Hero Hunters and Killers
Hello everyone and welcome to the latest chapter of Armory of the Forgotten Hero! Motoyasu continues to be unmanageable this week but that's not the only issue our heroes will be dealing with. One thing that isn't an issue, however, is checking out my Pat reon and seeing about becoming a patron! Promise, it's easy. But enough pestering, and with no guest review questions this week let's get right to the story!
Evening: Dozing Badger Tavern
'Not good,' Darius thought as he moved out of the way of Motoyasu's weapon, glimpsing its new spearhead. It very much resembled a squid, but it was the readings the Armory Hero was getting that concerned him. "He's got two cursed series! The Lust and Envy series!" His warning came just in time as the spear hero aimed his next attack for Filo.
Naofumi moved in and intercepted the strike with his shield. "You're surrounded by so much love!" Motoyasu raged, "yet you don't feel it!"
"Powder Snow," Raphtalia declared, her katana cutting into the cardinal hero's body. Instead of blood leaking out from the cut, a white snow-like substance leaked out as what little of the Spear Hero's mana that had recovered was drained. Ordinarily this would've been enough to at least bring him to his knees but the curse series seemed to think otherwise as he stumbled back.
"Why can't I have what you have," the blond spearman snarled as purple tendrils emerged from his spear, "I'm a hero, I deserve just as much as you!" He swung his weapon then, the purple tendrils extending to strike at them like whips, "Curse Series: Throes of Envy!"
"Everyone behind us!" Naofumi ordered as Darius summoned a replica cardinal shield, "Meteor Shield!" A two-layered barrier formed against the onslaught as the tendrils struck against it over and over again. "We need an opening."
"The good news is this attack isn't designed to outright kill anyone," the Armory Hero analyzed, "getting struck by too many of the tendrils will do that, but mainly they'll just inflict the 'envy' status on whoever they strike."
"What sort of status condition is-shit!" As he was asking this the two barriers caved in under the onslaught, letting a few of the tendrils past them, "damn curse!" That wasn't the biggest concern, however. As the attack ended and the tendrils receded, two of their party members would feel its effects.
"It's not fair!" Filo yelled with her hands in the air, "it's not fair that meanie dragon gets to fly and Filo can't! It's not, it's not, it's not!" The blond girl rushed over and started swinging her fists at said dragon boy.
"Hey, knock it off," Johann pushed her face back before the two started hitting each other childishly. 'They're really not that different from the usual,' Darius and Naofumi sweat dropped. What was unusual was Izumi's behavior.
"I hate how lucky you are," she growled while pointing an accusing finger at Rifana, "my clan waited for two hundred years for the Armory Hero to reappear, and I trained almost every day for years to be the perfect wife for him. It should've been me that met him first, but instead it was some ignorant girl who'd never swung a weapon in her life! It should've been me he shared his first time with, me who should be the first wife!"
"Are you serious right now," Rifana groaned before catching Izumi's hands and engaging in a game of mercy, "you guys better wrap this up quick before something else weird happens!"
"Already on it," Naofumi moved forward at the same time Motoyasu was readying his next attack.
"Lust Series: Deranged Desire!" The Spear Hero yelled, charging with a now more reddish glow to his weapon. The attack rammed into the cardinal shield while Raphtalia and Darius rushed out from behind him in a pincer attack. The Armory Hero caught their opponent in the midsection with the crescent blade of his resummoned monk's spade, slamming Motoyasu into the wall.
"Soul Eater Chains!" Darius called, opening multiple white portals on the wall that sprouted fish-like chains to hold the Spear Hero down. As a bonus, they drained his SP while holding him. He certainly would've liked to use the Vassal Sewing Set's thread for this, but he wasn't confident it could hold up against a curse series.
"Instant Blade," Raphtalia sheathed her sword before pulling the whole scabbard off her belt and holding it over her head, "Sheathed Strike!" The vassal katana struck Motoyasu in the head, the blow strong enough to pass through his divine protection and physically injure him. Fortunately for him, the Katana Hero held back just enough that he was only knocked unconscious. The Cardinal Hero went limp then with the only thing supporting him being Darius's chains.
