Chapter 3: Operation: Union
"Oh, man… After three whole damn days, we're finally here…"
"Wuff!"
Both Tomori and Riri, who's laying on his shoulders, stand in front of the entrance to the town that Vadge's friend stayed at.
"Escaping Castle Town is really intense. I never thought that getting chased by knights, waving their swords and spears around at me is really terrifying. But anywho, I'm already here. Let's meet up with this blacksmith here."
Tomori entered the town while wearing the Leather Mask and hooded cloak to conceal his face and the Leather Armor that was damaged by the minotaur three days ago. And lucky for him, the knights don't even recognise him.
"I guess the knights are kind of dumb. In any case, which building inside here looks like a weapon shop…" As he walked around the town, he found a shop with a similar sign that Vadge's Shop has. "That seems like it."
Ding*
Tomori went through the door and saw a person, sitting at the counter, inspecting some equipment.
"Wait, is that…"
"Oh, a customer." The person, who seemed to be the owner of this shop, greeted him. "How can I help you?"
"Um… Your friend might have told you that I'm coming over." Tomori lifted his cloak to show the owner his Small Sword on his waist.
"Ah, so that means you are…"
"Yeah, I'm the guy. And I didn't expect that I would be seeing a Dwarf in a country that hates demi-humans." Yes, Vadge's blacksmith friend is a Dwarf. "If there's Dwarf here, then there's definitely an Elf around here."
"The Dwarfs aren't discriminated against in this country as the country where I'm from supplied weapons for them during the war two decades ago."
"Gotcha. The name's Tomori, Tomori Tanaka." Tomori then lifted the other side of his cloak." And this is Riri, my Spirit Beast."
"Already got the details from Vadge. My name is Terrionvel. But you can call me Terry." The dwarf blacksmith said to him. He then turned to the back of the counter. "And there's another one here. Come on, don't be shy."
Thud* Thud* Thud*
A loud footstep can be heard as it was coming from behind the counter. As the curtains were flipped, Tomori couldn't believe what he's seeing right now.
"What the…"
The figure that stood behind the counter is a 7 ft tall, Grizzly Bear-like monster… Wearing an apron.
"Gomi…"
The bear then tried to hide itself behind Terry, which didn't work because he's shorter than it.
"This is Orson, my Spirit Beast. Don't worry about it. He's just shy." Terry explained.
"Okay…" Tomori put Riri on top of the counter. He then faced the dwarf blacksmith. "And since you alright know that I'm gonna come here, mind we move straight to the business?"
"Sure." Terry then sits down on a chair. "So, what do you want to know?"
"First, what's the Six Progression Heroes?"
"Six Progression Heroes is a group of heroes that can be either chosen by the inhabitants or be summoned, but the last option is rarely used. The heroes are the Wand, Lance, Harpoon, Dagger, Axe and Shield. Strength wise, those heroes are weaker compared to the Four Holy Heroes."
"So, essentially, they are the Walmart-I mean, weaker than me?"
"Simply put, yes. But I doubt you will win easily against a Progression Hero that has years of combat experience."
"I was summoned around four days ago. Of course I wouldn't have any proper combat experience. But I can fight humans without any trouble, as long as they're incompetent."
"Yeah, yeah."
"Anyways, since you knew about the heroes. I could guess that you know some of their Power Up Method, right?"
"Power Up Methods? Did you mean by strengthening methods that's every Holy Heroes and Progression Heroes weapon?"
"Yes."
"Hmm… I have written down some of them in a book. But… If you want it, you need to do something for me first."
"What is it?" Tomori leaned closer to the dwarf blacksmith.
"I wanted you to give something to… The Magic Hero." Terry then rushed off to the back of his shop and appeared back to the counter at mach speed. "This. Give this to the Magic Hero if you happen to cross paths with them."
In his hand, there's a pure white staff with a gold accent.
"You surely know that I'm the most wanted 'criminal' in this country, right? Haven't you seen the posters around the town?"
"Yeah, but seeing you face to face, made me realize that a person like you wouldn't do such a thing."
"Oh… That's nice to hear."
"You look more like a pipsqueak. If anything, maybe you're the one who gets 'forced' on."
"...Huh."
A moment of happiness was ruined by a sentence.
Back to topic, getting more methods will make him, and even the other heroes stronger. Considering he's a "criminal", meeting Akira in the broudlight is not a good idea. Heck, she may even not want to talk to him and just straight up arrest him in the first place. But taking a risk is better than having nothing in the end.
"Yeah, I can do that."
"Great! Make sure that this staff is in the Magic Hero hands."
"Mkay." Tomori takes the staff and stores it inside his inventory. "Where's the method?"
"In this book." Terry put a notebook on the counter. "But since I know you wouldn't be able to read it, I'll just say it outloud."
Terry tells Tomori about the methods that he knows of.
Magic Tool Power-up Method:
Magic Level Link:
As the Hero levels up, all spells will grow stronger alongside them.
Trust:
Trusting someone, the hero and the one they trust, gains strength. By being trusted in turn, the hero is further strengthened.
EP Boost:
Allows the user to boost the efficacy of skills and magic with Ki. The user can also enchant other things.
Weapon Form Synthesis:
Allows the hero to copy the most symbolic special effect from one form to another. Each weapon has a given number of ability slots, but also a specific counter that informs you exactly how many more times that form can be used as synthesis material. Once this counter hits 0, the form is effectively locked out to power up methods. It can still be used as a weapon form, but is stuck at its base form and can't be upgraded until you absorb the materials needed to unlock it again.
Harpoon Power-Up Method:
Accessory Attachment:
By attaching an accessory to a weapon form, the weapon form will have a significant stat boost and an upgraded skill or an upgraded special effect. The accessory attached to the weapon form cannot be destroyed.
"It's for Akira's staff… And Accessory Attachment? Whatever that means…" Now, the bigger question appears on his mind. "How the hell can the method appear on my help menu when the other heroes don't?"
"Ah, it's because the strengthening methods required trust." Terry answered Tomori's question.
"Trust?"
"Yes. You really need to trust that the method exists in your heart. Not only that, but also where the methods belong."
"Okay, now I understand why Tadashi and Reika can't add each other's methods to their weapons. Considering that Akira and I don't know about this world, we truly believe what both of them said to us." Now that he finds where the problem is, he can make both of them use the methods. But since he's a criminal now, that won't happen soon. "Okay, this is going to be my last question. What's about the wave?"
"Hmm… I'm not very particular about that topic."
"Why not? Isn't heroes get summoned to fight the waves and sh*t?"
"Nah, heroes are summoned if it involves nation-level danger. And the waves are above that. But what I know is that the wave will happen if the Dragon Hourglass's sand is emptied on the top. And speaking of the sand…" Terry put a small pouch on the counter. "Let your weapon absorb it."
Tomori picked up the pouch and opened it.
"Sand?"
He poured the sand onto his weapon gemstone.
Dragon Hourglass Sword : Ability Locked (Locked LV.50)
Skill: Transport Blade
"I can't use it now since I'm level 39 as of now. And Transport Blade? Is that some kind of teleportation skill or something?"
