Chapter 10
Wave of Faeries
Homura walked slightly ahead of Rishia, head turned in conversation with her even as she led the way back to Erhard's.
"Dame Akemi, do you know what you'd like for me to do?" Rishia eventually managed to ask. It was very slow going, but between her and Raphtalia they were starting to get Rishia more comfortable with conversation. While she would stutter and freak out at the start of them, talking became more and more natural the more she kept on going.
"You said that you know a decent bit of magic spells, some specifically for combat. I would like to try and have you fill in as a ranged combatant since I can no longer fill that role. But I want you to also be capable of at least defending yourself in melee combat, both for if you run out of magic or ammunition and if you get attacked." Homura explained, having been thinking about it for the last couple of days.
"Fue!" Rishia gasped, probably not having expected an answer as fast as she had gotten one. Homura stopped, turning to face Rishia, Erhard's shop in view a ways down the street. Now that she had gotten close enough, she was able to get a far more precise location on Raphtalia and Sakura. If she was remembering the town layout correctly, then they found a small inn not too far from the gate that she had seen traders stopping at often when she was first here.
"Is there a problem Rishia?" she asked, trying to keep her voice calm, and not let her frustration show. 'Remember Homura; losing control of your emotions is what drove away your friends.' She thought to herself, taking a small deep breath. It had been hard, coming to and accepting that conclusion, but between the shock of being summoned to another world and slowly talking about some things with Raphtalia she had been able to come to that realization.
"I-I'm just worried that I won't be able to meet Dame Akemi's expectations of me...that I'll be the reason that one of us might...die, fighting something like the Waves." she said, looking down at the ground. "I'm...not strong or good at fighting. I'm just a talentless loser. So...I just...I don't see what you see in someone like me…"
Homura regarded her for a minute in silence. Then two. Finally, she spoke.
"You chose to fight." Homura finally said. "Not for fame. Or glory. Barely even for yourself. You are scared, terrified of what may happen. You know very well what may happen. But yet you are here with me, the youngest and most disliked of the Four Heroes in Melromarc. You could have chosen to go with Kawasumi-senpai, but you did not. It will most certainly not happen overnight, but I can see the [Potential] within you. I will protect you, and train you. Whatever may happen, I know that you will be right there with me, alongside Raphtalia and Sakura, and whoever else may join us against the Waves. So, I ask," here Homura paused, holding out her hand, "Trust me."
Slowly, hesitantly, Rishia reached out and grabbed a hold of Homura's hand.
"I guess...I can trust the Shield Hero…" Rishia told her, shaking her hand slightly. Homura gave her what she hoped was a comforting smile.
"Now let us stop at Erhard's store before we go to the inn. There are some pieces I would like to commission while we are here in town." Homura said, letting go and turning back towards the store.
"Welcome to my-! Well, if it isn't the Shield Lass! Welcome back! And who's this lovely little lady?" Erhard's voice boomed as the pair walked into the store, stepping out from behind his counter to greet the hero and her companion.
"Fuee!" Rishia gasped loudly, hiding as much as possible behind Homura's armored form. Homura couldn't completely blame the girl. Erhard, with his tall, heavily muscled and scarred physique, cut an intimidating presence. Not helped by the aura of strength and power that he wore like a subtle but prideful cloak.
"Rishia, do not be rude. Mister Erhard has been a huge help in making sure Raphtalia and I are ready to fight the Waves, and he will do the same for you. Please introduce yourself properly." Homura said, trying to keep her amusement from showing too much. While she would've had a similar reaction when she first contracted, an angry Kyoko personally carried a much more intimidating presence than Erhard did. She chuckled a bit at the reaction she figured they both would have if she mentioned it out loud.
Both Erhard and Rishia looked at her when she started chuckling, but Rishia finally stepped out into the open after a moment, her movements hesitant. When she was no longer behind the former magical girl, she bowed deeply.
"H-hello Mister Erhard, my name is Rishia Ivyred. I am the newest companion of Dame Akemi. Please treat me well." she introduced herself. Erhard rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
"Ivyred, eh? That noble family up to the north? Good people, your parents." Clapping his large hand onto her shoulder with a casual motion, Rishia almost crumpled immediately. "Nice to meet you lassie! If you're anything like your parents, I think we'll get along well." Erhard laughed boisterously. Turning to face Homura, he crossed his massive arms across his equally massive chest and gave her a large grin.
"And what can I do for you and your noble friend today Shield Lass?" he asked.
'Bastard knows he is going to make a pretty penny today,' Homura thought, rolling her eyes. Not that she blamed him, and he was still a good person, but making good money was enough to put anyone in a good mood.
"We're here to see about getting some items commissioned, and to buy Rishia some gear to cover until then." Homura stated, brushing past Erhard toward the leather armor pieces he had on display. Rishia glanced between the two of them before quickly shuffling after Homura, muttering a quick soft, "Pardon me."
Homura let her eyes run over the leather armor pieces on display. For the most part, nothing stood out as being special, which was honestly fine with her since they were going to commission some hopefully higher quality armor. Looking at Rishia, who was looking over the armor with an untrained eye, she rolled her eyes in a slightly affectionate way.
"Pick some armor along the lines of what Raphtalia wears," she gave some advice. "It only has to last and work for a week or two while we wait for Erhard to finish your own armor."
"Y-yes Dame Akemi!" Rishia responded, the green haired girl scrambling to grab some simple leather armor pieces that looked like they would fit.
"Umm, Mister Erhard, is there somewhere I can try these on?" She asked the blacksmith.
"Sure, there's a dressing room you can use over there." He responded, waving to a little side area of his store. Rishia bowed again, holding the armor to her chest as she did so before turning around and near running into the room. Homura let out a small sigh.
"Troubles lass?" Erhard asked her.
"She is just so painfully shy. It brings back...mostly unpleasant memories for me. She is trying, I can see that, but I think it is going to be a while before she has grown anywhere near out of it." Homura answered back. Without waiting for a response, she made her way over to the section that was filled with what appeared to be a variety of ranged weaponry, ranging from throwing picks to bows and crossbows.
"You know this world better than I do, for a ranged user using primarily magic, what kind of weapons would you recommend they arm themselves with? Preferably back-up ranged weapons for when magic needs to be conserved and a close-range side arm of sorts." Homura asked, letting her eyes roam over the assortment of various weapons. Some of them she had never seen before, which kind of surprised her at first until she realized they might just be world unique weapons.
"Hmm? I take it that this is for the new lass?" Erhard asked, scratching his chin in thought. Homura answered with a simple nod.
"I think I have an idea of something that might cover both in one package, just for you Madam Shield Lass!" He laughed happily at her annoyed huff, heading back into what Homura knew was his storeroom where she heard him rummaging through some boxes or shelves.
