Chapter 2: The Blade of Hopeless
"Okay, all things have been cleared." Tomori thought to himself as he left the magic shop with a couple of books, which is Lightning Magic Grimoire and a few children's reading books. The reason is because he needs to learn the alphabet of this country to read the grimoire. "Ugh, I can translate speech, but not text? Why that isn't a feature in the first place?! Anyways, I have completed the essential adventuring items."
He stored the books inside his weapon gemstone, which transferred it into the weapon inventory.
"Couple of potions, a used pastel and mortar, an old mid-level potion recipe book, children's books and a grimoire. I guess this is it. Let's go hunting."
Tomori walked through the streets and headed towards the exit of this town.
After he left the town, Tomori went deep through the forest.
Rustle*
He quickly hid behind a tree when he heard the rustling from the bushes.
"What kind of monster is it?"
He stares deep into the bushes until the monster comes out of it.
Bulp*
It was a blue slime.
"Huh? It's a slime. How generic…" A name then appears on his HUD.
Blue Slime LV.1
"Sorry, Rimuru, but you're going to be my EXP fodder for today." Tomori pulled his sword out went straight out from behind the tree and headed to the said slime.
"?!" The slime noticed him. So it prepared itself to attack.
"Hah!" Tomori uses his sword to smack the slime.
Splash*
EXP 3
"Only one hit? Man, I guess a slime is really a weak monster after all-" But what Tomori forgot is that slime always moves in groups.
"!!!" A dozen slimes raining down from the forest tree.
"Holy cow-" Tomori managed to evade them with thin hair. "Okay, seems like you wanted a party. And it seems like you bought your cousin with you as well."
Tomori said that because there were different colored slimes inside the group.
Blue Slimes Lv.1
Yellow Slimes Lv.2
Red Slimes Lv.3
Dark Slimes Lv.4
Acidic Slime Lv. 6
"Four blue, three yellow, two red, two dark and a single acidic. The acidic one could become a problem for me…"
He holds his sword handle with both of his hands and heads towards the blue slime. "One blue equals 3 EXP. If I kill 4 blue then I would get-"
"?!" Tomori swings his sword horizontally, killing all of the blue slime.
Level Up!
"Level 2!"
"!!!" The yellow and red slimes tried to attack Tomori. But he noticed it and evaded it. But he didn't know that he went close to the Acidic Slime.
"Oh f*ck!" The slime shot an acid attack at him. But he managed to block the acid using his sword blade. "That was close…"
A Dark Smile tried to attack him, but Tomori continuously slash the slime until it dies. He then backed down to gain some range between him and the slimes.
"Okay, six more to go…"
He braces him and dive into the battle with the slime, slashing all of the remaining Yellow, Red and Dark Slimes.
"Yosh! Level 3!" Tomori turned his head to the last slime, which is the Acidic Slime. "It's 3 levels higher than me, but I can defeat it!"
He rushed towards the slime. It retaliates by shooting its acid into Tomori.
"That won't work!"
By holding his sword like a baseball bat, Tomori sends the acid splash to the sides as the charge into the slime.
"!!!" The slime tries to retreat, but it's already too late.
"Hah!" Tomori leaps forward and releases a straight vertical slash at the slime, instantly killing it.
Level Up!
"Nice! Level 4!" He then absorbed all of whatever the slimes left into his sword gemstone.
Weapon Form Unlocked!
Blue Slime Sword : Ability Locked:
Equip Bonus: ATK 1
Yellow Slime Sword : Ability Locked:
Equip Bonus: ATK 2
Red Slime Sword : Ability Locked:
Equip Bonus: ATK 3
Dark Slime Sword : Ability Locked:
Equip Bonus: ATK 3, DEF 3
Acidic Slime Sword : Ability Locked:
Equip Bonus: ATK 3, DEF 3
Special Effect: Acid Blade (Weak)
"Oh, there's the item drop. The Monster Encyclopaedia has increased my stats a bit due to unlocking new monster materials. And the Acidic Slime Sword has a tad bit better stats than this sword."
Small Sword : Ability Unlocked
Equip Bonus: ATK 3, AGI 3
"Hmm… Let's try using this Bonus Status Level method here…"
He opened up his status and proceeded to dump every drop item and some of the slime blops to fill up the attack gauge.
Attack Gauge 5/5
Gauge Up! "Attack 1"
Attack Job Lv.2
"Allure Reaction" Skill Obtained!
"New skill? And it's a kind of skill that attracts your opponent. Maybe useful in some cases."
With that, Tomori continued venturing deeper into the forest.
After venturing through the forest, Tomori slayed every living being that he encountered (not humans though). He is able to destroy the Mushyroom bloodline, have a wrestle with the Hound Wolf's pack and get PTSD from fighting the Horned Rabbit.