"And also, here!" Terry then throws something at Tomori.
He quickly catches it and inspect the item.
"What's this?"
"Just put it on the gemstone."
"Okay…"
Without questioning any further, he just followed what the dwarf blacksmith said. He chan
Beep*
"Huh?"
Tomori opens his Weapon Menu to see what makes the beep.
Small Sword : Ability Unlocked
Equip Bonus: ATK 3, AGI 3
Accessory Equip Effect: Thousand Blades
" Thousand Blades? Is that the upgraded skill of Hundred Blades? The skill SP cost also got higher."
"As you can see, accessories can add special effects to your weapons or increase certain skills. But the accessory will wear down as you use it. However, with the Harpoon strengthening method, the effect will increase further and in addition to that, it will protect the accessory from wearing down."
"Okay… Anything else you wanted to tell me about my own weapons that I didn't know of?" Tomori asked Terry.
"Hmm… Do you know how to cast magic?"
"I think that should be self explanatory right now."
"Figures. Well then, I guess we can start with the basics first. Here!"
Terry threw something at Tomori and he caught it.
"Is he Doraemon or something? How can he just randomly fish out something under the counter and throw it at me." He inspected the item, which is a gemstone. "What am I supposed to do with this?"
"Just channel your mana onto it."
"How?"
"Just squeeze it and you will see it yourself."
"Okay…" Tomori just squeezed the gemstone. Slowly, it started to glow. And a red magic circle appears on top of it. "Um… What just happened?"
"Hmm… Okay, seems like you have mastered the basics." Terry answered him.
"What basics?"
"Channeling mana through your body. Casting spells should be easy for you. Care to tell me what your Magic Affinity is?"
"It's Lightning and Reinforcement."
"Lightning? I thought the red circle was red."
"Don't do it either. Anyways, what's the next step?"
"Can you read a grimoire?"
"I studied the text a bit when I'm on the way here."
"Hmm… Which means that casting simple spells should be easy for you. Try casting one now."
"Huh…" Tomori brings out the grimoire and flips over the page to the basic spells. "Okay… Here goes nothing…"
He took a deep breath.
"As the source of power, hear my words and ignite a spark of lightning on my palm!"
" Low Lightning!"
Tomori's MP gauge went down. His right hand then sparks out lightning.
"Huh… Never thought it was THAT easy."
"If you learn more about the magic text, you can come and meet up with me again. So, scram off. I can't let anyone see me with a high profile criminal."
"That's a way to treat a customer. But I can't complain much. But there's one thing I wanted to ask…" With all of his confidence boosted, he turns to the dwarf blacksmith. "Can I co-"
"No. You need to pay for it."
"That sucks." Since he can't risk talking to people right now, Tomori is super broke. "Well, I'm going to increase my knowledge about magic and my levels. I guess I will see you in a while then. Come on, Riri."
"Wuff!" She barked back at him. While both Tomori and Terry are talking, she forms a friendship with Orson, Terry's Spirit Beast. "Wuff! Wuff!"
She said goodbye to her new friend.
"Gomi!"
Riri then jumped on Tomori's hand. Both of them then leave the shop.
A Week Later…
It has been a week since they left Terry's shop.
Ribbit*
And what's good to start with by hunting frogs in the swamp.
"Yep, this is an Isekai world." Tomori hides behind a tree, staring at the group of Giant Frog. "I remembered reading that Frog Legs taste like a cross between fish and chicken. But I ain't eating any Frog Legs today, son."
He draws his sword out and changes it to SoA.
"Are you ready?" He said to his Spirit Beast.
"Wuff!" She barked enthusiastically.
"Okay. Three… Two… One… Go!"
They leaped out from the tree and rushed towards the frogs.
" Comet Blade!" Stars come out from Tomori's sword as he slayes one of the frogs, instantly killing it. " Demolition Edge!"
He moved to the next frog and slash it with his sword. After that, several cuts appeared on its body and it fell down to the ground.
"Those two skills have the longest cooldown and SP cost. Time to switch to magic."
He pointed his sword to another frog.
"As the source of power, hear my words and ignite a spark of lightning onto the blade of my sword!"
The SoA started to glow red.
" Low Lightning Slash!"
He released a red lightning magic slash at the frog, which stunned it. He dashed towards the frog to finish it off.
" Erst Slash!"
He slashes the frog in half.
"Okay, time to help Riri out!"
He turned back and rushed to his Spirit Beast side.
"Wuff!" Riri casted the spell, Shock Burst, at the frog. The lightning color is blue, which is different from Tomori's. "Wuff!"
She then casted another spell, Chain Lightning, at the same frog, which also damages the other frogs near it because the spell can travel to other targets.
Tomori at first didn't know that she can cast magic, and he seems to think that she isn't just any normal Lesser Spirit Beast.
"The frog's HP is low. Time to finish this off with an AOE attack."
He stabbed his sword to the ground.
" Hundred Blades!"
Hundreds of translucent swords appear around him. All of the sword flies to the sky and drops to hit all of the damaged frogs.
Ribbit* Ribbit* Ribbit*
All of the frogs croaked in pain as the swords stabbed their slimy bodies.
Level Up!
Riri Level Up!
"Nice! Level 50! And Riri had reached level 41 as well." Tomori put his sword on his waist and picked Riri up. "It's almost afternoon. Should we go to a town for a meal or something?"
"Wuff!"
Both of them then left the swamp and headed towards a town close to it.
"Here's your food." A waitress gave them their food. She then left the table that Tomori and Riri sat at.
"Hmm… To think that a town like this exists in a country that hates demi-human…" Right now, both of them are in a town, where human and demi-humans interact with each other as if the hatred against them doesn't exist in the first place. "And this restaurant here allows pets to come inside and eat. I'll give this place a five out of five."
Both of them then munch off their food on the place.
"And to think about it, there's no wanted posters of me in the town. I wonder why… Is it because they worship me? That could be the case. But anywho, that hardly matters to me."
As they finish their food, they leave the restaurant. While Tomori is here, he decides to sell some of his monster's materials to get some coins.
"With this kind of money, I could pay back some of the weapon copies that I owned to the blacksmith. Sigh* It's not like I can enter Castle Town normally. But I can sneak in without any trouble at all. Okay! Next destination, Terry's Shop."
Tomori had learnt enough magic text to do whatever that Terry wanted him to do.
As he planned to leave this town, he saw a commotion on the entrance.
"What's that all about?"
As he walked through the group of humans and demi-humans, he saw an injured man, lying on the ground.
"Please… Call Lord Bailwo…" The injured man muttered.
"Bailwo? Isn't that the town name? Which means-"
"Oh my! What happened to you?!" A man wearing a tailcoat among the commotion exclaimed as he saw the injured man.
"Seems like that's the lord."
"My lord… Last night, as I was returning to this town using a carriage, I was ambushed… Not only that, they also kidnapped my wife and son…"
"Do you recognise the ones who do that to you?" The lord asked the injured man.
"From what I managed to see last night, they seemed to be wearing Welle's Knight outfit while having Cunningfield's Insignia embedded on their armor…"
"Cunningfield…"
The people started murmuring to each other.
