Ren looked at the now-identified Belouklas, then towards Naofumi.
"You know why I'm here." Naofumi repeated.
"I do! I did hear your promise to that demi-human when you first came here, I did indeed!" He spoke cheerfully.
"Come, follow me Shield hero. And you as well, Sword hero." He motioned to the two heroes.
Ren looked to Farrie, who looked back at him almost at the same time. Ren wasn't really sure what to do. They were in perhaps the shadiest part of Castle town that he had seen so far, with some strange guy telling them to follow him, alongside Naofumi.
"Are you two coming?" Naofumi called out, earning both of their attention.
Ren slowly started to walk, with Farrie walking behind him.
"Ren… Are you sure this is all going to be fine? That man is making me feel weird…" She spoke quietly.
Ren looked at Belouklas, who was happily leading the group of four through the winding back alleys before turning back to Farrie.
"I think we will have to trust him. He freaks me out a little if I'm being honest." Ren admitted just as quietly. "All I can say is that if Naofumi is dealing with him, then he should have some morals."
"I suppose you're right." Farrie nodded. her head at that, but Ren didn't ignore the fact that she seemed to stick closer to him.
It made him happy, knowing his party, or at least what member of his party was with him, trusted him enough to protect them. But that also led to doubt entering his mind. Was he actually going to be strong enough to protect them, when the time came to it? Was he doing everything he could to grow stronger?
He shook his head. He would go over all of his options later. Naofumi would also be able to benefit from everything he was thinking about, and considering Naofumi and Raphtalia's level during the wave, he could tell that they were going to need to be told of some good grinding spots and dungeons for the future.
He focused back just in time to stop when Naofumi, Raphtalia, and Belouklas had all stopped moving.
"Sword hero and companion, I welcome you to my humble store," Belouklas spoke with a grin.
Ren looked forward and saw the tent set up before them. It looked similar to a carnival tent from his world, and it suddenly made sense to him why Belouklas was wearing something that looked similar to a ringmaster's outfit.
"Just hurry up and take us down there. We don't have all day." Naofumi spoke up.
"You may not have all day, Shield hero, but I certainly do." Belouklas spoke with his still ever-present grin.
Naofumi simply sighed, but Belouklas obliged. He opened the flap to the tent, walking in followed by both Naofumi and Raphtalia.
Farrie and Ren shared one last look at each other before stepping into the tent behind him.
—
Once they finally entered the hole that was underneath the carpet, Ren felt like being sick. The smell was one thing. He could deal with that by simply covering his mouth and nose with his scarf, but the main thing that made him want to be sick was the various states of the demi-humans in the cages scattered around.
Some had small cuts all over their body and looked at the group warily. Those were on the lesser side. There were some who had limbs missing, or cuts that went straight across their chests, or the wounded skin was a dark red that seemed to pulse angrily.
Taking a quick look at Farrie, he could see his party member struggling not to try and do anything.
Despite all of that, Belouklas walked past everything, and the group of four continued to follow. The dirty floor of the previous area faded into a cleaner area, though not everything was absolutely clean.
The group stopped between a set of three cages. The one on the far right was empty, with it still having a decent amount of dirt in it. The other two, however, both contained a demi-human. One was a rabbit demi-human with bandages around their arm. The demi-human seemed to look at the group with wariness until he caught sight of Naofumi's shield.
"Shield Hero?" The rabbit demihuman spoke warily. "Have you…" he seemed to pause, and Naofumi took that moment to take control.
"I have. I've come to fulfill my part of the promise." He spoke. The rabbit demi human seemed to nod at that, looking up to the Shield hero.
"Where's the girl? The one that you bought?"
Naofumi motioned behind him, and Raphtalia stepped forward, waving at the rabbit demi-human. "I see. She truly is better than when she was stuck in here…" he looked at her for a bit longer before nodding his head.
"Then I will entrust myself to you, Shield Hero." The rabbit spoke.
Naofumi simply shook his head. "Before that, there's something I want to talk about."
The rabbit looked up to Naofumi in confusion, and Ren was intrigued as well.
"Before I buy your freedom, I want to ask you a question. This goes for you as well." Naofumi directed that to the cage beside the rabbit demi-humans. The only response he got was the sound of something moving.
