Archipelago Adventures
Hello everyone and welcome to the latest, and longest, chapter of this story! Got no guest review questions this time around so let's dive on in!
Aboard Royal Ship to Cal Mira
"I guess I'd better introduce myself this time around," said the red-haired man, "My name is L'Arc Berg, but just call me L'Arc. And this lady here is Therese."
"My full name is Therese Alexandrite," added the blue-haired woman.
"Well at least it's official now I guess," said Naofumi.
"Is Ms. Therese from a foreign country?" Questioned Raphtalia suddenly, "I don't recognize the language she's using."
"None of us did," confirmed Rifana as she indicated Filo and Johann's confused looks.
"Ah we forgot," said L'Arc with a quick glance at his partner before turning his back to her. Darius raised an eyebrow as he examined the curved blade of what looked like a scythe hanging from the man's belt. Therese put her hand to the red jewel on the weapon's head and produced a marble-sized ball of light which she proceeded to guide to her throat by hand.
"My deepest apologies," said Therese as the light disappeared into the skin of her throat, "are you able to understand me now?"
"Yes, your voice is much clearer," said Raphtalia happily with a clap of her hands. 'I actually forgot the cardinal weapons have a voice translation ability,' thought Darius as the woman introduced herself once again.
"Now then, as I wished to say before I am Therese Alexandrite," she said.
"I'm Raphtalia," said the raccoon girl politely, "And this is my best friend Rifana."
"Hope you guys don't get seasick easy," said Rifana, "these places look cramped and lacking in buckets."
"And I'm Filo!" Cheered the winged girl happily.
"I guess since everyone else is doing it I will too," said Johann with a thumb pointed at himself, "the name's Johann and the guy behind me is the Boss. Oh, and the thick knife lady is Figneria."
"Pay no attention to his titles for us," said the mercenary woman, "but yes that is my name."
"Pleased to meet all of you," said L'Arc, "and what about you two, I know you've gotta have a name besides Boss?" Darius didn't answer right away as something kept bugging him. The lady Therese was wearing a combination white dress top with leather armor over top of it while still leaving her shoulders exposed. She wore a type of long blue skirt with a red sash and a type of brown tiara on her head. Her blue hair was styled into a braid, but what was strangest to The Armory Hero was the mana reading he was getting from the gem bracelet on her right arm.
As for L'Arc, he wore a red and black vest which left his arms exposed, save for the armored pad on his right shoulder. He also wore an armored elbow pad on his left arm with leather gloves for both hands. His lower body had something similar to a centurion style armor on his waist with leather frills hanging from it. Black pants and leather boots completed his look, but what had Darius in thought was the weapon he'd glanced at earlier, namely its weird Stats. "Darius," said Rifana with a light elbow to his ribs, snapping him out of his thoughts.
"Oh right," he said, "My name's Darius Saxon, nice to meet the both of you."
"And I'm Naofumi," said the Shield Hero, "Naofumi Iwatani." For some reason the two travelers glanced at each other with surprise etched on their faces, before busting out laughing.
"Hey you two," said L'Arc between laughing fits, "I wouldn't recommend the Shield and Armory Hero's names for aliases."
"But we are the Shield and Armory Hero's," said Naofumi with slight annoyance as L'Arc burst into another round of laughter.
"Really, you two don't seem like them at all!" exclaimed the red-headed man.
"It's not quite that amusing L'Arc," said Therese after getting over her own fit of giggling before turning back to them, "but I do agree, those are some rather conspicuous names."
"And why's that exactly," questioned Rifana with a tilt of her head.
"The Shield and Armory Heroes have got something of a reputation," said L'Arc as he suddenly turned serious, "Scams, kidnapping, blackmail and that's just the Shield Hero. The Armory Hero has his own hand in intimidation and assassination, taking out anyone the Shield Hero or he doesn't like. Utter scumbags the both of them."
"That's, not entirely off the mark," said Naofumi, a bit to Raphtalia's dismay.
"Oh how can you look at this face and assume he's evil," said Rifana as she playfully grabbed Darius and shoved his head forward a bit, "does this look like a murderous scumbag to you?"
"I don't feel intimidating at the moment, that's for sure," commented the Armory Hero as his companion released him while laughing quietly to herself.
"Well truthfully I haven't known any of you long," Said L'Arc, "but I can tell these two are nothing like those creeps."
"And it seems neither of you have been in this country long either," said Figneria, "a trial was held recently which absolved both of the heroes of all their crimes. A rather nasty former princess, as it turns out, was the one to blame for their poorly perceived reputations."
"Whatever the case," said L'Arc as he reached out and shook Naofumi's hand happily, "If you're gonna insist on using that name so be it. Nice to meet you Shield Kiddo and you too, uh, Shroud kiddo."
"It's more of a scarf cape than a shroud," corrected Darius, "but I suppose it's got a less confusing ring than Band kiddo."
"So are you all heading to Cal Mira to level up as well," questioned Therese. Filo and Raphtalia answered in the affirmative for the rest of the group.
"So would you be open to teaming up with us," asked L'Arc, "It'd make things a bit more efficient with a bigger party."
"You want us to team up with the two of you?" Questioned Naofumi with a hint of hesitation.
"It might help given that we'll need to split up anyway," admitted Darius before a knock had everyone facing the door.
"Excuse me Sir Heroes, would you mind coming up on deck for a minute," said one of the crewmen, a man with a blue bandana. Darius and Naofumi sighed before heading for the door.
"We'll be back in a bit," said the Armory Hero, "best go ahead and get sleeping arrangements set up while we're gone."
"I'm certain we can figure out something beneficial for all parties," said Figneria with a small smirk as Naofumi and Darius nodded before heading out and following the crewman.
"So what's the deal," asked Naofumi, "why do you need the two of us up on the deck?"
"Well we were hoping that all five heroes would be willing to greet the crew," explained the man with a smile, "everyone's excited to have you all aboard and I know they'd be thrilled if you talked to them for a bit."
"Can't argue with that," admitted Darius, "Morale is important aboard a sea-faring vessel."
"Well I guess it'll at least give me the chance to tell those guys about believing in the system," said Naofumi as they walked up the stairs and stepped outside. It was a rather beautiful day with a clear sky, seagulls flying about and three unfortunate souls who looked like they were about to spill their guts. Said unfortunate souls happened to be the other three heroes.
"How come you guys are still walking around," groaned Itsuki as he, Ren and Motoyasu were pressed up against the edge of the ship railing, trying not to lose whatever they had for lunch earlier.
"Overpowered weapons maybe," said Ren weakly before putting a hand to his mouth to prevent possible projectile vomit.
