The group, with the exclusion of Matthias, who stood behind them all, watched in shock as the giant wolves jumped out from the trees, launching towards them.
In total, there were three wolves. Before anyone else could react, Osvien had already placed himself in front of everyone, taking the attack of two wolves by himself.
He let out a grunt as the two collided with his shield, shouting out as he did.
"Get them!"
Kurose wasted no time, instantly using a skill
"Feather Volley! His scarf seemed to move slightly before a few feathers freed themselves from it.
The feathers launched towards the first wolf, burying itself into its legs. The wolf let out a snarl of rage as the feathers struck it. It opened its mouth wide as it managed to get its head over the shield, intending to bite down into Osvien's shoulder.
Before it could, however, Sigun stepped forward, drawing his blade from its sheath for the first time. The blade had a shiny sheen to it as if it had been recently cleaned, only for it to find itself to be thrown back into battle. The pommel of the blade seemed… empty, for lack of a better word to Kurose. It looked like something should be there, but it had been ripped out of it. The other odd bit was that one edge seemed serrated, whilst the other looked just like a regular blade. was that something unique to this world?
Sigun struck down the wolf but didn't manage to cut into it, with his blade seemingly bouncing off.
The wolf snapped at his hand, with the swordsman barely pulling it back in time to prevent his hand from being grabbed by the wolf.
Kuros exchanged his accessory for the Harpy Feather Scarf, shouting as he did.
"Erst Thread! Change Accessory!"
He quickly selected his strongest scarf, hoping his idea of it taking on the stats of the selected scarf was correct.
He let the thread wrap around the wolf's mouth, effectively muzzling it, much to the wolf's shock. He could see its mouth working, attempting to break free of the skill.
Kurose wasnt sure if it was taking on the stats of the scarf, or if it was something else at play. Either way, he wasnt going to let that stop him.
"Get it now!" Kurose shouted out.
Sigun, seeing that it was fully restrained, brought his sword up once again, bringing it down against the wolf's back. The sword found itself buried into it this time, and even the wolf looked surprised by that.
The wolf let out a muffled whimper before dropping to the floor. Kurose let out a sigh before looking over to Eorna and Lea, who were fighting another wolf.
Eorna was moving in and out of its range, delivering quick swipes to the wolf, but they weren't major wounds. Just simple cuts as she had to quickly move out of the area as the wolf turned to attack her.
Lea was stood a bit further back, two of her Chakrams in her hands. She took a deep breath before throwing one towards the wolf.
It seemed to be sparking as she threw it, and Kurose watched as it barely missed the wolf, seeming to cut off a few hairs from its fur, even as it turned to snarl at her.
Eorna took that chance to dash in, using a skill as she did.
"Erst Slash IV!" She shouted. Her dagger seemed to glow red as she closed in on it, slashing through it with a smirk. The wolf seemed to stand still for a minute, but it turned to face Eorna, who hadn't expected it to be still standing.
It moved to lunge at her, its fangs bared wide, but it was stopped as something seemed to cut into its side. Looking closer, Lea's other Chakram had found itself buried in its side. The wolf let out a similar whimper as it sank to the ground, its movements stopping.
That was two wolves down, but wasn't there another? Kurose looked around, only to find the third still struggling with Osviens Shield. Sigun couldn't get close to it, due to it snapping at him whenever he did attempt to, and Osvien was currently struggling to hold it back with just his shield.
Kurose focused back on them, mentally reprimanding himself.
Why did I take my eyes off them? I should have been looking out for everything!
With that in mind, Kurose shouted again. "Feather Volley!"
The feathers, much like they had before, shot out towards the wolf. However, a majority of them sailed past its head, with only two striking it head-on. The wolf let out another snarl at that but lessened the pressure on Osvien's shield as it looked over it, focusing on Kurose.
Osvien took that opportunity to unhook his hammer, catching the wolf under its head as he swung it up toward the sky. The wolf was launched up slightly, and Sigmund took the opportunity to slash at it with his blade, making sure to not use the serrated end.