"I'm going to give you a choice," Naofumi spoke plainly. "I will be purchasing your freedom regardless, but it will change what happens after that. You can either leave once I buy you, which means no slave seal, nothing connecting you to me, and you can live life how you want, or you can stay with me and help me do my job. But if you do that, I will need you to have the slave seal."
"And why would I need the slave seal?" The rabbit asked. "Wouldn't that mean you could control me however you want?"
"I could, but you can ask Raphtalia. I had the slave seal set to one command, and that was to activate whenever she lied to me."
Raphtalia nodded her head at that. "It's true. Master Naofumi hasn't forced me to do anything I didn't want to do. I am with him of my own choice."
"And how do I know you don't have the slave seal active, making her say that?" He fired back, staring at the Shield Hero.
Ren sighed, stepping forward. "If it's any help, I can confirm that she had the slave seal removed yesterday."
"Who are you? Why should I take your word for it?" The rabbit asked, clearly not trusting him.
Ren lowered his sword, changing it from its basic form to the Dragon Chimera Sword. "I am the Sword Hero."
"The Sword…" The rabbit demi-human shook his head. "Just what are heroes doing in a place like this…" he spoke to himself.
"Like I said earlier. I'm keeping the promise I made to you that day." Naofumi answered.
"Then can I ask why you would need the Slave seal on me? If not to control me, then for what reason?"
"There are two reasons," Naofumi spoke. He held up a finger as he spoke. "The first is because this…" He pointed towards his shield, "...gives boosts to any slave I have under my ownership. It helps them grow faster and stronger. From what I saw, Raphtalia was just as strong as Gauntlets over there during the wave that just happened."
Ren looked at Farrie, who nodded in agreement. "It's true! I thought that she was level 40 or something! But nope, she's just that strong!"
Was that something unique to the shield? Or could Ren unlock that type of ability as well? Maybe he would have to ask Naofumi about how he unlocked the shield when they got a moment.
"Ok, that sounds fair enough, but what's the second reason?"
"The second is a lot more depressing," Naofumi answered. "It's because slaves are seen as property, and it's a punishable offense to take them, isn't that right?" Naofumi directed that question towards Belouklas, who simply nodded his head.
"You have that right, Shield Hero. Taking someone else's slave is seen as a crime here unless done for a valid reason."
Naofumi nodded at that. "Since it's true, that means by sticking with me, you will have greater protection than going off on your own. Plus, if you do change your mind later on after you have grown stronger, you can decide whether or not you want to stick with me after that."
The Rabbit demi-human seemed to think it over for a moment, nodding his head.
"Then… I suppose I will be in your care, Shield Hero." The rabbit spoke.
Naofumi nodded his head again, before turning towards the other cage. "What about you? You heard everything I had to say. What's your decision?"
It took a moment before a response was heard. "Whilst I understand your reasoning… I would like to go off on my own still. I have my own business that must be done." The voice moved closer to the cage, and Ren finally caught sight of the person the voice belonged to. A lizard beastman.
Naofumi simply nodded before turning to Belouklas. "That's fine with me. 25 and 40 silver for the pair of them, right?" Naofumi directed towards Belouklas.
"I'm afraid the prices have gone up, good sir. Indeed they have!." The slave trader spoke with a grin. "You see, taking care of them like this has caused my expenses to go up, so I believe it will be 60 and 85 silver for the pair."
Naofumi glared at the slave trader.
"I already gave you some money to store them. That would have taken off some of the cost. 30 and 50."
The pair slowly began to haggle with each other, whilst Ren looked down at the floor. He didn't want to be here. It felt wrong to him.
Farrie reached out, putting a hand on his shoulder "We shouldn't be here for much longer, right?"
Ren looked towards the pair haggling for a moment before turning to Farrie.
"I… think we could be here for a bit longer."
Once the haggling was finally over, Belouklas moved away to get the crest ink and crest remover that would be needed for the rabbit demi-human and lizard demi-human respectively, and Ren took this opportunity to ask Naofumi his question.
"You said earlier that Raphtalia was keeping up with Farrie during the wave, and you mentioned it was a shield that you unlocked. How did you get it?" Ren asked.
"Farrie.." Naofumi spoke to himself. His eyebrows furrowed as he thought about it for a moment, but then he looked at Farrie and let out a nod. "I see, so she's Farrie… Doesn't stick as well as Gauntlets though."
