Chapter 9

The Inn didn't have a bath unfortunately, but they did have hot water and basins for at least the most basic personal care, and thankfully, a room for that kind of thing. I didn't want to give away my secret just yet.

So, mostly scrubbed, I returned to the room Raphtalia and I were sharing, and found Clive and Usa already there, the little Raccoon Girl pointing at each word of the children's book I bought and sounding out letters. My Shield was still translating for me, but I could ignore it if I tried hard enough and after giving them all a nod I sat down in the little circle and started following along.

Twice, we had to stop so Raphtalia could have a coughing fit, get another dose of medicine, almost cry at how bitter it was, then continue. She was a trooper to be sure, but once she started yawning, I told the other two to make sure they got at least a little bit of time washing themselves, and that I'd wake them in the morning.

Just as Raphtalia was about to flop sideways onto the nice fluffy bed, I asked her a question, "You don't like dogs?" I turned the little dial on the bedroom's only lantern and turned it 'off'.

It was a common enough trauma to have. On Earth you had bad owners. In Orario, you had Hellhounds. In Falmart, it took Spot a bit of real effort to make friends (and if it had a pulse, Spot could probably make friends with it). So I figured Raphtalia was no different.

I didn't expect her to freeze in mid sideways flop. Total muscle lock. Or her eyes to go wide, and her pupils to shrink to the size of nearly theoretical particles. I was almost too slow to stop gravity from pulling her rigid body off the bed and onto the floor face first.

Except that didn't help. She started to kick, and flail, and push at me. So much so that the 'defence' of the Shield kicked in, protecting me as if I was in combat.

But, the Slave Curse didn't activate. It forbid them from attacking me with 'aggression'. (This was the setting under 'allow casual contact with you', in case you didn't want your Slave to even brush a finger against you, accidental or not).

She wasn't fighting me. My question had triggered something, and she was fighting something else, and I just happened to be in the way.

I did the only thing I really could. I held her as close as I could, while moving her away from anything breakable. Thankfully, she exhausted herself quickly, but I was sure the entire Inn heard the commotion. All too soon, I heard thumping coming up the steps, and a heavy knock on the door.

"Open up! Are you all right in there!?" It was the Innkeeper and at least one other person.

"Just a moment!" I called back, making sure Raphtalia hadn't swallowed her tongue first, then going to the door and unlocking it. "Sorry for the noise." I said, looking up at the stern faced Innkeeper, "She has nightmares.

The waitress who'd served us was beside him as well, holding a lantern and holding it up to illuminate the room, and she took a look at me, then past me to Raphtalia, then me again. The only thing out of place was a quietly coughing Raphtalia, who was sitting up on the floor by the bed.

"Sir?" Quietly from the room next to mine, it was Usa, "This has happened every night for as long as I've known her."

"Do you have some warm milk?" I asked, "It will help her sleep."

"One Bronze." The lady said, accepting the bronze coin from me as I got it out of my shield.

The Innkeeper waited for her to tromp down stairs before leaning down and whispering in my face, "I don't care if she's your slave or not-"

I reached up, grabbed the inside of his left collar with my left hand, the inside of his right collar with my right hand, and pulled him down so I was practically speaking into his nose while choking him with his own shirt, "If you finish that sentence, we are going to have problems." I hissed, "I'm sorry for the noise, and will pay extra if you want." I let him go before he even caught on that he was at my mercy, then stepped back.

He rubbed his throat while he looked into my eyes, then said, "That won't be necessary."

"Thank you. I'll do my best to calm her down." I replied, my ears flicking towards the stairs as the Lady came back up. "When is breakfast?"

"Just after sunrise." He replied as if nothing had happened.

"Here you go. Try and take care of her." The Lady said, handing me the slightly steaming mug of milk.

"Of course. We four have a busy day tomorrow." I gave them both a bow, then closed the door.

I waited until they had both gone back downstairs before locking the door, then went over to Raphtalia. "Come on you... Are you back with me?"

I helped her to sit on the bed, then helped her take a sip of the milk, "I'm... I'm sorry."

"I was too direct." I replied, "Drink this and get some sleep."

She nodded, and I helped her take a second, then a third sip before I felt her really hold the mug on her own. I sat on the edge of my bed and watched her, then yawned and flopped sideways.

