The next couple of days seemed to pass in the same pattern as the first.

In the mornings, he was left alone with Eorna who helped sneak him out of the castle so that he could level up and gain some weapon forms and levels he so desperately needed. They did bring guards with them a couple of times, but they mostly hung back, watching the pair. The Afternoons were spent with Kurose trying, and failing, to breach the barrier stopping him from using Charmes, with Eorna chucking ideas at him to try and help him.

It was during the second day of doing this that Kurose found out he could attack. Of course, whilst his priority was learning how to use Charmes, it was nice to know he could still punch things to deal some sort of damage, even if it was almost nothing compared to Eorna.

Of course, he would never be able to do as much damage physically as Eorna could with her dagger, but it was still helpful, as he had discovered with the monster they were currently fighting.

"Get it off me!" Kurose shouted, attempting, and failing to grapple with the spider that was currently clinging to his arm. Instead, he was punching its legs, which made it let out small screeches.

It was much larger than any spider he had seen back home, and it was opening him up to all sorts of fears he had never thought of. He slammed his fist into one of the spider's legs, shouting for Eorna as he did.

"Don't just stand there! Help me!" Kurose shouted, turning his head to Eorna as he desperately tried to stop it from biting into him.

"I'm trying to be careful! I don't wanna hit you!" She replied back before moving closer.

He held out his arm, even as the spider seemed to sink its mouth into the shirt he was wearing. Thankfully, it seemed to be thick enough that the spider wasn't digging into his arm. Who knew how much that might hurt?

With a swift and accurate slice, Eorna slashed at the spider's legs, easily severing them.

With the spider losing its legs so suddenly, it stopped its attempt at biting into Kurose to let out a screech of pain, but it was quickly silenced by Eorna.

"Jesus! It's so much bigger than anything in my world, as far as I'm aware! Just what do these things eat to grow this big?" Kurose spoke, turning to face Eorna.

"Well… these are pretty common as well you know? I remember finding a few of them where I lived when I was younger. They really scared me back then, you know, but now that I can deal with them, they are no issue at all!" She spoke with a grin.

"Yeah! Of course, they are easy to deal with for you! You have a dagger!" Eorna simply stuck her tongue out at him, and he sighed. He picked up the spider, moving it toward the gem on his bracelet.

It sucked up the corpse, and he was greeted with a new weapon form.

Weapon form unlocked!

Aransilk scarf

Rarity: Common

Abilities Locked Equip bonus: +2 agility

Special Effect: Glide

Gem Slots: 1

"Huh?" Kurose looked at the menu curiously for a moment before switching to it. He felt the bracelet disappear from his hand, finding a scarf wrapped around his wrist. He got to work unwrapping it from his wrist, even as Eorna watched on in apparent interest.

"The accessory sure is versatile, huh? You've only got a few weapon forms, but they are all so different from each other! I mean, you got a bracelet, an amulet, a scarf. What else? Earrings? Wait… would they automatically pierce your ears? Are your ears pierced?"

"Wait, that's a good question," Kurose spoke. "My ears aren't pierced, and I'm not really excited at the prospect of getting a new weapon form, only to find they made a small hole in my ears." Kurose let out a sigh at that.

"Hopefully it's like the scarf if it does happen, where it's just in my hand or something. Anyways, I have another question. What's a Special Effect? I just got one for the scarf." He spoke, slowly beginning to wrap the scarf around his neck.

"You already got a special effect? What's it called?" Eorna spoke excitedly.

"It's called glide, but I don't know how to use it. Do I need to shout it out like a skill? Or is it just passive?"

"Yeah, you need to shout it out like a skill! At least, I do for all mine. Maybe some of them don't need it though?" She spoke to herself, before once again speaking to Kurose. "Though, if it's called glide, it's probably not going to work on the ground," Eorna spoke. "Hmm… How about you climb up a tree or something and jump? I mean, it's not like you are going to get hurt that badly if you do end up falling. The trees here aren't that tall after all"

"I guess you are right, but still. Do I have to?" Kurose asked.