The wolf didn't let out a noise as it fell, simply slumping into a pile, blood covering its fur. After looking around, and being sure that there was nothing else, the group let out a sigh, relaxing.
Behind them, Mathias clapped his hands.
"Good job on dealing with those Farkas. You dealt with them a lot easier than I thought you would. And with no injuries to boot." He spoke with a smile.
"Now, for some things you did well, and what you could improve on. Kurose." He faced the Accessory hero. "Good job on restraining the Farkas. What I'd do improve though, is make sure you focus on everything. Don't just limit yourself to what's in front of you."
Kurose nodded. He already knew he had to focus on everything. He had nearly left Sigun and Osvien to face the wolf on their own, only joining in at the last moment.
"Eorna. Good job on focusing on your strengths. Keep practicing and build your stamina, you'll need it in the future. As for what to improve, well, your handling of your dagger was atrocious." He spoke bluntly. "If it weren't a legendary weapon and was stuck to your hand, it probably would have gotten stuck in the Farkas after the first few strikes."
Eorna nodded her head, looking down slightly at that.
"Lea. Good work with your Chakrams. I can't say much about your close-quarter combat, but you're pretty accurate with them. The only issue is you're a bit indecisive. I saw you checking that you had selected the right Charme multiple times."
Lea did the same as Eorna nodding her head, but instead of looking down, she answered. "I'll make sure to work on that, Sir."
Matthias nodded with a sigh. "Told you not to call me that, but whatever. Osvien, Good job being the wall. Though I would say you might have wanted to pull out your hammer a bit earlier. Would have helped distract it along with Kurose."
Osvien took those words in, apparently deep in thought as Matthias turned to Sigun. "And you. You have good technique with your sword, but from what I have heard, your family is supposed to be able to have those edges doing something, right?" Matthias questioned.
"...They are," Sigun responded slowly. "However, I deemed that I do not need it. I am more than enough on my own."
Matthias stared at him for a moment. "Is this some sort of joke to you? Because I'm not sure if I heard you correctly. You're saying that you're fighting beside the heroes, and you don't want to be fighting at your best?" He asked, an unimpressed look on his face.
"I… Well, you see…" Sigun spoke, but he was cut off by Matthias.
"No, I don't want to hear your excuses for not fighting at your best, alright? I just want you to fight at your best, so get that sword doing what it's supposed to, and-"
"I can't use magic, okay!?" Sigun shouted at Matthias, a quietness settling over the group.
"Can't… use magic?" Kurose asked slowly.
Sigun turned to face him, nodding his head. "Yes, I can't use magic. It's expected for everyone in my family to be able to use basic Charmes, and the fact that I haven't even been able to do that!" Sigun shouted at Kurose.
Kurose took a step back in shock.
"Sigun…" Osvien murmured.
"But could you just… I don't know, get someone to forcefully open your magic to you?" Matthias asked slowly as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"No, I can't," Sigun answered. "My family checks in on me and my status often enough. The shortest time for the debuff to disappear is a few days, give or take, correct?"
"Yes, it is," Lea answered him.
"Well, my family checks in every couple of days. Not enough time to get rid of the debuff. And if they found out I had help accessing my magic…"
The sword wielder looked down to the ground, his free hand balled up into a fist as he spoke. "My parents would disown me. They would get rid of all traces of me from the family."
"So I'm sorry that I can't fight at my absolute peak, but this is the closest I will be able to get to it. I don't want to have to return home as a failure."
Sigun noticed everyone staring at him, but he didn't look back, simply looking down to the floor.
"It's fine. Let's just… Let's just get this over with. Let's reach level 30 already."
"Fine. Eorna, Kurose, you know what to-" Matthias cursed to himself. "Damn it. I forgot to sort out a knife for you Kurose."
Eorna shrugged, leaning down to the wolf that she and Lea had killed.
"It's fine. I can do it!" Eorna spoke with a confident smile.
She slowly began cutting the wolf into parts. She looked at Matthias, tilting her head as if asking a question.
"Nah, I don't need any of the Farkas. It didn't give me any useful equip effects for Refashion, so don't worry."
