It had been a few days since Knack's encounter with the teen who called himself "the sword hero" and ever since then, he made a point to avoid humans and their settlements, looking for relics in the outside fields and forest wasn't yielding much results so far, in three whole days of searching he found just one relic

"This is taking too long, if I keep going like this, a millennium will pass," Knack said as he didn't feel any relics close by for millions of miles, he was having trouble finding something that he remembered being everywhere in his memories

"Maybe...I can try and pull the relics close to me instead of just looking for them," he pondered on the idea, even if it seemed impossible, it was at least worth a try

"Gruuuuuugghhh," he grunted as he used his force to attract any relics in a distance, but after a few minutes of extreme grunting and concentrating, no relic was gained through this method

"Huff useless, why did I even try..." Knack stops once he realizes that a couple of sticks have been absorbed into him

"What the...I thought only relics could..." Suddenly he was taken aback as he was reminded of one of his memories that was forgotten before


"Why are we doing this again?" Knack asked a boy to his side as both stood close to a pile of chopped wood

"Come on Knack! This is something we got to test out," the boy excitedly said to the unimpressed relic golem

"I don't see the point, I can absorb relics into my body, not...wood," the golem said as he pointed to the pile

"Yeah, yeah, but think about it this way, you're in goblin territory, no relics for thousands of miles, and you are stuck in your small form, but there is only one hope of escape..." the boy stops his sentence for dramatic effect

"Pots, tons and tons of clay pots that if you break and absorb the pieces of them you might get back to your massive size and defeat those entitled goblins and their machines! What do you think?" he asks with enthusiasm to his companion

"I think you had too many of those weird fruit drinks," Knack retorts back sarcastically much to the boy's annoyance

"Just try it...please?" the boy pleaded as he held his hands together and made a 'trust me' face

"Well, no harm in trying I guess," Knack said as he went close to the wood pile

"That's the spirit," the boy cheered

"Hughhhh..." Knack groaned as he tried to get the wood to fuse with his body

"See? Nothing," Knack said with an unimpressed expression

"That one moved," the boy said as he pointed to a stick on the ground, Knack looked and the ground did show signs that the thing had seemly rolled closer to him

"Really? Okay, let me try again..." Knack said as he focused more on the material and began to concentrate on becoming one with it, as the cut wood flew to him and attached to his body, forming a sort of wood armor around his body

"Haha, how do you like my new look?" Knack said as he observed his new appearance

"Wild and fierce, you look like a pretty mad forest spirit!" the boy said as he stared in awe

"Wait until your mentor sees this," Knack said as he found himself chuckling

"He is gonna lose his mind," the boy says as he begins to imagine the reaction of his mentor

"Hahaha!" both started to laugh


"Was that...a memory?" Knack asked himself as began to recuperate from the livid flashback he had experienced

"Okay, let's do this," Knack concentrates on this time only absorbing the wood to his body instead of any relics, in a moment he begins to float in the air, as various sticks, branches, barks of wood, and pieces of trees began flying into him, growing to twice the size of a fully grown adult

"A new look for me that's for sure," Knack said as he observed the change in his body, the wood was mostly in regular shape but it seemed to be just the right shapes and sizes to create a form that still had some aspects of symmetry but with many spikes coming out from him

After a bit more traveling and killing more of the weird forest creatures of this area, Knack finds himself close to a pasture, he thinks of going right past it, before he finds a pair of two people surrounded by a group of giant black porcupines, one of it he recognized by his very grumpy look and spiteful eyes

"What do we do Naofumi-sama?" a raccoon lady known as Raphtalia asked her companion as she kept her sword up and ready to strike the creatures around them

"You cut them to pieces and I defend you like always," Naofumi said as he had his shield up and evaluated the situation

"Right," Raphtalia said as she prepared to attack, but before they could do anything, she and her companion as well as the wild porcupines began to hear the sound of something heavy coming their way, they looked and saw a giant creature made of floating wood staring down on them

"Arghhhhh!!!" The massive golem roars, making all the porcupines flee in fear, leaving only the pair and the massive being as they stare at each other

"N-naofumi-sama what now?" Raphtalia said as she thought about what to do against this bizarre creature in front of them, up until now the only monster they struggled against was the wave dog but this creature seemed just as much if not more powerful than it

"Shit! Okay, change of plans! We-"

"Hello angsty kid," the wooden giant says nonchalantly, Naofumi was confused until he remembered that voice and realized who he was seeing in front of him

"...Knack?" Naofumi lets out in a surprised tone as he sees how big the creature had gotten since the last time they saw each other

"You know this thing naofumi-sama?" The raccoon lady asked she knew that Naofumi had a complicated relationship with Erhard but she wasn't aware that her master had any other 'friend' of sorts, especially a monster that seemed to be made of wood

"Yes...although you look different," Naofumi said as he observed the golem, not only was he made of indestructible pieces but he could also absorb other materials and use them as a sort of armor. He needed something like this in his team

"I'm trying a more natural look," Knack joked which made Rapthalia chuckle a bit while Naofumi just stood there in silent

"Uhm well, thanks for your assistance mister...Knack," Raphtalia awkwardly greeted, she was still a bit shocked by the golem's sudden appearance but happy that he did come to their rescue

"It's all good, I have to go now so if you would excuse-"

"Wait!" Naofumi shouted as he extended his arm out, he couldn't let an opportunity like this getaway

