Merchant Heroes
Castle Town: Erhard's Shop
It had been a relatively fair day as far as business went for Erhard's blacksmithing shop. The owner, a large man with rough skin, a bald head and a short beard, had just finished up his most recent order and was settling down at the front counter for a well-deserved foot long sandwich. Sadly, his meal would have to wait as the door to his shop opened and admitted six people. This might've been annoying except for the fact that two of the people were some of his best customers. "Welcome back Shield Hero," said Erhard as he noticed the small blond girl wrapped in a brown cloak with them, "you know you don't have to show off every time you purchase a new slave."
"Not quite," said Naofumi with a hand on his hip.
"But it's still another young girl ya know," Erhard pointed out, "doesn't that make you, what was the word, a lolicon."
"It's not like that either," said Naofumi as he rubbed his head in annoyance.
"Come to think of it, who are the rest of these folks you brought with you?" Questioned the blacksmith as he took in the sight of Darius, Rifana and Johann, who was wearing an armored coil around his waist to cover his lower half and a small cape around his shoulders.
"Darius Saxon," the cardinal hero introduced himself with a friendly handshake, "but just call me Darius or Armory Hero if you're feeling fancy, and this is Rifana and Johann."
"Pleased to meet you sir," said the weasel girl with a polite curtsy.
"So you two are the ones stirring up all the strange talk lately," said Erhard with a hand on his chin, "though I don't recall anyone mentioning a third member to your party."
"We got Johann and Filo here at the same time," explained Darius as the two child beasts eyed the blacksmith's sandwich.
"Hey master," said the blond girl, "can I have at least a snack?"
"As much as I hate to agree with her, I'm starving over here boss," added Johann.
"You two want a bite," said Erhard as he pulled his sandwich in half and presented the one in his left hand to them, "Have at it."
"Thank you!" Filo said happily before Raphtalia stepped in.
"You two need to watch how much you eat," she said, "do you want to get a stomachache?"
"Oh they're fine," said Erhard, "I doubt they'll get through even this much."
"You wouldn't think so," said Darius before the both of them transformed into their respective mount forms, causing the shop to become a lot more cramped.
"Feeding time!" The two of them cheered as they snatched both halves of the blacksmith's sandwich and devoured it in almost a single gulp. As for Erhard, all he could do was look on in shock and dismay as his meal disappeared.
"I'll pay for it," said Darius he conjured a few coins in his hand, "as for you two, apologize and go wait by the door." The two mounts looked a bit confused by this, likely not realizing they'd done something wrong before moving to the front so everyone else could have some more room.
"So what's deal this time around," said the blacksmith with his chin in his hands after getting over his initial shock.
"Well according to Darius, what he could remember anyway," explained Raphtalia, "Filolial flocks have a king or queen leading them. They possess powerful transformation abilities and use them to disguise themselves within the flock as a normal Filolial. And as we learned with Filo, they can take on human forms as well."
"That's nuts," said Erhard, "I thought all of that was a myth."
"Remind me to tell you about how I met Fitoria some time then," said Darius, "that was nuts."
"Okay, but what about the other kid," questioned the blacksmith, "because he is definitely not a Filolial."
"We had to ask the slave merchant about that," said Rifana with disdain in her voice, "if what he says can be believed, Johann is a dragon emperor or at least a dragon emperor candidate. He somehow wound up possessing one of the scattered fragments of the original dragon emperor. Put that together with the fact that a cardinal hero is raising him and we've got what amounts to what could be one of the most powerful flying dragon mounts anyone has ever seen."
"I see," said Erhard, "So what is it you need from me?"
"We need specialized clothing," said Naofumi as he held up Filo's now torn cloak, "both Filo and Johann tear their clothes every time they transform. I already paid a hefty fee getting a specialized animal crest for Filo from the slave merchant and even with Darius's help we'll go broke fast if we have to keep buying new outfits."
"And I've only got a limited selection of armor and clothing in my inventory currently," said Darius as he materialized an enchanted glove on his hand, "Most of which is not fitted for kids."