Only once his spear changed back to normal did anyone let their guard down. "Everyone alright," Darius asked, looking over at his party members.
"Please forgive me lady Rifana!" Izumi begged while bowing repeatedly, "I thought I knew better than to let myself be controlled by petty jealousies!"
"It wasn't your fault," the weasel girl put a hand on Izumi's shoulder to stop her from bowing, "you've seen the curse series before, you know it can mess with people."
"I still feel I should make up for it somehow," the horned girl insisted, "would you like to call Darius darling for the rest of the day, or perhaps I should make you something to eat?"
"Let's just make sure everyone else is okay for now," Rifana sighed before looking over to Johann and Filo who were rolling around fighting on the floor again, "that looks pretty normal to me."
"What about you, Naofumi," Darius asked, "anything weird happening to you? That spear came into direct contact with your shield a couple times."
"Nothing serious," he responded while checking his shield and other stats, "but there might be one issue. Raphtalia, could you come over here for a sec?"
"Is there something I can help with master Nao-MMMFF!" She didn't get a chance to finish her sentence before the shield hero pulled her in and kissed her so passionately she had to lean back.
"Raphtalia," he said after finally breaking the kiss, "when the Waves are finally over, would you do me the honor of bearing a beautiful litter of raccoon babies?"
"I, I mean I'd love, I, guh," the blushing mess in his arms that was the Katana Hero promptly fainted.
"Is that a yes?" Naofumi asked with a look of mild confusion on his face.
"Darius, what the fuck was that just now?" Rifana asked, being the first of the stunned and confused onlookers to speak.
"Oh, it looks like he's got a status condition," the Armory Hero noted, "'Unchained Desire'. Guess that's pretty self-explanatory. His inhibitions have been lowered when it comes to things like romance. Ordinarily something like this would sow discord in the ranks because the victim would stop paying attention to the fight, but Naofumi's other stats appear to be working against it somewhat."
"Oh yeah, his woman trauma," the weasel girl recalled, "I think you also mentioned something once about his Wrath Shield making him more apathetic."
"Something like that," Darius nodded, "since the Lust series isn't active anymore the condition shouldn't last long. Hopefully Raphtalia doesn't mind him being a lot more handsy than usual for a few minutes."
"More handsy," Rifana smirked mischievously, "Hey Naofumi, there's a spot on her lower back a little above her tail."
"You mean right here," he asked while poking said spot.
"KYAAA!" Raphtalia sprang awake, "Master Naofumi! Not in public!"
"But private's okay," Naofumi asked curiously.
"I mean, I think, uh," naturally the raccoon girl was at a loss for words now.
Nighttime: Dozing Badger Tavern
"Why am I," Motoyasu stirred, "why am I, the only one this happens too? Why did this happen? I never want to talk to another woman again." A sound reached his ears then, a voice, a singing voice. The spear hero slowly opened his eyes to see, not a woman, but an angel.
A short little blond angel singing and dancing on a table in the center of the tavern. It was Filo, he realized, she was the one singing. Motoyasu had heard her sing before, but it was never like this. It was amazing, and the gathered crowd seemed to share his admiration as they cheered the little Filolial on.
"Is it me or has her singing improved," Darius observed from the table behind Motoyasu.
"If I had to guess, it probably has to do with the singing magic she used as a humming fairy back in Glass's world," Naofumi mused, now back to normal, for the most part. He still had his right arm around Raphtalia's waist while the blushing raccoon girl had her hands on her cheeks.
"Master Naofumi felt me up," she kept repeating to herself. The Katana Hero looked like a mixture of happy, confused, and worried all rolled into one.
"Still sounds like bird screeching to me," Johann commented inbetween bites of food. Amazingly the kitchen had suffered no damage during their entire confrontation.
"Don't all of your musical preferences involve loud screaming noises?" Rifana quipped.