"Knack...could you join me?" Naofumi asked which surprised Raphtalia since she didn't expect her master to actually want someone to join them, but she couldn't complain, as this was a sign that he trusted the golem enough to let it follow them

"Huh? Okay...but why the request this time? Last time we met you didn't seem like you wanted to keep me around," Knack asked at the sudden request

"I thought it over a bit more and I think an alliance of sorts would be beneficial for the both," Naofumi answered, after what Erhard had told him about the relics, Naofumi more than wanted to have a golem made of them by his side, especially if he ever decided to go to that Faubley kingdom

"That's a sinister way to ask someone, don't you think? Sorry kid, I'm not something you can use like a toy," Knack responded as he found the choice of words from the kid very suspicious

"I know, but I have something you want," Naofumi said as he crossed his arms and stared at the massive creature

"Really?" Knack said as he raised one of his woody eyebrows

"I know where more of those relics you want are located, all I want is to have you as an ally," Naofumi declared, in true, he only knew where the place with the most relics was, but Knack didn't need to know that for now, Naofumi planned to go to Faubley since it had advance technology, and since they used the relics to power it, having a creature that could absorb and control them was good leverage to have, maybe he could even take over the place and use their technology to get revenge at-

"Naofumi-sama," Raphtalia reverberated as she somehow knew that her master was thinking something bad and she needed to shut the idea down before Naofumi could consider it

"I hope you aren't planning something evil because I would have to crush you like an ant if you were," Knack responded as he approached his face a bit closer to Naofumi

"And I will cut you down if you attempt to do that to Naofumi-sama" Raphtalia immediately goes on the defensive and lifts her sword at Knack

"Calm down raphtalia" Naofumi orders as he puts his hand on top of the sword and lowers it back down, he couldn't have Raphtalia ruin his working relationship with the golem when he is trying to get a new party member 'this guy is the only hope I have of getting a willing teammate to join my party, but I better be cautious to not make him see me in a bad light'

"Look, I have to defend the kingdom we are currently in from something called 'the Waves of Calamity' and I would like you're help with that," Naofumi explained, he hated this country and wanted to leave as soon as he could, but he needed resources for that, and he was obligated to fight the waves, so while he prepared for that, he had to be a hero whether he liked it or not

"Aren't you a miner? Shouldn't they get a knight or guard to do this?" Knack asked if it was impossible that if these "waves" were such a big threat they would send a kid to fight them

"Mining was a side hustle, I'm a...adventurer that has to get strong to beat these waves of calamity for the sake of the world, and that's why I want to have you as a support on this mission," Naofumi said, keeping the fact he was a hero a secret in the case Knack had heard about him through the rumors

"...fine, but you better not try to pull my leg," Knack said in a slightly threatening manner as he stared at Naofumi

"Not as I could with the size of it now," Naofumi sarcastically responded, with Raphtalia letting out a little chuckle at seeing her master making any attempt at humor when he is usually all against it

'He made a joke? That seems unlike him' Knack thought as he began to lighten up a bit around the pair, unknown to him, Naofumi got a notification in his status magic

[Knack has joined your party]

'Nice' Naofumi mentally cheered as he went to check on Knack's stats, he had almost everything that he and Raphtalia had on their status except for magic which Naofumi found odd, the stats of Knack were pretty normal but they were accompanied by boxes with with a plus and a group of numbers { like this: atk 27 [123] }, another odd thing was that he had his health bar divided between a blue part and one that had a wood texture 'the blue one probably is his true health and the wood one is armor' Naofumi racionalized, another thing he noticed was that Knack did not have a level or level bar, instead he had a little icon that resembled his small form and that was followed by some numbers and letters ' wait, this is... A unit of measure! Is it counting his height? Does his size determine his power?' He wondered, that didn't seem as practical as the level system but it sort of made sense, the higher they are the stronger they should be to support their body mass

"We are currently going back to the capital so we can resupply, will you follow us there?" Raphtalia asked, snapping Naofumi back to reality

"Sure, but I will have to stay outside, don't think they would allow me in looking like this," Knack said, as he looked way more dangerous and threatening than his usual self with the sharp pieces of wood

"Then just stay in the forest, we make a camp so we can meet back," Naofumi says as he waves for Raphtalia and Knack to follow him as they start to walk

"Hope I don't run into sword kid again while you're out," Knack murmured as he remembered his hustle with the teen, he was sure that he could take the kid and his group now, but considering he saw one of them do a sort of attack using fire and he was currently covered in wood, he worried that it might cause a forest fire

"Sword kid?" Rapthalia asked, wanting to know what the golem was referring to

"A boy with black hair that calls himself the legendary sword hero, no matter how much I said for him to leave me alone he just kept trying to kill me, he didn't even seem to consider solving things peacefully," Knack explained, he knew that he doesn't look much like a sensible creature, but attacking someone that clearly is wanting not to fight was not a thing to do either way for someone who called himself a hero

"Oh great, you met one of the three stooges," Naofumi replied sarcastically, of course, one of the incompetents heroes would see a creature just minding its own business and attack, but the fact that Ren just kept trying to kill Knack despite the golem trying to stop the fight with words was right up that self-centered asshole's alley

"What?" Knack said in confusion

"They are the guys I have to 'work' with to fight the waves, but we aren't on the best terms," Naofumi expressed his disdain about the other heroes, he hated how they did nothing during his trial, they just ran with it and they just keep proving that they were not fit for the position of hero

