to try and stop Kane from hurting it, Kane rolls under the Troll's legs and starts to stab and slash it from behind, causing severe damage to the leg, cutting through flesh and muscle.
The Trolls jumps away from Kane to get away from his Spear, it seems to have underestimated how damaged his leg was, as the moment it lands it drops to the floor, the Troll lets out a roar of agony. Kane takes the opportunity presented to him and jumps on the Troll.
"Seismic Leap!"
Kane lands straight on the Troll's chest, the sudden force clearly damaging the Troll as if the stomping wasn't bad enough Kane pierces it's rib cage with the Spear. The Troll begins to thrash and tries to grab the Spear skewered into it's body, before he could Kane quickly pulls out the Spear and rolls off, he's on his feet in seconds, the adrenaline and training pushing him. He gets ready to try and attack the Troll from a different angle, but before he could, the Troll stands and begins to sniff the air.
The Troll grabs a tree by it's side and pulls it out, the Troll then tosses the tree directly at Kane who dolphin dives to the ground feeling the tree speeding past striking the other trees with violent force causing the thrown tree impale sideways into a number of trees.
Kane quickly charges another Spear Flash and runs towards the Troll. "Spear Flash!"
'Saying the skills names out loud is gonna get really annoying I can just tell.'
The result was the same as before although slightly less effective due to it already being Blinded but the flash left it open for attack which was what Kane was counting on, he focuses on the leg again to try and permanently damage so it's movement is slowed and if it jumps again, will leave it open to another attack. This time instead of thrashing wildly the Troll raises both its hand up and tries to crush the area around where it's leg is being damaged, Kane rolls under his legs and starts to climb it's back with his Spear acting as an anchor for him to hold on.
He gets up to neck to which he immediately starts damaging the Troll, he stabs right into one of the Troll's eyes trying to pierce it's brain but before he can get ram the Spear into it's eye socket the Troll grabs the Spear making Kane release it, he falls off, landing on his back he quickly kick-ups off the ground as the Troll sniffs the air again and turns to face him. The Spear is still in his arm, making him completely defenceless.
{Hold out your hand.}
Kane doesn't question it and the second he hold out his hand the Spear rips itself out of the Troll grasp, straight into Kane's grasp.
"Fuck, so I'm like Thor but instead of a hammer my Spear flies at me?"
{Pay attention! The fight isn't over yet!}
Kane looks back up at the Troll preparing to throw a small rock formation at him, or rather his vicinity.
"Spear Flash!"
The Troll drops the rock at being flashed again, Kane quickly rushes the Troll, slicing it's leg as he runs underneath it again, he jumps on it's back climbing it yet again, he gets to the same position except this time he stabs the Troll's neck and pulls the Spear downward to make large cuts in the Troll's neck, the Troll tries to get Kane off by slamming it's back into trees, even jumping on it's back but Kane never stops moving, whenever it would try to slam it's back he would move his position either to it's arm or jump off completely, he punishes the Troll by slicing it's legs or jumping on it's stomach and making wide cuts. The Troll gets more and more enraged, making it easier and easier to punish and deny it's attempts at killing him. With one strong stab he jams the Spear into the side of the Troll's neck, digging it deeper and deeper. The Troll's chest raises, as if preparing something.
Adult Cave Troll uses Berserk!
The Troll lets loose a thundering roar, it's roar echoing through the forest. Kane grimaces as his skull vibrates from the force of the roar, blood begins to pour from his ears despite the painful roar he doesn't stop from trying to bury the Spear deep into the neck of Troll but to Kane's surprise the Troll grabs him by the leg and pulls him off, tossing him away like a ragdoll, his back hitting a tree on the way, the bark of the tree splintering as he makes a dent in the tree, dropping to the ground unceremoniously.
Kane's vision blurs as black dots appear, He growls and tightens his hands into his fist, he plants his knuckles into the dirt and slowly raises himself coughing up blood as he does, his entire back screaming in agony. "I ain't dying here, not to you, you overgrown piece of shit." He doesn't notice the notification that popped up either because of his blurred vision or his focus on something else completely.
Secret Passive Skill unlocked! Iron Will.
Iron Will activated!
The Troll is roaring, angered at how it can't find the person responsible for causing it such damage, unable to smell for Kane due to the amount of blood gushing out of it's eye and neck. The Troll's functioning eye still blind and perhaps permanently so. It begins to stumble around, having difficulties walking due to the blood loss and it's shredded kneecap.
