Author Notes:

First of all, I wanted to apologise to the fact that I can't consistently upload new chapters due to me having a lot of work to do. But I will do my best to write new chapters during the weekends (which the only time that I have a time for myself)

In any case, I hope you will enjoy this chapter. And the next chapter will be longer. O hope you guys will look forward into that.

Arc 2: Hero Vs Hero

Chapter 4: Preparation and Confrontation

"Alright, we're here. We're lucky that this country's knights are a bunch of idiots. Am I right, Ivaran?" The Blade Hero turned to the Elf Man.

"Ugh…" But unfortunately, the Elf Man is curling on the planks of the carriage, holding his mouth to stop himself from puking.

"How the hell did you have motion sickness? You haven't got that the first time you ride this carriage."

"The horse goes… Too fast…" Ivaran said weakly.

"Come on, don't be such a baby."

"I'm not-Blegh!"

"Oh no, not here! Do that outside!" Following Tomori's order, Ivaran jumped out from the carriage and puked behind a nearby tree. "For some reason, I'm starting to regret letting him into my party. But he can overcome that motion sickness if I give him some time. Now then, let's meet up with the dwarf blacksmith."

Tomori (with Riri on his shoulders) walked inside Terry's shop.

"Welcome! Oh, it's you." Terry greeted him.

"Yeah, I came here for that thing you mentioned when I learned to read magic text."

"Straight to business, eh? Also, have you given the Shaft Hero that staff?"

"What, no! In fact, for the last week, I didn't meet up with any heroes at all!"

"Huh, that's disappointing. Anyways, here it is." Terry placed a paper with magic text on it.

Tomori picked it up and read it. "This is…"

"The writing is like that from the start."

"Yeah, and from the looks of it, it's an ancient magic text from the past." Riri said to Tomori.

"Your Spirit Beast is right-What?! A talking Spirit Beast?!" Terry exclaimed.

"Why do you suddenly freak out all of the sudden?"

"Your Spirit Beast is talking!"

"Yeah, so?"

"That's practically impossible!"

"Why?"

" Sigh*" Terry gave up. "If you don't know, if a hero raises a monster, for example a dragon, from birth, it will gain the ability to talk in human language and Transformation Magic. And your Spirit Beast already has one of that ability."

"I'm seeing where we're going here. But what about this Transformation Magic here?"

"To simply put, it will gain the ability to change form to human."

"What?! I didn't know that you can transform into a human, Riri." Tomori said to her.

"I didn't know that either." She replied.

"Huh? So, how do you speak in the first place?"

"I don't even know."

"Okay, stop all of this. You're going to make my head explode. Let's just continue with the main topic here." Tomori read the magic text on the paper. "I can read a few of the words here. If I mashed a few lines here, I can cast the magic written here."

He held his right hand in front of the paper and started chanting.

"As the source of power, hear my words and weaken my target!"

Tomori then receives a notification, saying that he needs to choose a target to activate his spell.

Ding*

Someone went inside Terry's Shop.

"Oh, Tomori-san. There you are."

" Low Verringern!" He chose Ivaran as his guinea pig.

"Huh?" Ivaran then knelt to the ground like his energy just disappeared from his body. "My stats… All of them went down!"

"So it's a debuff spell that affects all stats…"

"Yeah. Only Holy Heroes can learn the magic from the text. And each four of the heroes will receive different magic from it." Terry explained. "Also… Why the hell there's an elf here?"

"That's… It's a long story…"

…

Tomori then went on to explain what happened in the past week, but not all of it. He also lied about how Ivaran joined his party.

"Hmm, I see it now. Well, it's a good thing that he isn't a pure Forest Elf." Terry said.

"Why is that?"

"Well, the elves and dwarfs haven't exactly had the best relationship for the past decades. They usually nagged at us dwarfs because we 'sacrifice the resources of nature to build weapons' and stuff like that. If you didn't know, the Forest Elf Tribe is a pacifist. While, the Dark Elf Tribe is the opposite of that. But don't be a fool. The Forest Elf isn't all that good. I heard that their kingdom threatened to kill the first in line to the throne because he had a relationship with another race. 'Pacifist' my *ss."

"Ok, I understand where your hatred comes from…"

"Well, that's that, I guess. But there's one thing I've been wondering for a while…" Terry turned to Ivaran, who's looking at the weapon that was displayed "Hey, Elf Kid. Can you come here for a sec?"

"Oh, yeah. Sure." He walked closer to the counter.

"Can I ask you where you got that Magic Shield?" Terry points at the shield that's hanging on Ivaran's back.

"Oh, Tomori-san give it to me."

Hearing that answer, the dwarf blacksmith turned to the Blade Hero.