Eorna nodded her head, quickly separating the wolf into its parts
Farkas Fur Scarf
Rarity: Uncommon
Abilities Locked equip bonus: Cold resistance (Small)
Gem Slots: 2 [O, O]
Farkas Tooth Necklace
Rarity: Uncommon
Abilities Locked equip bonus: +2 attack
Gem Slots: 2 [O, O]
Farkas Claw Necklace
Rarity: Uncommon
Abilities Locked Equip bonus: +2 attack
Gem Slots: 2 [O, O]
Farkas Bone Bracelet
Rarity: Uncommon
Abilities Locked equip bonus: +3 defense, Erst Bracelet
Gem Slots: 2 [O, O]
Farkas Meat Ring
Rarity: Uncommon
Abilities Locked equip bonus: dissection ability 1
Gem Slots: 2 [O, O]
Eorna and Kurose both absorbed a full Farkas each. They didn't need the body for anything else, and even if they did…
Well, it wasn't like they couldn't just take down another, right?
Farkas Scarf
Rarity: Uncommon
Abilities Locked equip bonus: +5 agility
Equip effect: Night vision (Small)
Gem Slots: 3 [O, O, O]
The group continued further into the forest, an awkward silence filling the air after Sigun's outburst.
They continued through the forest. The only monster they had fought throughout the entire morning was Farkas. It seemed like this was mainly where they hunted and lived. Though Kurose had stopped the group, thinking he had heard some sort of noise.
They got into their fighting positions, which they naturally fell into. It had not come up in any sort of discussion. In fact, there hadn't been much discussion since Sigun's outburst.
Kurose and Lea stayed behind the group, with Kurose restraining anything that decided to attack the group of five. Lea stood next to him, both to act as ranged support, whilst also ensuring Kurose had someone to defend him if something got past the three ahead of them, not that it was likely.
The other three would fight up front, with Osvien taking the brunt of the attacks with his shield, whilst Eorna dashed in and out. Sigun was usually just behind Osvien, attacking whenever the monster they were fighting focused more on anyone else, punishing it for making that mistake.
It wasn't the best, and some monster still got close to him, but it was fine. It was his first time working in such a big group after all. However, it didn't help that he and Eorna kept moving ahead to deal with some monsters themselves, leaving the rest to play catchup.
"Erst Thread!" Kurose called out. The thread shot out, wrapping around the frog-like monster, which now that Kurose got a look at it properly, seemed to have some sort of liquid pouring off of it.
Beside him, Lea threw a Chakram at it, with one of the Charmes glowing on it. Flames sprouted on it, even as Osvien held his shield to his side, not protecting himself as he swung his hammer upwards.
The frog monster, upon seeing all this, made a last-ditch effort. It opened its mouth wide, revealing three separate tongues, with three ball-like orbs on the end of them. All three of them shot out simultaneously, all heading toward three different targets.
The first shot towards Osviens now exposed arm now that it wasn't covered by his shield, wrapping around it.
Osvien let out a shout as the ball-like orb at the end of it hit his arm, sticking to it. He shifted slightly, attempting to swat it only to let out a yell as he was dragged towards it, his arm slamming into the frog's side.
The second went for Eorna, who simply slashed at it, cutting through it with ease. She continued her dash towards the frog with no hesitation. The third went for the Chakram flying towards it, attempting to latch onto the handle in the center, but it failed, its tongue being burnt.
It let out a screech as the Chakram buried itself into it, whilst Eorna proceeded to cut into its side. It dropped to the floor with nothing else happening. They looked around, ensuring that there were no other monsters around.
Whilst they did that, Matthias walked over to Osvien.
"Are you alright?" Matthias asked, grabbing hold of his arm and looking it over.
"I am. Just, it's irritating. I just want to scratch it so much!" Osvien spoke.
"It would do. You're lucky it wasn't a higher level. Their poison grows in strength the higher level they are. And constant exposure to it can paralyze you."
"Huh? That was poison!?" Osvien shouted in surprise. "Someone get me some water so I can wash it off quickly!" He pleaded.