"How bad are they?" Knack asked, with Naofumi taking this as a chance to put in a bad word for them so they can't persuade his golem teammate to steal him away, he needed this thing as an ally if he ever wanted to go to that Faubley place

"They all think that life is a game and that they are the main characters, they are self-absorbed, greedy, and the same as bratty children! One of them, Motoyasu the Spear hero is a complete and utterly stupid moron! He believes anything a woman says and will always try to get more women for himself to date, he has that red swine of a companion that-"

"Okay I get the picture," Knack cutted Naofumi before he could get into describing Myne, the golem could see that they had some problems between them but he didn't know why he would describe them with so much hatred in his voice

"Huh, anyways let's just go," Naofumi said as he began to walk at a faster pace than Raphtalia or Knack

"What happened between them to cause such...passionate hate?" Knack asked Raphtalia since she was the companion of that kid, and so, would probably know something

"I don't know myself much, but I think it has to do with a woman that Naofumi-sama hates," Raphtalia explained as Naofumi would sometimes talk about someone he often called "Bitch" that ruined his life

"A woman?" Knack asked before looking back at Naofumi


Ren was sitting at a table in a bar after a day of searching for more information about that golem and those relics, but he was met with either an answer he already heard or nothing at all, in some cases it seemed like people were hiding something from him and it was always when he asked where to find more of those relics, something suspicious was going on and he knew it

"We return sir Ren," his party members said as they entered the establishment and sat at the same table as him

"Did any of you find something out?" Ren asked, wanting to see if his party members had better luck than he in finding information

"No luck, no one ever heard about the creature we encountered, most thought we were talking about a rare goblin instead of a living pile of pieces," Tersia said, as no one believed or had any sort of info that could help them, some even laughed at their face from asking such absurd question

"This is just the worst..." Ren said as he put a hand on his head, all of this was giving him enough stress to cause a headache and he didn't like this one bit, while his teammates talked about trying to search in other ways, Ren noticed Itsuki walking by

"Itsuki!" Ren yelled as he rushed over to the bow hero

"Oh Ren, what do you want?" Itsuki replied as he and his party stopped their walk to see what Ren wanted from them

"I need information on something," Ren asked, he hated that he had to do this since he knew how valuable information could be because of his time as a pro player, but he was desperate for any info on this golem thing

"Okay hit me with it," Itsuki said as he snapped his fingers and crossed his arms

"I encountered a monster the other day, one of which I had never seen before in my game, I wanted to know if it could be something from your game," Ren asked, it hurt his pride for having to ask for help, but he understood that pride doesn't give you anything the same way saying "please" does

"You got a piece of it so that I might remember it better?" Itsuki said as he extended one of his hands in front of Ren, of course, Ren knew what he was doing and although he understood and probably would do the same, it still felt kind of offensive

"No, the thing escaped, it wasn't your run-of-the-mill creature, it could think, fight with strategy and improvised martial arts, and talk..." Ren said as he remembered the fight, such a creature is usually an end-game thing because it can fight smarter, but even those have patterns to discover and master, but this one was different... It felt organic in the way it fought and talked, and the fact it didn't match any of the creatures in Brave Star Online was causing him a bit of concern

"You mean a goblin?" Itsuki said as that pretty much described your usual goblins

"It's not a goddamn goblin!" Ren screamed out, he was tired of everyone saying that he saw and fought a goblin, he knew very well what a goblin looked like, and getting constantly told what he saw was just a normal enemy was getting on his nerves

"..." Everyone stood silent after Ren's little outrage, Ren was very embarrassed for being the center of attention in such a way

"It's a golem...made of various pieces of what seemed to be stone and wood at the same time in different colors and gold pieces called relics," Ren explained, thinking this could be helpful for Itsuki to remember

"Relics?" Itsuki asked, which made Ren start to lose hope that he knew anything

"Tiny old vestiges of an ancient civilization," Ren said, after hearing all Tersia knew about those relics, he was confident that he could make a presentation about those things

"Uhm...sorry but no golem in Dimmesion Wave matches that sort of description, there was a golem boss but he was made of magma, the closest thing to your description would be a wood golem," Itsuki responded, Dimension Wave had only 6 golem types, and none of them was anything like an "ancient golem"

"Does it have gold or something that resembles red fur?" Ren asked as he put a hand on his face, already expecting what the answer would be

"No," Itsuki responded confirming Ren's frustrations

"Damnit," Ren grunted as it seemed like he had wasted his time after all

"You sure it wasn't a goblin?" Itsuki asked it made more sense that Ren had found some ultra-rare goblin than whatever he was describing

"Goblins don't burst into pieces, create a small tornado out of their body parts, and then reform themselves like it was nothing," Ren let out as he didn't care anymore about giving information about this thing, since it seemed Itsuki knew even less than him

"Really? Man, what the heck did you stumble upon?" Itsuki asked since what Ren was describing was really interesting and weird, he honestly wanted to see this golem himself

"I don't know! And that's eating me!" Ren expressed his frustration at being left in the dark on such a matter


"Setting up a camp was a good idea Naofumi-sama," Raphtalia said as she sat on a log close to a fireplace

"No motive for traveling at night, that's when the monsters are at their most aggressive," Naodumi said, he did not if that was true, but walking around by foot in the dark would just make them prime targets for whatever was awake at this hour

"I will be on the night watch duty," Naofumi declared with Raphtalia simply nodding in agreement

