"Talking"
"Thinking"
[Status Magic or other reference to a system or power]
...
All the heroes were now in the thick of it. Fighting the huge numbers of monsters that just kept coming, receiving great doses of EXP as they went. The Cal Mira event was now fully underway.
...
It took less than 2 minutes for Leon to land on the designated island and the family began to dismount. They stared out at the island, wondering how tough it was going to be and how rewarding. Keel was the most excited because this was his chance to show Raphtalia how strong he had become. Leon hadn't transformed back into his human form yet. From that vantage point, he saw an adventuring party rushing towards them. When they got close enough they stopped, seeing the party.
"Dammit, another party got to it first." A short guy with twin daggers complained.
"Um, look closer, they aren't fighting the dragon." A woman in light armor and staff said.
"Then can we still take it?" A large man with a large mace asked, seeming to not be paying attention.
Naofumi got what happened. They saw Leon flying and thought he was a wild monster. Naofumi could understand, but it still made him angry.
"Back off, he's not a wild monster to be slain." Naofumi said, clearly angered.
"Hmm, is it registered to you? Otherwise it's free game." The short rogue said.
That flipped a switch in Naofumi. Before Raphtalia could stop him, he was already speaking.
"If the next words out of your mouths aren't 'we're leaving', I'm going to see if humans give double EXP here too." Naofumi threatened.
The adventurers turned to each other for a moment and laughed.
"We were probably going to back off, but after such a blatant threat?" The mage with the staff taunted.
"We're the new up-and-coming group of gladiators in Zeltoble." The larger man seemed more motivated now.
"Have you not heard of the Stormclad? That's us." The thief barked.
Naofumi stared a moment.
Their group totaled four. A huge guy wearing heavy armor, wielding a huge mace. He was bald and had tanned skin. The next was the mage. She was a blond, wearing robes over leather armor. The loud mouth was a typical rogue, armor made of leather and cloth, wearing a hood, wielding twin daggers. They seemed somewhat strong, but nothing they couldn't handle. The fourth member gave Naofumi pause. She was a masked woman wearing leather armor with some added metal in places, wielding a glaive. Naofumi had never seen her before, but she reminded him of someone. Maybe it was the way she held her weapon? She also hadn't spoken and seemed stronger than her allies.
"Get them." Naofumi no sooner said the words and the family rushed them. They were also getting angry at their words and attitude. The gladiators didn't delay their own attacks, but unfortunately for them they'd never launch them, because of their first opponent.
Filo transformed and reached them first, kicking each of them in different directions. Filo saw that one of them almost managed to dodge her kick, the glancing blow sent the woman spinning in circles.
After being kicked, Teal tried binding them in their new separated positions with [Undergrove]. They all seemed to fight the roots off, the same woman did so while still recovering from the kick Filo gave her.
Next, Monti transformed and used [Fear] on the group, which they seemed to resist well. That same woman was completely unaffected. He followed it up with a [Chain Lightning]. That didn't work as intended. Only some of them were hit. When it traveled to that woman, it traveled no farther.
Leon rained fireballs down on the group with his favorite spell, now upgraded to [Drifa Hellfire]. They weren't that accurate, but the number of them left them undodgeable. The woman cut a fireball in half with her glaive.
After the first round of attacks, most of these supposedly great gladiators were not looking for more. Only their leader stood ready.
Raphtalia swung her sword downward and the leader attempted to catch the blade with her own. There was a small struggle before Raphtalia threw the woman to the ground.
The woman started chanting something in a whisper.
[Drifa Thunderstorm]
[Air Strike Shield]
Naofumi blocked the spell that would have done major damage and walked up to stand over them. They were strong, they resisted some of the attacks, all the more reason to deal with them now. Keel came up last, mad that he didn't get to help.
"I can't wait to tell the Earl about this. Attempted murder." Naofumi told them.
"Please. At best, it'd be destruction of property." The thief argued.
"Maybe poaching?" The mage considered jokingly.
Naofumi switched his shield form. They all understood at once.
"The sword hero was put on trial for attempted murder for trying to kill my same son. What makes you think some nobodies like you will be charged for a lesser crime than a cardinal hero?" Naofumi asked, using his [Baleful Presence] to add to his intimidation.
"Y-You're the shield hero?" The thief whispered.
"We fucked up, hard." the big guy acknowledged.
"We weren't going to kill him, we were just acting a little too full of ourselves." The mage added.
Naofumi stared at them.
"We will leave immediately and not bother you further." The leader offered.
"No dice. Letting you all crawl away after threatening my family, not happening." Naofumi told them.
The family stayed ready over their foes.
"...What if we pay reparations?" The boss asked.
Naofumi stared at the woman. She seemed to be calmer on the surface than the others and she herself did not make any of those comments before.
"How much do you have on you?" Naofumi asked her.
"...We have party funds, from our winnings. I believe it's nearly 20 gold." She answered.
Naofumi thought for a moment. "That is a lot."
"She's not telling the whole truth." Filo interrupted.
Naofumi's eyes hardened.
"...I also have a family fund, but I'd fight you rather than give up a copper of it." The woman said, ready to trade blows again.
"...Give me your party funds and stay out of my sight. Otherwise, we'll report you." Naofumi told them.
"A-All?" The mage whispered.
