New Friends and Old Friends

Hello everyone and welcome to the latest chapter of Armory of the Forgotten Hero! And happy belated Fourth of July, America! Funny thing is I originally meant to get this chapter out by then but a family medical issue and the holiday itself took priority. But here it is now and it comes with an announcement, or rather a question of sorts. You see, it's been suggested to me that I drop my 'New Crusade IF' side stories for a bit to focus more on the main stories I've got going on like 'The Swordsman and the Asura'. So, my current plan is to try that for a bit unless you, my fellow readers, are vehemently against it. Let me know what you think in your reviews and comments, but in the meantime I've rambled long enough. Check out my book, Plains Riders, on Amazon Kindle and Kindle Unlimited if you got the time and with no review questions this week, let's dive on in!

Glass's World: The Village in the Forest

"'Warrior of justice'," Darius repeated, trying hard not to arch his eyebrow, "not quite the title I was expecting but I guess I can't complain. What brings you all the way out here?" Now that he got a good look at the woman known as Yomogi Emarl, he was trying not to stare. But not because she was attractive, she was, but because her green hair and beautiful face almost reminded him of Rishia. 'I wonder if this is supposed to be some alternate world version of her,' the Armory Hero mused, having the momentarily absurd thought that she might've somehow been summoned to whoop 'his' ass when he pulled out his replica of Itsuki's bow.

"A messenger from this village ran into me while I was on the road," explained Yomogi, "they told me where the village was and of the bandits which had been terrorizing it, so I rushed here as fast as I could. And what about you? Are you an inhabitant of this village?"

"No, I'm from out of town," replied Darius as he took a more relaxed posture, "I just showed up yesterday after an adventure of my own. I was trying to resupply and get directions but it's awful hard to get an honest day's shopping done when you got bandits running amok. Which reminds me." The Armory Hero moved over and started dragging some of the bandit's bodies off of the street.

"Oh of course, we should probably help clean this up," said Yomogi as she also began dragging some of the bodies to the side of the street and out of any major walking paths, "now, since you're, as you say, from out of town, why were you fighting off the bandits when I arrived?"

"Well I wasn't doing a hero of justice routine or anything like that," replied Darius, taking a moment to note the white hakama Yomogi was wearing now that she was closer along with her grey samurai skirt that went down to her ankles. She was protected on her forearms, stomach and back by black armor with gold trim. He also noticed that her eyes were actually blue as opposed to Rishia's own green coloration. "The folks in this town have been real nice to a total stranger like me so I figured I owed 'em one."

"He speaks the truth," said the Shop Owner with purple hair as she stepped out onto the street. It seemed the rest of the village had decided it was safe to come out and were carefully making their way among the bodies while also checking a few to ensure they were actually dead. "He was brought here yesterday by our fellow villagers, Enkel and Ming, who picked him up after he'd killed an Itsumade."

"That does explain your bravery in fighting against the bandits," said Yomogi, "though I must ask, is there some sort of reason that you're going through their pockets right now?"

"Only the seven I killed," replied Darius as he continued to inspect the contents of the deceased criminal's pockets, "I'll leave the rest to the villagers here because they probably need it more than I do. Though if there are any outstanding weapons I'd like to take a look at them."

"Now I'm having a hard time deciding whether or not I should like you," Mused Yomogi, "I can't deny that you helped the villagers, but I can't help but wonder about your motivations. Come to think of it, I don't even know your name."

"Oh right, forgot to introduce myself," said Darius, discreetly transporting some money he found to his inventory before standing up, "the name's Duo Yamato. I come from a land that's rather isolated in comparison to this one, so you'll forgive me if I'm a bit ignorant about, well, a lot of things."

"He speaks the truth," said the Shopkeeper, "he didn't hardly recognize any of the items I showed him in my store."

"Which reminds me," said Darius as he shifted his gaze, "how much do I owe you for those earth crystals?"

"I'll let you know as soon as we're done picking the bandits clean," replied the Shopkeeper before a sudden commotion caused them to look in the direction of the bandit leader. Several of the villagers had backed away in surprise as it seemed one of the bandits was still alive. Or at least barely as he tried desperately to crawl away.