"Please, my lord… I beg you! Please save my wife!" The injured man begged the lord.
"I… I will do anything in my power to help you." The lord said to him.
"Thank you… Thank you, my lord!"
"Now then, can the others please attend Mr. Barton's injuries?" The lord asked.
"Yes, my lord!"
Some of the people in the commotion carried the injured man to a nearby building.
"Oh, wow… Well, goodbye then." Tomori walked to the exit of the town.
"Wuff!" Riri then started tapping her paws onto Tomori's shoulder.
"Turn around?"
"Wuff!"
"Okay…"
Tomori turned around and saw the lord of this town and some other people talking to each other. As the discussion between them went on, their faces started to turn grim.
"Wait… You mean that I should go help them?" Tomori asked his Spirit Beast.
"Wuff!"
"Really? But I want to return to-Ow! Ow!!!" Suddenly, Riri pulls Tomori's ear using her mouth.
"Wuff! Wuff, wuff!"
"If I help them, will you show me something special?"
"Wuff!"
" Sigh* Fine. If anything happens to me, it will be on you, okay?"
"Wuff!"
"Alright then… Let's do this thing." Tomori then walked to the group of people. "Um, excuse me?"
"Oh," The lord noticed him. "How may I help you, adventurer?"
"Actually, it's the opposite." Tomori then lifted his cloak and pulled out the accessory that covers his Small Sword.
This made the people who saw it gasped.
"You are…"
"Yeah, that's me. And I wanted to speak with you, In private."
"…I understand. Please, let me show you the way to my manor." The lord said.
Tomori then followed the lord from behind.
"Please have a seat." The lord said to Tomori.
He then sits on the sofa in what he assumed is the lord's office. The lord then sits on the opposite sofa facing him.
"Let me introduce myself. My name is Rheat Bailwo. And I'm the lord of this territory."
"My name is Tomori Tanaka, the Blade Hero. And this is my Spirit Beast, Riri."
"Wuff!"
"It's an honor of mine to meet one of the Four Holy Heroes." Rheat then slightly bowed himself to Tomori.
Tomori didn't expect that he would be treated so nicely.
"I guess they really like me, or to be precise, the Blade Hero. But returning to the main topic…" Tomori then looks at Rheat in the face. "For starters, who is 'Cunningfield'?"
"He is a noble with higher ranking than me. He used to fight in the war two decades ago with the king. But that's not all about him…" Rheat's face then turned grim. "After the war had ended, he had bought some demi-humans slaves… And abused them for his own entertainment."
"I see…" This isn't all that surprising to Tomori since he knows what happens to the majority of slaves through movies and novels.
"But what happened just now… It's weird since he never targets any demi-humans without a slave mark."
"Slave mark?" And something new that Tomori has no knowledge of. "But demi-humans? Isn't the injured man just now a human?"
"Oh, Mr. Barton's wife is a demi-human. And their son also inherited the demi-human characteristic from his mother." Rheat explained to him.
"Gotcha. And this Cunningfield here had ordered his knights to kidnap his wife and son?"
"Unfortunately, yes…"
"Can't you do anything about it?"
"No… I'm afraid I'm not. You see, I'm one of the lower ranking nobles in this country. And since Cunningfield is a close comrade to the king, any obligation against him will be ignored. But that would be the opposite if the queen is here."
"Oh!" Tomori had forgotten that this country is matriarchal. He thought that if he can meet the queen of this country, she could erase any bullsh*t that her daughter and the Church of Transpierce throws at him. "And where's the queen anyway?"
"Her majesty is away from here. At first, she would attend the meeting to decide which country to summon the heroes."
"...Whut?" This is new to Tomori. "What do you mean by 'to decide which country to summon the heroes'?"
"I know it must be surprising to hear that, considering that all of the Four Holy Heroes had been summoned at the same time in Welle. And that's the reason why the queen still doesn't return."
"Why is that?"
"Since the king had ordered the Royal Mages to do the summoning ceremony, the queen had to calm down other country's leaders for summoning the heroes without their knowledge."
"I see… Damn, and I thought that she can help to erase that rape accusation against me…"
"Fret not, Blade Hero. Everyone in this town doesn't believe the accusations against you."
"Ohho… And why is that?"
"Well, to put simply, all of us here trust that you wouldn't do something as foolish as that. But you should be grateful that you're a hero. It's because that if a man is found guilty by raping a woman, he would immediately be executed."
"Well, this is a matriarchal country after all. Of course raping a woman in here would mean death for any man out there. And they wanted me alive. I guess they wanted to throw me into a prison or something."
"In any case, you should stay low profile when entering another town besides here."
"Well, I've already done that. So, do you have any idea where this Cunningfield stores his slaves at?"
"Yes. In fact, some of the noble, both with good and bad intentions on the slaves, knew it. It's in the basement in front of his manor."
"Alright, here's the plan. I'm going to infiltrate the town, save the wife and son of Mr. Barton, and the other slaves if there's any, and bring them here."
"How would you bring them here?" Rheat asked Tomori.
"I have teleportation skills. However, I can only teleport six people at a time. But I will prioritize saving the slaves. If there's more than six people there, I want you to prepare an unmanned carriage in a place where the Cunningfield's Knights can't see."
"Hmm… As I don't have any plans that we can do, I will follow what your plan entails."
"Alright. Can you show me the place where you treat injured people?"
"Of course. Please follow me."
Later that night…
Both Tomori and Riri are looking at the walls that surround the Cunningfield's Territory.
"Damn, this territory is almost as big as Castle Town. Rheat isn't lying when he said that Cunningfield and the king are close friends. But those walls ain't stopping me." Tomori turned to Riri. "Are you ready?"
"Wuff!"
"Okay! Hiding Blade!" Tomori activates a skill that can put an "Invisible" status on a target. The amount of SP used is based on how many people that Tomori decided to target. " Reflect Blade! Rope!"
Instead of using the Rope Sword, he used a skill that lets SoA to copy other weapon's special effects. Tomori throws the rope, which is invisible, to the top of the watchtower while Riri latches herself onto Tomori's shoulder. He slowly climbs over the walls.
"Hmm?" A knight is watching in a direction when Tomori successfully climbed over the walls. "Maybe that's my imagination or something."
The knight ignored it and continued to watch other areas. With that, Tomori continued to climb down to the other side of the walls. As Tomori reached the ground, he rushed through the direction of the Cunningfield's Manor.
"According to the map that Rheat gives me, the manor should be this way!"
He continues to run until he finds the manor.
"A big mansion, a lot of knights guarding it, that's probably it."
Tomori then waited until the knights finished guarding the walls of the massion. He jumped over the walls and silently landed on the walkway.
"Man, it feels like I'm playing Assassin's Creed IRL now. And I guess the cellar door that two of those knights guarding it leads to the basement." He went closer to the back of the knights. "Hah!"
Tomori swiftly hit the nape of the knights using the blunt side of his sword, which knocked out the knights.
"They should really upgrade the security of this place."
