Before starting this chapter! an announcement!

there is now a MWP discord server you can join! it contains all the MWP authors, plus their stories, and we would be bappy if you would join us there!

Discord: discord. g g/ptcfw87p (split slightly because of how ffn blocks the link and all that)

anyways, back on to the regularly scheduled chapter!

Kurose was woken from his sleep by Eorna nudging him awake.

"Mmm… what is it…" Kurose spoke sleepily, turning himself over so he could stare at Eorna.

Eorna let out a yawn, before speaking. "It's your turn to keep watch whilst I get some sleep."

"Yeah yeah, just… give me a second." Kurose slowly began to stand up, tilting to the side slightly as he tried to gain his balance.

Sleeping on the floor had done him no favors, and while he was feeling slightly better after getting some sleep, his body certainly didn't share that feeling. Parts of it were sore from having to sleep on the ground.

"I think that getting a sleeping bag or just something to not sleep on the cold ground is going to be high up on our list of things to get… if only to make this entire thing more comfortable."

Eorna let out a small hum, seeming to agree with him before lowering herself to the floor. He saw her shut her eyes, her breathing beginning to slow. He watched the entire process and was shocked at just how fast she fell asleep. He usually struggled for a bit before sleep finally took him, and here she was, just falling asleep immediately!

He let out a sigh, shaking his head before going back to his menu. He noticed that at some point during the night, he had gone from level 8 to level 9. Had Eorna killed something that came close to them? He had told her to wake him up!

He'd talk to her later about it. Probably. He moved to sit on the fallen log, putting a hand on his chin, even as he began to tap his foot against the floor.

He wanted to figure out how to be useful in fights. He had several different accessories he could use. There was the ring he had just recently unlocked, though that would not be usable until he leveled up a bit more. Could he use the ring to punch something? His thoughts

wandered for a moment, and he shook his head at that. He remembered a classmate who had punched a wall with a ring on his fingers. The aftermath of it hadn't been pleasant in the slightest. He had almost immediately regretted it and broken his finger.

He had his bracelet weapon forms. Maybe he could use them to block attacks? If it was his legendary weapon, it probably wouldn't break. The issue was actually learning to parry in a safe environment. He didn't want to make a mistake and have a sword or anything buried in his arm. It would most definitely hurt, a lot.

He let out a sigh at that, shaking his head. The main thing he would have to focus on was actually figuring out what counted as an accessory for his weapon. Did it limit itself to only worn accessories? Because as far as he could see, that was the only sort of accessory he was unlocking. Then again, he was just starting to figure out that his weapon could unlock other sorts of accessories, so there was a chance it may unlock other types as it progresses.

He let his mind wander as he looked into the forest. He thought he could see some sort of movement in the forest, but if Eorna had killed anything that came close, then they were probably extremely wary, which would hopefully prevent them from coming any closer. Kurose was content to leave them alone if they left him to his thoughts.

Just why had he been summoned as the accessory hero? Just what role did he exist to fulfill? The people who had summoned him had claimed he was the key to them surviving against the waves, or something along those lines. And yet, why did they need to summon him specifically? Just what good could he actually do if he couldn't even fight against the waves himself, and had to rely on others to fight for him?

Kurose put his hands on his scarf, slowly unwrapping it from his neck and holding it in his hands. He could see the gem glint slowly as if trying to tell him something, but he simply ignored it.

"Why did you choose me to be your wielder?" He asked quietly. He didn't know what he expected. An answer? A reason? He didn't know, and yet, he was still disappointed by the silence that filled the clearing, even as he continued to look down at his scarf. It didn't matter in the end. If he was going to be called the Accessory Hero, he would fight the waves to the best of his abilities. It was the least this world deserved, after summoning him of all people.

Kurose let out another sigh, looking up to the sky. It was still dark, but he could see the sun peaking over the horizon ever so slightly. Had he really been asleep that long? With a small shake of his head, he kept watch as Eorna had asked of him.

After six hours, which Kurose had managed to time thanks to the timer counting down in the corner of his vision, he slowly shook Eorna awake. She didn't respond to his initial attempts, prompting him to start shaking her harder.