It wasn't that Naofumi was afraid of them, but fighting them was a waste of time. He would profit off of the interruption as best he could, but he knew not to over-invest.
The thief pulled down his hood, revealing two small horns. He was a demi-human of some kind. He handed over the bag of coin and got on his knees.
"S-Shield lord, please keep my rude actions a secret and I promise to better myself, I swear." The man said bowing, looking very afraid.
"I guess he worships me? No. Probably has some family that does." Naofumi concluded.
"Never threaten or raise a weapon against my family again. As a hero, I can get away with a lot more than the lot of you. Get out of here." Naofumi told them.
They got to their feet and ran back the way they came.
"I wanted this to be a good day, fucking asshole..." Naofumi thought for a moment, before trying to push the thought from his mind.
"We've wasted enough time. Let's go." Naofumi told them.
He wanted to keep moving, not giving them time to dwell on what just happened. Monti was able to. One mind was kept at the front to act as normal and the second was doing what it had been for a while, feeding SP and MP into the replica. He'd been doing this even when he slept. The last mind was thinking of one thing.
"Who did that lady remind me of?"
...
A day of grinding
...
The day was spent grinding countless enemies. At first, they fought some of the weakest monsters they had in a while. That said, they gave great EXP. Keel was the first to complain and after seeing the situation, Naofumi concluded that if small fry were giving this much EXP and they were bored with how easy it was, then pushing inward for stronger foes was the move to make.
As they moved inland, the number of enemies increased, as well as the power of each monster. Originally, they were fighting some weaker monsters like 'Bio Red Blobs', a red slime monster that seemed about as strong as usapils. They were in such numbers at some point they were all engaged at once.
Then they fought 'Magenta Frogs' and 'Yellow Beetles'. Both looked exactly how they sounded, only larger than most dogs. The frogs were fast and an initial tackle from them was about the only damage they could deal. The beetles had harder defense than the other threats meaning a second hit was necessary. Filo's speed and initial damage made her stand out when dealing with them.
Later on, they started seeing monsters called 'Cactus Worms'. They were like the worms you'd expect to see in deserts in an RPG, but with two differences. They were far smaller than they usually were in most games, being bigger than a person, but not by much. The other difference was an abundance of spikes and barbs covering their bodies. They were usually dispatched by Leon's spells at a range or held in place by Naofumi until they could be focused on.
…
Ren's change in behavior
…
Ren's day was spent doing the thing he was best at and something he enjoyed doing: grinding monsters for levels. The progress felt satisfying and the drops weren't bad either. Of course, Ren couldn't just indulge himself.
[Hand Red Sword]
Ren's sword and most of his arm became a bright red before he swung it to the side. The bright light left him as it was thrown in the direction of the swing, casting the power into several monster rabbits. This gave Wyndia the time she needed to finish casting her spell.
Ever since Wyndia had joined the team, Ren has had to focus on protecting her. He didn't always have to, but he felt obligated. She was basically his charge, the responsibility for her safety was given to him by someone he wrongfully killed. So he felt a strong need to protect her.
Before, Ren would basically do his own thing and his party would do their best to help him as they struggled to catch up. He felt like he treated them too harshly and dismissed them too often, but things were different now. Now that Ren had to pay attention to Wyndia, that meant not running ahead, and therefore, spending more time with his teammates. They were real people, something Ren refused to see before. They also stayed loyal to Ren, despite everything that happened. Ren had grown to like them rather quickly and with their support and the constant pushing of Wyndia, he felt he was now on the right track.
With the enemies directly in front of Wyndia destroyed, she cast her spell at the next group.
"I call upon the power of the Earth to discipline these flames. Earth Vein. Crush the flame, so I may crush my enemies." Wyndia's chant was different from others.
[Blast Furnace Flare]
A bright burning ball leapt from her hands and shot forward. It traveled to a good distance as the other party members backed off, more than familiar with the spell by now. Suddenly, the ball expanded and caused an explosion.
The spell was overtly powerful, but that was also a detriment. The monsters killed by that particular spell were usually obliterated. More accurately cremated by the intense heat. Meaning that they cannot loot the bodies in any way, besides the heroes' drop menu. It could also damage property. Such as right now, where the grass was turned to ash and the sand became a layer of glass. Normally such spells would be left in reserve, but the monsters were both worthless to loot and incredible in number.
"I'll never get used to that spell." One member of the party admitted.
"It's so strong, too strong." The second one agreed.
"Miss Wyndia was Gaelion's daughter and her strength is far higher than ours…, but something about that spell seems very strange." The third one tried explaining what they have noticed up until now.
"Stop trying to sound insightful, we can all see it." The last one complained.
Ren looked to his teammates, then to the cleared path before them. He'd level Wyndia high enough that she wouldn't die. He wouldn't fail again.
…
Itsuki's evaluation
…
Itsuki, Rishia, and the temporary party members had made a straight path towards the high point of the island. Along the way, Itsuki watched these people as if they were guilty of a crime. He had to judge these people. They were becoming very politically powerful and could be harmful to the people.
Their way of fighting was rather balanced. Godiva, Fitts, and Chloe were their melee fighters, with Godiva and Fitts drawing attention while Chloe was more of a hit and run type of fighter.
