Here's the 4th chapter of unwavering heart I gotta say I'm glad to see the favorites, follows, and reviews im getting, my efforts are paying off.
I also want to really thank those who suggested various games I could use as inspiration to think of more types of bows for Audrey to gain that didn't just come from monster parts or natural materials, truth be told I was actually in something of a bind with that so all your suggestions of using monster hunter and other games truly helped me to plan ahead going foreword.
Anyway as per the usual stuff before the ch starts.
Disclaimer: I don't own ROTSH
Upon waking up Audrey wasted no time in putting on all her gear and heading downstairs to find Bluebell already waiting for her at one of the tables.
"You're quite the heavy sleeper I see." The latter said as the former came over and sat across from her.
"You try spending the better part of the previous day fighting monsters off before having a run into one that is immensely strong in comparison to yourself and still having to somehow fight it off on your own in spite of being at a clear disadvantage and still having to strip its body down afterwards and see if you don't find yourself exhausted beyond measure."
Bluebell giggled a bit in response. "Keep in mind I gave you a high quality potion that healed your injury and helped you strip down the monster's carcass."
"True but it would have been much more appreciated if you had shown up sooner to help me out during the fight with the black saber tooth leopard."
"By the time I found out about the mission to fell that monster you had already left the capital.
You basically had an inadvertent head start by a wide margin."
"Fair enough, anyway I've kind of been meaning to ask. Where can I get more healing potions?" The bow hero inquired.
"At the apothecary of course. Brewing all sorts of concoctions is the store's specialty."
"That makes sense; is there anything else I should know?"
"Well the quality of any potions on sale are likely moderate at best and limited in terms of stock, so it would be best if you brought the ingredients for which ever potions you need so the owner can concoct them for you if you're intending to have a high number of them."
"If actual concocting is involved then I'd prefer to just do it myself so I can make whatever I need on the spot or at least at my own convenience." Audrey said.
"I can't deny that it would certainly make things a lot easier for anyone."
"Plus, I don't want to be forced to traverse to and from the shop during times when I'm in the middle of taking care of something urgent or somewhere far from its location."
"It's easy enough to see your point but you would need to know the recipes for whatever you want to make."
Audrey sighed upon hearing this, it would only make sense that she would have to know the individual recipes for different medicines and potions. Knowing how both realism and general game knowledge tended to work she'd very likely have to learn them one by one from scratch.
'Couldn't hurt to see even if the odds of the case being otherwise are all but nil.'
Audrey made a move to open her status menu earning a curious look from Bluebell. "What are you doing?"
"Opening something called a status screen which each hero has to see various things pertaining to our own individual status and those of those we form a party with."
"Oh, I see I see!" Bluebell exclaimed enthusiastically earning the combination of a chuckle and sweat drop from the bow hero.
It was amusing to see Bluebell's interest in the legends even of the summoned heroes but Audrey couldn't help but couldn't help but feel that her new acquaintance might be getting a bit carried away since she managed to draw stares from the other patrons.
"Anyway I'm trying to see if I can get any more information on what we're discussing from this menu."
Looking through all the tabs Audrey was unsure of where she was supposed to start, thinking about it now there should have been a tab for what recipes she knew if they were another factor that worked like something from a game then surely they should…'I guess it was here after
all.'
She had no idea how she had missed it before now but there it was a tab titled "current recipes" which she opened and beheld with a sight that she was more or less expected to see.
?
?
?
?
?
?
'Of course there's nothing here.' She thought to herself. Even though conventional knowledge implied knowing any recipes prematurely was impossible she had a sliver of hope she'd already have some basic registered within the list even if such a thing was unrealistic.
"So did you find what you were looking for?" Bluebell asked.
"Yeah, and it looks like I'm gonna have to start learning recipes from scratch." She admitted.
"Then you might want to learn to read this country's language first since any information on any type of recipe comes from books, I'd be willing to help if….." "If?" Audrey mimicked.
"Well seeing as you're now in need of party members I was wondering if I might be able to join you."
At this the bow hero smiled at Bluebell. The time that Audrey had spent with Bluebell was even shorter than what she spent with Naofumi however from what little time Audrey had been around Bluebell the adventurer had quickly shown herself to have far more honesty and a better sense of justice than her original members and the cherry on top of it all was that Bluebell wasn't introduced by the king meaning she wasn't a crony he could use to try manipulating Audrey.
"Of course you can." With that Audrey immediately sent Bluebell a party invite.
"Promise I won't let you down."
"Good because I'll be counting on you going forward unlike the people the king provided me with."
"You've nothing to worry about, in spite of my less than favorable luck at times I know not to just throw myself at every monster I see recklessly and I know a bit of basic fire magic." With that Bluebell accepted the party invite.