"I got it from a weapon-wielding monster called Eclipse Minotaur."

"…What did you just say?"

"Eclipse Minotaur. Do you know what kind of monster it is?" Tomori asked him.

"Wait here for a moment!" Terry went back to his shop and came back with a Crystal Orb. He then activates the orb, showing various holograms of pictures. "Here, is this the one?"

"Hmm…" Tomori looks at the hologram, which is a drawing of the same minotaur that wields the same weapon. "Yeah, that's the one."

"If you have the shield, then definitely you have the sword, right?" Terry asked.

"Yeah, it's here." Tomori brings out the Original SoA and puts it on the counter.

"Oh wow…" Terry then lifted the sword up and closely inspected it. " Sword of Absorver… Never in my life I thought I would be seeing this weapon. And the shield that the Elf Kid had is definitely the Shield of Absorver. You know how rare these weapons are?!" Terry exclaimed.

"Uh, no…" Both Tomori and Ivaran said simultaneously.

"These weapons can be dated back to centuries ago, before all the countries that we know today exist. This is a powerful weapon with high magic power, being created with the purest Mithril that you can ever find. Legend has it that the Eclipse Minotaur is the guardian of a lost country that fell down four centuries ago. And to think that you met, and defeat one of it.."

"Well, the fight is hard to be honest…" Tomori recalls the only reason he's still alive today is because of the weapon that never showed up in the Weapon Tree. "Well, thanks for the history lesson. I already got what I wanted. So, I'm gonna leave now."

"W-Wait, Tomori-san. Don't be so rash. We have plenty of things to do here, right? Besides, Riri-san is talking to Orson-san about things! Things!" Ivaran said while his body was shaking.

"Gomi!" The bear Spirit Beast growled.

"Yeah, and I shot some Lightning Magic at it, and it went kaboom! You should have seen Tomori's face at that time." Riri said to Orson.

"Gomi! Gomi, gomi!"

"Okay, first of all, seeing a small wolf cub talking to a full grown, shy grizzly bear is kinda cute. And secondly, is Ivaran that scared of riding a carriage?"

"Yeah, I think the Elf Kid is right." Terry said to him. "After all, there's a VIP coming to this shop."

"What kind of VIP?"

"You see it for yourself-"

Ding*

A tall, bald man with muscular build walked into Terry's Shop.

"And speaking of the devil, there he is."

"Yo, Terry! Haven't seen you since forever! Did you already get the stuff that I ordered with-" The blacksmith, Vadge, stopped talking as soon as he saw the Blade Hero, standing in front of the counter. "Oh, Blade Lad! Didn't think that I would be seeing you here!"

"Likewise."

"Hmm…" The blacksmith then inspected the Blade Hero closely. "Did something happen to you? The vibe I got from you is different from the last time we met, you know?"

"Y-Yeah, a lot has happened, right." Tomori said as his eyes were looking in a different direction.

"I see…" Without pressing any further, Vadge dropped the topic. But then, he saw an elf man standing next to Tomori. "And who's this?"

"I'm Ivaran. Tomori-san's companion. Nice to meet you." He introduced himself.

"Nice to meet you as well. And I didn't think that someone would even join your party considering the crap that had been going on." Vadge said to Tomori.

"Well, color me surprised. And also, why are you here?"

"I need some magic related materials. And there's no better place than here." Vadge then walked closer to the counter and had a handshake with Terry. "So, Terry, my buddy. You got the goods?"

"Yeah, it's all in the back."

"Gotcha. And of course…" The blacksmith turned to the bear Spirit Beast. "How could I forget about you!"

"Gomi!"

Orsen then walked out from the counter and proceeded to hug Vadge.

"Oh, wow… The vibe here is pretty nice…" Despite facing something harsh two days ago, Tomori can't help but be calm, seeing all the people who trust and help being all happy together.

"I didn't know that you're close with Mr. Blacksmith, Orson." Riri said to the bear Spirit Beast.

"Well, I have known it for more than-What?! You can talk?!" Vadge exclaimed, being surprised to hear that Riri can talk.

"And here we go again…"

"And that should be it." Terry put the last crate filled with materials that Vadge ordered on the carriage… Tomori's Carriage.

"Well, it's not that I'm not grateful to you for helping me carry all these crates back to the town, but are you sure that this plan of yours really works?" Vadge asked Tomori.

"Yeah, the knights are dumb. I saw that first handedly."

"Well, okay then." Vadge then took a seat at the front while Tomori, Riri and Ivaran stayed on the top of the carriage.

" Hiding Blade!"

" All Low Mirage!"

Both Tomori and Ivaran activate their invisibility skill and magic. Ivaran's Magic Affinity is Light and Dark, which he gets from both of his parents. Due to that, he can also learn some Illusion Magic.