A few minutes later, as I let my body relax, I heard a quiet, "Can I... um..."

"Try not to drool on my tail." I said, wiggling over so she had space to get on the bed as well.

Aside from apologizing for drooling on my tail while she slept, she was mostly recovered from whatever it was she had been 'fighting' the night before.

We met in the main room downstairs, paid for, then ate breakfast, then started out of town. I ignored the grumpy look of the Innkeeper, but I didn't blame him. I'd been in the wrong for losing my temper.

"Sir?" Usa spoke up as we passed the Smithy on the way out of town, "I know we can get by without them, after the survival lessons you showed us... And I don't mean to presume about how much money you have..."

I stopped, almost having Raphtalia bump into me, then looked towards the Smithy, "Say no more."

A quick word with the Smith (a well muscled but very young man who looked to be the Apprentice, not the Owner, ten silver, and a Shield that stored a complete outdoor cooking set (cast iron pots, stack of four tin bowls, four forks, four spoons, a ladle and a flint stone), we left town.

Going by the map, it would take about an hour to get to the mine itself. Since it was a well known, well worked mine, there was already a road of hard packed dirt and gravel leading to the place, so it wasn't like we could get lost on the way. I mean, unless the Old Hunter showed us the wrong map or something.

To one side of the road lay the huge grassy plains with the odd tree and stone boulder. To the other, a dense forest of old growth trees that seemed to get darker about two metres past the edge with how thick the foliage got. Someplace in there, (unless the Old Hunter was showing us the wrong map) was a logging camp. Another of the town's trade lifelines.

"Stay alert." I said as we left town, "It's going to be a busy day."

About a half hour into our walk, with the road gently twisting and turning downwards, we started encountering monsters. At first, it was just more Balloons. But then there was Eggug, clusters of Mush, more Balloons...

It was in the middle of cleaning up another collection of Mush, when Usa stopped in mid motion, his head turning sharply towards the forest. We had been gradually heading down in elevation, while the forest itself had stayed the same height, so 'the forest' was now up a four or five metre embankment.

"Usapil!" He said, standing up and readying his whip.

I'd told them that 'monsters are more important than loot', so we all stopped what we were doing (Raphtalia dropped Balloon scraps, Clive stopped carving a cap off a Mush, Usa stopped bringing me a handful of broken Eggug shells), and we got ready.

"Usapil?" I asked, a wave of rustling from the forest above catching my attention and giving me a direction to point my Shield.

"Pack hunters! They aren't very big, but have been known to get brave enough to take down lone travellers." Usa explained as a half dozen basketball sized shapes sprung from the forest above down at us, the light of the sun above making it hard for me to distinguish them clearly.

"Formation!" I called out, backing up to the middle of the road while the others got into a triangle behind me.

The last one to jump at us was hit by an arrow before it even got half way down the embankment. Unlike the dungeon, it didn't turn to ash, but I did get a little '+30 EXP' readout just above the closed status icon at the bottom corner of my vision.

The other five shapes seemed to have spread randomly in the air above, so with a wave of my hand I summoned the Air Strike Shield and bounced two of them off of it so they'd land closer to me, keeping them away from Raphtalia.

Then, they were on the ground, three in front of me, two of them closer to Usa who was at my right. "This world has some weird obsession with spheres!" I called out. Yes, they looked like basketball shaped rabbits. They were growling like dogs though, and their mouths seemed to be able to open VERY wide, like the Balloons, Mush and Eggug... "Drift towards Usa!" I commanded.

My shield switched to the Rope Shield, and I started flicking the end of the rope at the Usapil in front of me to pull them in. From the corner of my eye, I saw Raphtalia follow orders, and head towards Usa, and I heard an affirmative burble from Clive. There was a sharp 'SNAP' as Usa lashed his whip out, and another twang from Clive's bow, and I got another '+30 EXP' notification. Good. Two of six.

The three in front of me seemed fixed on trying to bite me now, so I switched my Shield back to the Small Red Shield, and started to play 'keep away'. Like a pack of dogs, they dashed forward in turns, trying to use those too-wide mouths and huge buck teeth to bite my legs. But each time they did, I'd sidestep and swat them away with the Shield.