Audrey was pleased to see that her new party was at level 6. It meant she wouldn't have to go back to fighting basic balloons for the sake of catching bluebell up though she felt the need to reiterate her previous belief in wishing that Bluebell had shown up sooner when the fight with the saber tooth black leopard was still going on considering the gap in levels she would have been faced with.
"Since learning to read this country's language is going to take time I'll have to purchase whatever potions I can in the meantime."
"Ok. Any idea as to what we'll be doing afterwards?"
"Looking for Naofumi and seeing if we can find any local demi humans that'd be willing to help him."
"Alright but you remember what I told you yesterday about how this country practices human supremacy correct?"
"Yes. Is it going to affect finding Naofumi a partner?"
"It might make it rather difficult since most demi humans in this kingdom don't have easy lives."
"I already figured as much when you talked about the stance on human supremacy the first time around."
"I know but…."
"But?"
"It's actually even worse than that."
"How so?" Audrey asked now having the sinking feeling that she wasn't going to like the answer she was about to be given.
"Most demi humans in this kingdom are more often than not sold into slavery."
There was a long silence as Audrey processed this shocking. She could understand a class system that immensely favored one group over another but slavery? To implement something that cruel of all things, that painted Melromarc in a far worse light than ever before.
A large part of the bow hero was questioning why she or anyone had to be summoned to fight for such sickening people. The worst part is that those that summoned her and the others were trying to manipulate them for their own ends or discriminate against them (in the case of Naofumi) to ensure the hero in question that they don't like fails.
That last part made her blood all but boil, seriously the way they treated Naofumi was downright atrocious, to summon him, ignore him, then hand pick the companions so no one would join him and even after that their antics didn't stop, the king and that lying cunt had set up that fake trial and framed him on top of having all of his gear along with his clothes stolen, had Audrey not told him about using the currency shield to store his money he would have been left penniless also.
Seriously the more she learned about this world's people the more disgusted she was by them. For them to be willing to use a bad situation where lives were at stake to their own advantage for the sake of furthering whatever petty agendas they may have been hiding was inexcusable. Honestly at this point Audrey really had to question just what made this world worth sav...
"Sorry I didn't mean to upset you." Bluebell suddenly apologized earning a look of surprise from Audrey after she was snapped out of her thoughts.
"It's not your fault it's just finding out that slavery is practiced in this world isn't exactly something I can smile upon." The bow hero replied calming down.
"Have you witnessed it back in your own world?"
"No but in the past, it was practiced in the country that I came from at least until it was outlawed in the aftermath of a civil war."
"I'm glad to hear it. Your world sounds like a wonderful place."
Audrey smiled a bit upon hearing the place she had come from receiving praise. "There are those who do what they can to make it a better place but it's still far from being perfect."
"Maybe but to hear of a place where no one can be forced into servitude by others."
"I take it you're not a sympathizer of those who believe in human supremacy?"
"Of course not, I came from one of the few regions where the demi humans are treated fairly and I've played with many demi human children when I was little."
"That's relieving to know, the country I come from doesn't hold much tolerance for racist beliefs and I don't care for those that have them."
"And neither do I."
"Anyway let's head out." With that the duo exited the inn and on their way to their first intended destination the bow hero took time to think of what else she should do leading up to the waves.
If the situation with securing any type of potions was anything to go by then she needed to do more than simply farm to level and unlock new bow variants.
She'd need to learn numerous recipes for different medicines which in turn lead to what she had just discussed with Bluebell about needing to learn to read the country's writing.
And now that she had time to truly think about it Audrey realized that it might help to improve on her archery skills. She had precision and speed down pat along with the proper stance to use whenever she used any type of bow and arrow but before coming to this world.
Still back then she was only shooting at stations targets, shooting at moving targets and tried to fight back was another story even if it was ultimately manageable thanks to the amount of skill she had thanks to years of practice suffice to say she needed to grow more adept at using the bow in battle.
She surmised that the best place to start on the list of tasks she was setting for herself in the future was improving on shooting while she was furthering her skills when it came to shooting a target that moved, at the very least honing her overall archery skills would allow her to use the legendary bow to its highest potential at least when weapon skills weren't involved.
Another thing she'd have to look into was magic. She had already witnessed both one of her original teammates and bluebell use it ready making it a given that it existed in this world but that begged the question of if it was possible for her to learn it.
If so then what type of magic would she be able to use, would it be any kind she wished to learn or a certain type of affinity in the case she'd have a choice or if the affinity was already set. Whatever the case might have been it was something that could help further her prowess if the possibility of learning it even existed.
There was also the method she was able to use to enhance any individual bow skills that she unlocked.
Speaking of the said method Audrey decided to look through her status screen and pull up the quick dash skill in order to see where she might find its current level.
Quick dash Lv1/15
The bow hero couldn't help but raise an eyebrow upon seeing this, the last time she looked through her list of available skills all the screen had shown was the name of the skill in question not its level or so she could have sworn but that was another oddity in and of itself that was actually starting to stand out.