"I'm a hard rock and metal fan for life!" Johann declared with a carrot pointed in the air. It was about this time that Filo finished up her little performance and the crowd cheered happily, throwing her a bouquet of flowers to put on her head and some food. She laughed happily at this before noticing the Spear Hero was stirring and jumped over to grab Johann's next morsel of food. "Hey what gives?!"
"Here," Filo offered the carrot to Motoyasu, "eat this and cheer up." She smiled sweetly, unaware of the effect it was having on the Spear Hero.
"Filo," tears began leaking from the cardinal hero's eyes, "FILO!" He dove for the Filolial girl who let out a shriek and leapt over him. She quickly rushed to the safety of Raphtalia's arms while Motoyasu attempted to run after her, only to slam face first into Naofumi's shield.
"It looks like you're feeling better," the Shield Hero observed, "if you're finally ready to fight alongside us, then start by using the methods we've told you about."
"Understood!" He popped up and saluted Naofumi, "I'll begin immediately!" Before anyone could say anything he was rushing out the door.
"Should we go after him," Izumi questioned, "I don't think he actually knows what he's doing."
"Let him go for now," Darius sighed, "it's been a full day for us. We can probably send word to the guards and the shadows to keep an eye on him and pick him up when he tires himself out."
"Joy, it's like we're adopting a weird pet for the village," Rifana commented, "the annoyingly horny kind."
"Should Filo and I knock him around whenever he's bad," Johann asked.
"I think we can come to an arrangement on that," Naofumi smirked before standing up, "for now, let's find an Inn and get some sleep. Tomorrow is probably gonna be busy too." A statement which would prove, unfortunately, correct.
The Next Day: Local Inn
"That's everything packed and ready," Rifana announced as the group finished checking over their belongings. Naturally Darius carried a lot of it in his inventory, but they'd made a point not to rely on it completely in case something happened to make it unusable. Recent events in the Dark Coliseum had further reinforced this need for caution. "Now we just need to check on Naofumi and his par-."
"GOOD MORNING FATHER-IN-LAW!" An all too familiar voice boomed in the hallway.
"Oh no," they all collectively groaned before daring to poke their heads out the door to see what was happening. As the group had feared, Motoyasu had returned and was currently kneeling on the floor before the shield hero and the rest of his party.
"Father-in-law," Naofumi repeated while massaging his temple.
"Yes," the Spear Hero nodded in confirmation, "it was in my darkest hour that your daughter saved me and taught me about true love. I promise to make her happy in this life, the next life and the life after that!" He bowed his head to the floor, "so I beg of you, please, give me your daughter!"
"Haven't we been over this before," Naofumi sighed while Filo cautiously poked her head out from behind his cape.
"There you are!" Motoyasu exclaimed happily with his arms wide, "let's be happy together Filo!" Naturally the blond Filolial shrieked when he tried hugging her and raced around behind Raphtalia.
"Please stop, you're scaring her," the Katana Hero implored.
"Don't get in my way! Raccoon pig!" The Spear Hero spat. This was naturally the wrong thing to say as a tick mark appeared on Raphtalia's head.
"Who's a pig," She growled with a dangerous look on her face. In the next instant, Motoyasu went flying out of the room and into the wall, the impact knocking him unconscious.
"Okay so that appears to be a trigger word," Darius mused aloud as he and his party gathered in the hallway with their friends.
"Is his perversion perhaps a side effect of the curse series," Izumi suggested.
"He's hit on Raphtalia in the past so it's possible the sudden one eighty is a side effect," the Armory Hero shrugged, "but his unhealthy obsession with Filo is unfortunately normal."
"And we're going to have to deal with it every day now," Rifana stared off into space, no doubt realizing the full implication of such circumstances.
"But not immediately," Naofumi assured, "we can have the soldiers and the shadows lead him back to Melromarc first and then to the village. He can kill monsters on the way and increase his stats now that he's, hopefully, using all of the strengthening methods we know of."
"You get all that, shadow," Darius called out towards the balcony in Naofumi's room.
"I did," the black-clad spy appeared on one knee before them, "I shall also send word to the queen of your progress."