"So if you do have anything for transforming species, that'd be a great help," said Raphtalia.
"Afraid not," said Erhard, "an item like that can only be made by special order. You'll have more luck visiting a dressmaker. But I can offer this." The blacksmith pulled out a long-sleeved red dress from under the counter. "Another customer left this and it looks to be about her size. As for the dragon boy, I got this old bone armor set I made once for a short guy that I can resize in a few minutes."
"Much appreciated," said Darius before looking back to see Johann and Filo in a tug of war match with a whole set of knight armor. 'This is gonna be a long day.'
Dressmaker Shop
One of the upsides of a city, fortunately, was how close everything was. In this case, locating a dressmaker took no time at all and the shop owner herself, a woman with short blond hair wearing glasses, was overjoyed to have a couple of cute children in her store. "Oh they're just so adorable," said the dressmaker as she gushed over the two children. Admittedly Filo did look cute in the little red dress she had, but Johann, who was wearing a furred vest and loincloth like armor, was not what Darius would describe as cute and he said so.
"I'm not cute I'm a dragon emperor," he said with his arms crossed and a 'hmph' look on his face.
"Well if those wings of yours makes you a demon then that must mean your little friend is an angel," said the dressmaker happily, not at all intimidated by Johann.
"Am I cute master," questioned Filo as she twirled around to face the Shield Hero.
"Heck if I know," said Naofumi as he sat on a stool with his arms crossed.
"Now a father shouldn't talk that way," said the dressmaker, "compliments are very important to a young lady and will only help her get cuter as she grows."
"F-father," said Raphtalia, the thought apparently very strange for her.
"Are you my father master?" Questioned Filo with an inquisitive tilt of her head.
"No, I hatched you from an egg," said Naofumi, "So I'm just your owner."
"So what does that make Raphtalia?" Questioned Rifana with a raised eyebrow.
"I guess you could say she's my daughter of sorts," replied the Shield Hero.
"I am not!" exclaimed Raphtalia, clearly hoping for a different answer to that question.
"And what about you Darius, what do you think of me?" Questioned Rifana.
"I thought I explained that we're partners," said Darius, "We work together to survive and that includes Johann now too."
"I'll keep you both covered boss," said the dragon boy with a toothy smile and a thumbs up. Rifana looked like she wanted to say something else but Naofumi interrupted.
"Whatever the case, we're here to purchase some clothes which can transform along with they're user."
"Oh if that's what you need then surely you brought some magic thread along with you?" Said the dressmaker.
"Magic what?" Darius and Naofumi said at the same time.
"Thread woven from the wearer's own mana," explained the shopkeeper, "It's the only way to make transforming clothes, so they're always custom orders. You bring me that thread and I'll make you two of the cutest outfits you've ever seen in your entire lives!"
"You put a single cute thing on me and I burn this whole place to the ground," muttered Johann who received a quick bonk on his head from Darius.
Magic Shop: A Short Time Later
"I most certainly could weave you some magic thread," said the store owner who Darius had started referring to as 'Granny Witch.' "Unfortunately my spinning wheel's magic gemstone broke recently."
"I guess that's what happens when you loan it out to Maleficent," quipped Darius, though Naofumi was the only one to understand the reference.
"How expensive is it to replace," questioned the Shield Hero patiently.
"It's relatively expensive, but the real problem is that a magic gemstone is hard to find," replied the magic shop owner.
"Anyway we can help locate it?" Questioned Rapthalia.
"For now just give me some time to speak with a few people I know," replied Granny Witch, "With luck I should be able to acquire a new one, but it will take some time." Everyone simply shrugged, seeing there was nothing else that could be done.
"Wow, what does this do?" Sang Filo as she bounced on her feet in front of a crystal ball.
"Why this crystal ball measures magical affinity," said the shop owner as she held her hands over the orb, "care to measure yours?"