Godiva used a series of techniques to take out large numbers of enemies. After Itsuki, Godiva had the highest kill count. Itsuki saw Godiva's performance and had to admit that she was better than any of his old party members, but Itsuki took that as a negative. She was a brute and nothing more. She probably gained that power to stand above others, and plans to do the same with her lordship. She would be a problem, Itsuki could tell.
Fitts had nothing fancy, he had no spells or techniques. All he had was a chiseled body and a newly made ax. Each swing cleaved an enemy and progress was made. Itsuki knew that he was the knight that was falsely accused and had to stay on the run for months. He only knew that because his trial was right before the heroes' trial. Itsuki felt the right thing to do in his position was to turn himself in, justice would have found him innocent. His running from the law led many people to chase him and die, many good people by Fitts' own admission. Itsuki didn't like him.
Chloe now wore the camouflage cloak Fitts once had. Combined with her previous as a shadow, she was barely seen, but her handiwork was obvious. Even with small knives, the attacks were no less deadly. Itsuki hadn't dealt with shadows, but their shady nature made him not trust them. That went double for Chloe. She double-crossed once, why allow her to stay at the side of a future lord?
Itsuki, Rishia, and Mia were their range fighters. Rishia wanted to be a front line fighter like Itsuki told her to be, but her stats wouldn't allow it. The monsters could not all be stopped by the front lines efforts, nor by Itsuki's skills. When the monsters nearly reached Rishia and Mia, Mia took off her metal helmet and held it above them both.
"Expand!" Mia yelled.
Her helmet was also the result of her alchemy. She was given resources by the queen and allowed to use the royal alchemist lab in the capital to make new innovations and new ways to fight. The helmet was a fusion of several items, one of them was a large dome cage composed of flat steel bars with square holes large enough for Rishia and herself to easily attack out of while keeping the monsters at bay.
Rishia took to this situation well. Without needing to worry for her life and only needing to focus on attacking, Rishia was able to cast many well timed spells of all kinds to help. While they lacked power, their application was usually clever and well timed, more than making up for it.
Itsuki was not in the cage, his mobility skills made it more of a hindrance to him than a help. That said, he stuck near the cage because he was curious about Mia's crossbow. At one point, he reached out and touched it. He copied it and gained the [Alchemist's Crossbow]. Itsuki wasn't even sure if he could, but he wanted to try. Itsuki misattributed the changing crossbow bolts as a feature of the crossbow itself, but the moment he looked at the copied weapon, he saw that wasn't the case.
Mia stared at him a moment, not entirely sure what he did until he changed his weapon into the new [Alchemist's Crossbow]. He took one shot just to make sure the crossbow did not possess a hidden effect. Mia had never seen the legendary weapons' copy function, but she had heard of it through the trial. She saw his disappointment and explained.
"The bolts are the cause of the change, not the crossbow. I use alchemy t-"
"Hand me one of those bolts." Itsuki interrupted.
"...Here." Mia knew the bow hero was going to be annoying.
Itsuki absorbed it, then looked at what it unlocked.
"Oi! I thought you were going to try firing it, not absorb it. My supply is limited." Mia complained.
Itsuki ignored her for a moment, but her words struck him. "Can I fire her bolts?" Itsuki considered.
"Hand me another." Itsuki put out his hand, but not looking at her.
Mia was not a charity. "No. Bolts are cheap, but javelins aren't. It costs 30 copper a piece, not to mention the time to fud-"
"Shut up and hand it over. Are you really going to argue over 30 copper?" Itsuki thought she was being rather petty.
"I know it's not a lot to you heroes, but-" Mia tried to explain to him how the gold they gain so easily was hard as hell for normal people to make.
"Or you too, you're a lord now." Itsuki pointed out, interrupting her a third time.
"I also have no coin, many of the soldiers of Evergreen died in that battle, the whole country is screwed up, and the queen is just holding it together barely. So the only coin I have is from the 3 months I was an adventurer, because before that, I was a slave. Pay me or fuck off." Mia raised her voice more and more throughout that explanation, not wanting to be cut off again.
Mia was a slave before this? And she spoke about how she could not afford anything because her resources would be going back to the people. Itsuki might not get along with her, but Mia might be the only one of them that Itsuki could approve of as lord.
Itsuki noticed that the fight was over and Godiva was already making her way to Mia's side.
"Fine, whatever." Itsuki ended the conversation before they were all against him.
From therer they traveled to the highest pointr as Itsuki wanted. The others thought that something was here, but there wasn't. There were some weird ruins nearby, but Itsuki warned them from it.
"We'll go there later, we need a few more levels first." He said, aiming in the distance.
Itsuki took a shot, stealing another adventurer's kill. The four of them sighed to themselves before they had to speak up at Itsuki again.
Itsuki's evaluation? They were all bossy and had a need to control people, no wonder they wanted to be lords. He wasn't liking them too much.
…
Motoyasu's growing hope
…
Motoyasu had met L'arc and Therese near the boats and set off. Motoyasu was counting his blessings to have found people to party with. His goal now was to get them to trust him, truly trust him. Then, he'd convince them of his identity and then convince them to travel with him to save the world… It sounded easier in his head.
After landing, L'arc looked around for a moment.
"You know all about this place from stories, right? Where should we go?" L'arc asked, never looking away from the island.
