Rising of the Masters of the Universe
ESKK: Time to begin the new chapter, let's get started.
(Start Castle Greyskull)
Eldress was sitting upon her throne as she observed what seemed to be a family tree. As she went through it the winged woman could not help but muse to herself over recent events. It all started when Keldor had originally tried to claim Greyskulls power and was cursed for it. Greyskulls power was unique in a certain way that only allowed for specific people who meet the requirements to acquire it. Keldor was not such a person and thus was cursed. He would inevitably rise to become Skeletor who at the moment was terrorizing the world as badly as the Waves are.
It was her mistake in a way she had become complacent after years of peace that she failed to note the growing tensions. The first opportunity she had to summon forth He-Man and She-Ra the Sorceress had squandered it with complacency. Queen Mirellia was the perfect woman to inherit She-Ra's power and her brother Randor had proven himself in times of war to be idea to inherit He-Man's power. But research on a spell had gone wrong and Randor was never seen or heard from again. Years of peace followed only broken when Keldor came for the power and was cursed.
The next successor to He-Man's power came in the form of Mirellia's eldest son, Prince Malcos A Melromarc. The boy was perfect in every sense of the word to inherit He-Man. But the incident with Keldor had shaken her resolve causing Eldress to hesitate in summoning him here. The boy was engaged to a Siltvelt Royal to broker peace between the two countries something Randor had been hoping to achieve for years. Her hesitation came in the form of Malty the boy's sister if Eldress granted He-Man's power to Malcos then Eldress feared that Malty would end up becoming Skeletor herself with Havoc.
Her hesitation had cost her dearly when the boy was poisoned during a dinner. Aultcray blamed the Demihumans for the incident, but Eldress was not blind she knew the boy was murdered not by the enemy outside the walls but the enemy within. Mirellia was in the process of switching heirs to her son, the boy had proven to be fair and just to all and sought equality from his subjects. He was even drawing plans with his fiancé to abolish slavery from all walks of life in Melromarc.
While Malty was the first born she was clearly upset that her brother was being considered for succession to the throne. Never had Eldress witnessed such an act of vileness from anyone. Melty was considered to inherit She-Ra and would have had her brother to help train her in her power. But after the boy's untimely death Eldress was out of options... save one. She reached outward to find someone anyone who could be a match hence how she found Ayato and Akane. The two were rough around the edges but they were improving and with the Shield Hero were becoming true Masters of the Universe.
Despite all of this, Eldress still had her concerns many of them in fact. The next wave was upon them, and she feared that it may prove to be the most difficult Wave yet. She might need to contact an old friend of hers from across the seas more so since the Masters have one of their own travelling with them. The Sorceress of Castle Greyskull prayed that it was not too late.
(Meanwhile in Erhards Shop)
"Hey thanks for having my back." Naofumi said to the siblings, but Ayato had other ideas.
"It wasn't by choice Naofumi." Ayato said surprising the Shield Hero.
"What?" Naofumi asked and thus Akane stepped in.
"Naofumi no offense but even with all the progress you made you wouldn't have bothered to hear her out." Akane said with a calm tone while scratching at her bandages a bit. "Personally, I wanted to hear her out but even if we did all the outcomes would have resulted in you turning her away." Akane said being logical about this.
"that's not..." Naofumi said but Akane gave him a look showing she didn't buy it. "So, I guess instead of scaring her off you went for the logical approach." Naofumi said as the twins had made good arguments. So long as Aultcray and Malty were trying to screw them over the Shield Hero and his party could not work with them.
"Not even going to argue with us on this." Akane said and thus things began to get tense for them.
Seeing this Daito looked to the Filolials and acted fast. "Um hey Filolials why not play outside with Orko." Daito said and thus began to push, Filo, Yuki, Koh, and Sakura out of the shop so they can play outside until the tension died down. Meanwhile Orko followed close behind them on the way out.
"Look Naofumi just cool off a bit, we've had one of those days." Ayato said and thus went on his own to clear his head as well.
(Later Outside)
The Filolials were passing around a ball that Naofumi had gotten for Raphtalia a while back. During this Orko was hovering around using his gravity arms to make it more of a challenge for the children. Daito sat nearby watching them playing the role of babysitter while he had a journal out and was scribbling something down on it.
Just then movement was heard and the Filolials stopped their game to see a group of Knights and magic casters approaching them. "Well, this is... new." Daito said as he saw the group arrived.
(Back inside)
"Uh guys we have a thing out here." Daito said as he peaked his head in with the Filolials.
"What is it Daito?" Naofumi asked as he looked to the builder.
"Naofumi, you have visitors." Daito said and thus he opened the door to let the Knights inside.
"I apologize." The Knight who had chased them greeted.
"Hey, aren't you that guy who chased us around town?" Akane asked as she looked to the young man. "What was that all about anyway?" Akane asked and thus the young man spoke.
"My name is Ake." The Knight began with an introduction. "And well you see... um..." Ake spoke as he tried to find the right words to say. "Please let us accompany you Shield Hero. At least during the waves." He said with a bow that the group who came with him mimicked. "We were deeply touched by your courage and selflessness when you fought in the last wave alongside the Barbarian Hero, He-Man and the Warrior Princess, She-Ra with their Masters of the Universe." Ake said as he kept his head down. "Everyone here wants nothing more than to support you on your tireless quest." Ake said and thus they all got the gist of what was going on here.
"Well, this is a first," Ayato said as Akane agrees as this is the first time they had seen and heard this as people that didn't resent the shield hero and wanting to join him in the next wave as Naofumi said, "Wait, is that why you keep chasing me?"
"Yes! WE all decided that we should ask to fight side by side with you the next time we saw you here in the capital," Ake said as Akane said, "Well we nice as that sound, you should have acted more calmly and more well manner, as we thought you were trying to arrest us or worse when we just barely made it to the capital and all that."