"We may as well measure both of theirs and-JOHANN GET THAT OUT OF YOUR MOUTH!" the curious dragon boy had managed to get a hold of one of the potion bottles with a red liquid in it. Unfortunately it must've reminded him of food because he decided to taste it. The result, a belch of blue fire catching Granny Witch's desk on fire which Darius and Naofumi had to put out with their capes. In the end, they left the shop with the knowledge that Filo had wind affinity, Johann had fire and possibly lightning affinity, and the Armory Hero had eighty less silver.
Above a Mountain Path
"So no transforming clothes for either of them for the time being," Rifana thought out loud, "Hopefully we'll make enough money to keep paying for regular clothes until then."
"We should be fine so long as this merchant thing pans out," said Darius as he had Johann circle around above the wagon. The Armory Hero had pitched the idea of using his inventory ability to store all of the cargo, but he found he was restricted against storing large crates, which meant he could only carry so many non-battle items at a time. So, given that they were just starting out, Darius and his party were sticking with Naofumi's party for the time being by keeping an eye on the path ahead for bandits or monsters. Or a single guy in a grey long-sleeve shirt and a blue vest who appeared to be stumbling along. "Hey Naofumi, you got a runner up ahead."
"Any idea why he's running?" Questioned the Shield Hero as his face appeared in the upper right hand corner of Darius's HUD.
"We're about to find out," replied the Armory Hero as he guided Johann down to land on the path just in front of the man. Said runner had clearly not been expecting a dragon to appear in front of him, obviously, and reacted about the way one would expect him too.
"AAAAAAH! Please don't eat me!" cried the man as he backpedaled before tripping and falling on his ass.
"There's nothing to worry about," said Rifana as she and Darius leapt off, "what seems to be the problem?"
"I-I need to get this medicine to the village up ahead as fast as possible," explained the man, "It's urgent."
"You get all that," said Darius to Naofumi as the Shield Hero pulled up in the cart with Filo and Raphtalia.
"I did," replied the cardinal hero as he leapt out of the wagon, "We can get there a lot faster if we fly, but I'll need to go along as well, and it's gonna cost one silver."
"But I already spent money on this medicine," said the tired man.
"I didn't say you had to pay me now," the Shield Hero pointed out, "Just make sure to get it to me soon and don't try to worm out of it."
"V-very well," said the runner, "And thank you for your help."
"That means you and Raphtalia will watch the cart," said Darius to the weasel girl, "Just keep along the path for now and we'll meet up later."
"Can do," said Rifana as she grabbed and hoisted the villager up onto Johann. Naofumi followed shortly after as the flying dragon took off into the air. It was a bit painful for Darius as the man was screaming in terror in his ear the whole way. On the upside, they were able to fly over all of the check points without any issue and landed at the village in short order as Naofumi and the runner dismounted and headed in.
"That shield guy's a little greedy, don't ya think," said Johann as he settled into a spot outside the door of the small cottage that was the running man's apparent home.
"He does have to make a little money," said Darius, "but it's not his fault. If he was being paid like the other heroes then he'd likely do this free of charge. As it is, he's mostly trying to hide the fact that he's actually a nice guy."
"Well it's not like I can make fun of him," said Johann, "us dragons are a greedy bunch ourselves and if you weren't my boss I'd be gathering up treasure right now."
"Please don't," said Darius, "I've already got all kinds of rumors swirling around ever since I threatened the king. What'll people think if they believe I'm raising a dragon to steal stuff?"
"That you're a moron who should've seen it coming," replied Johann. Even in dragon form it was easy to see he was smiling.
"Fair point," said Darius as Naofumi exited the cottage along with the runner. By the looks of things, the medicine had done its job. No surprise when the Shield Hero is using his abilities to enhance the potion's effects.
"Thank you again kind sirs," said the man as he handed them a sack of vegetables and meat, "this should be worth about one silver."
"Close enough," said Naofumi as he slung the bag over his shoulder before he and Darius climbed onto Johann. "We'll be on our way now."
"Safe travels to the both of you," said the man as they took off into the sky.