Farrie opened her mouth to say something, but Naofumi continued to speak. "As for how I got the shield, well I just absorbed some of the crest ink, though for the effects to actually work, they have to be wearing the slave seal as well." Naofumi answered Ren, shrugging at the end.
Ren looked down to Farrie, who looked up to him in concern. "Hey Ren… you wouldn't…" She spoke, in a slightly nervous voice.
Ren raised his hands up. "No, I wouldn't," Ren answered truthfully. He wouldn't force anyone to get a slave seal, but if they chose of their own volition, then it was all fine. He would have to ask Belouklas for some of the crest ink when he came back.
Even as Ren thought of the man, he came back into the room, carrying a couple of bottles of it on his person. He poured some into a small bowl, smiling as he spoke. "I suppose you remember what to do, Shield Hero?"
Naofumi nodded, taking the small knife that the slave trader had offered, and pricking his finger. Ren watched as the blood dripped into the bowl before Belouklas turned to the demi-human. He dipped a small brush into the bowl before drawing the crest onto the demi-human's chest.
He seemed to let out a small noise of pain, but it stopped almost immediately, and Naofumi nodded his head.
"Fantastic! Anything else you would like, Sir Shield hero?"
Naofumi opened his mouth, but before he could say anything, Raphtalia spoke up in his place.
"I'd like for my slave crest to be reapplied."
Farrie looked at the girl in shock, much as Naofumi did, though he was more vocal about it.
"Raphtalia? I thought we spoke about this! I said you didn't need the slave seal anymore!"
Raphtalia nodded her head at that but still spoke. "You did say that, but this is my decision. As you said before, it'll help me grow stronger, and we need to be stronger if we don't want people to worry about ending up like Lurolona. I don't want anyone to go through that if I can help it." Raphtalia spoke with a small smile. "Though… the other reason… I suppose it's because whilst I believed your words… I could tell you didn't believe them yourself. So, I want to make sure you don't have to doubt yourself again."
Naofumi opened his mouth and closed it again. He repeated this action several times before sighing and nodding his head. "Fine. You can get your slave crest back." Raphtalia nodded, stepping forward.
Belouklas smiled at that. "To make someone who was freed become your slave again… you truly have a way with words, Shield Hero! Truly, I would love to hear your secret."
Naofumi stared blankly at him before speaking. "Well, maybe taking care of them and showing compassion instead of seeing them as objects would help."
The slave trader only shook his head. "I suppose I won't be able to do that. Not for all of them I suppose…"
Regardless, he still drew the crest on Raphtalia. Unlike the rabbit demi-human, there was only a small spark of purple lightning before it settled.
"Is that all then, Sir heroes?" He spoke, this time addressing it to Ren as well.
Ren thought about it for a moment. "How… How much for the crest ink?"
Belouklas looked at Ren with a glint in his eye before speaking. "It… depends on what you wish to use it for, yes it does indeed."
"...What do I wish to use it for?" Ren spoke cautiously.
Belouklas bobbed his head. "Indeed. If you wish to use it on your companion there, then I am afraid I will not be able to sell it to you! Indeed I won't! Human slavery is illegal in Melromarc"
"It's a good thing I don't plan on using it on her then. I want to absorb it into my weapon, to see if it unlocks anything."
"I suppose that is a valid reason. That'll be 2 silvers!" Belouklas spoke, his grin returning to his face.
Ren paid up the silvers, absorbing the crest ink into his weapon.
Slave User Sword I conditions met!
He would read through it later when he got out of this area. Belouklas was really starting to give him the creeps.
Once everything had been sorted, Belouklas guided them to the front of his tent, which Ren couldn't have been more thankful for. Ren turned to finally leave the tent with Naofumi, only for Naofumi to pause.
"What's with that crate?" He asked Belouklas, whose grin seemed to widen in response.
Belouklas answered him quickly. "That is a product for our cover business, yes indeed!"
Naofumi looked at him before speaking again. "What is your cover business exactly?"
"I deal in monsters, sir Shield hero."
"There's monster trainers and all that?" Naofumi asked, a hint of curiosity entering his voice.
"Yes, indeed there is! You are a very clever man! Have you met one perhaps?"
Naofum went to shake his head, but Raphtalia stopped him.
"There were a few Filolials on the way here. They are raised by monster trainers."
"I see. So that's what those Chocobo look-alikes are called…" Naofumi spoke out loud before speaking to Raphtalia. "Thanks Raphtalia."
