Rewritten as of 12/08/2023
Much like the previous chapter, nothing much changed. Just spelling/grammar stuff.
After Amarita had left, Kurose had been left to his own devices. Now, back in his own world, that would have usually meant scrolling through his phone for hours on end until he eventually fell asleep, but that was not an option here. Instead, he was left alone with his thoughts.
He shifted slightly, letting his head rest against the pillows on the bed for a moment, as he tried to gather everything that had happened since he had been summoned here.
Kurose was supposed to be what the people considered a holy hero. One meant to stand against the calamities that were attacking this world. Whilst using the strength bestowed upon him by supposedly the necklace he was wearing.
He lifted the necklace, still shocked at how it seemed to weigh nothing. He looked at the necklace in question, turning it slightly, the setting sun seeming to reflect onto the gem in the center of the necklace, making it sparkle slowly. He looked over it, watching as the gem seemed to stop sparkling before letting it drop back down, resting against his chest.
He had so many more questions to ask Amarita. He wanted to ask about the events she spoke about that surrounded the Jewellery tools hero. He wanted to ask what she meant about another being summoned previously, and he wanted to know more about the dwarven king she had mentioned.
He let out another sigh, putting his hand over his head. He had so many questions, yet so little answers. It seemed like each time he learned something new about this world, it left him with more and more questions.
Kurose had only been here for what he estimated to be two hours, and yet, he already felt like he had a headache beginning to form. He let his hands gently rest on his head, trying to soothe it as he thought about what he had to do tomorrow.
The first thing on the agenda was for him to supposedly meet with the Dagger hero, of which he still had no information, other than the fact that they were recently chosen to be a hero.
Maybe he could ask Amarita some questions about the Dagger hero before he actually met them. It would be nice to know who he was going to be talking to.
After that, he was supposed to be learning magic through the use of Charmes, or whatever they were called. If Kurose was being honest with himself, that was what he was most excited about. Being able to use magic was a dream for any shut-in who had read even a single fantasy book.
When he had done those two things… he had no idea what he was supposed to do afterward. Would he just be bought back here or something? Maybe he could get some more information from Amarita?
Kurose mentally shrugged, pushing those thoughts to the side. He let out a small yawn, stretching his arms slightly, even as he turned, watching the sun dip past the horizon.
He continued to look out of the window, watching night settle over the land until eventually sleep claimed him as well.
—
Kurose woke up to the feeling of someone shaking him. He slowly turned his head, seeing that the person in question was Amarita.
"Uggghhh…. What's going on?" Kurose managed to say sleepily.
It was too early for any of this stuff, and he didn't even remember Amarita saying anything about waking him up this morning.
"You need to wake up, Accessory Hero! You have a busy day ahead of you. Your meeting with the Dagger hero, learning to use Charmes, you have much to do!"
"Sure… sure, just give me a second…" He managed to get out.
He felt Amaritas's hands leave him, and Kurose let out a small yawn. He could probably get in a little more sleep, right? Surely the Dagger hero wouldn't mind him being late…
That was Kurose's thought process as he moved to lay his head against the pillow again, his eyes already half shut.
"No! You are not going back to sleep!"
Before he could react, Amarita grabbed hold of his arm, yanking him off of the bed, eliciting a shout from the Accessory hero.
"Hey! What's the deal? Didn't you say it wouldn't be right to call me by my first name yesterday? What about yanking me out of bed, doesn't that count as impolite?"
"Be that as it may, I was not going to have you fall asleep again!"
Kurose looked at her. What did she mean by again? He didn't have memories of her attempting to wake him up before.
Amarita, obviously catching his confusion, spoke up. "I have attempted to wake you up two times before this. Each time I stopped, you fell back asleep soon after. I am not letting you do it again." She crossed her arms, looking down at the hero.
"Now stand. You have your meeting with the Dagger hero to attend."
"Alright! Just… give me a moment." With that said, Kurose began to stretch
—
Much like the day before, Kurose was led down another hallway. Yet again, it was filled with paintings. He still couldn't understand the writing below the paintings, but he now had someone who could potentially answer his questions.
"What's with all these paintings?" Kurose asked Amarita, who stopped in place. "I mean, they all look like they are the same person. The only differences I could find yesterday were small things, like eye color, hairstyle, all that sort of stuff.
"These are paintings of the royal family." Amarita began to explain. "They are… unique. They tend to have a painting commissioned every season, leading to what you see here."
"Every season? That just seems a bit excessive…" He replied, frowning slightly. "But if it's every season, are all of these just one person then?
"Ah, no, that just seems to be a weird quirk of the royal family. Everyone in the family ends up looking the same. It has been this way for quite a long time, though, it has recently been broken with the current heir to the throne."
"Wow, that is weird. How long have they all looked the same?"
"We are not sure, but if you were to follow the paintings, you would surely be able to find when it all began," Amarita explained.
Kurose frowned. That seemed like a way for her to avoid answering the question, but then again. It ultimately didn't matter how long they had been like that.
"Still, it must be weird, having a ruler that doesn't look any different to your old one."
"I…" Amarita seemed to think it over before speaking. "I will admit, it was quite jarring when I learned of it, but for the older generation, it must be much weirder for the heir to the throne to look different to the ruler."
"True. I guess you have to look at it from both perspectives." Kurose replied, nodding his head.
The conversation seemed to trail off there, with the duo walking in silence until Kurose broke it once again.