After watching THAT Re:Zero episode, Tomori has forever changed his view on rabbits. He also plucked a lot of herbs inside the forest. And he has gained a plethora of weapon form. One which he didn't know where it came from.
Pipe Sword: Ability Locked:
Skill: Chain Bind
"Pipe Sword… This weapon randomly unlocked when I absorbed a lot of monster materials in one go. I wonder what other weird weapons will show up someday."
After hours of non-stop grinding, he has reached level 9, a few EXP more to get to level 10. As his level increased, the EXP requirement got bigger and bigger.
"Hmm… I need to fight some high level monsters if I need to get more EXP…" As he found the end of the forest, he saw an abandoned mine not far from where he's standing. "A mine, huh? Reminds me of a certain game. It's a good thing I bought a pickaxe."
As he got closer to the mine, he saw an almost broken down storage room. He then went inside the storage room to find if there's anything interesting inside of it.
"There's nothing besides a rusty pickaxe, a rusty chain and a strand of rope."
Tomori went and took those items and let the weapon absorb it.
Weapon Form Unlocked!
Pickaxe Sword : Ability Locked:
Equip Bonus: Mining 1
Chain Sword : Ability Locked:
Skill: Blade Bash
Special Effect: Chain
Rope Sword : Ability Locked:
Skill: Erst Slash
Special Effect: Rope
"Okay, a weapon made of chain and rope isn't what I expect to have an attacking skill. Oh well, can't complain about it."
Tomori left the storeroom and went inside the mine.
"Hmm… It's so dark inside. Are there any torches lying on the ground?"
He looked at the ground and then he realised something.
"Wait… I have a crafting system!"
He immediately opens his status to access the crafting menu. He hoped that the crafting recipe for torch is similar to Minecraft, but it's not.
"Okay, I can't craft a torch. But I can craft a lantern? That's odd. Anyways…"
He puts the item in the crafting menu and waits for the magic to happen. The lantern comes out from the gemstone of his sword.
"I didn't expect the lantern to already be lit up." He holds the lantern in his left hand and continues venturing into the mine. "Going inside an abandoned mine alone isn't something that I expect to do after being summoned yesterday."
What Tomori expected when he get isekaied is that his adventures would be like Konosuba. But he isn't prepared to face the bullsh*terry that Konosuba has to offer. And speaking of bullsh*terry…
"Oi, oi, what the f*ck is this?!" Tomori looks in front of him and sees there's a lot of species of monsters in every corner of the mine.
Screeching Bat Lv.5
Horned Rabbit Lv.6
Poisonous Mushyroom Lv.8
Acidic Slime Lv.8
Dark Horned Rabbit Lv.9
Poisonous Slime Lv.10
Hound Wolf Lv.10
White Hound Wolf Lv.10
"Okay… Should I reconsider my choice?" He then hears a lot of monsters making noises. "Maybe not."
He prepared himself to fight dozens of those monsters.
Tomori was breathing heavily as he rested near the mine wall.
"I guess that's all the monsters in here…"
After brutally killing all the monsters and escaping death multiple times, he finally reached level 21.
"Without disturbance, let's get mining." He brings out a pickaxe and changes his weapon into the Pickaxe Sword. He goes to the section that has a lot of ores sticking out.
"Okay, here goes nothing." As he held the pickaxe, he saw a cursor on his vision that showed the weak points of the walls. "Not like Minecraft, but nice."
He continued to mine the cave. He has gained a lot of Copper Ores and Iron Ores. "This will make good crafting material." He takes the lantern and heads to the next section of the mine.
As he walked, he saw a footprint that's almost three times as big as his head. "Is there a monster up ahead? Maybe I should scout the place first before I start mining."
Ignoring the footprint, Tomori continued walking. He then arrived at the deeper part of the mine. It seems like there's also a waterfall inside of it. There's also a lot of ore sticking out from the walls.
"This is going to make me rich, but first…" He tries to check the area if there's any monster nearby. He has a perfect skill for this. " Allure Reaction!"
Allure Reaction is a skill that will aggro any monster that's close to him. It also can expose enemies that are invisible.
Tomori decided to wait a few seconds to see if anything was coming his way. "Seems like there's nothing. I guess I can start mining-"
Roar*
"I said it too soon, didn't I?" He then proceeded to look where the noise came from. It comes from a cliff on top of him. "A minotaur?"
The minotaur has broken shackles on both of its wrist and legs. Not only that, it also holds a giant white sword and white round shield.
Eclipse Minotaur LV.?
"What?! Why's the level of the monster not showing?! And also… Is that a person on the minotaur's shoulder?" There's a robed person standing on the left side of the minotaur's shoulder.