"It's fine. It's just an irritant at this point. Nothing bad. It should go away on its own after a couple of days."
"Would one of those gems or anything help him?" Kurose asked quickly.
"Nope," Matthias responded. "It would do nothing to help him. And before you ask, a Charme wouldn't either. They aren't good at the whole healing people thing. Sure, they can close up wounds and that, but that's about the extent of it. But like I said, he will be fine, won't you?"
Osvien nodded his head, puffing out his chest. "Yep! I'm perfectly fine! We can keep going. This is going to be something that will stop me from assisting the heroes!"
Kurose looked at him for a moment, watching as he seemed to tense up as if fighting the urge to not scratch his arm before nodding his head. Eorna slowly got to work, and Kurose felt a bit bad that he was making her do all the work, but he couldn't exactly cut it without a knife or anything.
After a couple of minutes, Eorna split the frog into several piles, allowing Kurose to pick through them, whilst she absorbed parts of it as well.
Tri-Tongue Jiralyk Tongue Scarf
Rarity: Uncommon
Abilities Locked Equip bonus: +3 agility
Equip Effect: Sticky
Gem Slots: 2 [O, O]
Tri-Tongue Jiralyk Meat Ring
Rarity: Uncommon
Abilities Locked Equip bonus: Jump Height up (Small)
Gem Slots: 2 [O, O]
Tri-Tongue Jiralyk Bone Ring
Rarity: Uncommon
Abilities Locked Equip bonus: Stamina up (Small)
Gem Slots: 2 [O, O]
Tri-Tongue Jiralyk Skin Scarf
Rarity: Uncommon
Abilities Locked Equip bonus: Paralysis resistance (Weak)
Equip Effect: Paralyzing poison
Gem Slots: 2 [O, O]
Kurose looked over each of the weapon forms, humming as he did. He noticed that equip effects tended to be popping up a bit more than they had before. Was there a reason for that? Was it because they were starting to fight stronger monsters, or was it just to remind him that he couldn't use Refashion?
Kurose let out a sigh, shaking his head. He decided to focus on the positives. From the Farkas, he had gotten Erst Bracelet, and from this Jiralyk, he got an equip effect he would probably be able to use with Change Accessory. The only issue was unlocking it.
He had to hold back a groan. There were so many good weapon forms that he wanted to unlock, for skills and just general bonuses, but he kept getting more weapon forms to unlock! He didn't want to waste any time in unlocking them, but there was no way to tell how long each weapon form would take to unlock!
He looked at his current scarf he had equipped, humming. It had not been unlocked yet, so he needed to keep it equipped to use Change Accessory. Maybe he should focus on getting his Erst skills unlocked after unlocking the current scarf, then start unlocking equip effect weapon forms, just so Change Accessory could be more useful.
Kurose nodded his head before letting his eyes wander over to his level. He was pretty close to level 30. Currently, he was at level 29, so he had made good progress in the couple of days since they left Horteni. He did hope that they were doing well. He did make a promise to go back there after all.
He was taken out of his thoughts as he felt someone tap his shoulder.
"Come on Kurose!" Eorna spoke with a smile. "Let's keep going! Not much longer until we reach level 30!"
Kurose simply smiled, walking after her.
"Yeah, yeah. I know. Let's go find some monsters then. Maybe we will complete everything before midday."
Behind them, Matthias smiled, watching the two heroes interact.
"Erst Thread!" Kurose shouted once more. The thread wrapped around the Farkas' mouth, effectively sealing it.
"Erst Step IV!" Eorna shouted at the same time, cutting into the Farkas' side effectively, It slumped to the floor almost immediately, and Eorna smiled. They hadn't even had to do much for this one, with the rest of their party only being able to take a few steps forward before the singular Farkas was defeated.
"So this is the power of the heroes?" Osvien spoke to himself, nodding his head.
"So it would seem," Sigun spoke, nodding his head. "Why did they even need us in their party?" He asked Lea and Osvien.
"Well, it's not like we didn't do anything. It's just they keep acting faster than us." Lea answered.