"Can I ask why everyone is wearing those hoods and face coverings?"
"Ah, I understand your confusion. I'll admit, it did confuse me at first as well, but it seems to be a unique quirk of the crown prince. Whenever he is left in charge of the castle whilst his father is away on business, he only allows those he trusts implicitly or those who are members of his… harem…" She seemed disgusted as she said those words before continuing on."...to be without a face covering."
Kurose raised an eyebrow at that. "Really? That just seems… weird? Have you not tried speaking to the King about this or something?"
Amarita seemed to shrug it off. "What point is there? When the crown prince does eventually gain the throne, it will most likely be a rule he implements permanently. There is no point in wasting breath on something that won't be likely to change."
"Still, it just… seems wrong to me, you know?" Kurose tried to explain.
"I understand. The Jewelry tools hero also said he did not like it. Of course, he was friends with the Prince at the time, but they drifted away after an argument about that exact point…"
Kurose took that information in. The Prince and Jewelry Tools hero had been friends at one point, and an argument had broken them apart. Though, looking at Amarita, it seemed like she didn't want to talk about it, and he couldn't blame her. He decided for her sake to change the conversation.
"So… what's the Dagger hero like?" He asked, a hint of curiosity in his voice. He did want to know what the person he was going to be working with was like, after all.
"She is an easily excited person, but she is also quite forgetful from what I know of her... Yesterday, we actually had to stop her from rushing to where we were keeping you. She's very… eager to meet another hero."
"Well, that doesn't sound bad. But shouldn't she have met the Jewelry tools hero? I mean, especially if she was chosen before me?"
"That is true. Normally we would have requested the more experienced hero to help, but he is currently preparing for the waves in his country. Whilst I'm not sure what goes into it, I'm certain it must be hard work. Ever since we realized the waves were going to happen, he has been working on how to best defend his nation. From what I last heard before our king went off, he went to negotiate terms with the Jewelry tools hero, which would help both our nations be defended against the waves."
"I see. So the king is out of the country?" That would explain why the king had given some simple instructions for what was to be done when he was summoned.
"Yes. Currently, his heir is in control of the kingdom, at least until he returns. Do not worry about meeting with the king, he will want to meet with you as soon as he comes back."
"That's good to hear. But uh… what's the Jewelry tool hero like? I know he has his own country to run and all that but doesn't that conflict with his role as a hero?"
"You would think that, yes, but in truth, it's actually the opposite. It was quite a while ago that he was chosen, long before the waves had even started. It is… a long story. I'm assuming you would like to hear it?" Amarita asked.
Kurose nodded at that.
"I see. Well, be warned that I will not be able to finish it as we are getting close to the Dagger hero. However, I will tell you as much as I can."
Amarita began the story. "From what I have heard, the country of Palinfa has an… unusual system of inheritance for the throne. There are usually a handful of heirs who fight for the right to the throne. The Jewelry tools hero was different In that regard. He wasn't much of a fighter, yet for some reason the King seemed to favor him highly, as if seeing some sort of potential in him. I should also mention that being strong is seen as an achievement in the country of Palinfa. So, for the Jewelry tool hero, who didn't want to fight anyone, and simply wanted to see the good in everyone, he had quite a few enemies, including a few of his siblings."
"Wait, did he have the Jewelry tools by this point?" Kurose asked quickly. Amarita quickly shook her head.
"No, up to this point, it had been quite a while since the Jewelry tools were wielded by anyone. Many believe it is because they had no reason to choose anyone, as it had been peaceful since its last wielder had perished." Amarita shook her head before resuming her talk about the Jewelry tool hero.
"As I said before, the King held him in high regard. When he finally passed away, and it was revealed that he had chosen the Jewelry tools hero to be his successor, things did not go over well in the kingdom. His siblings believed he was not worthy of the throne, and as a result, almost all of his siblings rose up in rebellion. There were only a few who chose not to rebel and accept him as the king, but…"
"Wait, his siblings rose up just because they didn't think he deserved to be king? But… it wasn't their choice! It was their father's!"
"Be that as it may, some people may show their true sides when they truly desire something. This time, it was the promise of the throne."
"But still… for a lot of his brothers and sisters to rise up like that… it just seems like a cruel way for succession to be carried out…"
"It is indeed cruel, but their reasoning is as such. If a King cannot keep their family under control, what hope do they have of maintaining an empire?"
Kurose simply nodded at that, looking at the floor as he seemed to be thinking things over.
Amarita let out a sigh. "They did what they could to help, but the country was in a dark time. The territories are usually split up between the heirs to the throne, to give them a chance to manage land in preparation for when they ascend to the throne. But of course, that leads to its own problems. The people in those lands were likely to be more loyal to the heir that held their lands. So of course, when they rebelled, their people revolted with them."
"It does sound like a dark time… it sounds like something that's happened a few times in my world…"
"Regardless, I will have to stop here for now," Amarita spoke.
"Huh, why?" Kurose asked.
"Because we are here. Just through this door is the Dagger hero. I will be coming in with you, just to introduce you to her, but I will have to leave soon after, as I have some things of my own I need to prepare. I hope that is fine with you?" She asked the last part questioningly, and Kurose nodded his head.
"Of course, it's fine with me. Why wouldn't it be? And you shouldn't need my permission."
"I know this. But it is still better to make sure you are comfortable taking control of the situation. Especially since you are a Hero. You will have many people looking up to you."
