"Talking"
"Thinking"
[Status Magic or other reference to a system or power]
…
The man grew quiet a moment, before he spoke. "My name is Fitts... I will find a way to repay you hero... On my life. Please wait for that day."
He began to leave them, placing the band on his left arm. They knew better than to stop him again
Naofumi simply smiled "I'm looking forward to it Fitts."
...
Their travels continued with little trouble for some time. During that time, Naofumi made good on his promise. The family would break midday for much longer and during that time they'd do training. They all had their own ways of improving and often they'd need help from each other, but the results were well worth it.
...
-Naofumi's training-
...
Naofumi's training was all over the place. He used a good portion of his time helping the others with their own, but still had time to improve.
He did basic exercise at first, with [Universal Battery] granting him stamina to help. Though the goal of this was to up his natural stamina reserves.
He also made a few monsters using his Bioplant seeds and [Plant Reform].
He made a monster that grew leaves that then turned an autumn color after a moment, becoming as hard as metal. It'd fire them off, but that left it open. Not that it'd matter. Naofumi forced himself to fight these monsters until he had no choice, but to use [Sunder].
He also made a plant monster that was a ball of roots that was stationary and used binding magic. On their own they were really weak, with an ally, they'd be quite the pain.
He of course absorbed parts from these.
.
[Iron Leaf Shield]
+2 def
[Ability:Abscission] When you take damage from an attack, reduce the duration of status aliments on yourself by 1 second.
.
[Steel Shrub Shield]
+3 def
[Ability: Steel Yourself] Gain an addition 1% bonus def and mdef for each minute you don't switch your shield to a maximum of 10%.
.
[Deep Root Shield]
+2 mdef
[Ability: Root of All Evil] Draw in status ailments from allies around you and place them on yourself.
.
Naofumi also worked on his magic a bit, but admitted it was less of a priority. When improving his magic, it was mostly increasing how long the buffs lasted.
...
-Monti's training-
...
Naofumi instructed Monti with his magic. Naofumi understood magic better from over-studying before he knew how to wield mana. Even more importantly though was that Naofumi received a high school education with some college. From what he recalled, he was able to explain electricity to Monti in more detail than anyone else in this world could. About voltage and amperage. About current and grounding. About conductors and insulators. About arcing and ionization.
It was lengthy and Naofumi felt he didn't explain it in the easiest way, but Monti seemed to pick up on most of the concepts easy enough.
Naofumi had Monti strike trees with his lightning, as wood was an insulator. Seeing the damage done, Naofumi had Monti hold his tail with one of his arms. Next he had Monti send electricity through the arm, through the tail, up his back and out through the same arm again.
As intended, Monti was able to use this loop to speed up the electricity inside himself. Once he launched the magic it reached the tree faster and did a lot more damage. This proved that Monti could apply more amperage to his magic through this loop method. Even better, Monti began to feel the difference between voltage and amperage inside himself and was able to squeeze more voltage out as a result.
Monti really took to his training well and found that moving the electricity throughout his body could be used in other ways. For example, he still wanted to learn that lightning cloak ability the Nue used halfway through the fight. It just seemed like it took too much energy. That's when Monti began to realize he could build up electricity through the loop method. Something similar was probably how that Nue achieved it's abilities.
Monti felt like maybe this was just how lightning magic was suppose to work and he was being stupid up until now... Or his dad and him found some kind of cheat... either way he took to it like Filo to unguarded food.
He learned to arc the lightning from limb to limb. With this he could apply his [Blightning]'s stunning effect to his strikes, doubly so for his tail.
He also began working on sending an arc of lightning alongside a paralleled punch and thrust of his tail. Having the arc travel down the limbs as he striked, sending the arc further. This attack had more power than [Blightning], even with it now hitting harder, but had low range and little stunning effect normally. Monti was happy with his [Arc Discharge] when it was all said and done, but the other ability he wanted to master was the real goal.
...
-Teal's training-
...
Teal was having fun herself. She already knew she could morph her body pretty heavily and grow all sorts of things. In line with this thinking, she used her father's drops as examples of things she could do. She was able to replicate the fruit bombs and flaming fruit bombs, but wasn't having luck with anything else.