First back when she told Naofumi about the monster drop inventory he initially was unsure of whether or not to believe Audrey claiming it wasn't there the first time he looked, then the recipe tab seemingly appeared out of nowhere in Audrey's own menu screen and now this. It was almost like the menu screen was altering itself and adding new features.
The bow clicked her tongue as she was beginning to suspect this, but she couldn't truly confirm it as things stood.
Audrey couldn't help but sigh upon taking all of this in. Her schedule was going to be rather full for the time being. Still, she would rather take the longer route to make sure she knew everything she needed to than just skim over everything and have it potentially catch up to her later.
Well on the bright side she shouldn't have to worry about being bored for a long while though it was the least of worries given the situation.
After another few minutes the duo made it to their first intended destination. "Welcome, are there any wares that might interest you?" The shopkeeper asked as soon as the two entered the establishment.
Audrey looked around seeing the various potions and appraising them. Their quality ranged from "very poor" to "poor" with only a select few being "fair" and only one of the said "fair" ones being actual healing potion causing the bow hero to sigh.
It looked like she wouldn't be obtaining higher quality items any time soon. All things considered it could probably be chucked to another reason to learn various recipes for concocting different medicines.
"I'm just here to stock up on a few healing potions before I head out to fight monsters." Audrey said offhandedly.
"Ah a couple of adventures I see."
"You could say that." The bow hero replied. While a part of her wondered how she was being mistaken for another common adventurer considering that her bow was somewhat of a giveaway as to who she was but regardless she didn't really care since her priorities lie with maximizing her chances of surviving the entire ordeal if the people needed someone to act the part of an idol then they could just look to spears hero's dumbass.
"So many are you looking to get?"
"At least five and if possible for their quality to at the very least be above very poor.
"That won't be a problem so long as you have the money."
"I can assure you that money won't be a problem."
"Alright then." With that the shopkeeper pulled five healing off the shelves with four of the being of "poor" quality whilst the final was of "fair" quality. "One silver and thirty copper."
Audrey handed over two silver and received the change back along with the potions she purchased.
"Are you sure five will be enough?" Bluebell inquired as the two left the store.
"It'll have to do for the time being. Besides I don't exactly have the capacity to hold twenty and fifty things." Audrey said as she stored each of the potions in her bow's item inventory.
"You're able to store things within your bow, aren't you?"
"Yes, but how much I can put in depends on what specifically I'm storing."
"What do you mean?"
"My bow has two types of inventories. One for monster drops which I can store various materials collected from various kills which is pretty infinite like you'd most likely expect."
"And the other inventory?"
"It's used for actually items such as the potions I've put in, my knife, and the different pieces of my equipment but the problem is unlike the first one it has a limit of fifteen things."
"So that's why you only got a small number of potions."
"Yeah, I'm gonna have to either get some type of backpack or find some way to expand the item inventory's space in the future."
"Well a backpack might be the simpler way to go but if we ever accumulate a lot of things it might be best to get a wagon."
"Maybe but I'm gonna probably need to find a horse to pull it."
"Not necessarily."
"Could you elaborate?"
"You see there are various types of monsters you could tame and have pull wagons."
Audrey placed a hand on her chin in contemplation. Taming a monster would certainly have its uses and if she could have it pull a wagon that was a plus or perhaps two since not only would doing so make it easier for her to keep a large number of items on her indirectly, but it would make for a better mode of transportation.
Overall there were a lot of benefits in taming a monster and maybe having it as a teammate to help out. If the fight with the saber tooth black Leopard taught her anything it was that she couldn't realistically go through this by herself. She may have come out on top during that skirmish but that was only thanks to the equip effect of the silver bow and the skill she accumulated from her years of practicing archery. Still regardless of all that obtaining a monster would have to take a back seat in terms of priorities for the time being.
"Alright it might be worth looking into in the future."
"I want to find a vendor to sell the excess materials I have for whatever amount of money I can get."
"I know of one that we can go to."
"Lead the way."
It only took a few minutes of walking since the location of the vendor in question since they weren't far from the apothecary.
"Hello, I heard that I can sell monster drops here is that true?"
"Yes." The vendor answered rather bitterly slighting confusing Audrey who decided to simply leave it be.
"Okay I got a lot of drops I want to sell." Audrey said producing all the balloon scraps from her bow earning a look of surprise from the vendor.
"What kind of weapon makes balloon scraps from nothing?!"
"What? No, my bow has the unique ability to store things in it."
"Is that so? I've never heard of such a weapon being to do that before in my years."
"Let's just say mine is...on the unique side...in more ways than one."
Vendor stared at the scrapes intently with a look of discomfort as there was something about them that he didn't like. Audrey was a bit curious as to what it was, surely it couldn't be that he was simply disgusted by certain monster parts considering the business he was running and even if that actually was the case there were other monster parts that were far more gross and grotesque than simple balloon scraps.
