This is a Full Metal Alchemist and Rising of the Shield Hero Fanfiction only.
These foolish creatures think that making me doubt those I care about is a smart idea, how wrong they are, how fatally wrong they are, my rage was not going to be contained and immediately I began to use my alchemy to focus air in the area where the voices came from and without a moment's hesitation I snapped my fingers.
The blurry image of a few dozen bats that had bells as part of their bodies showed as the explosions lit the mining shaft and killed every single one of the bats. "You think Raphtalia and my own daughter would do something like that, insult me or my family again you filthy stupid monsters and I will hunt you down to extinction!"
The witch looked at me with this concerned look, "I know that is infuriating Roy, but could you please control your rage and let us deal with these pests, otherwise you could cause the mine to collapse on us."
I know I should control my rage but after everything, and I mean everything that I been through of having my very first girlfriend pretty much betray me, I honestly thought that Lust was not the way my father and Uncle warned me about. They said that she would betray me when I let my guard down.
I foolishly defended her, told them she has changed, that she was one of my longest, dearest and most loyal friends, boy the way I saw her actually in favor of that spear idiot was trying to do, don't I feel like I got egg all over my face. After such betrayal, and now these stupid beast thinking they can use Raphtalia and the one I consider my second daughter say such horrible things would enrage anyone.
"I am sorry, but I know for a fact Raphtalia and Filo would never betray me, they are part of my family so I know, but having these beasts put those insulting words in your family member's voice would enrage anyone, even you."
She blasted a dozen with a wind spell that behaved like a torrent of swords slashing at every beast that was in front of our group, "Do you honestly think they have not considered using the voice of my grandchildren? The only reason they are not is that they have no clue what they sound like. Just the possibility is making as angry as you are, but you should not let your anger control you."
Well after feeding the pieces of the bats to my shield I pretty much mastered the new shield who according to what I saw, was just an over-glorified megaphone, the passive of hearing protection might seem nice but the uses for this shield were very rare. As the bats finally got the message they finally decided to leave us alone, it was either that or there was something at the end of this passage that was even scarier than I was.
The passage came to a cave with thousands of crystals of different types and different colors the only thing that was not was this massive chimera, this thing had the head of a baboon, the body of a tiger and the tail looked like a snake. "Roy is very careful that is a Nue, and a particularly angry Nue at that, we need to be extra careful on how do deal with this thing."
Well, it turns out her advice fell on deft ears because Raphtalia and Filo ran into the cave towards the large feline-like a pair of enraged skirmishers. I tried my best to analyze the beast till the thing began to roar, and that is when I saw the beast let out a lightning field ability that was shocking to see, Filo just barely managed to pull Raphtalia to where I am.
"Master this thing could sense Raphtalia when she was using her stealth magic, which means he can tell where she is with just hearing, which means this beast has very sensitive hearing." Damn it, and I just called the last shield I managed to master thanks to those infuriating bats useless.
"Alright everyone put these cotton balls in your ears, and Filo gets ready your singing debut will happen sooner than even I thought. I activated the megaphone looking shield, the darn thing even had a look like it had a pair of bat wings. "Alright Filo, let it rip!" Filo took a deep breath and instead of singing, she began screaming at it some of the loudest nastiest insults and mocking comments I ever heard in my life.
If the pain from hearing her scream through this shield was not bad enough, she was shaming that monster so badly I actually began to feel sorry for it. Filo made scalding comments from everything from her fur to her skills, and downright to her tail looking stupid, oh did I forget to mention the Nue was female? Sorry about that.
The Nue was screaming in pain and in tears by the time she dropped dead. I think this elderly Nue had a heart attack long before she lost her hearing, no reason to let the corpse of a monster go to waste, I fed the entire thing to my shield, I unlocked three shields, I swear that corpse dropped dead glaring in the direction where Filo had been.
In the end I unlocked a few more shield thanks to the crystals, the crystal shield provide me with better knowledge on minerals, crystals, and gems, they also provide me a boost to my creative abilities such as when I make jewelry or other accessories, meaning the quality of the things I make increase along with the level of mastery of the three shields I unlocked.
The crystal shield also has a passive to reflect a percentage of the damage received from elemental spells, the ore shield increase the capacity of my inventory and the probability of getting better quality materials when mining and the quartz shield provide better senses and a slight ability to see in the dark.