Kane gets into a kneeling position with the help of his arms before he plants a foot underneath him, and slowly gets off his knees and stands, wobbling as he does before eventually finding his footing. He pulls out his last HP potion to drink, essentially the potion did nothing but slightly dull the pain for a few seconds, but he grits his teeth through the agony, the pain slowly replaced with rage. A bloody snarl and fury filled crimson eyes focus on the Troll.
"Slippery Agility!"
He begins running forward to the Troll, every step tormenting him as his spine jolts with pain. Charging another skill as he charges at the Troll.
"Spear Flash!"
The Trolls covers it's eyes but recovers quicker then last time, Kane slams straight into the Troll's leg. With strength enhanced by his rage he chops off the Troll's leg in one clean swipe. The sudden lose of it's leg causes the Troll to drop to it's knees. Kane pounces on it, using it's face as a springboard. The Troll recoils from the hit. Kane bursts through the air, He aims the Spear downwards.
"Seismic Leap!"
As if Kane weighed like an iron anvil, he suddenly begins to plummet, aiming straight for the forehead of the Troll, the monster attempts to defend it's self by blocking it's head with it's arm raised, listening to Kane's voice. Kane stabs into the thick hand of the Troll. The Spear protruding from the back of it's hand. Kane with a growl pulls the Spear out, his other hand, holding onto the nose of the Troll for balance. He raises the Spear as the Troll makes a grab for him, it never reaches Kane in time, as Kane releases a lethal swing of steel, slicing at the weakened side of the Troll's neck, chopping through it's spine and flesh with brutal ease.
3200 XP gained!
Level up!
The Troll's corpse begins to fall backwards, to which Kane rips the Spear out of it's skull with too much force resulting in him falling off from the Troll's shoulders, and him landing on his back, breathing heavily. A few moments pass, Kane's anger slowly fading resulting in him letting out a cackling laugh, the burst of laugh rolling off of the trees. 'I almost died to a fucking troll, this world is insane.' Unknown to him while laying backwards on the floor, a purple symbol appears on the neck of the Troll before disappearing. He slowly raises himself with difficulty, his legs feeling unstable. He turns to the dead Troll, spitting on it's corpse. "Should of stayed under your bridge, you ugly piece of shit."
Monsters can give be harvested to give new Spears.
Kane sighs as he rubs his back, his spine aching. "No rest for the wicked." Kane begins to cut apart the Troll letting his Spear absorb the parts. He attempts to put on a stoic face, but halfway through he gags at the smell, the smell becoming even worse when handling the innards of the monster. "This is fucking disgusting." With a grimace he plants the parts on the Spear, cutting off chunks to share with Naofumi.
Adult Cave Troll Heart Spear unlocked! (+0) +30 Atk, +30 Phy Def, +20 Mag Def.
Skill unlocked! Berserk: Increases Attack and Magical Attacks by 30% but suffer a 30% reduction to Physical Defence while active.
Adult Cave Troll Finger Spear unlocked! (+0) +35 Atk, +10 Phy Def, +8 Mag Def.
Skill unlocked! Lance Toss: Summon a large lance to impale your foes this lance can skewer multiple enemies and stick them to walls until the lance disappears.
Adult Cave Troll Toe unlocked! (+0) +35 Phy Def, +20 Agi.
Skill unlocked! Stand Your Ground: activating this skill requires you to be perfectly still when doing so all stats gain a buff apart from your Agility stat which will gain a reduction due to your feet being planted into the ground, this skill is broken when moved either intentionally or not. This skill drains SP while active.
'Kinda of an eh skill especially for someone like me who's meant to keep moving.'
Adult Cave Troll Bone Spear unlocked! (+0) +30 Phy Def, +25 Mag Def.
Adult Cave Troll Meat Spear unlocked! (+0) +20 Phy Def.
Would you like to use the Adult Cave Troll soul for Spirit Enhancement?
A yes or no option pops up for Kane to which he shrugs and presses yes.
Adult Cave Troll soul absorbed! +75 Atk, Extra damage dealt with Basic Attacks.
Kane whistles at the massive boost in power. 'Damn, that's a lot of damage and that extra damage with Basic Attacks is just icing on the cake.'
He stops reading the new Spears unlocked as he hears a animal cry, realising he's still in a monster infested forest that's completely pitch black, he quickly looks over his status to check his health.
