Chapter 13
The Wave of Toxins
Ren did his best to not scowl or fidget with his sword as he made his way towards Homura's inn. Despite the cool and aloof persona he tried to portray to the world, especially here in this other world, he was a socially awkward train wreck.
And he knew it.
So having such an extremely pretty girl near his age like Homura asking to meet him at her place sent his anxiety through the roof. Even though he knew intellectually that most likely none of the scenarios his traitorous brain kept conjuring up would happen, his internal panic continued to slowly rise.
Shaking his head roughly to try and head off the progressively worsening thoughts, he tried to shift his train of thought on to a similar yet different topic. Primarily how exactly Homura had done so seemingly well and her party mates' strange Class Ups.
Frowning, that last thought in particular stuck out to him. It was well established in Brave Star Online that the highest modifier a follower can have for their primary stats receiving a Class Up was 1.5x, and even those were rare. The average modifier is what most of his own followers received: 1.3x. Yet Xanthar had received a Class Up closer to what Homura's party members had: 1.8x in comparison to their 2x.
Was there some kind of hidden or unknown stat that even the most knowledgeable players didn't know about? It was possible, he mused. Brave Star Online was a VRMMO, traditional data mining would take an absurd amount of time even if it were possible. As much as a jealous part of him wanted to complain that it wasn't fair, it was entirely possible that Homura had just gotten lucky.
Xanthar had always been what he would consider the most useful of his party members whenever he would meet up with them for larger monsters like the Eastern Mountain Dragon. From what he observed, he would be the voice of the party and keep them on track to his directions. Plus with his versatile magical ability in place as a rearguard and support, it helped everyone significantly.
Taleen had been the only member of his party to receive the 1.5x bonus and tended to locate herself as Xanthar's direct melee support with her martial arts. She was also typically placed in what Ren would simply call Second-in-Command, if Xanthar could be considered the Field Leader and himself as the Commander.
So maybe natural ability and reliability were good indicators of this hidden stat being portrayed? But then there was the fact that Homura's pinked haired and winged companion's ahoge had glowed each time the 1.5x modifier had been broken. Was it possibly one of those impossibly rare items that allowed for unique Class Ups? It was possible if she were some rare species that Homura had managed to tame.
All things he would just have to keep in mind whenever he decides it worth it to attempt to reroll on followers. He would probably keep Xanthar and Taleen in charge, but Hagan and Gunther would definitely be replaced somewhere down the line. Maybe even add in a fifth person to fill up his party if he could find someone up to his standards.
Looking up across the road, he saw Motoyasu's stupid face with an ear-to-ear grin waving at him from outside the inn. While Motoyasu wasn't the worst person ever, he was entirely too outgoing and too much of a playboy for Ren's taste.
Sighing deeply to himself as he shored up his mental energy for what was no doubt going to be a draining interaction.
"Hey Ren! Glad to see you could finally make it." Motoyasu hollered as he got close enough. Ignoring the looks he got with what either natural obliviousness or sheer experience, he made his way through the small crowd.
"We never agreed on a time to meet besides 'Dinner' and I had a few things I needed to do." Ren responded a bit defensively. Motoyasu responded by slinging his arm over Ren's shoulder and waving the head of his spear around slightly in the air.
"Details, details man. Even someone as young as you should know you never keep a woman waiting!"
Ren answered by driving his elbow into the taller and older man's solar plexus.
"Don't touch me so familiarly." Ren sniffed, walking into the inn as he left the Spear Hero doubled over and trying to catch his breath. He didn't need the playboy to drag him back down into the downward spiral of hormonal thoughts. The memories of the "trial" did that enough.
Sweeping his eyes over everyone in the tavern, he found Homura pretty quickly. She was sitting a small way away from everyone in a corner, a half drank glass in front of her, and 3 more full ones around the table filled with small amounts of ice and a partially transparent pink liquid, garnished with a slice of what looked like a bright red lemon.
What was a bit eerie though was that she was looking straight into his eyes as soon as he walked in. Almost as if she had known exactly when and where he was going to enter. He watched her eyes dart slightly over and up right before Motoyasu opened the door.
'Is she able to sense up somehow?' Ren thought to himself.
"That was totally not a cool move Ren." Grouched Motoyasu from behind him. Ren used almost every drop of his willpower to not knock the wind out of him again, instead walking over to Homura's table.
"We don't want to keep the lady waiting, do we Motoyasu?" Ren tossed tauntingly over his shoulder. Hearing more than seeing Motoyasu sputter at having his previous words thrown back at him, he smirked internally at himself at his victory.
Doing his best to keep his face cool and relaxed, he took one of the vacant seats that had an untouched beverage in front of it. Picking it up, he looked it over, trying to identify what it was.
"It is a fruit juice from this world, Rishia called it rumrine. I would describe it as a mildly spicy lemonade." Homura answered his unasked question.
Raising his eyebrow at the explanation, he figured it was worth a shot. It had a pleasantly sweet and sour taste like a good lemonade did at first, but left a burn very similar to a mild pepper on his tongue as an aftertaste. Not something he saw himself drinking regularly, but overall not terrible.
Motoyasu grimaced slightly as he looked down at his drink, overhearing Homura's explanation. Taking a tiny sip of it had him gagging pretty much as soon as he swallowed.
"It's very good," he did his best to choke out while giving a shaky thumbs up. Homura just sighed in obvious frustration.
"Kitamura-senpai, if you do not like that then feel free to order something else. I had no idea what to expect when I ordered it other than I wanted to try something exclusively from this world. You do not have to feel obligated to drink it." Homura explained while giving him a look.
"Ah, but that would be utterly rude of me to turn down something from a pretty young girl like you!" Motoyasu exclaimed before taking a deep breath and chugging the beverage as fast as possible.
Ren and Homura could only stare at him like the idiot he was as he proceeded to gag even worse and not at all subtly fan at his mouth while panting. Homura realized what was going on first.
"You should have just told me that you do not do spicy food." She sighed in annoyance before waving over a waitress. Ordering him a sweet juice of some kind, she turned her attention back to them.
"I take it that neither of you ran into Kawasumi-senpai?" Homura asked while she looked at the fourth seat that was currently unoccupied.
"I don't even know if Itsuki is in town right now." Ren answered, shaking his head in the negative. Motoyasu gave a similar response.
'I thought she had some kind of tracking ability just a minute ago...unless there's a range? I guess that would make sense.' Ren thought to himself. Taking a drink from his rumrine, he decided that he really wasn't in the mood to drag out this little meeting.
"If you don't mind Homura, why did you want to see us? There's still some things I need to do to prepare for the Wave tomorrow."
Turning to look him in the eyes for a moment, he watched her eyes go unfocused in that way that he knew from experience was someone interacting with their menu. Suddenly two large leather bags appeared beside the table next to her. Ren couldn't stop his nose from wrinkling when the rather pungent odor hit him quickly.
"I thought it would be a good thing for us all to share materials that we had collected and could spare to help each other out." Homura explained. Both Ren and Motoyasu just looked at her strangely.