"Oh, and Horsy, don't go too fast or someone is going to puke." Tomori said to the horse.

"Neigh!"

The horse then moved the carriage at the speed which Ivaran didn't puke.

"And, we arrived safely!" Tomori exclaimed in victory as all of them passed through the borders without any troubles. Vadge parked the carriage in front of his shop.

"Well, the knights didn't check if there's anything on top of the carriage. Damn, how lucky are you, Blade Lad?" Vadge asked him.

"I dunno."

" Sigh* Anyways, let's head to my shop. There's a place where the Elf Kid can rest for a bit."

"Okay…" Ivaran is holding the urge to puke.

" Sigh* He's hopeless…" Tomori raised the hood from his cloak and carried some of the crates into the shop. "I haven't been here for a week. Glad it didn't change a bit."

He went to the back of the shop and put the crates down. As he walked out, he remembered something that he forgot to tell Terry about.

"Damnit! I forgot to tell him about the Armor and Ring!"

In the book that has the weapons function, there's two sections, the Holy Weapon and the Vassal Weapon. The Vassal Weapon section has all the names of the Six Progression Heroes, but not only that, there's also two more names written there, the Armor Hero and Ring Hero.

"Wait… I think it's better to not tell him that. If so, I'm going to have another history class. And it's f*cking boring!"

Tomori then went to stand in front of the counter while Ivaran took a nap upstairs.

"So, Vadge, about all of the weapons that I copied from last week…"

"You have the coins to pay for it?"

"Yeah…" Tomori then brings out a pouch filled with gold from his inventory and places it on the counter. "I don't know how much all of it cost, but here's 150 golds."

"1-150 golds?!"

"What? It's not enough?"

"No, it's more than enough! But how did you get this much coins?!"

"Someone give it to me."

"What? So you didn't steal it from the Cunningfield Manor?" Vadge said to him.

"Of course I don't-Wait, did you say Cunningfield?"

"Yeah, there's an official statement from the crown that said you kill the noble. But I think that is just a plot used by the Church to slander you. I'm just kidding about you stealing the money from Cunningfield. You're not the type of person who would do such things."

"…"

"Um, Blade Lad?" Vadge is shocked to see Tomori's face, who seemed to have seen something scary.

"I… The… The statement is true. I killed Cunningfield with my own hands. And I don't regret it. He's not a human, but a monster who wears a human face. That monster abuse and torture children for his own entertainment. I have to end it once for all, or other people will suffer for it…"

"Kid…" Now Vadge has understood the changes that he saw on Tomori. What is written on Tomori's face is regret. The blacksmith didn't know what kind of regret it was, but it's better for him to not dig deeper about it. "Anyways, I can't accept this much money from you."

"But, the weapons that I copied from you-"

"It's fine! When I'm thinking about it, it's not like you're directly stealing the weapons from me."

"But-"

"Oh, how about this? Since your Leather Armor is busted, how about I make you something new? I've already restocked some high quality materials here, so you can spend those sweet coins on it. What do you think?"

"I…" Tomori noticed that Vadge is trying to switch the direction of the conversation to something else. It's just the blacksmith's way to show his kindness to him. Tomori thought to himself as to why Vadge is showing this kind of compassion to him. He felt too guilty to reject the kindness that was given to him. "Yeah, that would be nice."

"Great! So, what design do you want?" Vadge asked him.

"Hmm… If possible, I wanted a set of armor that's reattachable. Like, I can easily switch between wearing my normal clothes and the armor."

"Okay… That means full plate armor is out of the windows. I think I can sew a jacket made out of Hard Leather for the base. Gloves and boots made out of it can be useful as well. Putting a vambrace on the gloves is good as well. That can be said for the greeves on the boots as well. Oh, and cuisses too. Can't forget about that."

"Um, Vadge?" Tomori is wondering what he's babbling about.

"Alright, I already got a general idea on how your armor is going to look. And now for the materials… Do you have any bones? That can be used to increase the armor magic effect."

"Oh, yeah. Here." Tomori brings out the Minotaur's Bone and places it on top of the table.

"Okay, the cost for it… 30 gold."

"I know that I'm not supposed to say it, but isn't that kind of expensive?" Tomori said to the blacksmith.

"Kid, like I said, I would be using the best materials that I have. And also, it also includes the cost to upgrade the armor magic effect." Without questioning further, Tomori brings out 30 golds from the pouch and hands it to Vadge. "Well then, I'm going to draw the draft first. Then, I'm gonna start hammering those ingots. You can just relax for a bit. I'll make sure it will be done before the waves start."

"Okay… Thanks for everything, Vadge. Make sure that you're still yourself, okay?"

"I will."