Kane Stone-LVL 33 Spear Hero
Kane snorts in satisfaction. "Thanks for the levels dipshit." He moves from his status, checking his HP and moving on, missing the status effect.
102/2,187 HP
1288/1288 MP
1520/1520 SP
"Fuck." The single word perfectly describing his thought process and situation. With a grimace he moves, leaving the clearing in the forest to return to the inn. Every step seems to drain what little adrenaline he had remaining. His spine screaming at him in agony, being forced to use his Spear as a walking stick. He wanders through the pitch black forest, struggling to stay conscious. His vision blurs and due to it, fails to notice the exposed root before it's too late and he drops to the floor with a grunt of pain. He closes his eyes for a few seconds before they flutter open. "F-Fucking tree."
He takes a deep breath, lifting his upper body with a growl, he stabs his Spear deep into the bark of the tree, using the Spear lodged in the tree to steady himself as he slowly stands. He begins his pained journey once again.
Unsure of how long he's been walking or better how he's still awake, he begins to see a orange glow pierce through the darkness in the forest. The warm light welcoming to the grievously injured Spear Hero who instantly starts to hobble to it, concern on the possibility of the campfire being a possible ambush gone over his head.
Raphtalia is sitting by the campfire finishing off the cooked fish her master gave her. 'Master is strange woman, she gives me food, medicine and even lets me rest. Why is she so nice to her slave?' Raphtalia's thoughts were disturbed by the sounds of grass being stepped on, the steps are rather strange as if something is making short tiny steps. "Master."
Naofumi stops grinding the herbs and plant in her mortal and pestle, she tilts her head upwards a stoic look on her face. "What is it, Raphtalia?"
Raphtalia continues looking at where the sounds are coming from. "There's something coming, Master." Naofumi quickly stands up and motions for Raphtalia to get behind her. Naofumi scowls getting ready to fight whether it be monster or a bandit but to Naofumi and Raphtalia shock.
"H-Hey look... It's my favourite Shield Hero." Kane appears from the treeline. He would be a terrifying sight; covered in blood, his hands dripping with the crimson liquid. But his visage comes across as more pitiful, standing seems difficult for him, as if a weak gust of wind could knock him onto his back, his normal sun-kissed skin, pale like a corpse from blood loss.
"STONE!"
Naofumi quickly rushes forward to help him. She grabs him by the arm and puts it around her shoulder, she slowly leads him to the campfire, she sits Kane down and pulls out a high quality HP potion she made, she plants it against his lips. "Open your mouth and drink this straight down." Kane does as told and slowly tilts his head back to which Naofumi pours the HP potion down his throat, making sure he drinks the entire thing. He coughs after finishing the potion but his skin seems to colour, the tone of his skin slightly returning. "You're gonna be okay right?"
With the back of his hand Kane wipes away the blood at his mouth before he gives a thumbs up. "I-I'll be fine, don't worry." Naofumi looks conflicted about whether she should let him rest or try to keep him awake but Kane decides for her as his eyes close and seems to quickly fall asleep, Naofumi lets out a sigh of relief when she sees him breathe relatively normally while sleeping.
Naofumi grumbles and goes back to where she was, planning on continuing the production of the medicine she was working on before Kane gave her a heart attack.
Raphtalia steps forward and looks at Kane. "D-Do you think he'll be okay?"
Naofumi rolls her eyes. "He'll be fine." Naofumi notices her palms coated in blood, she clenches her hands. "You should go to bed now Raphtalia, I'll watch over you two."
Raphtalia gives an unsure nod and gets into her bag to sleep in. "Goodnight, Master."
Naofumi sighs. Pulling out a glass bottle filled with water to wash her hands, not wanting to contaminate her medicine. "Goodnight, Raphtalia… Goodnight, Stone." Kane grumbles back a response although it was complete gibberish, Raphtalia giggles a bit at this putting her slightly more at ease making it easier for her to fall asleep.
Naofumi works through the night, a hour or so later she looks up. Kane and Raphtalia both sleeping although Raphtalia bed cover is slightly kicked off. Naofumi gently moves over to Raphtalia, readjusting the bed to properly cover her. Naofumi softly strokes her head before leaning down and giving a small peck on the forehead. She turns to Kane, looking far better then he did a few hours ago.
She scoots over to him. "Dumbass, you need to be more cautious..." She looks over to her bed, before slowly crawling to it, grabbing the pillow. She returns to Kane, gently grasping his head to lift it.
