Sword and Shield
Game On 4
"It all started with the first Wave of Calamity over a month ago."
Naofumi and Shirou's eyes narrowed at the introduction while Raphtalia started, mind flashing back to that horrible day. Zeph was sat on the edge of the bed, continuing to stroke his ill sister's hair.
"No one's sure how many monsters came flooding into the countryside when it happened. Millions? Less? More? Who knows. All I know is that it took the army and the countries' adventurers weeks to hunt the majority of them down."
Naofumi let out a breath. "This has to do with the fact that you said 'majority', isn't it?"
"Correct," Zeph grimaced. "It's common knowledge that some of the stronger monsters spawned by the wave managed to survive to this day and have taken up residence in the more out of the way places in the country. That's why the dangers of adventuring has gone up recently. And it's because of one of these monsters that Nina is…"
Shirou looked at the ill girl, shivering in bed and seemingly in a deep trance. "She isn't sick," he said in realization. "She's been poisoned."
Zeph's hands clenched. "Yes, that's exactly it," he took a deep breath and tried to relax. "Nina became like this less than half a day ago. My buddy Alfyn asked around, and apparently Nina and one of her friends went out into the swamp to the west of the village, looking for flowers known as Waterblooms that only grow there," he chuckled bleakly. "She went to pick them for me. Waterblooms can be used in a great many potions and our stock was running low in recent days, but with the increased risk of going out in the wild, I hesitated to head into the swamp even with Alfyn backing me up. I should have known Nina wouldn't think twice about it…"
"And there, your sister came into contact with one of those monsters and was poisoned," Naofumi summarized.
"Yeah, the problem is that, whatever venom this monster uses, it's one I've never seen before. That's how I know that this is one of the monsters spawned by the wave. I've personally dealt with every kind of poison you can imagine… but this venom… She'll not last long at this rate…" Zeph looked ill as he said that.
Raphtalia looked at the sick girl in bed, at Nina, her face a mask of worry. "But there's something that we can try, right? Something you need our help for?"
"Yes," Zeph waved over to his workbench in the corner of the room, which was absolutely cluttered with an overabundance of potion ingredients and tools. A bright green potion simmered away above a burner. "That's an All Purpose Antidote. It's virtually guaranteed to work on all forms of poison and or venom. It's only drawback is that I need the original venom as a catalyst to finish it. It's the last thing I have left that I can try, but the antidote won't work without the original venom."
"And that's where we come in," Shirou said, clearly itching to go out and do as asked.
"Alfyn has already headed out to the swamp," Zeph fretted, biting down on his nail. "I wanted to hire some adventurers to go along with and protect him even if it bankrupted me, but there are barely any adventurers in town at the moment. Those few that are I just finished treating the other day…"
"Why didn't you go with him then?"
Zeph grimaced even as Raphtalia and Shirou shot Naofumi warning looks. "Someone has to take care of and supervise Nina's condition. If she suddenly takes a turn for the worse I have enough skill to keep her alive for a bit longer. I first wanted to go out into the swamp on my own, but Alfyn, the self-sacrificing bastard that he is, told me to stay by Nina's side and he went instead."
Naofumi nodded along, now having an accurate picture of what was going. "And," he began slowly. "What can you offer us in exchange for helping you?"
Shirou barely managed to keep his mouth shut. He was of the opinion that helping people was its own reward, but Naofumi most definitely didn't. The man was no philanthropist. If Shirou was to hazard a guess Naofumi would help if asked, but you have to offer something in exchange or he wouldn't move or even lift a finger to help. But asking for something in exchange while someone was so obviously desperate rankled something fundamental about Shirou. He kept those thoughts to himself, though. He didn't think his master would much appreciate him meddling in the middle of negotiations or heed his words in the first place.
"I don't have much gold, but…"
Naofumu raised a hand, stopping him. "How much of an accomplished Apothecary are you?" he asked instead of how much Zeph had, surprising everyone there.
Zeph blinked, nonplussed. "Uh, I'm capable of brewing all low-level and mid-level potions and medicines so long as I have a recipe. I'm still working on mastering many of the High-level Medicines, but I'm making progress. I and Alfyn practice almost every day."