Tomori slowly opened the cellar down to avoid any loud sound and walked downstairs.
"I wouldn't really call this a basement. A prison would be more appropriate."
As he walked down, he saw a security door that's locked. Tomori tried to break the lock with his hand, but it didn't work.
"Wait… I sense a trace of magic in this lock. Which means…"
Using Lightning Magic, he holds the lock and sends lightning towards it until the lock opens.
Click*
"Nice!" Tomori throws the broken lock away and opens the security doors. As he walked in, he saw several prison cells. "Yep, a prison."
He continues to walk, until he finds a demi-human woman and a demi-human boy sleeping.
"That's probably the two of them." Tomori canceled his skill, which makes him visible again, and talk to the woman in the prison cells. "Hello, are you perhaps the wife of Mr. Barton?"
"H-Huh?" The demi-human woman seems confused when Tomori asks him that. "Y-Yes…"
"Okay." Tomori goes to the lock of the cell and breaks it using magic. The woman is baffled to see Tomori do that.
"Um… May I ask who you are?"
"I'm a simple man trying to make my way through the galaxy."
"…What?"
"Country, I mean country. Anyways, stay here. I'm going to search for the other ones who're trapped here."
"Y-yes!"
Tomori continued to walk through the prison cells and find three other demi-human childrens being chained up and have bruises all over their body. He gave them potions that he made himself so that they can relieve their pain before being properly treated.
"There's a few more cells before I reach the end…"
As he walked through the end of the prison, he saw two people. Both of them seem to be in their early teenage years. One of them has his limbs chained and has a gag in his mouth, while the others seem to have purple bruises all over her body.
"Wait, is it me or the boy in there has pointy ears…" As he got closer to the cell, he saw the boy clearly. "From what I see, he's definitely an elf."
"Mmm…" The blonde haired elf boy then realizes there's someone standing in front of his cell. He turned his black eyes to look at Tomori. "Mmm…! Mmm!"
"Hey, it's okay. I'm not here to hurt you." Tomori broke off the lock and went inside the cell. He then pulls the gag on the elf boy's mouth.
"Liyana… Please… Let me get near Liyana…" The elf boy said to him.
Tomori just assumed that he meant the girl with bruises.
"Okay."
Using his SoA, he swiftly sliced off the chains that binds the elf boy. He then catches the boy before he falls to the ground. Tomori places the boy near the bruised girl.
The elf boy then put both of his hands in front of the girl.
"As the source of power… Hear my words and heal my target with a beaming light!"
" Low Shining Heal!"
The girl's body then shines brightly, but the spell doesn't heal the purple bruises.
"Now I understand why he had all that chains and gag. It's so that he wouldn't be able to fight back with magic."
"Ugh…" The girl then slowly wakes up. She's a raccoon demi-human. "Ivaran…"
"Liyana?! Are you okay?!" The elf boy, Ivaran, said to her.
"I felt pain… All over my body…" Despite her health being almost 75%, she still felt pain in her body. Liyana then realizes that there's another person standing next to Ivaran. "Who is… The person standing next to you?"
Tired by answering with the Boba Fett line, he thought that it would be easier to just say his identity. He takes off his mask to show them his face.
"My name is Tomori Tanaka, the Blade Hero." He said to them.
"The Blade…"
"Hero…" Liyana's eyes lit up as she saw the red gemstone on Tomori's SoA. "The Blade Hero… He really comes-Cough! Cough!"
"Don't say anything more." Ivaran said to her.
"The bruise on her is bad. She needs to get treated quickly. Let me carry her." Tomori then slid his hands under Liyana's back and carried her up. He then turned to Ivaran. "Follow me."
"Y-Yes!"
They then leave the cell and regroup with the others.
"Hmm, this is troubling. There's nine of us here. I can only teleport six people. Which means someone has to stay behind with me and Riri." Tomori then turned to the people. "Listen here, I can only teleport six people at a time. Which means that someone had to stay behind with me and my Spirit Beast here. So, is there anyone that volunteers to stay here with us?"
All of them went silent, until there's a person who raised his hand. And it was none other than Ivaran.
"Are you sure?" Tomori asked him.
"Yes." The elf boy answered with determination in his eyes.
"If you said so. Transport Blade!" Tomori then chooses who to teleport back to Bailwo.
"Ivaran…" Liyana weakly called his name.
"Don't worry, you will be okay, Liyana."
"It's not fair, you know… You get to spend time with the Blade Hero…"
"If you're healthy again, you can join the Blade Hero's party. But you need to go back to get treatment."
"…Okay."
"Alright! All of you will be teleported… Now!"
All of the six people that's going to get teleported glow as they disappeared from the prison. Ivaran clenches his fist before standing up.
"Alright, boyyo. Before we move out, do you have any fighting experience against humans?" Tomori asked the elf boy.
"Monsters, yes. But not humans."
"Well then…" Tomori looks at Ivaran's level, which is 12. After considering it, he brings out the Shield of Absorver from his inventory and gives it to Ivaran. He also sends a party invitation to him, which the elf boy accepts. "Use it to defend yourself. We're going to make a grand escape from here. So, you need something to protect yourself with"
"Yes!"
"Okay, let's move out." As they rushed towards the staircase, Tomori heard multiple footsteps coming from there. "Ah sh*t…"
A person wearing fancy clothes with a rapier and whip on his waist, and a couple of knights went through the security door.
"Hoho… At first, I'm furious that someone was freeing my slaves. But now, seeing who's the one doing it, makes me think that this is my lucky day!" The fancy guy said.
"Is that Cunningfield?"
"Losing my slaves is bad, but since I can kill the Blade Demon with my own hands, I wouldn't mind it! Oh, and also…"
Snap*
Cunningfield snapped his hand.
"Grr… Argh!!!" Ivaran's chest glows as he screams in pain.
"With a snap of my finger, I can just kill that elf. However…" With a snap from Cunningfield's fingers, Ivaran's chest stopped glowing. "But what's the fun in that?! Seeing them die while they're broken is much more entertaining!"
"This guy… Is a sicko…" Tomori then draws his sword out.
"Knights, make sure that you weaken the Blade Demon a bit before I can finish him off myself."
"As you wish, my lord!"
Five of the knights then rushed towards them.
"Riri, if those knights get past me, make sure you protect that boy!" Tomori said to her.
"Wuff!"
"Alright! Blade Throw!" He throws his sword like a boomerang at the knight that's in front of the group.
"Gah!" He instantly gets knocked by the sword. It then flies back to Tomori's hand.
Tomori then rushed forward to fight the knights.
" Slant Slash!" Tomori slashes the knight in front of him in a slanted direction.
"Guh!"
" Strike Edge!" Then, he moves to the other knight and slashes him horizontally, throwing the knight to the sides.
"Argh!"
" Blade Bash!" After that, he slashes another knight in a straight line with a blunt side of his sword, hitting his helmet, making him pass out.
"Ugh!"
" Oblique Thrust!" And lastly, he thrust his sword at the last of the knights, sending him flying forward, passing Cunningfield.
"Augh!"