"I can keep on the watch, I don't necessarily need to sleep," Knack said, he could technically sleep but that was something that he did not need to function as he had not required it in these few weeks that he was awake traveling

"And I can't sleep for the hell of it..." Naofumi responded that although he needed to sleep, he would stay up incredibly late times of night, Knack was slightly worried for the spikey-haired man's health

"..." They all stood quiet as they watched the campfire with a bit of an awkward silence

"I have a question for you two," Knack said catching the attention of the duo

"Huh?" both Raphtalia and Naofumi let out wondering what he could want to know

"Why are you and these three other people going to fight these waves, shouldn't that be a thing an army should handle," Knack asked as he still did not understand why they were sending four people and their group as the line of defense against whatever these waves were

"That's because-"

"Because Naofumi-sama is the legendary shield hero! He is a hero from prophecy here to save the world with his amazing powers!" Raphtalia happily exclaimed as she tried to hype up Naofumi for their new companion, Naofumi was worried that now the golem was gonna attack him because of the rumors about him, even if he avoided civilization, he might have heard something from a passing merchant or-

"Legendary shield hero? How do you even gain a title like that?" Knack asked, which caused Naofumi to sigh in relief and Raphtalia to get moderately surprised

"You know about the four cardinal heroes...right?" Raphtalia asked she should have probably not have assumed that a monster would know about this, but everyone in the world knew what a cardinal hero was, and to consider the intelligence and sentience Knack had shown, she kind of expected him to know about this

"Should I? Maybe that's something I forgot..." Knack said as he tried to remember anything about a shield hero but nothing came to mind

"Right, because of you're amnesia," Naofumi replied as he poked around the campfire with a stick

"Amnewhat?" Raphtalia asked, confused by the strange word

"It's when you lose all your memories, you still know how to speak and write and all of that but you forget everything about yourself or your past" Naofumi explained as he saw Raphtalia's face turn to a surprised shock and then pity

"Really? I'm so sorry for you mister Knack, I couldn't even begin to think how I would feel if I was in your place," Raphtalia said as she found the idea of amnesia mortifying, the idea of not remembering her family, her friends, her village, Naofumi-sama, and even her name was something disturbing to her as at that point, would she even be herself or would she be a different person since her experiences and memories were what define her

"You don't need to, I'm sure they will come back, just today, I remembered about how to do this," Knack said as he motioned to his wood-covered body

"..." Once again awkward silence returned to the camp as they just sat on the ground and in some logs

"So are you two dating?" Knack asked out of nowhere, which caused Raphtalia's whole face to turn red from how hard she was blushing

"No!" both Naofumi and Raphtalia responded screaming, Naofumi out of anger and Raphtalia out of embarrassment

"I c-couldn't d-d-date N-naofumi-sama, that's all on h-h-him to decide," Raphtalia responded very awkwardly due to the embarrassment she was feeling from thinking herself as Naofumi's girlfriend, it was clear to Knack that she wanted that to be the case

"I have more important things than dating in my mind," Naofumi said as he looked to the side disgusted at the thought of dating a woman after what that red swine of a bitch did to him, Raphtalia was a bit saddened by his remark

"Then are you two childhood friends, family members, or something else?" Knack asked as he found the way the pair acted to be way closer than that of normal coworkers

"I'm master Naofumi's slave," Raphtalia said in the most nonchalant way possible as if it was a casual thing, Naofumi didn't care at first until he saw how Knack's face was with an expression that indicated he was horrified

"WHAT?!" Knack screamed out as he then looked at Naofumi beyond pissed off he quickly got up and Naofumi understood that he was about to be beaten up, he raised his shield to defend what he thought was an incoming punch but instead, Knack grabbed his shield and pulled him up before bringing Naofumi slamming down

Thud!

"Grugh!" Naofumi grunted as Knack pinned him to the ground with his hand 'I should have seen this one coming' he thought as he should have expected the golem to be less than pleased at such revelation considering how he seemed so good-willed, he couldn't believe in his bad luck on this moment

"How could you slave someone?! I didn't expect you to be such a scumbag!" Knack shouted as he applied even more force and weight to Naofumi as he was pinned down, Naofumi knew that if he wasn't in the shield hero class then he would have a couple of ribs broken by now

'Great! The giant monster has more moral values than this shit hole of a kingdom and now wants to kill me! I hate my life!' Naofumi mentally complained as he tried to get out, he just made a powerful ally that immediately turned on him just because he had to buy a slave just to level up because he had less attack than a balloon

"Let Naofumi-sama go! Or I will cut you into nothingness!" Raphtalia shouted as she took out her sword and prepared to slay the wooden golem she was almost considering a party member

"Why are you even defending him? He enslaved you!" Knack said as he looked at her and then back at Naofumi with a frown

"You're wrong! Naofumi-sama saved me!" Raphtalia screamed as she started to take a position to jump and attack the relic Goliath

"How?!" Knack loudly asked her, Raphtalia took a few seconds before lowering her sword and returning to a more idle position

"...the first wave hit my village and many died...including my parents...when we thought that the kingdom's knights were coming to help rebuild the place, they turned out to be slavers...I was sold to a noble that would torture us regularly without fault...I had to live and eat filth and left to suffer from sickness that we gained from living in those conditions...he sold me back after he got bored of me...I would have died in a cage if not for Naofumi-sama buying me," Raphtalia said with some difficulty as she started to tell her story to Knack, who looked mortified at what she told him, Naofumi himself was surprised as well since he only knew half of her story