"Why would we do that?" Motoyasu was the one to ask. "It's only worth gaining a few certain really strong weapons."
Homura just looked at him like he was the crazy one. Did she know something that neither of them knew?
"How many weapon forms do you each have fully unlocked?" She finally asked.
Ren raised his eyebrow. While that was something he'd normally keep to himself, he was curious about where she was going with this. So he decided to pull up with [Weapon Book] and share the number.
"36."
"28." Motoyasu gave his count next.
Homura just looked shocked and slightly pained.
"Why so few? You should be getting at least about three or more different forms from most monsters, possibly more since you two have actual weapons unlike me. While the bonuses are small they add up into a substantial boost." Homura gave her explanation.
Now it was their turn to look shocked.
"At least three forms? What do you mean? All I ever get is the form from that monster when I absorb it unless it's a large monster that exceeds the Weapon's absorption limit." Ren enquired intensely. If he was missing out on a major piece of information like that…
Homura looked at him like he was the idiot and not Motoyasu.
"Why would the [Holy Armaments] only apply that logic to large monsters and not the smaller ones? Skin, scales, meat, bones, sometimes teeth and claws, hell even eggs and feathers, they can all potentially unlock weapon forms. Even some other pieces can provide forms, but it's not common." Homura explained, obviously a bit annoyed that Ren hadn't figured that out for himself.
Ren frowned as he thought about it. It really did make sense, but then that just raised another question.
"And how do you get all those forms? Your shield should prevent you from using anything else." Ren asked.
Homura reached down to her side and proceeded to set a knife on the table. Curious, he reached out and grabbed it, wondering if there was anything special about it.
{ Weapon Copy Activated! }
{ Hunting Knife conditions met! }
{ Hunting Knife
Slicing DMG: light, Piercing DMG: very light
-Abilities Locked- Equip Abilities: Agility +2, "Butcher" +1, "Tracking" +1
Mastery: 0 }
"Ah, so it does not have to be a sword in the strictest sense for you to copy it." Homura mused, seeing the faint glow from his sword that gave away [Weapon Copy]. "Perhaps just 'a short range bladed weapon'?
"But to answer your question, I am allowed to use weapons as tools. As long as it is no longer alive to provide experience, or possess health points to damage, then I am generally clear to use them." Homura continued after shaking her head slightly to get back on track.
Ren nodded in understanding, handing her the knife back. It did make sense, after all the stipulation was that they could only use their assigned weapons for combat. It was an interesting loophole he had honestly never even thought of.
Hoping they believed her now, she slid a bag a piece to each of them.
"This is not everything I was hoping to share from what I gathered. But apparently some of the higher quality materials are actually consumed by the weapon to unlock the weapon form." Homura explained.
"However Ren, knowing that you can copy anything that can be classified as a [Sword] in a sense, I do have something you can copy." That statement cut him short from opening the bag that he was about to loosely sort through before absorbing.
Watching her place her hand in front of the jewel on her shield, a bright light appeared before what she was withdrawing could be seen.
It was a massive greatsword, the metal a deep black and gleaming eerily in the flickering firelight. The flamberge-like wave that ran the length of the blade with a wide fuller down the center, and the winged skull motif on the guard gave it a very sinister appearance.
"This was the weapon used by the Wave Boss I fought in the Western Dragon Territory a week ago. I obviously can not use it and it does not match Raphtalia's fighting style. However, I had hoped you could copy it before I had it melted down into material."
Homura's explanation just raised even more questions. Something he was honestly becoming used to the more time he spent around her unfortunately. Deciding to push them off for now, he reached out and grabbed the blade.
Only to almost immediately fall to the ground at the sheer weight of it when she let go. Just how high was her strength stat?!
But before that tirade could build in his mind, the pop-up that came up cut it off pretty quickly.
{ Weapon Copy activated! }
{ Dark Fae Knight Greatsword conditions met! }
{ Dark Fae Knight Greatsword
Slashing DMG: Very High, Stabbing DMG: High
-Abilities Locked- Equip Abilities: Attack Up(medium), Magic Attack Up(medium), Dark Element Damage Up(medium), skill "Void Slash"
Equip Effects: Agility -15, passive skill "Intimidate"
Mastery: 0 }
The stats and skills on this sword were insane! Insane enough he had no trouble believing that it was used by a Boss-Class monster.
"Wait! You mean to tell me you fought in a Wave and that was used by the Boss?" Motoyasu exclaimed, slamming his hands on the table as he stood. Homura looked up into his eyes, face still relatively expressionless.
"Yes. My teammate tripped and fell down a hill while we were setting up camp, landing at the base of an overgrown Dragon's Hourglass. After syncing with it, we only had a short time before we were transported to the site of the Wave." Pursing her lips here, she paused. To Ren it appeared almost as if she didn't want to say what she was about to say.
"After we defeated the boss, I was attacked by a strange man wielding tonfa that felt and appeared similar to our weapons. I barely managed to survive blocking his attack at the sacrifice of having my arm broken through my shield. Had Fitoria not shown up when she did, I would have died without a doubt."
Motoyasu's eyes grew wide at this admittance while Ren narrowed his own eyes. Looking her over, she looked surprisingly healthy for someone that almost died and had her arm broken a mere week ago.
"Who's this Fitoria you mentioned? And how did you fix your arm so quickly if it had been broken?" He asked.
"Fitoria is a terrifyingly powerful monster known as the [Queen of FIlolials]. She saved me for the simple fact that I am the [Shield Hero]. She is also the one that fixed my arm. I paid her back by cooking her and her flock a massive meal." Homura explained, idly rubbing her arm where one would normally wear a shield since he could see her Legendary Shield on her back.
"I believe she is also responsible for what happened at the Church earlier."
Ren looked at her, trying to see if he could spot any signs of her lying. Meanwhile Motoyasu was just gaping at her like a fish. If the title and what Homura had said was true, this "Fitoria" would possibly be able to provide one of those kinds of super rare items he had heard of in his game. But he thought it would've been a one use item...unless…
The little pink haired girl. Homura had mentioned in passing that she was actually a filolial. Perhaps the [Queen of Filolials] had given her a blessing of some sort? The ahoge, maybe? It had glowed each time the strange Class Up happened.
"Fitoria also gave me a warning, and threatened me to make sure I shared it. Kitamura-senpai, Ren-senpai, she told me to tell you and the others that 'the Heroes must work together. If even one were to fall, surviving the Waves would become next to impossible.' She said…" Here, Homura took a deep breath, the very subtle shaking in her body the only sign that gave away her fear.
"She said that if we did not cooperate she would kill us all herself and summon a new group of Heroes."
P-*-*-*-H
Homura looked over Ren and Motoyasu, trying to get the memory of that terrifying amount of power out of her mind. She hated how weak she felt even as the minor tremors shook her body while she did her best to fight them down.