"I'm sorry, I should have thought about that more carefully, excuse my poor behavior before, but I will ask of you, please let us join you for the next wave," Ake said as he keep bowing to the group as Naofumi said to him, "If this just about fighting the wave, you can do that without following me around, just do it yourself."
Before he could finish, both his cousin elbow him in his gut, which got him to stop talking for the moment as Akane said, "Come on Naofumi don't be rude. They seem very honest about this."
"And it does hurt to have backup in the waves as needed, as we may have a decent party size, but we can't be everywhere at once you know," Ayato said as he was thinking if the group were to protect another village where the wave was at, they need other people to cover for them so they can Master up and take on any wave bosses and Skeletor's forces as needed.
Naofumi heard his cousins and knew they were right, and he did need to give people a chance as he soon ask them, "Alright then, let me ask you this. Why do you want to join with me?"
"Because sir hero, we all hail from the village of Lute," A young mage said as he step up to explain while he went on saying, "You see back then, you saved all of our families from a tragic end."
The group remember that well, with Daito does remember seeing Ake there with the other knights before, even stood with those who decided to stay and support the shield hero and the masters as the mage keep on saying, "So you see sir, we want to help anyway we can."
"We want to repay you for saving our fellow villagers, that all," Ake said as the group look over at Naofumi to see what he would say to this as they all saw these young adventurers are telling the true and want to help the group in the next wave, with Naofumi it was hard to tell if he can see it as well or not, but he has an idea to test them as he soon pulls out one of his trinkets he made as he said, "Buy this for 150 silver pieces."
This surprise the group, including the masters, as Naofumi soon said, "I'll consider your offer if you cough up the cash."
This got the knight worry as 150 silvers was a bit much to those who aren't supported by the king as Naofumi said, "What's wrong? You can gain my trust by buying this trinket right now."
"But master Naofumi," Raphtalia said as the twins quickly stop her from saying anything else, as they knew what Naofumi was doing as one of the other knights said, "But 150 silvers pieces?"
"Now what?" the young mage said as Ake decided it as he said, "We'll just have to arrange it. We understand we'll gather the silver pieces right now."
After that, the group left with Raphtalia soon said, "I can't believe your pressuring them to buy leftover accessory for that much money."
"It may look like that but it was more than that Raphtalia," Akane said gaining the demihuman girls attention as the others also caught onto what Naofumi was really doing.
"Oh, good I wasn't the only one who noticed." Catra said while she laid on Erhards table much to his annoyance.
"Noticed what?" Raphtalia asked trying to make sense of it.
"You'll see before the Wave Hits." Ayato said patting Raphtalia on the head making her puff up her cheeks and pout.
"Now mind getting your house cat off my desk, still cleaning out her fur from last time." Erhard said as he held Catra by the scruff of her neck as she had a cat pose now.
"Nyan!" Catra responded as she had this kitty cat look on her face just for added effect and to annoy Erhard.
"Catra." Akane sighed as everyone either facepalmed or giggled at the sight before them.
(Later)
Once everyone had calmed down some the group opted to do a little shopping. Or in the case of Daito do a bit of work on some side projects on which he was working. Orko hovered around as the machine wizard scanned several weapons and armors on display. Raphtalia was looking at some new armor she got showing she upgraded from leather to actual armor. Hajime was looking over some armor to put over her magic robes that she purchased from the magic shop earlier. Yumi for her part was comparing axes seeing as she was not only a head basher but an axe swinger. But something to note was that their armor at this point seemed to have been worn out significantly after the incident with Despara.
Naofumi meanwhile put his armor on the table. "Fix these up while you're at it." Naofumi said as he needed his armor ready for the next Wave.
"The made to order stuff huh?" Erhard said as he grinned at his handiwork. "Tell you what, because your friend there has been good for business and cause I like you all I'll throw in some added goods." Erhard said as he looked to the group.
"Really?" Ayato asked when he heard this.
"Damn right really." Erhard said as he looked to the group. "I think you all earned it." Erhard said to which Akane smiled a bit.
"Alright just don't make us look like a band of bandits." Akane said before looking to Naofumi and Erhard. "No offense of course." Akane added which Naofumi shrugged to that.
"None taken." Naofumi said before he began to look through his statues screen. "Hey boss." Naofumi began as he had a question which got Erhard's attention. "What are those stars next to everyone's level indicators mean?" Naofumi asked as that had been bugging him for some time now.
"Yeah, I've been meaning to ask about that." Hajime said as she had also seen the stars, but she was the only one that didn't have said star other than Naofumi of course.
"Oh, you guys are ready for class upgrades already?" Erhard said which got everyone's attention.
"Class Upgrades?" Ayato asked when he heard this.
"Like that one bandit we faced a while back?" Yumi asked recalling the swordsman and his crew who tried to mug them on the road.
"Yeah, it lets you increase your level cap." Erhard said which got everyone's attention. "Only those recognized by the court have the option but since you are a hero it's possible." Erhard said as he knew they might be able to get those class upgrades. "When you're upgrading your class that's when you choose what path you wanna take and I had a hell of a lot of trouble deciding on mine." Erhard said recalling the old days when he was an adventurer.
"Well looks like we're going on a trip." Hajime said realizing that they had basically peaked and needed to get their Class Upgraded if they wanted to get stronger.
"So where do we get our Class Upgrades?" Yumi asked and thus Erhard looked to them with concern.
(Later in town)
"The Church why does it have to be the Church." Akane sighed in frustration knowing full well that the Church hated the Shield Hero with a passion, as well as anyone associated with him. Well, more specifically they had to do it at the Dragon Hourglass which suggests that they can go to another Dragon Hourglass if the Church puts up a fuss about it. Plus, if their forced to go on a long trip for their class upgrade then they can see about finding any of the other Seven Star Heroes if their Vassal Weapons have a chosen wielder.
"So, what sort of Class Upgrades were you two thinking about, Raphtalia Catra?" Ayato asked looking towards the two Demi-Humans.