"W-What?" Kane stirs awake.
Before he can question anything, Naofumi shushes him. "Shhhh. Go back to sleep." Kane doesn't resist, making a mumble of agreement as he falls back to sleep, completely forgetting that he was awoken. Naofumi watches him for a few moments and before long he returns back to his deep sleep. "Sweet dreams."
Naofumi stands up, stepping over to her original position.
The next morning
Kane awakens. Hearing the crackle of a fire and the smell of meat being cooked. He grumbles, slowly raising his body, still sore.
"You're awake, Sir Spear Hero!"
"Told you that idiot would be fine." Kane sees Raphtalia with a smile on her face and even a slight smile on Naofumi's face.
He chuckles before stopping as his chest pulses in pain. "That hurt." With a deep breath he looks up. "So what's for breakfast?"
Naofumi pulls out a glass bottle of water and a cloth to Kane. "Clean off your hands first, quick way to get ill if you eat with those dirty hands." Upon hearing dirty hands, Kane stares at his palms to find his skin more red then his normal skin tone, with a nod he takes the bottle and wet the cloth, washing his hands.
Naofumi after Kane finishes washing his hands hands him a skewer. "It's nothing special, just some Usapil meat."
Kane thanks Naofumi for the food and begins to bite into the meat, after some chewing he's surprised at how tasty it is. "Damn, this tastes great. Who made this?"
Naofumi looks confused. "I did, you can taste this?"
Kane scoffs, his eyes staring at Naofumi. "Can I taste it she says? 'Course I can taste it, it's great." He tilts his head. "How can't you taste it?"
Naofumi scowls at the meat as if it offends her in some way. "I just can't taste anything."
Kane eyes widen in concern, he opens and closes his mouth not sure what to say, Raphtalia changes the subject and speaks to Kane making his thoughts about what Naofumi said shelved for the time being. "Are you okay now, Spear Hero?"
Kane smiles at this and rubs his back. "I've been better-" Naofumi snorts at this "But hey ho thanks to you two I'm most likely not going to die to a balloon or something that would be embarrassing."
Raphtalia smiles at Kane while Naofumi shakes her head. "You're an idiot."
Kane chuckles at this. "A highly functional idiot, thank you very much."
The group engage in small talk, them asking in what Kane fought that nearly killed him, Kane asking them what they've been up to since they last met the small talk kept on going until Naofumi crosses her arms. "We're even now, Stone."
Kane's brow raises. "What?" He speaks, confusion in his tone. "The hell do you mean?"
"I owed you one for the tria-" Naofumi attempts to speak but Kane interrupts.
"Thought I said forget about that? You don't owe me anything." Kane hums nonchalantly.
Naofumi doesn't say anything for a few moments. Her arms still crossed, a surprised frown turns into smug smile. "Fine then, since I've saved your life you owe me, and the potion I used on you wasn't cheap, so you owe me."
Kane shrugs, completely unfazed. "Aight."
Naofumi's smirk weakens for a moment at Kane's casualness before it turns into a full on grin like as if she's a shark staring down her prey. If Kane was completely calm about it, then she wouldn't feel any guilt for coercing Kane for items. "So, Stone what do you have to offer me for saving your life?"
Kane blurts out a quick quip. "My love and affection."
Naofumi snorts in amusement. "I want something actually useful, Stone." Kane couldn't tell if she was slightly blushing or if the blood loss was making him see things.
Raphatila stares at Naofumi's face while Kane chortles. "Damn that was cold even for you." Naofumi rolls her eyes before glaring at Kane who raises his hands in defeat. "Alright, alright, I've got a few things that might interest you and since I'm so grateful for you saving me, I'll give you all three." Naofumi glare turns into a look of interest.
"The parts of the Adult Cave Troll and the all Shields it will unlock for you." That alone was worth it in Naofumi's eyes if the Troll was as strong as Kane said then the Shields it would unlock would be extremely powerful for her at the moment. "Also I was doing a few job before I got ambushed by the troll, so I will share half of that, I'll go fifty/fifty if there's a quest on that Troll.
Naofumi nods her head at the thought of gaining more money. "And most importantly…" Naofumi gets closer excited to hear what else Kane will give her "My love and affection." Kane smirks while Naofumi punches his bicep, Kane rubs it with mock pain. "Hey! You keep hitting me and I'm gonna need another Health Potion." Naofumi huffs, Raphtalia smiles at the scene before her before going back to eating her food.