Perhaps the vendor had some type of phobia of orange balloons from some bad experience he had involving them, it was the only thing Audrey could have thought of.
Either way she'd never know. The vendor gave her two copper coins for each scrap. Audrey then proceeded to produce other pieces of various materials she had and got an overall around seventy silver coins.
'Alright this should help sustain our funds for the time being.'
After collecting her payment for the drops Audrey turned to Bluebell. "Is there anything you want to get before we head out?"
"Maybe a simple shield to increase my defense if only by a bit. Considering what weapons we have I believe I'm better suited for the vanguard position."
Audrey wanted to protest simply using Bluebell as a tank since it meant she'd be in an increased amount of danger but refrained from doing so since the underlying truth of the entire matter was that someone would have to play that role and Audrey was in no position to do it herself since her defense was minimal.
"Fair enough. I saw numerous shields on the wall of the weapon shop so I'm sure Erhard has something you can make use of."
"You know the owner personally?"
"Both me and Naofumi met him and got acquainted with him the first time we were there."
"I see, is he aware of you being one of the four heroes?"
"Yeah he's aware unlike most other people here."
"So you and the shield hero are friends with him?"
"I don't know if I'd go that far since we only met him a few days ago but he's been helpful to both of us."
"Do you believe he'll still be of help to the...other hero?"
"Yes, he's the one person who's at least given Naofumi the benefit of the doubt even after the rumors even after the rumors of his fabricated crime spread throughout the town giving him cheap gear when his previous gear was stolen."
"That's a relief."
"Anyway, let's hurry after we're done there I want to do a little bit of farming to level both us up and get in a little practice hitting moving targets with my bow."
"Really? With how you took down that leopard on your own I would have thought you were already skilled with a bow."
"I am but before I was brought to this world, I really only practiced hitting stationary targets and while I've been able to hit targets that move and fight back since being summoned as the bow hero it takes literally all of my concentration to pull it off so I'd like to grow more adept at it to better suit my skills for fighting in preparation for the waves."
"I know where we can find a few usapils."
"Will they help us in any way?"
"In two actually, they'll give a fair amount of experience allowing us to level up and since they have somewhat considerate speed they can also be used as a way to help you practice as a way of helping you become more attuned to shooting moving targets."
"That'll definitely make for a good starting point." Audrey mused as the two arrived at their next destination.
"It looks like you and the shield hero really like showing up together whenever you come here." "Huh?"
Audrey was confused by the blacksmith's statement until she spotted the shield hero standing off to the side with an expression that easily conveyed that he had gone through a high amount of stress even after the trial had ended. While that was more or less to be expected given his ruined standing with the people of this country something told Audrey that something more happened with Naofumi while the two of them had separated.
The shield hero met the bow hero's gaze before muttering her name briefly and casting his own gaze to the ground almost as if in shame?
This caught Audrey's attention, did something else happen that Naofumi didn't want to talk about? Surely he should realize after the trial that she wouldn't laugh at or judge him.
"Naofumi is everything ok?" It sounded like rather obtuse question for obvious reasons which Audrey was very aware of but she wasn't sure what else to say after running into the shield hero unexpectedly.
Naofumi just continued staring at the ground whilst replying. "I…..found someone to join my party."
"Ok." Audrey replied. She wanted to show more enthusiasm towards this revelation and encourage Naofumi that he was able to begin properly leveling up now but she sensed that there was something more to the arrangement that Naofumi wasn't overly eager to share.
"It's a great relief to know you found someone to assist you in your quest sir shield hero after what the king pulled at the trial." Bluebell chimed in leaving Naofumi taken aback.
"Yo-you believe I'm innocent?"
"Lady Audrey has informed me of everything that had transpired from when you and the other heroes were all summoned up to the trial, so I'm aware of what's actually going on."
"So you realize the king is trash?"
"I'm honestly shocked he would pull something so outrageous, he should have more common sense than this but that aside who's your new companion?"
Naofumi grunted before gesture over to the dressing room with his head which proved to Audrey that he was uncomfortable with the subject when it came to whoever his new companion was. "Naofumi is something wrong?" The bow hero inquired
"Th-the thing is….." He trailed off unable to finish his sentence.
Audrey found herself wondering if she should press the issue when a voice spoke up saying "I'm done." from the dressing room raising a red flag for Audrey.
The voice in question was feminine but that wasn't the problem, what was the problem was that the voice was young, alarmingly young giving the bow hero a sinking feeling as to why Naofumi was uncomfortable talking about his companion.
From the dressing room emerged a girl around ten years old if not younger with long brown hair wearing a red and brown traveling dress with a short sword strapped to their side.
