"Talking"
"Thinking"
[Status Magic or other reference to a system or power]
…
"My name is Glass. Feel free to consider me your enemy..."
"Goddammit, I hate being right."
"Now... let us begin the true battle of this wave."
...
"She comes up out of nowhere and expects to be seen as important." Itsuki said as he took a step forward.
"Does she really expect us to be scared after two wave bosses were dealt with?" Ren said, shifting his weight and readying his sword.
"Why the hell would a beauty like her want to talk to Naofumi?" Motoyasu complained as he walked directly towards Glass
Naofumi couldn't maintain the [Wrath Shield] any longer. He reverted to the [Chimera Viper Shield] and prepared himself.
"My name is Naofumi Iwatani, the shield hero... Is there any way I could get you to retreat? Many lives are at stake."
"I don't expect you to understand, but many lives are at stake if I retreat as well." Glass countered
"Yeah, I don't understand..." Naofumi said as he used [Inspect].
[Glass] Lv ?
"Dammit, haven't seen that in a while... I'm level 49 and she's still too high to see?"
Glass' face changed to one of disappointment. "Are you not going to attack? Will you have these servants of yours strike first?" She said motioning to the other three heroes.
All three of them took the bait.
"Servants?" Ren started.
"Naofumi's?" Motoyasu said through grit teeth.
"Don't look down on us!" Itsuki warned.
Their parties surrounded her, while the heroes themselves launched skills at her.
[Meteor Slash]
[Meteor Thrust]
[Meteor Shot]
All three attacks fired off and reached her. The shockwave from the impact was quite powerful. Even Naofumi imagined taking that would knock him down a peg or two.
But it was all for not. With a slight movement of her fan, the dust kicked up from the previous attacks dispersed. Their party members were too busy fighting to maintain their balance from her small gust to move away from her before what she did next. When she attacked, they were completely called out.
[Zero-Stance Rondo: Reverse Four Seasons]
She rapidly moved her arms, it was even faster than Ren's [Flurry of Blades]. With each motion, she launched a crescent-shaped energy projectile. One hit each person near her and each of the three heroes.
With that, each victim was thrown high and fell to the ground, one of Motoyasu's teammates dropping a bag full of potions.
"See? Merely servants."
Naofumi took advantage of his opponent's lax nature and slowly made it over to the potions, using [Inspect] on each one. He found one that recovered SP and grabbed it leisurely as he spoke. He couldn't act desperately and let her know how badly he needed the potion.
"I do appreciate anyone who'd put those three in their place. *gulp* Maybe they'll use this as a learning experience and... Who am I kidding?"
"I don't mind the banter, Naofumi, but you need to act before I do." Her warning was clear.
"Understood."
[Shield Prison] [Trickster]
After placing Glass in his cage, he spoke to the party silently through [Tele-communicate].
"Hit her with everything! Go for the kill! Any less and-"
With another small flick of her fans, she was free, having torn his cage into pieces with overwhelming force.
Within that second, Monti launched at her in his full form. The image was certainly frightening, but that didn't give results. Glass blocked Monti's tail with one fan then placed the second fan underneath his chin as she threw him past her to the front of the ship.
"If only you were half as strong as you looked. Pathetic."
Before Monti even landed, Filo came in and attempted to slip an attack past her, but each kick was stopped.
"Nine strikes in a single instant? Admirable." Glass said.
She knocked Filo's claw aside and seemed to simply touch Filo with the fan to launch her away. While she did this, she used her second fan to come up and block a slash aimed for her head. Raphtalia had turned invisible and went for a killing blow as Naofumi ordered, but she couldn't reach her.
"You were easy to see... and you're really nothing special, hm?"
Glass closed her fan, destroying the new sword that Raphtalia had just received for this wave. She stared at it in disbelief.
"Mom! Retrieve another of my swords!" Teal yelled, snapping Raphtalia out of her shock.
Teal had been preparing something in her right arm and rushed Glass from the front. Glass thought her foolish, as even she couldn't see what tricks her body was pulling internally. As Glass caught Teal's blade, Teal's arm grew to twice the size of the rest of her body and with it, her strength.
"My, my. Decent. If only your power was as great as your fashion sense." Glass used her second arm and attempted to knock Teal's arm away.