The two older heroes stared at her for a while longer as she got herself back under control. Ren was the first to sigh and stand up, much more calmly than Motoyasu had. Silently he absorbed the bag of materials, his eyes momentarily going wide as he was no doubt barraged by notifications. After a moment, he made an obviously dismissive gesture to get rid of all the pop ups.
"Thanks for the heads up and all the weapons Homura. I'll see about getting you what I can after the Wave." Turning and walking away, he stopped as if he had just thought of something. "Good luck." He finally said awkwardly before leaving.
Blinking several times, the blonde hero finally seemed to process that Ren had just left, and a quick glance out the windows showed just how dark it was outside. Deciding to follow the same boat Ren just took, Motoyasu absorbed his bag, letting out an impressed whistle at the sheer amount of pop ups he got.
"Like Ren said, thanks for everything Homura. However, unlike Ren, Big Brother Motoyasu has something to pay you back with right now!" Holding his spear out over the table, Homura watched his eyes go unfocused as he was selecting some items in his menu. With a bright glow, several ores and crystals appeared on the table.
"I happen to have a few ores useful for upgrading left. Since you gave me so many new forms, I can let you have these in exchange to perform some [Smelting]." he said with a big grin.
"[Smelting]?" Homura asked, tilting her head to the side slightly as she looked up from the ores.
"What?" Motoyasu gasped. "You fought a Wave without having any of your items [Smelted]?!"
"Is that a kind of weapon upgrade like [Mastery]?" Homura asked, figuring that's what he was talking about from how it was worded.
"That's right! While [Weapon Mastery] will cause the stats of your more familiar weapons to increase, [Smelting] allows you to use certain ores and items, depending on the weapon, to increase it's power. Theoretically, you can [Smelt] an weapon endlessly, but each level higher you go, there's a chance of failure and if you fail the [Smelting] level is reset back to zero." Motoyasu explained.
Homura blinked in slight confusion. It sounded similar to increasing a weapon's [Rarity], but using items instead of proficiency points. Checking the alerts in her [Help Menu], she was shocked to see two new entries instead of just one. It turns out that [Mastery] and [Weapon Mastery], while following similar principles, were entirely different methods.
'Do each of the weapons have a unique upgrade method? Maybe they have unique methods to start with until they are shared? Is this what Fitoria was talking about by "we need to work together"?' These questions and more started filling her mind. Pulling herself away from those thoughts, Homura decided to see if there was more.
"Is there anything else I can do with these items, Kitamura-senpai?" she asked.
"Well, if you don't know, there's also [Spirit Enchantment] and [Status Enchantment]. Each one consumes monster items specifically to do two different things. [Spirit Enchantment] adds a unique special effect to a weapon, like bonus damage against a specific kind of enemy. [Status Enchantment] on the other hand consumes the parts to provide an increase to a random stat, likely in your case more defense."
Verifying the two new methods appearing in her [Help Menu], Homura thought over just how much she could abuse these new upgrade methods. And if she was correct on her theory, she had to go digging through her menu to see what the Shield's methods were. Then she had to figure out some way to get Itsuki to share the Bow's along with getting everyone else to do the same.
She knew honestly it was all going to be easier said than done. Especially with her normal luck.
Standing up, she decided it was time for her to return to the girls and get some rest for the night. Giving Motoyasu a bow, she pulled out one more bag of materials before saying her final words to him for the night.
"Thank you very much Kitamura-senpai. This will help me and my party out immensely in the near future. I hope you and your teammates get some rest for the Wave tomorrow. If you run into Kawasumi-senpai, please give this to him and explain why if he asks." After getting a similar farewell from him while he took the bag while making a face of disgust, she made her way upstairs, exhausted from interacting with so many people for so long.
P-*-*-*-H
Homura glanced over at the counter in the corner of her vision as she woke up.
[ 5 : 58 ]
Just under 6 hours until the Wave. Yawning tiredly, she worked her way out of bed so she could do some wake up stretches. She had stayed up later than she originally planned to going over everything she had, and especially experimenting with the newly learned upgrade methods. While she had failed to find her personal upgrade methods for some reason, she had much more success applying the Spear's upgrade methods.
It took a significant amount of will, but she managed to keep herself from going too deep on too many upgrades. Her logic was simple, she knew from Sayaka and Kyoko that items gotten later were always better than items gotten early. The reason for that was equally simple, levels. Higher levels meant stronger monsters which meant better gear. A very simple chain.
To this end she first began with practicing with her [Ribbon Shield] as had become her tradition. So now after last night it had grown quite a bit.
{ Ribbon Shield (awakened) +2 SR
-Abilities Unlocked- Equip Bonus: Defense Up(small), skill "Bind"
Equip Effect: Magic Defense Up(small), Magic Resist Up(medium), Agility Up(small)
Status Enchantment: Magic Defense +5%}
It was frankly absurd just how much even one shield could be improved with what to her felt like a small amount of materials. While she wouldn't say it was going to be her go to shield any longer after the shields she received from the Wave, it was still going to be a potent arrow in her metaphorical quiver. No, her primary weapon form going forward until something better came along was without a doubt going to be the Dark Fae Wing Shield.
{ Dark Fae Wing Shield (awakened) +2 R
-Abilities Unlocked- Equip Bonus: Agility Up(medium), Wind Resist(small)
Equip Effects: C Void Wing, Wind Defense(small), Party Synergy Up(very small)
Status Enchantment: Charm Resist +7%}
The stats on the original shield were nothing to scoff at, and now they were near double what her other shields were. Even some of the ones that had been upgraded, and that wasn't getting into the effects she had on it. She had a feeling that, while it would not have been an easy fight, she would have fared better against that tonfa user. As it was, if the next Wave was similar in strength to the one she dealt with, then she was much more confident in dealing with it.
Getting out of bed, she set about waking up her party so that they could all get ready. After a quick breakfast, not wanting to be bogged down by a heavy meal in the upcoming better, the girls made sure they had everything secured before heading out to Erhard's.
"Welcome back ladies!" Erhard called jovially from behind his counter when they walked in.
"Good morning Mister Erhard." Raphtalia and Rishia greeted with a small bow. Homura nodded in greeting as she was already corralling Sakura away from the shiny and breakable bits of equipment that was on display.
"I take it y'all are here to pick up the old armor? The Wave is later today if I remember correctly." Getting nods of affirmation all around, she nodded in return before stepping back into his back workshop. Returning shortly after with 2 mostly familiar looking sets of armor, he laid them out on the counter.
"You guys gave me so much good quality materials yesterday that I decided to do some small upgrades, free of charge, just for you lovely ladies. For Raphtalia, I imbued an Undine Core into the chestplate and repaired the padding with some of the Salamander Leather. It was hella finicky getting those two components to work together, but I think since the core was slightly damaged in comparison, I got them to behave eventually. So now you have some slightly increased stats on the armor along with a healthy dose of some small resistances." Erhard explained, showing some of the upgrades to the raccoon girl who's eyes seemed to be sparkling.