"Like I said." Matthias interrupted, stepping between them. "It was to help them learn to work in a team. Sure, it worked for a bit, but…"
Matthias glanced at Kurose and Eorna before continuing. "It seems like they keep falling back into their habits of thinking only about each other. I suppose it's to be expected, but still… they were working with you so well earlier."
Matthias shook his head, even as Lea spoke up. "Well, you did have a makeshift formation. I would say they did pretty good, at least for their first day working in a full party."
"You're right. It's just… I, no, we need them to work better with others Especially if we want any chance to live through the waves." He sighed, shaking his head.
Whilst this was happening, Kurose and Eorna absorbed the Farkas. Whilst they wouldn't get any new weapon forms from it, it was better than just leaving it to rot in the forest.
"Right, firstly, good job on reaching level 30," Matthias spoke, clapping his hands. "It's nice to see you can handle yourselves. I will be taking you to other places as well. Not only to level up but to get a wider variety of weapon forms. Level 30 was the minimum I wanted you before the wave, but considering you managed to smash that out, the next wave is in just under 4 days now, so if we keep this pace up, you should easily be able to get level 40, which should make you more than strong enough to face the wave, at least the one coming up."
Kurose and Eorna smiled at that, both moving to high-five each other.
"However, there were a few issues today," Matthias spoke, the pair stopping to look at Matthias in confusion.
"Huh? I thought we did fine though!" Eorna responded.
"Yeah! Same here, the only bad thing that happened was me not focusing on everything in that first fight, and Osvien being grabbed!"
Osvien grumbled from the back, still resisting the urge to scratch his arm. He didn't want to irritate it any more.
"I mean, they weren't exactly issues. Mainly just things that can be solved through experience. You were summoned, you aren't expected to be some great hero off the bat, at least people shouldn't be thinking that. You'll learn what to prioritize in battles as you get into more fights. And the Osvien thing was just him getting overconfident."
Behind him, Osvien clutched his chest. It was true, but still! He didn't have to say it so bluntly!
"The main issue was that after the first couple of fights, you and Eorna started going off on your own."
Eorna refused to look at him, simply looking at her feet as Matthias continued.
"You just… ignored your teammates. I understand that you are used to fighting together, but still. I told you already that you aren't always going to be together. That's just hopeful thinking."
"I know, I know! It's just that I'm used to relying on Eorna for fights." Kurose responded simply.
Eorna nodded her head at that. "Yeah, what he said! I'm used to relying on him, and he's used to relying on me! We already know what to do around each other!"
"I understand that…" Matthias spoke again. "But you're not listening! You aren't going to be able to work together forever, that's wishful thinking, like I said! You need to learn to work with other people!"
"Don't worry about it!" Eorna responded with a smile. "We will get around to it eventually!"
Kurose nodded along with her. It wasn't so bad that they weren't working with others now. It was easier just to rely on each other to fight things. They at least knew what they could take on together!
Matthias let out a sigh, shaking his head. "It's fine…" He muttered more to himself than them. "I will figure something out tonight. For now, let's just get to Dajero, and register you to their hourglass. Everyone ready?"
Everyone nodded their heads, and Matthias spoke once again. "Portal Jewelry Tools!"
In a flash of light, they were gone.
Kurose didn't stumble forward this time, which, in his mind, was a big win. As the light from the portal skill died down, he began to look around.
The first thing he saw was the walls in front of him. As he turned his gaze to look at other places, he noticed the plain, grassy area around him. Were they outside of the city or something?
"Right!" Matthias spoke loudly, getting everyone's attention. "This is important for all of you to know, but even more so for Eorna."
All eyes fell on Matthias to explain, and he began to do so. "Right, as you probably know, Dajero mainly worships the Dagger hero. Whilst there are a few parts of the country that worship all three weapons, the main sect they follow is the Dagger, so what you do and say is going to be extremely important here, got it Eorna?"
"Yeah, I know. I did grow up in Dajero after all…" She said, shaking her head. "But which city are we in now?"
