Armory of the Forgotten Hero

by Masked Spider

The legend goes that there are four cardinal heroes. But fact and fable are often twisted in the land of Melromarc, while others are left out completely. One such fact is that there is actually another hero, the Armory hero, who doesn't wield a primary weapon. But the world will soon remember as Darius Saxon is called to remind the people that there aren't four heroes, but five.

38. The Intro of the Combat Instructors

Introducing the Combat Instructors

Merry Christmas one and all and welcome at last to the newest chapter of Armory of the Forgotten Hero! It took a bit longer than I anticipated to get here, had to make sure Breath of the Rifleman went out on a high note, but here we are at last. It might not be the longest chapter or the most exciting ever but it's still a start for the next leg of the journey for our heroes! Now a quick announcement, I won't be able to get the next chapter out until the week after as I have a couple other stories to focus on. But once they're out of the way I'll try getting the chapters for this story out on a more regular basis. Now enough wasting time from me, on to the story!

Daytime: Rurorona Village

'Almost four months now,' he thought as he sat at a small table which was covered in different vials, papers and various substances along with a strange whip that possessed a weight resembling a mace on the end. 'I've been in this world a little over three months and my life has taken turns I never would've thought possible.' The tweny year old University student, or former student at the moment, took a second to glance down at his wrists where a pair of bands with white jewels were clamped around them. If it wasn't already obvious, these were no ordinary bands.

They were one of five cardinal weapons, the bands of the Armory Hero. Each one carried incredible power and the ability to get stronger through the absorption of materials, leveling, and various other strengthening methods. The other cardinal weapons, or rather the main cardinal weapons were the shield, bow, sword and spear, each one belonging to a different individual, denoting their status as a cardinal hero. And throughout the ages these weapons have been passed from one cardinal hero to the next, all of whom were summoned from another world to do battle against what were known as the Waves of Catastrophe.

But who was he? His name was Darius Saxon, the latest to wield the power of the bands as the current Armory Hero. His ally and friend, Naofumi Iwatani, wielded the cardinal shield as the Shield Hero. The other heroes included Ren the Sword Hero, Itsuki the Bow Hero and Motoyasu the dumb shi-er Spear Hero. And they were the latest heroes summoned from their worlds to stand against the Waves of Catastrophe, or at least it was supposed to be that way on paper.

But more than a few minor issues arose, namely due to King Aultcray and Malty Melromarc's scheming. Had everything gone right, there wouldn't even be an Armory Hero as the purpose of said hero was to help tip the scales back into balance if such a situation occurred. And given that the King, his daughter and an order of religious douchebags decided it was a good idea to mess with the ritual and then use the regular ritual afterwards to summon all the heroes to their country instead of one to each of the four great nations, as had been the original plan, things were definitely out of balance.

Darius and Naofumi both had to contend with their schemes as they were framed for crimes they didn't commit, given little compensation for their services in comparison to the other heroes, harassed and nearly killed by said religious order, the Three Heroes Church. Thankfully the return of the true ruler, Queen Mirellia Q. Melromarc, got a lot of things straightened out and now the king goes by the name Trash and Malty goes by Bitch. This freed them up for actually facing the waves which now included heroes from another world fighting 'against' them to save their world. A problem which was currently being compounded by the fact that the other three heroes, for whatever reason, didn't want to work with them!

"Seriously," Darius thought aloud while pouring a purple liquid into the vial of a blue liquid which he shook lightly to mix, "I hope getting humiliated like they were at the last wave will be enough to-." He was interrupted by the sound of the front door opening as his blond-haired weasel girl companion, and girlfriend, Rifana came walking in.

"Darius," she said, "Raphtalia and I just finished giving the instructions to the other fishermen. So we should probably-." She stiffened upon catching sight of something on the table.

"Crap, sorry," said the Armory Hero as he touched the whip and returned it to his inventory, "I needed that out for a comparison."

"It's okay," said Rifana with a slight sigh of relief. While she'd gotten good at hiding her fear of whips due to her trauma from being tortured by a bastard nobleman, she still froze up from time to time when she saw an especially fierce looking whip. This was one of the reasons Darius didn't rely much on whip weapons, aside from them being a little harder to master. "What were you comparing anyway?"

"You remember Figneria's been teaching me how to mix poisons," replied the Armory Hero, "I've been trying to create one that induces paralysis like the Sea Snake Whip does. If I get it right, we could coat several different types of weapons with it to make fighting or capturing monsters easier."