Then I heard Raphtalia make a sound of distress, and I started to turn to see what was wrong, but Usa called out, "I have it ahh!" I heard his whip lash out, but not snap, but then Clive growled and I got another '+30 EXP' notification.

My status icon started blinking, and between dodges, then a kick to punt one of them away, I slid the icon open, then spotted the 'PARTY' icon blinking at me. "Usa?! You okay?" This world's number based 'system' was quite handy, and the Party List showed that Usa had taken damage.

"Just a scratch! We're ready!"

So I let one through my blockade, smashing it aside with the Shield into the cliff wall, then turning my attention back to the other two. This time there was another clean whip crack, then a meaty noise. But also another cry from Raphtalia. She wasn't getting hurt, so what was it? ('+30 EXP')

Two left. I didn't let them get past me though, instead switching back to the Rope Shield. I kicked one against the embankment, then pinned it in place with the Air Strike Shield. I rolled aside from the last one, then jumped on it from behind as it ran towards the three behind me. It struggled, but I had all the advantages, even with my short stature, and aside from struggling like a very angry cat refusing to get into the water, I was in no danger. At least the monsters of this world acted like the monsters from the dungeon.

I looked at the three of them, and tried to puzzle out what was bothering Raphtalia. Usa had a scratch on his leg that had cut through his pant leg. Clive was fine and taking careful aim at the Usapil I'd pinned to the rock wall (making it look like it was squished against the clear outline of the Air Strike Shield like a dog pressed against glass), and Raphtalia...

Aha. She was on her butt, her eyes fixed on a very dead and bloody monster. Clive's hunting knife had opened it up from chin to groin, and it had taken seconds for most of its blood to pool around it.

"Dropping the shield." I said, "Now." And Clive shot it. He was really good with that bow. ('+30 EXP')

"Raphtalia." I called out. "Hey! Please, look this way." The Slave Curse would 'enforce' orders with pain, so I made sure to ask her to look, not just yank her attention to me.

My voice pulled her eyes away from the bloody carcass, and she spotted the monster in my hands, "It's... the b-blood... I... no..."

"Raphtalia. This is part of the job." I said, "The fish? The meat from the Inn? The Mush Caps in the soup. It all came from living things." I sighed, then pulled up an old memory, "My first monster kill made me throw up after it was over. You're already doing better than me at the first sight of blood."

Of course, I'd obliterated that Goblin to the point where it was almost unrecognizable.

"Please, stand up. We all need to work together, and it will only get harder from here. All you can do, as a hunter, as a monster slayer, as an adventurer, is make it as clean as you can." She stood up, and I met her half way, the carcass of Clive's knife kill behind me. "Both hands on the hilt, just like I showed you."

She nodded and braced both her hands on the long knife's hilt, ready to get her weight behind it, just like I'd showed her.

"Keep your eyes open." I warned as she started to wind up for the thrust. "You get this one for free, but if you miss because you close your eyes, you put others in danger, not just yourself."

She nodded again, taking a deep breath. Then, looking the monster, not me, in the eyes, she drove her blade into the weird ball shaped angry rabbit monster. ('+30 EXP')

"Goo- huh?" I started complimenting her as a second pop-up appeared in my vision.

Congratulations, you have reached level 10!

Slave user Shield Has become available.

Equip bonus: Slave maturation adjustment (small)

Slave user Shield II Has become available.

Equip bonus: Slave status adjustment (small)

I frowned (though I made sure to look away from Raphtalia while I did so, since she did a good job), "No sense of ceremony... stupid Shield..." I sighed, looked over my shoulder, "You two, gather up the kills. Sorry Usa, but I hope you understand it's nothing personal. But I plan on eating these things."

"It's okay Sir. They tried to eat us, so it's only fair." He said, "But..."

"Don't worry, I'll cook something else for you." I looked away before he could reply, then at Raphtalia, "You did good. Now comes the next lesson." Since my hands were clean, more or less, I gave her a headpat, "Clean the knife first, then hold this."

Usapil Leather Shield Unlocked! Equip bonus: Agility +3

Usapil Meat Shield Unlocked! Equip Bonus: Dissection Ability 1

"Sir? Is something wrong?" Usa asked as we went about dressing the Usapil. Usa didn't seem to mind helping, and was directing Raphtalia in her efforts.