"I call it lots of fishing when I was little," said Darius with his hands on his hips, "and some white water rafting here and there. Better question is how three people from a nation that's got a massive fishing industry and ocean on both sides can get seasick? Do they not have boats in your parallel worlds?"
"Whatever the case it serves you guys right for taking up all the private cabins," said Naofumi, "but I got some news. We managed to figure something out after that meeting where you mentioned item refining."
"Please, no more talking," groaned Motoyasu, who was leaning over the railing, "I really don't wanna think about anything right now."
"So about your normal state of mind," quipped Darius as he noted the presence of three familiar, and unwelcome party members, "Oh and congratulations on the new slaves."
"But you all need to hear this," said Naofumi, "as long as you believe a system exists-."
"Seriously you two," groaned Itsuki, "just hearing your voices is making me sick."
"Really," said Darius, "I thought it was all the up and down and back and forth and-." It was at this point that Motoyasu lost the battle of keeping his lunch down and blew chunks over the railing. "Whoops, that's one down now who'll be next?" The answer, surprisingly, was Motoyasu again as a red-eyed shark monster with clawed fins came flying out of the water and landed on the Spear Hero.
The remaining heroes looked out over the railing to see Filo in her bird form kicking another one of the strange sharks out of the water, only this time Johann came swooping by in his dragon form and snatched it out of midair. He then proceeded to toss the shark at the rest of Motoyasu's party, all of whom scattered quite quickly. "We're having grilled fish for dinner tonight Master!" yelled Filo happily as she waved from the water.
"Since when can Filo swim?" Questioned Naofumi, not even glancing at the strange sharks.
"That's what you find weird about this," said Itsuki weakly, "nothing else?"
"And those sharks smell terrible," said Ren as he put a hand over his mouth.
"What are you two even doing above deck," asked Darius as Johann landed in front of him and changed back to human form, "I thought we told you to figure out the sleeping arrangements."
"Oh we figured those out in two seconds," said Johann, "Rifana figured since we have one more member already it'd be better if we just took the empty cabin while Naofumi gets a moment with his new friends. Speaking of which." The dragon boy pointed out the arrival of said cabin mates as L'Arc and Therese walked up on deck.
"Hey Shield Kiddo," said L'Arc, "You got a moment and-what's up with those guys?"
"Lack of sea legs apparently," answered Naofumi, "anyway, do you need something?"
"Well it's actually Therese who has a request," said L'Arc as the girl stepped forward.
"Your companion Raphtalia mentioned you have some exceptional skill at jewel crafting," said Therese, "would it be possible for you to make an accessory for me?"
"Ignoring the fact that your request is completely out of the blue, yeah I can help," said Naofumi, "but only if you've got the materials."
"I do," said Therese as she held up a small brown bag, "you can use anything in here and I'll of course pay you for it upon completion." The Shield Hero took a moment to rummage through the sack and pulled out a rather large red gem, which was more than enough for him to work with.
"It'll take a while since I can only work on it between grinding levels," said Naofumi, "if you've got no issue with waiting then yeah I can do it."
"That sounds like a wonderful arrangement," said Therese.
"And I'll be counting on the both of you once we reach the island," said L'Arc as he put a hand on Naofumi's shoulder before the sound of the waves hitting the sides of the boat suddenly increased. "Sounds like the sea's getting rougher, might even be a stor-what in the world happened to her!" The two heroes looked over and saw that Myne was currently pinned underneath one of the sharks with Johann standing nearby whistling innocently.
"No idea about the shark," said Darius with a shrug, "but I can tell you her face is likely the result of an eggplant having sex with an older eggplant. And not the good kind."
"Well putting that image out of my mind," said L'Arc, "we'd best get below soon, the crew's saying we're in for a hard night." This of course did nothing to help the moods of the other three seasick heroes as Darius and the group headed back below deck.
Ship Cabins: That Night
'Why, why is this happening?' Thought Rifana as she ran forward through a now dead battlefield. Monsters of all shapes and sizes littered the ground as grey clouds hung overhead, their corpses carved up in various ways. But none of that mattered to the weasel girl. The only thing that mattered to her at the moment was the one ray of sunlight which had broken through the clouds to shine on a certain spot. 'After everything, does it really have to come to this? We won so why?' she thought frantically as she reached out a hand for the one standing in the sunlight, running as fast as her legs could carry her.
But no matter how much distance she covered, it never seemed to be far enough or fast enough. Even now, when she could make out the features of the individual she was racing towards it was still too far to reach. 'Don't do that, don't give me that smile,' thought Rifana as the figure in the sunlight turned to her with an apologetic look and a sad smile as his body began to fade. 'Please don't, I'm begging you! DON'T!'
"DON'T DISAPPEAR!" Rifana yelled as she shot up from her spot in the ship's cabin, panting as if she really had been running. The weasel girl quickly felt her head, noting that she was in a cold sweat before her attention was diverted by a bit of movement on her left side.
"Rifana," said Darius quietly as he shifted to a sitting position. The cabin was cramped but it still offered just enough room for each of them to sleep somewhat comfortably. "Is everything alright?"
"You're here!" She said as she lunged forward and hugged him, somehow managing not to wake up Johann and Figneria, "You're still here."
"Well of course I am," said Darius as he returned the hug gently, "where else would I be right now? Are you feeling alright?"
"I'll be fine in a bit," said Rifana weakly as she clutched onto his outfit, "It was a nightmare, just a nightmare."
"Anything I can do to help," asked the Armory Hero, "It's been a bit since you last had a nightmare this bad."
"Just," Rifana said as she buried her head in his chest, "just hold me please, even if it's only for a little while." Darius nodded and wrapped his arms around the frightened girl, still curious as to what could set her off like this. But in a short time her eyes were closed again as she managed to get some semblance of sleep. For whatever reason, though, her grip on him hardly loosened at all that night and it wouldn't be until the next day that he'd actually be able to get her to let go.
Cal Mira Harbor: That Morning
The storm came and went surprisingly quickly and by the time they pulled into the harbor, the sun was out and shining again. Feeling a little bad that the crew didn't get a rousing speech from the five cardinal heroes, Darius decided he'd test something out by absorbing a harpoon into his bands. The result, harpoon chains that allowed him to snag sharks out of the air that Johann dropped from the sky. It was an entertaining sight for the crew and even seemed to cheer Rifana up a bit from her recent nightmare.
She also perked up even more once their two parties exited the ship and saw Cal Mira for themselves. "Wow this place is beautiful," sang Raphtalia happily as she looked along the shore.