"Good, that'll save us a trip," the Shield Hero turned then, "now let's get out of here before he wakes up." A statement no one argued with as they all headed down the hallway and out of the Inn. The shadow quickly took care of her task, informing another one of her fellow shadows of the news before returning to the Spear Hero who was now steering.
"Sir Spear Hero," she greeted with a bow, "I have been tasked with leading you back to-."
"FILO!" Motoyasu yelled, jumping up and looking around the Inn, "Filo!"
"I'm afraid she has already left with the Shield Hero's party," the shadow informed before having to back up due to Motoyasu getting in her face.
"Which way did they go?!" He demanded, "I have to find my future wife and take her hand in marriage!"
"They already took the road out of town," she tried to explain.
"FILO!" Motoyaus yelled before rushing down the stairs. The shadow sighed as she stood up. 'I didn't even get to explain which road they took out of town.'
Mountain Road
"So now that we've got one asshole heading back, I guess we're hunting down sword boy next," Rifana asked from behind Darius. They were currently flying on Johann a little ways above Filo's carriage.
"That's the plan for the moment," he confirmed, "we don't really know where Ren teleported to, but we can be certain it won't be any town with soldiers currently searching it. The border and route he used to get to the Spirit Tortoise is also being watched so in theory he can't have gone too far."
"It's still a good bit of the country to search," Izumi noted, "and while the Sword Hero does not seem to be the brightest person, Whore appears to have some connections that will make locating them more difficult."
"Probably the dicks from the Three Heroes Church," Rifana spat, "no doubt all the ones who escaped from prison during the Tortoise's rampage are setting up shop somewhere." They'd learned that bit of news shortly after dealing with the slavers who attacked their village. Apparently the penal colony holding him and several members of said disbanded church was destroyed by the sacred beast and while few there had apparently been enough survivors to cause a problem or two.
"I imagine all she'll need to say is she wants to take down the Shield Hero and they'll let her into the fold," Darius sighed, "even though the pope wanted her dead the last time they met."
"Speaking of wanting dead, I think we got a problem," Johann called to them. The group looked down to see four individuals in black cloaks emerging from the bushes. Two stopped in front of the carriage while the other two took up positions behind the wagon.
"Just what we need," Darius rolled his eyes before directing Johann downward. They landed behind the wagon and disembarked in short order standing in front of the dragon who growled at the strangers. "If you're bandits, I'd advise leaving now if you value your lives."
"Hardly bandits," the first stranger chuckled before pulling off their hood, revealing herself to be a woman with dirty purple hair, "think of us as hero killers." From seemingly out of nowhere she produced a two-pronged pole weapon known as a bident and rushed towards them with surprising speed.
"Shit," Darius raised and blocked the attack with the double-bladed staff he summoned but nearly lost his balance from the force of the blow as it sent him sliding back.
"DIE!" The second stranger yelled maniacally while summoning a long two-handed mace covered in spikes. Rifana's own mace met the blow but was overpowered by a ghastly green aura radiating from it which sent her flying back.
"Rifana," Johann called while firing a blast of flame at her attacker. He leapt over the attack with his own surprising speed.
"Magic Bullet: Chilling Shot!" A starshaped projectile of green energy flew from his hand and slammed into Johann, causing him to crash into the wagon with a frozen wing.
"No you don't!" Darius declared while summoning six white portals and firing flaming swords at them. The mace man swatted them away with his weapon while the purple-haired woman flipped back several times.
"Our turn-huh!" Before the bident woman could start another attack, Izumi rushed in with a horizontal strike she just managed to block before spinning around and kicking her in the midsection.
"River Basin," Izumi produced a smaller version of her water attack which blasted the mace wielder out of the air when he jumped at her, sending him over next to his ally.
"Gah, are you sure this one isn't the real hero," he coughed some water out of his mouth, "she seems to be the strongest one here."
"You are merely lucky," Izumi corrected with narrowed eyes, "our party will have access to our full strength soon enough. But even without it what we do have is sufficient for the likes of you."