"Sorry. Every monster we've brought down contributes to the Shield." I motioned with my chin since my hands were busy, "The thing is, it's giving me abilities I already know. I find it a little insulting."

"Could it be... um... maybe it's just..." Raphtalia paused, her thick tail doing a thoughtful swish behind her, "Maybe not every Hero knows the things you do?"

"True. The other three Heroes seemed to be sheltered city boys." I shrugged, then looked at Raphtalia's work as she carefully skinned the fur from the meat, "Good work. Clive-oh... Done this before I see... well, I wasn't going to bother with the guts, but wash your hands after!"

It wasn't much longer before the path started to get overgrown. Gradually, the road seemed less and less cared for, and eventually the road was basically just moss and grass, with all kinds of leaf litter over it, blown through from the nearby forest. If this place had been abandoned for a while, then yeah, this made sense. Everyone was quite thankful for the new shoes too, since the litter on the road was hiding all kinds of pointy things.

Finally, we came to a clearing nearly flat stone, with the start of a mine cart track, a yawning cave opening, a few warning sign on a post (they looked the same in four out of four worlds I'd been in) and the smell of 'animal' hanging about the area.

There weren't any other clear signs of monsters, but that smell was heavy. There were signs of abandonment though. Off to one side, past an overturned mine cart and a what looked like the remains of an old fire pit, we a door that was kind of just... set into the side of the mountain near the cave itself. This also had a sign, as well as an old rusty lock.

"Well..." I said, looking around, "Raphtalia?"

cough ... uh oh, she had lost her breath again. "Y... cough yes sir?"

"Help us read the signs?"

Clive Usa and I gave her a hopeful look. At least, we tried to. Usa was still a bit timid (though in combat he was quickly gaining confidence) and Clive couldn't help how he looked (like a monster half breed, but he made up for it with good manners... most of the time).

Raphtalia stepped in front of us, "This one..." She pointed to the sign on the post outside the mine entrance, "It's a little hard to read... 'Remember to work safely'." She made sure to point her finger at the words as she slowly pronounced them. She pointed at the other one, the letters carved onto the wood in much better condition since they hadn't been exposed to the weather as much. "Rest station and equipment storage..." She paused, "Um..."

There was a little bit carved under that, an angry looking scrawl.

"Now I'm curious." I said, urging her on.

"It says... 'Return your tools at the end of the day, you dumb ass'." She started to blush, but we just chuckled (or bubbled with amusement) at the translation. "But it's what it says!"

"There's people like that in my world too." I said, "Relax. However... If that's a rest station, then it might be secure..." I looked at the lock. It wasn't complex by any means, but I lacked any stiff wire. We did have rocks though... "Clive? Think you can smash that open?"

While we'd been fighting, I'd caught up to Clive's level, then matched him. But he was still a full grown man, while I was still a child...

Clive nodded, and picked up a stone. Once, twice, three times he brought it down over the rusty lock, and with a clank it fell off the latch and onto the ground. "Gr."

"Thank you." And with a tug, I pulled the door open and looked inside. "No animal smell... Dark though. Let me see..." Normally, I'd use Foxfire. But that part of my power seemed to be on a different channel. So instead, I clapped my hands together, and made two simple motions, my MP and SP dipping slightly as I said, "Chisai Hi."

"You know magic?" Usa blurted, before hastily adding, "sir?"

"It's not... Hm, it's more spiritual, than magical. I can only use what is there, not create things." I motioned with a hand, letting my light drift forward, "If I left that on too long, it would make the room cold since it needs heat." I looked around, "Hm, beat up tools, rope, table for eating lunch..."

"Sir? If we planned on working inside the mine at all... oh! I see something on the table." Usa said, stepping into the room carefully. "I think..." There was a papery ruffle, "A map?"

Foiled again by my height, all I'd seen over the table was what looked like a turned up bit of splintered wood or something. But no, it was indeed a map. Pretty extensive one too! "Okay, let's... seriously? This too?"

Pick Axe Shield Unlocked! Equip bonus: Mining 1

I sighed as I picked up the beaten up pick axe and handed it to Clive, "Another one Sir?"