"Hahahahaha!!! Never did I think that the buffoon of the Blade Hero would enter this mine." The robed person said loudly.
"Who's he?!" Tomori drew his sword out and pointed it at the guy. "Who the hell are you?!"
"Heh, a demon like you isn't worthy to know my name!" The guy replied.
"Demon? What's he on about?!"
"However, I can tell you this. Today, the accursed Blade Demon will be executed by the subject of the Church of Transpierce."
"Blade Demon? Church of Transpierce?"
"Oh, before we begin, I must tell you that this minotaur here is level 60."
"What?! Level 60?! That's triple my level!"
The robed person then jumped and landed next to the minotaur and fished out a Crystal Orb.
"The others will thoroughly enjoy your misery as they see the recording of the Blade Demon get executed."
"Wait… That orb can record videos too-" The minotaur jumped from the cliff and tried to land at Tomori, but he swiftly rolled to the right. "Dammit! Focus! I don't have to fight it. I could just ran away-"
" High Earth Wall!" The robed guy then casts a spell then summons a wall that blocks the entrance.
"F*ck-"
Thud* Thud* Thud*
The minotaur then charged at Tomori at mach speed. It swings its sword at him, but Tomori quickly blocks it with his Pipe Sword.
"Gah!"
But the impact from the minotaur slash makes him thrown back to the walls. He slowly slid down to the ground.
"That hit takes 10% of my HP…"
Tomori slowly raised his body from the ground as the minotaur rushed at him with its shield in front.
"Hah!" He carefully evaded the minotaur and let it rammed into the walls. "This is my chance!"
Using all of his strength, Tomori ran towards the minotaur while switching his sword to the Rope Sword.
" Erst Slash!" The red gemstone on his sword glows brightly as he slashes the minotaur's legs. "How much damage does it deal…"
Tomori is speechless as he sees the minotaur's HP gauge.
"Only a few pixels…"
Roar*
The minotaur recovers himself and swings its shield at Tomori.
"Ugh!" He barely dodged it by dashing to the left. "I can't kill this thing! Not when I'm under level. And the robed guy is enjoying his view up there. What should I do to ensure my survival-"
Swoosh*
While Tomori is thinking about how he can survive in this situation, the minotaur throws its shield at him at mach speed. He quickly changed his sword to Chain Sword.
" Blade Bash!" Tomori attempts to change the trajectory of the shield by using a skill on it. But as the shield and sword get into contact, the skill gets cancelled due to Tomori not having high ATK stats. "GAH!"
In the end, he got thrown back to the other side of the walls, but this time, his HP is almost under 50%.
"Is there… Any chance for me to-"
Thud* Thud* Thud*
The minotaur quickly picked up his shield and rammed Tomori to the walls using it.
"ARGH!!!" Tomori loudly screamed in pain as he got rammed to the walls.
"Don't kill him yet!" The robed guy said loudly to the minotaur. "Let him suffer the most miserable death!"
Roar*
The minotaur roared loudly as he continuously rammed its shield at Tomori, who wasn't able to retaliate against it.
Thud* Crack* Thud* Crack*
Every time the shield hit his body, he felt like his bones had been shattered to pieces.
"That's it! Let him suffer! LET THE BLADE DEMON SUFFER! HAHAHA… HAHAHAHAHA!!!" The robed guy is laughing like a maniac.
"I guess this is it for me… Wow, I thought that getting Isekai would be fun. Hunting monsters, using rare items, etc… But now… I'm going to die because some sicko thinks I'm a demon…"
As he looked at the minotaur with his vision being soiled by his own blood, he heard a beep inside of his mind.
"…Huh?"
He then noticed a text appear in his mind. Saying:
D̴̙̊̂o̴̡̨̞̝̾͌ ̶͔̠̫̤̎͆͊̂ÿ̶̡̗̟́̋̑̊͜o̸̖̙̻͆͌u̸̧̾̂̓̆ ̶̲̺͈̋̌w̶̪͐́̅ḁ̶̢̒̊̀͌n̴̖̉́ͅť̸̪̰͇̲͊͑ ̵̮̳̗͓̏̔p̸̻͎̺͛͋ȯ̷̪̭̪ẅ̵̤̩̥́̕͝͝ě̵̥̩̿r̷̺̘̀̓͗?̷͓̍
"Power… Do I want power… Can I survive right now if I have the power…" Tomori can't think straight as he has taken too much physical damage. "I guess… I could try that."
Curse Series Blade Forcefully Unlocked!
Weapon Form Unlocked!
"Hah… We can't delay this any further. Well then, it's over for you, Blade Demon! Finish him!" The robed guys ordered the minotaur.
As it raised his sword to deal the finishing blow.
Roar-
"Chain Bind."
The minotaur suddenly gets wrapped by chains.