She was discovering her limits and the strengths within them. She could morph her body, but the change was stronger and had better results if she let it gestate a bit. The longer she let it gestate the better it was. She always considered that she'd simply adjust to whatever situation occurred, but this new information showed that planning ahead was more beneficial to her.
With this line of thought, she took more time to understand her body. Not taking it at face value, she tried out everything and found out something else she could do. She could create other plant life independent from herself. However these new plants worked off the gestation rules even stricter than her morphing. She could decide what kind of plant it was to a point and how long it took to grow, but it only lasted for as long as it took to grow. So if she made a blade out of plant matter in three seconds, it's last three seconds before rapidly dying.
This seemed very restrictive indeed. As she made it take longer to grow though, she noticed something. The longer it took to grow also meant the results were stronger. As soon as she learned this she planted two blade plants and set them to sprout on the day of the wave. She'd do this for every wave moving forward.
She decided to have her father modify her and her plants with his [Bioplant Shield]. Both to understand the feeling to better understand what she can do and also to see if he could improve her blade plants further.
He was indeed able to enhance the blades further, but Teal was able to learn from it and make them just as good. Now her newly dubbed [Iron Garden] was quite useful. This was her main way of improvement, letting her father modify her or a plant she made, then she'd come behind him and do the same. Sometimes she couldn't quite match his results, but she made progress each time.
Eventually she came to the conclusion that she could gestate two things inside her at once. Any more than that and the quality of all results dropped significantly. She speculated that it was because she was level 22. She'd have to wait until she was level 30 to know for sure.
Lastly she tried to increase the PH of the base she could produce and lower the PH of the acid she could produce. Currently those were 12.3 and 2.2, but with magic they were still quite something and the explosion they caused when in contact with one another was getting useful.
Teal also wanted to learn magic, but she couldn't learn from any of the seven grimoires they currently had. She likely had a different affinity, meaning she'd have to wait until they returned to the capital for her to learn any spells.
...
-Filo's training-
...
Filo's training started out rather simple.
She would run laps around the cart. Keeping it just within sight as she did it. Doing her best to beat her own time. Everyone agreed that her speed was unquestionable her greatest strength.
She also sparred with Monti for a few days before he gave up. In terms of power they were nearly equal, but Monti couldn't help but hold back against his sister. A problem that Filo did not share. Teal had the good sense to not even try, she was much lower level, so it'd be a slaughter.
After Monti tapped out, Filo decided to train with her father. She wanted more stopping power to go with her speed and she knew her father could take anything she could dish out. He'd use his improved [Bedrock] to keep himself from flying off, then take hits from Filo. She measured her progress by how far she could move him.
Once speed and power were addressed she wanted to focus on magic. She wanted to learn a new spell like Monti and was getting jealous. She already mastered [High Quick] and building off of that would be a great idea, but she was being thoughtful of her family and what she could do to help them. What she came up with was a way to retreat back to them, she didn't want a repeat of the Bioplant incident.
She knew what she wanted, but getting there was hard. From an outsiders perspective it just looked like Filo was jumping really high and falling roughly, over and over again. The rest of the family seemed concerned, but she assured them it was a secret and they relented for a time.
However the training became about as weird as you'd expect. Filo would use her magic to blow debris into the air, then try and hop between the pieces of debris. Teal was the first to understand Filo's goal, the others became aware of it as it started getting results.
She developed a wind ability that caused a force of wind to allow her to jump off of it. One could see it as a gust blowing her in a direction with her motor skills dictating it or one could see it as the creation of a platform made of wind for her to push off from. Either way her [Wind Walk] allowed her to stop in her tracks mid-air and change direction. It allowed her to serve her family better and it really matched her personality of changing her mind on a whim.
This combined with her speed gave her a freedom of movement second only to flying and even then it wasn't purely worse that flying. Her only problem was she currently couldn't use it more than three times consecutively. So walking on air was currently impossible, much to her dismay.
Lastly she used what she learned from [Wind Walk] to make one other minor ability. She took advantage of her speed and her wind that could cancel her momentum to create [Blow Back]. It was the ability to cancel all her momentum and even push her back a bit by creating a strong gust that pushed everything back, herself included. Normally it would hurt her just as much, but by controlling it's power and using it while moving at high speeds, she could make it just strong enough to cancel her speed while knocking others back. It effectively let her turn her speed into pushing force.