Kane pulls out the Troll parts of his inventory to give to Naofumi but shakes his head handling the parts "Somehow it smells even worse." Naofumi scowls at how Kane has an inventory and takes the offered parts and lets the Shield absorb it, her annoyance on Kane's unfair advantage is quickly forgotten by Naofumi due to the powerful Shields that are unlocked with the Skills attached to them.
"Soooo, Iwatani, you willing to try that inventory thing again?"
Naofumi shakes her head. "It didn't work the first time why would it work now?"
Kane looks at Raphtalia then back at Naofumi. "Because hopefully you've mellowed out a bit to actually try instead of doing it once, failing then immediately giving up besides I don't think you or your Shield were willing to listen at the time."
Naofumi looks confused. "What do you mean my Shield wasn't willing to listen?"
"You haven't noticed?"
Naofumi shakes her head.
"The weapons or at least my Spear is sentient."
Naofumi stares at her Shield, wondering if what Kane said is true if the Weapons are truly sentient. "Why does it matter if their sentient or not shouldn't I still be able to have an inventory."
Kane puts a hand to his chin. "I think maybe because you were so angry at the setup, that the Shield was just as angry, it wasn't willing to listen or even bother." Naofumi was about to bite back with a retort but stops to think.
'Maybe he's right, I can't remember perfectly but didn't I have more options in my menu before that bitch screwed me over?' Naofumi sighs. "Alright I'll try that damn inventory thing again not like it hurts."
Kane smiles. "Alright good now try and imagine you got a inventory tab in your menu." Naofumi tries it and fails, she grits her teeth in anger. "Chill, I don't think it will work if you keep trying to force, just trust me and believe that there REALLY is a inventory tab." Naofumi sighs and forces herself to calm down just a tad.
'Trust huh? Hard to trust anyone out here but… Stone has been on my side from the very beginning so I'll trust him on this, I'll believe with all of my heart that there really is an inventory, because that's what Stone said.'
Naofumi attempts to open her inventory and to her surprise, her hand disappears to which Raphtalia points out in shock. "Master, your hand is gone!"
Kane grins at Naofumi for opening her inventory. Naofumi stares at her inventory 'He… was telling the truth.'
Kane follows up the inventory revelation with another piece of info that could help Naofumi. "How about monster drops do you have that on your Shield?" Naofumi shakes her head, quickly looking at her inventory
'I believe that monster drops exist!' Naofumi is shocked yet again by another notification, her inventory already having a few monster drops, just sitting there.
Naofumi looks at her status then at Kane. "Alright, Stone tell me everything you know."
Kane shrugs with a sly smile. "Hey, I'm up for it as long as you share maybe you have some info that could be good for me too." Naofumi nods her head at the deal and the two begin to exchange details on how the Spear works and how the Shield works.
Kane in the end decides to ask Naofumi if she has any Hidden Passive Skills to which she checks "I've got three Hidden Passive Skills that appeared out of nowhere. What are these?"
Kane shrugs. "I dunno, guess something we have to fin-" he opens his own status to look at his own Hidden Passive Skill but to his surprise the layout has changed, even had one skill unlocked.
Core Hero Skills:
Iron Will: Like a man once said. "It ain't about how hard you can hit, it's about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward." due to your surprisingly strong will, you can grit your teeth through a lot of things including death. When Iron Will activates your stats gain a boost, you also begin to regenerate SP at a quicker pace but Healing effectiveness during the fight is cut by 85% after the fight this 85% reduction in healing ends but so does any boosts from Iron Will.
Brushes with death come with a cost, if you survive the fight, you suffer a unique status effect; Weakened Body which reduces stats and HP, the amount that reduces your stats and HP is determined by how severe your injuries are, to recover from the Weakened Body status effect, you will either require extremely powerful medicine or rest.
Hidden Passive Skill:
Hidden Passive Skill:
Kane informs Naofumi about how it's changed for him and tells her about the Core Skill although he leaves out the brush with death part. Naofumi gains a curious look probably trying to imagine what her Core Hero Skills will be. Kane opens his status to see his status.
Weakened Body (moderate): Suffer a 30% reduction in all stats and a 40% reduction in HP until Weakened Body is healed either with rest or powerful medicine.