"Wh-What?!" The robed guys shouted in confusion. He then looked closely at Tomori.
Crack* Crack* Crack*
Tomori slowly stood up from the ground as his body slowly healed itself.
"Ah, ah… I almost died." He said without any energy at all. Not only that, his eyes had turned to blue and his weapon completely changed to a different form.
Blade Of Hopeless : Ability Locked:
Skill: Switchblade (Attack), Guillotine
Special Effect: Self Curse Mist, Evasion Up, Agility Down, HP Recovery (Extra Small), SP Recovery (Extra Small)
Born from a vanishing hope: Blade of Despair
The sword has the appearance of a white long sword and the gemstone has turned from red to blue.
"Hmm… This is weird. I felt strong and yet, I'm extremely exhausted at the same time. Maybe it's because of the damage I took." Tomori thought to himself as he looked at his brand new sword. "Oh, a new sword. And what's this-"
"How?! How are you still standing after all of that?!" The robed guy yelled at him.
"Why the hell do I tell you that?" Tomori replied back. "I'll deal with you later, but first…"
He turned to the minotaur that was still wrapped with chains.
"There's a notification on my HUD… Combo sequence?" Tomori read the requirements of the combo sequence. "So I need to activate this skill, right? Let's try it. Switchblade (Attack), Acid Blade (Weak)."
Roar*
The minotaur roared in pain as its skin got splashed by acid that comes from the chain.
"And lastly, I need to read this cheesy line. Okay. Ehem." Tomori cleared his throat.
"Let the foolish mortal taste hell before me. Forbid their body from reaching the afterlife. Summon a blade that will decapitate their head."
The blue gemstone on Tomori's sword glows brightly.
" Guillotine."
Tomori's SP bar instantly emptied. A storm cloud appears inside the mine. Then, a huge guillotine blade dropped from it. The blade directly slices the body of the minotaur in half. The sword and shield that the minotaur uses then shrink in size.
Level Up!
"Nice. Level 34. And also…" Tomori turned to the robed guy, glaring at him with his blue eyes.
"GRR! Don't you dare look at me like that, you scum!" The robed guy suddenly shouted. "If that monster can't kill you, then I'm going to do it myself! High Terra Fall!"
The robed guy raised his hand to the sky and suddenly, the mine started shaking.
"What the hell did you do?" Tomori asked him.
"Making your grave! With this, I shall receive the greatest reward from my lord by directly killing the Blade Demon! Hahaha… HAHAHAHAHA! HAHAHA-"
Thud*
A boulder from the top of the mine hit the robed guy, instantly killing him.
"Damn, why do people who act like that always get killed by their own doing? In any case, I should leave now."
Tomori went closer to the minotaur corpse and absorbed half of its body to unlock weapon forms and the other half and its equipment got stored in his inventory.
He then gets to the entrance that was blocked by the robed guy magic.
"Hah!" Tomori thrust his sword at the wall and it instantly crumbled apart, making a way for him to escape.
Despite his injuries, Tomori managed to run all the way to the mine exit without any trouble. As he got out from the mine, he heard a loud noise from inside of the mine.
"Huh… Oh well. Now I know that someone is trying to kill me. And I need to find answers about it. But first…"
Tomori turns his sword back to normal, which changes his eyes and gemstone.
"UGH!" At the same time, he felt immense pain all over his body. "Quick! I need to drink a potion or… I…"
Thud*
Tomori slowly fell down to the ground and passed out.
"Ugh… My head… My body… My everything…" Tomori slowly sits on the ground as he scans his surroundings. "Wait a minute… I passed out in front of the mine. How am I-"
"Wuff!" A noise comes from Tomori's back.
"Wah-Ow, ow, ow…" He realised that he still hurt from all that pummeling. Tomori fishes out a potion from his inventory and chugs it. "Ugh, so bitter…"
Some of his injuries instantly healed, but it left a few permanent marks on his body. Then, he turned to the ones who made the noise.
"Wuff!" The small creature barked at him.
"A Hound Wolf's cub? But its fur is grey and its eyes are red…"
Tomori inspected the cub's name on his HUD.
??? Lv.?
"A bunch of exclamation marks…" He carefully checks the cub to determine if it's docile or not.
"..." Using his left hand, Tomori petted the cub's forehead. "No reaction… How about this!"
He then went to hold the cub to the air using both of his hands.
"Wuff!" The cub at Tomori, as if telling him to let it down.
"Okay…" He put the cub down to the ground. "Oh yeah, are you the one who brings me here?"
"Wuff!" The cub shakes its head.
"Alright… Did you see anyone who brought me here?"
"Wuff!" The cub shakes its head again.