While she was waiting, she heard the door to the changing room open and the slow shy shuffling of feet.
"Are you all done Rishia?" The magical girl asked, turning around to face the slightly older girl.
"Fue!" Rishia squeaked in surprise, her hands covering her heart as it started pounding at being startled. She had elected to keep her original white shirt and green overdress which ended at her knees like a skirt. Over that she had put on a simple set of something called [Pikyu Leather] breast plate, pauldrons, and bracers. Something that would add a bit of protection but not inhibit her speed or be otherwise awkward that would get in the way.
"Well, well little lady, that looks pretty good on you!" Erhard commented before Homura could say anything. "[Pikyu Leather], eh? Good choice, it'll do a good job keeping you warm and is reliable enough all the way until you [Class Up] if you take good care of it."
Rishia gave a hesitant nod.
"We learned about it at school in Faubley. I never thought I'd need that knowledge while I was there, but...if I'm going to help Dame Akemi properly then I need to be prepared!" She said slowly before making herself seem as confident as possible at the end. Homura knew it was mostly bravado, but there was actual steel and fire beneath all that trepidation.
All she had to do was bring it to the surface and make it stay there.
"That is a good mindset to have Rishia." Homura said encouragingly, before turning back to Erhard.
"So what did you have planned for her Mister Erhard?" She asked, Rishia looking curiously between the two of them. The blacksmith gave a big toothy grin, then from behind his back he set what appeared to be a steel ring with sharpened edges and a handle in the middle.
"A chakram?" Homura asked, tilting her head to the side. She had never seen one in real life, but she remembered Sayaka and Kyoko going on about some video game character that used a set that apparently controlled fire. Something about whether him or a guy who used a water guitar was better.
She had honestly mostly just ignored them but did look up chakrams out of curiosity.
"Oh? So you know what this is Shield Lass?" He asked.
"Sort of. I know more of them than anything." He gave a big grin in response.
"Well I made this while experimenting with some wind affinity enchantments from a witch friend of mine. It took a lot of work, but we managed to incorporate a spell that mimics the effect of what you heroes call a boomerang." He explained, gesturing with his arms. Homura could tell after similar experiences back in her world, especially from Madoka, that he wanted to ramble on about the details but held himself back.
"A boomerang?" Rishia asked, never having heard of it.
"It is a blunt aboriginal weapon with a bent shape that when thrown is designed to return to at least the original vicinity of the thrower." Homura idly explained, using her admittedly low level [Appraisal] skill on it out of curiosity.
{ Steel Chakram
Throwing Weapon (medium damage, slashing), Melee Weapon (light damage, slashing)
Equip Bonus: [Return Throw], [Blood Clean Coating] }
"I take it that this [Return Throw] is the enchant you are talking about?" Homura asked, Rishia making an interested face at having some new knowledge dangled in front of her.
"Indeed it is!" Erhard declared, crossing his arms with a proud grin on his face. But it slowly turned into an expression of minor frustration.
"The only thing is that we can only seem to get it to stick to a few specifically shaped objects, and on top of that the success rate is really low, or the accuracy of the return is poor. That right there is our best result so far. So I'm trusting you to field test it real good for us little lady. Got that?" He said, his serious expression drilling into Rishia.
"Fuee! Yes sir! Understood sir!" Rishia said rapid fire, her spine going ramrod straight as she began to bow repeatedly. Erhard only laughed loudly in response, making her blush in embarrassment.
"You're okay little lady, just try not to break it and make sure to take care of the Shield Lass here with the other lady. Now is there anything else I can help you with?" He asked.
"Actually yes. I would like to ask for a few commissioned pieces for me. Some shields specifically. I want to test the exact limits of the [Weapon Copy] system." Homura explained, getting a small frown from the blacksmith. "I need to know exactly what my Legendary Shield does and does not consider a shield, or even a new shield. I'll make sure to pay you for the commission, but you will also still be able to sell them to other patrons that might be interested later."
"I'm still conflicted on how I feel about you and the other Heroes' weapons stealing my work so easily." He griped with a huff. "If it were any of the other heroes lass, I'd probably just kick them out of my store."
Erhard sighed while rubbing the back of his head, looking down at the small girl with eyes of purple fire.
"Alright, I can listen to some of your requests. But I expect you to help source the materials if I think I need them. Deal?"
"Deal." Homura agreed. Stepping up to his counter, she explained the first few of her ideas and requests. Rishia passed the time by practicing with her new weapon, being as careful as she could to not damage anyone or anything.
P-*-*-*-H
It was almost an hour later that saw the two girls leaving from the Blacksmith's. Rishia's new chakram was slipped into a pouch like sheath on her back, somewhere it wouldn't get in the way like on her hip, but easy enough to grab and reach in a hurry if needed. She looked like a proper novice adventurer, Homura mused to herself as they made their way to the inn where she sensed Raphtalia and Sakura.
"It is nice to see that you seem to have a natural affinity for your new weapon." Homura told Rishia who made a nervous face.
"It is a bit weird," Rishia said softly, reaching back to rub the handle. "I've never really been comfortable handling the few weapons I've tried, even though all of my instructors tried to tell me that I wasn't bad. None of them felt...right, I guess is a good word. This chakram...I wouldn't say it feels perfect, but it definitely feels better."
Here Rishia stopped at the side of the road at the intersection before the inn. Then she bowed deeply.
"Thank you for this opportunity, Dame Akemi. It... means so much to someone like me…"
Homura stopped and stared, completely unsure of how to deal with such sincere emotions. Even after a similar event with Raphtalia previously.
"Just do your best to help me stop the Waves and stay alive. That is all I ask of you." Homura finally said, her voice hard. But Rishia caught the undertone of compassion. Raphtalia had been correct when she warned her that Homura could seem cold at times, despite the fact she really did care. Rishia stood and gave a smile to the Shield Hero's back, the young girl having already turned and began walking away.
As they neared the inn, the two of them heard loud angry chirping coming from the stable, followed by some ineligible griping that sounded familiar. Exchanging a look, both of them seemed to realize what was going on. Making a beeline straight for the stable, they both stalled in the doorway at seeing what was going on.
"Will you stop chewing on me Sakura?! I don't know when Mistress will get back, I swear!" Raphtalia shouted, trying to pry Sakura's mouth off of the top of her head. Homura and Rishia both stopped in their tracks, stunned at the absurd sight that they were witnessing.
Surprisingly, Rishia was the first to react, while Homura stood there gaping slightly.
"Sakura! Don't eat Raphtalia!" Rishia exclaimed, running over and frantically trying to help pry Sakura off of the raccoon girl. That served well enough to draw their attention to the fact that the person in question was also present, leading Sakura to finally let go and start chirping happily while waving her wings.