"And it's so hot," said Filo, "I can feel the sun cooking me."
"This is nothing to a dragon," said Johann with his usual toothy grin and his hands on his hips, "but it is a nice place. Maybe I'll take up residence once I become a full-fledged dragon emperor."
"I'm certain Fitoria would love you being as far away as possible," commented Rifana.
"By the way," said Naofumi to the demi-human girls, "How come you two didn't get motion sick on the boat. The ride was way rougher last night than the wagon, and maybe Johann's flying, ever was."
"Oh, well I guess it's because we both come from a fishing village," reasoned Raphtalia with a hand on her chin, "we basically grew up around boats."
"As opposed to a few certain other people," remarked Darius as a groaning Motoyasu was carried by them on a stretcher.
"I hope they paid extra to have all the vomit cleaned out of their rooms," said Naofumi before turning his attention to a man in a blue butler suit and tie.
"Welcome to Cal Mira Archipelago," said the man with a respectful bow, though Darius was surprised the man wasn't falling asleep on his feet with the messy way his hair was arranged and the bags under his eyes. "I am Habinburg, the caretaker of this humble abode. It is a pleasure to meet all of you. Now the original plan was to escort all of you to the villa but," Habinburg glanced at the other two heroes going by on stretchers, "it seems I will be escorting only the parties of the Shield and Armory Heroes for the time being." The man then signaled his two attendants to carry what luggage they'd brought with them as he turned around and led them into town, explaining all about the island along the way.
It seemed Cal Mira Archipelago included not just one island but a few smaller islands all bunched together. Due to its nature of occasionally generating a bonus field, and more importantly a legend that previous cardinal heroes had trained here made it a popular tourist spot. Whether it was true or not was up for some debate but what was certain was it had all the charm one would expect from a tropical destination: stalls and vendors on several streets and sandstone houses and shops with yellow tiled roofs. It was also expectedly crowded with people of all shapes and sizes wandering about, including adventurers thanks to the activation of the bonus field.
It was also due to the presence of so many adventurers that each of them was given a type of pamphlet with rules for leveling up on the island. The first rule, which got on Johann's bad side immediately, was that each island could only be travelled too by boat. The next rule stated that while they were encouraged to kill as many monsters as possible, there was to be no barging in on others battles nor was there to be kill-stealing of any kind. "This is like reading a guide to MMO etiquette," remarked Naofumi as they stood in front of a large totem pole in the center of town.
"What's an MMO master," questioned Filo with a tilt of her head.
"It's nothing to worry about," said Naofumi as he looked at the totem pole, "anyway, this statue here is supposed to represent the original inhabitants who developed the islands."
"It looks a lot like a totem pole to me," Darius weighed in, "wonder if the island inhabitants here were at all similar to the native Hawaiian animals of our worlds?"
"It also has an epigraph with an inscription here that's said to be left by a previous hero," noted Raphtalia as she looked at the stone slab on the ground.
"Mystic writing," said Naofumi as he held his hand out to it, "as source of thy power the Shield Hero orders thee, decipher this message and energize my target, Zweit Aura." The cardinal hero held his hand out to Filo whose body began to glow green from the energy generated by the slab which now had glowing orange writing.
"This is, I feel really light and powerful," said Filo before leaping several feet into the air and letting out a cheer.
"I guess a previous hero really did leave that epigraph," commented Rifana as the Filolial came almost floating back down to the ground.
"Hey Shield Kiddo, Shroud kiddo, there you are," said the familiar voice of L'Arc as he and Therese came walking up to them, "Filo got some good air on that jump just now, made it a lot easier to find you all."
"It's still not flying," said Johann with his arms crossed and his head to the side.
"Anyway you kinda ran off without saying goodbye," L'Arc continued, "good company can make or break a trip ya know."
"Naofumi's idea," said Darius as he pointed a thumb at the Shield Hero, "he seemed to think we needed to be in some kind of rush."
"Well either way you never really gave us an answer about teaming up," said L'Arc.
"And since we all just arrived it'd be best if we helped each other out to get our bearings," added Therese. "And by the way, where is Figneria?"
"She offered to go scout around a bit," explained Darius, "she used to guard a nobleman and came here with him a couple times a few years ago, so she's seen most of what there is to offer here."
"But to answer your first question," said Naofumi, "yeah I guess we'll give this teaming up thing a shot. Fair warning though, if you slow us down we'll drop you in a heartbeat."
"Hahaha I hear that," laughed L'Arc, "and the same to you kiddos. Anyway we'll catch up with you later so try to take it easy until then." The two adventurers turned and left then as Raphtalia and Rifana waved good bye.
"I'm actually a little surprised," said Raphtalia as she turned to Naofumi, "ordinarily the only way you'd deal with someone like L'Arc is if Darius convinced you it was worth it."
"I guess he just throws me off a bit is all," admitted Naofumi, "but right now we need to get moving. It's already afternoon so let's split up and start level grinding." Words of agreement sounded from all the assembled group members before they parted ways and headed to the nearest boat.
Smaller Cal Mira Island
"This is awesome!" exclaimed Johann as he spun and kicked through a rabbit-like monster called a Karma Rabbit. The group had encountered a horde of the creatures upon entering a large clearing after trekking a little ways through the trees.
"Glad someone's having fun," quipped Rifana as she swung through three more with her mace, "these things are respawning endlessly!"
"That is the nature of Cal Mira Island," said Figneria as she used only a single dagger to slice through two groups of three, "the monsters always seem to come back."
"I'm just glad this bonus field is like everyone said it would be," noted Darius as he twirled and spun a new double-bladed staff, cutting through the four karma rabbits that had been surrounding him, "we're gaining a mass of experience points just from these small fry." A sudden rumbling caused the rabbits to scatter back to their holes as a large toad came hopping out of nowhere and landed a few feet away from them.
"It seems all the activity attracted something larger," noted Figneria, "and here I thought I'd only get blood on my clothes."
"Well don't use any attacks that would be effective only against the undead," said Darius with a smirk as he readied his weapon, "I hear that doesn't work very well."
"I don't think any undead are actually on this island," grunted Rifana as she knocked the toad onto its back with a single hit.
"Just sayin'," remarked the Armory Hero as he leapt forward and delivered the finishing blow through the toad's heart. It was a good start to what would be a rather productive day as the party moved further into the island, encountering even more powerful monsters as they went. By sundown, the group managed to make it to the cave of a massive iguana boss monster which was dealt with by a combination of blows from the weapon wielders and a final spinning tail slam from Johann, breaking its skull in the process.
"Whew, so that's what some of the bosses are like here," said Rifana as she examined her weapon, "Uh oh, this could be a problem."