Kane hides the status effect from Naofumi not wanting to worry her. "Well, then we all shared our knowledge, so guess we should head back to town, get the job completed and hey maybe there was a job on the troll." Naofumi nods and begins to pack her equipment and puts out the campfire. Raphtalia stands by Kane, both of them waiting for Naofumi to begin their journey back.
A few hours later.
Kane, Naofumi and Raphtalia enter the town and walk towards the guild to which Kane tells the two of them to wait outside while he goes and turns in the balloon job and checks if there's a job for a troll, the two nod and stand outside not in direct sight so as for no commotion to start.
He enters the guild and walks up to the job board to look for a troll job to his luck there is one to which he pulls it off and goes to the receptionist.
"Spear Hero you're back, it seems my concern was well placed." She stares at Kane who's still covered in blood.
"Yep, a monster snuck on me and got saved by the Shield Hero, all in day's work I suppose." Kane chuckles although the receptionist didn't laugh.
"If you have nearly died do you really think taking a bounty for an Adult Cave Troll is wise idea?"
Kane gains a sly smirk. "Trust me I have a plan."
The receptionist considers denying the bounty, but due to Kane being a Hero, she couldn't exactly say no to his demands for the bounty, so she sighs as she stamps the Adult Cave Troll bounty. "Good luck out there Spear Hero." Kane takes the coins and the bounty and stands there. "I've accepted the bounty Spear Hero, why are you still standing here?"
Kane sly smirk turns into a shit-eating grin, he plants the bounty back on the table with an Adult Cave Troll finger on top as proof. "I would like to turn this in please oh and these too please." He pulls out the other job requests and places it on the table. The receptionist looks shocked momentarily before understanding. She takes the bounty and proceeds to give Kane his rewards to which he takes gracefully and leaves quickly.
Kane made in total 2400 silvers, he walks up to Naofumi and Raphtalia, both of them watch him as he walks towards them. He pull out half of the amount of silvers he's earned and gives it Naofumi who seems shocked at the amount of silvers Kane's giving her. The two Heroes look at each other. "Alright, I've got to go have a bath, restock on potions and such, so, I'll see you later." Kane bends down and ruffles Raphtalia's hair. "Bye little Ralphy, be good okay?" Raphtalia looks up at Kane and nods with a smile.
Naofumi crosses her arms. "Don't nearly die out there again. I won't always be around to save you, Kane!" Kane chuckles at this.
Raphtalia waves goodbye. "Bye, Sir Spear Hero!" he turns around and waves before disappearing from sight.
In another country
"I'm sorry to say this your majesty, we have failed in our task,"
The Queen a beautiful mature woman with purple hair gains a look of anger at the assassination of the Spear Hero performed by the Three Hero Church, the Shadow however continues on speaking. "but regardless of our failure the Spear Hero still lives."
the Queen looks confused and looks at the Shadow. "How? Did the Spear Hero run?"
The Shadow shakes their head "The Spear Hero actually won against the Adult Cave Troll to our surprise, he did not come out without injuries, so we ensured his safety by killing the monsters and the Church's Shadows and directed him towards the Shield Hero who quickly came to his aid and protected him until the morning came. The two began to talk. The Spear Hero gave the Shield Hero the Troll parts to unlock new Shields and the two also talked about how the Spear and Shield strengthen themselves allowing them to exchange information and become more powerful. The Spear Hero also gave half of the rewards for the tasks he took."
The Queen fans herself slowly thinking about the situation although it was a close call with the Spear Hero almost being assassinated this could work out to their favour; the Spear Hero survived the Church attempted assassination and became stronger from it they will think more carefully and will most likely resort to more desperate measures to eliminate him making it easier to spot and stop. The Spear Hero is also strengthening the Shield Hero meaning that her concerns for the Shield Hero have alleviated if very slightly.
"Keep watching the Spear Hero and the Shield Hero the Church may stop for the time being due to the Spear Hero killing the troll but they will try again perhaps in a more desperate manner." The shadow nods and disappears. "Spear Hero, Shield Hero stay strong."
So the Core Hero Skills are revealed both Kane and Naofumi have these skills but Ren and Itsuki don't due to how they were backups and don't really act like real Heroes at least not in the eyes of the Weapons perhaps when they actually act more to the weapon's liking they'll get some of the skills but for the time being they won't.
Basic Attacks are any attacks from Kane that doesn't use SP or MP in any shape or form, this doesn't mean anything like explosions or poisons and such but things like slashes, stabs, kicks etc get a boost in damage.
Anyway see you in chapter 4.