"It's better to figure out how it works now than having to rely on it working how you think it should, only for it to work a different way, right?"

"I guess. Just give me a moment then…" Kurose moved closer to a tree before he began his slow ascent up the tree. He was painfully aware of Eornas gaze on him as he slowly, but surely, made his way up the tree with, quite embarrassingly, a lot of effort.

He lay on the branch, breathing heavily, even as Eorna spoke.

"Come on! The quicker you try out that special effect, the faster we can get back to leveling!"

"Alright, alright! Just… give me a moment to prepare myself, alright?" Kurose called back.

He took a deep breath, making sure that the scarf was safely secured to him. It wasn't like it could fall off of his body, but still, it gave him some vague sense of safety. He shut his eyes as he stood up fully on the branch, slowly moving forward.

He felt the scarf seem to loosen around the back of his neck, causing him to panic slightly, but after a couple of seconds, he opened his eyes, looking down. He found himself seeming to slowly float downwards, much to his shock.

"Huh, that's neat. I guess It will just act as a safety net for high places if anyth-" He was cut off as he felt gravity finally take effect fully, with him hitting the ground with a groan.

"Ughhh… Why do I always find myself on the floor?" He spoke tiredly. He lifted himself up, rubbing his arms even as he turned to face Eorna, who seemed to be holding in her laughter.

"Stop laughing already… take pity on me or something. I just fell from a tree!"

"Okay, okay. Sorry." She spoke through bouts of laughter. Eventually, she made her way over to him, helping him stand up properly.

"Still, did you see what happened when you started gliding?" She asked.

"Sorry, I was kind of busy not panicking. All I know is I stayed up there for a short amount of time, then suddenly fell."

"Well, your scarf seemed to… unwrap itself from around your neck slightly? It was acting a bit like a glider. Considering how long it lasted, what you were saying before is right. It's probably just a safety net."

"Yeah, I guess so. It's nice to have, but… I can't really see any use in the future for it." Kurose spoke, shrugging his shoulders.

"I guess you are right. But it will still be nice to have, just knowing it's there, right?"

"Yeah, alright. Back to leveling then?" Kurose spoke with a smile.

"Yeah, let's get back to it," Eorna spoke with a smile.

Eorna and Kurose both walked back into her room after they had finished up their leveling. Kurose now found himself at a comfortable level 7. Not the highest of levels, especially when compared to Eorna, who was level 18, but still good for only being in this world for 3 days. At least, that's what Kurose wanted to believe.

The only other odd thing that happened on the way back was the way the guards seemed to be moving around in a panic as if they had been looking for something or someone. But there was no way their outings had been discovered, right?

Even as he moved to speak up, he felt Eorna elbow him in the guy, leading to him letting out a pained noise.

"Ooh… What was that…" His words died in his mouth as he turned to where Eorna was looking, only to find Amarita glaring at the pair of them.

"O-oh… Hi! How… How long have you been there, waiting for us?" Kurose asked nervously.

Eorna turned to face him in terror, and Kurose felt himself gulp involuntarily.

"Oh, let's see. I've been here for about an hour or so. I only sent a few guards to look for the pair of you because I was afraid the pair of you had been kidnapped or something. Nothing major, you know?" She spoke with barely restrained anger.

"O-oh? An hour? Well, you know… we…well, I asked Eorna to lead me around the castle you know? Show me everything I'll need to know?" Kurose spoke, hoping his lie wasn't detected.

"Cut it. I know you weren't in the castle. What were you doing?" She cut through his lie immediately, glaring at the pair.

"I… I wanted to get stronger, okay?" Kurose spoke up. "I kept bugging Eorna to take me out to level up without any guards around. I want to actually be able to help out, you know?" He hoped he could spare Eorna from any of the woman's wrath.

But much to his surprise, she seemed to deflate, letting out a small sigh. "I suppose that's better than the alternative. I'm sorry for that, it's just… we have received some bad news."

Eorna spoke up. "What's happened? What made you decide to look for us?"

Amarita looked at the pair before speaking slowly." What I'm about to tell you both does not leave this room unless I or someone else tells you that you are allowed to. Understood?" The pair of them nodded at that, looking at each other as they did.