Smash*
"Really, are these the knights of the country that wins the war against Klinge? I'm pretty disappointed." Tomori said out loud. He tried to make Cunningfield angry so that he would lose his focus during battle. And his plans worked as he saw veins popping on Cunningfield's forehead.
"Tch! Why do I have to do anything myself!" He shouted as he drew his rapier.
"I don't care if you fight in the war or anything. But what I care about is taking you down, right here and now! Erst Blade!" Tomori leaps forward to slash Cunningfield, but… "?!"
He instantly disappeared in front of him.
"Don't tell me that- Argh!" Tomori felt like his shoulder had been stabbed. He turned around and saw Cunningfield.
"You may be the Blade Demon, but I have more fighting experience. I hope you won't last long fighting me!"
"Tch! This is bad! This guy here is higher level than me. I won't last long against him. And there's like 56 more minutes before I can use Transport Blade. No, I'm going to defeat him. No Matter what!" Tomori started chanting very quickly. "As the source of power, hear my words and empower me with a speed of lightning!"
" Lightning Speed!"
Due to it being a part of Reinforcement Magic, the spell increases Tomori's AGI more than usual.
"Increase your speed however you can. There's no one who ever surpasses me in terms of speed. Not even the king. This is where you would meet your end, Blade Demon! Hah!"
Clang*
Both of their weapons clash with each other. Tomori then activates a charge skill.
" Scarlet Slash!" Tomori's SoA is surrounded by red glows as he slash Cunningfield.
"Too slow!" He leaped backwards from Tomori's attack and tried to stab him.
"Riri!" Tomori shouted her name.
"Wuff!" As she hears him, Riri sends a bolt of lightning to Cunningfield.
"Gah!" Cunningfield gets stunned by the magic attack.
" Typhoon Edge!" Tomori then slash Cunningfield's Body. "Tch! It's too shallow."
He then leaped backwards to gain some distance between the rapier user.
"How dare you…" Cunningfield muttered.
"Huh?"
"HOW DARE YOU INJURED ME, YOU DEMON! NOW MY BODY IS SCARRED BY YOUR FILTHY SWORD! HOW DARE YOU! HOW DARE YOU!!!" He suddenly screamed.
"F*ck… This guy is beyond sicko… He needed to be sent to Arkham, dawg."
"It's time for you to taste the power of being a true follower of the Church of Transpierce!" Cunningfield then brings out the whip with his left hand. "This whip here has bath countless amounts of demi-humans blood. Multiple hits from it will cause great pain to a person's body.
"Now I see it, that's a cursed weapon. Which means that the purple bruises on the girl's body is a curse mark. I need to be careful so that I won't be hit by that."
Tomori then rushed at Cunningfield.
"Take this!"
He swings his whip at Tomori. Since the walkway of the prison is narrow, evading the whip would be hard. Taking the risk, Tomori holds the end of the whip with his left hand.
"Ghh! It stings! But…!" Tomori then continued to run at Cunningfield. As he got closer, he activated a skill. " Erst Slash-"
"You fell into my trap!" Cunningfield warped Tomori's wrist with the whip, and then warped his neck.
"Argh!" Tomori felt an enormous amount of pain as his left palm, wrist and neck got warped by the whip. He can't counter back as Cunningfield stepped on Tomori's right hand using his left foot and Tomori's using his right foot.
"Wuff!" Riri cast a spell to hit Cunningfield, but he evaded it.
"I won't be a fool for a second time, you filthy beast! High Shadow Arrow!"
An arrow made of Dark Magic appears out of thin air and hits Riri.
"Wuff…!"
"Riri! Argh…!" The whip on Tomori's neck gets tighter.
"This will mark the end of the Blade Demon. Being defeated by me, Kasper Cunningfield! Hahaha… Hahahaha… HAHAHAHAHA!!!"
"Damn it…" Tomori then gives up and accepts his fate right here. "Is this the end…"
This had made both of his eyes and sword gemstone turning blue. As he started to switch to the Cursed Weapon, he heard a voice on his head.
"Don't give up now!"
Tomori then snapped back to reality, changing his eyes and gemstone to their normal color.
"Wait, is it me or does it sound like-Grr!" He then remembered that there's a whip tied to his neck. "Yes…! I'm not going down! Not by this bastard hand!"
Tomori then started to chant a spell.
"As…! The source of power…! Hear my words and-Argh!!!"
"Trying to cast a spell, huh? You think I didn't hear that, you demon!" Cunningfield then started to tighten up the grip on Tomori's neck.
Despite seeing his HP slowly going down, he's still determined to cast a spell.
"Release a…! Shock of lightning…! To my enemy!"
"Tch! Why can't you just enjoy your slow death?! Why is everyone trying to ruin this moment for me?!" Cunningfield then drew his rapier out. "This is the end for you, Blade-"
"Huoh!!!"
"What-"
Smash*
To Tomori's surprise, Ivaran used the Shield of Absorver to bash Cunningfield, making him drop the whip.
"Gah…!" Tomori quickly loosen the whip's grip on his neck.
"Grr! WHY THE HELL DID YOU INTERRUPT ME?!!!" Cunningfield then snapped his fingers, making that glow on Ivaran's chest appear again.
"Argh!!!" He fell down to the ground, screaming in pain.
"That kid… I need to help him, or he's going to die. But my HP is low and I'm too weak to reach out for a potion and to cast a spell…"
"Wuff…"
"Huh? Riri?" He turned his head towards the Spirit Beast.
"Wuff, wuff."
"You wanted to show me the thing that you promised me? Can it defeat that bastard?"
"Wuff."
"It's going to hurt me? I don't care about that. I want to help the kid over there!"
"Very well, then recite the chant that appears in your mind." Riri said in a human language.
"So she's the one who told me to not give up…" A text then appears on his mind. He read the text out loud.
"I, the Blade Hero, borrow the strength of the Spirit Beast, Riri. Oh, may the Spirit Realm bestow their blessings towards us. The source of power is the Blade Hero commands you. I am the one with the Earth Vein and the Earth Vein is the one with me. May our will and soul intertwine. Let me take the form of a crimson wolf, and spread fear to my enemies!"
…
"ARGH!!!" Ivaran groaned in pain as his HP went under 10%
Snap*
Cunningfield then snapped his fingers to stop the glows on Ivaran's chest, which made him pass out.
"This is what you get for interrupting me, you damn filthy elf that smells like demis! Hah!"
As Cunningfield tried to stab Ivaran's neck, he felt something weird going on with his body.
Splash*
Suddenly, his right hand got sliced off.
"ARGH!!! MY HAND!!!" He then knelt down to the ground.
Thud* Thud* Thud*
Cunningfield looked upwards, and saw the Blade Demon himself. His body is cloaked with red particles. Not only that, he also has a wolf's ears and tail that was made out from those particles.
" Spirit Union: The Crimson Wolf." Tomori said to Cunningfield, while gazing at him with his eyes that turned to red. Not only has his appearance changed, but his voice is now a mix between his own voice and Riri's. But that's not all.
The overwhelming spirit energy has caused the Sword of Absorver to grow up!
Sword of Absorver: Abilities increased!