"Zweit Bolster," Darius announced, casting a white glow on his, Izumi and Rifana's weapons, "you caught us by surprise. Let's see how you do now that you've lost it." A sudden clap of thunder interrupted them. Looking up, the group's eyes widened as they saw clouds swirling. And at the center of them, was a meteor.
"Took him long enough to get that spell going," the purple-haired woman smirked, "you might want to go help your other friends." Darius hesitated for a moment until a puff of smoke signaled Johann reentering the fight in his child form.
"Go boss, we got this," he assured while brandishing his currently glowing white gauntlets.
"Right, Izumi," Darius summoned his replica Vassal Scythe.
"Cascade Wheel," the mountain girl summoned a ring of water which was absorbed by the scythe.
"Combo Skill: Torrent Wheel Swing!" A swirling tornado of water surged upwards towards the quickly approaching meteor. Steam erupted as the skill impacted against the flaming mass, slowing its descent. In the meantime, Rifana and Johann charged their opponents.
"Dispelling Bullet: Doton!" The woman exclaimed, firing a starshaped projectile of yellow energy. The weasel girl moved to block it but felt no impact. Instead, the enchantment on her mace had disappeared. As for Johann, his attempted punch was blocked before he was sent flying back to land next to her.
At about this same time, Darius's attack against the meteor dispersed. "Shit, it's still coming!" He shouted, changing his weapon to the replica Cardinal Shield.
"Darius, everyone!" Naofumi called from his side. The Armory Hero understood immediately what he had in mind and rushed over with his party. "Airstrike Shield, Second Shield, Dritte Shield!" Three shields were summoned as the group gathered around him.
"Shield Prison, Meteor Shield!" Darius added his own protections to the mix as the now less flaming projectile broke through the three green shields and impacted against his white barriers. The ground shook from the massive weight pressing down on him but he held firm and pushed back against it. For several tense moments Naofumi stood ready to add his own protections to it but then, the force ran out and the meteor shattered.
Darius dissolved his weapon and put his hands on his knees, breathing somewhat heavily. "So, you managed to escape with your lives," one of the other attackers, a man with short dark hair wielding a sickle and chain noted, "but I doubt you'll be so lucky next time." Whatever reaction they were expecting, the Armory Hero laughing wasn't one of them.
"So, you guys are supposed to be the attackers from another world," he began, "before you ask, I can tell based on the weapons you use, they don't come from this world. But I gotta say I'm disappointed. Most of our party is only operating at thirty to forty percent of our full strength and you're struggling this much to kill us? If I were you, I'd be turning and running right now before you all die."
"This one's a big mouth," the last of the attackers observed, a brown-haired man with a saber, "let's see you back up those words!" He and his companion charged forward.
"Sucker," Darius withdrew a needle from his outfit and threw it into the dirt in front of the saber wielder.
"You're so exhausted you can't even-GAH!" The sound of a blade cutting flesh was heard as a silver-haired figure in white appeared out of nowhere, slashing her opponent's midsection.
"What?!" The dark-haired man exclaimed at his comrade's sudden death while blocking two halves of a giant pair of scissors, "it's you!" Her appearance also gave pause to the other attackers as she broke their weapons lock and jumped back, twirling her blades and reforming them into their original state as a giant pair of scissors.
"You are just full of wonderful tricks, you know that, S'yne," the Armory Hero complimented. Indeed it was none other than their recent recruit, the wielder of the Vassal Sewing Set, S'yne Lokk, who'd come to their aid.
"Are you all okay," she asked while glancing back.
"Just getting our second wind," Naofumi assured.
"Well, well," the purple-haired attacker cooed, "S'yne Lokk. I thought you died along with your world. Seems your choice of allies still leaves much to be desired."
"Really," Rifana stepped forward while cracking her neck, "it looks like it's one to nothing to me and I'm feeling great right now!" The weasel girl launched forward like a bullet, her speed surpassing anything she'd done recently. This time when the mace wielder went at her, she easily avoided the attack and struck back with incredible ferocity, knocking him off balance. Rifana let out a roar then as she ignited flames on her weapon and jammed it into the man's chest, blasting a hole straight through him.