Seeing that they both agreed, Amarita spoke slowly. "The king…his majesty, Ronald Brovask XI, has been killed."

Eorna seemed to be shocked by that information, immediately speaking up.

"What? How did he die? Wasn't he with guards? And wasn't he meeting with the Jewelery Tools hero?"

"He was meeting up with the Jewelery Tools hero, but from the lone soldier who managed to return, he said that the Jewelery Tools hero had already left by that point."

"Then what happened to the king?" Kurose spoke.

"That's what we are still trying to figure out. But... from what we managed to understand, it seems like the king may have been targeted. I doubt any monster short of a wave boss could defeat him and the elite guard he had."

"So they either snuck up on him or had an overwhelming level advantage?" Eorna spoke.

"It would seem so. That's why the guards were running around. They were looking for you two. We were afraid the same person who killed the king would go after the pair of you."

"I…yeah, that makes sense. I'm sorry for worrying you so much." Kurose spoke up, rubbing the back of his head.

"It's fine. At least you were doing it to make yourself feel more useful. But please, if you are going to go out, at least take a couple of guards." She spoke pleadingly.

"We will, so don't worry, okay?" Kurose spoke, promising her.

"That's good. Then, I suppose It is time for me to help you fulfill your roles as heroes, isn't it?"

Upon seeing both Kurose's and Eorna's looks of confusion, Amarita explained further.

"It relates to you helping to deal with the waves. As it currently stands, you will only be able to register to our hourglass at the moment. It will tell you when the waves are set to happen."

"Wait, there's more than one hourglass?" Kurose asked.

"There is. As far as I'm aware, there are four hourglasses. One resides here, as I mentioned before, whilst another two are in Palinfa to the West. The last is in the country in the Southeast, Dajero."

Eorna nodded at that. "Yeah, if I recall, Dajero moved the hourglass to a place considered sacred to past Dagger heroes, right?" She asked, receiving a nod in return.

"That is correct. Maybe once you two get a chance, you should both visit them? It will probably benefit you more, Dagger hero, but I'm sure you'll find something useful there as well." She spoke, addressing Kurose.

"Maybe. Still, it seems worth it. Are there places like that for the Accessory and Jewelry tools?"

"Maybe? I mean, it can't be only the dagger that's got a place like that, right?" Eorna spoke up.

"There may be places for the Accessory and Jewelery Toolss. I'll admit, I did not read heavily into it. I simply gathered information on the past Dagger heroes specifically once I heard that the Dagger had chosen someone"

"That's fine. It'll just have to be something I look for eventually, I suppose." Kurose spoke with a hum.

"I suppose you will have to." Amarita conceded. "Well? Let us get moving then. We have no time to waste if we want to get you to the dragon hourglass."

With that said, Amarita walked off, followed quickly by the two heroes.

Kurose was looking around in awe in the room that Amarita had bought the pair into.

The most noticeable thing off the bat was the giant hourglass in the center of the room. The sand inside it seemed to pour down at a set amount, with it seeming to be half empty. Near the center of it stood two red spinning orbs, which sent shivers down his spine.

The other thing that stood out to the Accessory hero was the number of guards that were stationed outside the door.

He couldn't find any sort of reason they might be there, and Kurose spoke up about it.

"Why are there so many knights out there? I mean, I know this thing can tell when the wave is coming, but it shouldn't need so many people, right?"

"It's mainly to stop anyone unwanted from coming into contact with the dragon hourglass. Though, they do serve two other purposes. The first is to reset a criminal's levels using the power of the hourglass."

"It can do that?" Kurose asked, shocked.

"Indeed. It is a common punishment, as it helps contain them easier. It can also help with a person's stats, provided they aren't a hero of course." Amarita responded easily

"What do you mean help with their stats?"

"Ooh, ooh! I can answer this one! There's a cap every 25 levels which you have to go to a dragon hourglass to break through! During that time, it offers you the option to adjust your stat growth!"

"Adjust their stat growth? So, they could put more emphasis on attack or something?"