"We are in Dirkun, pretty close to the capital," Matthias answered her question easily.
"I see… And… how far is that from Porin?" She asked once more.
"I would say… other side of the country? I'd have to see a map to tell you how far it is. But anyway, we should have someone coming to check on us soon. Are there any other questions you have, Eorna, Kurose?"
"Yeah. Eorna spoke about a fanatical side and… well, Eorna didn't say much about the other side other than they wouldn't like someone like her being the Dagger hero?"
Matthias nodded his head. "Alright. A valid question. So the Fanatical side, well they would do anything for the Dagger hero, though in return, they expect the Dagger to give their undying loyalty to their country. Again, as long as the Dagger hero gives their loyalty to the country, then they couldn't care less about who wields it. As long as they do what it takes to protect their borders, or even go to war for their sakes, then they couldn't care less if it was a criminal or something wielding it." he shook his head at that, sighing.
"As for the other side, well, they are more a part of the general nobility. They think that the Lesser Dagger should only be wielded by individuals they see as worthy."
"And who do they see as worthy?" Kurose asked.
"Definitely not me…" Eorna spoke up sadly.
"Like Eorna said, definitely not her. They would prefer either a summoned hero, which they could manipulate for their goals, or just a noble. Though it certainly wouldn't stop them plotting against the Dagger hero if it suited them."
"...Nothing that was said there seems like they should be in conflict with each other," Kurose spoke slowly, trying to understand what could bring them to fight.
"Well, there was one thing," Matthias spoke. "It's the nobles plotting against the Dagger hero. The fact that they would plot against their god angers the more fanatical side, whilst the nobles despise the fact that they would allow anyone to wield the Lesser Dagger. There are of course the people caught in the middle of it all, who just worship the Lesser Dagger because it saves their world from calamity, but that's neither here nor there. Any othe-"
"Who goes there?" A voice called out, cutting Matthias off from his question.
The gates slowly opened, and three robed figures stepped out. Two wore hoods covering their heads, whilst the third, and presumably the leader, marched out front.
The leader looked at Matthias, recognition flashing in his eyes as he bowed slightly. "Jewelry tools hero. To what do we owe this pleasure? I was not aware that you were returning to our humble city."
"It's fine. I just came here to register them to the wave." He pointed towards Eorna and Kurose.
The man's gaze wandered over to Kurose as if judging him, and Kurose held onto the scarf around him. His gaze wandered to the scarf, and upon noticing the gem on it, bowed once more.
"Accessory Hero. It is nice to see you here. I am glad that the Jewelry tools hero has seen to bring you to our fair city. I will be sure to bring you to our hourglass at once. May I ask who your compan…" His voice trailed off as he looked over to Eorna.
He had initially dismissed her as a traveling companion, but as his gaze travelled down to her side, he had seen the dagger on his waist.
Whereas before Kurose and Matthias had gotten small bows, the man before them dropped to one knee, with the two who had followed him doing the same soon after as they noticed Eorna's weapon.
"Lady Dagger!" The leader spoke. "It is my honour to welcome you to Dirkun, and we are blessed to have you here on this day!"
The two behind him repeated the same, causing Eorna to step back slightly. Behind her, Kurose could just make out Sigun and Osvien speaking to each other.
"I knew they liked the Dagger Hero here, but isn't this a bit much?" Sigun questioned.
"Even I think this may be a bit much…" The religious man responded.
"May I ask for your reason for being here, Lady Dagger? Is it to bless the town with your protection? Or another reason?"
"N-no! I'm here to register to the hourglass, so I can fight the wave when it appears!"
"The… The Dagger Hero… fight the waves?" He seemed confused by that, staring at her for a moment. "Are you sure? Is this some sort of joke, perhaps? I know that past Dagger Heroes have joked about that…" He seemed to think about it for a moment.
He looked over to Kurose and Matthias before speaking once more. "Have the other heroes told you that you must fight the waves? Because if so, then they have lied to you! I'm certain that your faithful followers would gladly fight the waves in your place!"