Naofumi stared at him, hard, trying to see if he was lying, making Zeph nervous. "All right. Instead of rewarding us monetarily, in exchange for our help, I'll have you teach me whenever my party and I are in this village," he offered. A ripple of surprise flowed through the room. "Also, you'll give us favorable deals whenever I come over to sell my wares to you."
From the modest home Naofumi had seen, he'd already guessed that there would not be much in the way of monetary gain in helping this youth, at least not in a direct fashion, so he went for an indirect method for increasing his income. With more knowledge and knowhow in compounding he could make higher quality Medicines and hence make more money. Besides that, setting up the conditions for a lucrative business relationship in the future was the icing on the cake. "I presume that wouldn't be a problem?"
And in the eventuality the young man found out that he was the Shield Hero and would go back on his word even after they had saved his sister? Well, then Naofumi would feel no guilt in taking whatever the young man owned in recompense. After all, he was already a criminal in the eyes of everyone in the country. What harm would it do to add one more supposed 'crime' to the list? He'd be justified in doing it anyway. Either way, he would get payed. It was up to Zeph how, though.
"I-I, yes, that's no problem! None at all! That's a small price to pay for your help," Zeph eagerly shook Naofumi's hand, a light returning to his eyes.
"Then we will head out to the swamp immediately."
Naofumi didn't see the approving looks he was getting from his slaves behind his back. He would have vehemently denied doing as he had done for altruistic reasons like they thought.
After dropping off most of the potions they had wanted to sell at the Potions shop, Naofumi's party headed directly to the swamp west of Riyute Village. They did bring Health Potions and Antidotes with them though, as the swamp was home to many poisonous critters and Health Potions were an essential any adventurer, Holy Hero or not, would be a fool to go without.
"Do we have any idea what this monster that poisoned Nina looks like?" Raphtalia asked, resheathing her knife after having just killed a Warrior Wasp, a giant wasp with a six inch stinger. She swiped her hand across her forehead, grimacing as it came away with a thick layer of sweat. The swamp was both hot and humid, the ground soaked with still-standing water that smelled terrible. Vegetation, both dead and flourishing, surrounded them on all sides, thick enough to cut down the sunlight to a trickle and lower visibility to dangerous levels.
"From the bite marks on the girl that Zeph showed us, it's probably a snake, a massive one at that, so it probably isn't any of the small one's we've encountered so far," Naofumi grunted, annoyed as they headed deeper into the swamp without taking the time to butcher and allow the Legendary Shield to absorb the pieces of the Warrior Wasp. Time was of the essence and he could come back later to farm the swamp to his heart content, but it rankled his sensibilities to simply leave the dead monsters behind for other monsters to devour. They were still gaining a respectable amount of EXP, so it wasn't entirely a waste, but still…
He had no choice, though. The swamp was swarming with monsters. Warrior Wasps. Giant Slugs. Swamp Frogs. Salamanders. Several Viper variants. Black Bats, Shadow Bats and more. If they stopped to fight and harvest all the monsters they stumbled across, they would lose too much time and put the success of the mission at risk. Thankfully, though theses monsters were stronger than any they had encountered so far, they were still too weak to be a threat to Naofumi. It took his slaves a little extra effort to kill them, but the moment the Shield Hero had the monsters pinned down, it was as good as over.
And these girls had gone to this swamp of their own volition just to pick some flowers? They must be either stupid or fearless.
"For now, we need to find Zeph's friend, Alfyn. He's the only one with both the tools and knowhow necessary to safely extract the venom when we find the monsters responsible for poisoning Zeph's sister," Naofumi finished, ducking below a tree branch. His slaves dutifully followed behind him, at the ready to spring into combat again.
Even as he said that, Naofumi silently wondered how they were going to find this Alfyn in this mess of a swamp. You could barely see three feet in front of you in the thick vegetation of the swamp, and none of his party members, himself included, knew anything about tracking. They were just aimlessly wandering, heading deeper and deeper into swamp, hoping to stumble on Alfyn somehow.
There was nothing for it though but head forward and hope for a lucky break for once. A young girl's life hanged in the balance, and it annoyed Naofumi that this was the best they could do.