Teal let her arm be ripped off instead of letting the force throw her back. She needed to be up close for this.
"You lose." Teal said.
Several balls of fire appeared around the ship again. Leon was using the last of his mana to cast [Zweite Hellfire] one more time. At the same time, Teal shot two different liquids out of her body, one from her remaining arm, the other from her mouth. The fire began converging on Glass.
[Dynamic Neutralization]
Teal's plan was to force a strong acid and base to hit her, but to then be taken to a whole other level by her brother's fire. This attack combo would possibly be the best the family had available, as it ran off science, not levels.
Glass realized the intention too.
[Circle Dance, Pulse Rebound]
Glass' expression changed as the acid and base struck her and seemed to do some damage. However Leon's fire couldn't reach her due to an invisible force that cancelled his magic. She gave Teal a look that made Teal wish she could faint.
"Clever plan, but inconsiderate. You of all people should know how precious these outfits are." She said, raising her fan.
Teal saw behind Glass and so goaded her, "I wouldn't know, mine is self-repairing."
Glass came down with her fan, but Naofumi came to the rescue, blocking the strike. The force was so great that he nearly fell deeper into the ship's lower levels.
"That's a thought. Pirates have treasure- dammit brain! Not now!"
[Snake Venom Fang] activated. Three large snakes sprouted from his shield and bit her, injecting their venom. She seemed less than bothered.
Right behind Naofumi was Raphtalia, now wielding one of Teal's [Iron Garden] blades. She swung at Glass, which she simply stepped back to avoid.
"Teal told you, you lose." Naofumi informed her with a smirk.
"Huh?" Glass seemed genuinely confused. She had taken little damage and showed her strength. What could they possibly have to harm her?
...
Moments ago
...
After Monti was thrown to the front of the ship, he found the wave boss' corpse while scrambling to his feet. He quickly took a bite. As if a switch was pulled, his magic control had become so much easier. He felt it wasn't quite the same, but didn't have the time to figure it out. He looked forward and saw Glass rip Teal's arm off. In that moment, he lost it.
He had been fighting against the wave's influence, but right now 'Kill' was what he wanted to do.
[Overdrive]
Monti was now covered in lightning, the skill held well. His lightning was now green, but other than that, it was perfect.
He lunged forward and struck with his right paw and tail together.
[Arc Discharge]
His claw, his tail, and his two skills struck Glass with the full force he had held back for so long. He felt it. He felt what full force was. He understood how much he had held back. In some ways, it seemed all the more important to hold back, if this was what he was capable of. However, this time it was fine. He truly intended it to be a killing blow.
The attack rocketed Glass through all three masts of the ship and had torn them off completely as she continued to fly off. She was going to fall from the ship.
[Zero-Stance Rondo: First Spring Morning]
Glass launched a strong gale of wind, but not at them. She shot the attack in the direction she was traveling, cancelling her momentum. She lightly landed on the other end of the ship as Naofumi and the others gathered up.
She was furious. The damage done was honestly not too much, but it was more than what she thought the non-heroes were capable of. She checked something a moment. In the next, she came to know that Monti was a wave monster.
"You are supposed to fight against the waves and here you are being saved by a wave monster!?" Her cool was long gone.
Ren was going in and out of consciousness. Unfortunately, he clearly heard Glass' words.
"Neither I, nor Monti owe you any justification. You're the one keeping this wave going, right? That makes you the wave boss here." Naofumi said.
Naofumi raised his shield up in a defensive position, but that was not its purpose. He hid his mouth from her view as he used his skills once again to communicate with the group silently.
"I'm going to need to hit her with [Iron Maiden]. I'll need you guys to set me up. Who has resources?" Naofumi asked.
"I have plenty of mana. I could bind her hearing or sight?" Raphtalia replied.
"I have low mana, but... somehow I feel like that doesn't matter..." Monti said.
"Filo has mana, Filo can still fight." Filo said.
"I'm out of mana, but I still have my weapon." Leon tried arguing.
"I'm done... sorry." Teal was realistic. Losing her arm after putting that much biomass into it left her Hp low and she still couldn't use magic.
"Heh, hiding your own mouth doesn't help you, when the rest gab so openly, Naofumi." Glass pointed out.