Naofumi turned to Belouklas again, gesturing to the eggs. "So, what's in there? I doubt it's big enough to fit a proper monster, other than a Usapil or something."
"Ah, there are eggs in there, yes there are. Monsters do not take to human masters well unless raised from an egg, after all."
"Huh. and how much are the eggs?" He asked slowly.
"Ah, I'm afraid you will not be able to purchase an egg of whatever creature you want, no sir! You would have to take part in the monster lotto. 100 silvers for any egg from this collection!"
"What are the monsters available?"
"Well, they range from Usapils and Eggugs to Filolials, and even a chance at a knights dragon!"
Ren focused on that part. There was a chance of a dragon?
"So, it's a hit or miss huh? Seems kind of like a gacha, don't you think Ren?" Naofumi asked the Sword hero.
"A… Gacha?" Raphtalia asked, confused.
Ren ignored Raphtalia's question, deciding to simply nod instead. "Yeah, it does seem like it… My luck with them has always been bad. I'm not sure if I want to even try and chance it here." Ren spoke.
"Well, how much is it per egg?" Naofumi questioned Belouklas.
"100 silver! Yes, it is sir!"
"And are you sure that everything you said is actually in here?"
"My good hero! Are you accusing me of unjust business practices?" He asked, seemingly offended at that.
Naofumi had to admit that Belouklas kept to his word, for good or for bad.
"Fine. I guess I'll buy one then." Naofumi spoke. He took out the 100 silvers, handing them to Belouklas.
Belouklas happily took them before speaking. "Thank you kindly. Choose any of these eggs, and I'll apply the seal to it free of charge!"
Naofumi thought for a moment, before slowly reaching out his hand. He looked over them cautiously before finally picking one of them up, and he couldn't help the small smile that showed on his face.
Ren noticed it but didn't say anything, not wanting to disturb him
"Sword hero. Could I perhaps interest you in-" Belouklas began
Ren cut him off quickly. "I already said I wasn't going to. My luck with this type of stuff is bad already. Maybe at a later date, but not now."
The Slave trader simply nodded his head at that and slowly began to put everything away.
"Is that everything, Naofumi?" Ren asked the shield hero tiredly.
Mercifully, Naofumi nodded, holding the egg, and the incubator that belouklas had given him, in his hands firmly.
"Yeah, that's it. Let's get out of here." Naofumi answered the sword hero.
With that said, the five left the slave traders' tent.
With the group of five now out of the tent, and the lizard beastman having already left once his crest was removed, Ren took the opportunity to look at the egg that Naofumi had bought. It had a similar crest on it like Raphtalia and the rabbit demi-human.
Ren wondered if it would actually grow into anything useful, and he decided to ask Naofumi something.
"What happens if the egg isn't anything useful?" He asked the shielder.
"Well… I guess I'll just sell it off." Naofumi spoke with a shrug. "But I guess it'll depend on what it is. If it's a Filolial, then I can probably figure something out. Also the same thing for a dragon, but if it's something like a balloon or a Usapil…" Naofumi trailed off, shaking his head.
"Either way, I still need to make preparations," Naofumi spoke.
"Because of the church, right?" Farrie asked quickly, earning a nod from Naofumi.
"Yeah. Even if the king has cleared my name almost… I'm not going to be free of the accusations, am I? Just because the pope said he would keep people away from Raphtalia doesn't mean he's going to." Naofumi explained. "If anything, the church is probably going to spread more misinformation about me."
"That… does sound likely. And what's Myne planning?" Ren spoke up. "She revoked her statement about you… doing that to her, right?"
Naofumi scowled at the mention of her name. "That bitch is still probably planning something. I just want to figure out what it is, before she hurts me or anyone else that's innocent."
The rabbit demi-human took that moment to speak up. "That bitch? Who's that?" He asked, completely lost.
Before Naofumi could say anything, Farrie jumped in. "W-wait! Give the shield hero your name first!"
The rabbit jumped back slightly. "H-huh?"
"If you don't he'll stick you with a stupid name! He gave me gauntlets!" Farrie cried out.
"Well I'm not wrong, am I!?" Naofumi shouted back. "You use gauntlets, it's the simple thing to call you!"
Farrie and Naofumi began to argue, and Ren could only sigh at the scene before him.
The rabbit demi-human took this opportunity to speak up, silencing the two that were arguing.