"Meh something that'll get me out of this hellhole nation." Catra said as she looked to the party. Her Slave Mark clearly playing a role into her dislike for Melromarc and its people. Honestly speaking Catra didn't give a rat's ass what happens to this Kingdom if the Waves destroy it good riddance, but she'd never voice it out loud to the others.
"Honestly, I'm ok with whatever Master Naofumi decides on." Raphtalia voiced and thus Akane then looked to the two.
"Come on you two, this is a big decision you need to choose an upgrade for when we aren't around anymore." Akane said making it clear that this was going to happen one way or another.
"He's right once the Waves are over me and my friends are going back to our home." Naofumi said as he looked to his party. They were here because of him and are struggling because of him... he had to get them back to their own world one way or another. Naofumi then went over to a nearby stand and proceeded to buy a skewer for the Filolials of their party.
"Good the sooner the Waves can end the sooner I can get this crest off and run for it." Catra said as she had every intention to run once, she gets the Slave Crest off. These folks are all nice and friendly, but Catra was a survivor and only looked out for herself. Less problems that way and less likely to get stabbed in the back by others.
(Later at the Church)
Later that day the Shield Party/Masters of the Universe were inside the Church standing before the Dragon Hourglass. "15 Gold Pieces that's highway robbery!?" Akane was heard clearly hearing the price of the Class Upgrades. There were about eleven of them in the party who needed a Class Upgrade, ten if Hajime's as a Vassal Hero didn't need one. So that was about 110 Gold Pieces right there enough to possibly buy a house around here.
"Yes miss, a Class Upgrade will cost 15 Gold Pieces per person." The Nun said repeating what she had told them prior. But the fact she smirked at them with a chuckle told Akane another story.
'Those lying bastards.' Akane thought before her Havoc Burns started to act up again causing the warrior princess pain.
"It would be so much better if we just went in and slaughter each and every one of them." Despara whispered into Akane's ears while Akane did her best to ignore the embodiment of Havoc.
But before Despara could make another comment about letting her out or inflicting pain on these people Naofumi spoke up. "Alright then." Naofumi said much to Akane's shock. "We'll get Raphtalia's Upgrade first and come back once we get a better estimate on our budget." Naofumi said as he figured there may be a smart way to get multiple at a time instead of just going one at a time.
The woman was surprised by this as she found the pouch of coins in her hand's curtesy of Naofumi. Just then another voice came up with an older nun came out from behind a pillar to say, "Our Apologies. We seem to have made a mistake."
Everyone turn to the nun as she went on saying, "We are forbidden from providing the upgrades to the shield hero's party."
"What, but they just said," Raphtalia began to say as then the nun pull out a royal decreed no doubt from the king as the nun said, "It's a direct order from his majesty."
"That fucking bastard." Akane said as she was reaching her limit with this supposed king's bullshit. She was almost tempted to let Despara out again, almost. The Princess of Power had to keep reminding herself not to give in to that temptation after seeing the damages Havoc had caused. Thankfully before anything lashing could be said Naofumi just snatched back his pouch of coins and stormed off with his party. Akane was silently thankful for that.
"So now what do we do?" Ayato asked concern clear in his voice.
"I have one idea." Naofumi said as he knew one guy in town that might be able to help them. If not, he can at least point them in the right direction.
"What is it that he says that, and it makes my stomach turn?" Daito asked but it was Yumi who responded to him.
"There's only one guy in town who's willing to help us out." Yumi said and thus this meant only one place.
"I hate that place." Catra said as she knew they were going to visit Beloukas.
(Later at the Slaver Tent)
It was the late afternoon by the time they arrived at Beloukas's tent. Needless to say, the Filolials were all nervous about this place, possibly from memories they did not even know that they had. "Great this place again, still hate it." Catra said as she glared at the slavers tent before them.
"You don't plan to sell us, do you?" Yuki asked as she held her brother close as if to protect him in case that was the case.
"Nope never gonna happen." Ayato said making it clear that the Filolials will never be made into anyone's slaves so long as they lived.
"Come on." Naofumi said and thus they each entered the tent to meet with the man inside.
Of course, Beloukas was there but at this point Akane and Naofumi both knew what to expect from the silver tongue slave merchant. "Well, if it isn't sir hero back with us again." He began before making his way over to Shiro. "How can I help you?" He asked as he stood before the Shield Hero and the Masters of the Universe.
"Well, it looks like your business has been booming lately." Akane said as she looked to the pudge short man. Truth was that none of them liked his trade but in a land that wanted them dead they had had to swallow their pride. But he was useful with the other parts of the trade as well.
"And it's all thanks to you and your cohorts if I may be so blunt." Beloukas said as he looked to the Shield Hero and his party.
"Huh?" Daito asked as he looked to the man with confusion. But he was also worried that he may have accidentally perpetuated this horrid trade.
"Yes, you're travelling trade has been extremely profitable for me as well as you, thank you so much." He said as he tipped his hat to group to show his gratitude to them.
"What are you talking about?" Ayato asked with a raised brow to the man.
"Your royal Filolials have gained quiet the reputation. Nobles from every corner of Melromarc are contacting me to ask how can procure one for themselves, quiet extraordinary actually." Beloukas said as he looked to Filolials in question. Yuki of course hid her sisters and brother behind her while Catra got in front and hissed at the man. Beloukas knowing of Catra's history backed off as he valued his health. "And then there's you two." He said gesturing to both Raphtalia and Catra much to their shared surprise. "You helped my business gain a reputation for providing high quality slaves and the money just doesn't stop rolling in." Beloukas said as he looked Raphtalia and Catra who became his prized money makers without even being here.
"Keep talking and you lose your fat face." Catra said flexing her claws while growling.
Of course, the threat heard the Slave Trade got back to subject and refocused his attention back onto the Shield Heroes part. "Anyway, how may I help you today?" The man asked as he looked to the Masters of the Universe. "Would you like another slave or perhaps you need some assistance with your Filolial experiment?" Beloukas asked as he was here to serve his best customers.