And with that, Tomori went upstairs, joining Ivaran to take a nap.

Six Days Later…

"Hah!" Ivaran blocked an attack from a lizard monster.

"Riri!" Tomori shouted while he charged up a skill.

"Yes! Low Shock Burst!" Riri sends a magic attack at the lizard.

Hiss*

" Scarlet Slash!" Tomori used the skill that he charged up to deal the finishing blow on the lizard.

Riri Level Up!

Ivaran Level Up!

While waiting for the armor to be done, Tomori went back to the swamp near Bailwo to grind Riri and Ivaran level. Both of them right now are level 45 and 36, while Tomori's level is 47. But why is their level lower compared to before? It's because Tomori tried experimenting with the Ring method to see exactly how it works.

So, he dropped his own level and Riri's to level 40. And then, he realized that his stats and Riri's stayed the same after the level reset. But the difference is that the amount of stats they gained as they level up increased more than usual, especially Tomori. He concluded that it's because the amount of EXP he used is higher, so that the stats he gained should be higher as well.

"You know, the monsters here have gotten weak." Tomori complains as he absorbs the lizard into his inventory.

"I agreed with you." Riri said to him. "A single magic spell just roasted them to bits. It's not even challenging anymore."

"Um… Isn't it because both of you have gotten so strong?" Ivaran spoke up. "Seeing you two reminded me of someone that has a Spirit Beast too."

"Really? Who is it?" Tomori asked.

"It's someone who I think of as my big sister."

"Hmm… Is this person strong?"

"Yeah. She's about as strong as my mom."

"Your mom?"

"Yeah, my mom used to be an adventurer before she married my father."

"I see…" Tomori said as he went deep through his thoughts. "If this person that has a Spirit Beast is strong, then where is he during the waves?"

"Oh, the sun is going down soon. I think we should go back to Vadge-san's place." The elf man suggested.

"Oh, yeah, you're right." Tomori snapped back to reality. " Transport Blade!"

Tomori teleported them back to Vadge's Shop.

"Woah!" Vadge is surprised to see the group appear in front of his counter. "How many times I had to tell you that you need to teleport elsewhere. What will happen if I have a customer here?"

"That's never happened ever since we got here. And besides, who the hell goes to the Weapon Shop when the sun is setting down-"

Ding*

Out of the sudden, the bell that was attached to the doors chimed as a couple of footsteps can be heard.

"Vadge-san! Sorry to interrupt you at this time." The voice that called the blacksmith's name is a voice that Tomori is familiar with. "You see, Rylon's sword broke when we're on the quest to defeat the golems. So, if have the time, can you-"

The girl then stopped talking as she saw a dark brown haired man, standing in front of the shop's counter. The man then slowly turned around to see the girl.

"Aww, crap… How the f*ck am I so lucky…" Tomori then took a deep breath before he spoke up. "H-Hey… It's been a while, Akira…"

"Y-Yeah… I can say the same to you, Tomori…" The Magic Hero said to the Blade Hero. Both of them look at each other's face deeply, thinking what they should say to each other next.

"The Blade Hero…!"

One of Akira's party members, a man wearing a set of full plate armor, stood in front of her while drawing his broken sword out and pointed it at Tomori. Another man, who is a man wearing light clothing and iron breastplate, stands beside the armored man while drawing his dagger. While the last member of the party, a girl who Tomori describes as a kunoichi, stood silently next to Akira, as if wanting to see how their encounter turned out.

"Tomori-san!" Ivaran then leaped forward and stood in front of him while holding his shield in front.

"..."

Silence went through as each party tried to predict what the other party was going to do, until the blacksmith spoke up.

"Hey, if you guys want to fight, take it outside. This is a Weapon Shop, not a coliseum."

"Vadge-san is right. Come on, guys. Lower down your weapons." Akira said to both of her party members.

"You can chill a bit, Ivaran." Tomori said as he pat Ivaran's shoulder.

The three of them then lowered their respective weapons down as their hero ordered it.

"This is an unexpected encounter, but a welcome one."

"Yeah."

Both of the heroes then walked closer to each other.

"There's a lot of things I wanted to ask you, Tomori. A lot of things. And considering what your answers were, I might have to capture you." Akira said to Tomori.

"I know, I know. Let's talk behind the shop. There's also a lot of things I wanted to talk to you about as well."

"Okay then, but for my own safety, I'm gonna bring Emil with me." Akira then sling her arms to the blue haired dagger user.

"Y-Yes!" The man named Emil exclaimed.

"If that's the case, then I'm gonna bring this little cutie with me." Tomori pointed at Riri who's laying down on his shoulders.

"Wuff!" Riri decided to bark as she didn't want to escalate things further."