"You'll have to pardon me for a moment," said Yomogi as she drew her sword, "it seems one of them got lucky and avoided the worst of my blows from earlier."

"Uh before you do that," said Darius as he put a hand on her shoulder, "I might have an idea." He walked over to the struggling bandit then, easily cutting him off from where he was trying to crawl away to by standing in front of him. "Hey down there, not having the best day, are we?"

"W-Wait," coughed the Bandit, a younger man with dirty blond hair, "please don't kill me, I-I'll do anything."

"That's what I'm hoping for," said Darius as he summoned this world's version of a health potion, which was blue, to his hand, "and I'm even willing to make a deal, provided you cooperate."

"Sure, w-whatever you want," he said as he struggled to his knees, "just please, I don't want to die here."

"Then why not start by giving us the location of your hideout or camp," said Darius, "and naturally you'll turn yourself in without any further trouble, right?"

"W-Well I," the bandit seemed at a loss for words at the moment. Clearly he hadn't anticipated someone would ask about something like that.

"Of course if you don't know or won't tell then I don't know how tight my grip on this bottle is gonna be in the next few seconds," said Darius, visibly loosening his grip on the potion, causing it to wobble in his hand.

"Okay, okay," he said, "I'll tell you everything, even where we've stashed some of our other items. Just please, give me the potion already!"

"That's more like it," said Darius with a semi-innocent smile on his face.

A Little While Later: The Bandit's Hideout

"I must admit that is not an approach I would have thought of immediately," said Yomogi as they stood outside of the cave the bandits had previously used as their base of operations. For a natural formation it was actually quite spacious inside, capable of fitting not only numerous tents but areas for weapons, food, and other assorted supplies. "What sort of place is your country like? You've clearly dealt with scum before."

"It was trouble for a bit," replied the Armory Hero with a shrug, "this little raid we're doing right here is something a friend of mine actually did to another group of bandits, though he let all of them live in exchange for the stuff in their hideout. We've taken it one step further here and killed all but one of the bandits, meaning it should be unlikely that anymore trouble will come out of this place again."

"I suppose you could call it profitable," noted Yomogi, "I've usually had no issue acquiring money while I was growing up so I don't typically think to take much of anything when I raid a bandit hideout."

"Well technically I'm not planning on taking all that much myself," said Darius, "I just took a small percentage of the money they had stored along with their best arms and armaments. The village needs the rest of it more than I do and hopefully with the extra cash they can hire an instructor or something to help with bolstering their defeneses against future attacks by bandits."

"I'll try to have a word with some friends of mine to see if they can't get aid sent up here," said Yomogi, "our forces aren't spread so thin that we can't spare a few people. But that does remind me, where exactly are you headed if this village was not your destination?"

"That's a good question," replied Darius as he thought for a moment, "I don't entirely know. I got separated from my friends on the way over here and now I'm trying to find them. So far the best bet I got is to head to the capital of this place."

"Based on what I've heard you're unfamiliar with the area around here," said Yomogi, "along with several customs. Are you aware you'll need a pass to get by the checkpoints on the way to the capital?"

"They have checkpoints along the way," said the Armory Hero with a raised eyebrow. Yomogi sighed in response to this.

"You should consider yourself fortunate then," she said before pulling out a wooden pass and giving him a determined smile, "for I do know the way to the capital and I can get through all of the checkpoints. Even better, I can handle whatever malicious creatures or bandits we might happen to encounter along the way."

"I mean that's incredibly generous of you," said Darius, "but I don't want to drag you away from whatever you were doi-."

"Nonsense," assured the Green-haired Swordswoman, "I actually need to be heading back that way myself. This village is actually farther than I meant to go in the first place."

"Guess it couldn't hurt to have a guide at the very least," admitted Darius with a sigh, "alright, I'll stick with you as far as the capital. After that we'll see what happens."

"Excellent," said Yomogi, "take a little time to rest and prepare, for we shall depart as soon as we are able!"