Luckily, for once, Naofumi's prayers were answered as his slaves' raccoon ears started to twitch at the sound of distant noise. "Do you hear that?" Shirou asked, eyes narrowing, tail tense behind him.
"Yeah," Raphtalia nodded, slowly unsheathing her knife. "It sounds like… battle?"
Heeding the words of his slaves Naofumi raised his shield and headed into the direction Raphtalia and Shirou indicated. As they crept closer, the sounds became more distinct, to the point that Naofumi also started to hear the sounds of battle in the swamp. They sped up, Naofumi leading the way, ready to meet any attack heading their way.
The broke into a small, waterlogged clearing. Naofumi took in the scene in an instant. A blond youth dressed in a green apothecary vest with a satchel slung around his shoulder stood in the clearing, panting and brandishing an axe in front of him. Around him were a total of four Swamp Frogs. These were squat creatures that were about half as tall as Shirou with bright blue skin and bulbous bodies. They stood on their hind legs and each of them brandished a single crude knife.
Their arrival did not go unnoticed. Both the young man, which they assumed to be Alfyn, and the frogs turned towards them. Naofumi sprinted directly towards the nearest Swamp Frog, Raphtalia and Shirou hot on his heels.
"Careful! Their daggers are covered in poison!"
The young man warned, having stopped moving for a brief moment in surprise at their sudden arrival, but the warning was unneeded. For one, Naofumi already knew. Secondly…
Ding!
A no damage indicator was heard loud and clear when the Swamp Frog stabbed at his legs. The Swamp Frogs didn't have anywhere near the Attack Stat necessary to harm him. Naofumi bend down and hoisted up the now wildly gibbering monster, who only had a second to appreciate the situation it was in, before Raphtalia stabbed it in the stomach and gutted it.
Shirou, meanwhile, reversed his grip on his knife and he threw it at the Swamp Frog nearest to the presumed to be Alfyn. His throwing technique needed work, but his accuracy was spot on, a benefit of his long hours of practice and natural talent at the Japanese art of archery, Kyudo. It pierced the Swamp Frog between the eyes, its weak Defense Stat not nearly enough to save it from even such a basic attack.
In a single moment, the entire situation had changed.
One of the surviving Swamp Frogs ran for it, disappearing into the underbrush, while the other rushed at them in reckless abandon. Unfortunately, that left itself wide open to the young man it and its fellows had been tormenting moments before. The axe split its head open before it could even make it halfway to Naofumi and his party.
Naofumi let out a breath, lowering his shield. He turned towards the young man they had just helped. "Are you all right?"
"Yeah, thanks to you guys, I wasn't even injured by those freaks!" the blond similarly lowered his axe and walked up to them, all smiles and cheer. Naofumi blinked. That was the happiest someone had ever greeted him in this world by far. "I'm Alfyn Greengrass by the way, and while I would love to stay and chat I've got some really pressing hubbub to take care off-"
"We know," Naofumi deadpanned. "You're here to look for the monster, probably a snake of some kind, that bit and poisoned your best friend Zeph's sister, Nina. You need its venom for the potion that will hopefully safe her life."
Alfyn almost miss stepped, stumbled, and gave them a perplexed look. Then his eyes widened. "Wait, did Zeph…"
"He hired us to help you. We came into town shortly after you set out."
"Perfect!" Alfyn suddenly clasped his hand, having already placed his axe on his back. Naofumi almost recoiled at how direct and honest the young man was being. "This will make this so much easier. I've been tracking the monster that I believe poisoned Nina for over two hours now, but these small fry keep getting in the way, slowing me down and giving it the chance to slip away. With you guys helping me, we should be able to catch up to it no problem."
"Yeah," Naofumu said, sounding uncomfortable and awkwardly shaking his hand free from Alfyn's. "Hopefully it will go as smoothly as you say. Anyway, which direction?"
Meanwhile, as he Naofumi questioned Alfyn, Shirou retrieved his knive, cleaned it off and placed it back in its sheath
Alfyn pointed towards what appeared to be a random direction in the swamp. "That way."
"How do you know?"