One unique aspect the girl had was her animal-like ears and a somewhat bushy tail coming out of the back of her dress signifying her as the first demi human Audrey has ever laid eyes on. Had circumstances been different Audrey might have taken some type of interest in the girl for the said aspect but there was a much more pressing matter at hand.
While Audrey wanted to be happy that Naofumi found someone to fight alongside him the fact his new teammate was a child of all things was far from pleasing, surely, he had to know that the world and people were real and that a child shouldn't be dragged into the situation with the waves for any reason.
Audrey was about to chastise the shield hero when she noticed something more alarming in the form of a combination of the girl's nearly lifeless eyes, her unkempt hair, and most importantly the three shackles around both of her wrists and neck, seeing these Audrey remembered what Bluebell had told her of when she explained Melromarc's general stance when it came to demi humans.
"Naofumi is this girl a slave?"
The only reply the shield gave was silence
"Please tell me she isn't!" Audrey pleaded more so than demanded.
"She is."
Audrey's own gaze fell to the ground unable to believe what she was hearing this. "Naofumi…...why?"
"I didn't buy a slave because I wanted to own one." "Then why? Please tell me." Audrey pleaded.
She didn't know why but the idea that Naofumi would willingly resort to something this twisted was something Audrey didn't want to accept or perhaps she simply couldn't. Weather it was because the concept of slavery sickened her or if it was because it was Naofumi who she had gained admiration for after she got to know him on their first night in this world of all people getting involved in the practice she really didn't know.
There had to be something more to this, she knew that shitty excuse of a king went out of his way to make things unbearable for Naofumi but surely it couldn't have erased the kindness from his heart.
"I had to."
Audrey looked back up at Naofumi who was finally meeting her gaze as he continued.
"After we separated I tried to fight on my own but because of this stupid shield not giving me any attack power it's impossible. I need someone to fight for me like you suggested back at the tavern."
"But a slave of all things…."
"It was the only choice I had."
"How?"
"Thanks to that bitch setting me up no one will join me, the closest things I found to people actually willing to fight with me wore a group of thugs looking to rob me and that's not even counting the part where one of the vendors tried to rip me off only paying me two copper for thirty balloon scraps, I can't trust anyone not to try stabbing me in the back the first chance the get now."
"I see. So you purchased a slave since it's impossible for them to betray you." Bluebell said.
"Ye-yeah."
Upon hearing this Audrey understood what she needed to. Naofumi didn't purchase a slave because he wanted someone to abuse and control, he needed someone he knew wouldn't do anything like Myne had or try to harm him in some other way the moment his back was turned.
It wasn't that the shield hero desired this, the king and that cunt's actions made Naofumi's situation so bad he had no choice but to resort to this.
A part of her felt disgust, not at Naofumi but once again at the king, Myne, Motoyasu, and all the people of this world another part of felt relief at knowing that Naofumi hadn't become twisted into someone who was no better than the people who were going out of their way to deny him any help he'd need.
After calming down Audrey spoke up once more to the shield hero. "Alright I get you were forced to do this because of that staged trial but Naofumi please promise me that you won't do anything cruel to the girl and don't force her to do something that's beyond her."
"I promise that I won't put her in any situation that's too much for her but Audrey I do need her to fight for me."
"I know." The bow hero conceded.
"Thank you for understanding and you two miss….." "Bluebell." Audrey's teammate replied.
"I'm guessing you're Audrey's partner?"
"As of today yes."
"It's nice to meet you."
"Likewise, sir shield hero, I've always wanted a chance to see the four cardinal heroes with my own eyes."
"I see. But anyway, I got one more thing I need to do before I leave." With that Naofumi reached into his cloak momentarily confusing everyone present before he pulled out an orange balloon. "Raphtalia stab this balloon."
"Wh-what?!" The girl who was now identified inquired in a near state of panic.
"Stab this balloon." Naofumi said more firmly
In response Raphtalia pulled out her short sword and held it in both hands but beyond that she stood where she was with shaky legs which everyone present noticed.
It was plain to see that the demi human girl was afraid of having to actually kill something.
Naofumi sighed before resorting to something he really didn't want to and certainly not in front of the one person who truly had faith in him. "Raphtalia stab this balloon that's an order."
As soon as Naofumi said this a purple tinted glow began to emit from Raphtalia's chest before the girl began receiving a painful shock.
Audrey was about to plead with Naofumi to stop before seeing that even the shield hero himself was grimacing at having to do this making it clear that he wasn't deriving any joy out of having to cause the demi human girl pain.
Under the torment brought on by the slave crest the girl complied and ran at the balloon attempting to stab it only for the balloon to bite down on the blade and spit it out pushing Raphtalia back in the process.
"Try again and put more force into it." Naofumi said firmly enough to get the message across without coming off too harshly or activating the slave crest.
Raphtalia complied running at the balloon once more and thrusting her short sword foreword this time successfully stabbing and killing the balloon.