"Uh… my name's Theodore." He spoke simply
Farrie cheered, even as Naofumi spoke. "Well, it's nice to meet you, Theodore. We're headed back to a friend's shop to get you sorted out. For now…"
Naofumi took some sort of bottle out of his shield, passing it towards Theodore. "Just drink that. Should help with any smaller injuries you have, and if you have any illness, it should help."
Theodore paused for a moment before asking his question. "Will… will it help with my arm?"
Naofumi shook his head. "I don't think so. My medicines are good thanks to my shield, but even I don't think it could help with a genetic condition like that."
Theodore looked down at that but still drank the potion he was given, a light green glow enveloping him.
Whilst that was happening, Ren decided to speak up about his own discovery from last night. He wanted to make sure it wasn't just him affected by this new strengthening method.
"Naofumi?"
"What is it, Ren?"
"I just wanted to say I found something out last night. Another way to get stronger for the both of us."
"Huh? What is it then? And why didn't you tell me when you told me those other ways on the second night?"
"Because it didn't show up for me then" Ren explained. Naofumi seemed to accept that, and Ren continued. "Anyways, the method is called 'Smelting', apparently each of our weapon forms can be strengthened using some sort of ore, but it has a chance of failure. Has it appeared for you?"
Naofumi took a moment to respond, but he nodded his head. "Yeah, it has. Apparently, my light metal shield takes light metal for smelting. Who would have guessed?" He spoke sarcastically.
"But still. This is going to help. Just where did you get this? Was it from your talk with the king or something?" He asked curiously.
Ren shook his head. Why would he have got it from the king? As far as Ren knew, he wasn't a hero or anything. There were only four of them. Him, Naofumi, Itsuki and Motoyasu, right?
With that thought being pushed to the side, Ren answered Naofumi.
"I got it from Motoyasu. Whilst Raphtalia was with you. He said he wondered how much ore you had smelted into that shield to make it that good."
"Huh? Motoyasu gave it to you? But I thought all of us had the same methods! That's why I can use yours, right?"
"I thought we all had the same methods as well!" Ren exclaimed. "But Motoyasu spoke about Smelting, and he spoke about something called weapon mastery! I thought he was talking about just mastery, but what if it was something else different?"
"It could be. Do you have it in your strengthening methods menu?"
Naofumi only got a shake of Rens's head. "It isn't, and I don't know why."
"What did he do do? In detail."
Ren explained what he and Motoyasu had spoken about from the night of the duel, and Naofumi put a hand to his chin.
"I see… it looks like he explained what smelting did to you, right?"
"Yeah…" Ren answered, confused about where Naofumi was going with this.
"But he didn't explain how this weapon mastery worked. Could it be you have to know who has the method, and how it works to actually use it? Is that the only reason we can use Smelting and not weapon mastery?"
Ren thought about it for a moment. "That could be true. But, does that mean each weapon has its own strengthening methods?" Ren asked slowly, looking at Naofumis's shield.
Naofumi nodded, opening his mouth before shutting it. He saw where Ren was staring, and he let out a sigh.
"It could be true. But why would the shield have its methods not show up?"
"Maybe it's too strong?" Ren asked.
"As if. It's probably some rubbish like the power of friendship." Naofumi rolled his eyes at that, and Ren let out a small laugh at that.
"Well, there were heroes before us, right? They probably left books detailing everything. It would be the smart thing to do at least. Whilst me and my party are exploring, we can check villages to see if they have anything related to the Shield Hero." Ren suggested.
Naofumi shrugged again. "With the religion and how they've treated me? I doubt there's anything that isn't critical or outright lies against the shield hero left in this country. There might be stuff on the other heroes though." Naofumi suggested instead.
"I mean, if the sword, bow and spear are worshipped as gods here, then there's bound to be more information on them."
Ren nodded at that. "That's true. But I'll still keep an eye out for anything shield related I guess."
"Yeah. Any help is appreciated. Just don't expect much." Naofumi answered him.
"Also, I do have another method of helping you out..." Ren began slowly.
Naofumi nodded his head, prompting Ren to continue.
"Right. well, there are a few dungeons that spawn monsters. they all give good experience. let me just..." Ren took a map out of his bag, slowly beginning to mark them down for Naofumi, who nodded every time Ren said something.