Kurose gulped at that but nodded his head. He supposed Amarita did have a point, but it wasn't something he wanted. With a small sigh, Kurose opened the door, stepping in to finally see one of his fellow heroes.
—
Even as the Accessory hero stepped into the room, A voice spoke up.
"Oh! Amarita! I was about…" The voice trailed off as Kurose fully stepped in. "Oh, you aren't Amarita. Who are you?" She asked curiously, tilting her head slightly.
The owner of the voice that had just spoken was a young girl. She barely reached up to his shoulders. She had black, shoulder-length hair, much like him, but instead of being unkempt, she obviously took great care of her hair.
She also had green eyes with an eternally curious look in them, as if she was always waiting to ask her next question.
"Dagger Hero," Amarita spoke, bringing Kurose back to reality. "I would like to introduce you to the recently summoned Accessory Hero." She again motioned towards Kurose, and he stepped forwards.
"Um…" he began nervously. "It's nice to meet you. I hope we can work together to stop these calamities?"
Instead of responding to him, the Dagger hero seemed to wave her arms slightly at Amarita before speaking up.
"Amarita!" She cried out. "I told you to call me Eorna, didn't I?"
"You did," Amarita confirmed, nodding her head. "However, as I have told you previously. It would be improper to be so casual with you. You are one of the heroes of this world, after all."
Eorna frowned at that, sadly shaking her head.
"I'll get you to call me Eorna eventually! I don't want to act like I'm better than you!"
With her piece said, She turned to face Kurose, the frown seemingly gone suddenly as she spoke.
"It's nice to meet you! I'm Eorna! What's your name?"
"I'm Kurose. It's nice to meet-" He tried to repeat his greeting from earlier, but was cut off.
"Where's your weapon? What does it look like?" She asked both questions, one immediately after the other.
Kurose turned to face Amarita, who remained impassive. Clearly, he wasn't going to get any help from her. With that bit of information now known, Kurose slowly lifted up the necklace, and Eorna leaned in, getting a closer look at it.
"Woah… That looks so pretty! But I'm not sure how you're supposed to fight with it…" She spoke. Before Kurose could agree with her, she pulled something from her side.
"Here's mine! Take a look!" She quickly held her weapon between them, and Kurose did as she asked.
It seemed like a basic steel dagger with no special features about it. The handle, or whatever it was called, seemed to have some sort of leather wrapped around it, whilst on the end there was a gem embedded into it.
It seemed the same as the gem in his necklace, the only difference being that instead of green, it was a yellow color.
"Is this…" Kurose motioned at the dagger, and Eorna seemed to get his message.
"Yup! It's the Lesser Dagger! It can't be anything else, unfortunately. I can't even pick up another weapon to fight with. I just get hurt instead!"
Kurose was confused by that, and it evidently showed on his face, as Eorna seemed to try and explain it better.
"When I picked up a sword to try and fight a monster, I got hurt, and something appeared, basically saying heroes can't use anything else but their weapons."
"I see…" Kurose remembered Amarita saying about the restrictions placed upon heroes. But hearing confirmation from another hero had him wondering how he was actually going to fight, besides the use of Charmes the Amarita had spoken about.
"It is nice to see that the pair of you are getting on well," Amarita spoke up, gaining the attention of both heroes before speaking to Eorna.
"If I may ask something of you, Dagger hero?"
"Oh, sure! What do you need?" She asked curiously.
"I would like for you to teach our Accessory hero how his weapon works. You have wielded your weapon for a week by this point, so you should be more knowledgeable on it than him."
Eorna nodded her head. "Yup! I'll do my best to teach Kurose everything he needs to know about how our weapons function! You can leave that to me!"
Amarita seemed to stare at Eorna for a moment, with Eorna simply staring back.
"I'll leave him in your care then. I have asked that if any guards see you leaving the castle, they are to follow you, for your own safety."
"Eh? Really? Do we have to have guards follow us?" Eorna complained.
"Yes, you do, Dagger hero. It would be better for guards to follow you than for the pair of you to fight something you cannot handle at this point."
"But there's nothing that strong in the forest around here, right?"
"That may be so, but it is still better safe than sorry."
Kurose was feeling left out of this conversation, and he cleared his throat, both looking at him.
"Well, I'm sure we will be fine. I mean, as you said, there should be guards following us if we do leave, right?" Kurose spoke, trying to soothe any worries Amarita may have.
"I suppose that is true…" She seemed to have a conflicted look on her face before sighing. "I will have to leave you now. I hope the pair of you continue to get along. Farewell for now. I will be back later to take you for your Charme lesson, Accessory Hero."
Kurose nodded at that, and the pair of heroes began to wave at her as she left, not speaking until the door was shut.
"So… Eorna, how are y-"
"Don't pronounce it like that! It's Er-Na! Not E-Or-Na!" She spoke with a frown.
"Eorna..?" Kurose spoke cautiously, earning a nod from the Dagger hero.
"You don't pronounce the O in your name?" Kurose asked slowly.
"Nah," Eorna spoke easily. "My parents added it to my name because they wanted to be unique. There's not much I can do to change it, so I just make sure people know the O isn't pronounced."
"Jeez, still, I can imagine people trying to pronounce your name if you write it down for them…" Kurose spoke.
"Yes, well… after the first few times, they make sure to pronounce it correctly." She spoke darkly.