"I didn't know we ever planned to capture a monster," said Rifana with a shrug, "but it wouldn't be the weirdest thing we've had to do up to this point."

"Well it's hard to beat being chased by a T-Rex," said Darius as he went over and pecked Rifana on the lips, "anyway, you came here to tell me something?"

"Oh, right," she said, "we got the fishermen squared away and Rino's working with the troops right now, so we should be able to head over and see the Queen. I heard she had something important to tell us. And Figneria needs to discuss a couple things with her about Koteraan possibly sending some of its new soldiers up, so she'll be coming too."

"Guess that means Naofumi's already set and ready to go," said Darius, "alright, give me a sec to get the deadly poison mixtures put away and I'll be right out."

"Try not to take too long," said Rifana, "Johann and Filo are hoping to see Melty as soon as possible."

"Don't I know it," said Darius as he got to tidying up his little work area. It took only a couple minutes to get everything stowed away before he and Rifana headed out next to the village hall where Naofumi, the raccoon girl, Raphtalia, the now princess of Koteraan Rishia, the ex-assassin Figneria, and the two mounts, Johann and Filo, were waiting.

"Hey Boss, you're here!" Called Johann with a wave as he and Rifana got there, "does that mean we can go now?"

"Unless we're waiting on someone else," said Darius with a glance in Naofumi's direction.

"Actually we are, in a manner of speaking," said Naofumi as he turned to a young boy behind him, the wolf boy Kiel, "have you decided?"

"I haven't," said Kiel with a troubled look on his face, "I know you said you have a skill that will boost my growth and stats, but I'm still not sure if I'm comfortable with it."

"Well make up your mind quick," said Naofumi, "the next wave is approaching fast." He said nothing else as he pulled up his HUD and activated his teleport skill. For a brief moment, their whole group was surrounded by a bright, yellow light which quickly faded. When it did, their location had changed to that of the courtyard of the castle of Melromarc.

"So," said Darius as they started walking towards one of the courtyard's exits, "anyone got any clues as to what it is the Queen wants to tell us?"

"Hopefully news about that request we gave her almost two weeks ago," said Naofumi, "we need all the help we can get, and soon."

"Then you'll be happy to know that I come bearing news," said a voice at the exit they were approaching before a red-haired woman with a crown and red dress stepped out with another blond woman trailing behind her.

"Your majesty," responded Darius, Naofumi and many of their party members before Naofumi spoke up, "what is it you want to tell us?"

"I was actually hoping to introduce you to someone," said the Queen as she indicated the blond woman standing just behind her. Her hair, which was strawberry blond on closer inspection, reached down below her waist with a few long strands hanging over her right shoulder and down to her chest. She wore a type of military uniform that was blue with gold running along the front and around her shoulders. She was also fairly attractive, though she had the look of someone who was all business, at least in Darius's opinion. "This is Éclair Seaetto, one of the top five swordmasters in our country."

"And she's gonna be one of our new instructors," surmised Naofumi, more for confirmation than anything.

"It's a pleasure to meet you both, Sir Shield and Armory Hero," she said with a slight bow, "As I am a swordswoman, I will only be able to assist one of you directly. I will also do my best to guide your comrades as well."

"Umm," said Raphtalia as a hint of realization crossed her features, "did you say your name was Seaetto?"

"I see," said Éclair as she looked at Raphtalia, Rifana and Kiel, "then you all are-." She dropped to one knee then with her head bowed. "I understand if you hate me, one who could not protect my father's territory."

"So you really are the Duke's daughter!" Exclaimed Rifana as Raphtalia told her it was alright and that she could raise her head.

"So that really is you, Éclair," said Figneria suddenly, "it's been some time. Reichnott tried finding you after the first wave but was unsuccessful. Did something happen?"

"I'd like to know that too," said Naofumi, "you're the daughter of the Duke who oversaw Raphtalia's village and the land surrounding it. Where were you during that time?"

"To answer both of your questions," said Éclair with a slight blush on her face, "and it embarrasses me to say this, but I was imprisoned."

"She had been charged with treason," explained the Queen, "but further investigation found that she had opposed those who went to hunt slaves."

"There were probably a lot of people in that situation until recently," commented Darius.

"Yes," said Éclair, "I realized my powerlessness during those days, but the Queen has still deigned to lay this heavy responsibility at my feet. And I shall bear it upon my shoulders for the sake of my country and for the people in my domain."

"Well you don't lack for backbone despite being a noble," said Naofumi, "but can we be certain of your skills?"