"Tsk."
"Do you have any tricks left? Maybe that attack from before? The one you used on the wave boss. I'll allow you full opportunity to win before I kill you." Glass said, having regained her composure.
"If she's just gonna let me..."
[Shield Prison]
[Change Shield (Needle)]
As quickly as he could, Naofumi switched shields and went through the steps to use his trump card.
[Iron Maiden]
As the large metal figure appeared again, Naofumi watched with baited breath as the skill finished without interruption
"For all her strength, even Glass could not escape that skill."
"Hmm... Not bad. I thought it'd have a bit more power." Glass' muffled voice came from the [Iron Maiden].
In the next instant, the skill was destroyed, its large metal pieces falling to the earth. She landed right where she was when she first appeared.
"All that effort and the most you've managed to do is ruin my clothes and upset me a bit. The damage is so minor I could ignore it completely."
Naofumi was stunned. He truly didn't know what to do. At the sight of his expression, Glass acted.
[Zero-Stance Rondo: Reverse Four Seasons]
Naofumi quickly activated [Shield Prison] to protect the kids, while Raphtalia hid behind him and the two weathered the attack.
"Still standing? Your defense is that of a hero's, if nothing else."
An energy formed something similar to a blade coming off of one of her fans. She tilted one fan closed to the side while she ran the other one down its side.
[Rupture-Stance Rondo: Tortoise Shell Cracker]
She shot the attack at Naofumi, which he blocked... No. The attack pierced his shield and his armored arm, and his arm took heavy damage. He couldn't feel it and could barely lift it. He saw this and matter-of-factly swapped his shield to his other arm.
[Self Burning Curse] activated and engulfed Glass. As the fire began to grow stronger, she flicked her fan and snuffed the fire out, the curse seemingly doing nothing.
No one knew what to do. They were about to get desperate. If they jumped at her now? They'd probably die. Naofumi looked around and had to make the call he didn't want to make. Retreat. They'd abandon the other heroes, their parties, their allies guarding the village, the village itself, everyone. Naofumi had thrown everything at her and received little more than biting commentary. If family came first, then now was the time.
His only other option was to use his [Knock Knock II] to summon everyone here..., but that dooms the town... and even then, he still thought that they'd lose. He could use that creepy skill he got from absorbing Liviccic's gate, but it'd not fit on the ship...
Monti felt the need to push further. He built up his charge via the loop method his father taught him, but now it was working so well that it was its own skill [Cyclotron Loop]. From there, he launched his favorite ability, [Blightning].
What happened wasn't expected at all. At the beginning of the wave, they saw that Monti's skill was twice the size it was normally, but now he had charged it properly and still his lightning skills seemed to just work better since he ate some of the wave boss. The result was a bolt of lightning nearly 4 meters in thickness, striking Glass with such force that it burned the ship around her.
By this point, Naofumi knew she'd be fine, but maybe the paralysis from Monti's skill would slow her enough?
"Last resort!" Naofumi yelled.
Everyone already knew what that meant.
[Smog of War]
[Fast Tornado]
[Fast Light]
Leon, Filo and Raphtalia launched distracting attacks. The moment they were launched, they all threw themselves overboard. They allowed themselves to fall a bit before Leon transformed and began flying them back to the village.
It took only moments before they heard Glass' response. Raphtalia, Monti and Filo all felt it.
"She's attacking!" Raphtalia exclaimed.
Blasts of energy, similar to the one that damaged Naofumi's arm, were being launched in batches. Leon tried his best to avoid them, while Naofumi used [Air Strike Shield] and [Second Shield] and Raphtalia used [Light Shield].
Right when the barriers were about to give, Naofumi saw a timer appearing. A timer with a countdown for one minute.
"...In a bit, circle back around, Leon."
Everyone was confused, Naofumi explained.
"The wave will end in 40 seconds. We won."
[Alert! Danger Imminent!]
Naofumi was alerted of one more larger attack approaching. Being down an arm, he was unsure he could reflect it.
He took his stance and tried to block the attack. Raphtalia, Monti and Filo sprang into action helping push the back of Naofumi's shield to knock the attack aside. Once it finally gave wave, the four of them collapsed on Leon's back.
"We made it..., but will we next time?"
...