"Hmm? Oh, I'm not an expert tracker by any means, but there are easy tell-tale signs monsters leave behind as they traverse through the wilds," Alfyn said, already going into the direction he had pointed. Having little other choice, Naofumi's party followed. "Markings in the grass, droppings, even scent. A monster as large as whatever this is leaves equally large signs behind it. If there is any advantage in hunting big prey, it's that."
"I see," Naofumi mused. "And how big are we talking here?"
"I dunno. Maybe about the size of a smallish Chimera? Somewhere around there at least."
Naofumi gulped, his slaves looking equally as weary as he did. In games, Chimeras were generally never small fry monsters. They were usually sub bosses or bosses outright with high Stats and a bevy of methods they could use to attack, both in the sense of attacks and status debufs. Even if this monster wasn't anywhere near as fearsome, if it was anywhere near as big as Alfyn thought it was, the monster's Attack Stat must be equally high, maybe even high enough to surpass his Defense Stat.
Would this be the first fight where he would be injured? There was only one way to find out.
They continued on deeper into the swamp. They avoided as many monster encounters as possible, but there was no avoiding all of them and they had to fight at least half a dozen battles as they tracked their prey. Luckily, with Alfyn's help, the fights were easily settled and wrapped up smoothly. Despite being an Apothecary, he wasn't half bad with his axe, and it showed when every monster that took a direct hit was either crippled or killed outright.
Naofumi watched as Alfyn casually flicked the blood of his axe, two halves of the Shadow Bat he had vivisected still writhing on the ground. "You're a lot stronger than I had figured. What Level are you?"
"26," Alfyn answered absently. Naofumi's, Shirou's and Raphtalia's eyes widened in unison. "Don't look so surprised. Do you really think I would dare to venture into places like these on my own if I didn't have the strength to protect myself?"
"From how Zeph described you as a 'self-sacrificing bastard', kind of, yeah," Naofumi answered drily.
Alfyn laughed. "Ah, yes, that does sound like him. He used to call me a runt when we were little, than a bookworm when we started to study compounding together. I think 'self-sacrificing bastard' is a step up from where I was, don't you think?" he said with surprisingly good cheer.
"…You're good friends, huh?" Raphtalia said, looking a little melancholy.
"Yep," Alfyn sounded like he was boasting when he said that. "We've been pals for as long as I can remember. We study, work and blow off steam together almost every day. He's basically my brother, even if we aren't related by blood."
"Sounds nice," Shirou commented. He'd never had such a close friend. He briefly wondered what it would be like.
"It is. I'm just grateful I have someone to fall back and rely on after both our parents died in the Great Pestilence."
"Great Pestilence?" Naofumi asked.
"Hmm? You don't know?" Alfyn responded, blinking. "The Great Pestilence was a plague that ravaged the countryside of Melromark and some neighboring countries some ten years back. Nasty piece of work that disease. Damn near a 100% mortality rate if you didn't get treatment real quick and some really specific kinds of potions that precious few Apothecaries can make. The only reason I'm alive right now is because Zeph's grandfather saved me in the nick of time. He had to come all the way back from Castle Town to treat the town's people, and even then the disease killed so quickly that both our parents had already died by then."
"Ah," Naofumi grimaced, an action mirrored by Shirou and Raphtalia. "Sorry for asking."
"Don't be. I've made my peace with it," Alfyn waved him off. "If anything, I look back at that time as a source of motivation. After Zeph's grandfather saved me without asking for anything in return, I just knew that I wanted to become Apothecary at least as good as him. I had never seen that grouchy old man smile as widely as he did when I recovered."
Shirou blinked. That sounded familiar…
They fell silent after that, the sounds of the swamp the only thing being heard as they continued to track their prey. Eventuality, after another half an hour, the swamp opened up before them.
"Eh, what is this place?"
The place they had stepped foot in was a large clearing, the only place in the swamp were the canopy didn't obstruct the light. The ground rose up, the water of the swamp not high enough to cover it, leaving it dry. Beautiful, almost see through blue flowers dotted the random meadow in the swamp. It honestly looked rather surreal. Like the picture in a children's story book.
"Are those waterblooms?"
"Got it in one," Alfyn confirmed, heading deeper into the clearing. They dutifully followed.