"So did both of you get exp from that?" Audrey inquired.
"Yeah, she got 7 exp while I only got 1."
"I'd say it looks like you'll be able to gather exp properly now but Naofumi I need you to remember what you just promised me."
"I will, as long as Raphtalia does her part, I'll protect her with my life and make sure nothing ever happens to her. You can count on that."
"I will."
"See you during the wave." Naofumi said as he and Raphtalia were about to leave the establishment before Audrey stopped exclaiming the word "wait." Prompting Naofumi to turn around and look at her with curiosity.
"I have something I was actually meaning to give that should help you."
"Audrey I appreciate it I really do but I don't have anything to give you in return."
"That's fine these materials are something I want to give you to help you. It's the most I can do since I can't fight alongside you."
"But I can't do anything for you." Naofumi replied.
"It's fine." Audrey said producing the materials from the black saber tooth cat that she saved for Naofumi from her bow. "I'm not giving these so I can get something in return, I'm doing this because I'm on your side."
"Uh...right." Naofumi said before taking the materials and absorbing them in his shield before he looked through all the bonus and effects they came with.
"Did they help?"
"Yeah I got some pretty decent stat bonuses and two new skills though I can only use one of them."
"I'm guessing the one from to claw is sealed?"
"Yeah but how did you know?"
"It's the same way with my bow. When I absorbed one of them into my weapon I got a notification saying that the skill was locked until I've reached level thirty five."
"Same for my shield."
"I figured as much. What about the one you can use?"
"It's a skill called "shield bash" and apparently it's at level one of ten."
Audrey raised an eyebrow upon hearing that. It wasn't the skill level itself she wasn't expecting but rather its cap. Why was it only ten when the cap on her quick dash skill was fifteen? The only thing she could theorize was that the cap randomly varied depending on the individual skill in question but she'd have to unlock more skills for herself before she could draw any concrete conclusion.
"That makes sense my own skill has a level on it."
"Alright then. I promise I'll return the favor when I am able to." Naofumi declared before he turned his gaze to Raphtalia who had been staring at the two heroes curiously until Naofumi got her attention and they both left the establishment and the weapons shop owner turned the remaining hero.
"So bow hero, what are you here for?" Erhard asked Audrey.
"It might come as somewhat as an ironic surprise considering that Naofumi was just here but I'd like to buy a shield for my new companion."
"I see, anything in particular you had in mind?"
"I'd personally like something that'll give her defense a visible boost without it being too expensive. But it's up to her what she wants."
"I agree with lady Audrey's preference." Bluebell said.
"Alright but before I can recommend anything I need to ask what's your level?" "Six."
Erhard sighed. "In that case, the only thing I can recommend is a basic wooden shield. After you level up to at least eight you can switch to a buckler or if your level is even higher an iron shield the next you come in."
Audrey cast a glance at one of the wooden shields hanging on the wall and appraised.
Wooden shield: def up (very small)
The bow hero had personally hoped that the shield in question would at least give a "small" boost in defense but seemed the situation situation. Audrey supposed the best thing to do was make sure that Bluebell was leveled up enough to get a better shield before the wave arrived. "Alright how much?"
"45 copper pieces."
Audrey placed down one silver before receiving the change."
"You ready to head out Bluebell?"
"Yeah." The female adventurer said grabbing the shield off of the rack before the two turned to leave the store.
"So, was there anywhere else you wanted to stop by before we set off?"
"No, I believe we went everywhere I can think of visiting."
"I'm pleased to hear it, I'll show you where the Usapils are." With that Bluebell led Audrey out of the capital and into the fields. It took a bit over an hour to get to the general location where the monsters in question were. The duo was greeted to the sight of rabbit-like creatures that were on the fatter side compared to the vicious rabbit.
"These monsters should work as a way to help you become more used to shooting moving targets. I'll keep on guard to make sure none get too close to you."
Audrey swiftly summoned an arrow and fired it at one of the usapils which immediately died upon the arrow hitting its target.
Audrey saw the gained twenty seven exp while Bluebell gained twenty three. Overall the amount wasn't very sufficient for the bow hero herself but it would definitely help Bluebell level up at a decent enough pace for the time being.
For the next hour or so Audrey spent her time simply killing usapils to hone her archery skills via shooting one of them and intentionally waiting for the rest to turn their attention towards her so when they ran in her direction with the desire to retaliate they'd make for better moving targets.
While the process was simple due to the fact that the usapils only ran straight towards Audrey it still provided the bow hero with the method she needed to further refine her skill.
"So do you have a better feel for using the bow in battle."
"Compared to before I got here yes."
"Alright then how about we move on to another kind of target?"
"I'm all for it." Audrey replied before she went to strip down a few usapils for any potential bows she could unlock. Afterwards Bluebell led her to another area with a nearby forest.