Raphtalia meanwhile, finally freed from her torment, rushed over and crouched slightly to hide behind her slightly shorter Mistress. Homura blinked in shock, turning her head slightly to look at her from the corner of her eyes. Seeing her glaring over her pauldron at the happy pink bird, her tail bristling, her hair a disheveled mess covered in Sakura's slobber.
'Is Raphtalia growling?' Homura thought to herself at hearing a soft growling sound coming from the normally even-tempered girl. Shaking her head slightly, she turned her attention back to the still chirping bird.
"What do you think you were doing, Sakura?" the black hair girl asked, narrowing her eyes in frustration at the bird who was starting to realize she was in trouble.
"I leave for a couple of hours to handle some important business that is the reason I had to push you so hard, and when we return you are bullying Raphtalia." She chastised, hearing Raphtalia's soft growling get a bit louder, Sakura looking down at the ground. Homura honestly felt a bit bad about having to play angry mother with Sakura, but honestly it was necessary.
Holding her disappointed stare for a while longer, Homura finally sighed and stepped up to the tall pink bird who had started to sheepishly scrape the ground slightly with her claws. As Homura walked up to Sakura, she heard and sensed Raphtalia scramble to hide behind Rishia instead, still glaring at Sakura.
"Sakura," Homura said, stopping just outside the filolial's stall, her exhaustion seeping into her voice. At hearing her name from the girl she thought of as her mother, she looked up like the chastised child that she was.
"Apologize to Raphtalia."
Watching Sakura turn to look at Raphtalia who bristled her tail a bit puffier and hid even more, the filolial realized she took things too far. Looking back down, she made a soft cooing sound. Homura nodded, looking towards Raphtalia as well.
It took a few seconds for her to notice, but when she saw her Mistress staring at her, Raphtalia realized that Homura was waiting for her to say something. Like her parents did when she was bullied and teased by Keel when they were younger.
Taking several deep breaths to force her anger and frustration back down like Homura had taught her, her tail slowly smoothed as she stepped out from behind Rishia. But still she kept a frustrated scowl on her face.
"I'll forgive you for now Sakura, but please don't do it again. I'm not your chew toy to vent on when Mistress had business to do without us." She huffed, putting her hands on her hips.
Sakura only responded with another sad chirp. Homura gave a soft sigh. It wasn't perfect, but at least the bulk of the issue has been resolved for now.
"I will be back soon with food for you once I get it cooked Sakura. But you are going to have to stay here and rest until tomorrow as punishment for bullying Raphtalia. Tomorrow you can rest in the fields while we train Rishia." The magical girl explained, getting a small bit of protest out of the filolial that was swiftly shut down with an exhausted sharp-eyed glare. Sighing softly once again, Homura reached out to lightly pet and scratch Sakura's head, getting soft happy cooing sounds in return.
"You are a good girl for pushing yourself so hard to help Rishia's family and village, but you need to also be nice to your friends and family." With that bit said, Homura stepped back and turned to the other two girls, grimacing softly at Raphtalia's hair, having been in similar situations when she was younger. If just with a lot less slobber and far more gum.
"While I cook dinner, you two should go take a bath. Rishia, please help Raphtalia with her hair." Getting a nod of understanding and a thankful nod respectively, the two girls were quick to leave so they could grab their cleaning supplies before running off to the small nearby bathhouse.
Homura resigned herself to yet another long night of cooking a massive meal. At this rate, she was going to be a master chef by the time she returned to her own world, she mused to herself.
'I wonder if Madoka would enjoy my cooking…?' she thought to herself, heading off to find somewhere to prepare dinner.
P-*-*-*-H
The next morning, Homura woke up a bit earlier than normal to prepare some extra food for everyone. She knew Sakura was going to be more hungry than normal after skimping out on meals for the last few days on top of the amount of energy she had to have burned with all that running.
Grabbing the large platter loaded high with various foods, Homura acknowledged to herself that her skills were definitely improving as she made her way to the stables. A part of her was also starting to find it relaxing outside of the sheer amount she had to make.
Nudging the door open with her toes, her casual gray and purple day dress swaying around in the early morning breeze as she carefully balanced the tray to not drop anything, she called out.
"Sakura! I have breakfast!" she called out. Fully turning around, she stopped and stared in shock at the sight that greeted her.
Ruffling her feathers while shaking her head slightly at hearing the familiar voice, Sakura had grown even more and was now shaped more like an egg covered in feathers than her previous ostrich-like form.
"Pue!" the giant egg-shaped bird chirped happily, bobbing slightly side to side.
"Sakura?" Homura asked, her brain still in the process of processing the sudden massive change.
Sakura only tilted her head to the side slightly, cooing in confusion. But Homura recognized the flower-like swirl of feathers that had partly helped inspire her name.
"Great, another massive growth spurt." Homura sighed out loud, setting her tray of food on a nearby table. Turning to look Sakura up and down, who was still looking confused. Like it was Homura that had grown and turned into a giant feather egg.
"Please tell me you are not going to be eating more? I can barely keep up with it as it is."
"Kuu-pue?" Sakura chirped, perking up at hearing 'eating more'. Homura only sighed once more, feeling herself lose years off her life every time she sighed.
'This world is going to drive off what sanity I have left by the time I can return to my own world.' She thought to herself. Shaking her head at the slightly depressing thought, she opened the stall so that Sakura could wriggle her way out of it. Turns out while most of her bulk was now indeed feathers, she still barely fit in the stall that she had slept in last night.
Homura could only watch in stunned bewilderment when Sakura finally squeezed her way out, showing just how large she had gotten.
"Please tell me you are not going to keep growing at this rate Sakura." Homura begged. Sakura only tilted her head in confusion before cheering slightly, neither confirming nor denying the accusation as far as the magical girl was concerned.
Homura could only shake her head and pray to whatever god was listening and willing to help ease her suffering. Not that she expected any help.
Taking a moment to set out the small assortment, by Sakura's standard, of food that she prepared and brought down with her, she then turned to the barely able to wait Sakura. Walking over she began to pet on the large bird who eagerly bent down to get the most attention she could while cooing happily.
"Thank you for pushing yourself so hard for Rishia, Sakura. I will cook you some more food when we all get to the field while Raphtalia helps bring Rishia up to speed."
Sakura light out a startled chirp before pouting up sadly at Homura, who had just bopped her gently yet firmly on top of her head.
"And please stop antagonizing your party members like you did last night." Giving the filolial a stern stare, Sakura finally gave a slow whine while she looked down that sounded like a chastened child's "Yes ma'am."
"Good girl. Now go enjoy your breakfast. I have to go make sure the other girls have something to eat as well." She said as she walked out of the stable, a happy chirping following her response.