"Then for Rishia, I found out with some experimenting that the Gnome Remains could be smelted down into a decent metal, about on par with magic iron. So I went ahead and added a few small plates to the important places since you were working with just a leather plate. I also added the Sylph Feathers as padding and that ended up imparting an effect that acts like Air Wake while also increasing your accuracy and wind resistance by a fair margin." Showing them the upgrades as he explained them, he also reached down and pulled out a familiar but also upgraded chakram.
"I also added some of the feathers into the lining of your chakram when I repaired it. These feathers are gonna be a godsend for any range users it seems like. Too bad I don't think you're ever gonna bring me anymore, being from a wave monster and all." The blacksmith joked, even though Homura could tell he was being serious.
It almost made her regret using some of the ones she kept in her shield as upgrade materials in her experimenting.
Almost.
Watching the girls equip their armor, Homura also noticed that it all seemed to fit much better than previously. Shooting a glance towards the blacksmith, she wondered if he had improved the fit from their measurements for the custom armor she commissioned, all without her asking or him charging.
The smirk he returned told her, yes, yes he did.
Walking over to the girls as they turned this way and that way, admiring their new looks and testing their range of motion, she couldn't help but smile.
"Wow, big sis Raph and big sis Rishia look so cool in their new clothes!" Sakura cheered, running around with all the energy of a child as she poked at them.
"Of course they do! I made them after all!" Erhard laughed boisterously, his massive hands planted on his hips.
"I bet even after their Class Ups that this armor will without a doubt be able to withstand anything they can throw at it for the next month." He declared.
'A high boast', Homura thought, knowing that Class Upped individuals normally required very specially crafted equipment to be able to withstand their increased stats and the stats of monsters that they normally had to deal with. But she knew that with Erhard, it was probably true...as long as it wasn't for much longer than the month she gave him.
Suddenly remembering one of her other reasons for returning, she made her way to the counter.
"Before I forget, you can have the sword I saved for Amaki-senpai to copy. Hopefully you can get some more useful materials out of it." Removing the Dark Fae Knight Greatsword from her shield and setting it on the table, Erhard gave an impressed whistle as he looked it over.
Picking it up with about the same amount of ease that she did, he turned it over as his eyes glowed faintly. Was that what the [Appraisal] skill looked like in use?
"Well well, ain't this an impressive sword? I'm not normally one for greatswords myself, but they can be absolutely devastating in the right hands. Even if that scrawny Sword Boy doesn't use it, I imagine that it gave him some impressive stats and powers considering some of the stuff I've seen from your shield, lass."
Bringing it closer, he gave the hilt and guard a very scrutinizing look while he muttered to himself.
"A magic core in the guard? Gonna need to make sure to remove that. I can probably save the wrapping for Raphtalia's sword since it looks like some high quality leather. I wonder if I can extract a higher quality metal from this sword over that armor? Hmm…" Carefully setting the sword back on his counter, he gave Homura a nod.
"I think I can get some really good stuff from this sword. Hopefully ya get some more interesting stuff today!"
Homura nodded in agreement before setting a handful of silver on to the counter and turning away and addressing her party before the blacksmith could say anything.
"Alright. Raphtalia, Rishia, we are going out into the field so you two can start getting used to your upgraded equipment before the Wave. Do not push yourself, save your energy for this afternoon." Getting nods of understanding from everyone, Homura swept out the door of the shop, her cloak billowing behind her.
She knew her party was going to be right behind her.
P-*-*-*-H
After a couple of hours in the field, they returned to town to have one last small meal.
"Momma, do we have to leave Sakura's carriage?" Sakura whined as they secured the carriage at the inn they had stayed at.
"Yes Sakura. We had no way to know how to return to the Dragon's Hourglass last time, so I had you bring it. However, since this Wave will occur within Melromarc, we know how to return to this inn to retrieve it. Even if it takes a few days at worst." Homura explained.
Sakura looked down sadly, even as she nodded in understanding. Patting her hair a couple of times, Homura turned around and looked over at everyone.
"Ten minutes left. Is everyone ready? Potions on hand in case of an emergency? Any last second adjustments anyone needs?" the magical girl asked.
"No Mistress."
"No Dame."
"Sakura's ready to play momma!"
"Alright. As soon as we teleport, be ready for my instructions. We have no idea where exactly we will appear. Got it?"
With a final nod of understanding, she turned around to look out over the forest. She could sense that the three boys had all gathered in what she thought of as the town center. Meanwhile her party stayed near the gates.
It was a bit different. The suspense that built up watching a timer until a major conflict instead of the usual falling into major combat she had spent years experiencing.
Finally…
{ 0 : 02 }
{ 0 : 01 }
{ 0 : 00 }
With a loud bell shattering sound and a bright flash of light, she and the girls were teleported to the site of their second Wave.
P-*-*-*-H
As the light faded, and Homura blinked the spots from her vision, she watched as the other Heroes and their parties all dashed off towards where she sensed the Boss.
"Hurry up little Homura! Don't want you to miss out on the action!" Motoyasu called out behind him even as he ran.
Before she could respond, Raphtalia let out a loud gasp. Pointing out from the top of the hill, she pointed out something in the distance.
"Mistress, look! That's Riyute Village!"
Pursing her lips, Homura quickly tried to figure out exactly where they were even as she processed that the other Heroes were completely ignoring the village.
"Fueh! Are they just going to ignore the village? We're over almost an hour away from the castle, even for the Dragon Knights." Rishia asked in a panic.
Almost in response to her question, a flare launched up from the direction of the other heroes. From the feel of the magic, Homura deduced it was Itsuki using a skill.
"We are too far to wait for the knights to arrive. While I am sure the other heroes can handle it, we will split up. Rishia, you will come with me to Riyute. Raphtalia, Sakura, you two will go help clear monsters and help with the Boss if possible."
"Yes Mistress!" Raphtalia shouted her understanding. Without prompting, Sakura turned into her Queen form, her dress turning into a green bow around her neck. As soon as Raphtalia was on her back, Sakura took off running in the direction everyone else had gone.
"Hold on tight Rishia." Homura instructed.
"What do you mean Dame-!" Rishia started before getting cut off sharply as Homura picked her up bridal style before jumping down the hill.
"FUEH!" Rishia yelled as they slid down rapidly, clinging tightly to the Shield Hero while covering her face with Homura's breastplate.
Setting the green haired girl down when they reached the bottom of the hill, Homura was quick to throw up her shield to block the charge of a giant bee type monster.
[Interdimensional Bee]
Bashing it away with a solid swing, her eyes swept around, taking in the monsters around her. They were surrounded mostly by Interdimensional Bees and Locusts, but in the distance she saw...were those Zombies? What definitely looked like zombies shambling at a pretty solid pace towards the village.
"Rishia!" she barked out, her mind settling into her battle mindset once again, trying to bring her companions focus back to the battle. "Take these things out! We need to get to the village to handle those zombies."