...
-Raphtalia's training-
...
Raphtalia wasn't like the kids. She didn't have incredible potential that had yet to be tapped into. She was strikingly normal. Even Naofumi was a hero with several abilities at the ready at any given moment. Regardless, she was Naofumi's sword and the mother of these children. She was to be relied on before she relied on them. It wasn't about pride, but purpose.
She at first focused on her magic. The kindly and secretly devilish magic shop owner had told her that she was abnormally talented in that. This turned out to be right. Raphtalia knew how to [Bind] strength, speed and hearing. She managed to learn a spell called [Light Shield], but it was far inferior to Naofumi's [Air Strike Shield].
Without intermediate grimoires, she felt her growth in this regard was limited. For example; she knew holy magic was a part of light affinity, but she had no earthly idea how to use it. The only way she could improve her magic at this point was the preciseness of her illusion magic and how long her spells lasted. Luckily she could cast spells in between her real training.
That being her swordsmen training. She tried everything she could think of. She tied binding things to her sword to make it heavier as she practiced. She cut a tree down with nothing but simple sword swings, then tried to down the next one in fewer swings. She next borrowed blades made by Teal's [Iron Garden] to try her hand at dual wielding. It seemed easily in concept, but very difficult in practice. What options were available to you at any given moment changes and with a second weapon and with that, how you respond to basically anything changes. Learning it was going to be difficult.
She definitely had the least options to her and she saw the least results, but she tried harder than everyone else. They all saw this and tried to match her determination, but no one kept up with her. Naofumi could see her frustration building by the day. She was the weakest one. After declaring herself his sword, she was the weakest. While she was still stronger than Teal now, once her level got closer...
"Raphtalia... Can we talk?"
Naofumi had approached her or at least roughly where she was. She was swinging her burdened sword while invisible.
She tried to catch her breath, "I'm a little busy Naofumi *huff* sama. Give me a few more min-"
Naofumi wasn't having it. He reached out for her.
"Whe-where do you think you're touching me!? The kids can see!"
"No they can't... and I can't either." He grabbed her and walked her over to the cart, while the kids continued their training. She struggled a little so he just picked her up. It wasn't like when they first met. Back then she felt like she weighed nothing. Like if you threw her in the air, she'd never come down. She was a starving, dirty, sickly child slave. 'Was'.
She was now an extremely beautiful woman. She was brave, fierce, as strong with a sword as she was strong-willed. She was so many things and even more to Naofumi personally. Naofumi thought that maybe she needed reminding of who she is, not was.
"What is it Naofumi-sama? I'm trying to-"
"That's the problem. You're trying entirely too hard. Now that the spell has worn off, look at you. You're about to drown in your own sweat."
"Don't be silly. I know my limits and I know when to stop." She tried to go back to training, but Naofumi wasn't letting go.
"Yeah, you know your limits and you keep trying to brute force past them!"
"What are you saying!? Are you saying I should just accept it! That I should just give up the title as your sword! Do you have any idea how much that means to me!"
She was now yelling and crying. Not at Naofumi, but at herself. The frusteration from gaining so much less than the kids had her feeling terrible in all sorts of ways. The kids stopped training and listened from a distance.
"I'm sorry if this hurts your feelings, but your sword isn't that damned important!"
Raphtalia recoiled at his words.
"There is so much more between us than a sworn sword to a hero... right?"
"Yes, but-"
"Then please act like it! How are any of us suppose to sleep easy at night or even feel happy throughout the day when we constantly have to see someone we care so much about, putting herself through so much crap... You don't have to try so hard. Please stop..."
"I... My..." She cried in frustration. She thought she was strong and maybe when compared to most people she was, but when the waves come that doesn't matter.
"I just don't want you all to leave me behind, so to speak. If this continues... the day may come when I'll be more of a burden than an asset. I can't do that. I can't be a burden."
She spoke quietly as she kept crying. Naofumi held her close.
"Stop thinking like that. Do you even realize who you are now? There isn't that many people that can take you on. Stop comparing yourself to a hero or a royal monster. You're not... But everyday I'm near you I think to myself that you'd make a damn finer hero than me. You aren't some little slave anyone, okay? That mark means nothing. If I cared more about your stats than you as a person, you wouldn't have had to convince me to put that thing back on you. I was just fine with you being a lot weaker and... for things to be normal between us."