"There should be a ruin near the center of the island, there are strong enemies there. Also, the enemies should get stronger as we go, but the numbers are the issue." Motoyasu told them.
"Stronger as we go, lots of them, ruins at the center. Simple enough." L'arc said.
L'arc seemed like the kind of person that didn't sweat small details. He also accepted Motoyasu's answer without questioning it, making him seem more like someone who went with the flow of things easily.
"L'arc seems so easy to get along with and Therese is extremely beautiful. I have to recruit them." Motoyasu thought yet again.
Soon enough, the three of them were in the thick of it, slaying monsters left and right. Just as Motoyasu told them, the monsters weren't worthy of concern, but their numbers were annoying. Both L'arc and Motoyasu made it a priority to keep the monsters from reaching Therese. Despite there only being two of them, not one monster slipped past them. This allowed Therese the freedom to focus on offense.
"All-encompassing power of the jewel, hear my plea and show yourself. My name is Therese Alexanderite. I am your friend. Lend me the power to destroy them." Therese chanted.
[Shining Stone: Ball of Flame]
Her chant was strange, different from any chant used by anyone Motoyasu had met before, but he was so uninformed about magic that he simply chalked it up to something like a more advanced magic.
They made it about halfway through to the island's interior. During that time, Motoyasu thought it be a good idea to try showing off for Therese, as he used to do for all his female party members. That got a completely different reaction than he initially desired, as L'arc now wanted to show off too, leaving the pair to compete with each other.
"Hey, this isn't exactly boring, but you know what would add some fun to it?" L'arc asked.
"A challenge… Whoever kills the most, wins." Motoyasu offered.
"Glad we're on the same page!" L'arc answered, slashing a few more weak monsters.
"This isn't a game, you two... Sigh, I guess that's just what boys do." Therese lamented.
Motoyasu found it hard trying to compete against L'arc while not using skills. He knew he was stronger than L'arc, far stronger. After all, he was a hero and L'arc was a normal adventurer. That said, Motoyasu wasn't actually talented or skilled in the use of a spear. His power was very real, but against monsters of this level, skill was going to win out. Motoyasu was not the type to give up, though. He tried changing up the way he fought, going with wide swings over thrusts. It helped, but not enough.
"Then maybe this?" Motoyasu muttered before chanting.
[Fast Fire Shot]
Fire shot from his hands and engulfed a few monsters in fire. The monsters died near instantly, but Motoyasu wasn't pleased. The time it took to cast that spell versus the number of enemies he killed was laughable. Motoyasu had been putting it off, but he had ignored magic to a woeful degree. His affinities were fire and healing and he only knew one weak spell of each kind.
He tried arguing with himself that this problem only existed because he was currently trying to not use skills, but that was only a half-truth. Surely enemies that are weak to magic would come along at some point and he would be unable to contribute.
"Maybe Therese will tutor me?" Motoyasu briefly thought.
Seeing how bad Motoyasu's spell was, L'arc felt sure of his win, which prompted a question.
"Wait, what does the winner get?" L'arc asked.
"The loser buys them drinks." Motoyasu answered immediately.
"I hope you have the coin, because I'll drink you broke!" L'arc taunted, happy by the news.
"You two are already not taking things seriously, now you involve alcohol?" Therese complained.
Therese honestly didn't care that much, but the more time spent with Motoyasu, the more she came to realize that he was just another L'arc. She could hardly keep just L'arc in line. With Motoyasu there, she had to all but give up. She'd need to step up.
"All-encompassing power of the jewel, hear my plea and show yourself. My name is Therese Alexanderite. I am your friend. Strike them with your brilliant light." Therese chanted.
[Shining Stone: Thunder Rain]
A light came from one of her bangles and it grew to a bright yellow. After a moment, the light faded and bolts of lightning rained down on every monster in sight. In an instant, Therese was the winner.
"Whoa…" Motoyasu saw that her spell was similar in strength to a hero's skill. He never would have expected that.
"Ah, Therese, looks like we're getting you drunk now." L'arc joked lightly, not upset that she ruined the game.
"You know I hate that stuff. Get serious." Therese responded.
"Seriously, you don't drink at all?" Motoyasu asked, coming back to meet the two of them.
"Yes, seriously. It smells foul and turns L'arc into even more of a child. It's terrible." Therese complained.
"Then you'll have to settle for these." Motoyasu pulled out some potion bottles and offered them to her.
"What are these?"
"They're called [Soul-Healing Water]. It gives the spirit power, but it also recovers mana and tastes really good. You won, so you should get something you enjoy. Try it." Motoyasu explained.
Therese's mana was full, she used the power of her gems. Explaining it might give too much away and she was curious. She took a sip.
"Oh wow, that is really good." Therese admitted.
"Have as many as you like." Motoyasu handed her many more.
"Oh, it's great, but I don't want to burden you." Therese felt bad taking anything from Motoyasu, given his situation.
"It's fine, they're easy to make and you did win after all." Motoyasu encouraged her to take them.
"..." Motoyasu was being his normal generous self and unintentionally gave her a powerful tool.
"Mind giving me one?" L'arc asked.
"Sure." Motoyasu tossed him one.
L'arc caught it and pocketed it.
"You aren't going to try it now?" Motoyasu asked.