"Ughhhh …" She let out a groan, rubbing her eyes slowly before speaking up. "Kurose? What are you doing in my room…"

Kurose tilted his head at that. "I… I'm not in your room? Don't you remember what happened yesterday?"

"Yesterday? Um… give me a moment to wake up and remember…" She shifted slowly, stretching her arms slightly before yawning.

"Lets see… we went out levelling… registered to the hourglass, absorbed some sand… and then…" Her eyes widened, and she began to look around in a panic.

"Oh, we are still outside. That's… that's good." She spoke in a slightly less panicked voice. "We should probably get moving, right?"

"Probably, but if you need some more time to wake up, take it. We probably won't be stopping for anything until we are much, much further away."

"Yeah, that sounds good. Though, we should probably get some of the ingredients needed to actually make the recipe in my dagger."

"Yeah, we should probably keep an eye out for that stuff then. Also, what did you do last night to level me up?"

"Oh, that. I just dealt with some more Spinlings that came close to us. Nothing dangerous or anything." She spoke, still rubbing her eyes slightly.

Kurose studied her for a moment, nodding as he did. "If you are sure. Come on, let's start moving."

Eorna stood up slowly, nodding her head as she did. "Let's go then!"

The duo began to walk, leaving behind their sleeping spot as they slowly began to travel into the forest once again.

"So, what do you want to talk about?" Eorna spoke a couple of moments later, apparently unable to deal with the silence.

"Well, there are a few things, but I'm not really sure where to start."

"Why don't you just say some stuff you want to ask about, and I'll answer the easiest one there for you? And we can just go from there."

"That sounds good. Let's see… Are there any other races here? I know about Dwarves. Amarita mentioned a Dwarven king, but I'm thinking stuff like elves, goblins, and that sort of stuff. What about nations? I've only heard of three so far, but there's got to be some more, right?"

"Well, I'll start off with the nations, as that's the easiest, but I'll come back to the races because that's linked to this. So, you have heard of Palinfa, Dajero, and obviously, Ortensca, where we are right now. Palinfa is ruled by the Lesser Jewelry tools wielder, Matthias Orezmund after dealing with the rebellions from his siblings."

Kurose listened intently. Any information about their fellow hero was good, as it helped him build a profile on what he was like. Plus, he still wanted to know more about the kingdom of Palinfa, and its succession crisis that the Jewelry tools wielder was a part of. It had piqued his interest when Amarita had been telling him about it.

"There is also the dwarven kingdom, but they are protected by Palinfa, due to an old treaty from… ages ago really."

"Anything else? Or is it only Dwarves" He asked. If it ended up being only Dwarves and Humans, he wasn't going to be that disappointed.

He knew just how much dwarves valued gems and precious metals, at least in fiction from his world. Plus, the fact that they were said to be master smiths in those same works of fiction? He could already imagine he could get some powerful weapon forms from them, which could help them out in their battle against the waves!

"Ah, no other races exist, as far as I'm aware at least. Did Dwarves and other races exist in your world?"

"Well, no. It's only humans there. We don't even have monsters in my world. No levels or anything."

"What? So you don't have heroes or all that?" Eorna asked with a frown. "What do you do if something happens?"

"Well, I never said we didn't have heroes. It's just, most heroes were ages ago, and there is rarely a reason for heroes to actually rise up these days. Everything is dealt with by departments. Like, if there's a fire? The fire department gets notified and they deal with it as soon as possible. Same for crime scenes, except it's the police who get notified."

"So you did have heroes in your world? What happened to them?" She asked excitedly.

"Hey! Weren't you supposed to be explaining stuff about this world to me?" he asked playfully. "How about this? You tell me everything here, and then I'll tell you about some heroes from my world, alright?"

"Okay! You've got a deal!" Eorna held out her hand, and Kurose took it, shaking it with a small smile.

"Right, I'll say more about dwarves later, but for now, all you need to know about the Dwarves is their kingdom is inside of Palinfa's borders. They are encircled by them, but they don't really have many above-ground settlements. It's rare to see a Dwarf outside their kingdom or Palinfa really, but it does happen."

"So, what is the Dwarves' country called?" Kurose asked.

"Oh, it's called…Va… Vakn…Vaka?" Eorna seemed to struggle to say it before giving up, speaking once more. "I was trying to say it in dwarvish, but I can't," Eorna spoke sadly. "It's called the Brightsteel Empire."