"So what am I going to be shooting here?"
"A more mobile monster known as a hostile crow." Bluebell answered pointing to the monster in question.
Audrey looked in the direction that her teammate was pointing in and saw a monster that without a doubt resembled a crow, in fact the only notable difference between it and the more traditional one from her own world was that it had bright red eyes.
Appraising it Audrey saw it was around level seven and now that she thought about it she turned to see Bluebell for a moment and found she went up one level while Audrey was using usapils for target practice whilst the bow hero was still at level ten.
Turning to the monster in question Audrey took aim and let an arrow loose piercing the crow's chest and causing it to fall from the tree. "I was kind of hoping it would try to utilize its mobility so I could push myself." She mused before hearing a crow within the trees.
"You're about to have the opportunity." Bluebell replied standing a little ways in front of Audrey in case she was needed as another crow flow out of the tree leaves and straight after Audrey who quickly summoned another arrow before firing.
The crow in response diverted its course to the side and avoided the incoming projectile prompting Audrey to smile. A moving target that was intelligent enough to avoid her attacks if it was able to and that took to the air on top of having a smaller size.
If there was something that could really allow the bow hero to practice and push her skills to their limit this was it without a doubt. She'd definitely improve from this.
The hostile crow began circling around likely readying itself for another dive attack all the while Audrey had another arrow at the ready and lined up in the short in the shortest time span possible.
Once the crow flew at her once more with its talons at the ready Audrey steadied her shot on it while she waited for it to close the distance.
Once the crow was within an acceptable range Audrey let her arrow loose. This time the crow didn't have time to dodge the attack headed its way and its chest was pierced its chest.
"It looks like you're talented enough to perfect dealing with these creatures rather fast." Bluebell chimed.
"I simply waited until the Crow was too close to too anything when I shot in its direction. I'd like to make sure I'm able to shoot one of these birds while they're in flight and at a far enough distance."
"Well if that's how you feel we're gonna have to look for more hostile crows, do you really feel the need to take your training that far? You're already becoming better attuned to using your bow in battle."
"Maybe but I'd rather not be put in too many fights where I'm forced to let an enemy come in close since that presents a risk in and of itself, it may have worked so far but luck can run out at the worst time when you push it too far which is something I'd like to avoid." Audreu admitted in all honesty.
That tactic was something that may have worked with the vicious rabbit and in a manner of speaking the saber tooth black tiger but there were other factors that were coincidentally in Audrey's favor that played noticeable parts in both victories. Hell if not for her silver bow having enough of an attack boost to pierce the latter of the two monster's paw Audrey would have been dead.
She may have had an ally who was as of now handling the defenses and helping her with fights making her situation significantly better compared to what it previous was since the bow lost the support of the crown but that didn't mean she was going to start taking every unnecessary risk she could under the delusion that it wasn't a big deal or that the risk in question was harmless especially when the underlying reality was that she could die and her biggest priority was surviving.
"I see your point, anyway, let us find more ho-" Bluebell suddenly stopped upon hearing another "caw." From the trees before another crow came out of the tree line targeting Bluebell who raised she newly obtained shield allow the hostile to ram into it head on leaving itself dazed as it fell to the ground providing bluebell the opening she needed to dispose of it with a swift thrust of her rapier to the monster's chest.
Audrey smiled at this since it showed that Bluebell had more competence than her original team provided by the king when it came to fighting off monsters.
"As I was about to suggest we should look for more hostile crows after you've stripped down ones you've already killed."
"I'll get this done as fast as I'm able to." Audrey announced as she proceeded to get to work unlocking all the possible bows and obtaining her second skill (or third if she counted whatever the locked skill from the saber tooth black tiger claw bow was) known as "scouting" which was level 1 out of 6 in the process.
Like the "quick dash" the name of her new skill was pretty much sounded rather self explanatory which was only further affirmed when Audrey looked up the information in her help screen when it confirmed that the skill was used to detect far away enemies but one detail Audrey didn't expect to be present was that she'd have to be at a high vantage point to use the said skill.
It was slightly inconvenient to have that type of restriction but thanks to her stats it would of simply matter of jumping atop a nearby tree and…
Audrey face palmed before groaning in annoyance at what she finally realized that she had been overlooking during this entire practice session.
"Is something up?"
"I just realized there was something else I need to work on while I have time or maybe two."
"Which are shooting while I'm moving and jumping through the air."
Bluebell sweat dropped upon hearing this. "Are you sure you're not over doing it?"
"Yeah, besides we only got so much time to prepare for the wave."
"How much exactly?"
"Not sure."
"Haven't you gone to register at the dragon hourglass?" Audrey gave bluebell a confused look.
"You are aware of the dragon hourglass aren't you? The king surely would have mentioned it when you and the other hours were summoned."
"I think he mentioned something about it moving before but what does- it shows how much time we have until the next wave hits doesn't it?"