Sword of Absorver II : Ability Locked
Skill: Reflect Blade, Switchblade
Special Effect: Element Transmission, Phase Shift, Magic Unison, Howl of Wolf, Magic Assistance, Magic Attack Up (Strong), Magic Defense Up (Strong), MP Recovery (Medium), HP Recovery (Low), SP Recovery (Low)
Item Enchantment Level 10: SP 15% Up
Eclipse Minotaur Spirit Counter: MATK 100, MDEF 100
Status Enchantment: 100 MDEF
His pure white sword has turned to crimson red due to him fusing himself with Riri.
"W-What did you do?!" Cunningfield shouted at him.
"Eradicating evil from the face of the earth." Tomori said to Cunningfield with a spine chilling voice.
"That's rich, coming from a demon like you-"
"I'm not a demon. I'm a human, just like you. Just like the elf kid here, and just like those humans you abuse."
"Heh, humans? All I see is a beast taking human form, just like you're doing now!"
"Whatever. Someone like you couldn't find the difference between fantasy… And reality."
"Just shut up!" Cunningfield picks up his rapier from his right hand that has been chopped off using his left hand and tries to stab Tomori, but instead, he gets his left hand chopped off. "ARGH!!! DAMN YOU, BLADE DEMON! DAMN YOU!!!"
"Now, it's the time for you to taste the pain that you inflicted on others." Tomori then slowly raised his sword and gently cut Cunningfield's cheeks. " Demolition Edge."
"Huh, this doesn't hurt at-ARGH!!! GAH!!!"
Multiple cuts appeared on his body. Blood sprayed all over from his body. As his body is colored with his own blood, Cunningfield fell down to the ground.
Level Up!
Riri Level Up!
Ivaran Level Up!
" Unite Out." All of the red particles disappeared from Tomori's body. "Ugh!"
He knelt to the ground as he felt intense pain all over his body.
"I've told you, you will feel an intense pain all over your body." Riri said to him. "It's going to take you a few days before you could recover, you know?"
"Well, it all worked out in the end. And also," Tomori petted her head. "Thanks for telling me to not give up back then."
"Hehehe, you're welcome!"
"Now then, let's get out of here."
Despite being in pain right now, Tomori stores the shield inside his inventory and carries Ivaran on his back.
As they walked upstairs and left the manor, a whole legion of knights swarmed them.
"Dead to the Blade Demon! Dead to the Blade Demon! DEAD TO THE BLADE DEMON!!!"
"These useless fodders…"
"What should we do now, Tomori? Lightning Chain isn't enough to knock all of them out."
"Well, I already got that covered." Tomori put Ivaran to the ground. He changed his SoAII to Small Sword to take the accessory, and then changed back to SoAII. He put the accessory on the crimson sword gemstone.
Sword of Absorver II : Ability Unlocked
Skill: Reflect Blade, Switchblade
Special Effect: Element Transmission, Phase Shift, Magic Unison, Howl of Wolf, Magic Assistance, Magic Attack Up (Strong), Magic Defense Up (Strong), MP Recovery (Medium), HP Recovery (Low), SP Recovery (Low)
Accessory Equip Effect: Thousand Blades
Item Enchantment Level 10: SP 15% Up
Eclipse Minotaur Spirit Counter: MATK 100, MDEF 100
Status Enchantment: 100 MDEF
Tomori then stabbed his sword to the ground.
" Thousand Blades!"
A few seconds later, thousands of translucent swords started raining from the sky.
"Retreat… RETREAT!!!"
The legion of knights scattered around like bugs, trying to evade the raining sword.
" Lightning Speed!" Tomori cast a spell onto himself. "Let's get out of here."
"Yeah!"
Tomori carries Ivaran back while Riri latches on Tomori's shoulder. He ran to the exit of this town while evading the raining swords.
"The carriage was supposed to be… Around that tree over there!" As Tomori got closer to the carriage, he saw someone near the tree.
"Do you know who that is?" Riri asked him.
"I don't know…" Tomori drew his sword out and then walked slowly to the tree. "Don't move or you will suffer the wrath of-Holy cow!"
The person who's near the tree is already dead, with a dagger being stabbed on his shoulder.
"Wait, why does he look like a ninja?" Tomori muttered.
"A ninja?" Riri repeats after him.
"A ninja is like some kind of assassin from my world." Tomori explained to her.
"Doesn't that mean this person here tried to sabotage you?"
"That could be the case. And look at this." Tomori found a sling bag under the ninja's dead body. Tomori opened up the bag and saw a book and tons of gold. "Holy guacamole! This amount of gold is more than enough to pay for the weapon I owned, Vadge! Does this belong to the ninja? Hmm…"
Out of curiosity, Tomori flipped open the book.
"Hah?!" Tomori shouted in surprise as he read the book's content.
"What does it write, Tomori?" The Spirit Beast asked him.
"It's about… My weapon function. Not only that, it's all written in Japanese, the language that comes from my world…"
"You think that another summoned hero wrote this?"
"No, it's not either of the other Holy Heroes. It may be either the Progression Heroes, or the past companions of the Holy Heroes…"
"Hmm, it's too bad that we didn't have any witnesses to tell us about this mysterious individual."
"That's when you're wrong, Riri. We already have a witness. Here." Tomori pointed at the horse.
"The horse? It can't speak any human language, you know?."
"Let's see about that. Hey, Horsy! Care to tell us about what happened here?"
"Neigh!" The horse whined.
"You are just relaxing while waiting for us."
"Neigh!"
"All of a sudden, this ninja here tried to kill you."
"Neigh!"
"Then, an armored warrioress comes out and stabs the ninja with that knife over there?"
"Neigh!"
"And she flies off to the sky, leaving this bag behind?"
"Neigh!"
"Oh wow… I didn't know that you can speak to animals, Tomori." Riri praised him.
"I'm not speaking to it, I just understand its feelings. It's like how I understand your feelings the first time we meet, you know?"
"But to the point of understanding them to this degree? You're amazing, Tomori. And also, regarding this armored warrioress, I also saw an armored warrioress carrying you to the forest away from monsters two weeks ago."
"What?! Why didn't you say anything?"
"Well, I thought she was a normal adventurer that found you lying on the ground and decided to move you to a safer place."
"Well, enough about this armored warrioress. I'm too tired to think about it right now." Tomori picked up the dagger from the ninja's body and store it inside his inventory. "Let's just head back to the town, okay?"
"Yeah!"
Tomori lays Ivaran down on the backside of the carriage and sits on the driver seat.
"March on, Horsy! Back to Bailwo!"
"Neigh!"
The horse then pulled the carriage at mach speed.
"Oh, bullocks!" The said armored warrioress is panicking. "I didn't know that the Blade Hero had the ability to understand animals. What should I do now…"
"Audrey… Audrey, do you copy?" Her communication device is active.
"Oh, Audrey is here, over." She replied back.
"Copy that. We need you here right now, over."
"What happened, over?"
"Well, some of the boys' stuff was busted during the wave. And the other blacksmith isn't skilled enough to fix those weapons, over."
"Copy that. And also, you know that this isn't an official mission, right, Randy?"