He said those words as sweetly as he could.
"So you need to shut up about this crap. We aren't leaving you behind. Even if something terrible happened to you and you could never pick up a sword again... You'd still be in the same damned place as you are now. Driving the cart and helping me handle these kids."
He said those words as obnoxiously as he could.
"I get what you're trying to say, but... I want to fight. Fight alongside all of you as equals. That's how I want to live."
"You're the only one here that uses a weapon. You can easily improve with a better one. When we buy more grimoires you'll receive three and master them quicker than we will. Maybe I can get some more shields that improve your stats again. I'll do whatever I have to do to keep you happy..."
"And I don't want you doing that to yourself. Are you so sure of defeat you've given no thought about what comes after victory? After the waves... I... I'd like to... live a calm life... with you... We've each been whatever the other has needed, whenever we've needed it. Well, I need you to stop or at least slow down."
She stopped herself. He still hadn't said the words, but he all but admitted it with that statement.
"Fine I'm stopping for today... I'm kinda tried, mind helping me into the cart?"
He felt relieved "Of course."
As he lead her inside, Teal felt the disgusting amount of pheromones they were leaking out. "Time to be the wingman."
"Monti, Filo, lets train a little further away. We don't want to wake mother up."
The two nodded and they went a distance further away. "I don't think mother is a screamer... though father should preform well enough to make her, but you can never tell these things."
"Even further, just in case."
...
-In the cart-
...
Naofumi laid her down with her cover and both of their pillows. She was comfortable, but sleep wasn't the plan. She motioned for him to hold her hand as he always did.
He obliged.
She slowly pulled him under the covers with her. Naofumi figured she just wanted him to cuddle at the most, keep the nightmares at bay.
He obliged
She began to move her hands, but not in the normal way. Naofumi quickly understood what she was doing. He slipped earlier and said some pretty sappy stuff and now she was-
"Um, Raphtalia... Maybe-"
She kissed him. Him talking now was ruining the mood, this was a good solution. He didn't know what to do. She was kissing him and exploring places and encouraging him to do the same. He couldn't keep holding back.
He obliged.
Unfortunately he didn't get too far before Raphtalia passed out due to exhaustion.
"... God dammit! Am I allowed nothing!?"
...
-Melromarc Embassy in Faubrey-
...
"Yes, I wouldn't lie Melty there's a filolial that can talk."
"I wish I could meet it."
"I know who the owner is. After we're done here, I'll introduce you. Who knows? you might see it first."
"Are you sure you want to send me back mother?"
"Yes. There's somethings I need taken care of in the kingdom and as the future queen, it'd be great practice."
A shadow appeared in the room
"Is this a bad time my queen?"
The queen waved her hand lightly, "Of course not... Melty dear. This one's adult in nature."
Melty understood, "Of course. I'll return to my studies."
The queen and shadow watched her leave before speaking.
"She's so diligent. She'll be a wonderful queen." The queen declared
"As you say my queen." The queen's smile faded, returning to business.
"Report."
"The shield hero had yet another confrontation with a noble."
She sighed, "Who, Where, how bad?"
"Lord Wagner, in Opaltown, the shield hero fled before too much occurred."
"Lord Wagner? He attended the meetings, including the one with Balmus. Did he recognize the shield hero?"
"I'd say not. He confrontation was with the savior of the heavenly fowl, not the shield hero."
"Well it's always a shame when the shield hero is wronged... Am I right in assuming the shield hero wasn't in the wrong?"
"It was a conflict entirely of Lord Wagner's making. He approached the shield hero and tried to buy his filolial."
"That he refers to as a daughter still, correct?"
"Yes. He told Lord Wagner she wasn't for sale and further that he'd have no right to sell her, proclaiming her personhood."
"I still hate he has to use monsters. If things were even a little better, he'd have select knights at his side, Dame Seaetto for certain... How did Lord Wagner respond?"
"He had a loud response... He had the city guards confiscate nearly everything the shield hero owned, then tried to offer him 55 gold pieces for the filolial afterwards."
She was stunned "Putting the corruption of the law enforcement aside for a moment, 55 gold piece? That's an incredible sum. That could prepare him for the next wave easily, maybe three. Why did he turn it down?"