Both Tomori and Akira took a seat on a table that's in a room behind the shop. Emil stood behind Akira while Riri sat down on the table.

"Grr…" Riri tried to intimidate Emil by slowly growling and staring at him.

" Gulp*" Which works perfectly.

"That guy isn't going to be a great bodyguard." Tomori thought to himself as he exchanged glances with Akira.

"So… First of all, Tomori, do you raped Tadashi's party member?" Akira asked.

"No." He quickly answered. "That's the plan that the red head princess and the Church of Transpierce to throw me off."

"What's the Church of Transpierce?" She asked.

"The Church of Transpierce is the main religion of Welle, that worships both the Shaft Hero and Projectile Hero." The blue haired man answered her question.

"He's right, but I wanted to add something." Tomori spoke up. "That church hates me because I'm the Blade Hero."

"And why is that?" She asked.

"Well, this is a human supremacist country, which believes that demi-humans are a bunch of monsters that's worthless compared to normal humans. Not only that, but these demi-humans also worship the Blade Hero, which automatically makes me their enemy as well. Am I right?" Tomori said to Emil.

"Y-Yes…"

"So, that raped accusation is a lie from the start? I mean, there's even a nightgown with blood on it."

"Did anyone check who's blood it is?" Tomori asked.

"Uh, no. I mean, is there a machine or magic item that lets us check blood in this world?"

"Exactly. How can they check the blood if the machine or item for it doesn't exist yet? So, they had to assume that's the redhead princess' blood."

"If that's the case, then why don't you inform the king?"

"The church had already planted traps for me. And even if I get there, who would the king trust more, a total stranger or his own daughter?"

"Hmm… Even if what you said is true, there's no proof that you're innocent. Which leads to the next question," Akira took a deep breath before she continued to speak. "Did you kill… Kasper Cunningfield?"

"Yeah."

Tomori's answer surprised both Akira and Emil.

"W-Why did you do that?" Akira said while stuttering a bit.

"Tell me, Akira. What did you know about Cunningfield?"

"Um… The only thing I know is that he's a close friend with the king. The king seems sad and angry to know that you're the one w-who killed him."

"Oh… How about you, blueberry?" Tomori turned to Emil.

"B-Blueberry?" He's confused as to why the Blade Hero called him that. "U-Um, Lord Cunningfield is one of the soldiers that fought in the war two decades ago, which gained him respect among the nobles at the time."

"What war are we talking about?" Akira asked him.

"A war between Welle and Klinge, the country of the demi-humans. And Welle is the one who emerged victorious, but not without a heavy cost."

"Hmm, I see…" Now Akira understands why Welle hated the demi-humans.

"And as to why I killed Cunningfield…" Tomori spoke up. "He's a bastard who gets a kick from abusing and torturing demi-human childrens."

"What?!" Akira exclaimed.

"Yeah, that's right. He's a bastard who whips kids while having a huge grin on his face. A person like that should walk on the face of earth."

"B-But you can just report it to the king instead of killing him-"

"You think he's going to care about it?" Tomori said in a menacing tone. "You know what I see when I save those people? A bunch of little skeletons in those cells. That guy is not a human, but a monster, a murderer. Let me tell you straight, this country doesn't care about the demi-humans, even if they're women and children. This is the kind of world we get summoned to.

Tomori seems to be angry when he talks about it.

" Sigh* Someone like you who hasn't faced the things I have wouldn't understand it…"

"If that's the case, then tell me." Akira said to him. "Tell me everything that has happened to you these past weeks."

"..."

In the end, Tomori told Akira about everything from the beginning.

"Oh, I didn't know that you faced something like that, Tomori…" Akira sympathises with him.

"It's nothing compared to what Ivaran has faced. His village got destroyed, his parents are dead, he got sold to slavery, got tortured and lost his childhood friend." Tomori said.

"Well, it's good that he has you by your side."

"Yeah…"

"So… What's the thing that you wanted to talk about?" Akira asked him.

"Oh, wait a sec…" Tomori brings out the staff from Terry, the book that has the weapon function and the paper of the ancient magic text. "Here, take all of it."

Akira took the staff and copied it.

"This staff is good. And this paper has a magic text of a spell… As for the book, is it written in Japanese? And the contents… Is about the weapon function. Who gave you all of this?"

"The staff and paper is from your fan. As for the book, I still don't know about it." Tomori answered her.

"I see. Why did you give me the paper and book?"

"That paper has a spell that's exclusive only to Holy Heroes. And the book has a list about the Power Up Methods. And since you're the only one between us that's easy to talk to, I hope you can convince the other two to believe in the methods."

"Yeah, about that…"

"What?" Tomori thought that from Akira's tone, it doesn't sound very good.