"Yup! But, it sacrifices another stat to do so! So… for example, you might lose out on the bonuses of the class up for defense, but your strength would see a massive boost!"

"Huh, that does sound helpful if you want to specialize in something. Can we do that?" Kurose asked curiously. If he was able to do that, he might as well get rid of the entirety of the class-up bonus for his attack when he got to that point, it would just be a major waste, especially if he could focus it on his magic stat.

"Unfortunately not. Heroes can bypass the limit imposed by the hourglass, as well as progress past level 100, which is the cap for regular people like me."

"I guess that's a fair trade-off. Though, it seems weird that the limit is at 100. Surely there's got to be a way to bypass it, right?"

"There may be a way to bypass the limit that we have not discovered yet.." Amarita spoke up again. "Many people have attempted to discover it, but have not had any progress in figuring it out."

"Well, I guess it will be found eventually, but even then, I can't really imagine many people getting to that level, do they?" Kurose asked.

"That is correct. In fact, I believe there is a small book on all the people who have reached level 100, and it is very, very small. It mainly contains past heroes, but there is the occasional regular person, who has reached the pinnacle of strength that we can hope to reach."

"I see. Well, what do we do now that we are here? How do we actually link to the hourglass?" Kurose asked curiously.

"Simply raise up your weapon towards the hourglass, and it will do the rest of the work. I'll be going to get something important for the pair of you, so I will be back soon."

With that said, Amarita walked off to the side, beginning to talk with a knight who was stationed beside the hourglass.

He looked to Eorna, who stepped forward first. She raised her dagger to the hourglass before her, and let out a small gasp as the hourglass seemed to send a beam of light towards the gem in her dagger.

"Woah, that's weird. Come on Kurose! Link to it already!" Eorna spoke with a grin.

Before Kurose could move, he found himself being dragged toward the hourglass. With a sigh, he lifted his arm, showing the Spinling bracelet he had equipped to the hourglass.

Much like it had before, it sent a beam of light towards the gem, and his eyes widened as his view changed, now displaying a timer with the time counting down.

7:15:27:52

Kurose turned to Eorna. "There's a week until the wave. It says that for you as well, right?" Kurose asked.

"Yeah, it says that for me as well. Is it really that close to the wave already?" Eorna spoke.

"I guess so. We really need to figure out what the wave actually is."

"Oh, well… I can tell you about that I guess." She spoke slowly.

"Did you read up on it or something?" He asked, tilting his head slightly.

"Ah, no. It's not that I read up on it, but well… I was present when the wave hit Dajero. That's when I actually became the Dagger hero…"

"So, you've got first-hand experience? What was it like?"

"Well, it was terrifying, to be honest. One moment, the sky was clear. No clouds or anything around, then suddenly, there were cracks in the sky. Swirling patterns, with monsters dropping out of it. I really wasn't prepared for anything like that to happen."

Kurose listened intently, even as Eorna let out a sigh.

"There were only really a few adventurers in the town at that point. Mainly taking a rest before resuming their journeys, but they helped defend the village to the best of their abilities. Though, because there weren't enough of them, it didn't stop a lot of the deaths that occurred. I was being protected by one before one of the wave monsters separated me from him. I actually found myself being pressed into the stone that the Dagger was stuck into."

Kurose took a moment to think about it. There sure were a lot of mythical weapons in stones in plenty of stories, but he never thought he would hear of one in another world, especially with its wielder right in front of him.

"I… I'll admit I was fully expecting to die there. I probably would have as well, if I hadn't been chosen by the dagger…" Eorna trailed off as if stuck in her own thoughts.

Unknown to Kurose however, she was reliving that moment.

Eorna raised her hands futilely. She didn't mean to do it. It was just a simple reflex for her, whenever something towered above her, like they had before she had escaped…

She was waiting for it to strike down. For her wish to be left unfulfilled. And yet, that death she had been expecting to happen… simply didn't.

She watched in slow motion as the monster swung down. She watched as an orb of light seemed to float between her and the golem. She expected the orb to be swatted out of the way, and yet, the impossible happened.