"Fueh! Yes Dame!" shaking her head to try and get her focus back, Rishia lashed out with her chakram at the closest insects, severing most of them in half with a single swing. That just proved Homura's thoughts that these monsters were fairly weak since for some reason Rishia's attack stat was not much higher than Raphtalia's had been when she was level 10, and since Rishia was close to level 40 it was certainly odd.
The issue was the sheer amount of monsters. The inclusion of locusts brought to mind images of one of the Christian Plagues that she vaguely remembered learning about during her time in Christian School when she was younger.
"Focus primarily on those in our way or attacking civilians. We will escort everyone we can to the cleared out mine." Giving her instructions, she ran forward, trusting the nervous green haired girl to follow behind her.
The flying chakram that sailed out in front of her and the footsteps she heard behind her confirmed her beliefs.
Quickly approaching the gate to Riyute, Homura saw that she was correct in her assumption that the primary enemies were Interdimensional Zombies. Rotting flesh in various amounts, dead gray skin, tattered clothing and anything else that anyone would associate with zombies. Blocking some attacks from ones wielding rudimentary weapons such as axes lowered some of her reserves as she barely felt the attacks. It seemed that while being stronger than the insects, their primary danger factor was the sheer amount of them.
"Fueh!" Rishia made a small sound of distress when they first encountered them, her face paling and turning green at both the sight and smell. Hesitating for a moment she attacked the closest one that had started to attack her. Watching for a moment, Homura frowned at seeing that it took several blows from Rishia before it finally fell.
Maybe she should have sent Rishia instead of Rapthalia to help Sakura and the other heroes?
Shaking her head, she dismissed that thought. Even though Rishia did not have a damage output anywhere near the other girls in the party, she already knew that. It's not why she brought her with her to help evacuate.
"He-help!"
A scream interrupted her thoughts. Turning her attention she saw a man being chased by several zombies.
"[Air Strike Shield]!"
Summoning the ethereal purple shield in between the man and the zombies right as one of them lunged to attack, she was about to move to grab the man when Rishia's chakram flew out and cut off the attacking zombie's hand. Forcing herself to not get distracted, she charged forward and bashed another out of the way even as another was cut by the chakram returning to Rishia while humming with a faint magic.
"Quick, get to the mine! Make sure to tell everyone you pass to do the same, we will cover your escape." Blocking another strike from a locust that was swiftly felled by Rishia, she looked down to see the man frantically nod before scrambling away towards the mine.
Locking down the attacking group of insects and zombies with various blocks, she did her best to redirect what attacks she could into other monsters, hoping to reduce the amount of work Rishia had to do. But even dealing with that small group took longer than she liked.
"Someone...please help…"
Barely hearing the faint plea over the drone of insect wings and groans of zombies, Homura turned towards a collapsed building that looked like a small house.
Just in time to see a zombie bring a club down on to a woman's head before she could even think to react.
Letting out a primal scream, Homura charged and smashed the zombies face into the remains of a wall before knocking it towards Rishia. Looking down at the woman, she realized that she was too late. The blow from the zombie was more than enough to cave in her skull and kill the trapped woman. A glance into the house made her wish she hadn't. It was hard to see through the darkness and with the blood everywhere, but she could see what looked like 2 children crushed beneath the remains of the house.
Her blood and face had gone cold. This wasn't the first time she had been exposed to such sights in her many repetitions. She had seen her friends killed in possibly far more gruesome ways, and had failed to save others from Witches many times over when she had to prioritize protecting Madoka.
But this failure was different.
She could have saved the woman at least had she just not wasted time with the monsters right in front of her. Could have possibly have saved the children if she had just been faster at getting to the village than the monsters.
She was supposed to be a Hero, and not just any hero.
The Shield Hero. The Hero Who Protects and Nurtures.
And this was all she was good for?
"Rishia." Her voice came out, sounding hollow even to her own ears.
"Ignore the monsters. Split up and evacuate everyone you can find. We must keep the casualties down."
Getting a slow, hesitant nod as Rishia stared down at the dead woman, her body trembling, Homura dashed off. As much as she wanted to comfort Rishia, she refused to let anyone else die pointlessly if she could help it.
What followed was a frantic 30 minutes of running around, drawing monsters away from as many civilians as she could find, pulling people out from under rubble and collapsed buildings as quickly as she was able and getting them to flee towards the mine. She was thankful when she saw Rishia keeping the path as clear as possible while saving others.
But even still it wasn't enough.
She found members of the small town guard, dead but surrounded by large amounts of monsters, having fought to the bitter end. Still more she found a few more civilians, ones on the other side of town that had died well before she could make it to them.
"Dame, I think that's everyone!" Rishia told her as she came running over, panting slightly. Homura frowned slightly, trying to use her magic sense to find anyone. Unfortunately unless they had unlocked their magic, she knew it'd be useless. But she had to agree with Rishia, she couldn't hear anyone calling for help and it had been several minutes since she had found anyone.
"Alright then we will-" she had started to say before a loud rumbling sound occurred behind her as it felt like the ground shook mightily from the sound of a large heavy impact. Whirling around even as she struggled to stay on her feet, she gazed through the dust cloud from the impact, trying to spot what it was that just landed.
Only to barely get her shield up in time to block a deceptively fast swing from a club that was more like a tree that came down on her in a simple overhead arch.
Feeling her knees buckle at taking that much force head on, Homura struggled to push the blow to the side away from Rishia.
"[ Faust Fire Lance ]!"
Just in time for Rishia to finish her incantation as several hot bolts of fire speared through the Interdimensional Giant Zombie. The zombie stood there for a moment, seemingly stunned as it swayed slightly before finally falling backwards, further destroying the building it had originally landed on. Homura scowled, feeling a bit bad that someone's livelihood had just been destroyed so thoroughly, but buildings could be rebuilt.
She was more annoyed that a new, far more difficult monster had started to fall from the cracks that filled the sky.
Turning towards the center of the Wave to get a better view of the sky, she saw that though there were only a few that were trickling through, if the others didn't end the Boss soon there would be an overwhelming amount of them to deal with.
"Dame, what do we do now?" Rishia panted heavily as she took the chance to catch her breath after casting consecutive magic after 30 minutes of combat.
"Since the villagers are evacuated we can-" Homura started to answer before her magic senses screamed at her over the constant drone of insects and zombies. Shoving Rishia down to a kneel a bit forcibly, Homura threw her cloak over the surprised young adult while raising her shield as a volley of fire fell from the sky that seemed to be focused mostly on her. It was a quirk of her defensive ability that her and her party discovered by accident in a spar, that the magical barrier generated by her shield extended to cover her clothes. So while it was useless to protect from anything with a solid element that could just push the fabric aside, it worked to protect from non solid magic- primarily fire and lightning. Useful for a situation exactly like this.
Hearing a hoard of zombies approaching from behind, even as a few caught fire from being close to her enough already, she mentally activated the special ability of her Dark Fae Wing Shield. Feeling it absorb a large portion of the magic in the fire, causing it to fall apart, she lashed out behind her with her shield.
"[ C Void Wing ]."