"That went well," said Darius as they flew back to the wagon, "maybe we should start carrying medicine more regularly."
"We can do more than that," said Naofumi, "we can transport people as well. Not to mention you and I can take turns hunting down monsters and selling the remains to whoever's buying. This whole business might be way more profitable than either of us could've hoped."
"Then I guess it's settled," said Darius, "The Shield and Armory Hero's traveling business is officially open!"
Local Village Inn: Several Days Later
It was quite a business too. Naofumi's group worked all the land routes transporting bulk goods and people while Darius's group took to the skies transporting smaller, but still very valuable items as well as anyone brave enough to ride on a dragon. This also allowed both groups to level grind on their own time without fear of their legendary weapons blocking EXP gains. The communication ability really shined through during this time as well, as it allowed Darius and Naofumi to set meeting times and locations even despite being a few miles away from each other. It was during one such meet up to have lunch at an Inn where the two heroes learned they'd apparently been given some new names.
"Savior of the Heavenly Fowl," repeated Darius upon hearing the title, "Apparently the news still hasn't gotten around that you charge for most services."
"It's not like I picked the name myself," said Naofumi as he took a drink, "I mean according to the story going around, Filo's the deity of domesticated birds or something along those lines and I'm some kind of savior going around healing the sick."
"Well you are delivering enhanced medicine to those in need," said Raphtalia, "In that way you really are healing the sick."
"Yeah but it's not a very heroic sounding title," said Naofumi, "At least Darius gets to be a dragon knight."
"The whole title is 'The Merciful Dragon Knight'," said Rifana dramatically, "A cunning warrior who tamed a sky dragon and serves the people by delivering gifts he receives from the mountains and forests."
"For a nominal fee of course," said Darius, "and they're exaggerating on the cunning part given that this whole merchant thing wasn't even my idea in the first place. But, it has given me a chance to pick up some new skills." The Armory Hero proceeded to summon a jeweled dagger in his hand, "I've been talking to Erhard and a number of smiths from other villages. I'm nowhere near crafting my own weapons but I did pick up a weapon repair skill and an appraisal skill. I also managed to unlock a weapon enhancement skill using the proper tools, so I've made a side business of my own selling and trading high quality weapons I've got too much or too little of at affordable prices. Selling monster parts is also going pretty well."
"Well this whole merchant gig wasn't my idea either," said Naofumi as he pulled out a necklace with a red jewel in it, "But it's definitely had its perks. Thanks to an accessories seller we transported and protected from bandits recently, I've learned how to process metals, imbue gems with mana and craft specialized gemstones among other things. I got a whole side business set up now on gemstone crafting thanks to him and a number of connections within the trader's grapevine which has been invaluable for information. I've even heard rumors of what the other heroes have been up too."
"Hopefully no more attempts at overtaxing villages," commented Rifana, "And-would you two slow it down! You're drenching the table in food scraps and spit!" Johann and Filo stopped devouring their meals and began to eat more slowly, though they were still glaring at each other. It had been an issue whenever they met back up. Filo and Johann would compare their exploits and try to one up each other by turning regular tasks or activities into contests. This was probably the tenth eating contest they'd challenged each other too.
"Well from what I've heard," continued Naofumi, "Motoyasu got his hands on some legendary crop that saved a famine-stricken village, though I bet you anything it was that royal bitch's idea."
"At least he did something positive for a change," said Darius.
"Sure," said the Shield Hero, "then there's Ren. Rumor has it he's gone Southeast to hunt monsters and apparently he even managed to slay a dragon."
"Heh, I doubt that's true," said Johann, "a full grown dragon is a force of nature. Even with help a legendary hero couldn't kill one easily."
"Easy or not that's just what I've heard," said Naofumi, "Which is more than I can say for Itsuki. The only rumors I can find are all over the place. Some say he's gone up in the mountains to train, others say he's searching for treasure in a dungeon somewhere. The most out there rumor is that he's gone up North and joined the resistance of another country."