"Brightsteel empire, huh?" Kurose spoke, nodding his head.

"Yeah, it's named after their signature metal. They claim that it appeared from meteors that crashed into the world. Apparently, the metal will only break under the hardest of challenges, and even then, it's hard to find something that would actually be able to challenge it."

"I see. I can kind of understand the situation in Ortensca, considering we are currently in the midst of it, but what about Dajero? You said something about the churches, and how they are split."

"Yeah, like I said before, the churches in Dajero are split over the lesser Dagger. The more… fanatical side already tried to stop me from leaving the country, but I managed to get through with help from some guards from Ortensca. As for the other side, like I said before, they probably wouldn't like that some nobody like me is wielding the lesser Dagger, and would probably want to try and replace me."

"So, is Dajero a theocracy or something? Do they have a high priest that listens to both sides and decides on the course of action? Do they try to sway him or something?"

"A Theocracy?" Eorna asked curiously.

"I guess not then. Who rules Dajero?"

"Oh, it's Queen Lamarea. She rose to the throne recently, and has been trying to curb the church's influence in the country, but… Since they have been ingrained into the country for so long, it's kind of a difficult thing to do."

"Trying to curb the church's influence? You really do know quite a lot about the goings on for being a nobody, don't you?" He spoke teasingly, a smile on his face.

Eorna let out a small cough. "I… Well, you see…" Eorna kept speaking, interrupting herself constantly before finally managing to get what she was saying out. "Well, it's just that I had to study up a lot, you know? My parents expected it of me and all that…"

"Hey, hey, it's fine. You don't need to explain yourself to me. It was just some teasing, alright?"

"I, um yeah. So, the Churches really don't like her, but they can't act against her directly, you know?"

"I can imagine, especially if they had almost free reign with every other ruler. But, are there actually only four countries?"

"Yeah, hundreds of years ago, there were plenty of smaller, separate countries, but they all eventually started merging, whether it was due to the waves, or some neighboring country being ambitious with their conquests. And I guess most countries didn't bother breaking away because they considered it safer than trying to fight the waves on their own and having to stay safe with all the other bigger countries looking at them for weakness."

"Yeah, I can see it being easier to remain part of a bigger empire. I guess some probably even gave up their lands willingly in return for titles or anything like that, especially since it gave them more safety from the waves, right?"

"Yup, that's right!" Eorna spoke with a grin.

"But what about the North? I haven't heard anything about things in the North." Eorna shifted slightly at that, speaking quietly.

"Well... you wouldn't really find much in the north, other than desert. It was destroyed by a large monster several decades ago. It destroyed the kingdom that was there entirely. All that remains is ruins..." Eorna spoke.

Kurose looked down at that. Just what sort of monster was it that could cause an entire kingdom to fall to ruin? Was it still alive over there, or had it been defeated by someone?

The silence lingered for a moment as Kurose thought it over, but Eorna spoke up, breaking it.

"Now, I guess I'll answer your other only other race in this world is Dwarves. Just so I can get a reference, how are dwarves spoken of in your world?" She asked.

"Well, they are said to be the best craftsmen, making the best armor and weapons in stories, whilst also being drunkards when they get the chance. They are also described as short, and they live in mountains."

"Huh. Well, you got a bit of it right. They are fantastic craftsmen, maybe not the best, but they are pretty good. A lot of accessories made by them sell for quite a bit, but they are difficult to get outside Palinfa. They also do live in the mountains, as well as underground. I've heard their mountain cities are some of the best views you'll ever get." Eorna let out a sigh at that, looking up to the sky. "I really want to go to the dwarven capital…"

She shook her head for a moment, before speaking again. "Right, back to what I was saying. As I said, you got a bit of it right, but some parts of your knowledge are off. As far as I'm aware, a majority of dwarves actually dislike alcohol. I believe the only reason they actually produce it is for trading."

"And what about height? Are they actually short, or are they different here?"

"Oh, they are still short. Just… don't say it to a dwarf, or you might get attacked." Eorna spoke with a smile.

"I'll make a note of that." Kurose spoke with a nod of his head.

"Right, what else is there about dwarves… Oh right, they are a super short-lived race, with one exception. Their king, Kvistor." She spoke simply.