Later: The Road to the Capital

'Sure was nice of those villagers to send us off with plenty of supplies,' thought Darius as he munched on a bit of bread, 'almost too much if not for my inventory.' Thankfully between his gorging on earth crystals and his little stint of bandit killing his level had risen significantly, allowing him access to much more inventory space. "So if I'm understanding this correctly," said Yomogi, "your people were trying to create your own vassal weapons and those bands are one of the results?"

"That's more or less accurate," The Armory Hero lied somewhat reluctantly, "as you no doubt noticed there are some things these bands can do that other vassal weapons can't because they're their own weapon but there are also things they can't do that a vassal weapon can."

"Liking being able to store and wield numerous types of weapons," said Yomogi, "ordinarily a vassal weapon holder or even a wielder of a holy weapon wouldn't be able to use something outside of their weapon's class."

"Yep," affirmed Darius, "these bands are quite versatile in that regard, but unlike Vassal and Holy weapons they don't have any crafting function. So if there's a particular item I want made I still gotta have it made by another person or make it myself." He summoned a white-hilted katana, the best weapon they'd found at the bandit's hideout, to his hand as he explained the next bit. "The closest these bands can come to crafting anything is modifying and upgrading weapons, like so." He inputted a couple of commands like before and the katana glowed white for a few moments as its appearance changed slightly.

What was produced was a katana with a scale-like pattern along the back of the blade while the middle of the blade was covered in glowing, blue Japanese-style writing. The handle had also changed, looking as if someone had wrapped paper tags around it with written words on them. "It says 'blast' and 'explosion' on the tags," observed Yomogi before watching the writing fade.

"I'll take your word for it," said Darius as he sent the sword back to his inventory, "I can't really read the writing of this land."

"You really do come from a far foreign nation," observed Yomogi, "much of that writing is known throughout the continent. How is it you speak our language so well but can't read even a single word of it?"

"Translation function," replied the Armory Hero as he held up his right band, "but it usually just translates spoken word and not written text. Turns out even Vassal weapon holders still need to learn how to read and write."

"Just another reason for us to get to the capital," said Yomogi, "there should be people there who could help you and your friends with stuff like that. I'll teach what I can but I'm not much of an instructor when it comes to the finer points of the written word."

"I'm sure you'd do fine if you worked at it a bit," replied Darius encouragingly, "even knowing some of the basics could get me a good ways here."

"You're not wrong," admitted the Green-haired Woman, "still, I think it better that such a task should be left to a professional." The sound of rustling drew their attention then as the two stopped and edged closer to the noise. The Next thing they knew, a large, twin-headed dragon erupted from the foliage with hunger in its four eyes as it bared its fangs at them. "This, however," said Yomogi as she drew her sword with a confident smile on her face, "is something I am quite adept at."

Nighttime: Temporary Campsite

"Quite a haul today," said Darius as the collection of monster meats roasted in the large pan he'd conjured, "you really do know how to use that sword of yours." Not that Darius had been idle during her battles. Between the two of them they'd probably cleared out dozens of monsters, albeit at the expense of losing time on their journey. They'd have to pick up the pace and pursue fewer tomorrow in order to reach the capital before dark.

"I trained from a young age to wield one," said Yomogi while examing the condition of said blade, "I tried other weapons, on occasion, but found none of them felt quite right. You, on the other hand, seem quite comfortable wielding many types of weapons. More than a little of that meat there is because of your own skill."

"It's just how these bands work," said Darius as he conjured his sea serpent's whip, "unlike the holy weapons these were designed for a user who was comfortable wielding more than one type of weapon. And since I'm allowed to wield just about any type of weapon you can think of, you could say I'm encouraged to learn more than one type of weapon." He then shifted through a number of other weapons before stopping abruptly. The reason being was the last weapon he'd summoned had been a European-style mace.

Naturally Rifana, Johann and the others had entered his mind throughout the day but he'd been forced back to the task at hand either by an inquiry or two from Yomogi or the need to track down and kill a monster. According to her there had actually been an increase in the number of monsters recently and no one was exactly sure why. Now that he didn't need to focus so much, though, he couldn't help the sudden feeling of anxiety about their wellbeing. He didn't know if they were in the capital, in another town or village, another country or even on the same continent as him.