"It seems up his alley," said Darius, "He strikes me as the justice seeking type. I just hope he's worked on his friendly fire a bit."
"Well they're all rumors anyway," said Naofumi as he pulled out a sealed envelope, "What is a fact is we finally have a lead on a magic gemstone. You see this is a deed given to me by that same accessories seller to a mine. If anyone knows where to find magic stones, it'll be miners."
"Guess that's our next stop," said Darius, "it'll be fun to travel as a group again." Everyone else nodded in agreement.
Ancient Temple
The Shield Hero's hunch was right on the money. The head miner was more than happy to help them procure whatever gems or stones they needed, and at a discount. But, that's where the good news stopped. The mining chief did indeed know where to find a magic gemstone, but, it just so happened to be in some ancient ruins that previously served as a base for a notorious alchemist. Despite that, Naofumi still decided to bring Granny witch along.
Upon arriving, they noted that the massive temple was actually built into the side of the cliff. What was even stranger was the presence of a large tunnel nearby. "I do find it quite odd," said the Magic Shop Owner, "I read about this place once but I never recall hearing anything about a tunnel."
"A load of monsters have been nesting here for a while now," said Naofumi, "because of that no one's really tried approaching here."
"Well hopefully we can get in and out without running into too much trouble," said Darius optimistically.
"But where should we start," questioned Raphtalia, "this temple is pretty big and it has multiple entrances."
"Hate to say it," said Rifana, "but splitting up might be our best option for the moment. Since you've got all the mining equipment Naofumi, you should probably take the tunnel."
"Yeah but you've got earth magic," Darius pointed out, "wouldn't it make more sense for you to head underground with them?"
"Most of what I know is destruction and defense magic," said Rifana, "I'm not practiced enough to use it underground without causing a possible cave in."
"I guess that settles it then," said Naofumi, "We'll take the underground route while you guys go in through the front door."
"There's probably more treasure up top anyway," commented Johann in his dragon form as he followed after Darius and Rifana. The front of the temple resembled Greek architecture, at least what Darius knew as Greek architecture, with several columns holding up a triangular roof. The front was decorated with three statues that were probably the people responsible for building the temple in the first place. The inside was relatively impressive as well with numerous stone hallways and statues.
"If I didn't know better, I'd think this was some kind of dungeon for adventurers," said Darius as he glanced at some of the symbols along the walls. If he wasn't mistaken, a number of them were alchemic symbols.
"Boss, we got trouble," said Johann suddenly as he sniffed the air. Rifana's ears twitched as she also confirmed the presence of something, or rather several somethings.
"Stay on your guard," said the Armory Hero as he summoned a set of spiked gloves and boots. The passage opened up into a larger room full of pottery and other sculptures. What was strange, however, was the presence of several holes in the walls. Holes which were quickly filled with glowing red eyes. "Form up now!"
The three of them stood facing three different directions as a number of cat-like monsters with red eyes and black and brown fur came stalking towards them. They also possessed extra-long, pointed ears and barbed tails. "Blight cats," said Rifana, "their claws and tails carry small traces of venom. They hunt in packs to bring down larger prey."
"Lucky us," grinned Johann as he roared, prompting the monsters to come charging at them. The flying dragon responded with a blast of blue fire, roasting a small number of the monsters alive as the rest scattered and circled around the group. Darius and Rifana didn't remain idle, however, and leapt into the mass of confused monsters. The Armory Hero formed his Imitator mask on his face as he whirled around with a vicious spinning kick.
The augmented strength granted by his boots and gloves sent several of the dog-sized beasts flying. Rifana made use of counter swings as she knocked them out of midair with her mace or dodged around their lunge attacks before slamming her mace into the sides of the creature's heads. Johann continued with smaller streams of fire while also swinging his tail and clamping his jaws around the ones unlucky enough to not get away in time. The blight cat's numbers dwindled quickly as Darius finished the remaining ones in front of him with a flurry attack he augmented with 'High Quick.'
"Everyone good?" Questioned the Armory Hero as he checked to make sure he didn't get any cuts from the venomous creatures.