"I'm trying to arrange some class upgrades for us, can you do that?" Naofumi said as he said it in a rude tone as Akane step on his foot for that one as he his show he was in pain a hit as he pull away and hop on one foot for a bit as Akane said, "Sorry about him, we're having a bit of a rough time with the church recently."
"Oh, class upgrades?" Beloukas said as with Yumi suddenly spoken up saying, "No thanks to King asshole and that redhead bitch." Hajime bonk her on her head, not like it would do much harm to her due to the helmet she's wearing but still cause some unconformable to her as Naofumi walk up to the other cages of high level beast that were left untouched, no doubt people were going for the cheaper slaves and left the high level ones alone as he said, "As the helmet girl said, they won't even let us do it in this country, what a pain."
"And we're here in hoping you may have a way to give glass upgrades or at least know another way that we can do it," Ayato said to the slave trader, while keeping Cringer close as no way he would still him to the guy as he sees how he was eyeing his tiger as Naofumi said, "I remember you had a slave over level 40."
Naofumi did a scan of beast he saw being a wolf type beast as he did an appraisal on it as the slave trader came up to him and said, "Although it pains me to say this, we don't provide that service here, but your young friend is right, I do know of another way as all you have to do apply it by any other countries dragon hourglass."
"You mean there are others?" Naofumi said as he was surprised to hear that as the slave trader said to him, "Yes indeed, Ordinary I would charge for valuable information like this, but sense it's you and your companions who's asking, I'll be happy to tell you for free."
Beloukas pulls out a map of the world and show the different kingdoms and countries around as he said, "If we're talking favorable countries for you to upgrade classes, there's the mercenary nations Zeltoble, Demi-human countries Siltvelt and Shieldfreeden."
"I suggest Shieldfreeden given its a Demi-human country its surprisingly welcomes humans," Beloukas recommends there knowing it would be the safes country for Naofumi to go to as Daito said, "Well I guess we can get a better Hero's welcome there then, if the name is anything to go by."
"So long would it take to get there?" Naofumi ask as the slave trader said to him, "By ship its 2 weeks, and if you go by wagon, it's a better part of a month."
"so, either way it would take too long to get there, and we don't have enough time to set up supply for a month trip and no doubt the king may keep us out of the shipyard as well," Hajime said as she thought of the worst scenario and its either a big "Maybe" or "Most likely" as Akane said, "That is if the King is that petty."
"Then let's assume that he did, and we'll most likely have to take the long way," Naofumi said as Raphtalia said, "But that so far."
"We won't be able to get there before the next wave," Naofumi said as Beloukas soon suggest to him as he said, "Then why not equip your Filolials with weapons? And I may have just the thing."
"HU? A weapon just for us?" Filo asked as she got excited for that as well her other two sisters, while Kou was confused of the whole situation of having a weapon.
(Little later)
With Sakura, Yuki, and Kou were looking at Filo as she was wearing some metal claws on her feet to test them out as the slave trader said to the group, "Wyvern talons, pretty sweet hu?"
"What's a Wyvern?" Sakura asked with Daito said, "Well they are really like-
Before he could answer the question, the twin shut him up quickly before Ayato answered saying, "Ugly wing creatures with claws, nothing important to remember them for, and you should do the same."
"What he said you four," Akane said as she no one dare to say anything else as they all knew Wyvern are basically sub species of dragons at best as Naofumi said, "How much are they?"
"In light of your continued patron, I'll give you the once lifetime price of five gold pieces each," the slave trader said as then Akane came up to Naofumi and whisper into his ear as he nodded to that and went up to the man putting down a few fingers and said, "We're on a budget so we'll get one set for four gold coins and throw in some reins for us."
"He-He, it's a deal! Cause you grown into the kind of man I really adore," the slave trader said as he rush off and said, "You make my spine tingle."
As the fat man went out to find some extra reins Yumi said, "Why only get 1 set? we got four birds to arm up."
"Yes, we do but I have a better idea, we get just the one set so Daito can get a close look at them and make more for us and either make them Better or just as good quality," Akane said as she thought of everything as Daito said, "Wait what?"
"Hey, you're the Man at Arms, who could build better stuff than you can?" Ayato said as Hajime look to him and said, "We're counting on you Daito."
"Ah man, and I wanted to do some other stuff as well," Daito said as now he has to put off some of his project for later.
"Oh, that remind me." Akane began as she looked outside to where Swift Wing was hanging out. "Do you happen to know anyone who can build combat-based equipment for adventurers with combat creatures like a war chariot or something?" Akane asked as she looked over to Beloukas.
"Hmm I know of one woman but... she can be a bit of a handful." Beloukas said as the tone he used suggested something of a deep history.
"Mind giving direction?" Akane asked and thus Naofumi stepped in.
"And while we're on the subject is there any place, we can test out these claws?" Naofumi asked and thus Beloukas had an idea for that one also.
"We'll all the monsters here are merchandise for sale... but there is once place." He said and in turn a plan was made.
"Ok then, Akane and I can see this person while Naofumi can take Filo and Raphtalia to wherever Beloukas's training area is." Ayato said as this meant they would be bringing Catra as well.
"I can head to Erhards shop with Orko and work on the new project." Daito said as his shop was the only one that lets him use his forge.
"I'll go with Sakura, and I need something to do." Yumi added and thus it was Daito, Foh, Yumi, Orko, and Sakura to Erhards shop.
"Yuki and I plan to visit the magic shop see if anything we can use is there." Hajime said and thus Naofumi nodded.
"Ok we'll all meet at the inn and rest up." Naofumi said meaning they all had a plan now.
(Scene break the twins)
Ayato, Akane, and Catra with Cringer and Swiftwing made their way to the place Beloukas told them about. The shop was not a tent more, so it wasn't really bad looking to their surprise. It had this aura about it as they entered and were met with the sound of metal work. Once inside they saw several displays showing what seemed to look like armor for beasts and chariots for battle.