Post-wave Battlefield
...
As the timer reached zero, the sky returned to normal and the wave was over. The mental attack on Monti also ceased. The moment that happened, he fell unconscious in relief.
Naofumi and his team returned to the ship. It had slowed more and more and began to fall slowly. It found its rest wedged between two jagged rocks at the peak of a mountain.
When they landed, the other heroes were just rousing from their defeat. Naofumi quickly placed the Skull Captain in his inventory and got to work absorbing some of the boss and kraken, while Raphtalia tended to Monti and Teal. Filo and Leon finished off the birds that remained around the ship, bringing their father a body to absorb.
.
[Soul Eater Shield]
+10 Sp, Spirit Resistance +5
[Unique Ability: Soul Eat] After being struck, the shield drains the target of Sp and grants it to the user. Is more effective if the blocked attack used Sp. (If the victim doesn't have Sp, it steals Mp, if the victim doesn't have Sp or Mp, it steals Hp.)
.
[Kraken Shield]
+6 Def, +2 Mdef
[Ability: Oceanic Grip] Hostile entities require more effort moving away from you. Must be turned on and off manually.
.
[D. Seagull Shield]
+1 Def, +3 Agi
[Ability: Cover] May teleport up to 10 feet + 1 foot per level you possess. This can only be done if the action would result in blocking an attack that would hit someone else.
.
"Oi! Don't hog all of it!" Itsuki said, reaching Naofumi.
"I'm not. I only took enough to get the unlocks." Naofumi said, getting up from the boss.
"I saw you absorb that whole skeleton!" Itsuki yelled.
"Simple lies." Naofumi thought.
"Yeah, and absorbing the whole damned thing didn't unlock anything at all. The Soul Eater controlling it was probably the only thing special about it." Naofumi defended.
It was enough for Itsuki to believe as he shoved passed Naofumi and began absorbing his portion.
Naofumi let it go and used [Inspect] on everyone else. Only Motoyasu's mage and Ren's monk needed healing. Naofumi used [Fast Heal] on each of them and went to return to his party.
"Thank you." Rino clearly said.
"..." Naofumi paused before continuing his way over to the others.
As he did, he switched to his [Commander Shield] and began to get an update on their end.
"How are things on your end?"
"It was getting bad, but even dead, Teal's tree wall held long enough. A few houses were destroyed and a few of ours injured." Liviccic reported.
"S-so That means..." Raphtalia was getting excited.
"Not a single casualty. It was a complete success." Sophia said, quite pleased with herself.
Even a heavily injured Teal leapt as the whole party literally jumped for joy, aside from Naofumi and a still unconscious Monti.
"What are you all so excited about?" Ren said, woken fully by their loudness.
"No one died! Not a single person died from the whole wave!" Raphtalia explained so happily she was starting to cry.
Naofumi saw that and quickly held her so she didn't fall. The kids were all smiles.
"How could you possibly know that? Sure, we are okay, but what about the people who live around here?" Ren was less than impressed.
"That's what we're saying dummy. Everyone is okay. Everyone." Filo said in a condescending tone.
"How do you know that!?" Ren said, now a little mad.
"I have more party members that were defending the village. They reported back."
Ren was now more curious than mad, "Reported? From that far away? What kinda magic or skill does that?"
"Doubt you could get it, I had to absorb my cellphone to gain it." Naofumi said dismissively.
"Wha-What? Our weapons can absorb stuff from our worlds?"
"They seem to be able to absorb literally anything. I even used that feature to remove a door I couldn't open."
"But... your cellphone should have been real, right?"
"Tsk." Hearing more of that 'this place is just a game' crap would sour Naofumi's mood, so he ignored him.
At one point, Motoyasu attempted to approach Filo and the family reflexively stood between them. Motoyasu was called out and embarrassed. He tried to play it off and walked away.
The three heroes took their share, made snide comments and went to leave.
[Portal Spear]
Motoyasu teleported away, along with his whole party.
"Wait..." Naofumi was floored.
[Portal Bow]
Itsuki teleported away, along with his whole party.
"Oi, Ren! The hell!? You guys can teleport!?" Naofumi yelled.
Ren stopped.
"You can't?" Ren asked.