"Nah, might be better to mix with my drinks later." L'arc responded.
"Wait…, but I won, you two aren't drinking later!" Therese tried putting her foot down.
"We never said only the winner drinks." Motoyasu pointed out, backing up L'arc.
"..." Therese finished the bottle she started and pouted a bit.
"Let's hurry to that boss, these guys are getting boring." L'arc told them.
"Yeah, these guys aren't giving us nearly what that boss will." Motoyasu told them.
The two of them promptly began leaving for the ruins, Therese yelling at them to slow down. She now had to play babysitter the whole day. Such was the life of Therese Alexanderite.
…
Liviccic's lessons
…
Liviccic's group took to smaller islands than the four heroes. He had been getting used to his new weapon, but it never felt right in his hands. Even when it took the appearance of the staff he copied, it somehow felt off. It was a minor concern that was as annoying as a small itch, so he ignored it.
"I wish we could have brought more than just us along. Briarhaven would have done well with a couple dozen of their knights reaching such heights." Liviccic admitted.
"Yet, any of them that hadn't class upgraded yet would be dead weight here." Melty answered him.
"The Princess is right, them not achieving class upgrades left them unworthy of the effort. You've done some to help improve things since your return, but Briarhaven requires more." Isidor advised.
"Indeed, Briarhaven without a proper leader caused a lot of problems. It'll still be a few more months to see this through at the current rate." Ida added.
"I doubt the lord needs you to tell him that. He saw us to victory against the church and became a hero." Silvius commented, not liking how they belittled his accomplishments.
"You need not remind us, the lord is quite something. That's why we push him." Ida told him.
"He is nearly 16 and has done so much. Would you want him to rest on the accomplishments from before he was a man?" Isidor asked.
"No, he will accomplish more, but sounding permanently dissatisfied with him is not appreciated. And as I've told you several times, he is an adult." Sophia answered and corrected them.
"If Princess Melty weren't here, I'd gladly explain that the lord's bedroom activities with you hardly c-" Ida went to respond, but was cut off.
"That is enough. I chose you two to accompany me out of all the remaining upper staff precisely because you are unsatisfied with me. As such, I appreciate any constructive criticism you may offer…, but a word of caution. Speaking to Sophia in such a manner will not be tolerated. Are we clear?" Liviccic started warmly before his words went icy.
Everyone understood his tone.
"Of course, my lord. No one can be infinitely accommodating." Ida said without a shred of fear.
"Pushback is to be expected, your father was much the same… That is a lesson you'll need to learn one day as well, Princess Melty. While waging wars and throwing your power is ill advised, there are times when avoiding such things will be a worse option." Isidor took the chance to try teaching a lesson to both Princess Melty and their lord.
"The less you speak, the more your words matter. The same is true for actions. Choosing when to exercise your power is the mark of a great ruler." Ida added.
"Now they're lecturing the Princess. These two are too comfortable in their position." Silvius and Sophia both thought.
"Thank you for your advice. I'll keep them in mind in Lurolona." Melty said, being nicer than she needed to be.
Liviccic nodded to them both. In a way, both Melty and Liviccic were demonstrating the very lesson, by not complaining further.
The six of them began making their way inland. They would travel past the center of the island, then turn back and take their boat to a second island. They were hoping to make it through three such islands before the end of the day.
At the first sight of monsters, Melty took the lead, using [Zweite Aqua Slash] to cleave a few in half.
"The double stat class upgrade is quite the boon, but skill is as every bit as important as stats. If you aim a bit lower and keep it level, you hit far more enemies." Ida told Melty.
Indeed the first group of enemies were in a large group, it would have helped, but she wasn't fighting by herself. Liviccic followed up by raising the staff and using one of the skills he gained from absorbing Idol's whips.
[Lesser Collapsing Crush]
A spherical area grew a deep purple before the creatures inside were crushed, pushed to their center-most point. It had a decent area and it hit that entire group.
"Remember that you have the use of traditional spells as well. No need to rely on such things, especially with enemies this weak. If anything, this would be a great chance to get used to casting such magic." Isidor told Liviccic.
Their constant advising was annoying, but that last bit was completely true. Fighting small fry like this would allow him endless targets to perfect his magic casting.
Silvius pulled out his normal sword, unable to use Veramir's cursed sword without weakening it. His attacks were direct and with purpose, if a little uncreative. Seeing this, Ida stepped up next to him and unsheathed her weapon. It was a thick broadsword, much thicker than the cursed sword that Silvius carried. She reached back and swung her sword. As she did so, the sword fell apart. Or more accurately, her sword split into sections, held together by thick metal wire.
The sword could reach over 20 feet away and a wide sweep with the weapon hit more enemies than most of the spells any of them knew. The wide sweep appeared to leave her open for a few enemies to exploit, but before anyone could assist her, she retracted her weapon and used the joints of her sword as armor, before strangling her remaining enemies with the cords. That was Ida's special weapon. Other members of the Briarhaven military required that you master three weapons. Ida alone was given an exemption by Liviccic's late father. His cited reason was that her weapon was three in one.
Seeing his wife make a move, Isidor also moved forward.
"This is what Ida was speaking of, Princess…" Isidor chanted for a moment.