"Hello?" Ayato asked as they had Cringer and Swiftwing wait outside next to the shed entrance of the store. "Anyone in?" Ayato asked and soon enough the door at the back opened and from it a middle-aged woman with a long pipe walked out. She had a bandana around her head and an outfit similar to Erhards.
"Yeap what do you want?" She asked glaring at the group.
"Um yes... we were told by someone you can build gear for our companions." Akane said as she looked to the woman.
"Would that someone be Beloukas?" She asked with a grin on her face after taking her pipe out.
"Yeah, that's the bastard." Catra said and thus the woman scoffed.
"Jeez so instead of coming here for items he decided to send someone else, it's just like the divorce." She said causing the two humans and demihuman to go wide eyed.
"Wait he was married to you?!" Akane asked and thus the woman laughed to this.
"No, but you thought it." She said and thus the group got a good look at her muscles which made Catra whistle.
"Death by snu-snu." Catra mumbled and thus the woman approached her store front.
"Anyway, I'm Ayato, this is Akane, and that's her slave, friend, and her glorified house cat Catra." Ayato said beginning the introduction causing Catra to glare at him.
"Hey fuck you." Catra responded glaring at Ayato who just laughed.
"The names Erma and this is my shop." Erma introduced as she looked to the group. "So, let's get down to business what sort of creatures you got?" Erma asked and thus the pair looked to her for a moment.
(Later)
"Huh." Erma said looking at Cringer and Swift Wing. "The Horse is pretty straight forward." Erma said as she looked Swift Wing over. "But the war tiger... that's going to be different." She said and thus finished up looking them over and took out some parchment. "I have some estimates for you but since you came here under recommendation, I can cut you a bit of a discount." Erma said as she looked to the group.
"What sort of discount?" Akane asked as she looked to the woman.
"Well 10% Discount plus an extra 5% for any materials you can provide for me." She said going into business mode.
"Is that all?" Ayato asked and thus the woman smirked to this.
"No see I also add a few gadgets if I can but that costs extra." She said making it clear that she was not losing any profit here.
"Should we?" Ayato asked as he looked to Akane.
"Unless you want our mounts being skewered." Akane said and thus Ayato sighed before the twins took out their money pouches and their sacks that they keep any gathered materials in.
(Scene Break the Inn that evening)
After Erma had gotten the measurements for the two creatures, she promised they'll be ready for pickup at a later date probably before the Wave hits. At the moment Akane was in the guy's room at the inn so Naofumi can apply the Holy Water to Akane's Havoc Burns. Ayato was helping by adding some Greyskull power to the bandages to increase the Holy Water's effectiveness.
After testing out the Wyvern Talons Daito had gotten to work on making more of them for the other Filolials. Currently Naofumi was soaking the bandages in the Holy Water after Ayato fueled it up with Greyskull power. Once it was done, he applied it to Akane's wounds causing her to wince in pain as emerald smoke came off the Havoc Burns.
"You, ok?" Naofumi asked his cousin with concern for her.
"Yes, I'll be fine." Akane said as she looked to her wounds. "The parts you bandage heal fast, so this is just a minor pain in the process of recovery." Akane said and thus Naofumi smiled a bit.
"So... 10 days until the Wave hits." Ayato said as he sat down nearby while Akane was being bandages up. "Here's hoping you recover by then." Ayato said wanting his sister to fully recover soon.
"Yeah. But it's a shame we won't know when or where the next wave will be coming from, we're going to have to be prepared for everything and anything." Naofumi said to which Ayato nodded.
"That's right casualties will be unavoidable if the Wave hits in a town or village so it will be smart to stock up on supplies." Ayato said but then he paused for a bit. "Still without that Class Upgrade... we're basically in deep waters." Ayato said and thus Naofumi knew that they needed that class upgrade.
"Transforming into those Master forms gives all our states a major boost in power and if Skeletor and his goony squad show up again, we need all the advantages we can get." Naofumi said making it clear that they needed an edge.
Just then Ayato, Akane, and Naofumi's hub screens flashed to life and from it a letter appeared on the corners. "What?" Ayato asked and thus they looked to each other.
"Did you know we can get Private Messages like in an MMORPG?" Akane asked when she saw the letter.
"No, I did not." Naofumi said and thus they opened the message.
"Masters come to Castle Greyskull, He-Man and She-Ra's power have reached their peak I will open the way to the next summit -Eldress."
"Ok I guess we can get a Class Upgrade." Ayato said when he saw the message.
"Yeah... seems convenient." Naofumi said as he found this suspicious in all honesty. Of course, Eldress had proven to be a powerful ally, so they saw no reason to reject her summons. Naofumi still had his doubts, but he decided to let it be, if Ayato and Akane trusted her he can give her the benefit of the doubt.
"Alright then let's hit the hay we got to make the trip tomorrow." Akane said and in turn they each headed off to bed. With a bid of goodnight everyone went back to their own rooms to rest for the night.
(Scene Break the next day Castle Greyskull)
After a day of travel by wagon the group had arrived at Castle Greyskull and upon entering were met with Eldress. She came to them and thus Naofumi was the first to speak. "You said you can give us Class Upgrades, right." Naofumi asked and thus Eldress turned her head.
"No... but I can unlock certain powers within the Sword of Power and Protection." Eldress said and thus this made Ayato think.
"And in doing so you release hidden powers for He-Man and She-Ra." Ayato said and thus Eldress nodded.
"Exactly." She said and then turned away from them. "This way." She said and then began to lead the party through the castle.
"So, this Class Upgrade can only be used for He-Man and She-Ra?" Naofumi asked hearing her out.
"Yes, this will in turn allow for those who acquired power through them to gain a boost in their own power when they transform." Eldress said while she lead the group to another chamber.
"So, we'll receive more power from Greyskull every time we transform?" Raphtalia asked finding all of this to be fascinating.