"Seems like. Let me..." I waved a hand over the Shield, and the five sided Hagane Red Small Shield was replaced with a... It was kind of like a buckler with two very short pick axe heads sticking out of the rim on opposite sides. Kind of like... (-o-). I picked up another pick axe and it felt almost weightless in my hand. The beaten up old too also got soaked up into my Inventory, so I took the pick back from Clive and on a whim got a third.

"Are we all going to..." Raphtalia started to ask.

"We'll talk about something over lunch. Got a bunch of stuff to try cooking."

Calorie Shield Unlocked! Equip Bonus: Stamina up (small)

Energy Shield Unlocked! Equip Bonus: SP increase (small)

Potential Energy Shield Unlocked! Equip Bonus: Stamina Use Down (small)

Yes, as I cooked for us, and tried out a bunch of things from the 'cooking recipes 1' menu (though I did them myself... not going to let the Shield take away my joy of cooking if I could help it!) a bunch of other Shields unlocked.

While the other three were probably wondering why I was sighing like an old man, I told them about the two Shields I'd unlocked at level 10.

"So... When I bought you, my Shield took in some of the special ink from the Ringmaster. At level ten, they became usable. But..." I paused, stirring something, sniffing it, then adding a little ground up herb, "It deals directly with your growth."

"You mean... It will help us get stronger?" Usa asked.

"From what I am reading in my Status Screen, yes. That's exactly what it does. But, as the 'owner' I can influence it a little. However... It's kind of like... I can direct your ability growth in a certain direction a little at a time each time you level up."

Clive and I were level 10 now, though he would hit level 11 before me. Usa was now 7, and Raphtalia 5.

"Sir... Forgive me, but why are you asking us?" Usa asked, "You treat us very well! But... you still own us."

"I only own you, because if you were free, it would be easier to take you away from me." I sighed again, "I'm sure none of you have been on my side of the Slave Curse, but it's... Well, whomever created it was a genius, and evil. I can literally do almost anything to you, and if you resisted, I could have to curse torture you until you stopped resisting."

I started to rub my wrist, then stopped when I realized I was doing it, "But it also lets me keep track of you, and by my limited understanding of the laws here, it will hinder others from beating you up and taking your right back to the Ringmaster, or worse. It... also helps with keeping you more focused in battle, training good habits into you while preventing bad habits from forming."

I had to take a deep breath to calm myself, "You don't... want to own us?" Raphtalia asked, looking fearful. "Are you..."

"You're people. Not pets." I said, "And I need you around so I can do my job here. So, instead of just messing around and basically warping who you might have been without me manipulating your abilities... I'm telling you I can, but not actually doing it without you asking."

They looked at each other, then back to me, "Then please help us, to help you, Sir." Usa said, the other two nodding.

"Okay then. I'll help your abilities along in the directions your already heading." I sighed, closing one eye and blink-clicking at the various status adjustments I could do to them. It really wasn't much, at least, at first.

But if they averaged, say, eight stat points spread over five stats, and I could add one or two points every level... It was like a 'free' level every four levels. And even if their 'race' wasn't predisposed to those particular stats, I could change that.

What warped mind thought this crap up... But now that I had their permission, it was my responsibility to do my best with it.

"There... Now then... Usa? Vegetable and fish stew with bread. Clive... Usapil, vegetable- yes you still have to eat them, and some bread." And because both Raphtalia and my bodies were literally growing by the day (not fast enough for my liking, but I could see the difference from two days ago, to today!), medicinal stew with Usapil meat, vegetables, bread, and... a cup of... well the Recipe called it 'Nourishing Beverage'... I added some fruit, so it shouldn't taste like wet oatmeal at least..."

After eating, pulling up some water from a well that the miners had dug at some point, and cleaning up our dishes (I had no idea if my Shield's inventory could get dirty, but why risk it?), we started into the mine.

The entryway was very well supported. Heavy squared off timber and planks had been made into a hallway for as far back as our eyes could see in the darkness. I considered our options, "How are your eyes in the dark?"

Clive shook his head in a firm 'no', while Usa and Raphtalia replied with, "Better than a human."

"Clive? Can you get a few of those unlit torches down for me? Thank you." I accepted a few of them, and the Shield stored all but one. "Chisai Hi." I snapped my fingers into the proper seals, and the end of the torch came to life. "If we find any monsters we can't handle, we'll do a fighting retreat. If there is enough space, we'll do what we did with the Usapil."