"Because he truly sees her as his daughter."
"He'd have to. Turning down so much coin."
"After that, Lord Wagner attempted to use the guard again, claiming he'd already paid the shield hero."
"So they fled?"
"The shield hero actually has a shield that works like a recording crystal, it even records sounds. Using that he proved Lord Wagner a liar. He fled after that."
"I understand Lord Wagner was some trouble, but to flee Opaltown? They'll make far less coin anywhere else besides maybe Castletown."
"The shield hero got the captain of the Opaltown guard to admit that had he not had that convenient evidence, he'd of taken the filolial on the word of Lord Wagner alone... Shortly after the shield hero fled and the captain and a handful of guards left soon after."
"Pursuing the shield hero?"
"Doubtful. The shield hero headed east. The guards headed south."
"I see..."
"What will you do with Lord Wagner?"
"I can't punish him too overtly. As I said before, he is likely in league with Balmus. If I act against him, then Balmus may guess I'm on to his plot... Has this caused rumors?"
"Certainly. Rumors of their confrontation has spread. Nothing too concrete."
The queen flashed a wicked smile.
"That's about to change. We'll use the truth, that's always spreads better. The rumors will be that Lord Wagner attempts to take whatever he wants from merchants. That he'll use his guards to confiscate your goods and he'll even resort to more direct methods if that fails. The rumors will say that even the kindly savior of the heavenly fowl had to flee with what little remained after that idiot stole nearly everything then tried to take his name sake."
"It will be done."
"That fool always thought him and his family to be so wise at business, but they hold lordship of Opaltown. Only a fool could screw that up. And a fool did... Merchants with avoid Opaltown and quickly the customers will follow the merchants."
"People only went to Opaltown, because people went to Opaltown." The shadow offered
"Precisely. The moment the market shifts, the response will be deafening. He'll lose a lot of coin... And if he is on board with Balmus, then financially crippling him is all the better."
"Well thought out as always my queen. Is there anything else?"
"No, dismissed."
The shadow didn't leave though.
"Before that, could I ask when you plan to send Princess Melty?"
"three days or so, why?"
"I'd like to assign her an additional shadow."
"Do you think Balmus so bold?"
"..."
"Speak your mind."
"My fears are that Malty is so bold."
The queen flinched at that. Certainly Malty was a terrible person. She also wasn't a good daughter or sister..., but this?
"I strongly disagree with that line of thinking..., but approved."
The shadow bowed their head respectfully, and disappeared.
...
-Back at the cart-
...
Naofumi exited the cart only to be met by Teal's judgemental eyes.
"You absolute failure."
Naofumi just gave Teal a look. almost like, 'I know I suck, leave me be'.
"You two had the perfect opportunity, she was completely in the mood. How can you call yourself a man?"
"This kinda talk is inappropriate, you sho-"
"Don't even. You two needed this. You both act so damned prudish, but I can tell you're both actually-"
"She passed out... She was incredibly tired... drop it." He was embarrassed that he had to admit it.
Teal could barely contain her laughter "Are you telling me you were so bad, she fell asleep!? Whahaha!"
Naofumi just let her laugh. He deserved it. Not for letting her fall asleep, but for nearly letting himself get pulled into Raphtalia's pace. It was important to take things slow. With Raphtalia, doubly so. She was a kid until recently. Regardless of how demi-humans work or how he sees her, acting too fast felt like taking advantage of her.
Teal wiped the last of her tears away. She had laughed so hard, she cried at some point.
"Well it is a shame. Mother was giving off a lot of pheromones right before you two entered the cart..."
"I'm going to have to coordinate with mother. Father will either find his spine or I'll give him a new one..."
Naofumi placed something into his shield and absorbed it.
[Raccoon Shield]
+1 spd
[Ability: Animal Status Adjustment (Raccoon)] Raccoons gain 5% more stats upon level up.
He then switched to it and began to count up their coin. Needing to budget a new sword into his plans.
"Father what is that? what'd you absorb?"
"Some of Raphtalia's hair... I still had some from way back."
"Kinda creepy, not gonna lie."
Naofumi made a face, "Do you have nothing better to do?"
"What could be better than teasing family?"
"...Anyways I had the shield absorb all of that hair. It gave me this. It ups Raphtalia's growth more."