"Hell no I can't! Where do you get that? All three of you have it, so it's probably the same for me."
Ren debated answering, but Naofumi answered a few questions he had earlier, even if he didn't like the answers.
"You need some sand from the dragon hourglass and you need to be level 50." Ren said as he took a parting glance at both Leon and Monti before leaving.
[Portal Sword]
"Adding that to my demands for Melty."
"Are we returning to Sophia and the others?" Filo asked.
"No." Leon said as he went down the stairs inside the ship
"So there is treasure?" Naofumi said out loud.
Leon nodded as he went further in, Naofumi and Filo close behind him. Naofumi's [Minimap] didn't detect any enemies, but it also didn't detect the wave bosses either. He stayed cautious. As they made it down to where storage would be, they saw it.
A literal golden chest that looked clean and clearly out of place here. Leon approached it, but Naofumi motioned for him not to touch it. Naofumi came up and touched the chest.
"!"
Naofumi removed his hand immediately.
"The chest was cursed..."
Naofumi used [Cleanse] in an attempt to remove the curse. He touched it again... Success. Naofumi went to open the chest.
"Unlocked? Maybe the curse was the lock?"
With a little anticipation, he opened the chest revealing... Nothing.
"Booo~" Filo was disappointed
"But Leon wasn't?" Naofumi noted.
He used [Inspect] on the chest
[Chest of Triumph]
[Whomever is registered to this chest will fill the chest up with valuables through acts of killing]
"So this thing works kind of like my item drops? Double dipping would be nice..., but..."
"I'm storing it for now." Naofumi announced.
"Um, father...?" Leon started.
"I get it. It's yours, you found it. I'm just carrying it."
Leon smiled and Filo frowned.
"No fair. Leon gets a cool box, but what does Filo get?" Filo exclaimed.
"Hmm, How about I cook twice as much tomorrow, all for you."
Filo's smile was honestly very charming as she hummed the whole way out of the ship, feeling like she obtained some great victory.
Once they were back with the others, Raphtalia asked, "Are we returning to village?"
"Yes, but we have one small detour." Naofumi informed her.
...
Back at the village.
...
Leon dropped the corpse, of the first Soul Eater they found on the way back, as well as what remained of the second one the heroes absorbed from, before landing at the edge of the village. The family climbed off and Leon turned back to normal. Naofumi carried Monti with his good arm as he led the way.
Most of the people were there to greet them. Liviccic and Sophia were in front, followed by Ake and most of his group, but one was missing. Kurtis' group also made their way to them with the old lady from before walking with them.
The moment was all smiles. Naofumi couldn't begin to contain his elated feelings.
The others were less excited as they saw them. Teal's arm was still not fully grown back. Naofumi's arm was in bad shape and Monti was unconscious.
"It doesn't look like it was easy... Will you be okay, savior?" Kurtis asked.
"I have healing potions and healing magic. I'll be fine by morning. Teal will be fine in an hour or two... Monti should be fine when he wakes up. We're all fine."
"...If you are sure." Kurtis felt a need to help Naofumi, but didn't have a way to do so right now.
"But thanks for your concern... and thanks for defending the village" Naofumi added.
Naofumi wasn't sure of the man, but recent actions proved him a better man than Naofumi's first impression.
"What's with the corpse?" Liviccic asked expectantly.
"Yeah, you guessed it. That's the two wave bosses. They're undead and I killed this one with a cursed ability, same as this." Naofumi released the Skull Captain from his [Inventory]. "While not a wave boss, it's pretty tough. You said you'd get 100% out of them under these conditions, right?"
"Heh, more actually. With this staff, I can get 125% out of them." Liviccic said proudly.
"You can't really ask for better than these. If I hear you got kicked out of your home again, then I'm just gonna laugh at you." Naofumi said, pretending to be mean.
Over the next three hours, a lot happened. Naofumi treated everyone in need, including himself. Liviccic had Sophia help him stitch pieces from the Soul Eater that was in good condition onto the one that died from the curse. She did so using a combination of her [Tracking Thread]'s ethereal properties to touch its semi-spiritual body and [Healing Thread]'s ability to mend flesh. Once they were done, Liviccic used [Revive] on the pair of undead, but there were two issues. Firstly their levels were shown as such:
[Skull Captain] Lv 40/49
[Soul Eater] Lv 40/51
It seemed that Liviccic couldn't create an undead that was a higher level than himself, though the display indicated that they'd adjust upward as he leveled until they reached their old levels. The other issue was that the Soul Eater couldn't fire off its spell. The kids told Liviccic about the attack, but it couldn't do it. Naofumi concluded that even though it died and was only brought back in part, Ren's [Sealing Slash] was still in effect and would remain so until Ren sealed something else.