"After you've registered at it yes."
"Well then we'll have to stop by when we get the chance." With that Audrey collected the rest of her spoils from her kills before the pair moved on to part pf the forested area.
For the next couple of hours Audrey spent her time bettering her shooting skills in different scenarios which most of she got a decent enough feel with the only area still giving real trouble being performing a high jump utilizing her stats and shooting while still in midair all the while Bluebell stood at the ready to protect her if an enemy looked like they were getting in too close.
Along the way she decided to utilize her quick dash skill as a hostile crow tried to attack her and as expected she gained a major burst of speed which in turn allowed her to zip to the side a set distance dodging the crows attack before following up with her own.
"Now that I've tested the only skill I can utilize during the course of a fight out there's just one more thing left to do."
"What would that be?" Bluebell asked.
"Utilizing a method I have to power up my individual skills."
"You're able to do that?!" Bluebell inquired now going into her enthusiastic mode.
"Yeah, by sacrificing a number of monster drops I can level up different skills I've unlocked, the only catch is it's going to take up a large amount of material to level a single skill up even if it's just by one level."
"I see."
"Still, it'll help me strengthen my weapon that much more." Audrey said as she sacrificed the required amount which was more than half of her overall spoils just to increase the skill to level two.
Quick dash Lv 2/15 distance + 3
So, if the level increased the far the burst of speed would take her. The boost might have been minimal but it was still something.
"We should head back before it gets dark, we have no camping equipment to use for the night."
"Alright." Audrey replied before looking at Bluebell's level. The female sword wielder had reached level nine and Audrey level twelve before they both began the trek back to the capitol.
Once the two arrived back in the city, the duo headed in the direction of the church Audrey remembered seeing it once on her first day but back then she didn't bother to do much more than glance at it long enough to make it what the building was used for but now taking the time to examine it she was met with a sight that only reminded her of Naofumi's situation.
At the top of the roof of the said church was a cross shaped statue but that wasn't what caught her attention. What did was at both ends and the top of the cross were a sword spear and bow symbolizing who the church worshipped.
And more so to the point what they didn't if the lack of a shield was of any indication. While these people might worship the very ground Audrey (and the two heroes she could barely care less about) walked on she wasn't particularly eager to be involved with them in any way since they like the crown were likely against Naofumi in a lot of ways when their views were taken into consideration.
The question was whether or not the religious officials were going to try to undermine Naofumi by refusing to allow him to register or in some other form? Audrey truly hoped they wouldn't, things were already bad enough with the crown going out of its way to ensure he failed so the church jumping on the anti-shield bandwagon wouldn't help matters but she knew that odds were extremely high that they would if they were ever provided the opportunity.
Luckily and perhaps unluckily the building seemed to be closed down meaning the Bow hero could hold off any involvement with them for the time being which was something that could be thought of as a personal plus since she didn't want to meet with any of them.
The problem was she needed to register sooner rather than later so the oncoming wave didn't catch her off guard so she really couldn't afford to put it off for an excessive amount of time.
"It seems we'll have to come by tomorrow." Bluebell mused.
"I've noticed." Audrey sighed. "I'm really hoping that there aren't any complications when the time comes."
"The church is generally open to the public so there shouldn't be any problems with gaining entry."
"Good. I'd like to get it done without any delays."
With that the pair began heading back to the city inn. After the two arrived they purchased a single room with two beds to save money.
With a day of training under her belt Audrey truly felt she'd be able to fight with more ease, still there was a long list of things that she needed to get done down the road.
Whatever came however she just really hoped that the hindrances and complications wouldn't pile up any further.
Alright that's another ch down. Sorry that not much happened in this chapter but there wasn't really much I could do in terms of potential action I pretty much just used this ch to confirm a few anticipations from reviewers.
As was pointed out Naofumi's trauma from the trial has indeed been reduced thanks to
Audrey's actions though that being said he's still going to be wary of people around him.
As for Naofumi's party well in spite of some suggestions I got it's pretty much going to stay the same as in cannon.
And to fellow Motoyasu haters, I'm well aware of what happens to Rino and wow that was just f...ed up beyond all measures and let"s just say to those who wish to see the spear hero truly pay for all the $#!+ he does well I won't give away spoilers, but you won't be disappointed since I personally don't see Motoyasu in any better light than I see bitch and trash manipulated or not basically I DOWNRIGHT HATE THE SOB probably more than most. As for why, I'll elaborate on it in future author's notes
And also as a lot of people were asking about this Audrey does have a power up method which is similar to Ren's which if I remember correctly converts monster drops to energy to strengthen different weapon variants but the difference in Audrey's method is that it focuses on individual skills via leveling them up rather than the different weapons. Also it uses a lot of materials and I mean A LOT so neither she nor Noafumi are going to be able to max out their skill levels in the blink of an eye.