"You bitch, when did you get so-guff," the bident woman's comment was cut off by a sudden blast of mist in her face.
"Don't insult my fellow wife," Izumi warned, appearing right in front of their adversary before a quick swing of her naginata decapitated them.
"What, but how," the remaining attacker backed up, completely shocked at the absolute reversal of the situation.
"When you used those dispelling bullets," the voice of Raphtalia came from seemingly out of nowhere, "you removed all status effects on her and me, including our curses." The otherworlder whirled around too late as the Katana Hero appeared and sliced him vertically down the middle. His shocked expression split as the two halves of his body fell in separate places on the ground.
"Whew, everyone alright," Naofumi asked as soon as they were sure no one else was coming to attack them.
"Filo got whacked but I'll be okay," she informed.
"My arm still feels a little stiff from being frozen," Johann added. Everyone else quickly gave out their own assessments with the majority of them assuring the Shield Hero they were fine. That was when they noticed something strange. The bodies of their attackers were dissolving into glowing particles.
"This isn't the end," S'yne warned, "they'll return eventually."
"Maybe I missed it during the weapon analysis," Darius began while picking up the needle he'd thrown, "but those guys weren't the heroes who destroyed your world, were they?"
"No," she shook her head, "they were merely cohorts. A vassal weapon wielder likely dropped them off as advanced scouts. There's no telling when the real attackers might show up."
"Makes me glad I kept this on me," the Armory Hero twirled the needle between his fingers, "nothing like an instant cavalry." An apt description, given that S'yne was able to use said needles to watch what was going on around them but also as points for instant teleportation. Even if Darius hadn't thrown the needle she would've shown up to fight.
"Sure if you don't mind someone watching you get frisky," Naofumi commented.
"I wouldn't intrude on your privacy," S'yne assured while looking away with a slight blush and whispering the next part, "unless it looked really good."
"Anyway," Rifana coughed to get them back on topic, "what should we do now? Both Filo and Johann took a hit. I know we can heal them easily enough but with those otherworld assholes lingering around is this route even still viable?"
"We know to expect them now," Darius put his hands on his hips, "so in theory we should-groooowl!" Everyone turned to look at the source of the noise, the vassal sewing hero.
"Sorry," S'yne put a hand over her stomach, "I haven't had a chance to eat lunch yet. Could you make me some, Shield Hero?"
"Ah screw it," Naofumi rubbed his head in mild annoyance, "Motoyasu's being guided back on a different route and Ren's who knows where right now. Lets head back and check on the village." Another growl from S'yne's stomach answered in agreement with this decision.
The Next Day: Rurorona Village
"AMAZING! LOOK AT THEM GO!" Several of the village children cheered as they watched two small figures trading blows.
"You won't be so lucky this time," Darius declared, "I'll have your head!"
"Try not to be so violent," S'yne chided, "I just made these dolls yesterday." And it was these dolls, yes straight up fabric dolls, they were fighting with. As it turned out doll-making was a hobby of the vassal sewing hero's and she was quite good at it. The ones they were currently using, one of Raph-chan and the other of Rina, she'd whipped up in only a short time.
S'yne had also entranced the children with her puppetry abilities, which was why they had a crowd around them. As for Darius, he'd made it a point, as he had with most cardinal weapons, to have at least some degree of skill in all their abilities. Of course he also couldn't deny his definite bias for the versatility of the vassal sewing set. "You made these tough, so let's see how tough," the Armory Hero countered while increasing the speed of his manipulations, making his doll spin out like a break dancer.
"This is how tough," the silver-haired girl answered, maneuvering her doll around to grab his in between attacks before slamming it on the ground with a German Suplex. It quickly pinned the yellow doll and try as he might Darius couldn't pull it out from under the doll's opponent. "And that's the match." The children cheered as the Armory Hero sighed.
"Thought I had you this time," he commented while the two of them raised their dolls back up and had them bow to each other and then to the audience.