Everyone helped clear the village of rubble and bodies and brought one of each of the monsters to Naofumi.
.
[Skin Walker Shield]
+1 Def, +1 Mdef
[Ability: Persona] The effects of worn equipment is increased by 5%.
.
[Shadow Lizardman Shield]
+2 Hp, +1 Def, +1 shadow resistance
[Ability: Heat Sense] Can both sense and see heat signatures.
.
[Shadow Goblin Shield]
+2 Agi, +2 shadow resistance
[Ability: Skulk] Become harder to see and sense while hidden in shadows or otherwise cloaked in darkness.
.
Leon went around the town burning the dead tree away so the locals wouldn't have to deal with it. Raphtalia and Filo helped out where they could and Sophia stayed with a still recovering Teal. They both giggled far too often as they spoke, leaving Liviccic and the others to dread what the subject was.
Naofumi and Kurtis talked a bit, as Naofumi hoped. Kurtis' party was nearby, wanting to listen in.
"So you just quit?" Naofumi asked for clarification.
"Yes, within a few minutes of you departing actually. Like I said before... I didn't use to be that kind of person. I want to make it back there, back to being a good man."
Naofumi thought he sounded sincere. "Well... I can't be the one to tell you when you reach that. Only you can."
"I understand, but your forgiveness is also a goal of mine."
"...And what of you all? Are all of you former guards?"
Wallace spoke up, "Most of us, but not all. Many of us either respected the captain enough to follow him out or saw that dealing with lord Wagner any longer wasn't worth the coin."
"And you two?" Naofumi Asked Cassian and Mia. "I assume you're both new additions. I doubt that fool Wagner liked demi-humans all that much."
"Not just us, Sigrid too." Mia said, holding Sigrid's hand.
"If you don't mind me asking, why are free demi-humans who can defend themselves here, in this country?"
Cassian went first, "Noth'n fancy, honest. I only work here because there are so few demi-humans. I gotta good nose y'see? Less competition for the kinda jobs it'd be good at, track'n and such."
"Smart in a way, but dangerous." Naofumi thought to himself.
"As for me, well-" Mia went to speak, but Sigrid didn't want her to answer him. They had a short exchange with Mia saying 'He's the shield hero, it's fine'.
"Sorry about that. The reason I'm here is because I was a slave."
She now had Naofumi's full attention.
"Sigrid was kicked from her old party for her low mana after doing a job for my former master, Lord Averill Veit of the western front. He is a greater lord of this country, as powerful in influence as he is in person..."
Sigrid continued for Mia, "I was screwed out of my share and had little options. Mia was cleaning the landscape when she saw me leaving a crying, pathetic mess. She gave me a greeting and I lost it and unloaded my day on her. I yelled at her about all these problems that she had nothing to do with... She listened, and when I was done she simply said-"
"Then just make those few spells count." Mia said, quoting herself.
Sigrid continued, "Heh, yeah. It helped and I felt bad for yelling at her... and I felt lord Veit owed me something for my services. So, I hung around a few days and waited until the slave trader showed up. He was both selling and buying. Meaning they had rewriting ink. I sneaked in, stole a bit, used it to make Mia my slave instead and we booked it out of there. A week later, I had her crest removed in the capital."
Naofumi seemed to like the story. "That's pretty smart. If you just took her, he could kill her via the crest and even without that, Beloukas would never sell you the remover if you weren't the registered slave owner. Nice."
"You know that bastard?" Sigrid asked.
"I also got a long story, but yeah, I know him. He sold me Raphtalia, Filo and some monster weapons. As long as you're on the right side of the bars, he's a great business partner."
Surprisingly, Sigrid didn't judge him for those words.
They spoke a bit longer before Monti started waking up.