After a few moments, the darkness seemed to pass, and Kurose spoke up once more.
"So… you're supposed to teach me how to use my weapon?" He asked with a bit of hesitance.
"Yup! But… I'm not teaching you a thing until we get out of here! Without any guards following us!" She spoke defiantly.
"But… How do we even do that? I mean, there's got to be guards at every entrance to the castle, right?"
"Yeah, there are guards at every entrance that they know about. But what if we go out of an entrance they don't know about?" Eorna spoke with a smile.
Kurose simply looked at her in confusion, not understanding what she had meant. Eorna, seeing his confusion, grabbed his arm.
"Come on! I'll show you!"
—
Kurose let out a sigh as Eorna stood in front of him.
"So… what am I actually supposed to do? Just watch you fight the monsters? I'm not really going to be much help here, am I?"
"I mean, there's mainly low-level monsters here. Sure, they might hurt you a little bit, but even with a low attack stat, you should be able to take them out." Eorna spoke with a grin.
"Ok, but what are these monsters? I'd like to know what I'm actually looking for first."
In response to that, Eorna simply pointed behind him.
Kurose turned around, expecting something big, but was confused when there was nothing towering over him.
That was until he felt something hit his leg. He looked down, noticing a round… thing attempting to roll over his leg.
Upon closer inspection, Kurose noticed it seemed to be spinning slightly before ramming into his leg. It seemed to have a wooden exterior.
"What the hell is that?" Kurose asked, crouching down to look at it. Its eyes seemed to be rotating along with its body. If anything, the monster resembled something from a game he had played ages ago.
"They are called Spinlings" Eorna began to explain. "They are one of the most common monsters in the world. Can be found anywhere. Though, from what I've heard, they can apparently take on aspects of their surroundings."
"Huh, they don't seem that ba-" Yet again, he was cut off as he felt the Spinling before he slams into him at a much higher speed than it previously had.
"Ow… jeez, what happened there? How'd it get so much speed so quickly?"
Eorna, who was doing her best to hide her giggles, spoke up. "Well, they can spin on the spot and release it to get a speed boost. Probably should have said that sooner, huh? Anyways… let me just…"
As she said that, Eorna stepped forwards, her dagger slashing into the monster. It didn't seem to let out any noise as it collapsed, but Kurose did gain some experience from it.
"How much did you get from that Kurose?"
"I got two experience points from that. It seems like I'm… nowhere near being able to level up." He spoke with a frown.
"Good to know you got two experience points for it. Seems like it was split equally. Oh, and don't worry about being anywhere close to leveling up. There will be plenty more monsters for us to defeat! I'll make sure to get you to at least level two before we leave!"
Kurose could only shake his head, even as Eorna turned around, part of the Spinling in her hand.
"Here! Feed this to your weapon. It'll unlock something, hopefully." Eorna added the last part on quietly, and Kurose hoped she had intended for him to hear it.
Regardless, Kurose took the parts of the Spinling from her, looking between her and his weapon. Slowly, he lowered it down to the necklace. He watched as the gem seemed to glow for a moment, sucking in the remains of the Spinling before a pop-up appeared.
New weapon form unlocked!
Wood Spinling Bracelet
Abilities locked Equip Bonus: Defense +3
"Huh, that's neat I guess. How do I change to the new weapon?" He asked.
"You can't yet. You need to reach level two before you can change weapon forms. At least, I had to. It might be different for you. In that case, just think of the weapon form, or go through your menu for it."
Kurose attempted to do what she had said, going through his menu to the new weapon form, only for nothing to happen. Even as he was doing that, Eorna was speaking.
" Let's see… whilst we wait for some more Spinlings to show up, what else do I need to tell you about our weapons…"
Even as Eorna thought about it, Kurose looked at the stats of the amulet he was currently wearing.
Basic Necklace
Abilities unlocked Equip bonus: Magic Attack +3
"How about what Abilities locked and unlocked mean? Because both of them show a different thing."
"Right! So, if you equip a weapon for long enough, the stat bonus it gives you will be permanently added to your stats! For example, my basic dagger, gave me a plus three to agility whenever I equipped it. But, when I unlocked it, it gave me a permanent bonus to my stats, so I'm always a bit faster now!"
"I see. So I just need to equip it for a time, and it'll unlock on its own?" Kurose asked, confirming he understood what she had said.
"Yup!" She confirmed. "Now, let's see… what else…"
Even as she continued to think, Kurose noticed several more Spinlings angrily making their way out of a bush just ahead of them. Kurose couldn't tell how he knew they were angry, but he would probably be angry as well if two people killed one of his groups.
Kurose has to think that through for a moment. Had he really just projected his emotions onto a monster that was spinning on the spot? He shook his head, calling out.
"Um… Eorna? There are some more Spinlings approaching…"
Eorna either didn't hear him or was too absorbed in her own thoughts to react. Slowly, but surely, the Spinlings began to speed up, Making their way towards the duo.
"Oh! I remember now! But let's deal with this first!" Eorna spoke with a smile. She changed her grip on her dagger before speaking again.
"Erst Step!"
With a surprising amount of speed, Eorna dashed toward the rolling Spinlings. She slashed her dagger through them easily, with all of them collapsing with a single strike of her dagger.
His screen was filled with notifications from the Spinlings that Eorna had defeated, only for them to fade away as another notification made itself available.
Level up!