"I don't have any wounds," replied Rifana as she brushed some mangled fur off of her weapon.
"My scales are thick enough I didn't even feel the bites," boasted Johann, "though one did try hanging off my tail. His mistake, or hers, I didn't really check before I chucked it."
"Well I don't see any wounds," said Darius as he checked his mount, "But remember, when it comes to venomous monsters even a small cut can be lethal. So if you feel anything no matter how minor, you say something."
"A little bit of venom like that won't take me down," said Johann, "But I guess if that's what you want to do boss."
"Hey guys, I think I found something," said Rifana as she waved from an entrance at the other side of the room. The two followed her into the next room where a stone holder had been set up in the middle of the room.
"Now this just screams booby trap," said Darius as they carefully made their way in. Upon closer inspection, the upraised stone was being used to display a brilliant ax which had a large, single curved blade, a blue handle with steel bindings every few inches to help with the grip and some kind of bluish white feathers hanging from the back of it. A number of Runes were also inscribed on the blade itself.
"So shiny," said Johann as he moved to sniff the weapon before Darius put a hand on his snout.
"It is," said the Armory Hero, "but it's not what we came here for. We should move along to the next room and-NOOOO!" The dragon had moved to get a better whiff of the ax and had inadvertently knocked it over onto the floor where a resounding clang echoed throughout the entire chamber. No one moved or even dared to breathe for a few moments as they looked around to see if anything had happened.
"Are you trying to get us crushed by a boulder or something?!" exclaimed Rifana, "What if that ax had been connected to some sort of trap?"
"It's not like I meant to knock it over," said the dragon as he picked the ax up and handed it to Darius, "Besides, are you really telling me you were just gonna pass something like this up?"
"I don't have much of a choice," said Darius, "I read the Stats on this thing and I actually can't use it in combat yet, my levels not high enough."
"But you're level thirty five," said Rifana, "what kind of weapon requires such a high level to wield." Indeed Darius was the highest level out of all of them with Rifana following closely at level thirty now and Johann at level twenty seven. It was a mystery and one they didn't have time to ponder as the cardinal hero noted some movement within the shadows at the back of the room.
"Uh guys, I think we'd best leave," he said as he stored the temporarily unusable ax in his inventory. His party members didn't need to ask why as their eyes darted to the figure emerging from the shadows. It quickly became apparent that the monster was larger even than Johann as it spread its massive wings, revealing itself to be a yellow hawk-like bird with white markings. The air crackled around it as charged bolts of electricity leapt from its wings.
Darius quickly read its Stats and discovered the beast before them was none other than a legendary Thunderbird, one whose apparent job in this case was to destroy thieves and intruders. And with one mighty screech, the guardian bird charged forward to carry out its task. Johann reacted first and shot a torrent of blue fire at the approaching monster. But the beast reacted quickly and covered itself with its wings, blocking the majority of the flames.
The thunderbird retaliated with a bolt of lightning which the party was barely able to dodge by diving to the side. Darius quickly fired a number of spears from his prone position on the floor, but they proved just as ineffective as Johann's flames. 'Our levels might match,' thought Darius, 'but none of the current weapons in my inventory are strong enough.' Rifana attacked next using earth magic as she slammed her mace on the ground, causing a number of rocks to dislodge and fire at the boss monster. But it was blown away by a powerful flap of the bird's wings.
'Guess now's as good a time as any,' thought Darius as he used his Replica ability to summon a darkened version of the Spear Hero's weapon with a white jewel. "Everyone stand back!" Called Darius as he charged forward while also summoning his Imitator mask. The thunderbird attempted to take flight, but wasn't fast enough as the Armory Hero let loose a white energy version of Chaos Spear. Even at reduced power it was still surprisingly effective as the boss screeched in agony before falling back against the wall.
'Now to restrain it for a combination attack,' thought Darius as he held out his hand to use binding chain. But an alert appeared on his HUD, signaling a restriction. 'What, I can't use my portals while I'm using a replica of a legendary weapon!' "What's wrong," asked Rifana, noticing the look on his face.