From the edge of the shield, a scythe of dark magic was released straight towards the hoard. With the amount of magic it had managed to absorb, the respectable hoard of about 20 zombies didn't stand a chance. They all fell to the ground, all of them bisected all the way through the abdomen, their rotten remains spreading everywhere.
Grimacing in disgust at the smell, Homura forced herself to ignore the unpleasant smells and images assaulting her as she turned to see what had attacked her and her partner.
"Well well. Can't say I'm surprised you survived that Shield Devil. Even if you pale in comparison to the true three Heroes, you're still supposedly a 'hero'." A taunting voice drew her attention to a spot of clearing smoke, followed by the clinking of armor moving. Out of the smoke that was filling the village from all the collapsed buildings, some having caught on fire from things like stoves that she had already encountered being left lit as all hell broke loose without warning, was a figure decked out in the armor of a knight.
Behind him stood a group dressed in an assortment of steel and leather armor, but they all wore cloaks that covered the majority of their bodies. What they didn't cover however was the rosary like necklace that they all wore, even the knight.
These people were with the Three Heroes Church.
And they apparently decided that now was the time to make a power play. The question was whether or not they were acting on orders or by themselves.
"Though I will say, I wasn't expecting the Shield Devil to have an attack like that. But that dark power just proves that you really are a devil!" With a cocky laugh, he drew his sword and pointed it at her.
"I can only imagine how pleased the Pope will be if I bring him your head, little girl!" Making a lunge at her, Homura was about to raise her shield when a flash of green and steel lashed out and deflected the sword strike.
"You will not touch Dame Akemi!" She yelled, lashing out with a textbook perfect kick to the knight's solar plexus, sending him skidding back.
"Hmph. One of the Shield's brainwashed minions. Though I'll say you're tougher than you look girl." Raising his hand, the group of men that were obviously his mages seemed to ready another spell.
Homura frowned. This was bad. She wasn't expecting to be caught in what essentially amounted to a pincer attack when her party was split in half dealing with a Wave. Readying herself to block another wave of magic like earlier, she tried to figure out where the next wave of monsters was going to attack as well. Rishia stayed near her like they had practiced, even if it was obvious she wanted to attack the knight that threatened her.
Right as the knight started to drop his arm, the cracks in the sky began to rapidly close and clear. Stopping in his tracks, he frowned as he looked upwards. Finally lowering his arm back to his side, he turned his head to the side slightly, keeping them in view even as he addressed his men.
"To the Heroes men! We must show them that we can aid them in the Waves!"
As his men rallied behind him, he turned back completely towards Homura.
"As for you Shield Devil, you're lucky we're all under strict orders that you aren't allowed to die outside of a Wave at this time. You better fulfill your 'duties' as a 'hero' and clean up this mess you caused." Laughing mockingly, he and his men made off towards where Homura had sensed the Boss until just a moment ago.
"Where do you thi-" Rishia had started to growl out, her temper flaring at the knight's mocking before Homura grabbed her shoulder firmly. Shaking her head, Homura frowned deeply as she glared after the retreating backs.
"We have to handle all of the monsters before they can escape too far. Besides, we do not have enough information to deal with them appropriately. We will just have to be ready in the future."
Rishia looked extremely displeased at that verdict. While she wasn't a confrontational person by any means, she seemed to be willing to fight for her honor.
"Very well Dame."
P-*-*-*-H
Raphtalia pressed herself close to Sakura as the filolial ran after the other heroes. While she wasn't pleased to be separated from her Mistress, she more than trusted Rishia to assist her in her place. Nor was she displeased about being trusted to properly fight with and assist the other heroes.
No, the truth was that she worried for her Mistress and her friend. She also was a bit uncomfortable without the silent but resolute support of the Shield Hero protecting her.
Her first wave she lost her parents and the majority of everyone she knew at the time. Her second was a surprise, a frantic battle that she was only barely able to force herself to get through. Now on her third she was being trusted with someone she was starting to see as a younger sister. Suffice to say, she was a bit stressed.
Even though Sakura was just tearing through all of the monsters in their way like soggy paper, it wasn't really the general Wave monsters she was worried about. Sure, they looked terrifying and might be an issue if cornered by enough of them, but if they couldn't hit Sakura when she was going this slow then Raphtalia knew they weren't that dangerous individually.
Soon enough they came up to the heroes and their parties fighting back a large horde of monsters. They seemed to be holding their own well enough, but they weren't making much forward progress now.
Raphtalia frowned slightly, watching them fight from a distance as they approached. None of the parties seemed to be working together smoothly, whether in their own groups or with each other. While it had only been a month, her Mistress was a grueling task master at making sure her entire party became as combat ready as quickly as possible. She knew she still had a long way to go before reaching that level, but even still she could see ways that they could all work together far more effectively.
"Sakura, break up the crowd of monsters in the way. The Heroes have to get to the Boss quickly." She spoke clearly into her little sister's ear. Grabbing firmly a hold of the filolial as she nodded, she prepared herself as she felt Sakura cover them in wind magic.
"Got it Big Sis! [ High Quick ]!"
With those words, the world blurred beyond all recognition for the young tanuki woman. When it came to a stop seemingly a second later, the previously large horde was mostly smashed to pulp or their remains sent flying.
"What the?!" She heard the Sword Hero mutter as he and the Spear Hero pointed their weapons at them before recognizing who they were. The Bow Hero on the other hand had followed through with his attack before he processed who they were, his eyes growing wide.
Narrowing her own eyes, Raphtalia barely managed to draw her sword and parry the magical arrow. What she hadn't accounted for was the force of the arrow, feeling the powerful shock travel up her arm and almost make her drop her sword even as the arrow faded into dust.
"What the hell was that Itsuki?!" Motoyasu was quick to point his spear at the offender. "Why the hell did you attack Homura's party members like that?!"
"Hey! It's not my fault I thought she was a threat before I realized who she was!" Itsuki tried to defend himself, raising his hands up in defense.
"Like that's any-!"
"Sir Kitamura, that's enough. This is not the time or place. Mistress sent us to assist you three with clearing the Wave while she evacuated Riyute Village." Raphtalia interrupted the Spear Hero. She didn't understand why he was so upset. Sir Kawasumi obviously hadn't attacked them for being them, and even though her sword arm was still lacking in feeling at the moment, she wasn't actually harmed.
Stopping the Wave had to come first, did these Heroes not understand that?
The Sword Hero pursed his lips slightly, looking them over in what seemed to be an evaluating way.
"Can you and your mount clear the path ahead?" He finally asked. "It will allow us to reach the Boss faster."
Raphtalia considered the request for a moment. It was a valid request, and one she didn't really have a better alternative to because it wasn't like Sakura could carry everyone present without her carriage.
"Sakura, continue in the direction the Heroes were originally heading. Crush everything that gets in your way while making sure to stay ahead of everyone." She gave her instructions to her younger sister.
"Got it big sis!" Sakura chirped, raising her wings outwards slightly in joy at getting to play. Raphtalia was quick to turn her head to the three young men and their parties as Sakura crouched low.