"Well, official or not, it's still a mission that was given by the Grand Armorer to you, you know? So, how's the Blade Hero doing?"
"Well, I'll give you the written reports after I arrive home since this is an ofFicial MisSioN, oVer."
"Haha, very funny."
"Just kidding with ya, I'll tell you when I get back home."
"Alright then, this is Captain Randolph, signing off."
"Copy and over." The conversation between Audrey and Randy has ended. "Now then, it's time to return home sweet home…"
"Ugh…" The elf boy then wakes up behind the carriage. As he scanned his surroundings, he saw that his level is now 28. "What just happened…"
"You bashed that bastard using the shield I gave you. Then, he zapped you with some kind of magic. And you passed out." Tomori explained to him as he was still watching the road.
"I see… What happened to that guy-"
"I killed him." Tomori instantly answered Ivaran. "And I didn't regret my decision whatsoever."
"Is that so… Well, I'm glad you did that. That guy is going to cause much more damage to other people if he continues to live." Ivaran said to him.
"Well, I have something to ask you. You don't have to answer me if you want to. But how did you and that girl get inside the basement in the first place?"
"Oh… It all began when the first wave struck my village in the Bassett Territory."
"The first wave…"
"The sky ripped apart and monsters fell out of it. The monster soon attacked territory, and soon the village that I stayed at. The adults were fighting the monsters while the kids got out of the village. Some kids who know how to fight monsters like me help the ones who can't fight and the other kids out to the village.
"But, when the boss monster came out, everything went downhill. It took all of the adults to fight it. In the end, they all defeat it, with the cost of their lives. Among those adults is my parents and Liyana's."
"...I'm so sorry to hear that." Tomori said to Ivaran.
"No need to. You weren't there to begin with."
"What happened next?"
"Well, after the waves had ended, which salvaged anything useful from the aftermath of the wave to rebuild the territory and our village. After three days, the knights came into the territory. But they weren't there to help us. They were there to kill all of the adults and capture the womens and childrens into slavery. Of course, all of them are demi-humans and I'm the only one who's an elf.
"But my mother is a human, while my father is an elf. Which makes me a half elf. Usually, the country that elves come from will be enraged to hear that an elf is being caught and sell to slavery. But that isn't the case for me."
"What do you mean by that?" Tomori asked.
"From what I heard from my father, he was banished from that country because he married my mother, who's a human. Which means they won't help us if we're in trouble." Ivaran explained.
"Huh, now I thought my world is the only one who has problems with someone marrying someone from different races. This world is not that vast after all." Tomori muttered to himself. "So, to put it simply, that bastard bought you and your friend to do some nasty sh*t to both of you?"
"Yeah…"
"Well, those days are already over. You can chillax a bit."
"My friends are still on the slave market, you know? How can I relax now?"
"Maybe Rheat can help you out to find your friends. As for me, I need to get stronger to fight the waves."
"Yeah, right. The heroes need to fight the waves after all…" After that, Ivaran went silent for the whole ride.
"Is it me, or is there a double meaning in between those words that he said to me?"
The horse that pulls the carriage has arrived in Bailwo.
"Alright, we already arrived here. Thanks for the ride, Horsy!" Tomori thanked the horse.
"Neigh!"
Both Tomori (while Riri is sleeping on his shoulders) and Ivaran get out of the carriage. Then, a demi-human woman who knew about his identity rushed over to him.
"Lord Blade Hero!" The woman said to him.
"Yeah? What do you want? And what's with the 'Lord Blade Hero'?" Tomori asked the woman.
"Is the elf named Ivaran with you?" The woman replied while not answering his last question.
"That would be me." Ivaran stepped forward so that the woman could see him.
"Your friend wanted to see you. It's urgent."
"Liyana… Okay, where's she?"
"This way."
The woman lead Ivaran to the building that Liyana stayed at.
Both of them arrived at the building. The woman then shows Ivaran where Liyana's stayed to rest.
"Liyana…" He then saw her lying down on a bed, surrounded by a group of people. And her body being fully warped with bandages.
"Oh… There you are, Ivaran…" Liyana said weakly.
"How… I thought that they would cure you…" Ivaran is shocked to see that the curse mark on her body hasn't disappeared yet.
"I'm sorry, Ivaran, is it? My name is Rheat Bailwo, and I'm the lord of this territory. In regards to your friend here… I'm sorry to said that we can't cure her." Rheat said, while feeling sad that he had to deliver the news to him.
"…What?"
"As you can see here, the curse on her body needs at least five bottles of high quality Holy Water, which equals to 50 bottles of normal quality Holy Water. Unfortunately, we won't have that many at the moment."
"No, no, no!" Ivaran then suddenly grabbed Rheat's collars. "Are you telling me that you're going to let Liyana just die here?! There must be other ways to save her, right?!"
Without any answer to Ivaran's question, Rheat just slightly tilted his head.
"No… It can't be…" Ivaran slowly let go off Rheat's collars.
"It's okay, Ivaran…" The raccoon girl said to him.
"How can it be okay, Liyana?! You're going to die, you know?!"
"Yeah… It's kind of disappointing, especially since I just get to meet the Blade Hero… I would ask him to let me join his party, get to have an amazing adventure with him, and ask him to marry me…" Then, tears started dropping from her eyes. "There's a lot more I wanted to do… But I don't have time to do it…"
"Liyana…" Ivaran just started at his friend, shedding her tears.
"Ivaran… Can you come closer?" Without questioning it, he get closer to her. Liyana whispered something to him, which makes Ivaran's eyes widened. "Can you do that for me, Ivaran?"
"…I'll try, but no guarantees."
"Okay… Oh, and also, among those things I said about what I wanted to do with Blade Hero, there's one thing that I lied about." Liyana said to him.
"What do you mean by that?" Ivaran asked her.
"Well… You have to find that out for yourself, Ivaran… And I'm glad that I can spend time with you until… The end…"
Liyana then smiled as she slowly closed her eyes.
"Liyana…? Liyana! Liyana!" Ivaran shook her body, but she didn't show any reaction to it. He then started tearing up. "No, Liyana…Liyana!!!"
Ivaran continued to hug his friend, while crying his eyes out onto her shoulders.
"..."
Behind the walls, is Tomori who heard all of their conversation. Not only that, but he also understands what Liyana means when she said that she lied about one thing that she wanted to do with the Blade Hero.
"Tomori… Are you okay?" Riri, who's awake, asked him.
"Yeah… I'm fine." He replied.
"If that's the case… Then why are you shedding your tears?"
Without him realizing, Tomori had been shedding his tears ever since he heard that Liyana can't be saved.
"I… I don't know… It's weird, isn't it? Crying for someone that you just met." Tomori said to Riri.
"No. Not at all. It just shows that you are kind, Tomori."
" Sniff*" Tomori wiped out his tears and slowly walked over to the room that was offered by the residents for Tomori to rest.
Two Days Later…
Two days has passed (which also marked the second week since Tomori was summoned) since Tomori and Riri saved the Mr. Barton's family and the other slaves, but he failed to save one of them. And due to that, he felt regret, and he didn't know how to get rid of the feeling. He also purposely avoids meeting up with Ivaran because he thinks that he hates him.