P-*-*-*-H
Turns out that she needn't have worried. Rishia had gone ahead and purchased her and Raphtalia a light breakfast from the tavern itself not knowing how long she was going to be with Sakura. Deciding it wasn't a bad idea, and happy to take a break from cooking for a change, Homura followed suit.
"Are you ready for today Rishia?" Homura asked the older girl as she joined them at the table.
Rishia looked a bit blankly at the younger girl for a moment, obviously not completely awake yet. Blinking several times, the question finally processed.
"What exactly do you have planned for me today?" she asked. Homura just chuckled softly. At least it seemed like Rishia wouldn't react with panic when not completely awake. Good to know.
"I am not sure how long we will be out, but I plan to have you hunt monsters in the surrounding area with Raphtalia. I...want to make sure you get used to fighting on weaker monsters and start bringing your level up before we head out and get into more serious training." Homura answered as she started eating her own breakfast.
"I myself will be spending time with Sakura to reward her for getting us here as fast as she did. Maybe if she wants to, we will even join in and start getting some experience working together." The other girls nodded in understanding.
After eating their breakfast in relative quiet, only occasional bits of conversation happening, Homura pulled out her map, making some space on the table in front of it as she rolled it out and held the edges down with the bottom of their plates.
"So Rishia, you would have a better idea than any of us. According to Kawasumi-senpai, the next Wave is here in two weeks. In relation to that, is there anywhere that you know of with a known dense monster population, preferably around the level 30 to 40 range, that we can reliably make it to, train for a few days, and return here on time?"
Both Raphtalia and Rishia blinked in slight shock at the seemingly random question. Rishia herself also felt a small bit of panic beginning to stir, but seeing the earnest look on Homura's face and the growing excited look in Raphtalia's, she took a deep breath to steady her nerves.
Looking over the map, Rishia let her mind return to some of her lessons from her time in Faubley. After a moment of thinking, considering and discarding ideas as she ran the math of travel time using a normal filolial carriage, she finally settled on one that should work.
"Here." Rishia said, pointing to an area of the map that was only marked with symbols denoting a forest west of Melromarc and Castle Town.
"This area is part of a small country that borders Melromarc and Faubley. There used to be a dragon that lived here a few decades ago but was killed by one of its kind, but there are still a large amount of a variety of monsters present ranging from level 20 to some instances of level 60. Due to the...proclivity of dragons, most of the monsters present will be draconic in nature, even if it's diluted down to mostly their original species. If we consider Sakura's normal travel speed to be a bit higher than a normal filolial, then I think we could realistically make it in about four days each way, leaving a maximum of 6 days to train." Rishia answered.
Homura nodded along with the explanation. It made for a sound plan, but there was one statement in there that caught her attention.
"What do you mean by the 'proclivity of dragons'?" she asked curiously.
"Fue!" Rishia gave a soft squeak as she blushed deeply before looking away.
"Does Dame Akemi's world not have dragons?" she asked after a moment.
"No, in my world they are merely legends. It...may be possible that they once existed, however they are either now all extinct or only a few extremely well hidden remain if that is the case."
Hearing that answer, Rishia took another deep breath to calm herself.
"Dragons are represented as a peak of power. No one knows exactly why, but they are known to be...promiscuous in nature, widely accepted to their nature to want to dominate everything they consider 'theirs' or that challenges them. So they often...mate with everything in their territory, and as creatures that are considered extensions of the world, they are able to conceive with almost every species. The only other known example of that ability is the Legendary Heroes, who receive the blessing of the World." Rishia slowly explained.
Homura just stared at Rishia. It had been a while since something in this world frayed at her sanity, but apparently it wasn't going to end anytime soon.
Several hours later Homura was preparing the usapils that Raphtalia and Rishia had gathered, Sakura herself was currently napping after Homura had apparently petted her into submission. It turns out that Rishia had some experience with preparing and cooking animals from helping some of the villagers in her family's small village. It apparently even helped take some of the edge off of killing the animals since she wasn't completely averse to the blood.
Homura absolutely hated familiarizing these girls with killing in any capacity, but she tried to console herself with the fact that they themselves chose to do it for her. Granted it seemed as in line with the nature of this world, killing was not as abhorrent to these people as a modern person in her world.
What Homura did find very strange was that according to Rishia, her stats were barely increasing each level. In fact, despite now being level 5 and older than Raphtalia was when she first started, her highest stat was only half of what the young raccoon girl's lowest had been at level 1.
Despite that, while Homura couldn't perceive any physical differences in damage, she did notice that the occasional spell Rishia would cast was more...potent, if not necessarily stronger. It was strange to the magical girl, Rishia had the same [Spark] as Raphtalia, and Raphtalia's stats increased at a seemingly absurd rate. Was there something else going on then?
Homura sighed deeply as she started plating up everyone's meals. Why could even supposedly simple things not even be simple. When someone leveled up, their stats should likewise increase, but that wasn't happening with Rishia.
And Homura had absolutely no idea why.
Waking up Sakura so that she could eat her portion, Homura decided to shove the idea out of her mind for now. For now, as long as Rishia could provide some form of assistance to them and not get herself killed, Homura would be happy with that.
After eating, it would be time for her to start relearning how to work with a team...and teaching said team how to work as a team as well.
'I wonder if this is how Mami felt having to train a bunch of rookies at the same time…' the thought idly flashed through her mind as she set to work doing basic teamwork exercises.
P-*-*-*-H
Looking over the panting forms of her other three party members, Homura let a satisfied smile cross her face. It had been almost 6 hours since she had started running them through various drills, courses and challenges to get them to all learn how to work with each other and herself.
Then she had them all work together against her. Her reasoning had been simple, she needed to train herself as well as a Shielder unable to realistically attack, which would require a complete change in her usual methods and style.
Unlearning her previous habits was turning out to be harder than she thought. All too often she kept disengaging or knocking her opponents away so she could draw a gun or explosive, only to either be shocked or lose her advantage. Slowly but surely however, she was starting to learn how to lock enemies down and open up their guard at close range so that in later battles her partners will have openings for them to strike at.
"I think that is enough for today." Homura announced after the three girls had managed to drag themselves back their feet.
"So I think we should all head back into town for dinner. Plus I still need to stop at the [Dragon's Hourglass] in the church so that we can be sent to the Wave when it happens." She gave them an encouraging smile like Mami used to oh so long ago. "After that we can all head back to the inn and relax for the rest of the night."
All of them started cheering tiredly. They all agreed that though Homura may be a slave driver and seemed emotionless most of the time, they had all learned that she cared in her own way. She wanted them to be safe and to learn, so she was tough on them, but she didn't want to break their spirits, so she rewarded them in various ways when they did good.