"Zeph mentioned they were useful in potions," Shirou commented.
"Yep. They are excellent quality enhancers. Add one of the leaves of a waterbloom to a potion and the potion is guaranteed to be raised at least a single rank higher than what it should have been."
"Really?" Naofumi glanced around at the waterblooms, suddenly interested. Perhaps he could take a few…
Actually, he reached down and picked one as Alfyn ran his hand along the grass, not paying Naofumi any attention. Then he fed the waterbloom to his shield.
Requirement met: [Waterbloom Shield Unlocked – Base Defense: 3 – Equip Bonus: Compounding +12 / Medicine Efficacy Up (High) (unmastered)]
Special Ability: Medicine Enhancer (4 hours): Consumption (small)
W-Wow. Naofumi's eyes were wide. Once he mastered this shield, his Compounding Skill would come close to rising by a fourth. Add the Medicine Efficacy Up (High) on top of that, plus the Medicine Enhancer Special Ability… he'd just gotten a very handy shield. He would be mastering it as soon as he could when they got back into town.
"Guys," Alfyn said slowly, looking at something at the edge of the meadow. The tension in his voice made Naofumi immediately look up from his Status screen. "Get ready. Things are about to get dicey."
Naofumi was about to ask what he meant when he spotted what had Alfyn so on edge. A large shadow was moving in the water, silent as the grave as it slithered onto the grass in their direction. It came close, then reared up, and up.
And up.
[Otherworld Blotted Viper Lv: 20]
Naofumi swallowed thickly, taking a step back as his slaves stood behind him. The Blotted Viper was massive. Even with the majority of its body on the ground, it reared up high enough to tower two entire heads above Naofumi. It's skin was a poisonous looking amber, blotted with dark spots, glossy with hardened scales. It opened its mouth, large enough to swallow a man's head whole, revealing two six inch fangs, dripping with potent venom, and a forked tongue. It was so long that Naofumi couldn't even begin to guess how big it was and its entire body was lined with thick, powerful looking muscles. It hissed at them as it seized them up, apparently far from impressed.
"Well," Alfyn said, trying to affect aloofness, but the tightening around his eyes gave him away. "This is a bit more of a nasty beasty then I had figured."
Naofumi hissed at the massive understatement. He raised his shield, changing it into the one with the highest base Defense Stat. Keeping himself and his party alive was way more important than hiding his identity as the criminal Shield Hero. Alfyn's eyes widened at the display.
"Naofumi-sama," Raphtalia whimpered, staring up the gigantic viper, obviously scared. Shirou looked little better.
"Stay calm," Naofumi said, boldly moving forward and forcing his voice not to shake. He needed to keep his party members calm. If they panicked it was as good as over. "We'll do as we always do. I'll defend, and you'll attack in the openings I make. If we're careful and watch each other's backs, we'll all be going back in one piece. Get ready."
Alfyn stared at him for a long moment, keeping a single eye on the Blotted Viper, eying them like the apex predator it was. He slowly drew his axe and opened his satchel, retrieving a single glass bottle filled with bright blue powder. "Well said. I help and try and slow it down. I've got a few useful concoctions that ca-"
"Hsssssssssssshhhaaa!"
The enemy struck, lashing out like the viper it was.
Fast! Naofumi barley had the time to raise his shield and offered a quick prayer to whatever god was listening that his Defense Stat was up to the task.
The Blotted Viper's massive fangs kicked up sparks as they made contact with his shield, the force of the head on attack making Naofumi stumble back. The Blotted Viper, undeterred, moved its entire body, it's tail smashing into the Shield Hero's stomach and sending him sprawling.
"Naofumi-sama!" Raphtalia's terrified shriek made him look up, seeing the Blotted Viper leaning over him with its mouth wide open.
"Crap!" he rolled to the side, avoiding the six inch fangs in the nick of time. He scrambled back on his feet, shield raised and breathing deeply. The hit he had taken hadn't done him any damage, but it was a blunt force attack, so the chance it had of harming him through his Defense was small.
Those fangs, though… having already experienced how powerful the Blotted Viper was, he wasn't quite sure if it could hurt him or not. Better not risk it, though.