"Exactly." Eldress said seeing the party put the pieces together. But then Eldress stopped at another door and pressed her hand to it. When she did so the door opened up for her and they soon entered another room. Inside the room was what appeared to be a massive crystal pulsing with power as around it were three slabs with intents on them. Two of them were for swords while the third one was for a staff. One of the slabs had gold energy flowing to and from it in a dull light signaling Greyskull, the second pedestal had green energy flowing which mean Havoc, and the last one had a steady yet hollow glow of gold and green.
"Ayato, Akane insert your weapons into the pedestals so we may begin." Eldress said and in turn they got down to it.
"Alright." Ayato said while Akane shrugged and did so. Ayato went to the slab that had the gold while Akane went to the slab that had gold and green. Naofumi meanwhile was watching the scene keeping an eye on Ayato and Akane's icons on his statues screen. Placing the Sword of Power and Sword of Protection in their respective slabs they each closed with the swords inside and took the weapons for the upgrade.
Ayato and Akane were nervous at first but then they saw the crystal began to glow brightly sensing the task needed of it. It began to send the energy into the swords as they were being infused with power from the stone. The light grew brighter as everyone was forced to shield their eyes from it. Once it reached its apex the process came to an end as the lights dimmed the slabs returned to their previous spot and released the swords. The Sword of Power and the Sword of Protection were glowing a bit when the two heroes took them after they had been freshly upgraded by the chamber.
Ayato was the first to notice the differences with the Power Sword. Mainly when he held it a certain way the blade opened and split in two revealing an energy conduit inside that released Greyskulls power as an offensive weapon. According to Ayato's hub the Sword of Power has gained a new ability called Lightning trident. Meanwhile his stats had also taken a significant increase to compensate for the new skill acquisition.
Akane for her part noted that her sword was different as well and she soon found out why when her statues magic told her what it was. She can now utilize specialized skills for each of her weapon forms that she had gained significant affinity to. She had also noted that her pools of forms had also increased. The fact her stats also increased was almost missed by the Princess of Power.
"It is done." Eldress said looking to the group.
"Shiny." Yumi said but Eldress continued.
"When Ayato and Akane next transform you will each receive a significant increase in your flow of power." Eldress continued as Naofumi saw that alert pop up on his statues magic. The same can be said for Hajime as the Vassal Staff hero.
"Well, that's good to know." Naofumi said as he found this to be beneficial. That means they need to come back here when Ayato and Akane needed to upgrade their power again.
But Eldress had this bothered look in her eyes as she turned away a bit. "What's wrong Eldress?" Orko asked hovering around worried for her.
"I have a concern that I wish for you all to investigate." Eldress said looking to the group. "I am under the assumption that you are going in the same general direction so if you can, I humbly ask that you to investigate the state of the Norther Territories." Eldress said making her request known. "I am understanding that the Bow Hero was sighted there but knowing his mindset I fear he may have made a grave mistake." Eldress said showing she had her issues here.
"Well considering what Motoyasu and Ren did I can't say that I'm surprised." Naofumi said as he figured those stooges may have done something they shouldn't have. "I'll look in on it but it's not my job to clean up after him." Naofumi said which Eldress nodded in understanding.
"That's all I ask." Eldress said which she then added more. "Feel free to remain the night and leave first thing at dawn." Eldress said and thus Naofumi nodded.
"Sure, we can do that." Naofumi said and they were in turn ready to go.
(Scene Break the Next Day start Montage)
"Yeah another 27 hours before we have to risk our necks for a country of ungrateful people." Catra said making it clear that she still had her issues.
"Ok Ms. Negative, how about we grab some lunch I'm starving." Yumi said which Hajime chuckled at the helmet girl.
"Yumi your always hungry." Hajime said wondering just where Yumi puts it all.
"Not that she's wrong we should probably eat." Naofumi cut in and thus they decided on what to do.
"YES!" Yumi cheered with Sakura while the Flock was happy to just eat. Yuki was more subdued about it, but she was also happy to stuff her face.
(Later)
The group arrived at a pub and took a seat nearby at one of the larger tables. Cringer and Swifty had to wait outside for them but thankfully they would be ok to do so. But, at a table Ren and Itsuki are seen, talking to each other about certain weird things that been going on. The Shield Party quickly noticing the two before Raphtalia pointed them out and asked, "Isn't that?"
"Ren and Itsuki yeah." Naofumi said as he glared at them as did the other members who came from another world.
Meanwhile Ren and Itsuki had yet to notice Shiro and his group before Itsuki began to speak. "I overthrew this despot in a country to the North, but you know what happened after that?" Itsuki began as he and Ren spoke of recent events that hadn't gone right for them. "When I went to the Guild to pick up the Reward, they had already paid it out to somebody else." Itsuki said as it was clear he didn't realize what really happened.
"Same here I lost a job request from some guy out of the blue." Ren said unaware the request was to the same Village he brought a plague upon.
"Looks like somebody is going around pretending to be us." Itsuki said as he had a few theories as to who these imposters were.
Just then as the gathered four parties were ordering their food in the background one of Itsuki's party members approached the table. "Itsuki." Came one of Itsuki's party members. "We just received another guild request to overthrow a town Lord to the North. What do you want to do with this?" She asked as Itsuki was unaware it was the same town whom he 'saved,' before.
"From the guild?" Itsuki asked as he was confused by this.
"Yes, from what I can tell it seems that the local Lord has heavily taxing the Citizens way beyond the courts set limits and he's using that revenue in a vicious campaign suppress decenters of any kind and to hire mercenaries." The woman said as the group overheard what was being spoke of.
"They're talking about the town we crossed paths with." Hajime said while she was glaring at Itsuki.
"Ok here's your food." The server said smiling at the group as their food was served.
"That looks yummy time to dig in." Filo said as she was ready to eat. When the food was passed around the group began to eat their food.