"I got no portals while I got this weapon out," said the cardinal hero as a screech from the now recovered monster drew their attention. Clearly the attack had pissed it off as the monster lifted its head and started charging a ball of lightning at the end of its beak. 'Not good,' thought Darius as he readied another attack with the legendary spear. But Johann was quicker as he rushed forward and slammed into the boss, knocking it back into the wall and causing the attack to fire into the ceiling prematurely.
The entire room shook with the impact as rubble began to fall. "Johann get out of there!" Yelled Rifana. But the dragon was stubborn as his jaws held onto the bird's throat with a death grip. His lightning resistance also allowed him to hang on even despite the thunderbird firing lightning all over the chamber. It was also the problem, however, as more and more rubble was knocked loose from the walls, ceiling and even some from the floor.
Finally, the boss leapt forward and slammed its body on the ground, forcing the flying dragon to let go as they both rolled forward. "Rifana, combo attack," ordered Darius as he switched the spear to Ren's legendary sword.
"As source of thy power I order thee," chanted Rifana, "decipher the laws of nature and destroy my enemy in a torrent of flame!" A miniature tornado of fire swirled around her weapon while Darius summoned forth the Crimson Blade attack he'd seen once before. Swinging at the same time, the two fire abilities impacted with enough force to knock the boss into the wall one more time, critically wounding it and crippling its right wing.
"Ow, did we win," said a groggy Johann as he struggled to his feet. The answer to his question came with the sound of very loud cracking.
"Yes and no," said Darius as he found the source, the wall and ceiling. The entire room was about to come down as rubble again fell from the ceiling. The Armory Hero quickly dissolved his replica weapon and summoned a Phalanx wall above their heads to deflect the initial small bits of rubble, but it wouldn't hold for long. "Rifana get us out of here!"
"As source of thy power I order thee," chanted the weasel girl, "decipher the laws of nature and create a pit to escape!" A large hole opened up in the floor as Johann transformed back into his human form and dove down the hole first. Rifana followed shortly after and Darius went last once he sent his shields back to the inventory. Even being one level lower, they still heard the final death screeches of the thunderbird as they ran from the collapsing chamber.
None of them stopped running until they'd made it back out of the temple, just barely escaping it before the entrance behind them collapsed. "Whew," said Darius as everyone stopped to catch their breath, "well other than an ax we can't yet use, that was a total bust."
"No magic gemstones and not even material from that monster," sighed Rifana as she dusted herself off.
"Actually-BUUUUURP!" Said Johann as he suddenly belched out some feathers, "I, uh, kind of took a mouth full of feathers after I bit into it."
"I guess today wasn't a total loss then," said Darius as he took one of the feathers and added it to the jewel on his right band. "Hmm, Lightning Bind, I could make use of that and it seems you got a boost to your lightning affinity." Johann simply smiled as his Stats indicated he'd unlocked lightning magic.
"Hey, are you guys okay over there," shouted Naofumi as his group approached. It appeared they'd had a little trouble as well.
"I mean we survived a thunderbird and a collapsing temple," said Rifana, "So all things considered we could be worse."
"My word, a thunderbird here," said the Magic Shop Owner, "that is most unusual. Such a creature as that is usually only found in areas of high elevation."
"This one was apparently raised here to guard the temple from intruders," surmised Darius, "though it doesn't have much of a temple left to guard now. How'd you guys fair?"
"Tangled with some voice gengars and a vicious Nue," said Naofumi, "Raphtalia got a little banged up but otherwise we got what we came for." The Shield Hero held out a blue gemstone.
"It was only a scratch Master Naofumi," said Raphtalia, "But he's right, I should've been more careful."
"Johann took a few good hits too," noted Darius, "I hate to ask but do you think the wagon will hold all of us?"
"I can fly just fin-ow," the dragon boy had tried to argue only to grasp his right arm in pain. His wing and arm had taken some damage when the thunderbird basically body slammed the two of them onto the ground.