He didn't get long to ponder it. The Blotted Viper had already turned to give chase, but…
"Don't forget about little old me!" Alfyn shouted and hurled the glass bottle with suspicious blue powder at the monster. It shattered on impact, the powder that had spread out in a fine mist glowed briefly, then exploded in a thin layer of ice that covered the Blotted Viper's lower body. It hissed piteously and Naofumi could see its Health Bar that had appeared at the top of his field of vision the moment the Blotted Viper had appeared decrease by a small amount. Most importantly, it slowed down considerably, the ice weighing it down and leaving it vulnerable.
Naofumi didn't question the shocking sight. He simply took advantage of it.
"Now's our chance! Attack!"
Raphtalia, Shirou and Alfyn rushed up to the Blotted Viper, weapons raised, Naofumi following closely behind to defend them if necessary.
The Blotted Viper's tail lashed out, aiming for Alfyn, the long appendage moving with the speed of a slaver's whip.
In one smooth motion, the Apothecary ducked under the massive muscle and reached the main body of the Blotted Viper. His axe bit deep into its side, followed a bare second later by Shirou spearing into the serpent's side as Raphtalia's knife dug into its soft underbelly. She twisted the knife and forcefully dragged it down, further opening up the wound even more and increasing the damage.
The Blotted Viper merely hissed at the pain and tried to coil his body around her, the ice beginning to break under the constant stress of the monster trying the escape, seeking to crush her in its coils.
Naofumi's hand dragged the girl to safety in the nick of time.
He took another blow meant for her when the tail of the Blotted Viper lashed out again, the monster's speed almost recovered to what it was before. The blow knocked him on his ass, his breath stolen, and the tail came back for a return blow from above.
Naofumi threw himself to the side, gathering Raphtalia in his arms and taking her with him in the same motion. He instinctively rolled away to increase the distance as much as possible, but it turned out to be unnecessary as Alfyn threw another bottle, this one filled with orange powder.
Shirou, who fortunately hadn't been the Blotted Viper's main target, had immediately retreated from the viper's wild movements. That split second decision kept him save from the following chaos.
The Blotted Viper prioritized the greater threat and smacked the bottle with its tail. It broke on impact and its contents immediately erupted in a fiery conflagration that covered the serpent whole. The monster screeched at the pain and trashed like the mad beast it was until the fire disappeared, though it didn't go out as much as it seemed to flow into the Blotted Viper's body.
Instead of staggering it, the sudden eruption of flame only pissed it off.
The moment the fire disappeared, though, a thrown knife found one of its eyes, ocular fluid arching in the air. Shirou, even though he had been aiming for the serpent's eyes, was actually surprised he'd hit his mark considering the vipers wild contortions.
The Blotted Viper screeched again, tossing its head until the knife dislodged. Naofumi, Raphtalia by his side, checked the monster's Health Bar. It had shrunk and gone into the red, even though by all rights it should have died instantly when the knife had pierced its eye. Maybe the Health and Defense Stat was worth a lot more than he and the other Heroes had figured.
It was kind of bullshit what you could survive with a high Health and Defense Stat now that he thought about it.
Nonetheless, they had the Blotted Viper on the back foot. A few more solid hits should kill it. That said, since this world did function on a modicum of game logic, now would be the time a Boss-type enemy like the Blotted Viper would start to break out the big guns…
Confirming his expectations, the Blotted Viper opened its mouth as wide as it could, spewing out a long line of noxious, poison gas at them.
"Shit! Don't breath it in!"
They scattered. Shirou was relatively safe as he had been attacking from a distance, but the others had to hurriedly backpedal to not get caught up in the poison cloud, a task made all the more difficult by the Blotted Viper chasing after them, not ceasing its attack.
"We can't get close so long as it is using that attack!"
"Just wait a little longer! It's Burn should flare up any moment now!"
It's Burn? What the hell was Alfyn talking about? Before he could ask what Alfyn meant, the apothecary tripped and fell over his own two feet in their retreat, coming to rest on his back with the poison gas approaching.
"Whoa!"
"What the hell are you doing, you idiot!"