"What's the issue?" Questioned Darius as his companion held out her mace for him to inspect. It looked far more worn than it had that morning, as if it could no longer withstand the force it was being swung at.
"Ah, how careless of me not to notice sooner," said Figneria as she looked at her own daggers, "You've all had a class upgrade recently have you not?"
"Got 'em just two days ago," said Johann as he examined his gauntlets and greaves, "did they make our weapons go bad?"
"Not at all," said Figneria, "I myself acquired a class upgrade shortly upon arriving in Melromarc for my diplomatic visit. It seemed wise to increase my strength given what I heard about the last wave, but I didn't know just how much stronger it could make one."
"So our weapons might actually not be able to handle the level we're at now?" Surmised Rifana.
"Precisely," replied Figneria, "once you grow past a certain point, your weapon's durability will no longer be able to hold up to the force you can use. It's rather inconvenient as we'll all need to purchase new weapons now."
"Maybe not," said Darius with a hand on his chin as he opened his menu, "I've actually been meaning to try something for a bit. Rifana, may I?" The weasel girl complied and handed him her mace as he looked through his options. He'd remembered to keep picking up monster material along the way and once he saw what he was looking for, he hit the button on his menu.
Rifana's mace began to glow white for a moment as its shape changed slightly, forming dark yellow scales on the handle and pointed spikes along the weapon's edges. "Wow, what did you do? It feels even better than before?"
"Well after Motoyasu mentioned something about weapon enhancement, I managed to unlock a little ability of mine," explained Darius as he pointed to his bands, "It seems that while I might not be able to craft things, as the Armory Hero I can enhance weapons to a certain degree so long as I have the materials on hand or in my inventory."
"Oh, can you make my gauntlets and greaves better?!" Asked Johann excitedly as he pulled off the armor and handed it to his boss. Darius scrolled through the menu again and granted him gauntlets with a white fur lining along the back, with small claws on the knuckles and toes. He also enhanced Figneria's daggers, giving them new fire and ice designs while increasing their durability and power.
"Not quite the work of an expert blacksmith," said Figneria as she effortlessly twirled her weapon between her fingers, "but it's more than acceptable for now."
"I wanna test 'em out," said Johann as he slammed his fists together excitedly, "just find me a monster already!"
"But it's getting kind of dark," said Rifana, "should we consider heading back?"
"We'll start heading that way," replied Darius as he opened the communication feature on his menu, "but it's probably best that we don't head out until Naofumi and his party leave their island. We need to work at this as at least as long as they do if we're gonna keep up."
"Well I've been needing to hone my skills at night fighting for a few days now anyway," admitted Figneria, "so let us not waste another moment."
A Few Hours Later: Small Island Forest
As it turned out, the night monsters were a bit tougher than the monsters found in the day time. But, with the newly enhanced weapons and the honed senses of a dragon, weasel girl and an assassin it wasn't much more difficult than what they'd dealt with earlier. The drop rate was also better as the group took a break from their most recent encounter and sat around a recently constructed fire, lit courtesy of Johann, splitting up what they'd obtained between each other. "Now this is something I've missed a bit," said Darius as he sent some of the drops to his inventory, "between the frame up, the tyrant dragon, taking out the pope, the trial and other royal matters I was starting to think we'd never get back to a regular grinding routine."
"Well it's not totally the same given that we're on an island now," Rifana pointed out, "but you're right, I've also missed how straightforward monster hunting and level grinding is."
"We have managed a fair feat today," noted Figneria, "almost ten levels in half a day. Even I'm impressed by this bonus field."
"Makes me look forward to tomorrow," said Johann as he cracked his knuckles, "I'm gonna get way stronger and beat up even bigger mons-." The sound of some rustling alerted them to the presence of another as the group all stood up into fighting positions with their weapons at the ready. The rustling increased as some of the bushes were parted by, a fishing pole.
"Wow it's thick in this area," said a feminine voice as a short girl stepped out into the clearing, "Ah, you all must be the ones dropped here by the ferry. No mistaking a boy with bat wings."
"They're dragon wings!" exclaimed Johann, "and who the heck are you anyway trying to sneak up on us?!"
"Oh right, I'd better introduce myself," said the girl, "My name is Kizuna Kazayama. I was just getting back from a little fishing when I noticed your worried looking ferryman. He said you'd all been gone for a while and since it was getting dark, he sent me to go looking for all of you."
"That's responsible," said Rifana, "send in a small girl with a fishing rod to find people on a monster-infested island."
"I'm eighteen thank you very much," said Kizuna as she held her very nice, Darius noted, fishing pole up, "and I can handle myself a lot better than you might think." The Armory Hero could see she wasn't joking as he got a look at the Stats on some of her attire. The girl had brown hair done up in pigtails and was wearing a blue, black and white western gothic dress and a large black cloak on her shoulders. But what really caught is attention was the fishing pole. It actually had Stats higher than a lot of weapons he'd seen, and something else.
"Well I suppose it is getting late," admitted Figneria as she turned to Darius, "what do our party members on the other island have to say about it?" As if on cue, the communication icon appeared in the Armory Hero's HUD.
"Yeah I'm here," said Darius as he habitually put a finger to his ear, "Oh did they now? Yeah Figneria said the same thing so I guess heading back is the best idea right now. See y'all at the restaurant."
"Huh," said Kizuna as she pointed at Darius, "what did he just do?"
"He used some form of crystal ball magic to communicate with some of our other friends," replied Rifana, "It's, uh, kinda hard to explain. But long story short, I guess we're out of here."
"Are you sure we can't bust up at least one more monster before we-GROWL!" The dragon boy held his stomach as the sound of hunger gave him his answer. "Never mind. So where are we eating?"
Oceanside Bar: A Short Time Later
"To our safe return!" Cheered L'Arc as he sat at a table with a semi-annoyed looking Naofumi and the rest of his party, "Hey bartender, be sure to keep these coming!" The red-haired man, as it turned out, had gotten kind of worried about their parties and had gone looking for them after the sun had set. Upon finding the Shield Hero's party he quickly invited them to an outdoor restaurant that overlooked the ocean, hence the current celebration of sorts.
"I'm not sure what's funnier, the fact that Naofumi's putting up with him or that the guy actually convinced him to come here for a drink," said Rifana as she and the rest of her party sat at a different table. Their new fishing pole friend, if they could call her that, hadn't stuck around long as she simply took a meal to go before heading off to do some night fishing. Despite this, the two groups still had to get a table next to each other because of how many people there were.