"Yeah no," said the Armory Hero, "You're riding young man, at least until Naofumi can get you healed."
"No, no, no," said Johann as he crossed his arms in refusal, "I'd rather walk then be pulled along by a Filolial." Darius sighed as he was left with only one option. Later on they all rode on the wagon as a very irritated Johann sat chained up by a claw hand that was coming from a portal in the seat. "This sucks," he said as Naofumi worked on applying healing magic too him. The situation wasn't helped by Filo singing a song about stupid dragons most of the way back.
Magic Shop: The Next Day
Fortunately for the flying dragon boy, he got a mild revenge the next day as he watched Filo producing magic thread from the gemstone and running it through a spinning wheel. "Why is this making me so tired," groaned the little Filolial as she continued to wind the spinning wheel.
"As I explained to the dragon boy," said the Grandmother Witch, "the process uses your own mana to produce the thread, but you only need to produce a little more." Filo groaned again at hearing she wasn't done yet.
"I don't see what you're complaining about," said Johann with his arms crossed, "I didn't whine one bit while I made my thread, and I'm not the slightest bit-ZZZZZZZ." Amazingly, he'd fallen asleep standing up.
"Don't worry about him," said Raphtalia, "I'll give you some nice snacks when you finish up." The blond girl perked up at this as she hurried along and completed producing the rest of the thread. After that, the two groups headed back over to the dressmaker's shop and presented her with the thread. She happily accepted and got to work on the two outfits, telling them the orders would be ready by tomorrow. With nothing else to do, they all turned in for the night at a local Inn.
Dressmaker's Shop: The Next Day
"Do I look alright?" Questioned Filo as she and Johann both stepped out of the changing room at the same time. Filo had on a light blue dress with long sleeves, frills along all the edges and a dark blue bow. As for Johann, he was now sporting a large, scaly dark-blue vest with baggy brown pants. Both outfits had holes for the wings. And they were both barefoot.
"It looks terrific on you," said Naofumi, getting a cheer from Filo who leapt over and hugged him while Raphtalia pouted, apparently jealous of the little girl.
"I suppose she looks alright," said Raphtalia dismissively.
"They both look absolutely darling!" exclaimed the dressmaker, who apparently had worked on the outfits all night given the bags under her eyes. "I did everything I could to bring out their individual charms and if you ask me I did one heck of a job!"
"They are both impressive," noted Rifana as she looked between the two mounts.
"It does feel comfortable and everything," said Johann, "But I can't help but feel like it needs something more."
"Oh that's right I nearly forgot," said the dressmaker as she went to the back room and returned shortly with a pair of boots and some gauntlets, "It was tricky but I added some magic thread to these after the blacksmith dropped them off here."
"I placed a special order after we got into town," said Darius as Johann slipped them on, "according to Erhard, they should increase your strength greatly while you're in human form." The gauntlets themselves had a blue and scaly design on them and went almost up to his elbows. His boots were also designed to appear like dragon's feet and stopped just above his ankles.
"I like 'em," said Johann with a toothy smirk as he clenched his fists a few times.
"You'd better, they cost me two hundred silver," commented Darius.
"And Filo's outfit, plus the slave crest and all the other expenses recently add up to three hundred and forty silver for us," said Naofumi, "You two had best work hard to pay all that off."
"Right," they both replied happily as their fists shot up into the air. And there would be plenty of work for them both to do before long.
All that to get some decent transforming clothes, no wonder no one likes fetch quests. Hello everyone, I hope you enjoyed this latest chapter even if it jumped around a good bit. The reason being was the anime itself also jumped around a bit within these last two episodes, but hopefully that didn't ruin the experience for anyone. As always, feel free to leave a comment or review about what you liked/disliked or if you've got any neat ideas for future chapters. Also, a shout out to the reader who suggested the thunder bird idea, you know who you are. Be sure to stop in next time as our heroes are confronted with the consequences of a certain someone's willful ignorance. 'Til then.