Homura didn't know it yet, but already her group was the closest knit and most technically grounded party between the four heroes, and it would only continue to be.
P-*-*-*-H
Homura did her best to stifle a yawn that tried it's best to escape her. After spending quite a significant amount of energy on playing with Sakura who just never seemed to run out of energy when it came to spending time with her and helping get Rishia a grounding in the basics, waking up early like they had was one of the last things any of them wanted.
Even the determined girl Raphtalia was groggy and not completely awake yet. But Homura had decided that they had burnt enough time not preparing more for the Waves, so they had eaten and left the inn early before heading to Erhard's to pick up her first commission from him before they left.
As they approached the blacksmith's, they saw him outside the door flipping a sign on the door to "Open". Unlike the group of girls, he looked chipper and wide awake.
"Well if it isn't the Shield Lass and her lovely little friends! I'm surprised to see you all here so early in the morning." Erhard greeted; his voice still loud but noticeably toned back. Probably due to it being so early and the few patrons that were walking the street didn't look to be happy at being awake either.
"Come on in! You're lucky, I managed to finish the first of your orders last night." He explained, holding the door open for everyone but Sakura to shuffle in. Not that she didn't try, but with her thick plumage, she just couldn't get through the door. Homura sighed at the sight.
"I'm sorry Sakura, you will just have to wait outside. It should not take us long." Homura tried to explain, getting a whining sound in response. Gently, but firmly, Homura planted her hand on top of the filolial's head before pushing her out of the doorway and closing the door before she could try to get back in.
"It is good to hear that you managed to finish. I just hope it actually works." Homura responded, completely ignoring the jostling of the door, fairly confident Sakura wasn't clawing at it. The last thing she wanted was to have to pay to replace the thick and heavy door.
"Well, I can confirm that it was forged. But the stats aren't what I'd call normal for a shield, though what it has I say would make sense." Erhard explained, grabbing something behind the counter. Homura walked up to the counter as he gently and show fully laid out what looked to be some kind of bracelet.
The main centerpiece of the bracelet was the roughly 5 centimeter (2 inch) replica of the [Small Shield] that was situated in the middle of two 1 centimeter (half inch) wide leather straps that were only a few centimeters long before they terminated in a set of clasps. Nothing super ornate about it, obviously the work of one who did not make jewelry for a living.
"What do you think lass?" The blacksmith asked, making a bit of a proud pose. Homura tilted her head in response, looking at it.
"I think Raphtalia would be happy to wear it even if it doesn't work how I hope for it to." She commented, Raphtalia making a choking sound as she whirled around to look wide eyed at her.
Ignoring the raccoon girl for the time being, Homura reached out and picked up the bracelet. She waited a few seconds with bated breath, hoping her idea would work. Just as she was starting to lose hope, a pop up appeared in front of her.
{ Weapon Copy Activated! }
{ Shield Bracelet
-Abilities Locked- Equip Bonus: Agility +1, skill "Air Strike Shield" }
Smiling softly to herself, she willed her own shield to transform into the new [Shield Bracelet]. Erhard jerked for a second at the flash of light.
"I swear I'm never gonna get used to that…" he grumbled in a huff, before giving the Shield Hero a smile. "Well Shield Lass, it looks like your little idea worked."
Homura gave a slow nod, too busy looking at the new skill she just unlocked.
"Mister Erhard, would you mind if I test something out real quick? It should not cause any damage to your merchandise or anything." She asked, not wanting to be rude to the old blacksmith that's been so helpful.
"Hmm?" He looked at her curiously. "Sure, go right on ahead, as long as you're sure it ain't gonna break anything."
Stepping over to a large, more open area of the store that her gut told her would be large enough, she held out a hand in front of her.
"[Air Strike Shield]!"
With the call of her skill, a circle appeared in her vision with an icon indicating she should choose the direction and area of the skill. Focusing on the area directly in front of her hand, a large shield shape formed from what felt like magic but at the same time wasn't.
The shield itself was shaped like a Heater Shield and was formed from slightly translucent purple energy. On the face of the shield was a shape like an hourglass with wings coming from the lower half that went to the upper corners of the shield.
Tilting her head to the side as she regarded the shield skill curiously, she heard Raphtalia and Rishia make sounds of amazement. Glancing over at Erhard, she saw him withdrawing his hand from over his shoulder, almost as if he had tried to grab a weapon out of habit.
"Well," he started, quickly gathering his calm air back around him. "That's an impressive looking spell Shield Lass. How strong is it?"
"I do not know." She said honestly, looking closer at it, feeling along the power that connected her and the [Air Strike Shield] as she walked around it.
"If I had to guess, not as high as my own defense, but close. Maybe...80% or so." She answered after a moment.
Erhard finally walked up to it, one hand on his hip and the other on his chin, thinking. If Homura hadn't been paying attention, she wouldn't have seen his eyes flash.
"Well it seems I can't analyze it with [Appraisal]. So that just means I'll have to do it the old-fashioned way." He muttered. Before Homura could react to that statement, the blacksmith threw a solid punch to the dead center of the shield.
Raising her shield out of habit when she felt the resounding blow through the air, she heard a small cracking sound come from the magical shield. When Erhard pulled his fist back, she was able to see the crack that had formed underneath it from just his punch.
'Just how strong is Mister Erhard?!' Homura thought to herself. If that was what a simple punch of his could do, what would a blow with an actual weapon do?
"Not bad Shield Lass! I'd say it could withstand reliably against an armed level 40 before [Class Up], maybe even immediately after a [Class Up]." The blacksmith commented. "If that was seriously 80% of your defense before reaching level 40, then I'd say your title of [Shield Hero] is appropriate!" He laughed.
Dismissing the remains of her skill, Homura rolled her eyes. Paying for the commissioned bracelet, she gave it to Raphtalia for the minor boost in agility it provided. Promising to get Rishia something once she had a more defined style built up and confirming that her other two commissions would be done before the next Wave in two weeks, they set out from Melromarc.
P-*-*-*-H
Homura was happy when Rishia turned out to be spot on, even when Sakura had to slow down when taking the carriage down mostly wild trails to get far enough away from signs of civilization to reach a location where monsters were more common.
So four days after they had set out with one of them traversing the wild forest covered hills they reached a reasonable location to make a camp. Far enough away from the bulk of the monster activity that they didn't have to worry as much about being attacked, but close enough it wouldn't take them too long to travel.
Unhooking Sakura, Homura set about making sure the carriage was in no danger of rolling away or being otherwise damaged. Raphtalia took towards the task of setting up shelter, while Rishia gathered a small stockpile of firewood and got a small cooking fire going as the sun was beginning it's trek downwards.