"Instead of being mean to me and treating me like a disposable object, Naofumi-sama fed me actual food and cooked meals, gave me baths, helped cure my illness, brought me clothes and shoes, gave me a haircut, helped me against my traumas and constant nightmares, and taught me how to fight so I could be strong and defend myself, and since he is going to be fighting against the waves, I have sworn to be his sword so that other kids won't go through the same grief as I have, that's how I will repay his kindness!" Raphtalia declared as she placed a hand in her chest and shouted from the top of her lungs before reassuming a combat stance

"That's just being a good person, any decent individual would do the same" Knack argued back at her since there had to be better people than this guy to show her kindness

"Those are...hard to...come by here..." Naofumi said with difficulty as breathing was hard to do with the weight of Knack's hand over his chest

"...Even if you are nice in comparison to others, slavery is still wrong and downright evil!" Knack said as he looked back at Naofumi, just for him to stop trying to escape and meet the golem's eyes with a more serious expression

"Not in this country, is legal and incentivized to do so, there are even shops to buy slaves in broad daylight, and according to the law, the only way for Raphtalia to be allowed to walk around towns and other places is if she is owned by someone, the law also forbids the stealing or freeing of a slave, so the only way she is protected is by being a slave, otherwise anyone can take her away and sell her back into slavery," Naofumi responded as he explained the situation, he wasn't lying even one bit as he said that, as the person he brought Raphtalia from was a slavery dealer and he explained all of that to Naofumi

"..." Knack stopped for a minute as he looked inside Naofumi's eye for any hint of a lie, he did the same to Raphtalia but no matter how piercing his gaze was on them it didn't seem to be a single speck of falsehood in them, so what they were saying was true. Knack left go of Naofumi and walked a few steps away while looking down

"I'm going to smash the guy who rules this place when I see him," the golem said as he clenched his fist, if someone was allowing this then he was going to break their home and then all the bones in their body

"And I will be more than happy to land a hand in that," Naofumi said as he was willing to forget about this incident as he wanted nothing more than to see the Trash King be beaten up to death while he watched perhaps including bitch into the beating as well

"...sorry for that, but it just felt very wrong," Knack said as he turned to face Raphtalia, who responded with a nod of her head and a comprehensive smile on her face

"It's okay mister, it is good to see that you have a good heart like that, and please don't try and kill Naofumi-sama, he might not act the best but he means well most of the time," Raphtalia responded, even if he had just attacked her master, Raphtalia could tell that was out of kindness and a desire to genuine rescue her from what he assumed was a horrible situation

"I'm going to attempt to sleep after knowing this..." Knack said as he could not stop thinking how bad it was that this place had slaves like that, he might not remember his past but he understood what slavery meant, and to have that be part of the day-to-day of this kingdom was incredibly messed up

"I too as well," Raphtalia said as she stayed a bit awkwardly in place she wanted to sleep close to Naofumi but she knew he would not want that

"..." Naofumi was the only one left awake, he thought Knack wouldn't be actually sleeping, but when he saw the wood from his body detach from him and reduce him to a normal size, he took that as a hint that he had fallen asleep

'This was...not the best experience' Naofumi thought as he still felt a bit of pain from the whole ordeal, but that meant he had gotten a companion as strong as that black dog in the mines as that had been the only thing to damage him so far 'I didn't expect raphtalia to defend me...no, she only did that because she is a slave, I'm sure that she would have taken the first chance to run away from me if she was not my slave...right?' he pondered while watching over his sleeping companion, placing his cape over her like a blanket


As morning came, Knack and his new companions continued their way into the capital, a camp was set in the forest outside and Knack stayed there while Naofumi and Raphtalia went into the city. After selling some medicine to the apothecary, they visit the weapon shop of their friendly blacksmith

"Hey kid it's been a while," Erhard welcomed the two as they entered the shop

"Hi, mister Erhard!" Raphtalia happily greeted the blacksmith back, as Erhard looked shocked for a second

"Wow, this beautiful lass is little raphtalia, you have grown so fast?" Erhard said as last he saw her, she was just a small slightly sick girl, and now she was a fully grown woman who seemed much more happy and outgoing than ever

"Aww thanks," Raphtalia replied while blushing at the compliment, Naofumi just thought that was a creepy thing to say considering Raphtalia was a child( in his eyes, she hadn't grown up even one bit)

"So what do you two need?" the blacksmith asked as the kid only came to his shop when he needed something

"Naofumi-sama needs armor immediately! look at him," Raphtalia said as she pointed to Naofumi's shoulder, which had the shirt stitched together after their fight with the dog in the mines

"I'm the shield hero, I don't need armor-"

"Yes, you do! You almost died against that black dog! If you don't take this seriously, you'll die for sure..." Raphtalia said in both a threatening and worried way

"...fine, but if I'm going to get one, I want something that will hold up for a long time" Naofumi reluctantly agreed, although he didn't see the use for armor since his whole thing was his high defense, he did acknowledge that he would need armor eventually, so it was better to get one now

"I have a few but the best thing to do in your case is a custom order, what do you think?" Erhard suggested

"I have some materials that you can use," Naofumi takes some materials from his inventory, most of which are dead animal parts and skins

"Hmm, lots of pelts and skins... I have an idea for how to do this," Erhard said as he could visualize the type of armor he could make with this amount of leather