"Um… Do you know that the Crystal Orb can give you a basic magic spell without actually learning the magic text?"

"Yeah…? And you mean that they actually didn't learn ANY of the magic text since more than two weeks ago? What have they been doing?"

"Hunting monsters, doing quests, etc. That's all I heard from Adventurer's Guild."

"I mean, that's the standard thing to do if you're an adventurer. But that doesn't justify them taking the easy way." Tomori then looked at Akira. "Can you straighten them out for me? It's bad if they died during the wave."

"I'll try to convince them."

"Okay, and lastly, when does the wave start?"

Akira looks at the timer in the top middle of her HUD. "26 hours, 46 minutes and 35 seconds left before the wave starts. You haven't registered to the hourglass yet, right?"

"Yeah, and I doubt the church wouldn't allow me to register it."

"I can help convince them to let you in."

"I doubt that will work. They would just make up excuses like 'The Blade Hero is going to destroy the hourglass' or something close to it."

"Then, how about you teleport with my party?"

"Well, I can do that. But what happens if we can't meet with each other for the next wave?"

"Hmm, that's right…"

"Well, I have another idea that you 100% wouldn't like."

"Like what?"

"I ain't going to tell you about it. You're not going to like it. Okay, I've decided that I will follow the plan."

"What plan are you talking about?"

"You will see it tomorrow."

" Sigh* I hope you don't do anything stupid."

"Well then, that's all that I wanted to talk about. See you guys tomorrow. Come on, Riri." Tomori said as he stood up from his seat.

"Wuff!" She climbed his shoulders. Tomori then left the room and went to the counter of Vadge's shop.

He saw that Ivaran was leaning on the side of the dressing room while Akira's party stood in front of the counter. As Tomori walked forward, Akira and Emil also followed him from behind.

"Miss Akira… What should we do with the Blade Hero?" The armored man named Rylon asked the Magic Hero.

"Have you got your new sword, Rylon?" Akira said, avoiding his question.

"Oh, yes." He answered her.

"Well then, let's go to the Inn."

"But what about the Blade Hero?"

"Let's go. The wave started at 12 in the afternoon. We need all the rest we can get."

"But-"

"Rylon," The kunoichi said. "Akira-dono has given her orders to us. Let's just follow what she said."

"Right…" The armored man takes a glance at Ivaran, and then Tomori. And he goes to the blue haired dagger user to ask what happened back then.

Akira and her party then left the shop.

" Sigh* I thought that she's going to capture me or something…" Tomori said as he released a heavy sigh.

"Well, can't blame her if she's going to arrest you, Blade Lad." The blacksmith said to him. "How did you convince her not to do that?"

"Just a couple of tear jerking stories and a little evidence. At least I know that she isn't going to bother me for a while." Tomori replied as he stand next to Ivaran.

"You know, I just wanted to know how you are going to clear up your reputation. Like, considering you don't do 'things' to the princess here."

"Well, I can't see the king, because either he won't hear what I'm going to say or the church has another plan to kill me if I go see the king. And if I tried to get out of this country, this country would frame me as a felon, which means the chance of the church killing me when I'm on the run is super high. Or maybe I can seek refuge at Klinge."

"Hmm… I don't think that's a good idea, Blade Lad." Vadge said to him.

"Why not?"

"Come here for a sec."

"Okay…" Tomori gets closer to the blacksmith. Vadge then whispered something to him. "Okay… Really? Is it that bad? Oh wow…"

Riri and Ivaran look at Tomori's face, which changes expression every time Vadge whispered to him.

"Do you have any idea what they could be talking about?" The elf man asked the Spirit Beast who sits on top of a barrel next to him.

"I dunno." Riri gave him a quick and simple reply.

Tomori then walked back to his companion's side. "Okay, we won't be going to Klinge."

"Why not?" Ivaran asked.

"That's a good question that I won't be answering. But if you want an answer, the reason is that Klinge is a very bad place for me, the Blade Here."

"I thought Klinge worshipped the Blade Hero. Why would that place be bad for you?"

"Well…" Tomori decided to whisper to Ivaran about what Vadge whispered to him back then.

"...Really? They would do that? Do they have any manners at all? And is the last part really true? Now I understand why you won't go there."

"Hey, hey. Whatcha two talk'n bout?" Riri asked them.

"Should we tell her, Tomori-san?" Ivaran asked the Blade Hero.

"Well, everyone that's a part of my party should know about it. So, yeah."

Both Tomori and Ivaran told Riri about what Klinge would do if Tomori went there.

"…Are the demi-humans are stupid? Why would they do that to the past Blade Hero? If any of them were to happen now, who knows what they will do to you, Tomori." Riri said in a concerning tone.