The day after they first arrived was extremely lucrative as far as level and material grinding went. It was definitely a time that Homura was glad to have retained the seemingly infinite storage capacity she had enjoyed in her world, even if slightly different, otherwise they would have had to make several trips back to camp.
Rishia had been quick to pick up on how to fight the significantly higher-level monsters. But she trusted her party mates to protect and cover her. While there was of course the occasional stumble, teamwork overall rapidly improved.
They settled into a groove where Sakura and Raphtalia as the more experienced and capable fighters would lead the charge. Rishia meanwhile would stay fairly close to Homura who made sure to keep her safe while she provided cover fire in the form of spells and her chakram. Randomly, Homura would direct one of the girls at the front to switch with either her or Rishia. Letting all of them get used to fighting together in whatever position would be needed of them.
It was the next day however, when something new had happened. Something no one had been expecting.
With Rishia having reached level 28, Sakura and Raphtalia both reaching level 37, while Homura had reached level 35, Homura had allowed a slightly late start to the day as a small reward. Rishia had spent the time gathering some more firewood, humming a song to herself while Homura worked on compounding various compounds, mostly experimenting at this point.
All of a sudden, Homura heard Rishia let out a small scream of surprise followed by the sound of something falling down a hill. Rushing out from the back of the carriage, she saw Raphtalia rushing over to the area where Rishia supposedly fell from.
"Be careful Raphtalia, the last thing we want is you falling down as well." Homura barked as she made her way over. Glancing around she worked out the safest and fastest route down through the shrubbery, a good amount looking crushed. Probably from the poor green haired teen that had rolled through just a minute ago.
"Owie…" She heard Rishia whining as she neared the bottom. Brushing aside the tree branches, she heard Raphtalia and Sakura following behind her.
"Are you alri-" Homura had started to ask but stopped as soon as she saw what Rishia had stopped in front of.
It was a [Dragon's Hourglass], overgrown by obviously several decades if not more of foliage.
And it was startling close to being filled at the bottom.
With a flash of light, a beam of light from her shield collided with the Hourglass, and a new counter replaced the old one that had 7 days left.
Homura stared at the new time steadily ticking down in the corner of her vision.
[ 15 : 01 ]
[ 15 : 00 ]
[ 14 : 59 ]
If what she was told by Itsuki was correct, that meant that she was going to be teleported to a Wave in just under 15 minutes at the rate it was ticking down. She swallowed thickly at the thought.
For some reason, it felt like a lump of ice had formed in her throat and sank into her heart. For a moment, she couldn't figure out why. After all, she had fought Witches and near fearlessly entered Labyrinths.
"Mistress Homura, was that what I think it was?" Raphtalia asked, looking a bit shocked.
Turning to face the girls, she realized why she was scared. Not for herself, but for her party members, the one's trusting her to protect them. She took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down.
"Yes Raphtalia. That was my Shield linking up with this hourglass just like in Melromarc. The next Wave connected to this hourglass is in...about 13 minutes." Homura answered with a soft sigh. The rest of her party looked shocked and scared, except for Sakura who just was tilting her head to the side in confusion.
"W-what do we do now?!" Rishia squeaked fearfully, looking ready to hyperventilate.
"Take some deep breaths and prepare for combat." Homura ordered firmly, trying to make herself seem like the calm in the storm. "Sakura, I need you to quickly take Rishia and Raphtalia back up to the carriage. Girls, get equipped as fast as you can."
"Kuee!" Sakura chirped in understanding, not even giving the girls a chance to get on her before grabbing them under her wings and jumping back up the hill. Homura herself turned back to the hourglass as they screamed in surprise at their rapid ascent back up to their camp.
She didn't know why, but she felt a strong resonance with the hourglass. She wouldn't say it was stronger now than in Melromarc, but more noticeable without all the other activity of the church going on around her. Slowly she walked closer, not having been allowed to get this close to the one in the Church. As she approached, she noticed the gem on her shield seemed to glow brighter the closer she got.
'Is there more of a connection between the [Legendary Armaments] and the [Dragon Hourglasses] than anyone knows?' she thought to herself. Frowning softly to herself, she reached up and lightly tapped the glowing shield to the glass.
Homura watched transfixed as a small swirl of sand inside seemed to move toward her shield, giving off the light of an item being absorbed. She couldn't help be a bit disappointed when she didn't receive a notification of a shield being unlocked, meaning she probably was not at a high enough level yet.
'If only I had my shield. Then I wouldn't have to put the others in danger fighting.' Homura thought with a bit of spite, trying to will her old shield back for the first time in a while. She jerked slightly when a small pulse of purple colored lightning sparked from her shield, pushing it off of the hourglass, before a message popped up in her vision.
{ ERROR : Restriction Release Criteria not met. Seal on [Shield Hero]'s [Time Manipulation] maintained. Applicable armament form remains locked. }
It took a moment for the meaning behind the message to be processed, but when it did Homura couldn't keep the scowl from forming on her face. This just confirmed that something was purposely restricting her for some reason. Glaring up at the [Dragon's Hourglass], she assumed it was also somehow involved, possibly as some sort of key considering this was the first time she received a notification like that.
Scowling she turned her attention back to her new timer.
[ 05 : 10 ]
[ 05 : 09 ]
[ 05 : 08 ]
Forcing herself to take several deep breaths, she turned and began to make her way back up the hill. There would be time later to figure it out. For now, she had to ensure that her party survived the upcoming Wave.
Considering that legend states that they are meant to bring about the end of the World, the once Magical Girl was not expecting an easy time.
As she made it back up to the camp, she saw Raphtalia and Rishia both tightening up their armor. Nodding towards them she looked over to Sakura who was standing near the wagon, waiting. It was then that Homura was struck by a thought.
'Will the carriage come with us when we teleport?' Frowning in thought, she considered it.
"Sakura, come here. I do not want to lose the carriage. So we need to make sure you are wearing it." Homura ordered, heading to the front of the carriage, grabbing the harness and proceeding to loosely strap Sakura to it. Homura just hoped she was right and that as long as it was "equipped" it would be brought with them, because there was no guarantee otherwise that they would be able to find their way back to this spot after they were teleported away.
Turning around, she swept her eyes over the nervous and terrified looking girls. Drawing herself up as tall as she can, she did her best to project confidence the way Mami always used to back in those early timelines. Glancing at the timer, she saw she had a minute left.
"All three of you, listen up. I do not know what we'll encounter on the other side. Stay close, stay safe and make sure to keep an eye on each other. I will give further orders once I see the battlefield." Homura ordered, her voice firm.
She would keep her party safe. Even if she would prefer to only have to rely on herself, that was not an option in this world. These three girls trusted her to guide and protect them, and if that's what it took to return to Madoka then so be it. She would play the Hero.
Getting understanding responses from all of them she focused on the timer.