"Figneria and I can both vouch for her abili-," Queen Mirellia started to say before being lightly interrupted by Éclair.

"Please wait your majesty," she said, "it's understandable that he'd be concerned. So let us have a match so that I can give a demonstration of my skills." The others glanced at Naofumi who simply shrugged, accepting Éclair's proposal. It only took a couple of minutes for them to venture over to the training ring in the courtyard which was a large, square-shaped area with four wooden posts at each corner.

"You can use whatever form of attack you'd like," said Naofumi as he readied his shield, "I'd like to see if you can break past my defense."

"Of course," said Éclair as she drew her weapon, a thin sword with a combination crossguard and handguard, the type that was perfectly suited for fencing. A fact she quickly demonstrated with an incredibly fast thrust. Naofumi parried it easily enough with his shield, though he was impressed with her speed. Éclair decided to up the ante then as she struck again and again, this time even faster than before until it became a flurry of blows that Naofumi was struggling to keep up with.

'She's using a multi-strike combo,' Darius observed as Éclair came in with her fastest strike yet and actually hit the Shield Hero in his right shoulder. Yet despite her success, Éclair looked disappointed as she sheathed her sword. "It is my defeat," she said, "it looks my power really doesn't amount to anything in front of you."

"I wouldn't say that," replied Naofumi, "your blade didn't hurt me because of the divine protection of the shield.

"That ten-hit combo and the shield's power are both amazing," exclaimed Rishia, this being only the second time she'd seen Naofumi fight up close.

"Wait, you could see all of those strikes she used," said Kiel in disbelief as he turned to Rishia.

"Barely," she said, "it took everything I had just to keep up with what was happening."

"Well next question," said Naofumi, "can you add special effects to your sword, like magic?"

"You mean something like this," said Éclair as she drew her sword and produced a glowing bright light around it, getting an 'ooh' from Rifana and Raphtalia.

"Any chance you have an attack which can deal damage while ignoring defense altogether?" Questioned Naofumi further.

"While I have heard of such an attack," replied Éclair as she sheathed her sword, "it does not exist in my own school of combat techniques. It once again seems I'm not fit to be your instructor."

"Actually it's quite the opposite," said Naofumi as he held out his hand, "your strength is the real deal, so we'd be happy to learn through your knowledge and skill." Éclair smiled as she shook hands with Naofumi before shaking hands with Darius. Éclair then moved on to speak with the rest of their party members as the Queen requested the cardinal hero's presence in a more secluded alcove.

"So what seems to be the problem, your majesty," asked Darius.

"As you've likely gathered," Said the Queen, "I've gained acknowledgement from various people about the instructors I've hired and they can all be trusted. But the main problem is..."

"Let me guess," Said Naofumi, "the all-important other heroes are refusing to learn under the instructors."

"It hasn't quite gotten to that point just yet," said the Queen with a sigh, "they're all in the castle at the moment but because they each move independently it's been hard to get a hold of them. Naturally I'm going to tell them to take part but I wanted the two of you and your parties to receive their guidance first."

"To be honest I don't really want to talk to the other three," said Naofumi with a shrug.

"But you both also know that things can't go on like this," said the Queen, "your efforts in building a fighting force against the waves have most definitely shown progress but there's only so much we can realistically expect you two to accomplish."

"And we did make a promise we'd find a way to work with 'em, even if it just means tolerating each other long enough to fight each wave," admitted Darius.

"Oh and before I forget," said the Queen as a more lighthearted look appeared on her face, "I've invited the sage of the Hengen Musou style who happily accepted when I told them about you two. We'll have them start with the both of you and then move on to the other three heroes."

"Is that style really as amazing as all that," questioned Naofumi with a skeptical look, "'cause I never heard of it while we were travelling around."

"If they're anything like Éclair is then I don't think we have that much to worry about," said Darius, "though since we're on the subject, what exactly is Hengen Musou?"

"It is a phantom style that's left its mark in legends," explained the Queen, "while it is rare to find a wielder of the style these days the founder and wielders of the style made brilliant contributions in the great wars of the past. The sage should be arriving some time today, according to the schedule."

"I see," said Naofumi as he glanced outside, "guess we'll start by figuring out a training regimen with Éclair."

"Figneria's probably already got a few ideas too," said Darius as he noted both their parties and Éclair were currently doing laps around the training yard, minus Kiel and Rishia who'd just collapsed to the ground panting heavily.

"No more please, same here," they said with clear exhaustion in their voices, "everyone's just so fast."