Noticing that he was now level two, he thought about the Wooden Spinling bracelet.
Looking down at his wrist, he noticed a bracelet that wasn't there before. It still held its gem in the center, proving it was his weapon.
"Huh, any accessory…" Kurose spoke. If it meant any accessory, then that was a lot of variety. Could he wear multiple accessories at the same time? Or was it only going to be one?
"Ah, you leveled up! And you figured out how to swap your weapon, great! Um… what else did I want to talk about…"
Kurose waited for Eorna to speak again, but all he could hear was the other hero muttering to herself.
"Spoke about weapon forms… Spoke about unlocking them…Oh, that's it!" Eorna seemed to jump up, a smile on her face.
"Right! Each hero has their own strengthening method! You should be able to find it in the help menu! That's where I found mine at least!"
"Okay… but how do I get to the help menu?"
"Oh, my bad…" With that, she quickly explained, and Kurose found his way to it easily.
Looking through it, there were all the things that Eorna had told him about, including the section for strengthening methods.
"Alright, I found them. I'm assuming they just help me grow stronger?"
"Yup! The strengthening methods help us grow stronger." Eorna paused for a moment before staring at him. "Wait, did you say them? As in, multiple strengthening methods?"
"Yeah. I have four of them here." Kurose spoke easily. Was that not supposed to happen?
"What's wrong?" Kurose asked, looking to see a frown on Eorna's face.
"You have four of them? I only have one! That's not fair!" Eorna spoke before sighing. "Then again, I guess that's what makes your weapon much better than the Lesser Dagger, or Lesser Jewelry tools."
"You only have one? That's weird… but I guess it's fine since you have an actual weapon. I can't actually do anything with mine, can I? Just look! It's just a wooden bracelet!" He showed the bracelet to Eorna for emphasis. What was he supposed to do with it? Maybe if it was a metal bracelet or something, it could do damage.
Eorna smiled at that.
"Yeah, I guess so. Well, just get yourself familiar with your methods then. You'll be using them quite a lot after all. I'll protect you whilst you read through them, so take your time."
"I will. Thanks." With that, Kurose dived into reading into his methods.
Rarity. A pretty self-explanatory one. The rarer a material was, the better the stats on the weapon.
Stat purchase. Like the previous method, it was easy to explain. It took him to a new screen, and he could spend… G? A quick look through told him that G was the form that money took inside his weapon. He could then spend that currency for a permanent boost. From what he could see, the prices got more and more expensive as he looked at higher boosts. There was +1 to magic, Magic recovery speed up with several tiers, ranging from small to large, and that was only from the parts he could see.
Gem equip. Each weapon form has a certain amount of slots to equip gems into. These gems give certain boosts, depending on the type. Did it also depend on how finely the gem was cut? Or would all gems of the same type provide a similar bonus?
The last method he had to read was Collector. The more weapon forms he had, the stronger his weapons would become.
So, two of my methods seem to be passive growth, those being Collector and Rarity. Stat purchase seems to be an active method, but I don't know how I'm supposed to get the money to do so. Maybe the country can give me some money? Or would it seem suspicious that I'm saying I need the money to grow stronger? Does it count how much cash I have on me at the time? And gem equip seems like something I won't be able to use for a bit, considering it requires gems. They would probably cost money to buy, and I need that money for my stat purchase method. Jeez, that's a lot of things to remember, but for now, I only really need to actively focus on stat purchase I guess. Rarity and Collector will work all the time.
With that, Kurose checked on his weapon once more.
Wooden Spinling bracelet.
Rarity: Common
Abilities locked Equip Bonus: Agility +1
Gem Slots: 1
So it now pops up on the weapon form itself? That's convenient I guess. For gem equip, does rarity affect it? Maybe the rarer the material, the more gems it can hold? Eh, it doesn't really matter right now I guess. I will probably find out later when I do get a rarer weapon.
Shaking his head, Kurose looked up.
"Done reading your methods? Got them all down?" Eorna asked, tilting her head.
"Yeah, I've got them all. I won't be able to use two of them immediately, but the other two are being put to work. Though, I do have a question. What was that first step thing you shouted?"
"That's great! Make sure to keep using them whenever you can!" She spoke with a grin before answering his next question "Oh, that? I didn't mention that, jeez, I'm really bad at this whole teaching thing… Right, well that was a skill I just used. There should be another bar under your Magic bar. That's your SP! It's hero exclusive from what I've found, and it allows us to use these skills! I unlocked first step from just absorbing some monsters, and once I unlocked the weapon form, I could use it with any of my daggers!"
"I see, I'll keep that in mind. There's probably going to be quite a few skills for me to unlock in the future right?"
"Yup! So be prepared to have multiple options to fight with! Though…" Eorna seemed to look up at the sky for a moment before speaking. "We should probably get you back before they send people out to look for us."
"Yeah, that would probably be for the best. Especially since you snuck us out. I'm assuming it would be the same entrance as last time?
"Yup! Now let's go! We don't want Amarita to be disappointed in us!" With that, Eorna grabbed Kurose's hand, dragging him behind her.
—
Kurose took several deep breaths. With just how far they had run, and how fast they had done it, he thought it was at least slightly deserved.
"Did… you really… have to make… do that?" He asked between breaths.
"Just think of it as training! It's all fine." She spoke with a grin. "Anyways you better make yourself look presentable. I heard that you have to learn magic next, right?"