What was more, if they were in the same boat as him and their levels had decreased, they'd be even more vulnerable than he was. Numerous other possibilities raced through his head about the condition of his friends then, like a suddenly opened flood gate that refused to close back again. That is until he was suddenly broken out of his thoughts by his current companion's voice. "Duo," came Yomogi's voice suddenly, "is everything alright? You suddenly spaced out. And I think the food is about to burn."

"Crap," Darius almost jumped as he removed the pot and checked the meat, "whew, good news, we just saved it. Though we're gonna have to let it cool for a minute before eating it."

"I can wait another minute or so, I'm not starving just yet," assured Yomogi as they both took turns filling their bowls with food, "but since we're waiting would you mind telling me: were you thinking about your friends just now?"

"I was," admitted Darius, deciding there was no harm in telling her a little, "I can't help but worry a little bit for them. We've been adventuring together for a while now and have even been split up before but never quite like this. There's no guarantee I'll find them at the capital or even get any useful information on their whereabouts. And even if I do they could've wound up landing in some grumpy noble's yard and got themselves arrested. It's just, I don't know, hard to keep my doubts down after the run of luck we've had."

"I understand," said Yomogi as she put a hand on his shoulder, "a friend of mine has a habit of disappearing from time to time. He's very smart and knows things I can barely wrap my head around, but he's not the strongest fighter which is why I worry whenever he leaves without telling me. His most recent outing ended disastorously and it was only thanks to all of his available healing items that he was able to survive. And it was only because he pleaded with me to do so that I even left his side, saying that it was important that I keep an eye out for anyone suspicious arriving in this land."

"Wouldn't that mean I'm on that list," said the Armory Hero with a raised eyebrow, "both I and the villagers told you I was a recent arrival."

"Yes, but there's no way you were the one who hurt my friend," assured Yomogi with a smile, "you risked your life to protect those villagers and you don't seem the type to attack someone without provocation. No, the person or group responsible for harming my friend wouldn't have been anything less than evil." The Green-haired Woman seemed to realize something before laughing a little. "My apologies, I've gotten a little off track, it seems. What I'm trying to say is that maybe your luck is starting to turn around given all that's happened since you've arrived here."

"I mean I did run into you," said Darius, "someone able to help me out through all of this, and there were the nice villagers with a good bit of the supplies I needed. Though I think they were just impressed that I killed that flying serpent of theirs."

"Either way, you know there are kind people here now," said Yomogi, "and they're not just in that village or the capital of this country. I've met many kind people in my travels and I'm certain your friends will be able to find someone who's willing to help them like I've helped you."

"Hard to argue when you say it so confidently," stated the Armory Hero, smirking slightly in spite of himself, "fingers crossed you're right and my friends have run into someone nice."

"I'm not sure what sort of tradition crossing one's fingers is about but yes, that is what I'm saying," replied Yomogi with a smile, "now we'd best eat this before it gets too cold. We'll need our strength for the journey tomorrow."

"On that we can definitely agree," said Darius, once again happy that he'd learned a thing or two about cooking from Naofumi as the two adventurers dug into their meal.

The Next Day: Just Outside the Capital of Mikakage

"And despite my numerous warnings about how it might affect my driving, the guy spent three quarters of the ride yelling in my ear," said Darius as he animatedly recounted the tale, "by the time we landed I was deaf in my right and my left was ringing. Took me two hours before I could hear properly again."

"Two hours," laughed Yomogi, "the worst I've ever had was when a giant lion dog roared in my face after it was captured. Everything sounded muffled for an hour so I just nodded or shrugged whenever someone said something to me."

"That is a good way to get random crap you didn't actually ask for," said Darius as he crushed another earth crystal in his hand for 3,000 more EXP.

"It would explain the large shipment of cheese we got the next day," said Yomogi with a finger to her chin, "right before I could hear again, I was dealing with a merchant at the front door. I figured whatever he was selling couldn't be that bad, so I signed for an order just to get him to leave. It took us days to get rid of all of it! And speaking of large shipments, you seem bent on using up as many earth crystals as possible. Is there a reason for that?"