"Anything to satisfy mother? Well aside from what would really satisfy her..."
Naofumi ignored her and continued, "I just unlocked the first one, If I can unlock a second one, maybe it'll give her the boost she feels that she needs. She seemed so genuinely upset... I just want her happy."
Teal decided teasing was over for now. Teal used her superior intellect combined with what Naofumi knew of his shield to try and figure out what options Raphtalia had. Teal made several suggestions. Those being to absorb more of Raphtalia to gain more bonuses, maybe her blood over a long period of time. She also suggested that Naofumi absorb demi-humans as that's the only other category Teal could think Raphtalia shared.
Naofumi thought Teal was getting too dark, but Teal made it clear she was simply talking about corpses found. Naofumi looked uncomfortable with the idea. Teal left it alone.
Teal didn't give up however. She knew her father had three other amazing skills. His apothecary skills, his enchanting trade knowledge, and lastly his plant manipulation. She suggested he try and use one or more of those to help.
He thought about it for a while and thought maybe he could make something like those permanent stat up items some games had. He'd have to slowly create the base plants that make up the ingredients, but the possibility wasn't entirely without merit.
He couldn't use his enchantment skills right now. He had accepted trades during their one day in Opaltown. Selling medicine for metals and gems. He had also been collecting a few pieces here and there. Currently he was planning to surprise each of them with an accessory before the wave. He couldn't spare any materials.
Eventually Monti and Filo ended their training and also tried their best to help come up with ways to help Raphtalia. The whole time they kept talking about it like something she wanted and they were fine with either way.
Raphtalia awoke part way through due to Filo being just a bit too loud. She sat in the cart and listened to the four of them try their best to accommodate her.
"Accommodating... That's what they're doing. That's what Naofumi was doing when we almost..."
She listened a bit longer, then returned to sleep.
They stayed there that night, not returning to the road for the second half of the day. Naofumi and Teal started on their modifying idea. That evening Raphtalia woke up again and called Naofumi to her. He nervously went to the cart and entered.
She was still unarmored, but not without clothes. wrapped in their cover, waiting for him.
"Are you hungry? We made food a while ago, but we kept it hot for you."
"That'd be great..., but first I want to talk."
Naofumi figured as much. He sat right next to her and waited for her to speak.
"I want to apologies. For the way I acted. During both the training... and in here with you earlier."
Naofumi was beyond relieved, "Raphtalia it's fine. You just pushed yourself too hard."
"I pressured you too... I know you want to take things slow and I still pushed you into almost doing something you weren't ready for. You set limits, I ignore them, and you let it slide. It's not fair to you."
"...You're not entirely correct."
Raphtalia turned to him.
"It wasn't that I started going along with it for you. I was legitimately leaning that way myself. Even if you prompted it, it was starting to get hard to hold back... God this is so embarrassing. Why do we have to have these talks? The next time the timing seems right... let's just do what we feel like, for as far as we feel like doing it. Talking this out instead of just going with the flow of things, it's entirely too embarrassing."
Raphtalia smirked "Careful, Teal will see that weakness and attack without mercy."
Now Naofumi was smirking "Don't be too sure. She berated me earlier for failing to seal the deal. She's become our unofficial wingman."
Raphtalia burst out laughing. The mood lightened a bit more.
"I heard you all earlier, trying to help me with my perceived issues."
"You know we're happy to help. Teal and me came up with a good idea. It'll take a while to see results, but it should work. Just please drop the weights from your sword tomorrow."
"Half weight." Raphtalia offered.
Naofumi looked at her a moment.
"I know you are all bending over backwards for me, so let me keep half weight. I can't just wait for others to accommodate me."
"...Understood, but I retain veto powers to tell you to stop If I feel you're taking it too far. It really was making us feel really bad, watching you do that to yourself..."
"Of course... I'll add some knife throwing training in the mix. Aiming is light work."
Naofumi nodded. He felt the compromise was fair.
[Author's Notes]
Some Raphumi fluff for yall.
Next chapter is zombie dragon time boys.
I felt like highlighting that Raphtalia is weak when compared to the rest of the party. Even in canon, Raphtalia is way weaker than Filo and Naofumi until she receives the [spoiler].
What do you think of the abilities for each of the kids? What did you like? What didn't you like? What would you change?
Please review