"I see…" Tomori then smells something horrible on his body. "Yuck… My clothes and leather armor are reek of blood… Is there any lake here that I can wash myself with? I'm not going into the Inn while smelling like this. And the sun is going to set down. I need to do it quickly."
He then quickly walked through the forest to find any lake inside of it.
"Hmm…?" Tomori turned around and looked down, seeing the wolf cub following him from behind. "Why are you following me? Where are your parents-Don't tell me that I killed your parents?!"
"Wuff!" The cub furiously shook its head.
"If that's the case, then you really wanted to follow me?"
"Wuff!" The cub barks as it sits down and raises one of his paws, as if telling Tomori to shake it.
"Well… I don't really have a chance to get a pet back in my world. So… Yeah!" He knelt down and shook the cub's paw.
Beep*
"Huh?" A message popped in Tomori's HUD.
A pact between the Spirit Beast has been formed!
Weapon Form Unlocked!
Spirit Beast Sword : Ability Locked
Equip Bonus: Spirit Beast Power Up
"What… So it's not a Hound Wolf, but a Spirit Beast… What's a Spirit Beast in the first place? And also, my stats increased a little." All of his stats, besides Luck, have significantly increased from before. "Looks like I can check the stats of this Spirit Beast as well…"
Tomori opens up the window for the Spirit Beast stats.
"Hmm… Level 10… Its Magic Affinity is Lightning? Why is it showing up here? Anyways, its stats are… Almost the same as when I'm level 7. That's strange… Maybe it's because I'm a hero that I have high stats. And also… It's a female?!" Out of all the things that he could be surprised of, he's surprised of the Spirit Beast gender.
"Wuff?" The Spirit Beast tilted its head in confusion as it saw Tomori internally freak out.
"Hmm… The name on my HUD said 'Spirit Beast A'… Ain't no way I'm calling it that. Oh, I know!" Tomori then faced the Spirit Beast. "As of today, your name is Riri!"
"Wuff!" Riri barks as she agrees with Tomori's decision.
"Alright! Let's march forward! To the lake!"
"Wuff!"
Both of them exclaimed enthusiastically. Tomori changed his sword to the one he just got and set towards the lake with his new companion, Riri. Only to remember that he doesn't know where the lake is.
Covered by the trees within the forest, a woman in a panoply of silver armor is watching Tomori walk to another direction with his Spirit Beast.
"Despite his heavy injuries, he managed to stand up and walk like it was nothing? Man, heroes are a crazy bunch of people." The woman thought to herself. "I'm just exploring this country a bit when all the sudden, Randy called me and said the Four Legendary Heroes had been summoned. I thought the country leader's would be discussing who gets to summon who. But with the Blade Hero being here, I guess his life expectancy has increased compared to the last user."
The woman then brings out a leather bag.
"Randy had teleported this bag to me. He said to give it to the Blade Hero. But how would I do that without exposing myself… Oh, I need to follow him."
The woman then followed Tomori far behind. He can't see her because her armor has a cloaking mechanism, which makes her invisible.
After washing all of the bloody odour from his body, Tomori wears his Adidas clothing due to it being the only clean outfit that he had now. He then stored his clothes and leather armor, which he had washed beforehand, into his inventory.
Then, he returned back to the town to stay at the Inn with Riri. Thankfully, the Inn owner didn't mind having pets in the room. But the owner still gives Tomori weird looks as he's wearing his Adidas.
"Ah…" Tomori lay face flat to the bed in front of him. "So much happened today… Especially that robed guy who killed himself. He said something about the Church of Transpierce. That's surely a religion that hates the Blade Hero since he always called me a demon."
He then sits on the bed and brings out the pure white sword that was owned by the minotaur that he killed using that weird skill. He tightly holds the sword until he hears a beep inside of his head.
Weapon Copy System Activated!
Sword of Absorver: Ability Locked
Skill: Reflect Blade, Switchblade
Special Effect: Element Transmission, Phase Shift, Magic Attack Up (Medium), Magic Defense Up (Medium), MP Recovery (Low), HP Recovery (Low), SP Recovery (Low)
"Holy sh*t… Look at those numbers! This is probably the strongest sword in my Weapon Tree. This is going to be my main weapon for now."
"Wuff…" Riri is staring at the Sword of Absorver that Tomori is currently holding.
"Is there anything wrong?" He asked the Spirit Beast.
"Wuff!" Riri shakes her head.
"Okay… I'm gonna go to sleep now."
"Wuff!" Riri then jumped to the bed and curl next to the pillow.
"Hehehe, alright then. Goodnight." Tomori then lay down and pulled the blanket to cover his body. "I need to speak with the king about all of this church stuff tomorrow. But now, I'm going to rest."
Tomori slowly closes his eyes and falls asleep.