Kurose nodded his head "Yeah, it makes sense as well, with my magic stat being so high. What's magic like in this world anyway?"
"Hmm. Well, it's a bit difficult to explain. I haven't even got a chance to use magic at all yet. All the kids back where I'm from did, but my parents never let me." She spoke with a small frown.
"So… I'll be ahead of you then?" Kurose spoke.
"Yeah, I guess so. So if I get stuck, I'll be expecting your help, got it?" Eorna said, poking him in the chest.
Kurose had a smile on his face. "Sure, I'll be happy to help you out, Eorna."
As the words left his mouth, the Duo turned their heads to the sound of a creaking door, with Amarita walking in.
"Dagger hero, Accessory hero. I trust you have been getting along?"
"Yup! Getting along perfectly fine! I'm assuming you are here to collect him for his magic lessons now?" Eorna spoke.
"That is correct, Dagger hero. I am here to collect him for his instructors."
"Stop calling me Dagger hero, I told you already, didn't I? Just call me Eorna! And on that note, When am I going to be learning magic?"
"They are still trying to set up stuff for you, Dagger Hero," Amarita spoke, masterfully ignoring what Eorna had told her to call her.
"Come along now, Accessory hero. We do not want to keep your instructor waiting."
"Yeah, alright. I… guess I'll see you later?" Kurose spoke questioningly.
"Yup! You're not escaping me that easily! We will be the best heroes, trust me!" She spoke with a smile.
Kurose couldn't help but smile back. Her excitement was infectious.
"Wasn't planning on getting rid of you. I will speak to you whenever I can. See you."
With that, Kurose left the room, following behind Amarita.
—
Kurose walked behind Amarita in silence. He had heard Eorna say there was nothing dangerous in the forest, and from what he could see, Eorna could definitely handle herself, so why did they need guards to follow them?
"Accessory hero?" Amarita spoke softly.
Kurose, having been caught up in thinking about why they weren't allowed out on their own, failed to notice that Amarita had been watching him.
"Can I ask what it is you are thinking about?" She asked.
"Well, it's just… you said we needed guards to watch over us, but Eorna could probably handle most of the stuff on her own right?"
"Well…" Amarita seemed to think about it before deciding on something that she accepted. "Whilst we understand that heroes may be stronger than the average person, being at such a low level is still dangerous. For example, you are a level one, and that means your stats are most likely no different than anyone else's at level one. When you do level up, you will certainly grow stronger than most regular people. Whilst it is true that the Dagger hero can most likely handle herself in these situations, if she has to look out for you as well whilst a swarm of monsters came, it may be too much for her to focus on, which is why I put emphasis on having the guards go along with you."
Kurose wisely kept his mouth shut at the mention of being level one. He wasn't going to be the one to correct her.
"I see… So, as long as we have guards with us, we should be allowed to go out to level whenever?"
"Yes, you should be allowed to, unless something drastic happens. Though whilst I would prefer that you learn to use a few basic Charmes before you go out to level, I am not able to stop you from doing so. All I ask is that you be careful in your endeavors."
"I guess that's fair enough, especially if Heroes are as important as you say. What's the instructor like?" Kurose asked curiously
"I… am not sure. It has been a while since he has been at the castle, in fact, I believe the last time he was here was when I first started on the job. Though, I have been told he is a reliable teacher."
"I mean, I guess if you say so, I'll trust you then. How much longer until we get there? I'm getting excited!"
Despite how much Kurose may have disliked learning, his excitement at being able to learn magic was overriding it. Who didn't like being able to use magic in any situation?
"Well, we are here right now. As I did before, I'll be leaving you here, and I'll be coming to get you once your lesson is done."
Kurose nodded, waving to her as she began walking away before entering the room.
—
Kurose looked at the man before him. He was covered by a blue cloak, small splatters of white interrupted the blue. He had a small beard, with it being a silvery color, much like a typical wizard might have. The only thing that broke the image of him being a typical wizard was the black hat with a red stripe around it, planted firmly on his head.
"Ah, I take it you are the Accessory hero, yes?" The man asked simply.
"I am, it's nice to mee-" Before Kurose could finish his sentence the man chucked something toward him.
He held out his hands, feeling something hit them before he looked down. It looked similar to the discs that the two people with Karuk had picked up yesterday.
"Do you know what this is?"
"I… no, I don't," Kurose spoke.
"Understandable. You were summoned only yesterday. Though I thought Amarita would have certainly told you." The man responded.
Kurose thought about it for a minute. "Wait, She said this was a… Charme?" Kurose spoke uncertainly.
"Indeed, so she did tell you! Did she say anything else?"
"Ah, no, she said it was my teacher's place to explain."
"I see, I see. I suppose it's only fair. She does have to teach you about the rest of the world, what these calamities consist of, and everything else. It's only valid that she leaves the Charme explanation to me."
"Okay, what should I call you?"
"Eh, it doesn't matter. Call me old man, teacher, whatever takes your fancy." He spoke with a shrug.
"You… don't want me to call you by a name?"
"Nope. Not yet at least. When I think you are worthy of it, I suppose I'll give it to you then, but until then? Make do with what you're given."
"Alright… I guess I'll just call you teacher for now then."
"Fantastic. Now, you've got a Charme in your hand, and I will explain to you how to activate it."
Kurose nodded, still holding the Charme, even as his teacher began to speak.