[Drifa Aqua Slash]
The blade was about twice as wide as Melty's, it also traveled a bit faster. As his wife had told Melty, the spell was lower to the ground and straight in its trajectory. It hit a huge number of monsters and maintained itself until it was out of sight.
"That was amazing. I was unaware that we shared an affinity." Melty said, staying pleasant.
"My affinities are water and wind. I can use a staff, spear and dagger, but I primarily use my magic. I believe I have a lot I can teach both you and the lord when it comes to spell casting." Isidor told Melty.
Specifically, Isidor had three pieces of pipe that formed a staff, and a dagger that screwed into the staff, making it a spear. It was a modular weapon.
As they spoke, Sophia seemed to grow more aggravated at them. Eventually, Ida thought to ask.
"Are you going to help, or stand in our lord's shadow all day?" She asked in an accusatory manner.
Sophia had been doing a lot, they just hadn't noticed yet. Sophia snapped her fingers and dozens of explosions could be seen and many more heard. She had been producing numerous spiders through the entire exchange and even before that, since the moment they left the boat. They were normally larger than her hand, but she was aware that the monsters on the island were supposedly weak. She adjusted the spiders accordingly, making them much smaller and weaker.
Spider webs seemed to keep track of most of them and helped guide them. When she sent the order through the web, each of the spiders detonated. The resulting peppering of explosions destroyed every monster they could see and many they could not. During the explosions, Sophia locked eyes with Isidor and Ida. Neither had even the slightest idea that she could do that or was up to anything. The silent exchange between them was clear. For all their experience, they were only in their 50s while she was nearly 100. She was older and more skilled than them and they should learn that now.
Liviccic, Melty and Silvius were not ignorant to the exchange. Tensions were high as the group wasn't getting along. Liviccic needed to step in.
"Let's search ahead. Ida, Silvius, take point. Isidor, stay back and watch me and Princess Melty and correct our spell casting, don't be bothersome with it. Sophia, do as you please." Liviccic ordered.
He placed himself above Silvius, Ida, and Isidor by deciding what they'd do; he omitted Melty because he had no authority over her. Lastly, by giving Sophia free reign, he was placing her above them, as he always would.
They all acknowledged his orders and continued.
…
Naofumi's Karma
…
After some time traveling inward, they began to see something strange.
"Are these carved stones?" Naofumi asked.
"No, they look like lain stone." Raphtalia looked closer.
"These are very old. Are they as old as the ruins in Fitoria's realm? Older still?" Teal asked curiously.
They had come upon ruins that were indeterminably old. It would have been interesting to search around, but there were monsters around and they were different from anything they had fought prior.
[Karma Dog Familiars]
These monsters were large dogs, bigger than the kids in their human forms, but a little smaller than Raphtalia. They had black fur that was rough to the touch and seemed similar to the two-headed black dog and Cerberus monsters. Raphtalia didn't falter, she had overcome the trauma already. Her sword found their snout every time, stopping them from snapping their mouths at her.
Teal's swordsmanship was not as refined as her mother's, her blade could not find every claw or mouth that approached her with the same grace as her mother. That said, she had options that her mother did not. Teal was getting better at morphing her body. She grew an extra arm and drew out a second and third sword. With more swings of her swords, she made up for her lack of skill with more attempts.
Monti was able to aim for the neck of the monsters well, despite their numbers and speed. If the strike didn't kill them, the wound combined with poison weakened them greatly. Monti was having a somewhat easy enough time with them to use one mind to pay attention to block for Keel, who was to his right, if it was needed.
Keel was doing his best, but the monsters gave him bad memories. He hadn't faced those traumas like Raphtalia had and it affected his abilities a lot at first. He performed terribly, but as time went on, the less fear he held. He could kill one of the dogs in as little as three hits if he was lucky. He was finally feeling that strength that he, and everyone else, had been pushing for. While the kids still had a noticeable lead on Keel, he was currently quite strong.
Naofumi would use defensive skills as needed, protecting Keel a bit more than the others, as he'd need it. When the enemies seemed to reach their thickest, Naofumi used [Hate Reaction] to draw their attention. Most of the enemies were killed on their way to him, but enough survived to pile up on him. For a moment it was too much, but everyone else kept attacking and soon enough Naofumi was fine.
Filo was very deadly, using a variation of the [Mana Claws]. The result was a spinning drill-like attack that cut through a row of them without issue. She called this attack [Spiral Strike]. It was so effective that she took out as much as both Teal and Keel did combined in that one attack.
At the sight of this, Leon immediately changed gears.
"Watch this!" Leon shouted.
[Drifa Firestorm]
Leon tried outdoing his sister by doing both a bigger spell and one of a higher rank than any of the others could cast. A twister of fire came down and tore through the monsters, not only those they were fighting, but many more out of view. Naofumi used [Air Strike Shield] to cover Keel in case Monti could not. As the spell cleared and the monsters laid dead, Leon went to pose.
"See that? I-!" Leon was interrupted by Teal hitting him in the head.
It dealt no damage to him, because of [Love] making them all immune. It's why he used the spell so close to them. However, he forgot one thing.
"Leon, are you dumb? What if you hurt Keel?" Teal screamed a bit at him.
"I...Oh... I kind of forgot about Keel not being immune."