"Oh, well these bands use up a lot of magic," the Armory Hero quickly replied despite being caught slightly offguard by the question, "since they don't run or rather don't contain quite the same amount of power as a Vassal weapon I have to keep a fair supply of mana in reserve. Popping earth crystals between fights is a good way to do that."

"I suppose that makes sense," accepted Yomogi, "my friend would know more about matters such as those. He's a good craftsman and even mentioned recently that he had some new projects planned, one of which might be a new sword for me."

"I see," said Darius, simply glad that he'd steered the Samurai Girl away from the topic about his bands. She seemed a good person so far but a bit too trusting at times, one might even say gullible. Which is why he hated lying to her, because he wasn't sure there was even a good enough reason to lie. That is until he noticed one particular detail which had been bugging him. "By the way, I notice you've never mentioned your friend by name. Is there a reason for that?"

"Oh, that," said Yomogi as her eyes became a little downcast, "I'm not really supposed to mention my friend's name to anyone without his approval first. You see, my childhood friend has always been a genius, as I've mentioned before, and he's been able to make a number of contributions to our land. But as you might expect, that also makes him a target for not only the enemies of our nation but also those who are jealous of his abilities. That's why I became his bodyguard in the first place, because my skill with a sword was the only thing I could offer to help him in his quest."

"Wow, you really are dedicated to your friend," noted Darius, "if I didn't feel bad before I certainly do now. I'm keeping you away from him because you've been helping me with my problems."

"Oh, please don't think of it like that," assured Yomogi while waving her hands, "like I said before he orderd me to patrol this country for invading evildoers. He isn't expecting me back for some time unless I report a really bad situation to him."

"When you put it like that, I guess it can't be helped," admitted the Cardinal Hero as they neared a checkpoint to what was definitely the entrance to the capital, "so why don't we see what happens here first and go from there."

Later Afternoon: The Capital City of Mikakage

The capital city could be described as similar to that of a feudal Japanese city. It's slanted and pointed roofs with overlaying blue tiles rose up all over along with temples that had more than a couple floors to them. It all culminated into what felt like a giant maze to those unfamiliar with it. One of the main differences between Mikakage and Feudal Japan, though, was the presence of the more Western-looking Gems or the pointy-earred Grass people who looked out of place to anyone familiar with European lore. Given that this was a land with no Europe, however, only those individuals summoned from another world would even know what the name 'Europe' meant.

Two such individuals actually happened to be in the capital at this particular moment, sitting on a mat next to the main street. One wore a white, cat-like mask while the other wore a blue and white bird mask. They were joined by a third individual wearing a mask that resembled a person going 'oh' who sat to their right. At least that's what those who could actually see them saw, as a large crowd of Spirit People was currently blocking them from regular view. "15 gyokugin! 15 gyokugin with 50 doumon! 20 Gyokugin!" Yelled the crowd one after the other as they all gazed at a basket in front of the individuals.

Indeed, this was an auction for the strange substance that was contained within the bottles the basket held. No one knew the contents, but word had spread quickly of its effectiveness for Spirit People. And now the large crowd was vying for the five bottles sitting before them. "30 gyokugin!" One of the customers finally yelled, a man who was slightly better dressed than the gathered crowd.

"I've heard 30 gyokugin," said the Auctioneer in the cat mask, "do I hear 31 gyokugin? Perhaps 32 gyokugin?!" But the crowd's enthusiasm had abated somewhat at the naming of such a high price and no response was given in return. "Then that is sold for 30 gyokugin!" The Salesman turned and nodded to the girl in the human mask who got up to bring the purchase to its new owner.

But the girl in the bird mask's hand moved and discreetly caught her ankle, causing her companion to stumble forward with the basket of miracle medicine. Amazingly, a figure leapt from the crowd, their brown cloak seeming to flap in the wind for a moment as he caught the basket and landed on the ground with his arms securely over it. "Whew, that could've been bad," said the Young Man as he readjusted his straw shade hat a bit before standing back up.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," apologized the girl who'd nearly dropped the basket, not only to the newcomer but to her superior in the cat mask and most of all to the annoyed crowd who looked on the verge of throwing more than a few harsh words at her.