"Follow quick heroes, or else Sakura will get too far ahead."
Sakura was off like a rocket before anyone could respond. As they turned towards where their instincts said the boss was, the path was clear of active monsters. That was due to the fact that any that had been there was either turned to paste or knocked well out of the way. The duo they were looking for was already several hundred meters away, looking their way.
"That is one seriously fast bird Homura has." Motoyasu muttered before running after them, Ren and Itsuki quickly followed right behind.
Ren's party was the first to react to the rapid departure of the heroes, running quickly after them. The women of Motoyasu's party and the member's of Itsuki's party looked at each other, Malty's face annoyed at the interruption of the Shield Hero's party.
"Princess, we better hurry after Sir Itsuki." Mald called out as he rallied the rest of the Bow Hero's party. Clicking her tongue in irritation, she tossed her hair in dismissal at the party she had originally joined as she turned. As distasteful as she found it to put in any real effort, she had to do her best to keep at least one of the Heroes under her thumb for the time being.
Raphtalia looked behind her to see the three Heroes following behind, far enough away that they were out of the range of the gore made by her and Sakura but close enough they would be able to react quickly once they arrived. A significant way behind them, working to catch up, she was able to make out at least the 4 members of the Sword Hero's party.
Feeling a familiar weight that she had felt twice before, she whipped her head around to look straight ahead. While it had its own unique weight and feel in comparison to the Cerberus or Unseelie Knight, feeling twisted and poisonous, she was quickly able to figure out that they were near the boss.
Leaning forward, she gave her instructions to Sakura.
"We will leave the boss mostly to the heroes, but I want to at least try to weaken it a bit for them. As soon as you see it, give it the hardest hit you can. I'll then try to get my own attack in before we break off to keep the smaller monsters away from the Heroes."
Sakura nodded several times at the explanation.
"Got it sis! Kick the meanie monster as hard as Sakura can so sis can cut it good!" Leaning forward, Sakura picked up the speed a bit in excitement.
While a part of Raphtalia wanted to tell her not to, she pressed herself close, spotting the monster that was releasing the nauseating presence.
It was a multi headed monster, having heads that looked to be a lion, a goat and a dragon attached to its neck. It's lion-like body stood tall, probably about her height at the shoulder, maybe a bit taller. Behind it, she noticed a snake headed tail lashing about, spewing toxins at all the nearby monsters whether they were native to this world or from the Wave.
[ Interdimensional Chimera ]
"Keep it from flying when you kick it. I need to cut that tail off. Do not breathe in any of that cloud!"
Not getting a verbal acknowledgement, Raphtalia had to trust Sakura to listen. Taking a deep breath herself, she readied herself for a movement she'd never had a chance to practice.
Feeling Sakura take and hold her own deep breath, she kicked off the ground with tremendous force even while they were a good distance from the Boss. As their momentum carried the pair closer to the boss, Sakura coated her leg in wind magic, conjuring a small tornado even as she kicked the middle lion's head.
As the Chimera was forcibly buried head first into the solid ground by wind enchanted kick backed by a solid mass of bird, Raphtalia pushed off of Sakura like a springboard. Looking her eyes on to her target, it seemingly made eye contact with her, jaws opening wide as it lunged towards her. Flexing her core hard she forced herself to spin out of the way, lashing out with her sword. Getting only most of the way through the tail, she flexed her body in its entirety and twisted.
Watching the snake head fall to the ground was a satisfying experience, even as her muscles protested the violent untrained movement. Glancing to the direction they had come from, she saw Itsuki lining up a shot, the magical arrow glowing brightly. Eyes widening she made a frantic abort gesture to Sakura while kicking off the ground as soon as she landed.
Her eyes watched as the arrow flashed free of the bow as soon as she and Sakura were a 'safe' distance away, even if closer than she felt comfortable after blocking a single arrow earlier. She could tell this one was different, much more powerful in a way that only a Hero could accomplish.
This was a Skill.
Watching the skill shoot perfectly between Ren and Motoyasu while they charged the boss, weapons ready and glowing with their own skills, it hit the Chimera dead center mass, directly centered between where she and Sakura had been a moment before.
Then the Chimera erupted in a violent torrent of flames.
Covering her face out of instinct as she performed several small quick hops to put some more distance between her and the fire, she watched in slight amazement as the other Heroes unleashed their own skills on the boss. A part of her was immensely impressed at the strength of the Heroes.
Another part that, while small, was built up by her training with her Mistress. She could see while they had a decent amount of power it wasn't polished. There was no finesse, no real skill in their attacks.
They could and should be much more than this.
Frowning softly, she decided it was best to keep those thoughts to herself for now. But it would definitely be something she brought up to her Mistress later in private. Using some more gestures that they had learned from Mistress, she directed Sakura to handle the smaller monsters that were gathering now that the boss' toxins were clearing from the area.
Keeping an eye out on the Chimera, she also did her best to keep a tab on Sakura and the other Heroes. Mistress always stressed the importance of awareness of everything on the battlefield. She kept herself ready to help wherever she felt she was needed.
She had to protect Sir Kawasumi from a small hoard of bees before his party arrived to help.
She had to avoid the occasional rogue Skill from Sir Kitamura.
She had to dodge Sir Amaki once when he was mule kicked by the Chimera.
Finally, after far more time and ineptitude than she had ever expected, the Chimera finally fell to its side with a soft keen. As soon as it did, the sky began to clear and she felt a shift in strength of the monsters. As soon as the cracks that filled the sky closed, it felt as if the monsters all got immensely weaker.
Had this happened in the last 2 Waves?
It's possible, she eventually decided. She was an inexperienced child in her first Wave and she was worried for her Mistress after she was attacked by that strange Tonfa Man in her second.
Running up to the cheering heroes even as she watched the Sword and Spear Heroes each cut off a head and absorb it.
"What are you guys waiting for? We have to stop all these monsters before they escape too far!" she yelled at them as she approached.
"What do you mean? They'll all despawn eventually now that the boss is dead." Kitamura explained, stopping Raphtalia in her tracks in confusion. Even his party looked at him strangely.
It didn't get any better when Amaki and Kawasumi nodded in agreement.
While it was a weird way to word it, knowing that it was probably a slang term from their worlds that the weapons did their best to translate, it was obvious that the Heroes thought that all these small monsters would just...disappear?
"Sir Heroes...I don't know how it works in your Worlds, but here, monsters don't just 'despawn'." Raphtalia tried to explain. "If we don't handle these monsters now then they're just going to spread throughout the region killing everyone and everything in their path. I have no doubt that Mistress and Rishia are cleaning up all the monsters between here and Riyute Village."
"Come Sir Itsuki! If the Shield Hero is clearing out these weak monsters, then surely you can clear out twice as many!" the big man in armor called out to his Hero, taunting the others at the same time.
"Oh yeah? Well Sir Motoyasu can certainly clear twice as many as Sir Itsuki!" one of the women in the Spear Hero's party taunted back.
The three Heroes looked at each other and shrugged after a moment.