The mana tread crystal however provided the Mana Crystal shield which it made even the kindly witch surprised when I told her the skill it provides as a passive is called and I kid you not, mana manipulation, I can literally mess with the ability of spellcasters to use magic or pull mana from things others don't even know have mana.
The information I got from my status magic said that given enough time and mastery I could effectively make mana crystals straight from my shield or create high-quality mana gems to be able to place in anything from equipment to accessories.
"Well I say this visit to this abandoned mine turned out to be quite profitable, the guy who told us will be so happy that we cleared this mine of monsters, and it could be that with some improvements the cost of these mana crystals will lower making it easier on you." The witch laughed and told me, she was happy enough having her spindle working again.
"Honestly Roy, if you had met me a few decades earlier I would have kissed you, that is how happy I am, oh, don't look at me like that, you might not believe it, but I was considered quite the beauty in my youth you know."
I looked at her and then saw both Raphtalia and Filo laughing, "And who says you aren't beautiful still? Now come on, we still have to have Filo make that mana thread and I still have to see if Erhard needs any materials." She laughed as I helped her up on the wagon, and just as she finally made it up she kissed me on my forehead, for being sweet to an old witch she said.
She looked at Raphtalia and smiled, "You better be careful with this one, he is quite the charmer." She laughed and said that is one of his best qualities, did these two forget that I am still driving this thing? Well, thank goodness Filo is not getting mixed in this particularly embarrassing conversation, I guess Filo is more concentrated on the fact she will have to wear clothes.
I wanted to tell her that she should prepare for what is waiting for her in the witch shop, yes she will have to wear clothes, but she still not understood why we say mana threads, and that they actually came from her. This brings back memories, Vitoria used to complain a lot when she first made mana thread.
Both Mire and I could never help laughing as she complained that it was more boring than painful, as we finally went back the witch placed the mana crystal on her spindle, too bad for her it was actually a mana gem that I managed to transmute thanks to my new mana manipulation ability.
The spindle began to glow and the thing actually glowed for a second, before looking like it was brand new. "Raphtalia your stay and keep an eye on Filo, I am going over to Erhard's to see how he is doing, and to see if he wants any materials. I still got a few hundred of those bat corpses he might find those useful."
When I was about to leave she asked me about the Nue body, told her I fed it all to my shield, to master the shields that the body unlocked. "Well don't worry Master Mustang, I will keep an eye on Filo, just be sure to come back in a couple of hours. We still have to meet that seamstress and I think Filo would like you to be present."
I told her I will be back soon enough, as I walked towards Erhard I just hope that backstabber is not present. As I entered the shop I began to curse my luck, damn it, Malty is here. Just need to ignore her, remember what she and Motoyasu nearly did to Lute, remember how chummy and close those too were.
"Erhard came to see how you are doing. I managed to find that crystal the witch needed for her spindle, and also managed to clear another mine, so crystals should be in the material markets soon. This should really help you out making weapons and armors."
Erhard looked at me, "Well at least that means Filo will have to start wearing clothes, thank goodness, while it would be nice if you bought more armor sets from me, I am not cruel enough to wish you to end up a popper just so I can make a profit. Why aren't you greeting our friend here? You were never one to be mean to ladies."
I looked at Myne Sofia as she prefers to call herself when outside the castle, and then I looked at Erhard, "You clearly said it, ladies, I don't need to greet a cheating backstabber now do I?" That is when Myne grabbed me by my armor and pinned me against a wall. "Just who are you calling a cheating backstabber Roy Mustang? I sure it is not a little old me. I have been stuck in that castle trying to improve my father's opinion of you, not that it did any good."
I looked at her as I made her get her hands off me, "Oh, please, you may forget it but I didn't, did you forget when Motoyasu tried to extort money from people visiting Lute, and you were right there cheering for that idiot to win, your own guard helped that bastard try and cheat. How can I possibly forget it, you were practically walking with him holding your hand, and you were being quite chummy with him."
That is when she face palmed herself, "Honestly Roy can't you see beyond the obvious? That was not me, that was a Shadow pretending to be me, my father did that to ruin any relationship we might have. I have been stuck in the castle ever since that idiot father of mine tried to accuse you of raping me."
She looked at me blushing and turned around with a huff, "Like I would let that spear fool touch me, I am going to tell you one and only one time, I am, and have been ever since I met you in love with only one man, and since you are so dense I apparently need to spell things out for you, I love you, Roy Mustang, and only you! Get it? Got it memorized?"