"I'm just happy he's actually branching out and making some new friends," said Darius as he took a bite of some of the meat that had been served to their table, "it can't be healthy to be so distrustful of people all the time, especially now that everyone knows he's innocent."
"Such caution is understandable to a degree," said Figneria as she lightly sipped some juice from her goblet, "I myself was in a similar state until I met all of you."
"You're too kind," said Darius, "I've just been bumbling along doing the best I can with what you and everyone else has taught me. Speaking of bumbling." Everyone looked at where the cardinal hero was directing his gaze and noted Raphtalia was staggering over to them with sum mugs of what must've been alcohol in them.
"Hey Rifana," slurred Raphtalia with an expression between apathetic and tired, "any chance you could help me out with these? I kinda already drank some of mine and, I might need some help with the second one."
"What moron gave you booze," asked Darius with some concern in his voice.
"Oh Therese said I should try some wine at least once while I had a chance," said Raphtalia, "but then I realized it wouldn't be fair if I left Rifana out of something like this. Apparently having an alcoholic beverage is a big step for a lot of people."
"I wish you'd come to me before drinking this stuff," said Rifana as she accepted mug, "then I could've just thrown it away and we'd both be happier in the morning. Oh well, forgive me Darius but this is for a friend." The weasel girl then proceeded to gulp down the entire mug in a few seconds before slamming it down on the table. "WHOA SHIT! How do people drink this all the time?!"
"Apparently it just takes practice," said Raphtalia as she finished hers. She now had a completely apathetic look on her face. "Why don't we go get something else to eat, it's been forever since just the two of us hung out."
"Okaaaay," said a now red-faced Rifana as the both of them left the table and Johann started in on the leftovers they'd completely glossed over.
"I'm gonna have to help carry at least one of them before the night is over aren't I?" Said Darius with his head on one hand.
"Well the night is likely to be eventful given all who've decided to show up," said Figneria as she pointed out the arrival of the other three heroes and their parties.
"Oh wonderful," said the Armory Hero as he hit his head on the table, "I'm just gonna pretend like I'm not here and maybe they won't notice me."
"I don't see why you're worried," said Figneria, "Rishia was quite happy with what you gave her during our little encounter today."
"Yeah that's the prob-," Darius started to say before an all too familiar bowman suddenly shouted.
"THERE YOU ARE!" exclaimed Itsuki as he and Ren stepped up to his table, "do you have any idea what you've done?!"
"To be fair I did my best to prevent it if you're mad about what I think you're mad about," said Darius as his gaze shifted to said party member who was currently dancing by the band happily alongside Rifana as Filo sang along, "but you try telling a girl no when she wants something. Because by the looks of it, you've had no more luck than I did."
"I LOVE BEING A FURRY!" exclaimed Rishia as she danced around in a massive suit that resembled a squirrel.
"No luck is right!" said Itsuki, "we sent her back to the ferry to pick up some extra supplies and a few minutes later she comes back dressed like that saying she's a furry, a furry! She hasn't gotten out of that suit all day!"
"Hey I'm not in charge of what a monster drops," said Darius as he sipped at his own drink, marking this as one of the few times in life he regretted not partaking in alcohol, "I was gonna sell that thing when Rishia came by and instantly fell in love with it. I told her fine as long as she's okay with everyone thinking she's a furry. And when I tried explaining it to her she somehow interpreted it in her excited mind as 'Furries are people who wear animal costumes everywhere, even the bed room.' So sorry but it seems you have a magical furry as a party member now."
"The worst part about it is that suit actually has some decent Stats," raged Itsuki, "So my own party can't even understand why I want to burn it!"
"Well as said there's not really anything I can do about it," said Darius, "but I gotta ask, why are you also over here Ren? I only made one accidental furry today."
"I wanted to know which islands you planned on visiting tomorrow," said Ren, "It'd be inconvenient for me if I ran into Naofumi's party again or yours. You might've gotten a head start due to our seasickness, but don't get too smug about it." Darius simply rolled his eyes at this statement before speaking to Figneria.
"Would you mind taking Johann up to get a bit more food? And keep an eye on Rifana and Raphtalia please," requested the cardinal hero, "I'm gonna need a minute here."
"As you wish," said Figneria before standing up and heading to the bar with Johann on her heels.
"Who's that anyway, a new party member," asked Itsuki with a raised eyebrow.
"My weapon's instructor Figneria," Darius answered simply before indicating the seats in front of him, "but that's a conversation for another time. Right now, why don't you two take a seat so that I can ask a serious question?" The Bow and Sword hero's looked like that was the last thing they wanted to do, but complied nonetheless and sat down in the chairs in front of him. "Now what I want to know is this: what exactly are your goals here in this world, what is it you want out of all this?"
"What do you mean?" Asked Ren, "We're the chosen heroes called here to quell the waves."
"Yes but why are you specifically fighting to quell the waves?" Darius asked. "From what I understand you two and Motoyasu all seemed a bit miffed that you were pulled from your own worlds to handle someone else's problem until there was a mention of compensation and a big hero's welcome. After that you pretty much believed whatever Trash and Bitch told you with little to no question, which leads me to think you haven't thought very far ahead in all of this."
"And just what is that supposed to mean," Itsuki said in annoyance.
"It means you haven't considered what comes after the waves," said Darius as he crossed his arms, "think about it for a moment. All five of us were called here against our will to quell these waves and it's very possible that we'll all be sent right back after everything is said and done, again against our will. So whatever praise or honor or treasure we receive in this world is probably gonna stay here while we all get sent back to a world where no one will know of what we did or even believe it happened. It's actually quite sad in a way."
"I'm still not quite seeing your point with all of this," said Ren, "It doesn't change the fact that we still have a job to do."
"And that's the problem and solution right there," said Darius as he pointed at Ren, "this is a job, a job that we were all called here to do and people's lives ride on the decisions we make. But you guys don't treat it like that, you each treat it like it's your own personal fantasy come true or some game. That's also why you've got such a big problem with Naofumi and me even after we were proven innocent because you think we're stealing the limelight from all of you. Well newsflash, Naofumi doesn't give a shit about the limelight he just wants to go home and never come back to the world that mercilessly screwed him over."
"And what about you," said Itsuki, "what is it you're after in this world?"
"Honestly," said Darius, "I'm just trying to help out as I can. Sure I was a bit annoyed at first that no one seemed to know who the Armory Hero was in a world where summoned heroes are beyond celebrity status but then I met all of you and realized just how screwed one's perception can become from too much fame. So believe me when I say you guys can keep all the praise and glory and celebrity status because Naofumi and I don't really want it. We need the reward money as a means to an end but otherwise, all we really want is to get this job over with because at the end of the day that's what it is, a pain in the ass job."