"Yes Sir." (and an affirmative rumble from Clive.

This was not a small mine. The map didn't indicate scale, but after we reached the first junction, where a side tunnel diverted away without the little rails for the mine cart, I figured that this was a huge place. I could also hear the faint sound of rushing water. It was likely the miners followed a vein of ore, and dug into a cave network.

Since we were here to clear out monsters, I worked with Usa to make sure we headed towards the sound of water. Anything that wasn't some kind of weird rubber ball monster, needed water eventually, so an infestation would be most likely to gravitate to an easy source of something it needed.

"Hmm." I paused as one of the weird 'things' the Shield did happened. A little green arrow suddenly appeared as I got within spitting distance of a dark vein of something in the otherwise boring granite. Looking at it directly, the Shield added a single word under the arrow, "Coal." I said, feeling my palms itch. Coal was useful stuff, but we weren't here for that.

"Sir?" Usa started, "Does... Does your Legendary Shield show you things as well as all of the other abilities it gives you?"

"It's a little annoying at times." I nodded, "But yes. If we have time, maybe we can dig a few things up. I'm sure Riyute would appreciate a little proof, and I do plan on getting us all some real equipment at some point." I looked up at my torch, then switched hands to get it away from the patch of coal in the wall. "Let's continue."

A few more times, the Shield pointed out little spots of coal, but again, we weren't here for that. We did find a few other things that had been discarded though. A couple more pick axes, spare pipes for uh oh...

Pipe Shield Unlocked!

Level too low

Water or something, more torches, and some sparkly bits of... something. In the torchlight, they were almost like little glow in the dark specks of crystal, but what ever it was, my Shield wasn't telling me. Maybe it needed a certain amount to 'target' for the auto appraisal?

But as the sound of rushing water got closer, I also noticed something else...

"Correct me if I'm wrong." I started as we crept along the carefully dug tunnel, still following the mine cart tracks. "But didn't the Old Hunter say this place was infested with monsters?"

"Overrun after the last Wave, right?" Raphtalia said, both Clive and Usa nodding at her.

"Stay alert." I said, "Only two things would cause that. Something got here first, or they didn't like it here.

"Aha." I said as we got to the source of the rushing water noise. "Oh... That's what the sparkly powder was..."

We all stopped at the mouth of the tunnel and took in the scenery. It was a vast underground cave. Ahead of us, following along the mine cart tracks, was a ravine. To our right, cliff face that went up at least ten metres. On top of that, but still far below the ceiling of the cavern, was a waterfall. It wasn't very wide, but it was fairly fast moving. Below, farther than I would want to jump, was an underground river. On both sides of the ravine however, were broken and twisted mine cart tracks. There had been a bridge here at one point.

But all that? That wasn't the amazing part.

The walls, the cliff face leading up to the waterfall, the walls of the ravine, the ceiling, the other side (where I could see the tracks vanish into another tunnel) of the ravine, was covered, no, almost blanketed by a bright glowing array of crystal clusters. Small ones the size of a thumbnail, all the way up to clusters that were as tall and wide as Raphtalia or myself.

Focusing on one of the clusters, my Shield applied a little green arrow over it and the caption, 'Light metal'.

"This is very beautiful." Usa said, "A little noisy for my liking, but..."

"Sir... Wouldn't this be valuable?" Raphtalia asked, "Much better than stinky coal." She added.

"I'm interested in it as well..." I said, stepping further into the cavern and looking around a little, "Another tunnel down that way... Clive? You have the map?"

"Gr."

He got the map out of a pouch and started to unfold it. But with a sudden shriek, and a shout of "Sir! Side tunnel!" Clive dropped the map and we turned towards the other two.

"Something bigger moved in..." I mumbled, a growling shape emerging from that side tunnel.

Even as Raphtalia started screaming, the same scream from her waking nightmare from last night, I ran towards the shape stalking out of the tunnel. As big as a pickup truck, with coal black fur and shiny gleaming white fangs sprouting from the mouths of two heads at the end of long necks, a little purple icon appeared over its head.