"I want you to put a finger on the Charmes and take slowly measured breaths. Get into a pattern."
Kurose did as he said, putting his index finger onto the Charme, following what his teacher was doing.
After a moment, the teacher spoke up once again.
"You should be able to feel a flow of mana in the back of your mind. It may be difficult to reach initially, it'll feel like a barrier is blocking your way. I want you to try and break down that barrier, alright?"
Kurose nodded his head, still taking slow and collected breaths. He shut his eyes, attempting to do what his teacher had said. He cast his focus on looking for the flow of mana that he had mentioned.
After some time, Kurose opened his eyes, jumping back slightly as it seemed his teacher had moved to stand directly before him.
"Hmm, I see that you were concentrating, but the Charme didn't activate. Can I ask what happened?"
"Well, I was doing the breathing stuff you said about, I looked for the flow of mana that you mentioned, but I just… I couldn't feel it. I couldn't even feel any sort of barrier like you mentioned. It's like it just… doesn't exist."
Was it because he was summoned from another world? No, that couldn't be it. Amarita had said that other Accessory heroes had been able to use magic, so it wasn't due to the summoning.
Then, a terrible thought struck him.
Could it… could it just be something with him? Was there just something fundamentally wrong with him that stopped him from being able to feel the flow of mana that his teacher had spoken about?
Even as Kurose slowly began to spiral into self-doubt about his own abilities, his teacher spoke up.
"It's not uncommon. Especially if you've never had to feel for magic in your life before. So long as you keep trying, it should be possible for you to do so."
Kurose looked down in relief. He had thought there was something wrong with him, but if it wasn't uncommon for something like this to happen… that made him feel better.
"Alright." His teacher spoke, clapping his hands together. "You can work on your issue with finding your mana later. Right now, I'm going to explain the basics of how these Charmes work. And I'll answer any question you throw at me."
Once Kurose nodded at that, his teacher began.
"Well, first off, these…" he showed the disc in his hand. "...are Charmes. They come in four tiers. Mega, Giga, and Terra and Zetta."
Kurose raised his hand as if he were in a classroom before speaking up. "Why are they called that? And what's the difference between the four tiers?"
"A good question!" His teacher responded. "The reason they are named that way… is because a previous Accessory hero named it that way. He said it reminded him of something, and the wording for the tiers of Charmes just stuck. As for the difference in tiers, that is slightly more complicated.
His teacher put a hand into his cloak, drawing out several Charmes before showing them to Kurose.
"Do you see the differences between the Charme you hold and these ones?"
"I… think so? Is it that they are slightly bigger?"
"That is part of it. The other is the material they are made of compared to your Charme."
Kurose reached out to touch the Charme and noted that it felt colder to touch.
"What's it made of?" Kurose asked curiously.
"It's made of metal from the Firnnost tree. Only found growing in the dwarven mountains. Difficult to harvest, even more difficult to buy. But it is a good, no, fantastic conductor for magic. This is a Zetta tier Charme. Much more effective than both a Terra and Giga tier Charme combined. It can contain two separate spells."
Kurose nodded his head. He didn't understand the significance of it being able to contain two separate spells, but he could make a guess that it was probably quite useful. All the while, he found himself wishing he had a notebook or something to write down this information.
"Then what are Mega and Giga and Terra Charmes made of?"
"Mega is made of simple wood, filled to the brim with Mana. Once that Mana is drained, it becomes inert until pumped full of Mana again. So it is seen as an expendable sort of Charme. Not the best for long journeys, I will say. As for Giga, they are made of both wood and leather. The leather used helps keep the mana contained, and stops any excessive waste during its activation."
He showcased both the Mega and Giga Charmes, and Kurose could see small strips of leather around one of them.
"As for Terra Charmes, they are an iron disc, with small scraps of Star Metal, as the dwarves call it. Something about the Star Metal allows it to naturally absorb Mana from the air, allowing it to be used for much longer. Should probably mention that it's also mixed in with the Firrnost trees metal for the Zetta Charmes.
Kurose nodded again. He was definitely going to need a notebook to actually remember all of this.
"Okay, I'm done asking questions for now. Sorry for interrupting."
"It's fine, student!" He exclaimed. "It shows that you wish to learn. Never let anyone discourage you from being curious. But back to what I was saying before. There are four tiers, and you write what you want to be done onto the Charme, using the magic script of our world. Once it is written onto the Charmes, you can use it until it is drained dry. Though you should be warned that whilst you are casting with the Charme, it will continue to drain Mana from you, attempting to keep itself full. They are quite greedy."
"What happens if you run out of Mana and it tries to take more?" He asked.
"Another good question. Well, it'll start off small, you'll feel more sluggish, your ability to do things may drop, and the like. It's nothing serious at first, but it continues to build up. Eventually, you can't do anything, and it may even knock you unconscious. Of course, usually, that's the end of it. When you're unconscious, the Charme will usually fall out of your grip. But if it doesn't…"
A grim look made its way onto his teacher's face as he spoke. "It'll kill you."
Kurose gulped. "I'll keep that in mind then. To add onto that question, is there any way to avoid that type of situation?"
"Indeed there is. You can obviously keep an eye on your Mana, but if you are fighting, then I'm almost certain you will be focused on other things, such as trying to survive. The other way is to write a failsafe into your Charme. Of course, that increases the mana cost of the spell, but it is worth it, just to not run the risk of collapsing, or even dying."