Back with Itsuki's table Itsuki had gotten the story of this. "Interesting." Itsuki said unaware that the shield hero and his party all heard every word that he was speaking. "They need to be taught that with great power comes great responsibility." Itsuki said but in turn Naofumi spit take before he began to cough when his food went down the wrong tube.
Filo complained about it as she was in the range of the spit take. "Master that's gross!" Filo cried out after that had happened.
"Sorry." Naofumi apologized while laughing a bit.
"What's so funny?" Itsuki was heard and thus everyone knew that they were in minefield now. Turning they saw that Itsuki, and Ren was standing before them.
"You trying to pass yourself off as a hero and failing miserably." Yumi said before Hajime could even voice her opinion on the Bow Hero.
In turn Itsuki began to put the pieces together as he looked to the Shield Hero and his party. "It's you huh you're the one that's been impersonating us stealing our jobs and taking our rewards." Itsuki accused and thus Akane laughed to this. Even Despara off the corner of her eye was finding this funny.
"Stealing your jobs? Hah! More like cleaning up your messes and being paid to do it." Akane said not even giving Itsuki the benefit of looking at him while she ate her food.
"You have a lot of nerve trying to take the high ground after all the shit you've done and from what I heard I had actually thought what Motoyasu, and Ren did were the worst of it turns out I was wrong." Hajime said and as she cursed the group knew for a fact, she was angry.
"What are you talking about?" Itsuki asked clearly unaware of the damage his actions have caused.
"Do you seriously have no idea what happened to that Kingdom after you ousted its King?" Daito asked as he glared at Itsuki as he began to tell him exactly what he saw there.
(Flashback)
As the Naofumi was giving food to the refugees he gave a bowl to a man Hajime was tending to the sick as best she could despite conditions. "Is this everyone from your village?" Naofumi asked with concern in his voice for these people.
"Yes." He began as he confirmed what had happened. "Everybody else was killed before the Lunar Huntress could save them." The man spoke as the Shield Heroes party had seen the graves as the result. "After the revolutions, our lives did get a little better but not for long." The man spoke as he told of what happened back at his fallen home. "The resistance started hiking up the taxes just like the Lord had done before." The man said and thus no one was not happy about this.
"But why would they do that?" Ayato asked as she was worried about the response.
"I don't know too much about it but apparently it takes an awful lot of money to run a country." The man said and thus not given the time to think on it and have food in him he started to notice startling patterns. "Now that I think of it maybe the previous King had the exact same thing in mind." The man said and thus Naofumi began to put two and two together.
(End flashback)
"All you did there was switch out the good ruler who was simply running his Kingdom for tyrant. Nothing go solved in the end you moron!" Yumi said scolding Itsuki knowing he had royally fucked up.
"Stop trying to change the subject we're talking about you guys impersonating." Itsuki began only for Ayato to surprise everyone when he stood up, grabbed Itsuko by his shirt, and pinned him to the wall. He had his fist reared back as Itsuki stood there in shock.
"Ayato stop don't do it!" Akane said trying to stop her brother, but Ayato had the angriest look on his face that anyone had seen. Ayato wanted to do it he certainly wanted to make Itsuki hurt as much as possible for the people he had harmed. The temptation the desire Ayato was looking into a dark place right now... but with as much will power as he could muster, he didn't go through with it.
Ayato then growled and threw Itsuki to the floor and glared down on him. "No... you're not worth it." Ayato said and thus Itsuki stood there in shock when Ayato said that. Itsuki had heard that many times before back in his world. Itsuki came from a world where pretty much everyone had a power as Espers. Itsuki's power though was seen as useless since it gave him perfect accuracy with a bow. He had been told that by almost everyone that he wasn't worth it, even his own parents. Itsuki sat there as Ayato walked away to rejoin his group and apologize to the patrons.
Ren stepped up as he hoped to defuse the situation by directing things at himself. "How do you explain my case?" Ren asked the group and in turn all eyes fell to him.
"Let me take a gander, you had a request that was cancelled about a disease, correct?" Hajime asked as she looked to Ren with a glare of contempt. She was not happy that Ren had left a rotting corpse out and it ended up infected with Havoc.
"If you all know then that makes this easier, so why did you steal that job?" Ren asked but Hajime had a counter for this idiot.
"We didn't steal anything." Ayato said stepping up not wanting Akane to have any relapse over what happened with Despara. "The village was on the verge of destruction after you killed the Dragon and didn't clean up after yourself." Ayato said scolding the Sword Hero. "I mean come on your in high school, don't you know that meat rots and decays if you leave it out?!" Ayato asked while scolding the sword hero.
"But I didn't." Ren began as he honestly didn't know that was what came out of the incident. "I'm sorry." Ren apologized to the group for having to clean up his mess. What really sealed the deal was when he saw Akane's Havoc burns on her arms.
"Wait you actually believe them!?" Itsuko asked shocked over what Ren was saying.
"Why not they have no reason to lie." Ren said as he honestly saw no reason that they would lie about this.
"Come on guys." Naofumi said once everyone had already eaten enough.
As they were about to leave the tavern Itsuko glared at them before he broke his silence. "I still don't believe you." Itsuki yelled causing Naofumi to stop while Yumi glared at him.
Hajime placed a hand on Yumi's shoulder knowing she was about to do and stopping it before it can happen. With this done they all proceeded to take their leave of the tavern with full bellies leaving behind the two failure heroes in their wake.
(Later at Erhards shop)
The party was looking over their new gear after coming to Erhards shop for said repairs. "I embedded that Zombie Dragon Core you brought me and even gave it an auto repair function." Erhard said as Naofumi's new armor was all finished up. "It's one of my best works yet." Erhard said as Naofumi looked himself over with concern.
"Be honest with me how much do you want to make me look like the King of the Bandits." Naofumi said but then Yumi cut in.