[ 00 : 03 ]
[ 00 : 02 ]
[ 00 : 01 ]
[ 00 : 00 ]
The instant the timer hit zero, an echoing boom seemed to resonate throughout the World. Before Homura and her party could process the sound, the scenery had changed around them in an instantaneous flash. The first thing that the girls processed was the deep red sky that to Homura's magical senses felt like the World itself was bleeding. Slowly, but gaining speed, cracks began to appear and grow, gaping wounds in the fabric of the World.
Once the cracks had grown large enough, what appeared to be little dots from the distance they were currently at seemed to fall from them.
"It's happening again…" she heard Raphtalia say fearfully, her voice quivering in growing panic.
"Sakura, leave the wagon, we will come back for it." Homura ordered. Whipping towards her side, facing where she noticed was roughly the center of the cracked sky, she felt a magic that was much stronger than any of the other specks that had appeared so far. If she had to give it a comparison, it was as if a Witch had suddenly appeared among her hoard of familiars. Some instinct within her said that that was their target.
"Over there. Our target just appeared in that direction, roughly in the middle. Ignore the familiars for now, only deal with the ones in our way. We have to shut down the Wave first." Homura expanded on her orders from earlier. She heard affirmations from Sakura and a hesitant one from Rishia. But there was one missing.
"Raphtalia!" She barked, turning to look at the first person she brought into her party. She scowled for a moment, then softened her face when she saw the panic and terror that had overtaken the teenage looking raccoon girl.
"Raphtalia," she said in a softer voice, lightly snapping in front of the girls' face, getting her to startle out of her oncoming panic attack. "Whatever it is, focus on the now. I promise I will protect you, but I need your help if we are going to stop this Wave."
Raphtalia seemed to latch on to those words like a lifeline, swallowing thickly as she forced her breathing back under control using the breathing exercises Homura had taught her to deal with her night terrors.
"Do-do you promise Mistress Homura…?" She muttered. Her shaking hand settled on to the hilt of her sword at her waist.
"Of course Raphtalia. Please lend me your sword, and I will lend you my Shield."
Taking one more deep breath, Raphtalia visibly forced her hand to steady and draw her sword.
"I'm ready now Mistress!" She declared. Homura frowned internally to herself, making a note to talk to Raphtalia after this was done.
P-*-*-*-H
Raphtalia forced the memories of that day down as far as she could manage.
She had known what she was getting into when she had learned that Mistress was the Shield Hero. She had known that she would have to fight in the Waves that had destroyed her home and claimed her parents.
She had thought she was ready.
But she had been wrong. She had been oh so wrong.
When Rishia had fallen and stumbled upon that [Dragon's Hourglass], she had been amazed. It wasn't until Mistress Homura's shield had linked with it that she had remembered what another hourglass would mean.
Another battle sight they would have to fight at.
That feeling had only gotten worse when they were told the next Wave was going to be in 15 minutes, instead of a week. As she had scrambled to get her armor put back on, her hands had started to shake as the memories trickled back in. Then they had been teleported and seeing those dreadful cracks once more had brought her right back to the cliff. Watching her parents be devoured by a three headed dog as she fell over the edge into the ocean below.
Then Mistress had brought her back to the here and now. Reminded her that she was not the same weak little girl that she was back then.
Now she was the Sword of the Shield Hero. She was nearing level 40, higher than most of the knights that had been posted at the late Lord Seatto's manor, and due to that high level appeared as if she were now 16. She had the companionship of Rishia and Sakura, both strong combatants in their own ways, even if Rishia was still catching up to the high standard that Mistress expected. Most importantly of all, she had Mistress Homura.
Drawing her sword, a gift from Mister Erhard, she gently buried the memories and fears from back then, just like she had buried the tattered clothing her parents had died in. She remembered the kind words of the blacksmith that he had spoken to her before they had left. She would protect and serve the young woman that saved her and was so dedicated to saving others.
Sakura took point, leading the charge as they all ran in the direction that Mistress had indicated. Nearing the edge of the mass of monsters, they finally got a good look at what was invading this region.
Looking them over, it seemed there were four different kinds of monsters, with the occasional variation. Small humanoid shaped rock golems that were roughly a meter tall, [Interdimensional Gnome]. Flying birds with a wingspan almost as wide as the gnomes were tall, their feathers shimmering green and blue as they darted around with high speed and agility, [Interdimensional Sylph]. Blue monsters that Raphtalia almost thought were some kind of fish beastman that stood a bit taller than the gnomes, but she realized that as they shimmered when they moved they were actually made of water with a glowing light where their heart would be, [Interdimensional Undine]. The final kind of monster was a large black and red lizard that brought to mind a dragon, especially with the wisps of fire coming from their bodies, [Interdimensional Salamander].
"Sakura, focus on taking out the gnomes! Raphtalia, you get the Sylphs and Undine! Rishia, the Salamanders!" Mistress ordered from behind her, in the middle of the group so that she could most reliably cover everyone when needed. "Deal with the ones in our way and the ones that try to attack us directly! Our goal is whatever monster is in charge!"
No one had a chance to respond as they were suddenly upon the monsters. Their pace slowed significantly, but Sakura made quick work of the gnomes, mainly kicking them away, trampling everything else that got in her way. In terms of sheer damage output, Raphtalia knew that Sakura was in the lead on that front.
With a few quick strokes, she brought down a large group of sylphs that all burst into swirls of winds, shimmering feathers being the only thing left. The undine on the other hand slowed and lost limbs, but they quickly grew back. Scowling at her regular attacks being ineffective, she launched a thrust at the glowing spot that was their heart. The undine stopped and suddenly collapsed into a puddle of water and a cracked stone fell to the ground. The water splashing on to a salamander, a loud hissing of steam coming from it as it cried in pain.
These creatures...they had no experience working together at all. Having been drilled repeatedly in team exercises since Sakura was large enough to fight, and doubly so after Rishia joined, even the still relatively inexperienced Raphtalia could see the lack of coordination.
The others seemed to also realize this, Sakura now doing her best to kick the gnomes into the sylphs. Rishia would also target undine near groups of salamanders.
The whole time, her Mistress seemed to flicker around them. Bolts of fire would splash off of her glowing purple barrier. Barrages of thrown boulders would be stopped bare handed and tossed to the side with her insane strength, dispersing groups of enemies, routing them into tighter clusters that they could take out quicker. When she was too far away to place herself in the line of fire, she was quick to summon her [Air Strike Shield] to protect whoever needed it.
Soon, Raphtalia began to feel a tingling in the air, a presence weighing down on them as they neared the area Mistress Homura had pointed out earlier at the beginning. Was this what her Mistress had felt and sensed so far away? She had a long way to go if she wanted to be able to keep up if that was the case.