Two Headed Black Dog

Level 15

Five levels higher than any of us, it towered over me as I skidded to a halt in front of it. Usa and Clive were backing up dangerously close to the edge of the ravine, and Raphtalia had collapsed to her knees with her back to a wall. I needed to give them time to organize!

I switched my shield to the widest one I could just as it pounced at me. The Blue Eggug Shield formed just in time to stop one of its sleek heads from biting my head, but I lost my footing as I ducked under the second head's bite. The teeth latched onto the rim of the Shield screeched as it flicked its head to the side, throwing me and my eight year old body sideways towards a wall.

"Clive! Grab her!" I yelled as I got to my feet, "Usa! Aim for it's face!" The throw had hurt, that weird 'protection' from the Shield being selective about the damage it defended against, but a couple bruises were nothing, even now.

I started towards the dog again, Usa's whip snapping across one of its noses and pulling the attention of both heads towards him. "Stand your ground!" I commanded as Usa's legs started to shake, "Raphtalia! You fear it, so we are GOING TO KILL IT!"

The Dog pounced at Usa, his slave crest starting to glow as his body started to turn to run. But before the Dog could connect, I interposed the Air Strike Shield, the transparent outline appearing from nothing, though it might as well have been a brick wall. The Dog slammed into it, "Together! We will fight!"

From behind me, I heard the snap of a bowstring, and an arrow stuck itself into the rear of the Dog. It growled, but seemed focused more on Usa still. "Raphtalia! Follow behind me! Please! Clive! Try and get to higher ground!"

My shield was about to fail, and the Dog seemed to sense it. So I summoned the Rope Shield and grabbed the end. Then with every bit of force I could muster, I slammed my body into one of its back legs, "Usa, move around! I'll..." I was ready for the snapping jaw this time. I was just getting to my feet after tangling up one of its legs when one head came down to bite. This time, I looped a bit of rope into its mouth, let it bite, then ran away from the other three.

Once again, I was going to lose this tug of war, but now I had its full attention, and the Rope Shield would let out more rope, instead of letting me get tossed around. The sudden abundance of tough chewy rope that was attached to me seemed to confuse the heads a little, more and more rope playing out from the Shield even as they yanked and tugged trying to toss me around.

"This is what we DO!" I yelled, spotting Raphtalia standing, her long knife held in her hands, but her feet glued to the floor. "You want to overcome your fear? You have to face it!"

Another snap of a bowstring, and this time an arrow appeared in the beast's side. It reacted to the pain this time too, yelping and turning a head towards Clive, who had gotten up a metre or so off the floor for a better vantage point to shot from.

"Like this Raphtalia." Usa said, "Even with two heads, it can't see everything."

Usa stepped away from Raphtalia, around to the other side, and snapped his whip at the Dog's back leg. This time, the end of the whip coiled around low on the leg, and with all his might, Usa pulled.

With a growl of annoyance, the Dog's other head stopped playing with me, and it rolled onto its side as its one leg slipped backwards, then practically folded itself in half to turn around and snap at Usa. The move was so fast, I couldn't do anything about it as Usa's whip was pulled out of his hand, and one of the heads snapped down on his good shoulder.

Now behind the beast, I had to avoid getting kicked as it got its legs under it again so it could stand. Usa howled in pain as the Dog lifted him from his feet, the other head coming around to join in.

"NO!" Raphtalia screamed, in denial, in command, her feet finally lifting from the ground and propelling her forward, the dagger up, her eyes open as she charged.

My Air Strike Shield came off cool down just in time, and this time I put it between the V of the Dog's two heads. With a snarl of frustration, the other head slammed into the shield instead of biting Usa's other shoulder.

Raphtalia jumped, taking advantage of the suddenly still head, and jammed her knife into its throat, just behind the skull. Braced against the spectral shield, her knife sunk right to the hilt. The head thrashed once, flinging her away, but she kept her hands on the knife, and as the head went limp, she landed with a thump a short distance away.

Usa, his shoulder well and truly gripped in the beast's mouth, screamed again as the Dog shook him. "Behind the front leg!" I yelled, "Aim behind the front leg! It's heart is there!"

I cursed my weakened state as I jumped onto the Dog's head neck and tried to pry its mouth open. My fingers, slick with Usa's blood, and then my own as my PDEF stat couldn't protect me, seemed to do nothing but annoy the animal further.