The golem struck the orb and was sent stumbling back. Without meaning to, Eorna moved her hand to grip the glowing orb. She sensed several emotions from it for a moment, but the most prominent one was happiness.

But why was it happy? Just what was it that she had touched? Yet, even as the orb faded, a dagger seemed to replace it. She didn't have much time to admire it as the golem moved closer, intending to slam its arm down on her once more.

She scrambled to the side, desperately attempting to evade it, The arm smashed into the rock and-

"Eorna? Are you alright there?" Kurose asked softly, waving a hand in front of her face.

Eorna blinked as she was brought out of her memory. "H-huh? Oh, um, sorry about that. Just… lost in memories, you know?"

Kurose nodded at that, and Eorna spoke again. "So, like I said, I was chosen by the dagger during that wave. It was just hordes of monsters. There really wasn't much I could do, considering I was only a level 5, as well as being a brand new hero. What eventually happened was that the adventurers managed to group up, whilst I did my best to protect the other villagers. The adventurers eventually managed to kill the wave boss and the wave cleared up after that."

"I see. So, was that the first wave to strike?"

"As far as I'm aware, yes. There's been no news from Palinfa about any waves, and we have the evidence here that Ortensca has its wave in seven days."

"That's true. Did you manage to see how high of a level the monsters were?"

"Ah, no. I was like, level five when it happened, all I saw was question marks next to their names." She spoke quickly, shaking her head.

"I see. We really do need to level up more, don't we?" Kurose said with a frown.

"Yeah, we need to level up, get some more skills and all that, and get you to figure out how to use your Charmes!" Eorna spoke, crossing her arms.

"I know, I know! It's just, I can't feel anything inside me like my teacher said! He just said it's unique to everyone, so he can't really help me out…" He let out a sigh, even as Eorna seemed to think about it.

"Well, as long as you put your mind to it, it should be fine, right? I believe in you!" Eorna spoke with a grin.

"Thanks, Eorna, I appreciate it," Kurose spoke with a smile. Once again, he found her enthusiasm infectious.

"Heroes, I presume you managed to link to the hourglass successfully?" Amarita spoke, questioning the pair.

"Yeah, we did. It says there are seven days and 15 hours until the wave, so it seems like it's going to start around midday. What did you need to go get for us?" Kurose asked curiously. He could see two separate bags in her hand, but he was clueless as to what was inside of them.

"Sand from the hourglass. Despite what little we do know about the heroes, this is one thing we do know. It is said to give a weapon to the heroes that they will find extremely useful. Here, absorb the bag into your weapons."

She quickly handed the bags to both heroes, with the pair looking into the bag. As Amarita had said, there was sand that looked to be the exact same as the sand that was falling in the hourglass. Kurose would lower the bag towards his bracelet, watching as the gem seemed to glow slightly as he dropped it.

The bag and its contents were both absorbed, but only one weapon form was unlocked.

Portal Amulet

Abilities locked Equip Bonus: 3 Magic Defense, Portal Accessory

Kurose let out a small whistle at that. Whilst he would not be able to equip it for a long time, it would certainly be helpful when he did. Whilst he couldn't exactly see what the weapons skill did, just seeing its name gave him a decent idea.

"Yeah, this is going to be super helpful!" Eorna spoke with a grin. "It will save us so much time traveling when we get to it!"

"I'm glad that you both will find it useful, as the heroes before you have. Now, I believe I heard about the pair of you wishing to get stronger?" She asked curiously.

"Yeah, if we want the best chance of surviving the wave, we really need to level up more. I'm only level 8, whilst Eorna is level 20" Kurose spoke, nodding his head.

"That is true. I'll do my best to get some guards to go out with the pair of you. How far have you gotten into the forest around the city?"

"I have been keeping him with me in the outskirts of the forest, so we haven't gone that far in there. I was more concerned with him trying to learn how to fight, and how his weapon worked." Eorna explained.

"That is perfectly understandable. I believe that if I manage to get a couple of the elite guards registered to your party, they should be able to help you boost your levels deeper in the forest, as well as help you strengthen your weapons."