"So the church is actually helping Luge to make me think you are cheating on me so that I do not trust you, wait for a second, aren't you a priestess of the Three Heroes Church?" She looked a bit hurt. She leaned on me pushing me against a wall and kissed me on my lips which such passion even Erhard was blushing.
"I love only one man, and since you are so dense, I will tell you, I am yours, no matter the time or dimension, nothing shall ever separate us again, I would follow you even to the ninth circle of hell and beyond. So know that if you see a woman looking as I do, and she is ever mean or flirtatious with anyone else, that is a shadow I do sincerely wish I could kill with my own bare hands."
Well now that is taking care off she said she actually allowed me to walk towards the counter, "Well now that we can talk, Erhard I got about two hundred and fifty sound bat wings, do you think you can use the hides of these things or do you want me to sell them to one of the guys who buy monster parts?"
He laughed, "No actually that works just fine for me, I actually have a very hard time keeping that type of leather in supply, those things are very rare to find, these monsters tend to be cowardly and sneaky, so don't you worry Roy, I will simply put this in the ledger and give you credit for how much it is worth on future purchases."
He began to look around and looked at me, "So where are Raphtalia and Filo?" Why did I know he was about to ask that with Myne basically pressing her body against my back. "Raphtalia is keeping an eye on Filo, and Filo is making some mana thread for her clothes. You wouldn't believe it but they are both ready for the class upgrade already."
Myne moved to one side and began to hold my right hand. "So tell me my love aren't you ready for a class upgrade also?" Why did she have to ask me something that would clearly upset me? Why would she ask me something that she should know better than to ask?
"Yes, I am ready for a class up and no I am not getting it because I need to be able to touch the Dragon Hourglass and you know exactly who is in charge of that particular hourglass. I sincerely don't think the Pope will allow the Devil of the Shield to become stronger or as strong as their three deities, the spear, sword and bow heroes."
She laughed, "You know I could try to get my father to approve that for you, but you know how dense and stubborn he can be better than I do, don't you Roy? So instead of wasting time talking about an impossible task, is there anything else I can do for you, my love." I think she is doing this either because Raphtalia is not here, or simply to drive in the idea that she is in fact very much in love with me.
"Only that Erhard told me he wanted to add an auto repair crest on my armor and to ask you how is your mother doing lately? I would say that I am being polite, but I will rather be honest with you and tell you I am rather worried about the lady who should have been my ball and chain." She reacted exactly how I expected her to behave let go of my hand in a huff and was upset, the green demon named Jealousy is alive and well it seems.
"Mother is still trying to get me to marry one noble or another, I told her many times I am spoken for but she just ignores it, as for her personally last time I heard she was going to the other three kingdoms trying to preserve the peace after daddy summoned all four heroes here."
"In matters of her person, I say she is in good health and apparently has assigned a show to keep an eye on you. So I wouldn't worry about mother, she knows exactly everything you are doing to the smallest detail, and when you meet her, she will either reward you for doing things that please her or scold you for things that upset her, you know, nothing out of the ordinary."
Erhard wanting to avoid any more problems just took off my top part of my armor without as much as a warning and took off to add the auto repair crest on it. "Well looks like I am stuck waiting here till Erhard finished with that crest, so am I imagining thing Myne or are you angry that I asked how your mother is doing?"
She gave me a glare that I knew she was upset, "Who me? Why would I ever have any reason to be upset? The man I very much love accuse me of nearly causing the economy of a nearby town to collapse, accused me of cheating on him, and then has the nerve to ask about my mother in such a way she sounds more like the lover of said man than I do."
I could probably tell her she didn't mention my Filolial who is currently spinning her mana to make her some clothes she will not tear into pieces each time she transforms and a very beautiful raccoon girl that I may be wrong but I think she wants to jump me. "Well, it is just that you seem rather upset when you told me what Mire has been up to. You may not know this Myne but I happen to know your mother very well."
She was still upset but she was looking at some swords that I think I could call the equivalent to rapiers. "I know, I heard her love story about a thousand times how she meets the Shield Hero in the middle of a wave that just happens also occurred during a war between my country and Silvelt, who just happened to have summoned said Shield Hero, and how she met my father after the Shield Hero she fell in love with tragically died."