"Hmm…" Tomori suddenly wakes up in the middle of the night. "Ugh… Why did I suddenly wake up at a time like this…"
He tried to sleep back, but found it difficult to do it.
"Maybe I need to be a little tired." He gets out of his bed and starts walking in circles. "I need to be as quiet as possible so that the other people who stayed here aren't going to get disturbed by me."
As he walked around the room, he heard footsteps outside his room.
"There's even people who are awake at this time? And why do the footsteps end exactly at my front door? There's something fishy going on here…"
Tomori then slowly walked near the door and placed his ear to it.
"Are you sure the plan is going to work, Princess Maia?" He heard a woman's voice.
"Huh? Princess?" He stopped pulling the door's handle and put his ears close to the door frame.
"Yes, I'm positive that it will work." He heard another woman's voice.
"But Princess, from what the Shadow tells us, the Blade Demon is a cunning guy. He even managed to survive the trap that has been laid this evening. How about we just eliminate him right now using the Church's Shadow?"
"Oh, so they're the ones who sabotage me. The church… Why does every religion have something weird going on with them?" Tomori continued to eavesdrop on their conversation.
"No. Even my father will get suspicious if the Blade Hero mysteriously dies. Sure, he doesn't like the Blade Hero, but it's too risky if he finds out." Then, her tone changed into an angry one. "If that happens, I wouldn't become the queen. So we have to eliminate him properly while my mother is away."
"Queen… Don't tell me this country is matriarchal?! Oh boy, I don't want to stay in a country led by feminist. I need to get the hell outta here. But I need to learn more of this 'plan'."
"And how will you achieve that?" The other woman said.
"Simple. My father wouldn't ignored her daughter that got raped by someone. And because of his status as a hero, my father wouldn't be able to execute him. Instead, he will spread the news of what happened throughout the country."
"I see, which means that he would lose his reputation."
"Yes. And after that, you could do anything you wanted to kill him off. Like hiring bandits or anything else. Just remembered to 'clean' the evidence. That way, no one could suspect that you're the ones doing it."
"Now I see why Pope Balsilus sent his agents out. But how about the adventurers that had signed up to join his party?"
"What? There's someone who is supposed to join my party?!"
"Heh, don't worry about it. It's just a knight and some few demi-humans. The knight has been arrested for murder and the demi's has been killed because why not?"
"Why not?! Damn, the princess is a sicko!"
"And with the support of the Shaft Hero who always thinks about women, in no way he will support him. It's the same for the other heroes. No girls in the world will try get close to someone who raped a women, am I right?" The princess then let out a hysterical laugh.
"Ah sh*t, I need to get the hell out of here now-"
Clack*
As he moved backwards, the wooden floor that he stepped on made a noise.
"F*ck this sh*t I'm out!"
Using all of his strength, Tomori kicked off the door, causing the door to break off and hit the two women who's in front of his room. He managed to get a glimpse of what the princess looks like.
"Okay, the red head is definitely the princess."
Tomori changed his SoA to the Rope Sword. He activated the Rope effect and quickly tied the rope onto the bed frame. Then, he picked up Riri and jumped out of the window.
Thanks to his sword that stuck to his hand like a magnet, Tomori is a few inches off the ground while his sword's rope is still tied up to the bed frame. He changed back to SoA and ran in a certain direction.
"GRR!" The princess then pushed the door that pinned her out to the side. "Don't let him get to the castle! Do everything you can to stop him from reaching the castle!" The princess continued.
"Yes!" The other woman summoned a Shadow.
"Tch! When everything is going smoothly…" The princess bit her tongue.
"Hah… Hah…"
Tomori had been running from the Inn for a few minutes now. As he got tired, he then leaned his body to a building near him.
"To summarise what just happened now, a princess and a bunch of religious groups of people wanted me dead. Dammit… What should I do now… I heard that the princess screamed out about not letting me get near the castle and I started running."
He then looked at the direction of the castle.
"It would take around 10 minutes to get there… What should I do now…" Tomori then looked at the night sky. "Ah… What should I do now…"
"Wuff?" Tomori then hears Riri barks while he's carrying her.
"Oh, sorry to wake you up, Riri. Actually, I'm kind of in a mess right now. Do you have any idea what I should do now?"
"Wuff!"
"Asking someone for help? Where I can find such a person-"
Ring*
Tomori heard a bell chime, as if someone had opened a door.
"Hey, kid… What are you doing in front of my shop, especially when it's in the middle of the night like this?"
He turned around and saw the blacksmith himself. Apparently, Tomori is actually resting in front of his shop.
"And where are you awake at this time?" Tomori asked the blacksmith.
"I just finished someone's order of custom sword. As I went upstairs, I heard someone running in front of my shop. And here we are. So, can you answer my question as to why you are here?"