"That's why I don't want to go there. But I also don't want to burden you, Vadge. Especially when you let a criminal stay at your property." Tomori turned to the blacksmith.

"Don't you worry too much about it. It's not like those knights are going to enter this shop every single day. You can stay here until all of this crap goes down."

"Thanks… But I have to reject your offer. I can't stay here, considering the things that I'm going to do tomorrow."

"What 'things'?"

"If I told you about it, you would definitely not agree with it. So, I will just shut up." Tomori said as he motioned his hand as if to zip his mouth close.

"Well, how about me and Riri?" Ivaran asked.

"I will say it to both of you tomorrow. Riri would definitely agree with me, but I don't know about you, Ivaran."

"What does the plan entail?"

"Just wait for tomorrow." The Blade Hero then turned to the blacksmith. "How about the armor that I ordered?"

"Just a few tune ups and it will be ready for tomorrow."

"Mkay."

Tomori then went upstairs, followed by Riri and Ivaran.

The Next Day…

Tomori look out through the windows, seeing parade of knights went through the streets in front of Vadge's shop.

"Seems like this is going to be a busy day."

"Tomori-san." He turned behind to see his elf companion. "Vadge-san said that your armor is already completed. You should go down and take it."

"Alright. Come on, Riri." Tomori called for his wolf Spirit Beast.

"Yes!" She then climbed to his shoulders.

All three of them went downstairs to the counter.

"Yo, Ivaran said that my armor is already completed." Tomori said to the blacksmith.

"Yeah, here you go." Vadge then put the set of armor that he made for Tomori on the counter.

The armor consists of a crimson short sleeve jacket, gloves and boots made out of Hard Leather, white metallic breastplate, pauldrons, vambraces, cuirass and greaves, and a white colored scabbard.

"Wait, I didn't ask you to make a scabbard." Tomori said as he looked at the white scabbard.

"Well, let me ask you this. What would people think when they see you have an unsheathed sword hanging on your waist or your back?"

"...That's fair. And what about the-"

"The cost? Don't worry too much bout it. I have some extra parts to make this scabbard."

"Okay…"

"And what are you waiting for? Put these baddies on." Vadge said as he shoved the armor and scabbard to him.

Tomori then went to the dressing room.

After he finished wearing the armor, he left the dressing room.

"How do I look?" Tomori asked as he inspected the armor that he was wearing.

"You look really cool!" Riri said to him.

"I have to agree with Riri." Ivaran said.

"I would say, you have gone up from looking like a scrawny man to a person who looks like a mercenary." Vadge said, looking satisfied at the creation that he made for Tomori.

"Well, I can't argue with him. The stats of this armor is the top of the roof."

Crimson Crest Armor: Defense Up, Size Adjustment, Slash Resistance (Strong), Impact Resistance (Strong), Pierce Resistance (Strong), All Magic Resistance (Medium), Magic Up (Medium), HP Recovery (Weak), MP Recovery (Weak), Magic Defense Processing, Automatic Self-Repair

"Crimson Crest Armor, huh?"

All of the white metallic pieces stick to his jacket, gloves and boots as if they were magnets. With the combination of black, red and white, Tomori looks as slick as he can be.

"And this scabbard…"

Ivory Scabbard: Size Adjustment, Shape Adjustment, Automatic Self-Repair

"Seems like it can change shape and size according to the shape of my current sword. Man, Vadge is very thoughtful about it. Not only that…"

Small Sword (Normal) : Ability Unlocked

Equip Bonus: ATK 3, AGI 3

Mastery Level: 100

Accessory Equip Effect: Increase Skill effect upon drawing the blade

"Now that I think about it, scabbard is also kind of an accessory for a sword. And it has an effect that powers up a Skill if I activate it when I draw my sword from the scabbard." Tomori then walked to the counter, facing Vadge. "Thanks, Vadge. Well then, we have to go now."

"Oh, before that…" Vadge then put a huge backpack on the counter. "Take this. Open it after the wave has ended. And I will take no as an answer."

"Okay…" Without questioning any further, Tomori takes the backpack and put it inside his inventory.

"Damn… A huge backpack like that can be stored inside of your weapon just like that. I would die for something like that, you know."

"Come on, man. Don't say it like that."

"Hahaha! Well then, make sure all of you stay alive." Vadge said to them.

"We will. Come on, guys. Let's go." Tomori raised the hood of his jacket and motioned his party to leave the shop.

"Oh yeah, what's the thing that you said that you wanted to tell us?" Ivaran asked the Blade Hero.

"Well…"

10 Minutes Before The Wave Started…

Tomori and the gang are standing behind the building near the Church of Transpierce.

"Are you sure that we're going to do this? If so, your reputation might, no, WILL go down." Ivaran said to Tomori.