"That would be great, thanks Amarita!" Eorna spoke with a grin.

"It is no issue. It is my job to help out the heroes, after all." She spoke, smiling back at the pair softly.

"Now! Let's get the pair of you back to your rooms, whilst I sort everything out for Tom-"

The door was slammed open, with a voice shouting as it did. "Miss Amarita! Do you have the heroes with you?"

"Soren?" She spoke, concerned. "I do, why? Has something happened?"

"No, well, kind of? The prince wishes to meet with the pair of them, to discuss matters!" He called out again.

"I see. I'm afraid you won't be returning to your rooms yet I suppose." Eorna spoke.

"It's fine. I understand this is more important." Kurose spoke, with Eorna agreeing with him.

"Then, if you do not mind, I will be leading you towards the prince's quarters."

The walk towards the prince's quarters didn't take long for the group of three to travel. They had walked the entire way in silence, with only the sound of their footsteps filling the halls.

Amarita stopped for a moment before speaking. "My apologies, but I am not allowed to go any further. The door is straight ahead, and once the pair of you show your weapons, the guards should allow you access."

"Why can't you go any further?" Kurose asked, and Amarita responded quickly.

"Only those the prince has personally called for are allowed to enter his room, as well as those he holds in high regard."

"I see. I guess we will see you either later or tomorrow, right?" Kurose spoke with a grin.

"I suppose you will. Goodbye, for now, heroes."

"Bye Amarita! See you soon!" "See you then." The pair of them spoke with smiles, waving at Amarita as she slowly began to walk away.

Once she had turned the corner, both Eorna and Kurose turned to face the door. There was a large number of guards, and they both understood why. They were obviously on edge about the death of their king, and they wanted to afford all the protection they could for the prince.

It still didn't make it seem any less intimidating to the pair as they both walked closer. They were aware of all the guards staring at them before one stepped forward. "Halt! Identify yourselves!"

Eorna held out her dagger, whilst Kurose switched back to his necklace, letting the guard see it.

"I am the Dagger hero, and my friend here is the Accessory hero. The prince called for us, and we have arrived, as he asked." Eorna spoke in a serious tone.

"I see. The prince has explained that he wished to speak to you both individually. He specifically asked for you first, Dagger hero." The guard spoke, his stare swapping between the pair of them rapidly.

"That is fine. Kurose, I'll see you soon."

"See you soon Eorna."

With that, Eorna stepped forward, one of the guards opening the door for her as she walked into the prince's quarters, leaving Kurose standing outside on his own.

The guard who had stopped the pair of them moved back to his original position against the door, even as Kurose looked around. There really wasn't much for him to do, and he didn't imagine the guards were going to be very talkative.

Slowly, Kurose leaned against the wall, his eyes shut as he once again focused on the Charme in his hands.

He tried to feel around inside himself, searching for that feeling that his teacher had spoken about. Yet, despite that, he still couldn't do it.

He opened his eyes with a frustrated sigh, slumping against the wall. Why was it so difficult for him to learn magic in this world?

Surely the weapon would give him a tutorial or something about it in the help menu! But no, he had looked through it multiple times, in the vague hope something to help him would be there, but there was always nothing.

He let out another sigh, still holding the Charme tightly in his hands, even as another voice spoke up.

"Are… Are you trying to activate that Charme, sir hero?" The voice asked.

Kurose turned to face the person who had spoken, noticing they seemed just as tall as he was. He couldn't make out much more due to the armor he was wearing, but he did notice that the armor was not made of metal. If anything, it seemed to be made of thick leather, as well as a scarf made of some unfamiliar material, which was glowing much like the one he had seen on his first day.

"That's amazing… to think a hero would already be trying to learn to use Charmes…"

Kurose rubbed the back of his head, straightening up. "Well, you know, the keyword is still learning. I can't actually use it at all yet. It's supposed to just glow once I activate it, but…" He waved the Charme slightly, showing how it still isn't glowing.

"But still, to think you were only summoned a few days ago, and you are already digging into studying how the magic works…"

Kurose looked the guard over before speaking. "Can I ask what the scarf is? I saw one on my first day here, but I didn't ask about it because… well, I'm still trying to adjust and organize everything, you know?"