"I mean you guys can't be done already," said Johann as they continued to run, "I'm a flying dragon and I'm still keeping up over here."

"Filo and the others are fine too," said the Filolial while indicating both Raphtalia and Rifana were still able to go on.

"It seems the Shield and Armory Heroes have trained you all quite well," said Éclair, her breathing a bit labored due to her own running.

"Actually," said Rifana, "Darius and I are the only ones who received any training and that was from Figneria. She would've trained Naofumi and his party too but they seemed to be doing fine and she's been too busy with other duties."

"WHAT!" Exclaimd Éclair, clearly not expecting to hear that the Shield Hero's party were technically untrained.

"It's true," said Naofumi, "Darius showed me a few techniques along with a couple of comic book moves, but I've never had any actual basic training. So why don't we all try running together." Éclair nodded in agreement and after a short break everyone but Kiel and Rishia resumed running around the training area. Several minutes passed before they noticed one of their runners had dropped.

"E-Everyone," said Éclair, who'd collapsed to the ground from exhaustion, "let's stop for now." The two parties did so and examined their physical conditions. Johann was the most tired, which was unsurprising given that running wasn't technically supposed to be his species's strong suit anyway. Raphtalia, Rifana and Figneria said they were also capable of going on longer with Filo saying she could run for a lot longer.

"This is strange," said Naofumi, "I don't feel tired at all, and I've never been that good at physical training."

"It probably has to do with our Stats," noted Darius, also not feeling all that tired, "I was told that the higher our levels and Stats are, the better our physical abilities. At least in a manner of speaking."

"That's correct," said Éclair after catching her breath, "high Status's also increase your speed and durability. While it's no surprise for Figneria, the rest of you will also have no problem when it comes to swordsmanship training."

"Then it's as I thought," said Figneria while glancing at Kiel and Rishia, "the best thing for you two will be to raise your physical Stats first, especially you Kiel." Naturally the wolf boy wasn't thrilled to hear that, but there was little to be done about it.

"Well even with good Stats we'll still need training," said Naofumi, "if I read your Stats right, Éclair, they're actually lower than mine. But you still scored a hit on me due to your skills."

"I did indeed," said Éclair with a smile, "so with your permission, I think I have a few ideas for our first training sessions." Naofumi and Darius nodded in ascent and thus began the day of training.

Later That Day: Within the Castle

Despite it being the first day of training for half the people there, they did markedly well in most respects. Raphtalia had already demonstrated a knack for swordplay and quickly picked up on everything Éclair taught her. Rifana and Darius naturally felt like they were picking up where they left off, almost, as Figneria went ahead and ran them through more advanced techniques along with teaching Naofumi some hand to hand basics with his shield. As for Johann and Filo, they were just playing around by tossing the training weapons back and forth at each other while shifting between their human and monster forms.

Darius and Naofumi thought about scolding them, but the two mounts had demonstrated their own intuition for combat and magic which likely stemmed from their own animal instincts, meaning ordinary training methods probably wouldn't work with them anyway. The main crux of the problem was with Kiel and Rishia. The now princess of Koteraan had already demonstrated how gifted she was in magic, but she wanted to master a weapon as well in case they ever ran into an anti-magic enemy. It was a good sentiment but her obvious lack of experience with a weapon in general showed when she was disarmed quite easily and multiple times by Raphtalia.

As for Kiel, well, he was a ten year old boy. Surviving torture had made him pretty tough and given him a good resolve but that didn't negate the fact that he'd never really fought or trained before, so his progress was also relatively slow. It was also clearly on his mind as the group now found themselves eating lunch in one of the castle's mess halls after doing a quick check on the progress at the village. "THIS TASTES SO GOOD AFTER TRAINING!" Exclaimed Johann and Filo as they scarfed down their food.

"You'd probably say that whether we were training or not," quipped Darius as he ate his own food at a more moderate pace.

"Hey Kiel," said Rifana, "everything alright over there? You've barely touched your food."

"I just," he said slowly, "I just had no idea how good you two were with your weapons."

"I've surprised myself more than once," said Raphtalia, "after all, neither one of us even held a weapon back in the village. It's honestly hard to explain, but ever since the day I vowed to become Master Naofumi's sword, I've felt like I've become a swordswoman."

"Guess I'm kind of similar," said Rifana with a thoughtful expression, "to be honest, I chose a mace as my weapon because it was the weapon Darius had when I first saw him. I still think of that image sometimes when I look at my mace, how it became a picture of hope for me. I'd like to share that hope with others and that's why I became a warrior."