Naofumi reversed course and grabbed the fallen apothecary by the back of his shirt, dragging him to safety just as the poison gas was about to engulf him.
"Wait- Here it comes! Get ready!"
Get ready for what!? Naofumi was about to shout at Alfyn to explain himself, but at that moment the poison gas attack was cut off just as abruptly as it started. Naofumi looked back at the Blotted Viper at its screech of pain, and to his shook it was once again aflame, as if it had spontaneously combusted.
Wait. Burn? As in a status condition?
Naofumi shook off the random thought. "Doesn't matter. Now's our chance! Finish it, now!"
"Yes, Naofumi-sama!"
"Here we go!"
"You don't have to tell me twice buddy!"
All three the attackers of the party did as instructed, Shirou having retrieved his knife in the mean time. They closed the distance and the second the fire covering the Blotted Viper dropped, they attacked in unison, two knives sinking in deep while an axe severed the monster's tail.
With a barely audible ping, the Blotted Viper's Health Bar dropped to zero. With a final piteous hiss and a venomous look, the Blotted Viper collapsed like a puppet with its strings cut, finally dead.
"So, you're the Shield Hero, huh?"
Alfyn didn't look up from his work as he asked the question. He had pried the dead Blotted Viper's mouth open, holding yet another bottle against one of its fangs to drain it of its venom. Half a dozen bottles filled to capacity were already resting on the grass.
"I am," Naofumi answered. No point in hiding it now. "Is that going to be a problem?"
Alfyn snorted. "Since you saved my life not even a minute ago and made it possible to save Nina's as well, since I highly doubt I could've beat this thing on my own, you could be a serial killer for all I cared and I still would have hugged you if you asked."
"Please don't."
"I wasn't planning on it."
They fell silent after that. Naofumi absently looked around the clearing as the apothecary continued his work. The poison gas the Blotted Viper had released had already faded, leaving the clearing clear. Raphtalia and Shirou were tending to each other. Suprisingly, no one of them had been injured during the fight in spite of the myriad of close calls, but the two kids had run themselves ragged during the short but intense battle.
A Stamina Potion and a moment to cool down was all they needed, though. They'd all really gotten lucky.
"I'm done," Alfyn said, having picked up the venom filled bottles and slid them into his satchel. "Let's go back. The sooner we return to the village, the sooner we can help Nina."
Naofumi nodded and called his slaves over. Raphtalia and Shirou immediately approached.
"You two go on ahead and take Alfyn back to the village. I will follow shortly."
Alfyn looked at him in surprise. Raphtalia and Shirou blinked, before a look of understanding dawned on their faces, though Raphtalia looked faintly worried. "Will you be alright on your own, Naofumi-sama?"
"Don't worry about me. Go. I'll catch up as soon as possible."
Raphtalia and Shirou shared a look, obviously unhappy at the order, but since they couldn't refuse, it was a moot point. The three left the clearing at a quick jog, heading back the way they came.
As soon as they were gone Naofumi turned towards to the carcass of the Blotted Viper. He reached down to his belt, retrieving his work knife. The Legendary Shield's restrictions meant that he couldn't use weapons, but he could use knives and such as tools to butcher monsters.
There was no way he would leave such a prize to rot in the forest.
Requirement met: [Blotted Viper Meat Shield Unlocked – Base Defense: 12 – Equip Bonus: Defense +8 / Cooking +3 (unmastered]
Requirement met: [Blotted Viper Leather Shield Unlocked – Base Defense: 14 – Equip Bonus: Health +9 (unmastered)]
Requirement met: [Blotted Viper Tail Shield Unlocked – Base Defense: 9 – Equip Bonus: Stamina +6 (unmastered)]
Requirement met: [Blotted Viper Fang Shield Unlocked – Base Defense: 6 – Equip Bonus: Attack +3 (unmastered)]
Requirement met: [Blotted Viper Bone Shield Unlocked – Base Defense: 15 – Equip Bonus: Defense +12 (unmastered)]
Requirement met: [Blotted Viper Venom Glands Shield Unlocked – Base Defense: 21 – Equip Bonus: Defense +15 / [Toxic Spikes (medium)] / Poison Resistance (low) (unmastered)]