"I'm doing it of my own free will!" Eorna answered quickly. "I want to fight the waves. I've already been through two, and I saw the suffering it caused!"
The man seemed to look at her again, as if not understanding but he hesitantly nodded. "I…see. And this is your own decision entirely, yes?"
"It is," Eorna confirmed.
"I see… The Bishop will not be happy with this…" He shook his head as if speaking to himself.
"Regardless. I must fulfil my role. I will lead Lady Dagger and the Accessory Hero to the hourglass, so that they may link to it. If you would follow me please."
They were quickly taken through the small city, not lingering around on Eorna's insistence, which their guide obliged.
They stopped outside of the church, which was massive. It dwarfed any of the buildings nearby, being nearly double the size of the biggest building Kurose had seen here. Kurose honestly thought it was a bit excessive, but he wasn't going to say anything about it.
"Lady Dagger, Accessory Hero. Through these doors is where the hourglass is located. It is at the very back of the church, but as it is, I'm afraid Bishop Alton is performing his weekly cleansing ritual at this time. I'm sure that you could enter were you to prove yourself to be the Dagger Hero, but I will understand if you wish to remain anonymous whilst you are here."
"His cleansing ritual?" Eorna asked in confusion. "What, is he having a bath in the middle of the church?"
The man shook his head violently. "No! Absolutely not!" He coughed slightly before continuing. "My apologies for my outburst. Bishop Alton's cleansing ritual involves healing many of our orders who have received grievous wounds or were born with defects. It is a miraculous thing, able to do small things like heal unsightly scars, to even regrowing limbs! It truly is a wonderful thing! Truly, the Dagger must have blessed him!"
He smiled at the sky, and Kurose had time to let it sink in.
"He can what" Kurose almost shouted, only holding himself back to stay hidden.
"Indeed! It is a miraculous ability, to be able to restore the body to its best state! A true blessing from the Dagger! It truly does make up for his oddness, however slight it may be."
"Oddness?" Eorna asked this time.
"Indeed. Usually, those who have chosen to take up a leadership position in the church abstain from marriage, or anything of the sort, but he does not adhere to that rule. He has gone over that rule, multiple times, having multiple wives. It has made him… unliked, by some of our brothers and sisters in the faith. But he has been a member of the faith since birth. So this one oddity, we can deal with, even if it alarms some of our brothers and sisters in the faith."
Eorna and Kurose stared at him for a moment, before she turned to face Kurose. She leaned towards him, whispering into his ear as she did.
"...What do you think we should do?"
Kurose thought about it for a moment. "...I think we should just get in and get out as soon as possible. It will be more trouble for you if you get noticed, right?"
Eorna nodded her head at that, pulling back.
"Me and my companions will go in now, if that's fine?" Eorna asked the man.
"I'm afraid that I'll have to ask that it is just you, Lady Dagger, and the Accessory hero who enter. We would much rather our customs remain hidden from those who are not a part of our faith."
"Just us… I see. That's fine." Eorna responded with a smile.
"I thank you for accepting this one rule, Lady Dagger. You both may go in whenever."
The pair looked towards the rest of their group, receiving nods from them.
With a deep breath, Kurose opened one door, whilst Eorna opened the other. They stepped in, letting the doors shut behind them.
The duo walked down the church's hallway. The seats were empty, with the only people visible being a man with long, flowing robes standing before the hourglass.
Beside him stood four girls, two on each side. They were dressed in the clothes of nuns. Each had a beautiful face, and they all stared at the duo as they walked closer.
The man in the center, who had either not noticed them enter, or had chosen to ignore them in favor of his current conversation, continued to speak.
"...do my best to mend the injury to his soul. Be warned, however, that I will need to hold the child for this."
The woman who was standing in front of him nodded her head desperately.
"Of course! Please, just…" she didn't finish her sentence, burying her face into the person beside her, who Kurose could only assume to be her husband.
Kurose watched as the man seemed to scowl at the husband for a moment, but as Kurose blinked, the scowl was gone, replaced with a serene smile. Had he been imagining that?