"Unconventional attacks like those can be useful," the vassal hero explained, "but you have to concentrate a lot more on balance and movement which makes counterattacking difficult. It's why I had the puppets do the bulk of the fighting initially when I faced your group in the coliseum. Practiced as I am, manipulating two puppets to fight like warriors required too much concentration for me to fight alongside them."
"Still impressive that you were basically a team onto yourself," Darius complimented while pulling the puppet up to rest on his arm, "and while I don't anticipate using this ability much, it just might come in handy down the line."
"Hey, could you do one more match," one of the children asked before being joined by the others, "yes please, one more!"
"Don't you all have chores to do," the Armory Hero pointed out, getting a collective groan from the kids, "hey if you do a good job S'yne and I might be persuaded to put on a show when dinner comes around, will that work?" This seemed to satisfy them for the time being as they all nodded with a collective 'okay!' "Alright, now let's get to it before Naofumi gets back, you know he gets grumpy if we fall behind." The kids all rushed away to their tasks then while Darius and S'yne headed further into the village.
"I'm surprised," S'yne commented while changing her weapon to its giant yarn form, "if you hadn't told me I'd never guess those children went through some of the terrible things they had."
"It helps that they were only under those conditions for a short time," Darius responded while putting his hand on her weapon to use his repair ability. It was still a little iffy but he was getting the hang of it. Both of them expected he'd find a good balance before long. "Still, gotta give the little tikes credit, they bounced back surprisingly fast."
"And I feel I should also thank you," she continued, "not just for the repair but for trusting me. I know I didn't make the greatest first impression."
"Naofumi is still wary of you but that's no surprise," Darius shrugged, "I just went over every possible reason in my head why you wouldn't have killed us by now and I'm coming up empty. Plus your story's checking out so far."
"I just don't want to see any other weapon wielders die," S'yne's shoulders slumped slightly as she changed her weapon back to its small scissors form and put it away, "I can tell that the Shield Hero is really a kind individual underneath. I don't know what happened but it's unfortunate he can't trust more easily."
"Give him some time," the Armory Hero assured, "he'll come around eventually. Speaking of coming around." Said Cardinal Hero was approaching them now. He had Keel and a number of the other village children who'd leveled up enough for a class upgrade. They'd been in the capital until just this moment.
"Darius," he called, "how are things going in the village?"
"Fine as far as I've seen," he shrugged, "what about you, the class upgrades go alright?"
"We're feeling great!" Keel cheered while pumping her fist, "I'm ready and raring to go on a hunt!" Before anyone else could say anything, Atla and Fohl suddenly appeared on the fence next to them.
"Me as well," she asked excitedly, "I've been looking forward to hunting with Naofumi!"
"Atla, you're still in no condition to go hunting," Fohl insisted.
"Quiet you!" Atla suddenly struck him in the back of the neck with her finger. Oddly, her brother's body seized up and he fell on the ground twitching.
"I see your training with the old lady's been going well," Naofumi observed.
"Grilaroc sensei has taught me a lot," the white tiger girl nodded, "thanks to your medicine and her training I know I'm able to fight now!"
"It's still dangerous," Fohl squeaked as he slowly got up off the ground.
"You're coming too, Fohl, so don't worry," the Shield Hero assured before turning to Darius, "and I imagine you don't have anything pressing?"
"If we're not gone long then Éclair, Melty and/or Natsui can handle things," the Armory Hero assured.
"It shouldn't," Naofumi crossed his arms, "but our first order of business is figuring out what to hunt." It was a question which would have a surprising answer.
It appears to be turning into a cycle of hunting and being hunted for our heroes as new enemies have appeared amidst their own hunt for the other heroes! Who will emerge as the victor in such a contest? We'll find out more about that in the next chapter so in the meantime feel free to leave a comment or review about what you liked/disliked or if you've got any neat ideas for future chapters! Also, check out my Pat reon and see about becoming a patron! And stop in next time as our heroes select a familiar target which turns out to be odder than expected! 'Til then.