"Hey, no big deal," assured the Young Man as he presented the basket back to the girl, his right arm still covering the top of it, "accidents happen and all that. I'm just glad I made it to the auction. I was in such a hurry I…..oh crap." He patted his pockets and realized he'd made an error of his own. "I was in more of a hurry than I thought. I'll need to run back and get my money real fast."

He turned and hurried away from the crowd as the girl in the human mask stared after him, lost for words. It wasn't so much because he was handsome or that she was impressed with the act, though she mildly was. She'd recognized something on his arms, something that made her heart leap for joy. "Ahem," said her birdmasked companion, "I believe our customer would like his purchase now."

"Oh, right," said the girl with the basket as she turned towards him, "here you are."

"Um, weren't there supposed to be five in that basket?" Questioned the Buyer.

"Yes there…..," it was then that the clumsy girl noticed something was quite off, "Oh no! We only have two! What happened to the other three?!"

"You've been robbed! Where did that guy go?! Are you kidding me right now?!" Came different shouts from the crowd as a few of them headed off to find the thief.

"Everyone, please," said the Auctioneer as he raised his hands, "I'm certain the proper authorities will be able to handle this unforeseen situation. However, that means we only have one more bottle of the soul healing water left since we cannot guarantee the safe return of the others at this time. So, for those of you remaining, I'm starting the bid off at one gyokugin!"

Later: In the Alleyways

"That back there was just scary," said the girl in the bird mask as she removed it and tossed it behind her while her companion did the same, "we made over four kinhan in a day. What in the world kind of racket did you run in your world before coming here?"

"I was forced to work as a merchant to make ends meet when I was first summoned to my world," explained the Auctioneer as he ditched his mask and green haori before adjusting the large rectangular shield that seemed perpetually stuck to his shoulder, "I picked up a couple of tricks while I was at it. I'm not proud of what we had to do back there but we don't have a lot of time to waste."

"Maybe no time at all," said the final of the trio as she removed her mask to reveal a green-haired girl with braids. But she hesitated to toss it away as another trio approached them. Their somewhat shoddy clothing and rough appearance gave away what they were before they even drew their weapons.

"I was worried about this," said the Shield Holder as he readied the defensive armament, "we stood out too much." His two companions moved closer to him and readied their own weapons, lacking as they might've been. As the first thug advanced, however, was when the second miraculous thing happened that day. A blur came shooting out of the alley next to the criminals as the figure from earlier slammed their right fist so hard across the lead criminal's face that it sent him spinning into the nearby wall.

He barely gave the other two thugs time to react as he spun back the other way and kicked the second criminal in the stomach, knocking him painfully on his back before dodging out of the way of the third criminal's sword. He would evade two more strikes before seizing the weapon and expertly twisting it out of the attacker's hands, turning it on him by smacking the criminal in the head with the weapon's handle. "I feel like I've warned you before about trying to be a crafty merchant, Naofumi," he said with a smirk, "sometimes you're a little too clever for your own good."

"Darius!" Exclaimed the green-haired girl as she leapt forward happily to embrace the Armory Hero, "It's wonderful to see you're alright!"

"Hey Rishia," he said as he hugged her back, "yeah, I got a couple of scrapes and bruises on the way here but other than that I'm good. And Naofumi, care to explain this interesting situation?" He was referring to the presence of the now revealed Hunting Hero, Kizuna Kazayama, the one who'd had the bird mask on earlier.

"I can explain everything as soon as we're someplace a little safer than here," replied the Shield Hero before holding out his hand which Darius shook, "but it is good to see you. We've got a lot to talk about."

And so, three of our heroes have managed to reunite, with an interesting addition. What have the others been up too and where did Yomogi go? Those questions and more shall be answered in the next chapter, until then 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 our heroes catch up before planning an assault on one of the more sacred buildings of Mikakage. And don't forget to check out my book, Plains Riders, on Amazon Kindle and Kindle Unlimited. 'Til then.