"It would take around until a day for me to make this. How long until the wave?" Erhard asked, depending on the time he might have to pull a nighter

"How in carnation should I know that?" Naofumi said since he only knew he had to fight the waves, not where or when they would happen

"What? Kid, are telling me you don't know?!" Erhard screamed out in surprise, although a part of him knew that was probably the case

"How could I know?" Naofumi asked as he found the blacksmith's reaction a bit exaggerated

"Kid, go to the big church in the center of the town, they have a big hourglass there, and place your weapon there and you will know when the waves hit, it is even said you heroes are teleported to where they will hit," Erhard said as Naofumi face palmed himself as he got infuriated

"Of course, I'm not told this stuff! Get to work on the armor, Raphtalia with me!" Naofumi said as he rushed out of the shop with Raphtalia following behind

Naofumi and Raphtalia made a run for the church that thankfully was actually really easy to spot, they were able to enter without any resistance from the guards or people inside, but he did see their angry eyes and disgusted faces, but those things had lost any meaning to him

"What do we owe your visit here, shield hero?" a nun of the church asked

"Wave about to hit, I want to register to the hourglass," Naofumi simply responded not wanting to stay in this place any longer than he had to

"Ah, of course, please follow me," the nun responded as she guided them to the hourglass

Naofumi stepped forward and placed his hand in it, suddenly a beam of light shot from the gem of his shield towards the dragon hourglass which caused the sand inside to glow for a while before fading away

[Connection to the Hourglass: [Melromarc] stabilize]

[Time until the next Wave: 21 hours 41 minutes 120 seconds]

'A timer, that's handy, we have less than a day, we can manage that' Naofumi thought, if Erhard got that armor done by very early in the morning then he wasn't going to have much trouble on the defensive department, plus with the addition of Knack they were very good on strength as well

"Well well, if it isn't Naofumi the criminal scum," the annoying voice of someone Naofumi hated called from behind, Naofumi turned around to see Motoyasu the spear hero making his way to the hourglass followed by the bitch herself Myne

"Surprised to see you here," Naofumi responded sarcastically while eyeing both Motoyasu and bitch with a piss-off expression

"Who are they, Naofumi-sama?" Raphtalia asked since Naofumi seemed to be very angry about them, which was weird since she kind of knew that Naofumi was usually always angry but not to the extent he was right now

"Come Raphtalia, we're leaving," Naofumi said as he proceeded to go down the flight of stairs wanting to leave this place since the bitch and her idiot were now here, but when he looked back at Raphtalia, he saw Motoyasu go to her and hold her hands together

"Greetings fair maiden, I'm Motoyasu Kitamura the spear hero, what do you say about traveling alongside me and saving the world?" Motoyasu said as he held Raphtalia's hand, acting like a typical romantic with this shirvely to win over girls, Raphtalia was very confused about what he was trying to accomplish

'I'm gonna kill you if you even attempt anything on her, you stupid bastard! She is all I have, no wait I have Knack... But even then, she deserves better than a horny bastard who tries to get in the skirts of every chick he sees!' Naofumi mentally screamed, he had that golem now so he wouldn't need Raphtalia as much, but after all the two went through he wasn't going to let her be taken away by the idiotic pervert

"Motoyasu-sama don't affiliate yourself with a filthy animal like her," bitch said as she looked at Raphtalia with clear disgust in her voice and eyes

'She's racist as well? That bitch gets worst and worst the more I see her!' Naofumi thought as he looked at bitch, seems she kept surprising him with how bad she was

"No, I have already sworn to fight with Naofumi Iwatani, now please excuse me," Raphtalia said as she pushed Motoyasu it seemed he was just wanting her for lustful purposes, much to the surprise of Motoyasu and Naofumi

"What? You can't be serious? Fight with him?! You'd be in great danger! Have you not heard the rumors about him?!" Motoyasu said, Naofumi just went up to him and looked at him with fury in his eyes almost ready to attack him at any minute now

"Come Naofumi-sama, we have to prepare for the wave instead of converse with these people, yes?" Raphtalia said as she put her hand on his shoulder, Naofumi looked at her and that made him calm down just enough

"Yeah you're right," he said as the two went to the door from which they came, with Motoyasu just staying there looking the two walked away more confused than ever at such a thing

As the two exited the church, they saw Ren and Itsuki and their parties outside, itsuki's party all looked at him the same way as most did, with hate and disgust, Itsuki on the other hand was glancing at him more objectively it seemed, Ren and his team looked serious but also deep in thought

"You better not be dead weight during the wave," Itsuki said as he looked at naofumi with his arms crossed

"Yeah yeah bow head, you too," Naofumi responded as he passed by him and his party

"!" before he could leave them behind, Ren grabbed his shoulder, which caused raphtalia to pull out her sword and prepare to attack as did Ren's team at her response

"What do you want?" Naofumi said as he turned to face Ren, wanting to know why he was bothering him

"...do you know anything about a golem made of relics?" Ren asked as he sent a deep stare Naofumi's way, who almost flinched his face which would have given away that he knew something, thankfully he had a good poker face and reflexes so he just raised an eyebrow to make it seem like he was confused by the question

"No," Naofumi said as put Ren's arm away and tried to walk away but Ren's grabbed him again by the collar of his cape

"You're lying, you know something do you?" Ren lied, he was not sure if Naofumi knew something or not but he needed to press for answers since Itsuki and especially Motoyasu didn't know anything