He simply nodded his head at that. He had been told about Kvistor by Amarita, if only briefly.

"Compared to the rest of his subjects, he's ancient. People believe he is well over 300 years old by this point. There are even rumors that he may have been there to see the first heroes summoned!"

"Seriously? Over 300 years ago was the first summoning?"

"Well, that's what people say. But there really aren't any history books that date that far back, so we just have to rely on what the dwarves say about their king."

"Back to the dwarves real quick, you mentioned that they have short lives, right? How short are we speaking? And how is it that this… Kvistor has lived so long?"

"Well, by short lives, I mean like 30 years at most. Dwarves are considered adults by five years old, and they can choose whatever they want to do with their lives from that point on."

"What, so the king has lived 10 dwarven lifetimes at the minimum?"

"Yup. I can't imagine living that long. It must get really lonely, watching everyone you know die around you, whilst you just don't age."

"Yeah, it must really suck…" Kurose could only shake his head at that

.

"Right, I think that is everything for now. Now it's time for you to fulfill your end of the bargain! Tell me about some heroes in your world!"

"Alright, alright. Any specific type of heroes you want to learn about?"

"Not really. I'm just curious as to what the heroes in your world were like."

"I see, then let's start with…"

Kurose began speaking, watching as Eorna smiled at him telling the stories of these past heroes, even as the pair continued to walk on.

"All of those heroes really existed in your world?" Eorna asked curiously.

"Well, some of them are up for debate, but a good majority of them are real."

"That's amazing! But, what caused your world to need so man-" Eorna stopped speaking, grabbing Kurose's arm before pulling him back.

"Huh? What's up?"

"There's a monster in front of us, see?"

Kurose looked toward the spot Eorna was pointing at. He couldn't see anything. Only more trees surrounded the one that Eorna had pointed out.

"What are you trying to point…" He let out a small gasp as he saw something on the tree shift slightly.

"What is that?" Kurose asked quietly.

"I'm not sure. I only saw it because it shifted as I looked over to it like it just did."

"Alright, what's the plan then? I'm still pretty useless in combat. Maybe I can just distract it?" He suggested, earning a hum from Eorna.

"That sounds good."

"Oh, also, since I'm distracting it, you can probably use your Charme as well, just to make sure it doesn't catch any sight of you."

"Yeah, that's a good plan. I'm ready when you are."

Kurose took a deep breath, moving forward out of the cover of the bushes. He watched as the monster seemed to unwrap itself from around the tree, dropping to the floor.

Camouflaged Thread Spitter

The name popped up as Kurose focused on it, and it began to move. The Thread Spitter opened its mouth, shooting out small globs of white liquid. Kurose managed to dodge the globs, and he watched as they hit the floor, or trees behind him.

They seemed to hiss slightly before exploding on impact, causing several thread-like things to actually wrap around whatever was hit. He was thankful he wasn't hit because that would have been the end of his role in this battle almost immediately.

He focused back on the Thread Spitter, watching as it seemed to slowly crawl towards him. Kurose kept an eye on it, dodging all the globs it shot at him. He didn't hear any more hissing from the globs, and that left him confused. From the looks of it, the Thread Spitter hadn't even been aiming at him.

It kept shooting globs, none of them hitting him, and he had to wonder if there was something wrong with the monster's vision. Did it have horrible eyesight during the day or something?

He dodged to the side as the Threadworm lunged at him once again, only for him to feel his foot sink into something. He looked down, seeing the familiar white glob that the Threadworm had shot, and he cursed. He heard the hissing, and he threw himself to the side, watching as the threads seemed to whip upwards, intent on grabbing anything above them before settling down.

"So this thing sets up traps for its prey to walk into? Damn, that's pretty good. Hope I get something like that for absorbing it." Kurose spoke to himself.

He dodged another lunge of the Thread Spitter, only to find himself yet again stepping on another trap it had placed. This time, however, he wasn't as fast, and he felt his leg get encased in the threads from the glob. The Thread Spitter slowly started moving closer, its mouth opening again. He could see the glob in its mouth, and he shut his eyes, waiting for something to happen.

And yet, nothing did. He opened his eyes again, seeing the Threadworm limp on the floor, a couple of cuts along its side, dragging across its entire body. He looked up to see Eorna smiling next to it.