"Actually…" Tomori then stood up from the ground and walked closer to Vadge. "Can you help me?"
"…What?" The blacksmith then looked at Tomori's face, which had a mixed expression of worry and hope, as if hoping that Vadge's answer would be yes. "Okay, then… How can I help you?"
Tomori sighed in relief as Vadge agreed to help him.
Tomori and Vadge then went inside the shop. He then explained what went down to the blacksmith.
"Whoa… I knew that this country really hates Blade Hero, but I didn't expect that they would really try to kill you." Vadge said as Tomori leaned near the dressing room. "And I also didn't expect you to have a pact with a Lower Spirit Beast."
"They have ranks?"
"Yeah. The Lower ones just look like normal monsters. While the Upper ones have Magic Rune written in their body, though they look more like tattoos than runes. Usually, these beasts are attracted to magical races like the Elves. But normal humans, not so much."
"I see. Maybe it likes me because I'm a hero or something."
"That could be the case."
"Zzz…" While Tomori and Vadge are talking, Riri just continues sleeping on top of the counter.
"Also, can you tell the gist of this country and this Church of Transpierce?" Tomori asked the blacksmith.
Since Vadge isn't from here, he didn't know much except that this country is matriarchal, hates demi-humans and the church here is the main religion of this country, which is Welle.
"I think you should know about the war that happened around two decades ago."
"There's a war two decades ago?" Tomori said curiously.
"Yeah. At that time, I'm still an adventurer before I became a blacksmith."
"Okay… So, what is with this war?"
"To sum it up, the country that worships the Blade Hero, Klinge, wages wars against Welle. Klinge is a country filled with demi-humans. Even though the war only lasted a year and a half, both sides suffered tremendously."
"Now I'm starting to see why they hate me…" Tomori thought to himself. "Why did Klinge start a war?"
"I don't know much, but rumours have it that they wanted to take over the world. The ones publicly announced it was the king and prince of Klinge, which is one of the Six Progression Heroes, the Shield Hero."
"Six Progression Heroes? There's other heroes like us?"
"I wouldn't say that they were just like you. They were heroes that were chosen, not summoned. If you want more info about them, I have a friend that can help you in this country."
"Mkay. Can you continue with the story?"
"Sure. As I was saying, both sides suffered. But Welle's side managed to flip the tables around and scored a win against Klinge. I should mention that Welle has its own Six Progression Heroes as well."
"Really? Do you know who he is?"
"I think you already met him."
"Hmm… Let me guess, the king…?"
"Yeah." Vadge confirmed it.
"That's weird. I didn't see any weapon on him that has a gemstone. Maybe he's hiding it or something."
"Moving forward, the king, who was the Wand Hero at the time, defeated both of the king and prince. Well, to be exact, I killed them."
"Wait… Heroes can kill each other?"
"Don't know much. Just ask my friend if you wanted to know."
"So, where does this 'friend' of yours at? And is he trust worthy?"
"He lives in a town not far from here. And as for trustworthy, he probably wouldn't do anything stupid."
"That still doesn't answer whether he's trustworthy or not."
"Don't worry too much about it. I know that he wouldn't rat you out."
"That's… good, sort of. Anyways, what you mean that this war is what lay the foundation of reasons as to why the people in this country hate the Blade Hero? Even though the hero himself doesn't literally involved himself?"
"Yeah."
" Sigh* So I'm just get caught up with this mess…" Tomori let out a heavy breath as he crouch down.
"So, what you gonna do? Wanted to meet up with the king or something?"
"That wouldn't do. That daughter of his has probably already planted the seed of distortion. He wouldn't believe anything that I said right now. And even if I tried to talk to the king, the Church must already lay down their traps, waiting for me to fall for it."
"Any other things that you could do now?" The blacksmith asked the young hero.
"Maybe I could go into hiding while waiting for the waves to happen. It's not like I'm abandoning the sole reason as why I were summoned here. Or maybe I can get the hell out of this country and operate on other countries."
"Hmm, figure that you would say that. By the way, before we continue this even further, I have a question for you." Vadge's face suddenly turned tense. "Did you 'copy' any of my weapons that were displayed here?"
"…What?" Tomori is confused as to why Vadge accused of him of doing such a thing. "Wait… Does the other heroes just copy your weapons without permission?"
"That's right. Both of the Shaft Hero and Projectile Hero comes here to bought armor for themselves. Then, they started touching some of the spears and bows that I had displayed. The only reason that I know that they were copying my weapons is because the Wand Lass told about that function to me."
"Oh, I can see that happening." Seems like Akira is a kind hearted person. "But seriously, I don't copy any single swords in here. I promised you."
"Hmm…" Vadge look at Tomori's face, which telling him he isn't lying about it. "Okay, I believe you."