"Even if I did, why would I tell that to a guy who just stood there quiet when I was been falsely accused," Naofumi responded, he didn't hate Ren and Itsuki as much as he hated almost everyone else but he still disliked them for not even attempting to stand up to him during the whole trial, sure they barely knew each other for not even half a day and they realistically didn't have any reason to believe in his innocence but that still made him mad at them

"Damnit Naofumi! That thing wasn't in any of our games and we know nothing about it, as far as I know, it could be a danger to the kingdom or the entire world!" Ren shouted as he put himself closer to Naofumi's face, he knew everything that there was to know about Brave Star Online, but that thing wasn't in the game, he tried to ask around for information from people that lived in this world there whole lives and they didn't know anything about it, he asked the other heroes who played similar but different games but they didn't know shit! Everything was leaving him to a dead end, not knowing anything about that creature meant he couldn't predict its attack patterns, its level, overall stats, loot that it dropped, or if it had any significance to the plot of the main history or a side quest, it was all so infuriating to him

"So you're scared because life isn't like a game anymore? Because you are out of your little comfort zone? You really are a child," Naofumi said as he just looked at Ren, not mad but disappointed, he thought that perhaps he was better than Motoyasu but it seemed that he was just a bit better

"... answer me already..." Ren demanded but it was clearly in a defeated tone of voice, Naofumi knew that the sword hero had no way to force the information from him

"I don't know anything about this thing, but I think you are just insecure about not knowing all the answers, crybaby," Naofumi once again lied but took in the chance to shame Ren and perhaps wake him up to reality

"..." Ren left go of naofumi and just stood there looking down as one of his teammates tapped his shoulder, he hated how naofumi just insulted him but be couldn't say he was wrong, he was secure in his knowledge of the world because of how much similar it was to Brave Star Online, but ever since that encounter with that monster, he had been noticing small little differences between the game and this place, like this relics that are supposed to be a thing everyone knows about, how they used crystals instead of candles, the alarming amount of sickly and seemly starved half-animal childern in rags with metal collars like those of prisoners working jobs that adults should be doing while being shouted angrily upon by grown man, and many other things, and as much as it hurt to him to admit that to himself, those differences scared him, itsuki looked a bit curious on this whole thing as this 'golem' situation was developing as he saw naofumi go away, who resumed his walk with raphtalia, and the two went back into their camp

"So? How was in the town?" Knack asked as he had set up a campfire and some logs for them to sit

"We have to grab some gear tomorrow and we meet up with the three idiots..." Naofumi said in a disgruntled tone as he reminisced about the encounter with bitch and Motoyasu

"Really? I assume it didn't go well," Knack said as Naofumi's face made it very clear that he was grumpier than when he was being pinned to the ground with the threat of a fist covered in sharp wood to the face

"Yeah, also I don't know what you did, but Ren, the 'sword kid' is very curious about you, he might think you are a threat to his delusions," Naofumi responded, perhaps he should have Knack give Ren, and those other two heroes a small reality check, maybe try to frame the king as a secret evil villain so they... he stopped his train of thought once Raphtalia gave him a scolding glare as if she knew what he was thinking

"Great, just when I thought he would have thought things over after our little encounter," Knack comments disappointed, you would think a kid like that would have learned to try talking first before trying to kill something he doesn't know

"Don't worry, I'm sure that when we repel the waves, people will see both you and Naofumi-sama in a better light," Raphtalia optimistically said, she knew that this country wasn't very nice to Naofumi-sama or Mister Knack apparently but that could be changed by doing something good and great like saving the kingdom from an interdimensional threat that could end all life

"Like hell, they will," Naofumi replied, seeing how the people seemed to hate his guts in such a passionate way he couldn't see their opinions changing after fighting one wave, heck not even finishing all the waves could be enough

"Let the girl dream," Knack said as he tapped Naofumi's shoulder for him to chill "So where and when is the wave happening? Shouldn't we start moving to it?" Knack asked since he didn't know what these waves but if they were such a threat then they had to go and stop them now

"In about a day we will be teleported to where it will happen so be prepared to be in the middle of the action," Naofumi responded, he would be nervous about this since it would be his first wave but that wasn't the case since he hardened by being falsely labeled as criminal and he now had Raphtalia, someone he could trust to fight for him and a indestructible monster by his side

"Teleported?" Knack asked as he looked at naofumi with an eyebrow raised

"Part of my shields powers," Naofumi explained, even he had to admit that the ability to teleport was a surprising thing that his shield could do but he wished that he could teleport at will and to anywhere he wanted instead of only going where the waves would happen

"That's a good shield, better than that sun crystal shield then," Knack said, a shield that could teleport was much better than one that glowed in the dark, although the golem wondered how the kid got his hands on something like that

"They are the same shield, there's a reason this is a legendary shield after all," Naofumi said as he demonstrated that aspect by changing his shield into various shield forms including the Sun Crystal Shield

"Neat trick," Knack replied, he was surprised that shield could be so efficient and even wondered what that thing was made of or what type of magic it had

"We better rest up for tomorrow, we will have to be prepared for the worst..." Naofumi says as he prepares to sit back in the tree log for the rest of the night

"Right," both Knack and Raphtalis said in agreement


"Are you kidding me!?" Naofumi said as he walked out from the changing room of Erhard's shop wearing his new armor looking at Erhart in annoyance.