Eorna EXP 100

Kurose EXP 80

Kurose noticed that it pushed him to level 10, which would allow him to actually use the two weapon forms he got yesterday, plus hopefully, the one he was about to get.

"Need some help over there?" She asked.

"Yeah, if you wouldn't mind cutting these threads off me. Super difficult to actually move my leg with these on."

Eorna moved closer, quickly cutting the threads on his leg. They dropped down to the floor easily, and Kurose lifted one up.

He watched as the gem in his scarf seemed to glow as he moved it closer, and when he pulled it away, it seemed to stop.

"Huh, does this help tell me what can and can't be absorbed?" He spoke curiously. Eorna looked at it in curiosity, as well, and watched as Kurose absorbed the Thread Spitters thread.

Threaded scarf

Rarity: Common

Abilities Locked: Agility 3, 'First Thread'

Gem Slots: 1

Kurose swapped to the weapon form quickly. It didn't look like anything special, just a regular scarf with several loose threads at the end, as if it had been picked at for a while.

"Did you unlock that by absorbing just the thread?" Eorna asked in surprise.

"Yeah, apparently so. I thought it was only ores and monsters themselves we could actually absorb, but guess not."

Eorna quickly picked up some of the thread, her weapon absorbing it eagerly.

"It's got a skill, but other than that, it's just a boost to my speed."

Kurose nodded his head at that. "Just give me a second to try out this skill. I want to see what it actually does."

"Sure, go ahead."

Getting confirmation from Eorna, Kurose spoke.

"First Thread!"

He watched as a green thread seemed to materialize next to him as if waiting for a command. Hesitantly, he pointed towards a tree, and he watched the thread move forwards, seeming to wrap around the tree quickly.

"Huh. That is pretty neat, I'll give it that. An actual useful skill I can use in battle. Plus those other two weapon forms I got last night, I'm certainly growing stronger."

"That's great! " Eorna spoke with a grin. "You can entangle the enemies whilst I go in for a hit! This means we can work even better together!"

"Yep, it is good. And I won't feel like dead weight in combat as much now."

"You weren't dead weight before! You were still trying to get used to everything!" She spoke, slowly starting to split the Thread spitter in two.

"Well, yeah, but considering I was making you do most of the work, it still damages a man's pride, you know?"

"Oh, what about when the city saw me dragging you around? What did your man's pride say about that? Or when that spider jumped on you and I-"

"That's enough! I would like to forget the city saw me being dragged around by you! And that spider doesn't count! I have never, and I mean never, seen a spider that big! Anyone from my world would act the same in that situation!"

"Sure. I'll do my best to forget that for you as well then, alright? I'll ignore how you screamed when it jumped onto you for the first time, and how you were begging me to kill it."

Kurose glared at her for a moment, and Eorna stared back before the pair broke down laughing.

"Just when did you start acting like this? You weren't like this the first few days, were you?" Kurose asked

"Well, I was still trying to find my footing and all that. How I should act around you, considering you were the legendary hero? But seeing how you didn't really expect any sort of special treatment, I just let myself slowly relax, you know?" Eorna explained.

"Ah, yeah. I completely forgot that most people would probably be more focused on the fact that I'm a hero and all that. Well, at least I'll have you to bring me back down to earth if my ego ever gets too inflated from people praising me." Kurose said with a smile.

"I'll do my best then. Here's your part of the Thread Spitter." Eorna motioned to the cutoff part of its body, with Kurose moving closer to it.

Did those globs he spat out get stored in those spots?

He shook those thoughts away. He quickly absorbed the Thread Spitter, unlocking another weapon form.

Camouflaged Thread Spitter Scarf

Rarity: Common

Abilities Locked: Equip bonus: 5 agility

Gem slots: 1

"Huh, so no sort of skill to put down traps like that thing did? That's a shame, but still, I have at least got two new skills to use for today." Kurose spoke with a nod.

"Yeah, I didn't get a skill from this either, but I still got a nice agility equip bonus. And I saw that you leveled up from this fight as well, so that's good!" Eorna spoke happily.

"Yeah, but like we said yesterday. We still need to grow stronger." Kurose reminded her.

"I know, I know. But still, we are making good progress, at least I think so." Eorna replied. "I mean, I know we now only have… 6 days until the wave, but considering you were summoned, and we only really leveled up for like an hour at most each day, you being at level 10 is already pretty good.".

"You do make a good point. But at the very least, I would like to be level 20, just to actually be sure I can contribute something to the wave, you know?"

"I know what you mean. We should be able to get you to level 20 before the wave, especially if we do keep fighting stuff wherever we are headed."

"Yeah, that's good at least." Kurose spoke. yet despite that, it didn't wipe the concerned look off his face.

"It will be alright, trust me! Plus, from what I did hear before, the Jewelry tools hero had registered at the hourglass when it started to count down, so we can always rely on him if things do get too tough!" Eorna spoke with a smile.

"And why didn't you tell me this before!?" Kurose shouted back.

"Well, it probably would have demotivated you, right?" Eorna spoke simply.

"Well, maybe, but I still would have wanted to grow stronger! It's not like I was just going to sit back and do nothing whilst you and the Jewelry tools are out there doing everything! I'd want to be alongside you, helping you fight!"

"Even if you had the chance to leave it to us? You'd still want to fight?" Eorna would ask.

She had a confused look on her face as if she couldn't understand why he would choose to willingly fight instead of letting other people do it.

"Eorna, before I was summoned, I was about to die. In fact, I might have died, that car might have run me over. But it doesn't change the fact that I'm alive now. I was saved when I was summoned to this world. So regardless of how it treats me, regardless of how I'm treated by the people, I'm still going to fight. I'll do my best to stop the waves because this world…" he gestured around himself. "It saved me."

Eorna simply stared at him, nodding her head slightly. "I understand. I just didn't want to tell you for the reasons I said before, you know? I didn't want you to become demotivated and all that."

"I understand. I do, It's just, please don't keep things like this from me in the future, alright? I would prefer to know everything that's going on. So I at least know what to expect when stuff does go down."

"I won't keep it from you anymore then. Just keep up your attitude of wanting to get stronger, alright?"

"I will, I will."

The pair grinned at each other, before slowly beginning to walk through the forest once more.

As it turned out, the Thread Spitters body had apparently counted as meat for Eorna's recipe. much to both their shock and Kurose's disgust, which had led to the situation they were in right now.

"I'm not going to eat that! Why the hell would I want to eat worm meat?" He shouted to her.

"Oh come on! You haven't even eaten anything since yesterday morning, at the very least! You need something, no matter how bad it may taste!"

"But a worm!? Surely we can at least find something better than that!" Kurose replied.

He shifted slightly, only to feel Eorna grab his body, pushing him down to the floor. He struggled to move, even as she made her way to sit on top of his chest, speaking once more.

"You will be eating the stew, and that's final! You can't afford to go around on an empty stomach, and we cannot afford to be picky about what we eat. It's lucky enough that the worm actually counted as enough meat to make the damned stew! Now we are going to wait here, and then we will eat the stew, alright?"

Kurose grumbled to himself. He really did not feel like having worm stew, in the slightest.

They remained like this for a moment, even as Eorna seemed to tap the air, and then, she held her hand to the gem of her dagger. Kurose watched in interest as one wooden bowl seemed to appear in her hands, a spoon already in the stew.

She moved off of Kurose, looking at him cautiously as if she was afraid he would run away. He wouldn't of course. He would eat the damned stew, even if he didn't like it. He just hoped it wasn't too bad.

She handed him the bowl, and Kurose looked at it. He couldn't exactly see any chunks of worm meat in there, but then again, he wasn't sure what worm meat looked like when cooked.

Eorna took out another bowl, putting her dagger on her side, even as Kurose hesitantly lifted up the spoon. He got a spoonful of the stew, slowly lifting it to his mouth, even as Eorna looked at him. He let the spoon slowly enter his mouth, and his eyes widened.

"Is it alright?" Eorna asked.

"I... I don't know. it... it seems like there's something weird with it?" Kurose spoke uncertainty.

"Weird? In what way?" She asked curiously.

"It just tastes... normal? Like it was just mass-produced or something. it's weird." Kurose tried to explain.

"Mass-produced? And what do you even mean by it tastes normal? isn't that a good thing?"

"Try it yourself, you will see what I mean."

Eorna lifted her spoon to her mouth, her eyes widening. "Huh, you're right. That is weird. It tastes like someone just made a huge container of this stuff without any care put into it…" Eorna spoke. "But..." She looked towards him, a smile on her face. "That means you can't complain about the taste or anything! So eat up!"

Kurose let out a groan, even as he continued to slowly eat the stew.

"So… I've noticed there hasn't really been a ton of fantasy creatures and all that so far." Kurose spoke.

"Fantasy creatures?" Eorna asked in confusion.

"Well, yeah. The only strange-looking thing I have seen so far has had to be those Spinlings, and even then, they weren't really that strange. Everything has just seemed like garden insects right now. Are there dragons and all that here?"

"Dragons? What are they?" Eorna asked curiously.

"Seriously? You have never heard of dragons? Basically giant, flying lizards with the capability to breathe fire?"

"No? That sounds terrifying! Why would you ever want to meet, or even fight one!?" Eorna questioned him. "It sounds like you would risk burning to death to even get close to one of these dragons!"

"Wait, if you've never heard of Dragons, then why are the Hourglasses called Dragon Hourglasses?" Kurose questioned her.

"Well, I guess it was probably just a past hero or something that said it, and it stuck? You know how heroes' words are taken." Eorna replied.

"Alright, I guess that's true..." Kurose gave in reluctantly. "But can you tell me about some of the creatures in this world then? I want to know what to expect in the future."

"I mean, I can tell you about some creatures, I guess. Let's see. There is Vindr Glaedr's. They kind of just… swim through the air? It's kind of hard to describe it really. You would have to see one for yourself to understand just how bizarre they are. But like I said, they swim through the air, and send blasts of wind at things trying to attack them."

"So, they aren't violent?"

"Not as long as you don't attack them first. They won't attack first."

"Ok, that sounds weird. But, what does it actually look like?"

"I'm trying to think. Let's see… They have long, thin furry bodies which change depending on the weather that's approaching, so they usually help tell the weather. If they have dark-colored fur, then it usually means there's a storm coming in, whereas if they are just pure white, then it usually means the day is going to be fine. I have heard of people keeping them as pets."

"Keeping a monster as a pet? How do they do that? I mean, you would probably have to attack them before trapping them and all that, right?"

"No. it's quite simple really. During their mating season, you can usually go in and pick up an egg that they have laid. They usually tend to leave the eggs to their own devices, and they seem to have some sort of natural instinct to tell them to just start gliding. Once you have picked up an egg, it's easy enough. You get a taming Charme and burn it onto the egg. After that, you just have to keep it warm, and when it hatches, it will already be in your party. After that, they will just never leave your side really. They make cute pets."

"Huh. That does sound easy. How long does it take for the eggs to hatch?"

"As far as I'm aware, about a week at most. Why?"

"I see…" Gears were turning in Kurose's head. If they were going to be camping out quite a bit, then getting a Vindr Glaedr was going to be helpful to be able to tell the weather. Plus, if it was cute, then there was nothing wrong with that!

"Do you know… how much it is to purchase a Vindr Glaedr egg from someone?" Kurose asked innocently.

Eorna narrowed her eyes at him. "Kurose… What are you planning?"

"Nothing that won't help us, I promise!" Kurose replied.

"Why do you want a Vindr Glaedr egg?"

"Well, you know. If we are going to be out in the wilds for quite a bit, it would be helpful, you know? It can tell us when the weather changes, whether we should seek cover, and all that. It will just be helpful in general, you know?"

Eorna stared at him for a moment longer before sighing. "I wouldn't say no to having one as a pet. There was one in the village I grew up in, and it was super cute…" She seemed conflicted for a moment more before continuing. "Fine, we can get one. But I don't know how much they cost, or even if people will be selling them at this time. So don't get your hopes up, okay?"

"I won't, I won't. Don't worry about it." He would respond, before continuing on. "Just know that if we can't get one soon, I'll be getting one as soon as our names are cleared, alright?"

"Really? Just why do you want one so much?" She asked.

"They just sound like a convenient pet to have around. Being able to tell the weather and all that. Plus, you said they are fluffy! Who doesn't like fluffy things?" Kurose asked with a smile.

Even as he said that the pair seemed to exit the forest. Looking around, Kurose could see a wide dirt path, with several grooves in it.

"I think we may have found a road. This should be helpful in getting to the closest village, right?" Kurose asked, turning to Eorna.

She had a concerned look on her face. "It should, but what if they have already spread the word to the entire country? I mean, it's not unlikely, right? Especially considering that they alerted the guards at the gate."

"True. I can't say the King hasn't done that, but we will just have to take our chances, won't we?"

"Yeah, I guess so. Let's get going then."

"Sure, let's go."

The pair continued walking down the dirt path, diving back into the forest whenever they saw people walking the dirt path. During their couple of hours of walking, there weren't many people, but the few that they did see put them on edge until they passed by.

Also during the walk down the dirt path, they had been attacked by a few more spiders every now and then, which was what was happening now.

"First Thread!" Kurose shouted.

He watched as the green glowing thread rocketed forwards, wrapping around the Aransilk spider. The spider let out a small hiss as it dropped to the floor, its momentum stopped, whilst Eorna dealt with the other spider, easily slicing through it.

Kurose watched as she moved over to the spider he had restrained, easily slashing through both his skill and the spider. The spider let out one last dying screech before its legs curled up.

"And that's this fight done," Eorna spoke, picking up the spider and absorbing it.

Whilst the pair couldn't unlock new weapon forms from the spiders, they weren't just going to leave them behind for other people to find. Kurose had grown another two levels from these encounters, placing him at level 12, which was pretty good progress for the day so far, at least in his opinion.

"Ready to keep moving on?" Kurose asked.

"Yeah, just give me a moment. I just want to rest, my legs are getting sore."

"Sure, rest as long as you need," Kurose replied, dropping to the floor himself. He didn't want to say he was feeling sore as well, but if Eorna was going to rest for a moment, he was going to take it.

He closed his eyes for a moment, just letting himself relax for a moment, until the sound of something running filled his ears.

He opened his eyes immediately, looking around for the source of the noise, with Eorna doing the same.

Kurose turned to look at the direction they had come from, only to notice something coming closer. He narrowed his eyes to get a better look at it and noticed the two-legged thing running towards them.

"Eorna!? What the hell is that?" Kurose asked in a panicked voice, jumping up.

"That…" she looked at the direction Kurose was pointing at. "That's an Aphelisk! We-" Eorna was cut off as the newly identified Aphelisk stopped in front of them. It seemed to stare down at them as if waiting for an order.

Looking at the creature, it seemed to have black scales around its legs, with two small, stubby arms at its side. it also seemed to have a disc-like thing around its neck that seemed to inflate whenever it breathed. Kurose also noticed the creature seemed to be dragging a wagon behind it.

"Aphy?" A voice called out from the wagon behind it. "Why'd you stop dear?"

The Aphelisk let out a small screech, and the person who was speaking stuck their head out of the front of the wagon.

"Oh, it's because you didn't want to run over these two travelers? How kind of you Aphy." The woman reached forward, scratching the Aphelisk's head, earning a purring noise from the creature.

"May I ask where you young travelers are going? If it's on my way, I could drop you off if you so wished."

"Well, we aren't sure where we are going. We are just trying to get to the closest village." Kurose spoke nervously, looking at Eorna.

"The closest village, hm? Well, that would have to be Horteni. I can certainly drop you off there if you wanted me to." She spoke with a smile.

"Well, we kind of don't have much on us right now, so we can't really pay you back."

"That's fine. It's on my way regardless, so don't feel the need to pay me back. Though, I wouldn't mind knowing why I wasn't allowed access to the capital if you two know anything about that?"

Kurose refused to meet her gaze as she said that, as did Eorna.

"I suppose you two don't know then. A shame. Well then, are you going to accept my offer? I'm sure Aphy here can handle it, can't you?"

The Aphelisk let out a small screech, light beginning to shine in its mouth before it died down.

"I… yeah, we will take you up on your offer, right, companion?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah, that would be fine, my fellow traveler!" Eorna spoke with a forced grin.

The pair moved towards the wagon, slowly getting in. Once they were in, the woman spoke again.

"Go on, Aphy, to Horteni!"

The Aphelisk began to move again, and their journey continued.