"Increase the Mana cost?" Kurose asked.
"Ah, I haven't mentioned that. The more complicated your spell, and the longer it is, the more mana it will drain. Hence why the Charme in your hands only has a couple of words on it."
"What do they say?"
"They say 'Emit Light.' Nothing fancy, but it gets the job done."
"I see. So what would a failsafe look like? Would it be something like 'Stop the flow of Mana after 5 seconds' or something?"
The teacher nodded his head. "That is one example of a failsafe, yes. The most typical one is usually along the lines of making the Charme stop absorbing its wielder's Mana once they have no more."
An idea popped into Kurose's head. "So it lets them keep casting until they run out. Could you also make it repeat the action after a time?"
"Ah, yes, you can! You're thinking smarter with them!"
"There are so many possibilities for Charmes… You could set a trap if you know the patrol route for a group of guards, you could use them as distractions…" He trailed off, the thoughts filling his mind.
"Yes, now you're getting it! But holding them isn't the only way you can use them."
"Not the only way?" Kurose was confused by that. How else could you use them? He asked as much.
"Think broader. What if you could slot in a Charme to something? Mayhaps a Shield, or even a weapon?"
"You could use them as a defense? Or even to improve your weapon?"
"You can, yes. When they are used for defense, for example in a shield or even armor, then we refer to them as wards. It could be something simple, such as making the equipment sturdier, or something like making a wall of wind to deflect arrows coming towards you and your allies."
Kurose nodded his head, starting to understand it more. "So, Charmes are used commonly in armor, right?"
His teacher simply shook his head at that. "They would be, if not for one thing. Mana is quite volatile. It will explode when under high pressure, and with how much is pumped into these Charmes… Well, I can imagine you could figure out what would happen if one were to be damaged enough?"
He thought about it for a moment before paling. "Is that why they spoke about not wanting to risk the kickback when I was summoned? They were concerned about the Charmes blowing up?"
"Indeed. The explosions are quite dangerous, that I can attest to. Though, not as dangerous as a certain train-wielding maniac…" He began to grumble to himself, shaking his head as he did.
"A… train-wielding maniac?" Kurose asked with confusion. "How does someone even wield a train?"
"Ah, a story for another time, I suppose. Just know that Charmes are dangerous if damaged, so I would recommend exercising caution when dealing with them. It's been a common strategy for people to damage the Charmes of people they want gone. It leaves no trace of their tampering, and it can be seen as a natural fault of the Charme."
"I'll keep that in mind. But… Well, why would I need to be worried about that? I mean, I'm the Accessory hero, meant to help stop the calamities, right?" Kurose asked his teacher with a straight face.
"Well, it's true that a majority of the world will see you as its savior, but there are some who may wish to get rid of you, whether that be for political reasons or reasons that only serve themselves. The first group I can think of would be one of the nine dwarven clans, Anzhuil."
"Why would they want to get rid of me? Is it just because I'm human or something?"
"No, no. Nothing as stupid as that. Dwarves are accepting of everyone, so long as you don't try to steal from them." He explained.
No, they want you gone because you are a hero. They despise all of them, from Holy to Lesser, due to past events."
"What happened to make them hate heroes?" It had to be something pretty big, especially if it made an entire clan of dwarves hate heroes. That was Kurose's thought process at least.
"Well, I am not really meant to be talking to you about this."His teacher spoke with a shrug. "I would say you should ask Amarita about this specifically, all you'll need to know is that you should come into contact with the Anzhuil clan, either be extremely wary or try to leave immediately."
Kurose nodded his head at that, even as his teacher looked out the window for a moment.
"I'll be taking my leave soon, I suppose. Are there any other questions relating to magic you want to ask me?"
"Oh, yeah. So are Charmes the only sort of magic in this world?"
"They are, though there have been rumors about some sort of genius claiming he can use Charmeless magic. I doubt that's the case, but he went silent a few months ago. Maybe he was found to be a hoax, or something happened. Either way, as far as I'm aware the only form of magic has been Charmes. If there was another… well, it would have been lost to time, or it would be a different spin on Charmes."
Kurose took note of that. He seemed to know most things about these Charmes, and he probably would have said before if there were different forms of magic, but what he had mentioned about that genius interested him. His claims of Charmeless magic
"The only true evidence of their being a different form of magic was written in a textbook from the dwarves. It claimed the Accessory hero of that time could only use that specific spell without a Charme, but it was quite a helpful spell, from what I read. Though, there was nothing about what the spell actually did. Either way, I'm sure that you will either be fine without it or find a way to recover that information. Though, if you do, I would like to know about it."
Kurose nodded his head at that.
"Well, Amarita should be here soon. I told her it was not likely to be a long lesson. Once you've managed to activate that Charme, get someone to fetch me, and I'll start the proper lessons, alright?"
"Yeah, I got it. I'll try my best to work it out." Kurose responded.
"That's good. Don't stress about how long it takes. Just keep at it."
With that said, the man walked up to the door.
"Just wait here for Amarita, alright? I'll see you once you have learned how to use the Charme." With that said, the teacher left the room, leaving Kurose on his own.
Though… he was still unsure of how to actually breach through, or even feel that barrier that his teacher had mentioned. He held the Charme in his hand before sighing.
"Guess this is my homework in this world, huh?" He spoke to himself. How ridiculous that a hero would be given homework on their first full day in a new world.