"Oh, this?" He lifted the scarf slightly before speaking again. "Well, it was made out of the skin of a Peron that I defeated myself."

"A Peron?" Kurose asked.

"Yeah! It's a bird monster that's usually found on shorelines. All the knights have something similar to this, though it's not always a scarf like this one is."

"How do they all have something like that?"

"Well, it's considered a sort of exam in the knight academy. At the end of your time there, you are usually sent out with a small group of other soldiers to hunt down a group of monsters and are tasked with bringing them back. Once you do bring them back, you can choose what sort of accessory you want made out of them, and they will make it for you."

"That is cool, but that still doesn't explain the glowing," Kurose spoke simply.

"Oh, that's because…" He quickly took the scarf off, showing that there was a charm nestled between the folds."It usually gets a bit cold, so we are given these heating Charmes to keep. They take the mana they need from us to keep working, and we have to do nothing to actually activate them or anything. It is super helpful! Do you want to feel it?"

"I… sure, I would love to," Kurose spoke. He quickly accepted the scarf from the guard before him, and a pop-up appeared on his screen, even as his necklace seemed to vibrate ever so slightly.

Weapon Copy System Activated!

Peron Skin Scarf Conditions met!

Peron Skin Scarf

Rarity: Common

Abilities Locked Equip bonus: Water Damage Resistance (Small)

Gem Slots: 1

He didn't even realize he could do that. Could he just hold any sort of accessory and get a weapon form from it? If he could, that was ridiculous! He could get so many weapon forms from just going into a jewelry shop or even a tailor!

He moved that information to the back of his mind, letting his hand move along the scarf.

"Hmm, whoever made this put plenty of care into it. There are no visible mistakes from what I can see, and…" Kurose checked over the leather, nodding his head as he did. "The leather doesn't have any cracks in it either. It seems like you have been taking good care of it."

"That's right!" The guard spoke proudly. "I use a nice little leather cream on it every couple of weeks. Every other night, I make sure to use a damp towel to give it a small little clean. It was one of the first monsters I actually killed, so it's personal to me. I want to make sure it stays in one piece."

"That's perfectly understandable, and I'm glad you are taking care of your scarf. I knew quite a few people back in my world who would sling their accessories everywhere, and complain when they were stained by anything. I would like to meet whoever made it. I was never brave enough to even try making stuff out of leather."

"Well, I'll see if I can get in contact with her, and I'll see if I can set up a meeting between the two of you! I'm sure she would be happy to host the Accessory hero!"

"I would appreciate that a lot. Thank you." Kurose spoke softly. He handed the scarf back to the guard, who seemed happier than before he had praised the effort he had put into maintaining the scarf.

And he should be proud! Kurose thought, a small smile on his face.

Even as Kurose moved back to the wall, and the guard back to his position, Kurose was scared by the sudden slamming of doors.

He watched as Eorna appeared in the middle of the hallway, looking around desperately. Her eyes locked onto him, and she desperately ran to him.

"Kurose! We have to get-"

"Guards!" A voice called out from the room. "Stop the Dagger hero! Make sure she doesn't escape!"

The guards, with the exception of a few who seemed confused by the order, burst into action, all beginning to rush toward Eorna. Kurose threw himself in front of her, shouting as he did.

"What the hell are you doing? She's a hero! You aren't supposed to kill the heroes of this world, are you?" He called out.

Those who had their weapons drawn hesitated, seeming conflicted before the voice spoke again.

"I am simply taking back what she took from me."

"What do you mean what she stole? She has been with me these last few days!" He called back.

The voice moved closer, revealing who it belonged to. Taking a closer look, the main thing that Kurose noticed was the sand-colored hair and the way it rolled down the back of his head.

"That is between me and the Dagger hero. But if you must really know…" The man let out a sigh, running a hand through his hair as he spoke.

"The Dagger hero was the one who ordered the death of my father, King Ronald Brovask XI. I am simply taking my opportunity to give her the punishment that is required."