"Why are you bitching I'll take that armor if I wasn't satisfied with my own." Yumi said as she approached. Looking to her they saw that she had what appeared to armored plates around her torso with metal grieves and gauntlets to boot. Her armor greaves went as far as her knees while the gauntlets went to her elbows. Her helmet had a gem embedded into it as it covered her head and even had a visor for when she charges. Yumi honestly looked like a fantasy-based football player oddly enough. Her helmet though had horns on either side of it, so she looked more like a barbarian in this case if not a Viking.
"I wouldn't be too judgmental." Hajime said while walking in as she was dressed in feathered robes that was designed after a bird and had bits of armor here and there. She had gauntlets on her arms and greaves on her legs while the rest was mainly leather no doubt to allow for Hajime to utilize magic more efficiently. There was even a spell book strapped to her side for her use later during battle. "I mean Erhard did work hard on these outfits." Hajime said as then Daito stepped up.
"I'll say." Daito said as he shouldered his mace revealing he was in heavy armor of his own. Daito's armor was on the buff side, but it was clear that it was perfect for the Man at Arms. The left arm of the armor was bulkier than the right as the greaves were designed for better movement and defense when needed.
"Oh, come on that's just not fair." Naofumi said before Ayato stepped up with Akane. Their armor outfits made Naofumi go wide eyed in shock as their outfits were like gender flipped versions of each-others. They looked like knights straight out of a fantasy game with and honestly it made Naofumi jealous a bit. "Are you kidding me!" He cried when he saw them.
Ayato was currently dressed in regal armor that had a long cape on it. The main part seemed to be a tunic of sorts with a coat over it that the cape was attached to. On said coat was shoulder armor with vents on it and gauntlets. The Greaves went as far as his knees and from what Naofumi can tell came with baggy pants. Ayato's
Akane's armor on the other hand had a more dress like tunic that had similar belts to Ayato's. Her greaves were more lithe and sleeker than Ayato's more bulky armor. Her upper torso had a jacket that had armor attached to it that covered her arms, chest, and shoulders. Attached to it was a smaller cape then the one Ayato had giving Akane a look akin to a magical girl somehow.
"How come you all look more like heroes then I do?" Naofumi complained as he looked to the group.
"They gave me designs to work with." Erhard said and thus Naofumi went wide eyed and facepalmed himself for not thinking about that. Looking he saw that even Cringer and Swift Wing were all armored up and ready for the coming Wave. Cringer's armor had armored claws to add a bit more damages from those and even his helm had fangs build in should he go for mauling his foes. Swing Wing on the other hand her armor made her look a bit like a war unicorn as he stood there ready to go into battle.
"Don't see why your complaining." Catra said as her own outfit made her look like a bandit as well as it had light armor under a tattered cloak.
"Pardon us." Came the voice of the Young Knight as the shield party looked and saw the group arrive. "Oh, thank goodness your here I thought we missed you." The Young Knight said as he looked to Shiro with hope before pulling out a large sack of silver coins. "We went around all over town and somehow managed to scrape up 150 Silver Pieces for you." the young Knight said as he looked to Naofumi and his party.
Naofumi then walked over to the group and gave them the trinket but instead of taking the money he simply left it in the young Knights hand. "Go on use that money to get yourselves better equipment." Naofumi said much to the young Knights shock. Naofumi's party on the other hand just smiled as Raphtalia saw what the others meant about Naofumi giving them a test.
His shock then turned to a smile as he looked to Shiro. "You mean you'll accept us?!" He asked shocked to hear this.
"I can't have you guys dropping like flies." Naofumi said as he was putting his new teammate's needs first.
"Thank you very much." The young Knight said as Naofumi added them to his already large party.
"Don't get the wrong idea." Naofumi began as while he may have handled most of the trauma, he still had trust issues. "The second you try to exploit me or set me up you'll regret it for the rest of your lives." Naofumi said as his trust issues were mainly to protect his friends and family from the bastards of this Kingdom.
"Of course, thanks for having us." The group said as they understood the Shield Heroes warning but had no intention of backstabbing him from what Akane could see.
Thus, in turn Filo an over to them to the group with a smile on her face. "Master now we have so many more friends." Filo said with a smile on her face to this.
But while Filo was happy, they had to get down to business. "There are less than 24 hours before the Wave let's have a strategy meeting." Naofumi said taking charge as they had work to do.
"Right/Ok!" The group of new allies and Filo all said together.
"You know my shop isn't exactly your meeting room." Erhard said as he looked to the Shield Heroes party.
"Just roll with is." Yumi said as she passed by Erhard with Sakura in tow.
(Meanwhile in Faubley that night)
"Melty appears to have made contact with the Shield Hero and his party your majesty." The Shadow said as she kneeled outside the window.
"If the Shield Hero is the kind of man, I hear he is then he may very well be the only true hope our Kingdom has." The Queen said as she knew well enough of what her husband was doing under Malty's control. "I feel bad for putting Melty through all of this caught in a tangled web of conspiracies and deception, but this too is her duty as the future ruler." The Queen said showing she would do whatever it takes for her family and her people.
"You're Majesty?" The Shadow asked with concern in her voice.
"Continue to keep an eye on them." The Queen said with closed eyes showing she knew what was to come.
"I you wish." The Shadow said before she left the Queen by herself.
The Queen then held her heart as she felt a chill in her heart. "The Wave is nearly here; will the heroes be able to overcome it... and will they be able to put aside their differences for the common good?" She wondered as she knew for any hope of ending the Waves the Heroes must stand united if they are to have any hope find salvation for their world.
(Over on Snake Mountain)
Skeletor sat on this throne ready for his rise to the throne of Melromarc. Soon very soon he will have everything that had been denied to him and from his true seat of power Skeletor shall spread Havoc across the globe. "Soon, very soon." Skeletor said as his gathered minions were all prepared to go into battle but not to the Wave but towards the capital.
(TBC)
ESKK: Another chapter has been completed and about damn time if I say so myself. Anyway, you all know the drill leave a review before leaving and I will again say to you all, ja-ne.