"Sure. A little competition sounds like fun. Winner gets, I don't know, 5% of the losers' reward?" Kitamura offered.
Raphtalia frowned in distaste. People's lives were at risk and the Heroes were over here turning it into a game.
After some more deliberation, they finally came to an agreement on the 'bet'. Agreeing to split up the rest of the Chimera materials with Homura present, they all split up to hunt down all the monsters they could find.
Omake:
Bowdoka by Orajje
-*-*-*-
Madoka gasped, as she… was she alive? What…?
She looked around briefly, assessing her environment. But everything about it only shocked her more. She was wearing her magical girl outfit, but her gem thing that she had gotten was gone. Not to mention that her hair was down without her ribbons. A bow was in her hands, but it was definitely not the bow she had been using before she became-
She shivered, and shook her head slightly as a cold feeling threatened to rise up for a moment.
"Madoka…?"
She finally really began to take in her surroundings. Realizing she hadn't been listening to... whatever the people here had been talking about. More importantly though, Homura-chan was here too. Also in the magical girls outfit Madoka had seen her in as the girl had fought the massive witch tearing the city apart. A small shield on the girl's arm, and her ribbons in the girl's hands.
Then she blinked, as she noticed Homura's worried look.
Madoka shook herself, forcing herself to listen to everything going on around her, even as everything threatened to blur together. Responding as much as she could to what was going on around her while her mind kept replaying what had happened. How her soul gem had shattered, her worst memories replayed, and her form warped.
It was really hard not to think of it.
Which hurt in its own way. These people needed help. Their world was on the edge of collapse and Madoka could barely listen, even if she did want to help.
The other two heroes were… there. She didn't think Sayaka would like the spear wielding one. She wasn't sure she liked him either. The sword one just seemed to act like Homura, but slightly less.
Right, they had names. Motoyasu and Ren.
They apparently had legendary weapons to protect this world. Ones that would grow with them.
When they were all put into a room alone, she slowly leaned against Homura. Taking a bit of comfort in the one bit of familiarity in this world with her.
Homura attempted to quietly hand her her ribbons, but… Madoka didn't want them. Not right now. Not only because Homura had been clutching them, but at the same time the thought of continuing to wear them felt off.
Everything felt off.
Including her own sk-
She leaned harder into Homura, as the girl began testing things, and talking to the other heroes. Almost refusing the ribbons when they were handed to her, and only not doing so because Homura insisted it would give her another weapon. Weapons they would need for the coming days.
Eventually, they ended up in their own room to sleep. Which didn't stop her from holding on to Homura. Who held her close now, slowly moving a hand over her hair.
Then she felt something being put in her hair, and she moved her hand up, feeling Homura's headband in her hair.
"I… apologize for not asking your permission. But since you are not taking your ribbons, I would appreciate it if you took my headband. We are going to be fighting, and I don't want you to get hair in your face in the middle of something like that."
Madoka slowly nodded, and stayed where she was.
She didn't know Homura the best, but it was obvious she cared. And right now… Madoka didn't have it in her to do anything but hold on to the one person she knew.
Tomorrow, she could get up. Tomorrow, she will begin fighting. In fact, as Homura slowly began telling her details of their old world and what had happened to her, she knew one thing.
She was thankful she wasn't that thing anymore.
So tomorrow, she will join Homura in finding a way back to their world.
Today was off to an odd start. The new clothes were odd, but far less showy than the old faux magical girl ones.
She didn't really want to be showy anyways.
Not right now.
Then Homura didn't get a single companion, and Madoka frowned. Especially since apparently Homura couldn't deal damage.
Then only one adventurer stepped up, a girl named Myne.
For a moment, she wished she and Homura could train together instead, but that wasn't an option they had.
So as she went through the town, making what few preparations she could think of, she looked through her bows.
After throwing in the headband she got a companion bow, and it was then she finally remembered the description of the ribbon from earlier, as this one's contrasting one met her eyes.
She blinked, then frowned harder.
Madoka didn't know why Homura considered her her best friend.
But considering they were stuck here, the times she could swear there was something between them, and everything else, she would take it.
It unlocked after she finished her preparations, looking through the others.
There was the ribbon bow of course, and the bow that was obviously hers from when she became a magical girl. Although for a moment she could've sworn there was another bow.
She shrugged it off as she left town, turning the legendary weapon into her bow, and aiming upwards. Letting what was left of her magical girl instincts and the power of her personal weapon guide her as she fired into the air.
Causing a giant magic glyph to appear in the air, and bringing down countless small arrows that rained down, instantly killing every monster within a large radius with incredible precision.
As she moved afterwards, she could practically feel the difference. Her level had jumped rather massively.
Now to collect the loot…
She winced, as she realized how big the attack had been.
This would take a while.
The next day was somehow worse. Myne, who was apparently a princess, tried accusing Homura of assaulting her. Causing the girl to be brought in front of them in her nightclothes. Madoka blushed slightly as Homura was sent to the ground. They may have shared a bed in the palace because of… what happened. But this was quite different.
More importantly though, Madoka knew that the accusation was a lie, and the other heroes did too. Even the spear hero she was trying to find sympathy from was looking more uncomfortable than anything.
Thankfully, with the weight of all three of them, and Homura punching a maid for a test, Homura was cleared of any wrongdoing. Even if she was clearly upset.
And Madoka could honestly understand why. It was all so horrible. It made her want to just wipe it all away and give them sal-
She shook her head, clearing it.
As Madoka walked out, and followed Homura, slowly calming her down until the girl nodded to her in a way Madoka knew was a dismissal after she met a blacksmith.
Which meant…
Another day of collecting materials as her companions fought foes after she dropped an incredibly powerful attack.
She sighed.
At least leveling wouldn't be a problem for her, so she shouldn't complain too much.
Madoka felt the power of the dragon hourglass pulling her to the wave with her fellow heroes. Their collective parties prepared to fight as monsters fell from the sky.
She didn't bother giving the wave a chance, focusing her magic and firing an incredibly powerful arrow into the sky. The bolt of energy radiating light and power, before bombarding the monsters.
Until the wave stopped moments later.
She smiled slightly.
Not a single monster left, and not a single person hurt.
As she fell backwards into Homura's arms, exhausted, she wondered.
How many more people could she save?
A/N: So, only two months later than I had originally planned and a month after the anniversary, but we finally made it to the first cannon Wave! *cheers*
So I definitely apologize for the delay on this, but IRL has been nothing but chaotic fires with next to no way to put them out, and when I finally get one handled, I turn around and find 3 more developed. So yeah, that's a thing. Stupid Fire Hydra.
Anyways, I'm alive, this fic is alive and here's an update. I was originally gonna include up to the end of the banquet in this chapter, but I felt it already ran long enough. Plus the muse naturally coat tailed this chapter nicely so I decided to roll with it. So next chapter is gonna be the Banquet section and the start of my next mostly original content section. I hope you enjoyed giving this a read, and I hope I continue to satisfy as I can!