"Good. However, can I just ask for a something?"
"What is it?"
"…Can I copy all of your weapon?"
"..." Vadge went silent after hearing that.
"Please… I promise that I will pay you back in some way in the future." Tomori plead with the blacksmith.
After further consideration, Vadge just let out a heavy sighed.
"Alright… Just make sure that you paid me back."
"Thanks a bunch. I can promised you that." Tomori then looked around the weapons that was displayed in the shop. "So, where should I start?"
"You asked me that?!"
"I don't know, man. There are so many to choose."
"What kind of weapon that you can copies anyways?" The blacksmith asked.
"It's self-explanatory. Of course, any weapon with a blade on it. And I think I know where to start." Tomori turned to faced Vadge. "Did you have any rare weapons that you didn't sell to any of your customers?"
"I have a few."
"Okay, show me all of them."
And with that, the copying massacre has begun.
After copying a few rare swords, daggers and spears, and more than a hundred different types of weapons, Tomori just stared at his HUD in satisfaction while Vadge just thinks how many golds that would have cost if Tomori just bought all of the weapons.
"Man, the list is long. There's a lot of skills to unlock. But, only a two weapon that can catch up with the SoA stats, which is…"
Siderite Sword : Ability Locked:
Skill: Comet Slash
Adamantium Dagger : Ability Locked:
Skill: Demolition Edge
"Siderite and Adamantium… These two weapons stats are good, but it doesn't offer more than what SoA has." Tomori changed back to the SoA. He then turned to the blacksmith. "Thanks, bro. I'll promise you that I'll pay you back."
" Sigh* No worries about it, kid." Vadge said to him. "Since you haven't got any lead on what to do next, what about you visit this friend of mine that knows about the heroes? I can assure you that he really wouldn't rat you out."
"Is there any merit in me visiting this friend of yours?" Tomori questioned the blacksmith.
"Yeah, surely. He's a blacksmith like me, but he specialises in magical weapons. And if you are lucky, he might allow you to copy a few weapons for free."
"Hmm… That friend of yours sounds good, but are you really sure that he doesn't hate me or secretly follows that religion."
"Nah, he doesn't. I'm pretty sure that he will be pumped to see you."
"Okay… So, where's this fellow blacksmith at?"
Vadge asked Tomori to bring his map out to mark the location of his blacksmith friend.
"I estimated that you will arrive there at least in three days if you're walking while occasionally hunting monsters. In the meantime, I will hit him up to tell him that you're coming over."
"Mkay." Tomori then picks up the sleeping Riri and holds her like a baby. As he headed to the exit, he turned back to say his goodbye to the blacksmith. "I guess I'll see you later."
"Yeah… Stay safe, kid."
Tomori gave Vadge a salute, and left the shop.
Meanwhile…
"H-He said that the n-night is still young… T-Then, he ripped my c-clothes off… A-And…" The red haired princess then suddenly cried on Tadashi's shoulder.
"May…" The Shaft Hero clenched his hands, feeling intense, as his fellow hero did something bad to his companions.
But, the one who's more furious is the king himself, as he gritted his teeth and clenching his hands tightly.
"How… How can I let this happen… Dammit…! On the outside, he seems normal, but within him is the demon as what I thought would be! I knew that summoning him here as well is a mistake!" The king then stood up from his chair. "I want this scoundrel to be captured immediately! I don't care what methods you use, but make sure that he's breathing. I wanted to deal with him myself…"
"Yes!" A knight then left the royal chamber as he heard the order from the king.
The king then turned to Tadashi, who's still lending May his shoulder, and the other two heroes, who's still half asleep.
"As for the heroes, you may return back to your room in the Inn. And for Kaneshiro-sama, may I request that you always stay by my daughter's side?"
"I will." Tadashi instantly replied. "Come on, May. Let's go."
"Y-Yes, Tadashi-sama."
The two then leave the royal chamber. The other two heroes then also leave the royal chamber later.
"H-Hey, Reika?" Akira suddenly spoke to the Projectile Hero. "Do you… Really think that Tomori did those things to her?"
"Well… The only evidence that we have right now is the broken Inn's room door and the bloodstained nightgown. Theoretically, we can assume that he really did those things as he ran away."
"But… He doesn't look like a person who would do such things."
"Akira, there's more to it than a person's appearance to know whether they're kind or not. They could be a person who has the brightest smile, but on the inside, they are a heartless monster. I had to learn that the hard way…" Reika's face turned down as she remembered the painful past of her.
"Oh, I see…" As the Shaft Hero saw her fellow hero face, she quickly changed the topic of the discussion. "What are we going to do if we find Tomori?"
"Probably catch him and make him fess up to his crimes and whatnot."
"Yeah, you're right."
Both of them then continued their journey to the Inn.