"The hell old man! They already think I'm a criminal and you sell me this? I look like a bandit!" Naofumi angrily reacted, as this would just ruin his public image even more, it was one thing having the title of criminal, but now he looked even more like one

"Hey! Not a bandit, a bandit chef! You have the look of a big-shot marauder!" Erhart said it like nothing was wrong with that at all

"That's not the point! I-"

"Naofumi-sama. You look great in that! Truly wonderful! It matches you so well. And the gifted cloak goes with it too," Raphtalia had her hands together and sparkles in her eyes, as in her mind, Naofumi looked more heroic than threatening in that outfit

[Barbarian Armor]

[Def %25, Mdef %10]

[Blunt resistance (small)]

"How much for this?" Naofumi asked, worried about the price that it would have

"Even if I give you a discount, I would say it would be around 5 or 7 gold coins," Erhard responded, and Naofumi took a heavy gulp

"I don't have all that money..." Naofumi said as he was considering running away if the worst came to show

"You can pay me later, for now, just do your job and save the world," Erhard said as he understood how crappy the financial situation must be for the kid since he was considered a criminal, Naofumi sighed in relief

"Okay, let's go back to camp," Naofumi said as he looked over to Raphtalia

"Umm, wait until Mister Knack sees you," Raphtalia said as she wanted to know the golem's reaction to Naofumi-sama's new hero gear

"Hum? Knack? Wasn't that the name of that thing you-"

"Yes, I was able to convince him to join me," Naofumi answered "We have met for a short while, but he has been proving to be a useful asset," Naofumi continued, he already saw some usefulness in the golem for him being a giant source of brute strength that was indestructible

"Right... And did you enslave him?" Erhard asked since he was worried that the kid was going to get neck deep into the slave business since he didn't trust anyone but slaves as his companions, the last thing the world needed was a cardinal hero, a person who would be looked up for generations, has his whole party made with a bunch of slaves

"No, I did not, he almost killed me because a certain someone said she was a slave," Naofumi said as he looked at Raphtalia, who looked away with an embarrassed and a little trembling smile

"I'm still surprised that he knew the concept of slavery and despises it, already makes him better than half of this country," Naofumi finished as he looked back at Erhard

"A monster that hates slavery? I gotta meet this guy one day," Erhard said, as that was a fascinating thing to see and think about

"Pretty sure I can't bring him to town," Naofumi responded, Knack would probably be shot down by the guards outside the wall or if they got inside, they would receive a few weird looks until a guard or asshole came to arrest and attack them to steal the golem away and accuse him of breaking some made up law

"Anyways, good luck on that wave," Erhard said as he waved the two goodbye, and went back to the camp, Naofumi wanted to die

"You look good as a bandit king, it fits your murderous eyes and face of a puppy-kicker," Knack joked as he stared smiling at Naofumi's new armor, with Raphtalia giggling on the side

"I just wanted some normal armor right now..." Naofumi grunted as he couldn't handle any more jokes or comments about how much like a crook he looked now

"How much time we have left?" Raphtalia asked since she wanted to get something out of her chest before it was too late

"A few seconds..." Naofumi said as he stared at the countdown a bit anxious

"Then before anything," Raphtalia said as she moved in front of Naofumi and took a deep breath before she did something that she needed to do

"Naofumi-sama, I'm truly grateful to have met you, you healed and fed me when nobody would, you gave me clothes and equipment for myself to wear and to protect me, and you drove away my nightmares and made me want to live again. Naofumi-sama, I am your sword! Now and always! Wherever you go, I will follow you! If the world is against you, I'm against the world, I will fight for you until the day I die!" She said as she placed a hand on her chest and looked at naofumi with the utmost seriousness and care

"Raphtalia..." Naofumi let out as he did not expect Raphtalia to express and say such things to him 'No, no, no, she is just saying that because she is my slave! She doesn't care for me! I can only trust myself!...' Naofumi tried to deny the possibility of being loved as much as he could, even if a part of him was starting to acknowledge that chance

'Guess they really are not slave and master...' Knack thought as he watched the girl do what amounted to a love confession in front of them and that seemed to have even caught her quote-on-quote master off guard

[00:00:05]

Ren stood with his group watching over the distance as he sat upon the corpses of a group of monsters, holding a round relic in his hand he had found recently and throwing it up and down as he thought of what they would encounter during the wave

[00:00:04]

Itsuki and his team stood still outside the city gates as they were confident about their victory in this wave

[00:00:03]

Motoyasu and his harem were having a light-hearted talk about where to celebrate afterward the fighting was done, as if the wave was not a national threat of extreme priority

[00:00:02]

The king looked over his kingdom from the windows of his throne room, taking a deep breath as he prayed for the success of the three heroes, and that the shield hero would at the very least, trip and fall face first in the ground and into some mud

[00:00:01]

Naofumi closed his eyes and prepared himself mentally for whatever might happen, he looked over his party members, with Raphtalia placing her hands up until her chest and nodding to show she was ready, and Knack made a thumbs up while nodding, he stared back at the count down.

[00:00:00]

[Author's Notes]

About Knack's current size, he is a bit taller than Ice Knack from level 3 of the first game

I pointed out how petty Naofumi's grudge against Itsuki and Ren is because I felt that it was unwarranted before each of their screw-ups, his aggression against Motoyasu, the king, Malty/Myne/bitch, and the kingdom were justifiable but I don't feel that Naofumi's hate towards seemingly everything and everyone is completely justifiable when he didn't know if he would have acted any different from them if the situation was reversed