His little speech seemed to have hit some form of nerve or another with the two heroes as they didn't reply back right away. Though whatever was going to be said next was interrupted as Rifana suddenly came stumbling over and grabbed onto Darius to keep herself from falling. "What are you still doing here," cooed the weasel girl, "you missed Raphtalia royally owning Mald in arm wrestling and you're gonna miss the dancing if you don't come along."
"I just needed to have a word with our fellow heroes," said Darius as he let Rifana begin dragging him away, "good talk guys and enjoy down time because tomorrow, it's back to work!" Whatever they might've said back was lost in the noise of the crowd as Rifana pulled him along, laughing happily. 'Heh, praise and glory,' he thought, 'I've already got something better to fight for.'
The Next Day: Outer Cal Mira Island
Darius had to hand it to Figneria once again, the woman had foreseen the possibility of getting drunk on the island and already had some medicine on hand to help both Raphtalia and Rifana with any possible hangovers. Though she only mentioned having it after Motoyasu had eaten a grape-like fruit that turned out to be practically made of alcohol and passed out on the ground instantly. She gave none of it to him, though, considering it her little revenge for the Spear Hero attempting to hit on her. Funnily enough, Naofumi was able to pop the same fruits in his mouth with hardly any effect at all thanks to whatever poison or alcohol tolerance he'd apparently built up since coming to this world.
A number of other fun happenings occurred that night including Darius swapping between Rifana and Figneria as dance partners, or was rather passed back and forth. He even somehow wound up dancing with the squirrel-suited Rishia in one confusing moment. Johann demonstrated his own surprisingly accurate version of river dancing, until Filo started singing about stupid dragons and turned the whole scene into a chase around the bar. And Raphtalia was cheered as an arm-wrestling pro after beating Mald, multiple times. It was a fun and rather relaxing time, but now that the sun had risen on a new day it was back to work.
Just like yesterday, the two parties had a short strategy meeting in front of the totem pole where Naofumi agreed to let L'Arc and Therese come along for the grind with his party. He also gave her the accessory she requested which he'd managed to turn into a silver bracelet with the red stone in the middle. The blue-haired woman had actually been moved to tears by his craftsmanship and awarded him with not only a large sack of gold coins but also promised to pay him even more in installments. Darius didn't pay much attention to the exchange as he was usually the one delivering the accessories as opposed to crafting them.
What did pique his interest before they left for one of the islands, however, was the mention that Therese was level fifty two and L'Arc was fifty six, meaning their new friends had already gotten their own class upgrades. 'I guess I really have underestimated the number of strong adventurers in this world,' thought the Armory Hero as he sliced through a seagull monster which had tried diving for him, 'but why in the world am I getting such a weird reading on L'Arc's weapon? It registered as the same type of weapon as-.'
His thoughts were interrupted by Rifana knocking away one of the seagull monsters which had attempted to approach him on his blindside. "You in there today," asked the weasel girl as she kicked another monster flying at her.
"Yeah just thinking a bit," Replied the Armory Hero as he impaled another foe with a curved sword he'd recently enhanced, "I got this weird feeling about our new friends."
"And what sort of feeling would that be," asked Figneria as she leapt up into the air and diced up five or six more seagulls before landing gracefully on her feet.
"Most people in this world aren't above level forty from what I've heard," responded Darius as he punched another monster and backed away for Johann to finish it off with a drop kick, "which isn't suspicious in itself but I can't get a good analysis on that L'Arc guy's weapon. I got enough info now to make a replica, but it's like there's some kind of translation error on it's classification."
"You mentioned something like that happened before," said Rifana, "should we force it out of them?"
"Not without good reason," replied the Armory Hero as he switched out his sword for a weapon he picked up recently in the market place, "they've been pretty decent up to this point, so let's just keep an eye out."
"Whatever you say boss," said Johann as he landed next to him, "and what are you gonna do with that magic stick anyway?"
"Nothing much," said Darius as he held his newly summoned staff which sported a fin design and an aqua blue gem on top, "just this: Zweit Aqua Slash!" A high powered jet of water formed and shot out of the end of the staff, cutting through several of the monsters still in the air and showering the ground with blood and feathers which was quickly washed away by the falling liquid.
"I thought you couldn't use magic outside of weapon and body enhancement," said a surprised Rifana as she finished off one of the twitching monsters.
"I still technically can't," said Darius as he held up the mystic weapon, "this is a mage's staff which, thanks to all this leveling, I can wield now because it's the one generating the spell and not me. Plus, staff's also double as blunt weapons so one might call it a kind of loophole. It does require more mana to use though."
"Such is the way of things," said Figneria, "For every new advantage there exists a drawback."
"I don't know about that," said Johann with his hands behind his head, "being an increasingly powerful dragon hasn't had one drawback yet for me." The sound of loud screeching suddenly reached their ears then as a rather large seagull monster emerged from the forest nearby, snarling especially fiercely when it noticed Johann.
"Except for most forms of birds and other animals hating you," Rifana pointed out as she readied her weapon.
"Well it's a good opportunity to test one more thing," said Darius as he switched out his weapon again to one he'd spent most of his enhancement materials on, "let's see how strong this is now!" The gull monster flapped its wings and snapped its beak viciously as it charged towards them before Darius swung and scored a direct hit on the side of the bird's head. The resulting blast from the impact was spectacular as the boss gull's head and neck were completely frozen and obliterated while the rest of its body and much of the ground beneath their feet became covered in a layer of frost and static electricity.
"That was awesome!" cheered Johann as he jumped up and down excitedly, not noticing his hair standing on end.
"There's no arguing with the power output," said Figneria as she brushed some frost off her belt and clothes, "but you might want to do something about the energy release. Natural as it may be I do style my hair to a degree."
"Yeah sorry about that," said Darius as he worked to get his own hair back down, "I misjudged the area of effect a bit in the enhancements." Rifana simply said nothing as she laughed at everyone's new and ridiculous hairstyles, hardly noticing how her own hair was standing on end. The group agreed he should save the ultimate static weapon for larger foes after that as they continued into the island's forest, taking down whatever got in there way and soaking up as much EXP as possible. Everything was going well until they hit level seventy and noticed the bonus curve dropped off a bit, forcing them to take a break and plan a new course of action.
"Geez I'm getting hungry," groaned Johann as they sat on some logs and split up the latest drops between themselves, "Shield guy has to be about done for the day, right? It's almost sun down."
"There are still a couple of hours before then actually," said Figneria as she examined one of the dropped monster gems, "but in this case I do believe it'd be wise to consider heading back before dark this time."