"Forget me! Escape!" Usa said, unable to do anything but dangle there.

"NO!" I said, "You have teeth, bite it back!" I let go with one hand, and tried sticking the point of my Small Red Shield into the Dog's eye, even as I gripped its neck with my legs, "I will not leave anyone behind! Ever!"

Another snap of an arrow, another yelp, and my Air Strike Shield timed out as the Dog dropped Usa and focused entirely on getting me off its back. Then, as I was about to lose my grip, my stronger than it should be, yet far weaker than I was used to, body just unable to hold any longer, there was another battle cry.

This time, there was a meaty noise and a grunt as something slammed into the Dog's side. The sudden sideways motion finished the job of throwing me off the Dog's neck, and I landed with another grunt of pain.

And there, looking like a rabid animal, covered in blood and breathing heavily, was Raphtalia, her dagger once again buried in the beast. This time though, she'd planted the blade into the thing's heart. (EXP 340, Raphtalia EXP 430, Usa EXP 400, Clive EXP 340)

For the first time, the monster had been high enough to give different EXP values, the two highest of the party (Clive and I at level 10) getting the least, and the other two getting more.

Kill confirmed though, it was time for recovery. "Clive! Raphtalia! Get water!" I limped for a moment, rubbing my hip as I went to find Usa. He was on his back, his shoulder punctured with almost an entire dental record's worth of teeth...

And crying. It wasn't pain, which was bad since that meant he was going into shock. But actual despair. "You're... you're going to throw me away..." He cried as I looked over the wound, then used my own utility knife to start cutting away his clothing.

"No." I said, opening the Shield's inventory and getting bandages.

"I only have one arm... and now... I can't feel it! I can't move it either!"

That complicated things. Unless he was numb with shock and blood loss, that meant... Clive and Raphtalia were coming towards us, their water skins at the ready.

"Usa. I will not leave you behind." I said, "But I want you to stop talking for a moment, and just focus on breathing."

He started to say something, but I didn't make it a question, and his Curse started to glow on its 'lowest' setting. Still sobbing, he stopped trying to speak. "You two, slowly pour water over his shoulder." I looked at the bandages, then just unwrapped some of it and said, "Bite on this." And he did.

I sat on his legs as he started to thrash around, the wound, and the deep bite marks becoming clearer as the water was poured onto his shoulder. Satisfied he wouldn't buck me off, I pulled out my potion pills. "Raphtalia, Clive, Usa. These are from my home, and I have exactly nineteen of them. I will not leave any of you behind. I will do my best to protect you. And if need be, I will do anything, and use anything I can, to have you back on your feet and by my side again, fighting." I tapped out three pills, the almost glowing red beads of healing jelly catching the light of the crystals around us.

"Now, bite down hard, this will sting." And one by one, I started smearing the pills over his wounded shoulder.

Now sitting up, though mostly bare chested, since one side of his shirt was bloody rags, Usa was getting a 'there there' pat on the head from Raphtalia. In the end, I'd used five pills, not three. But they had worked as intended. Now our Rabbit-man was coming down from the adrenaline rush of combat, and the shock of severe injury.

"You all did well." I said, "Clive, with the arrows. Usa, standing your ground. Raphtalia... Are you okay now?"

She stopped comforting the poor Rabbit, and started to withdraw into herself a little. "It's... When..."

Trying to lighten the mood, I sat down across from her and said, "Is it story time?"

"Please... please tell us, Raphtalia?" Usa asked, "It's... its not time to sleep yet, but I fear I might sleep if I don't do something other than sit."

Unable to speak, Clive just nodded with a 'Gr gr!' of encouragement.

Raphtalia took a breath, then came over to sit beside me. She then took hold of my tail and hugged it. Of course, then she asked if she could, "Um... May I? Please?"

"Don't squeeze too tight." I replied. "Go ahead."

"It was when the First Wave happened..."

NOTES!

Story time next episode. I mean, for those who've seen or read the original, you all know it, but well, someone other than Naofumi is listening this time...

Thank you for reading! And if you want to see any full colour art, join the discord!

aKAQg4bnYu for the discord!

And my actual book, Were Too? is on Inkitt.

And! I'm looking into getting some story themed merchandise made. Join the Discord to find out more!