"It's good to use the family series to our advantage, but tactics like that won't be usable with Keel with us. Think things through before you hurt someone, got it?" Naofumi lectured.
"Y-Yes, father..." Leon had screwed up when he was trying to show off.
"That attack earlier was quite something Filo, I'm very proud of you." Raphtalia praised Filo.
She patted her head as Filo bounced a bit, satisfied with her work. Leon saw the praise Filo was getting, he made sure to outdo her next time. Naofumi saw this and leaned down next to Leon.
"That spell was really good, don't get me wrong..." Naofumi wanted to praise him, but felt he shouldn't.
"I won't screw up again, I promise." Leon told his father.
After that, Naofumi's party was able to explore the ruins a bit, but some lacked interest. Naofumi himself absorbed the monsters they just fought.
.
[Karma Dog Familiar Shield]
+1 def, +2 spd, sense of smell up (low)
[Ability: Inult Status Adjustment] Increase the stat growth of an "Inult" by a small amount.
.
The kids also tossed any body they saw into the inventory as they explored.
"What's the big deal? It's just rocks, right?" Filo commented.
"Agreed, nothing of value." Leon agreed.
"C'mon, this place is cool." Keel tried to convince them to gain some interest.
They explored a bit before Naofumi caught Monti staring at something and approached. He was staring at a floating black ball. That was certainly weird.
"Any idea what it is?" Naofumi walked up next to him and asked.
"...No, but... It feels sort of like the waves." Monti told his father.
"Black floating orb, feels like the wave, monsters come through the wave... Based on games I played, this is a warp spot. Where would it take us?" Naofumi thought.
Naofumi observed it for a moment.
"If it teleports me, I can't get back, but if it teleports one of them..." Naofumi had a simple idea.
"Monti, go touch that thing." Naofumi told him.
Monti needed no other reason or information beyond that his dad told him to. He walked up to the orb with none of the caution he had before and touched the orb with his tail.
Nothing happened for a short moment.
The next moment, a large monster sprang from the ball, pushing and holding Monti to the ground. The beast was an even larger dog, nearly the size of Monti's full form. Its thick hair almost looked like a mane itself It had some ramming horns, dark feathered wings, and the tail was long and ended in a mace-head. It sort of seemed similar to Monti in body shape.
It tried to bite Monti while he was pinned, but Monti transformed and threw the beast off of him with a surprising amount of strength. Monti struck the ground with his tail and brought his body upright with it, facing the beast.
"Oi, everyone! We have a big enemy!" Naofumi called.
Most of them already heard the scuffle and were almost there. Naofumi inspected the monster quickly while moving forward.
[Karma Dog]
[Level: 70]
"That is quite the level it has and its size and name... It was the boss of those smaller dogs, maybe the boss of the whole island. We shoul-shit." Naofumi thought for a moment, but was interrupted by the dog lunging at him and biting into his shoulder.
Naofumi had failed to block the mouth like he planned. The teeth pierced his skin and sank in a bit. It hurt, shooting streaks of pain through his body, but Naofumi saw that the monster couldn't sink its teeth in all the way. Naofumi's defense was not enough, but it helped. Everyone jumped in and attacked the beast. Naofumi held its snout, not letting it escape.
Raphtalia and Teal sliced at its stomach, Monti and Filo followed that up with large streaks with their claws. Raphtalia and Teal's attacks were deeper, while Monti and Filo's caused more bleeding. All four of them had to back off as its wings spread out to push them away. It readied its tail them
Smack
Keel punched it with both his arms hitting it square in both eyes. This allowed the beast to escape Naofumi's grip and Naofumi was about to be upset with Keel, but-
[Alert! Danger Imminent!]
Naofumi saw the mace-head of the tail barely miss him. The Karma Dog was moving everyone out of the way so it could wind-up its tail. Had Keel not struck the monster, Naofumi would have had one hell of a headache, to say the least.
"My turn!" Leon called.
Leon transformed behind Naofumi and Keel and breathed a cone of fire onto the Karma Dog. The fires were greatly resisted, but the force of the attack pushed the monster back. Leon waited for his moment this time.
The Karma dog tried to recover, but Raphtalia wasn't going to miss the chance. She ran in yelling, grabbing the beast's attention as she planned. It swung its tail at her and she dropped to her knees, sliding, slicing at the tail. She severed the mace-head from the tail, taking away one of its main weapons.
Several of the smaller dog monsters appeared as the beast howled. Naofumi saw what it was doing, it was using the smaller dogs to single Raphtalia out. It lunged at Raphtalia, thinking the small fries could distract the others well enough.
[Air Strike Shield]
Instead of placing the shield between Raphtalia and the boss, Naofumi placed it to its right side. That was because there was someone else intercepting the beast: Monti. He came from the left side and bit the Karma Dog in the throat, pinning it to the [Air Strike Shield].
[Fast Aura]
Naofumi used his new spell on Monti, the results were evident. The Karma Dog couldn't do anything about Monti, he pinned each of its limbs with his own while his poison and the throat wound did its job. By the time everyone else was done with the few reinforcement, the Karma Dog was slain.
Everyone gathered around and Naofumi absorbed the boss. Raphtalia complained that he should heal his shoulder first, but it didn't hurt that much.
.