"Well you're all in luck," said Darius as he closed his communication window on his menu, "It looks like Naofumi's happy with today's progress and agreed that now would indeed be a good time to head back."
"He'd better," said Rifana with an exhausted sigh, "we managed to get up twenty levels today, twenty! Adding what we got yesterday we've managed to climb thirty levels in just over a day and a half. Maybe he'll actually be in a good mood when we get back."
"We can only hope," said Darius as he stored his share of the drops before picking up a rather strange item they'd gotten from some penguin monsters known as Karma Penguins, "I also hope someone's got a good explanation for why we keep finding furry suits here?"
Cal Mira Main Island: Sunset
"Thank you both," said Raphtalia politely to L'Arc and Therese as she gave a respectful bow, "you helped us gain quite a few levels in only a single day."
"And it was fun!" chirped Johann and Filo before growling at each other for saying the same thing.
"I couldn't have said it better," agreed Therese, "It's a shame we couldn't find a chance to partner with your party as well Darius."
"Any reason you can't do that tomorrow," Questioned the Armory Hero, "Learning to wield a scythe is practically on my bucket list at this point."
"Well even if I did show you a few moves you'd need to get your own first," said L'Arc, "I can't exactly lend this thing out to just anyone."
"Oh I got that covered," Said Darius as he held out his hand and generated a replica of L'Arc's scythe with the signature white jewel, "And I'm told I learn at a fair pace too." Both of their new friend's eyes widened upon seeing the feat, clearly not expecting his ability. The two proceeded to glance at one another with serious expressions for a moment before turning back to them.
"I think it'd be best if we went it alone for a bit," said L'Arc apologetically as they turned to leave, "but don't worry we'll see you guys around."
"Thank you for the great day," said Therese as they headed off.
"And thank you for all your help," said Raphtalia as Filo waved good bye happily. The raccoon girl was quick to notice how Naofumi seemed to be lost in thought. "You hoped they would stick around longer right? That's not quite like you Master Naofumi."
"I've just been wondering recently if we should add more people to our party," said Naofumi, "but we can figure that out later. Since we all worked so hard today, why don't we take a day off tomorrow." Johann and Filo were quick to celebrate this option as Raphtalia had to speak up to be heard over them.
"I personally don't mind either way," she said, her wagging tail betraying her real feelings on the subject, "but it'd probably be best if you took a break Master Naofumi."
"Then we're off to the beach tomorrow!" exclaimed Rifana happily as they all turned in for the day.
One of Cal Mira's Many Beaches
The funny thing about being in a different world was when one occasionally found things that were similar between the two. One such similarity was the presence of a shop on the large beach which actually rented out swimsuits and other aquatic gear to help one enjoy their time in the tropical location. Currently, all of the boys and Filo had already made it out to the beach with Johann wearing azure blue swimming trunks that sported a scaly design. Naofumi got his own blue and brown pair with a red button-up shirt and what were apparently medieval style sandals with bindings that went up to his ankles. As for Darius, he remained barefoot with a blue vest and white trunks as his choice of beach dress, mostly because the vest would be easier to get off for swimming due to the presence of his bands.
While the two heroes sat around and enjoyed the sun, Johann busied himself stomping around in the water attempting to catch fish or whatever smaller creature happened to come his way. "Hey Master!" Said Filo happily as she walked up to the two of them in her choice of a frilled pink and white two piece swimsuit. She'd also chosen to tie her hair up into pig tails with flowers for some reason. "I found another island in a weird place."
"What's the big deal about it," asked Naofumi, "there's a whole bunch of islands around here."
"Not like this one," said Filo, "this is a special island I found underwater that looks like it's glowing red."
"An underwater island glowing red?" Repeated a now slightly intrigued Naofumi.
"Did it happen to have buildings of some sort down there?" Questioned Darius with a slight idea what she might be talking about.
"Yes, there's a really big building in the middle of it," said Filo as she raised her arms up to emphasize how large it must actually be.
"Undersea ruins, huh," said Naofumi with a hand on his chin, "we have hit something of a wall with our leveling right now. Maybe something like this could prove a nice change of pace."
"I really hope you're not planning on trying to grind more right now," said Darius, "we all agreed this was supposed to be a day off. Besides, there's something I want to try above water first." The Armory Hero used his replica ability to create the fishing pole he'd seen Kizuna carrying the other day.
"Since when can you conjure up replicas of non-weapons?" Questioned Naofumi with a hint of surprise in his voice.
"Well that's the funny thing," said Darius as he examined the pole, "I saw a little adventurer the day before carrying this thing and for whatever reason it registered on my HUD as a high class weapon and stored the information for a replica."
"Just another mystery to add to this island," said Naofumi as he rummaged around in his large carry bag and pulled out a full body suit resembling a penguin with a Santa Claus hat of all things on its head.
"Sorry to keep you boys waiting," said Rifana as the two heroes looked up, with Darius feeling his jaw promptly dropping, "It took us a minute to pick one out for Raphtalia, so what do you think?" It was worth the wait in his opinion as he looked over the gorgeous women. Figneria had selected a purple two piece swimsuit with a butterfly motif that left little to the imagination, not that he needed it, and a purple cloth hanging loosely around her waist. Rifana had selected a dark yellow two piece with a much shorter cloth that hung above her knees and seemed to hug her figure perfectly as she wore a confident smile on her face. And Raphtalia herself, who had her hands behind her back in a much more shy, reserved manner had selected a blue two piece with a type of cloth top that covered her chest and left her stomach exposed along with another cloth covering that went down to her knees.
Both Figneria and Raphtalia had decided to tie their hair up into ponytails with Raphtalia leaving two long, tied strands to hang down her front. "I think," replied Darius after picking his jaw up and making a picture frame with his hands, "I am currently witnessing the type of beautiful sight that only occurs once a century right now." Rifana giggled a bit at this as a light blush formed on her face while Figneria simply returned a knowing smile. True, the Armory Hero had seen two out of the three of them with nothing at all, but that didn't change the fact that he'd never given any thought to how they might look in swimming attire.
"And what do you think of it Master Naofumi," Raphtalia asked shyly.
"I think it looks great," replied the Shield Hero, getting a happy reaction out of the raccoon girl as her tail wagged in appreciation. "With an outfit like that, it won't matter if a little water leaks into the suit."
"Yes, uh, what suit?" Asked Raphtalia in confusion until Naofumi held up the penguin suit. "Oh, that suit." Rifana and even Figneria actually sighed at this while Darius slammed his head against the replica pole hard enough that it disappeared.