"Ivaran, I'm a hero that was summoned to fight the waves. And if they refused to let me register to the hourglass, then there is something wrong going on in their heads. Besides, that plan of mine wouldn't happen if they let me register it. And if they don't, then we have to do it the hard way."

" Sigh* I thought the books were lying about the Blade Hero being a savage beast." Ivaran muttered to himself.

"What was that?" Tomori swears that he can hear Ivaran said something about the Blade Hero.

"Okay… And Riri." He turned to his wolf Spirit Beast. "If anything goes sideways, it's your turn to shine."

"Okay!" She said enthusiastically.

All three of them then walked towards the entrance of the church.

"Halt!" One of the two guards said. "What business do you have here?"

"Well, can't you tell?" Tomori lowered his hood. "I'm here to register for the hourglass."

"I-It's the Blade Demon?!" The other guard exclaimed. "Quick! Informed the other knights that the Blade Demon is going to attack the church!"

"I can't! The other knights are preparing for the waves!"

The two knights continue to talk to each other, ignoring the three of them.

" Sigh* Riri, roast them."

"Alright! All Low Lighting!" She casted a spell that hits two of the knights.

"Ah!!!" The knights then fall to the floor.

"Like I said, Ivaran. These people are stopping me from doing what they had summoned me for. So, let's move our way through them. If I'm correct, it should be eight minutes before the waves start." Tomori said to him.

"I guess so." The elf then pull his shield from his back.

"Okay, you will be in front of us. Me and Riri will protect your sides. Is that okay?"

"Yeah." Ivaran moved to the front and raised his shield.

"Let's do this!" Tomori exclaimed as he and Ivaran rushed forward.

Bam*

Ivaran used his shield to forcefully open the door.

"What?!" The priests and nuns were shocked to see the doors were broken down. But then, they saw the person who's rushing forward. "It's the Blade Demon! He's attacking this holy church!"

" All Low Lighting Arrow I!" Tomori uses a spell that summons a bunch of arrows made out of lightning. The arrows then hit all of the priests and nuns.

"Ah!!!"

Some of them either get knocked out or get paralyzed by the arrows.

"Is that really necessary?" Ivaran asked Tomori as he saw rows of people falling to the ground.

"What? They called me a demon and tried to kill me. This is just a scratch."

"I don't think that's the case…"

"Whatever. Let's find this hourglass. Riri, distract these people. Ivaran, we're knock every door in here!"

"Alright!" The three of them then split up to open the doors.

"As the source of power-"

" Low Chain Lightning!"

Due to the priest inchanation is slower compared to Riri, her spell got out first.

"Ah!!!" The spell then hits all of the people that's close to the priest.

"Hah!" Ivaran used his shield to open up the door. "It's not here!"

"This one too!" Tomori said as he opened the door. "Let's move deeper through the church. Come on, Riri!"

The wolf Spirit Beast then followed the two of them from behind.

As they walk deeper through the hallway, Tomori senses something. Something that he can't get a grasp of. He turned to a giant door that's beside him.

"Ivaran, knock this door out!" He ordered his elf companion.

"Okay!" He rushed to the door with his shield in front and smashed the door open.

Tomori and Riri then walked into the room, just to see a bunch of nuns inside the room. But that room was indeed the room that holds the Dragon Hourglass.

"Aw sh*t! How many people that's in this religion?" Tomori thought to himself as he see the numbers of nuns in the room, surrounding the hourglass.

However, as they see Tomori's face, they all crumbled in fear.

"Run! It's the Blade Demon! He has invaded the sacred hourglass!" The nuns then used another door to exit this room.

"Huh…? That was easy." Tomori then inspected the Dragon Hourglass from afar. It kind of has a dragon look on it. Not only that, the top of the hourglass is almost empty. "Need to register now. But how do I do it?"

As he gets closer to the hourglass, a red beam comes out from his sheathed sword gemstone, hitting the top of the hourglass. Then, a timer pop up on top of his HUD.

00:00:20

"Alright! We made it in time!"

"Tomori-san!" Ivaran called him. "There's footsteps coming to this room!"

A few seconds later, a group of knights comes inside the room. They then surrounded them, leaving no way for them to leave the room.

"This is where you meet your end, Blade Demon!" A knight said to him.

"Well… I don't know about that." Tomori said as he looked at the timer.

00:00:00

Behind the Blade Hero' party, is an emptied hourglass.

Ding*

A loud bell chime vibrated through the room as the Blade Hero and his party were surrounded with light.

"No! Stop them!"

As the knight get closer to them, Tomori flips up two birds on both of his hands to the knights.

"So long, suckers!"

And with that, the Blade Hero' party is teleported to whatever location that the wave is happening.