"Please, hand your child here. I will attempt to heal him with my gift granted to me by the Dagger."
The mother did as he asked, passing the child over. The man took the. Huld in his arms, and it began to cry.
"Shush child. I will ensure that you live a full life."
The man closed his eyes, putting a hand over the child's face. The room went deathly silent for a moment before a disgusting sound filled the air.
The squelching of flesh seemed to fill the room, and Kurose grits his teeth at the horrible sound. And yet, as fast as it started, it stopped.
The man removed his hand from the child's face, handing him back over to the mother, who seemed to look down at the child in awe.
"H-his eye…" she spoke softly, looking upon her child. "You restored it. He… he can live a normal life. Thank you, Bishop Alton!"
The bishop seemed to step back, a smile on his face, though, to Kurose, it looked forced.
"It was my pleasure to assist you. Now go, spread the word of what has happened here. Tell them of how the Dagger has blessed me, and how I have used this blessing to help you, my fair lady." He smiled as he said that, and the pair before him bowed deeply.
"Thank you again, Bishop Alton!" They both spoke in unison, quickly running past the two heroes.
Once the parents and child were gone, the Bishop turned to face Eorna and Kurose, a smile on his face, mainly directed to Eorna.
"Why hello there." He began kindly. "Are you perhaps new here? I'm afraid I haven't seen you before in my humble church."
"You… could say that," Kurose spoke.
The bishop looked towards him, tilting his head slightly as Kurose spoke. Before anyone else could say a word, one of the girls behind the bishop spoke up.
"Hey! Lord Alton did not give you permission to speak!" She stepped forward, her hand reaching behind her as if to grab something, but she was stopped as the Bishop held up his hand.
"It is of no concern. We allow anyone to speak in our church. And I did speak to him, after all. It is only right that he gets a chance to respond."
The girl stepped back, even as she glared at Kurose. The Accessory Hero simply ignored her, staring at the Bishop.
"Now, if I may ask, why have you two arrived? Are you perhaps looking to join our religion? Are you looking to be absolved of your sins? Or is it something else entirely?" Alton asked with a calm smile.
"We are here to register to the hourglass," Eorna spoke simply.
"Register… to the hourglass?" He repeated, his eyes widening. "The only ones who can do that… I see. Then you must be heroes, yes?"
Both Kurose and Eorna nodded at that, both presenting their weapons or in Kurose's case, his scarf. As expected, the Bishop only gave a small check over for the Accessory before focusing on the Dagger.
"I see…" He spoke calmly. "Well then, Sir Accessory, Lady Dagger, it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance."
He bowed slightly, as if doing it merely because it was required before standing up straight again.
"As I said. It is just such a pleasure to meet you. You said you were here to link to the hourglass? Then please, go ahead and do so." He spoke with a smile.
Eorna and Kurose looked at each other, before Kurose slowly stepped forward, nodding his head. He raised his weapon before the hourglass once more, and the beam struck it again, granting him yet another timer in the corner of his screen.
Ortensca: 27:02:50:02
Palinfa: 3:22:59:28
Brightsteel Empire: 9:00:42:01
Dajero: 21:03:42:41
Kurose stepped back as Eorna did the same as him, linking to the hourglass.
"I'm glad I could see you link to the hourglass, but now, I must go make preparations." He spoke calmly.
"Preparations?" Kurose questioned.
The bishop nodded, flashing a smile at the Accessory Hero. "Indeed. Now that I know that our Hero has chosen to fight in the waves, I will have to gather up our church's forces to assist her, and by extension, you and the Jewelry tools hero in the waves to come."
"I… I see." Kurose spoke.
Before he could ask anything else that he wanted, the Bishop turned away, walking off as he was followed by the four nuns behind him.
Kurose and Eorna were left on their own in the church.
And they are finally linked to all the hourglasses. Now, its just a matter of them getting stronger and fighting off the waves! I'm sure nothing bad will happen. Surely.
But anyways, going to be taking a break for a couple of weeks for personal stuff. Hopefully the chapters good enough, and I suppose ill be back in a couple of weeks.