"What I think she meant was-," Rifana started to say until a sudden mischievous thought occurred to her, "Oh no! Can it really be one of those?!"
"One of what?" Asked Darius and Naofumi at the same time.
"An ocean stone pearl," said Rifana as she made a show of looking out into the water, "they're supposed to be incredibly rare. Now that I think about, they may only appear during the times of a bonus field and they're worth a small sack of gold coins due to their beauty and uses as a magic accessory!"
"Rifana what are you-," Raphtalia started to say before Rifana grabbed her and turned her towards the ocean.
"You remember what they used to say about them in our village right," said Rifana as she whispered 'play along' in her friend's ear, "they give off a distinctive shine and can be scooped up from the shallows if you look in just the right place."
"Uh, yes," said Raphtalia, "they're quite beautiful and would be worth the effort if for no other reason than the price we could fetch for one. I think I saw a couple spots on the way over we could search so let's go!" Naofumi didn't have a chance to protest as his companion grabbed a hold of his arm and pulled him off in the direction of this so-called ocean pearl.
"We'll start looking for one on this side of the beach!" Rifana called back as she watched her two friends shrink into the distance. Once she was certain they were far enough, she let out a sigh and quickly laid down on the sand next to Darius, with Figneria mirroring her on the other side.
"There's something wrong with that guy," said Darius as he rubbed the sore spot on his head, "I mean seriously, the weeb dream itself: a beautiful animal girl in a hot swimsuit, was literally standing right in front of him and all he has to say is it'll work if the penguin suit happens to leak. I'm starting to think he's actually lying about being an Otaku or his fetishes are more horrific than I originally imagined."
"Well the way Raphtalia tells it," Said Rifana, "Bitch's little betrayal not only messed up his ability to fully trust people, he also lost the ability to taste most foods or love women."
"Except for the part where he clearly trusts Raphtalia implicitly," said Darius as he leaned back and propped his head up with his arm in the sand, "He actually believed her when she backed you up about that bogus pearl just now. Not to mention his name has been cleared, the charges against him are dropped and the kingdom has recognized him as a hero while punishing the ones responsible for the frame up. At this point the only things keeping him from actual happiness, at least in my opinion, are the waves and himself."
"I do find it surprising that the girl was able to lie to her master," said Figneria, "it means he never ordered her not to after her crest was reapplied. But the blame is not all his. Raphtalia's understanding and patience, while admirable, are also keeping her from expressing her true feelings much more directly. Perhaps I should intervene in a similar manner to what I did with you two."
"I think you might actually discover the end to Raphtalia's patience and understanding if you tried sleeping with Naofumi," Darius pointed out.
"My dear student," said Figneria as she rubbed Darius's chin, "do you really think your teacher is the type to lay with just anyone in order to teach a lesson? I have already chosen the one I wish to continually bestow that honor on and so long as Rifana allows it you shall be the only one to receive such treatment. No, what I suggest is simply encouraging our dear raccoon girl to express her feelings before the potential disaster of death befalls either of them from the waves or the time comes that he is able to return home and misses his chance at true happiness for the both of them. But first, we must confirm whether or not Sir Shield Hero even reciprocates her feelings in the first place."
"Well that's gonna be a challenge," admitted Darius, "but we're basically on vacation at the moment so hopefully plenty of opportunities will arise. For now, let's just relax until they get back."
"I can work with that," said Rifana as she pressed herself against the Armory Hero, "by the way, what would you as one of these so-called weebs call this little situation right now?"
"If you mean a guy who used to spend all of his time in his room suddenly winding up on a beach with not one but two gorgeous women on either side of him," said Darius, "I personally call it one of my dreams come true. And I intend to enjoy it while it lasts." Rifana smiled happily at that as she rested her head on his chest while Figneria held onto his arm. It would go down as one of the best hours of his life before shit hit the fan.
Underwater Temple Entrance: One Fruitless Search Later
It came as no surprise, to Darius and the others anyway, when Naofumi and Raphtalia returned empty-handed. But the raccoon girl was now smiling while the Shield Hero looked like he at least didn't hate hunting for the imaginary pearl while being dragged from one beautiful sight to the next. But they were now back on track as the group, minus Figneria and Johann who stayed up top because someone needed to keep an eye on said dragon boy who didn't want to be underwater, swam down towards the ruins Filo had discovered wearing the monster dropped penguin suits. 'I suppose it's only fair we go along with this after sending him out on a wild goose chase,' thought Darius, 'even if he had no idea. But seriously, why a penguin suit?'
The fact that they'd all been underwater for more than ten minutes without needing oxygen and surprisingly clear vision aside, he still felt ridiculous. But he put that out of his mind for the moment as the group approached the red-tiled temple whose structure actually reminded Darius of the Greek Parthenon, save for the large stone doors at the entrance. None of them had any idea if it was possible to open the doors as Naofumi reached out a hand to examine them more closely. It turned out they didn't need too as the jewel on his shield glowed green, causing the doors to swing open and spew a mass of bubbles outward from the entrance, signaling the presence of air within the temple.
The group discovered why as they swam into the center of the temple and climbed up some stairs to find that not all of the structure had been flooded by the ocean water. "Oh sure," said Darius as they stripped off the penguin suits, save for Filo who'd been in her bird form, "not a Zora tunic in sight for water breathing but the whole damn water temple's here."
"I just wish I could see," said Filo, "It's almost pitch black down here."
"I'm on it," said Raphtalia as she raised her hand in the air, "burst light!" A sparkling light resembling a flare formed in her hand and floated up towards the ceiling to illuminate most of the large room. Whatever they'd been expecting to find, however, was not what greeted them.
"How is a dragon hourglass here?" Questioned Naofumi as they gazed at the familiar sculpture in front of them.
"All the major countries were supposed to have one," said Rifana, "was this what happened to the island's original inhabitants?"
"It's bad news either way," said Darius, "the waves occur wherever a dragon hourglass is."
"But the islanders will all die if one hits here," said Raphtalia with worry in her voice.
"Let's not panic just yet," said Naofumi as he and Darius held their cardinal weapons up to the statue, "we don't know for sure it'll happen here given that this thing is underwater." That was the hope anyway as their weapons and the hourglass glowed for a moment before returning to normal. Whatever optimism they'd had for this place vanished as they read the countdown clocks on their HUDs. The next wave was gonna strike here, in just two days.
And so it seems the next wave will be arriving a tad bit earlier this time around for our heroes. Also, whew, whole lot happening in this chapter, but I hope you all enjoyed this lengthy read just the same. 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. Be sure to stop in next time as the battle at sea commences! 'Til then.