"Prepare yourselves." Mistress called out, before suddenly dashing in front of Sakura and shoving her backwards, her [Ribbon Shield] raised and blocking what appeared to be a lance of shadows.
P-*-*-*-H
Homura winced as she blocked the surprisingly strong blow. She frowned seeing a small but noticeable dip in her health points, even though she was using her highest defense rated shield, the [Ribbon Shield R]. Sakura was a hardy bird, but even she would be hurting if that attack had hit her dead on.
Angling her shield upward, she let the attack start it's deflection before lashing out with a roundhouse kick to the center mass of the "dark fire". Feeling herself hit something, she smirked as the mass of dark fire was launched away from her, landing and rolling. As they came skidding to a stop, it was revealed to be a dark suit of armor. In one hand was a black greatsword, the sword and armor stylized with hooks and other "evil" looking embellishments. But what caught her attention the most was the blue, purple and black butterfly wings expanding from the back of the armor.
[ Interdimensional Unseelie Knight ]
'Well, that explains some things,' Homura thought to herself, both her and the knight straightening into more neutral positions. She didn't know if this was the kind of monster that inspired the legends of the Unblessed Court of Faeries in some of the western stories she had read when younger from another hero, or if it was a translation that the Shield gave to it. But in either case, the likelihood existed that this being was malevolent of humans just like in the stories.
What she knew for sure was that the Wave felt attached to this monster in a similar way that Witches did to [Labyrinths]. So a simple plan: kill this monster, stop the influx of other monsters into this world.
"Girls, keep an eye out for any openings. I will do my best to keep it engaged. It's earlier attack managed to get through my defense a bit, so do your best to not get hit." she instructed. Seeing it making a move to engage, she dashed forward without waiting for a response, readying her shield.
What ensued was a melee of a series of heavy two-handed strikes against her system of blocks and parries. For the most part, while her arm definitely felt the force, as long as she didn't try to directly stop the attacks, she didn't take any damage. Glancing around her, the girls alternated between dealing with the small fry and trying to find an opportunity to attack the knight.
Getting an idea, she had to time this perfectly. Not that strike, not that one either. One strike after another, she tried to guide the knight into executing the kind of blow she wanted.
Finally she saw the knight raise it's sword high above it's head and give a mighty roar as it brought it down. Holding her shield at the ready, she waited until she began to feel the force of the impact before slipping off to the side, letting the knight drive it's sword deep into the ground.
"Raphtalia!" she yelled at the top of her voice, drawing her Sword's attention. Hearing this, the Unseelie tried to retreat, but Homura had expected that.
"[ Bind ]!"
With a flash from her shield, 3 rings appeared around the knight and locked it's armor rigidly in place. Raphtalia was right behind the rings in contacting the knight.
In a move they had practiced for scenarios just like this, Raphtalia drove her sword into the gap of armor at its throat. Sakura followed behind at seeing an opening and began to pummel into the knight with a series of kicks. Rishia was slower to respond, but seeing it beginning to move, she launched her chakram straight into the sword that was held in a loosened grip, both weapons clattering to the ground.
With blood dripping from it's now dented armor and it's weapon gone, Raphtalia and Sakura managed to take over. Alternating blows, the two fell into a rhythm of teamwork, Rishia and Homura interjecting occasionally when it looked like a blow would land, whether from the knight or one of the monsters around them.
Finally, several minutes later, the knight finally fell to the ground. The notification pop up of a frankly ridiculous amount of experience points informed them that it was definitely dead. Homura let out a small breath that she had been holding.
But then she realized something. Turning her eyes skyward, she noticed that while they had stopped spewing monsters, the cracks had remained in the sky.
All of a sudden, her instincts screamed at her.
Turning to the side, she crouched and raised her shield to block the heavy impact that would have cracked her skull wide open. A loud ringing like a bell being struck rang out from her shield as she was forced to take a knee, a significant portion of her health dropping as it felt like the bones in her left arm had fractured from the blow.
"Oho, you managed to block that? Not bad for such a weak Hero!" she heard a savage male's voice taunt her.
"Get away from Mistress!" Raphtalia roared, dashing at and striking at the mysterious foe who was quick to leap away.
As the immense pressure on her shield was relieved, Homura was quick to stand back up and move her shield from her most likely broken left arm to her still good right. To each side, Raphtalia and Sakura stood slightly in front of her. Raphtalia stood with her sword at the ready, while Sakura was puffed up angrily, wind magic that Homura had never seen her use before whipping around her. Homura took the chance to look over who attacked her, while she felt Rishia get behind them while drawing on a significant amount of magic.
The man looked to be in his late teens or early twenties, with shaggy black hair and savage looking brown eyes with an equally savage smirk on his face. He was wearing what looked to be a purple shirt with black pants and jacket.
"Well well, why is it that your companions are stronger than you are Miss Hero?" he crowed tauntingly, lazilly twirling the tonfas in his hands. What drew Homura's eyes was the jewel that was embedded on the bottom of each handle. They gave off the same kind of feeling as the [Legendary Armaments], just...not as powerful?
"Man, if the other heroes of this World are this weak, this will be a cake walk." Homura raised her shield, preparing to block another blow as the mysterious tonfa user made a move to attack.
"You will not harm the Shield Hero." An almost emotionless voice spoke, but Homura could hear the lingering anger in the voice. Suddenly, in what Homura could tell was a burst of pure speed, what appeared to be a small girl appeared in front of her. But Homura knew that with the sheer amount of power the being in front of her exuded, it was no little girl.
"Wha-?" He started to ask, but the white-haired girl gave an almost negligent wave of her hand. A mighty gust of magic crashed into the tonfa user, sending him flying into the hoard of remaining enemies from the Wave.
Before Homura could ask any questions, the small girl clicked her teeth as a flash of light came from where the man had landed. Immediately afterwards, the cracks that had filled the sky began to fade and the sky returned to its usual blue.
The entire party of the Shield Hero let out a sigh of relief at the sight.
Homura looked around curiously when suddenly a huge herd of filolial began to rush out of the surrounding forest and begin to take out the remaining monsters from the Wave.
"It is a pleasure to meet you Shield Hero." the white-haired girl said as she approached, her white dress skimming just above the ground.
"My name is Fitoria."
A/N: I want to apologize about the fact this is a month later than I had originally planned on releasing this chapter, but it turns out the writing original content is hard. But it's done and holy cow is it a beast.
11.5K words
Definitely my longest yet. The next several chapters should be easier to write since they'll follow much more closely to canon than the last several chapters have. Hopefully, though I doubt, I'll be close to done with season 1 anime content around the time season 2 starts to air. We'll have to see!
I also want to send a big thanks to Orajje for betaing this chapter for me! Make sure to check him out on AO3!