During those two days, he has been resting ever since, while implementing all of the Power Up Methods that were written in the book.
Blade Weapon Power-up Method:
Sharing And Understanding:
By sharing powerup methods with each other, the powerup methods work better.
Mastery Level:
As the user uses a weapon form more and more frequently, it gradually increases in power until it is fully mastered (indicated by it attaining a Mastery Level of 100 in its stats).
Energy Transfer:
The user can reset the mastery level of a given weapon form to obtain energy. This energy is added to a free-floating pool that can be applied to a weapon form to "Awaken" it, which increases its stats and can unlock new abilities.
Quality Up:
The energy from the floating pool can be applied to the rarity of the weapon, raising it from Normal - Good - Great - Excellent - Divine. Has a chance to fail.
Shield Power-up Method:
Weapon Evolution:
By converting items or mastery level of a certain weapon form into Evolution Points, you can rank up the weapon from rank I to X. Each rank can improve existing special effects or unlock new ones, as well as increase its stats.
Armor Power-up Method:
Revised Edition:
By picking up a currently existing weapon form with higher quality, you can scan its 'quality tag and upgrade the weapon form with its new stats and, to a lesser degree, appearance.
Ring Power-up Method:
Growth Revision:
You can sacrifice levels for stat boosts that will be applied once you relevel. Can be used on companions with their consent.
Wand Power-up Method:
Magic Rank:
Gain Magic Points on level up that can be allocated to a known spell to boost its efficacy, and it applies a suffix ranging from I to X depending on how many are added. After a cooldown of 24 hours after applying the points, the points are able to be removed from the spell and reallocated.
Dagger Power-Up Method:
Stat Allocation:
The user gains points with each level that they can then allocate to various stats.
Axe Power-up Method:
Microtransaction Stat Boost:
The user is able to put money into the weapon and then subsequently purchase assorted status boosts from the enhancement menu. Each item can only be purchased once, but there are multiple tiers of a very wide variety of boosts you can purchase, including boosted growth/maturation rates and magic recovery speed.
Lance Power-Up Method:
Skill Mastery:
The more a skill is used, the more effective and powerful it grows. But in addition, more effects can arise, in some cases skills can evolve into other skills or otherwise change upon mastery.
Using all of those methods, he powered up both his stats and weapons.
Sword of Absorver II (Awakened)(5)(VI)(Great) : Ability Unlocked
Skill: Reflect Blade, Switchblade
Special Effect: Element Transmission, Phase Shift, Magic Unison, Howl of Wolf, Magic Assistance, Magic Attack Up (Extra Strong), Magic Defense Up (Extra Strong), MP Recovery (Strong), HP Recovery (Medium), SP Recovery (Medium)
Accessory Equip Effect: Thousand Blades
Item Enchantment Level 15: SP 21% Up
Eclipse Minotaur Spirit Counter: MATK 100, MDEF 100
Status Enchantment: 100 MDEF
As of now, this is his strongest weapon. And considering his level and Riri's level is 61 and 52, they wouldn't have to worry about fighting some that are on the same level as Cunningfield anymore.
"Are you sure you wanted to leave now? Your body doesn't fully heal, right?" Rheat said to Tomori.
"Even so, I need to go now. Can't have you guys keep a criminal safe in your town, right? And also, I need to get stronger, to defeat the waves…"
"I see… Well, then. Please have a safe journey."
"Oh, before that," Tomori brought out the Shield of Absorver and gave it to Rheat. "Can you give this to Ivaran?"
"Isn't it better if you give him this yourself?"
"Nah, he probably doesn't want to see me right now. If he doesn't want it, you can give it to the guards here if you want to. And also, I'm sorry that I take one of your horse and carriage for my journey."
"You don't have to. Besides, the horse seems to like you a lot."
"Hehehe… Well then, see you guys in the near future." Tomori then walked towards the exit of this town.
As he get closer to the exit, Riri spoke to him.
"Do you really don't want to talk to the elf kid before we leave?"
"I mean, I'm sure he didn't want to talk to me."
"Really? How about you turn around and see it for yourself?"
"Huh? What do you mean by-" As Tomori turned around, he saw a person who's 6 ft tall, blonde haired and black eyes, running towards him. Not to mention, he had pointy ears, wearing adventuring gears and had the Shield of Absorver behind his back. "Is that… Ivaran? What the hell did puberty do to him?"
He's just kidding. Tomori actually knows about demi-humans changing their appearances to suited combat more as they level up, this also includes elves and dwarfs.
" Sigh* How could you just… Leave me behind… Like that…" Ivaran said as he ran out of breath.
"W-Why are you here?" Tomori asked him.
"I'm joining you on your adventure." Ivaran said to him.
"W-What? You know how absurd that sounds? I'm a high profile criminal, you know? If you come with me, you're going to live as if you're on the run your entire life."
"I know that already from the residents. Not only that, but I also heard from them that you think I hate you for some reason. Just to clarify, I don't hate you in the slightest. It's the opposite. I'm grateful to you that Liyana can go with a huge smile on her face."
"Ivaran…"
"Not only that, but before Liyana went off, she said something to me. She wanted me to join your party in her place. I don't care if you don't want me in your party, but please! I will make myself useful to you! So let me join your party… Lord Blade Hero!" Ivaran said while bowing down to Tomori.
"Ah, this is a pain in the *ss…" Tomori said as he scratched his head. But then, he started to smile. "Eh, whatever. There's more room at the party. So, welcome aboard, Ivaran. And also, please drop the 'lord'. It makes me uncomfortable. Just call me Tomori, mkay?"
He said as he extended his hand to Ivaran.
"Well, okay then… Tomori-san."
Both Tomori and Ivaran shake hands. And from that moment on, a friendship with an unbreakable bond has been formed.
Author Notes:
Oh, wow… This is intense. I almost shed my tears IRL while making this chapter. This is going to be the longest written chapter on this story for now. I hope there's nothing like this in the future, unless it involves an impactful scene.
And with this chapter, Tomori has become Gary Stu and a Deus ex Machina. With the power of the 24 Power Up Methods and the power of Spirit Union Tier 1-I'm sorry, did I say Spirit Union Tier 1 just now?! There's more Tiers to Spirit Union?! What a surprise! As if I came up with this after my depression!
In all seriousness, this is just a fraction of what my brain cells can think of. And don't worry, there will be a character that can legit one on one Tomori, despite his bullsh*t protagonist power, in the near future (it's also a character that is supposed to be close with Tomori on the first draft of Centurion that I make in 2021).
And with that, I give you all the Weapon Status layout as we have already discovered 24 of the Power Up Methods.
Weapon Name (Awakening)(Smelting)(Weapon Evolution)(Quality Up) : Ability Locked:
Skill:
Equip Bonus:
Special Effect:
Special Equip Effect:
Mastery Level:
Accessory Equip Effect:
Weapon Synthesis:
Item Enchantment Level:
Spirit Counter:
Status Enchantment: