Dinner was a quick affair, with both Eorna and Kurose eating their food quickly before both claiming that they were tired.
In Kurose's case, it wasn't a lie. He was tired, just not enough to fall asleep upon you hing his bed for the night.
For Eorna, he wasn't sure, but it was probably a similar situation to him if he had to guess.
That same situation was what led him to stand on the balcony, the doors wide open behind him as he looked at the night sky.
Despite sleeping out in that forest in Ortensca in their first few days on the run, Kurose hadn't really taken the time to look up at the night sky.
As he did, he noticed the stars, and let out a small breath. It was a beautiful sight. One he rarely ever got to see in his world, due to all the light pollution and the likes. At best, he'd be able to see one or two stars back home, and yet here, there was nothing like that. He could see the stars blanketing the night sky. Yet, he still felt a sense of loneliness.
These stars weren't his. As much as he might want them to be, they were never going to be the same as the ones from his world. The only reminder of his world… was himself.
Sure, there were other worlds, likely with other summoned heroes, but would Kurose ever be able to see them? Would he ever be able to talk to someone who came from Japan again? Would he get to talk about the things he missed? About those he left behind?
Sure, he could probably talk about this sort of stuff to Eorna and Matthias, but they wouldn't understand it fully. They would certainly try to understand and try to comfort him, to tell him it was alright. But they wouldn't be able to fully comprehend it.
Being taken from your world and having the responsibility of saving another, it all felt… suffocating.
And that was especially true during the waves. He had choked up. His inability to truly do anything to stop the monsters had led to the death of some guards.
Some guards who were probably relying on him to assist them. The simple thought sent pains through his heart, but he continued to look up at the sky.
Would it have been better if he hadn't asked any guards to come with them? Would it have been better for him to not drag them all further into the wave? would it have been better if he just didn't interfere? The thoughts ran through his mind.
Would he truly be able to grow strong enough to protect the world? Would he be able to become the hero that they needed? Kurose didn't know. He felt scared, but most of all, he felt alone.
With another sigh, he turned around, moving back into his bedroom, closing the doors to the balcony.
Once he finally did, he moved over to his bed, slipping into it, hoping for a good night's rest that never came.
Only the image of the guards being attacked by the Symphalian birds remained.
After a couple restless hours, Kurose sat himself back up. It was clear he wasn't going to be able to fall asleep like this, so he might as well put his time into doing something productive. He did think about cleaning his armor, but taking one look at it placed in the chair made a sigh escape him.
It had been pierced through by the harpy when it had gone for his shoulder. Whilst it could still be used, Kurose didn't like the thought of going into any sort of combat without fully repaired armor. Maybe he could get another set? He would have to return this one eventually as an apology. He sat there, thinking of what else he could do.
I could go through all those weapon forms I got today… Kurose thought idly. He also wondered if he got any special item drops from them. Before he only had a few herbs in his monster drops menu, so maybe he would get something that would actually be useful.
He opened up the item drop menu, looking around it. He could still see the herbs, but they had been pushed further down the list by the few things he had absorbed during the wave. There wasn't much to be taken from it. There were a few swords, but Kurose wouldn't really be able to use them himself, and Eorna definitely wouldn't be able to. Though, some did look short enough to be daggers.
That led his mind down another path. just how long did a dagger have to be before not being considered a dagger anymore? There was probably a distinction between them, but Kurose wouldn't know that. Could Eorna theoretically get a blacksmith to just make her a really long dagger to copy? or would the weapon reject it?
It would have to be something he asked Eorna eventually. He took another look through the monster drop menu, but upon seeing nothing of value, he shut it again before opening up the weapon tree. He looked at the various weapons. It had certainly come a long way, with several branches having opened up, all centered on the starter necklace.
At some point during his time here, he had unlocked the abilities for the Odontyrannos horn necklace, so he needed to find something worthwhile to unlock whilst he waited to sleep.
He began to look through the various weapon forms. Each of them had various stat increases, along with some equip effects and skills which would all be useful, but he was having trouble deciding on which one to unlock tonight.
He looked them over again, finally picking three. The Interdimensional Harpy Feather Scarf, the Interdimensional Cerastes Ring, and the Interdimensional Stymphalian Feather Scarf.
Kurose bought them up, examining them closely.
Interdimensional Harpy Feather Scarf
Rarity: Uncommon
Abilities locked +4 agility, "Change Accessory"
Equip Effect: Paraglide
Gem Slots: [O, O]
Interdimensional Cerastes Ring
Rarity: Uncommon
Abilities Locked +5 agility, "Erst Ring"
Gem Slots: [O, O]
Interdimensional Stymphalian Feather Scarf
Rarity: Uncommon
Abilities Locked +4 attack, "Feather Volley"
Gem Slots: [O, O]
All of them seemed interesting to him. Each offered a new skill regardless of what he chose, but one really stuck out to him. The Stymphalian Feather Scarf. The skill that came along with it, Feather Volley, seemed like something he could attack with. A way to hold his own in a fight. And it excited him.
The thought of actually being able to fight was a good one, but he still had two other skills to consider. For example, Erst Ring. It was another Erst skill, and from what he had seen, they were pretty basic but dependable. The question is, how would it be useful? Would he be able to use it similar to Erst Thread, to bind enemies? Or would it simply appear on his finger and do nothing? He didn't want to take the risk with it, so he decided to put that to the side for now. He could always try it out tomorrow.
The other skill, Change Accessory, was something Kurose did not understand. What was it supposed to do? He could already change his Accessory whenever he wanted by thinking about it, so it seemed like a useless skill. Unless…
Kurose switched to the Harpy feather scarf before whispering "Erst Thread"
He wasn't sure how close anyone else was to his room, and considering how late it was, he didn't want to run the risk of his shout waking anyone up.
The skill appeared, but it seemed… duller than before. Why was that? He had spoken the skills name, but it didn't make sense. Was it based on how loudly he spoke it or something? A question for later. He could probably ask Matthias.
"Change Accessory"
A list of weapon forms came up, and Kurose noted that they were all scarves. He selected one at random, and he watched in interest as the spectral thread seemed to change until it seemed the same as the scarf he had selected. Sure, it wasn't as big, but it was still similar enough to the point he could tell it belonged to another scarf.
It seemed like an… interesting skill. It did leave him questioning if the skill made the thread take on the stats of the scarf he chose. If it did, that could mean he could get use out of equip effects with his erst skill.
Could he use it with Erst Ring? Would it give the same capabilities as Erst Thread? If he could, then he could potentially have two different rings up with different abilities, which would make his options more varied.
It did leave him questioning if he would eventually get a version of the Erst skill for his bracelets. He could already imagine changing a few bracelets into the BoomBurst Bracelet, and watching as the shards pelted his enemies.
Kurose smirked at that, even as he let himself lay down, the Interdimensional Stymphalian feather scarf wrapped around his neck.
He shut his eyes once again, hoping to fall asleep.
Kurose was awoken early in the morning by a knock on his door. He lifted his head, looking towards the door, but when no voice came through, he put his head back down, shutting his eyes slowly, intent on falling back asleep.
And yet, before he could…
Knock Knock
Kurose lifted his head again. Who was it outside of his room? Even as he asked himself that question, an unfamiliar voice spoke up.
"Sir Accessory Hero? Are you awake?" the voice asked.
He let out a small groan but spoke sleepily. "I am now…"
He could hear the person outside of the door let out a relieved sigh. Just what was that about?
"His majesty has requested your presence, Accessory hero. He wishes to go over the plans you had for today." The person outside his door spoke.
"Sure, sure. I'll be out in a second…" He answered.
He stood from his bed, quickly running a hand through his hair as he looked into the provided mirror. He quickly sorted himself out before moving closer to the door, yet as he did, he heard more voices.
"Mr Beule, where do you want this?" a voice asked anxiously.
"Didn't I ask you to prepare all of these decorations last night?" the person who Kurose assumed to be this Mr Beule asked.
"Well, you see after I was finished with making them all, it was just so late, and you know how I am…"
Before Beule could say anything, Kurose opened the door, surprising both the person asking the question and the supposed Mr Beule himself.
The first thing he saw was a person holding several banners, looking towards where he supposed this Mr Beule was. He turned to where the person holding the banners was, only to find who he presumed was Mr Beule.
Mr Beule was dressed in a butler suit, a stark contrast to the medieval-looking surroundings. He honestly hadn't expected to see any sort of suits in this world, yet here it was. He had grey hair, combed back. His face was bare, but he greeted Kurose with a smile.
"Ah, Accessory Hero! I'm glad you are prepared now. Roxal, take them to-"
"What are they for?" Kurose asked the pair, pointing towards the banners.
"Nothing imp-" Beule began, only to be cut off by Roxal
"It's for the celebration to be held in six days, Accessory Hero!" He responded excitedly.
"A celebration? What are you celebrating?" Kurose continued to question.
Beule simply let out a sigh. "I suppose I can tell you. However, I will have to ask that you do not relay this information to his majesty. He… does not appreciate this celebration in the slightest."
Matthias didn't appreciate this celebration? Just what was it about Kurose wondered.
Beule, completely oblivious to his thoughts, began to speak. "It is to celebrate His Majesty's ascension to the throne. It coincides with the day of his last rebelling sibling's deaths, and the death of the Kohuandaval." He explained.
There was that word again. Kohuandaval. Just what was it? He needed to know. As much as he might want to wait for Matthias to tell him on his own if it was going to keep getting thrown around like this, he couldn't just wait.
"What is a Kohuandaval? It got mentioned yesterday at the hourglass, but I still don't know what it is."
"Ah, my apologies for not explaining it earlier. It was a creature created by the three siblings who worked together. I'm assuming you know some of the basics here in regards to what happened upon his ascension to the throne?" Beule probed.
"I do know some stuff. Mainly that when Matthias rose to the throne, some of his siblings revolted, right?"
"Yes, that is a major oversimplification of it, but yes." Beule confirmed. "The crisis lasted for a couple of years. As it was, his majesty did not get chosen by the Jewelry tools until that beast was released upon the territory they held. It caused destruction reminiscent of what the past heroes spoke about. Of monsters that roamed the world for their goal."
"But that still doesn't explain just what was so bad about the Kohuandaval? I mean, sure, it's horrible that it destroyed so much. I can imagine it probably killed hundreds of people at a minimum, but just what could it do?"
Beule seemed to think about it for a moment, and Roxal spoke up.
"From the books, it said it had the ability to use anything it consumed," Roxal explained. "So if it ate let's say… an Aphelisk, then it would have been able to use the Aphelisk's natural ability to charge lightning via movement."
"Oh…" Kurose spoke. He could certainly understand how that would be a troublesome creature to face, but why did Matthias dislike hearing about it?
"Then, why does Matthias not like speaking about it?" he asked.
Before Roxal could speak up, Beule looked at him, shaking his head before turning to face Kurose. "I'm sorry Accessory hero. That… is not our place to say. If you wish to know, you will have to ask his majesty. I hope you can understand."
Kurose simply nodded his head. "Yeah, I understand. I'll just… have to ask him at some point. But where is this celebration going to be held?"
"All over the country!" Roxal answered helpfully.
All over the country? How was Matthias supposed to avoid it then?
"Yes he's, you've spoken about it now. Roxal, please take them to the storage room. I'll sort it out later when his majesty and the heroes have gone out."
"Of course!" Roxal answered before turning to Kurose. "It was a pleasure meeting you, Sir Accessory hero! May the stars shine brightly for you."
He bowed before walking off, the banners trailing along the hallway floors.
"Always so eager to speak…" Beule spoke with a sigh, but Kurose could tell there was no anger or annoyance behind it.
"Anyways, Accessory hero! I believe it's time to take you to the dining room to meet his majesty. I believe the dagger hero is already there, along with the three soldiers that he has picked for you. Please, follow me."
Kurose followed behind him, walking in silence.
"They are just through here, Accessory hero." Beule announced, bowing once again.
"Thank you." Kurose answered politely.
"It is of no issue. But if I may reiterate once again, please do not tell his majesty about the celebration. As I have said, he does not like celebrating, nor hearing of it." Beule spoke simply.
"Of course. If he doesn't like hearing about it, it wouldn't do me any good to speak to him about it."
Beule looked into his eyes for a moment, and Kurose stared back. After the moment passed, Beule straightened himself, nodding his head.
"I see. Well then. I must be off. Take care, Accessory hero." With one final bow, Beule left him in front of the door to the dining room.
With nothing else to wait for, Kurose opened the door, walking in.
"Kurose!" Eorna shouted. "You're here! You have to try some of this! It's so good!" She shouted.
Kurose could see her mouth was full of various foods, and looking towards the table, he could see things that resembled fruit from his world. Bananas, oranges, pears and more. Though he wouldn't personally eat all of them at once due to the conflicting flavours of it all. Maybe it was different here?
"I will in a minute. But please finish your mouthful first. I don't think anyone wants to see what's in your mouth." Kurose responded with a smile.
Eorna quickly nodded her head, chewing for a moment more before swallowing everything in one big gulp. Kurose just stared at her in shock as she did that.
"There! Done. now come on, sit down!" Eorna called out to him.
He walked over slowly, sitting opposite Eorna, with Matthias at the head of the table, who had not spoken a word as of yet.
"So… You said you would be taking us to the last two hourglasses today, right?" Kurose asked the Jewelry tools hero.
"Hm? Oh, yes I did. I also said I would be taking you out to level up, and in preparation for that, I arranged for three guards to come with us, so that they could get the benefits of partying with a hero, as well as teaching you how to work in a team efficiently."
Kurose went to open his mouth but was shut down as Matthias anticipated him.
"Yes, I know that you have worked with Eorna for a while now," Matthias answered him. "But like I said to her, you aren't always going to be in the same party or even in the same area. What happens if she is chosen for one of the games? Then it will be just you and your party, along with my party to fight the waves. You need to know how to fight alongside regular people."
Kurose hesitantly nodded. He had completely forgotten about that to be honest.
"Now that I've said that, have something to eat real quick. We will be meeting them beside the hourglass. They have been cleared for a class up, so now's the perfect time for them to start levelling." He explained.
Kurose simply nodded, looking over the various plates of food before settling on what looked to be toast, picking it up and slowly beginning to eat it. He wasn't feeling that hungry, but he needed to eat something at the very least. It wouldn't do him any good to go out on an empty stomach.
Once he had finished eating the piece of toast, Matthias had stood up, with both him and Eorna standing up with him.
"Right, to the hourglass to pick them up real quick! And then, I will be taking you two to our other hourglass! Let's go!" Matthias spoke with a grin.
The elder hero quickly led the duo towards the room that held the hourglass.
Once they arrived there, Kurose noticed 4 guards seeming to stand on either side of it, each of them carrying some sort of glass filled with liquid. Two other people stood further away from the hourglass, whilst one stood in the center of the four guards.
"Are you ready for your class?" One of the guards holding a glass full of liquid spoke.
"I am." The woman at the center spoke.
Upon receiving the confirmation from her, the four slowly poured the liquid onto the floor. Kurose watched on as the liquid seemed to move on its own, flowing into the grooves etched into the floor. The liquid began to glow slightly as the guard who had asked her the question spoke once more.
"Raise your hand and touch the hourglass. Do so, and it will grant its blessings upon you."
The person in the center said nothing, simply doing as she was told. She raised her hand, letting it touch against the glass of the hourglass. The sand inside seemed to ripple slightly, and the glow of the liquid became brighter.
"Ah… something popped up…" She spoke to herself.
Upon hearing that, the same guard who had spoken before spoke again.
"Choose how you wish to grow stronger, so that you may better do your duty."
She nodded her head, seeming to focus on the thing before her before letting out a sigh, As she did, the glowing seemed to stop, and she took a step back, a small smile on her face.
"It is done. May you be successful in your future endeavours, and may you strive to reach greater heights."
The four guards bowed once more, before walking off, likely to place the glass they were carrying somewhere else.
Whilst he was watching them go off, the woman in the center moved back to the two people behind her, a smile on her face.
"I'm assuming everything went well for you two?" She asked softly.
"It did! I put everything the way I wanted, so I'll definitely be stronger now!" A heavily armoured man spoke with a grin. He had a hammer at his waist, and a shield on his back.
"Same here. Everything should be fine with me." Another man spoke. He had a sheath on his side to hold his sword.
"What about you, Lea? Did you sort everything out the way you wanted?" he asked her.
"I did," Lea responded. "Both my attack and magic attack stats will be going much higher. I did have to sacrifice the boosts for defense and magic defense, but it should be fine." She responded with a smile.
She had the most curious weapon from Kurose's observations. Four large discs of metal, with a handle on the inside, so that she could hold them comfortably. Around the edges of the metal disks were little slots with wooden disks, which Kurose realized were Charmes. They were lined up alongside her arms, two on each.
Whilst he was thinking over that curious weapon choice, the three turned around, finally seeing Matthias, Eorna, and Kurose, quickly walking over to the group.
"Your majesty." The trio spoke, bowing.
"No, no. you don't need to call me that." Matthias spoke, shaking his head. "We are going to be in the same party, and you'll be helping out the heroes. You don't have to be so formal. Just call me Matthias"
"If you are certain," Lea spoke, still bowed.
"I'm not certain I can do that, but… I will try." the man with the sword spoke.
"I can't do that! Not to any of the heroes, nor his majesty!" The man with the hammer spoke, shaking his head.
Matthias simply sighed but shook his head. "Alright. Well then. I suppose I'll let you introduce yourselves to each other. Best way to get to know each other after all." He took a step back, even as the two groups looked at each other.
Seeing that no one was going to make the first move, Kurose decided to do it himself. He cleared his throat before speaking.
"Hello…" He began slowly. "I am the Accessory Hero, Kurose Amiya, and I look forward to working with you."
Eorna smiled from behind him, putting her head on his shoulder before speaking. "Same here! I'm Eorna by the way! I'm the Dagger Hero!" She held a grin on her face as she looked at the three in front of them.
"Accessory Hero… Dagger Hero…" The man with the hammer at his waist trembled slightly before getting onto one knee, a wide smile on his face. "It is an honor to serve under you! My life is yours. Please, instruct me on what you wish for me to do."
Kurose looked down at him before whispering so that only Eorna could hear.
"What… What is he doing?" He whispered into Eorna's ear.
Eorna whispered back to him. "I… I'm not sure. The churches back home are split into sects, so maybe he follows the religion as a whole? I'm not really sure how religions and that work in other countries." she supplied.
Kurose coughed again before speaking up. "Please don't do that?" He asked weakly. "I'm not exactly some sort of god, and you don't want to treat her like a god."
Eorna pouted in Kurose's direction, but he pretended to not see it.
"I can't do that! You are here to save our world, are you not? You deserve all the respect and worship possible!"
"Certainly didn't feel like it in Ortensca…" Kurose murmured to himself. However, Eorna heard him and flicked the back of his head.
"But please, just stand up. I would much rather get to know you as a person rather than a subject or anything, you know?" Kurose tried a different approach.
After a moment, the man finally stood back up, but he still held a look of reverence in his eyes.
"So… what's your name?" Eorna asked him quickly.
"My name? Oh, I didn't give my name to the heroes! Gods forgive me!" He almost dropped to the floor, but a quick look from Kurose made sure he stayed up. "My name is Osvien! I am in your care, great heroes!"
"What can you do?" Kurose asked the man.
"Well… I prefer to be on the front lines as a tank. I prefer to keep the enemies focused on me so that everyone else has a chance to do what they can."
The duo nodded at that, and Kurose began to think. A tank could be good. Me and Eorna aren't the most defensive of people as it is…
Seeing that Osvien was not going to continue, the other man stepped forward, bowing towards them.
"Heroes. It is an honour to meet you. My name is Sigun. My primary weapon is my sword, which has been passed through my family for generations. I would be glad to assist you in your ventures, and I hope we get to know each other better."
He seemed to direct that last part toward Eorna mainly, but she simply responded with a nod, staring at him with a smile. Whether that discouraged him or not was only known to him, but he smiled back.
The last guard stepped forward, a smile on her face. "My name is Lea. I'm sorry about Osvien. He is a bit zealous with his belief, but he is a good person! He is just happy to meet his religious figures." She spoke kindly.
"Lea! It's not just that!" Osvien complained from beside her.
"Oh shut it, won't you Osvien?" Sigun responded with a sigh. The two began to speak between each other, arguing as Lea continued to speak.
"As I said, my name is Lea, and I look forward to working with the two of you. My main weapon of use is these Chakrams." She took one off of her arm, letting Kurose get a look at them.
The Chakram looked to have five Charmes on it. One for each of the cardinal directions, and one in the center, embedded into the handle she would be gripping.
"How do you use it? And what do the Charmes do?" he asked, his curiosity piqued.
"Oh. Well, I usually throw two towards enemies, and if anything is closer to me, I can take the other two off to fight in close quarters, though I'm not that good at close-quarter combat." Lea explained.
"Though, the Charmes are simple! The ones on the edges all have different elemental effects. I can activate them before I chuck them, and the metal helps conduct the element! So for example, this one here…" She tapped one of them before continuing. "It's an electricity Charme! When I activate it, the electricity courses through the weapon and anything that gets hit by it is shocked as well!" She spoke with a smile.
"Can you activate multiple Charmes at a time?" Eorna asked curiously.
"Yup! The only issue with it is the amount of mana it takes. But it can definitely be done!"
"What about that Charme in the handle, what does that do?"
"Oh, that registers the Charme to me! So when it's activated, even if I throw it, like I do during fights, and it misses, it will always return to me! I've gotten pretty good at catching them! But uh… I did have a lot of practice." She let out a nervous laugh at that.
The conversation died down, and both Osvien and Sigun stopped arguing with each other. Matthias, upon seeing this, stepped forward once more.
"Right. If there are no issues, then I'll invite you to the party, and we will be off!"
After getting no response, Matthias sent them the invites, and they joined as quickly as they could. After ensuring that they were in the party, Matthias spoke again.
"Off we go then. Portal Jewelry Tools!"
Kurose felt like he was starting to get used to the feeling of the Portal skill. He would have to if he didn't want to feel sick every time he was dragged to a wave or used his own portal skill.
Taking a look at Lea, Osvien, and Sigun though, showed that they were looking pale in the face. Osvien looked like he might even throw up if pushed far enough.
"Just keep moving you three. Movement helps you shake off the feeling of being dragged by your gut. Trust me, I would know." Matthias spoke.
As they began to walk, Kurose took this time to look around the area he was in. It seemed like they had been teleported on top of a stone slab in the center of the square. Whilst there were people here, it seemed to be only guards.
Matthias did say it was an outpost, so it would make sense if there were only guards around here.
He could hear the surprised voices of several guards who had witnessed their portal into the square.
"Is that…" One guard whispered.
"What is his majesty doing here?" Another questioned.
Another guard went to speak up but was silenced as one guard moved forward. "Everyone back to your positions!" He shouted.
The guards all hurried along, but Kurose could still tell that they would be keeping an eye on them.
"Your Majesty." The man spoke. "May I ask what your visit is for? I was not aware you would be coming here."
"It's fine. Be at ease, Captain. I'm here to register my fellow heroes to the hourglass, so we can better prepare for the wave." Matthias spoke, waving his hand.
The captain peeked over Matthias's shoulder, looking towards the rest of the group. He seemed to scan over everyone before resting on Kurose and Eorna, looking at his scarf, and her dagger.
"I see… so those are the two other heroes?" He asked.
"They are. I believe they have great potential." Matthias answered with a smile.
The captain seemed to stare at him for a moment before nodding slowly. "Of course, your majesty. Allow me to guide you all to the Hourglass." With that, the captain turned around, walking forward. Everyone except Matthias had to run to catch up to him, due to the sudden speed.
Once they arrived at the giant building, more guards started to focus on them. Again they were whispering, but it was nothing like before.
"Are they prisoners, due to have their level reset?"
"Don't be ridiculous! If they were, why would his majesty be here?" another replied harshly.
"Well I don't know, do I? Maybe they did something personal against his majesty?" The same guard suggested.
The arguing continued and slowly began to fade away as they went further into the building. The hourglass was at the very back of the room.
As the group drew closer, the captain of the guards moved to the side, bowing as Matthias walked past. Both Kurose and Eorna followed, with the other three choosing to remain behind with the guard captain.
Matthias motioned for them to move closer to the hourglass, and they did. Much like yesterday, a beam of light struck his gem, and a new timer popped up, telling him how long it would be before the wave struck this area.
Ortensca: 27:04:13:03
Palinfa: 4:00:21:29
Brightsteel Empire: 9:02:05:02
So it counts this area as the dwarven kingdom? Kurose thought as he stepped back. even as he did so, Eorna stepped forward to link to the hourglass. Would a wave occur inside the dwarven kingdom? Eorna had said they lived inside the mountains, right? So would the wave happen just outside the mountain, or would it somehow happen inside the mountain?
Even as Kurose thought about that, Eorna stepped back, and Matthias walked up to them.
"Right. You are registered now, right?" After receiving nods of confirmation from the duo, he continued. "Let's get going then. We have got some business to do outside the outpost, alright?"
He began walking, and Eorna and Kurose began to follow behind him, the three guards who went with them matching their pace.
The group of six left the outpost, venturing into the mountains. Trees blanketed it, and as they got closer, the sound of civilization began to die off. Matthias was happily humming the entire way.
"How much longer are we walking for, your majesty?" Osvien asked.
"Shouldn't be too much longer. And please, I asked you to stop calling me that. I told you to call me Matthias, did I not?"
Osvien simply nodded his head and continued to walk.
After a bit more time Matthias stopped, turning to face the group. "Right. We should be deep enough now. At your level, you should be able to handle the monsters around this area, but I wouldn't recommend going any further. There is the chance you might run into a Fangyut, which would be an enjoyable experience for anyone."
Kurose didn't question what a Fangyut was, more invested in what Matthias was saying.
"But anyways. I want you all to reach level 30, alright? I want to make sure you can all work together before the next wave starts, got it?"
They all nodded in understanding. This was the easiest way to learn how to work together, but there was something… off about Matthias's smile
"Oh, and also. I won't be helping you out!" He added. Matthias clapped his hands, a smile on his face as he looked at the five faces staring back at him.
"...What?" Kurose said, unsure if he had heard the Jewelry tools hero correctly.
"Yup. I'm not taking you lot to the next hourglass until all of you are level 30 at the very least. I'm not heartless enough to leave you here on your own of course. I'll still be here to keep an eye on you but don't rely on me to do anything. You need to learn how to fight with your weapons. This is mainly directed to you, Eorna, Kurose. But it will help you three…"
He pointed at the 3 guards they had brought with them before continuing. "Get more live combat experience. So a win-win for both of you!"
A few low growls could be heard from the forest, and Matthias spoke once more.
"Go on. We don't want to keep the monsters waiting. The faster you do this, the faster we get out of here! So get to work!"
With that said the source of the low growls was revealed as three giant wolves leaped out of the woods, towards the group.
A few small things, slowly beginning to pick up again in this chapter. Meeting new party members, though if any of them will be permanent will remain to be seen.