"To be honest I summoned a mace because it was the first thing that came to mind," said Darius, "what would you have done if I summoned some weird or obscure weapon?"

"I'd have worked my tail off and learned how to use it," said Rifana with a smile, "I wasn't going to let anything stop me from joining you and finding Raphtalia."

"I think I could see you wielding a large halberd or a flail," said Figneria as the two of them giggled at the thought of it.

"I envy the both of you," said Rishia, "your goals are so clear. I want to become someone who can be depended on too, but I'm not yet sure where I should focus my efforts. It'd be easy for me to blame Itsuki and his party, but it was my choice to join them and put up with them for as long as I did."

"Well the mages at the castle have agreed to teach us magic," Said Raphtalia, "and you're one of the best magic users we've met so far."

"Really," said Rishia as the smile returned to her face, "I'm great at studying!" Darius felt himself smile at that. He'd hated seeing the normally happy girl getting depressed over her lower Stats.

"I…guess that's what I have to do then," said Kiel as he set his spoon down, "I'll get the slave crest, and become a slave again."

"But Kiel, are you really okay with something like that?" Questioned Raphtalia, knowing full-well this was a sore spot for him.

"Of course I'm not okay with it," said Kiel, "I know it's not for real but I'd still have to get that crest. But the thing is…..I'm too weak right now. So the first thing I need to do is catch up and after that, I'LL BE THE ONE TO PROTECT YOU, RAPHTALIA AND RIFANA! AND EVERYONE AT THE VILLAGE TOO!" He'd gotten so excited that he'd practically leapt out of his seat.

"Good resolve," said Naofumi with a smile. He'd asked Kiel and Rishia about this earlier, explaining to them that his shield had a special ability that was tied to the slave crest which allowed their stats to increase faster than normal. For obvious reasons Kiel had reservations about it and Rishia wasn't sure if she needed one either. But after today's training they were convinced, they needed to get strong as fast as possible before the next wave hit.

And so a few minutes later, they found themselves in one of the lower chambers with a mage applying slave crests to both Rishia and Kiel's chests. As usual, the crests glowed a bright purple to confirm the contract between them and their master. What wasn't usual, however, was that these slave crests disappeared. "It's gone," said Kiel in disbelief as he examined the area where it had been applied.

"Is this really okay," said Rishia, "it's still working, right?"

"It's working perfectly well," assured the mage, a man with short blond hair in the usual mage robes, "it's just a high level crest. We applied this same one to former princess Bitch as well."

"Just so long as it does its job I guess," Said Darius with a shrug, "word of warning beware of Naofumi when he gets grumpy."

"Any reason you guys can't just be a part of the Boss's party," questioned Johann with his hands behind his head, "he's copied a lot of cardinal weapon abilities, maybe he's got a method that doesn't require those annoying crests."

"Well Naofumi's in need of another party member," Darius pointed out, "and he offers the best defense Stat boosts, so it's probably better that Kiel sticks with him. And while Rishia can swap between parties when need be, my Stat boosts are more weapon and armor-based. She'd level up faster with me just like with Naofumi, but I couldn't back up her magic quite as well unless she learns how to send it through a weapon."

"And while I'd like to support Sir Darius as he supported my homeland," said Rishia, "he already has lady Figneria and a number of magic weapons at his disposal. So for now I'll stick with Sir Naofumi until I'm better able to wield a weapon."

"You still shouldn't neglect your magic, though," said Figneria, "you're able to use every type of magic for both attack and support. It'd be a shame if you wasted such talent."

"I COULDN'T AGREE MORE!" Said a surprisingly loud voice as an old woman suddenly appeared and lifted Rishia up into the air.

"FUUUUUUUUUUUEEEEE!" Was all Rishia could think to say in this situation.

"Only once every hundred years will you see this kind of talent," exclaimed the Old Woman. Upon closer inspection she was wearing a type of white martial arts gi that appeared similar to a Chinese dougi with black cuffs and a black circular symbol that had numerous points curving out from it. But the main question on everyone's mind at that particular moment was this: "What are you doing here Grilaroc?!"

And so resumes the journey of the Armory Hero and his party! I know there wasn't a lot happening in this chapter, but things will pick up real soon. For now, consider this an early Christmas present because we finally got the story going again! So 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. And be sure to stop in next time as our heroes begin their training in the mysterious Hengen Musou style while also dealing with the three usual headaches. 'Til then.