The rest of the walk was filled with Ren explaining how each dungeon worked, as well as conversations between Farrie, Raphtalia, and Theodore.
Once Erhart's store came into sight, the group of five sped up their pace, quickly entering the blacksmith's shop.
"Who-" Erhart's voice called out, only to stop. "Oh, Shield kid, and Sword kid! Nice to see you two again. Take it the wave went well then?"
"Yeah. You could say that." Naofumi nodded. Ren answered in a similar way.
Erhart looked the pair over, before moving to Raphtalia and Farrie. It was only then that he noticed Theodore between the two.
"Shield kid…" Erhart spoke with a sigh.
Naofumi raised his hands above his head. "I promised I would get him out of there when I had the funds." the Shield Hero responded.
Erhart simply shook his head, looking over the rabbit demi-human. "As long as you take care of him like you took care of Raphtalia, it will be fine."
"Yeah, I plan on that. Don't think I'm going to start treating him horribly just because I have Raphtalia."
Whilst they continued to talk between themselves, Ren found himself with the rest of his party.
"Ren," Tersia spoke, nodding towards him. "I found that dragon request that you spoke about. It said it was located near Mirso village, near the mountains. Apparently, the dragon has been terrorizing the local people there, and has a young girl as a hostage."
Ren nodded his head at that information. It was all lining up with the information he had from his game, but the hostage was new. Ren shrugged it off. It was probably nothing. They would go in, kill the dragon, and get the girl back to her family. Nothing to be concerned about.
"I see. Did you take anything else while you were there?"
Tersia nodded her head at that. "I did. It was mainly a few requests to clear out certain areas. I made sure that they were all on the way to Mirso village, so we won't have to go far off route." She explained.
"That's good then. Let's see…" Ren looked towards the party screen, noticing that they were all at the level cap of 40.
Had that happened during the wave? Regardless, it meant that they could now class up, and it would be better than wasting any of the experience they got during their travels. If he had known, he would have sorted it out this morning. Nodding his head once more, he spoke up.
"Welt, Bakta, are you both fine to go?"
"Yeah!" Welt answered. "I'm ready. Axe is in the best shape it can be, and I'm fairly certain Bakta got everything he needed done. Where are we going?"
"Yeah, I'm ready," Bakta answered, glancing at Welt. "Dont need you to answer for me though." He added on.
Welt ignored him, waiting for Rens's response.
"Well, I'll be taking you all to class up at the church first. We don't want to waste any experience we can get from anything we fight along the way."
"Sounds good." "Alright!" "We are going to class up?" "Okay, sir Ren." Were the various responses he got from his group.
Naofumi, having heard his plans, turned to face him. "Heading out already?" The shield hero asked curiously.
"Yeah. we need to keep getting stronger. We don't know what's in store for us in the future." Ren replied.
"Alright. Just take care okay? If you need any help, just try and get in contact with me, alright? Dont know how you'll do it, but I trust you will find a way." The shield hero spoke with a smile.
"Yeah, I will. You stay safe as well, okay? Hopefully, I'll see you before the next wave. If not, I'll see you then." Ren responded with a smile of his own.
His party waved towards the shield hero and his companions, bidding them farewell as they moved out of the blacksmith's shop, and towards the church once again.
Alright. End of the Chapter. Idk how long it's been since I last updated, but I think it was like a month and a half/2 months I last updated? Kinda broke my own promise there. Not even going to promise I'll update within 2 months, but I will probably try.
A slow chapter, but should start picking up soonish as they start making their final preparations prior to heading out.
Also, the second major(?) change to canon I guess is the rabbit demi-human being bought here along with an egg. We will just have to see how that turns out, later on, Wont we?
As for your review Omni-Creator: You will have to wait and see (If this fic even gets to that point with how slow I am) And even if it did go a similar way to canon and Ren did manage to get his hands on the replica, it would not grant him any sort of ability to override the swords restrictions. That is not how the universe of Shield Hero works. There are no workarounds to the restrictions the weapons put on their wielders. Absolutely none. It would certainly give him a new weapon form, but would it be worth using over other potential weapons with Equip Effects and the likes being taken into account?
Also uh... If you wouldn't mind checking out my other fic, A gem in the rough, would appreciate it. Original 1 hero world with its own magic, vassals and monsters. part of the MWP, which is pretty neat.
Otherwise, not really much to say. Have a good day/night i suppose.