"If you want to help in the wave effort, be at the capital in 44 days. Sorry, I gotta handle my kid." Naofumi made his quick offer and took Monti inside a building.
Once inside, Naofumi called the rest of the family to him and they came just in time.
"Mmhmm... Dad?" Monti whispered.
"Yeah." Naofumi soft responded.
"We won... right?" Monti asked, a little over a whisper now.
"We sure did." Naofumi said with a smile.
Monti went to smile back, but didn't. In the next moment, he was crying into Naofumi's chest. Naofumi couldn't understand what Monti was saying through his sobbing and it didn't really matter. Naofumi gave him a hug and did what he could to calm him down. The others did the same. It took about 20 minutes before he calmed down. Any time he tried to explain how he screwed up by nearly killing Godiva or threatening Kurtis' party, Naofumi just brushed it off as unimportant and told him he was silly to get hung up on issues he already overcame.
The family recovered a bit and Naofumi finally had the time to really see what happened to Monti after he ate some of the Soul Eater. It took three passes looking at his stats before he saw it.
"Monti has Sp!?"
It was no longer zero and was of an amount just lower than his Mp. Over the next 30 minutes, the two did some quick experimenting and discovered several things.
Monti's monster exclusive spells and abilities all now consumed Sp, not Mp, and were denoted by the lightning being green. Monti was also capable of using [Fast Bolt], the first beginner level spell in his book that he was never able to use. Traditional magic were still the normal color, only monster exclusive skills that used Sp seemed to have the green coloring. Perhaps Monti's powers were muddled, but were now separated into Sp and Mp properly.
Neither of them ever considered that Monti's issues were due to his 'lacking', as the witch called it. Now that Monti overcame the influence of the wave and overcame the issues that were stalling his progress, he was confident.
But it wasn't just that. Monti saw how his parents ignored any perceived wrong doing he either did or nearly did. It finally was clear to him. He had nothing to prove to them, their love was unconditional. If he still felt like he had something to prove, it was only to himself.
Liviccic used [Revive] on every Skin Walker they could find, then he and Sophia left after Naofumi gave him the details on the kraken. They said they'd see if anything about it was salvageable and said they'd be going to Briarhaven right afterwards and would keep in touch.
Kurtis' party left a little later after they were offered their quest reward, only to turn it down, saying they needed it more.
Naofumi had a minute to reflect on something Glass said that bothered him. "'I don't expect you to understand, but many lives are at stake if I retreat as well...' What could she mean? And the wave had a timer at the end... What ARE the waves really?"
Just when Naofumi was about to call it quits, Ake came up to him with someone Naofumi recognized. It was the shitty knight commander that Naofumi butted heads with during the last wave.
"Shield hero. You are to report to the king immediately!" The commander said loudly.
"Nope. Princess Melty's orders. I'm to report to her, not the proxy ruler." Naofumi said back with a smile.
"Princess Melty is currently... busy. His majesty thought it right to act as her father and not as king. Princess Melty is currently not acting in a governing manner... So, report to the king immediately!"
Naofumi didn't like this. Melty had shown herself to be smart and kind. She'd make a fine ruler with time..., but as a child, all she had was authority, and authority can be ignored without power to back it.
"...I'll be there when I can. It'll be at least two days travel back."
"No. You are to leave via a guarded wagon and return to the capital now!"
Naofumi looked at the man, "Make me."
The man drew his sword and Naofumi walked at him without regard for himself. The man swung his sword, only for [Hazard] to rebound hard, breaking his sword, gauntlet, and damaging his arm.
"See my point? I'll be there in two days."
.
[Author's Notes]
Having more teammates on Filo's level helped, and they even threw her off guard a few times, but that level gap tho.
Monti used full force for the first time, Glass wasn't pleased.
Leon has received 'a cool box' as Filo would say.
Liviccic has two newer powerful undead and chose to gather Skin Walkers instead of the stronger Lizardmen, why?
I wonder why one of Ake's teammates left?
Kurtis was able to put himself of good terms with Naofumi for now.
The king has found a way around Melty and seems to want to speak to Naofumi directly. I'm sure he will be reasonable and thank Naofumi for beating two wave bosses and protecting everyone, right? ...Right?
I quit a terrible job recently and now have more time to write for awhile, yay!~
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