[Karma Dog Shield]
+3 def, +5 spd, sense of smell up (medium)
[Ability: Inult Status Adjustment II] Increase the stat growth of an "Inult" by a moderate amount.
[Unique Ability: Bloodhound] You can track a desired target.
.
The traditional shield stats on this shield weren't bad at all, but with the power-up methods, the shields weren't too impressive. Still, if he mastered both of these dog shields... Teal could never sneak up on him. Her flower's scent would give her away. He was tempted to prioritize it.
Everyone caught their breath and sat down on the stone steps nearby. "That was good timing everyone." Naofumi told them.
They all discussed ways that they could have done things better or how cool they looked. The kids kept everything rather lighthearted. When they were finally ready to keep exploring the area, Filo approached the ball.
"Do you think it's okay to let Filo near that thing?" Raphtalia asked, sounding very unsure.
"It's been nearly 40 minutes and nothing has happened. Without a boss, it's probably a treasure or prize to take." Naofumi argued.
"Treasure!?" Leon heard that and ran for the orb.
Filo saw him and grabbed it first.
"...It's not moving?" Filo said.
Suddenly, another boss appeared, with it more small dogs.
"Dad, why don't you ever listen to mom!?" Teal shouted.
From there, they fought it again. Things went smoother, with Monti pinning the boss faster and shocking it to death. Naofumi focused on keeping the smaller enemies off of Monti so he could do so. The others were pretty used to the smaller dog monsters at this point and they killed them quickly.
That monster had given them some trouble, but the EXP was amazing. Naofumi also saw several drop items that he'd need to look at later. Naofumi felt that farming this enemy was the thing to do. He told everyone his plan and they prepared themselves. When Monti touched the orb… nothing happened.
"Why isn't the big dog popping out?" Filo asked what everyone thought.
"Is there no more?" Monti thought aloud.
"That doesn't make sense, why have only a second one if you touch it again, but not a third one?" Raphtalia wasn't sure.
"I'd say… It's time based. We waited 40 minutes between the first two fights." Naofumi considered.
"Does that mean we can rest a bit?" Leon asked.
Naofumi turned back to see that the party looked very tired. While the enemies weren't difficult, their numbers were overwhelming at times. It was beginning to get dark and Naofumi wanted to keep going, but he also knew that the nice hotel they were staying at was the only opportunity for comfort that they'd have for some time. Probably months until they could sleep in their home.
"..." Naofumi glanced over the others.
He also noticed that all the complaining was gone and they were all doing their part. Even Keel, who was lagging behind in places, was putting forth a lot of effort. If they kept going Keel wasn't going to be able to carry himself.
"...Alright, we made good progress today. Let's aim to make it to the center of the next island tomorrow so we can see if they also have these things." Naofumi told them.
Keel and Leon dropped to the ground.
"Finally... rest." Leon said, thankfully
"Holy crap, my arms were about to fall off." Keel admitted.
"Wow, lame." Filo chirped.
"Sh-Shut up, I was just using too much mana. They wouldn't stop coming. If I could just figure out dragon v-" Leon tried to explain.
"Excuses make you look lamer." Filo interrupted, turning away.
There was a pause, then Leon jumped on Filo's back.
"Then carry me." Leon told her.
"What? No! Get off!" Filo was having a fit.
"If you have so much energy, then carry your tired little brother. What, not enough energy?" Leon taunted
"Grrr." Filo was mad now.
Leon was so tired that even Filo carrying him was preferred to walking. Normally he'd fight with her, but not now. Besides, she technically gave him rides all the time, in the cart.
"Nope!" Filo flung him off, throwing him pretty far. Monti flew up and caught his brother.
"She's being mean to me..." Leon whined.
"It's fine, I'll carry you." Monti gave in immediately.
"What about me?" Keel asked, all the toughness gone the moment he realized they'd still need to get back to the main island.
"I got you covered." Teal quickly offered.
"Kids, remember that we have to travel through the sky, we didn't bring a boat." Raphtalia burst their bubble.
"I'll carry everyone, I can fly too." Monti offered.
They all knew Monti would be willing, but he just wasn't big enough to carry 6 other people while flying. That and Keel secretly wasn't thrilled by the idea of riding Monti, he still held silent suspicions.
"Leon, have some magic healing water and suck it up. Make it back to the main island and you can sleep." Naofumi told him, holding the bottle.
"Hmm, fine." Leon sounded like he really didn't want to, but he would.
He downed the bottle and felt a bit better. He transformed and everyone got on his back. Soon enough, they were in the air, on their way to the main island.
"Whoa." A small voice escaped Raphtalia.
The sun was setting over the water and from Leon's back they had a tremendous view. Naofumi didn't even think to use the camera skill. They all just sat there, watching the sun fall into the sea. They were all tired, but they also wished a moment like that would last longer…
They landed near where the small boats for adventurers dock. No sooner did they dismount Leon, did he throw himself on his big brother.
"Carry me." Leon begged.
"Alright, I got you." Rather than be annoyed by his brother's ways, he was happy to help in whatever way he could.
"I see you skipped the boats, Naofumi." Ren called to the group.
Ren's group had just exited their boat. They also seemed worn out, even Wyndia.
"Have any trouble?" Naofumi asked.
"You could say that. The boss was a bit hard at first, but it got easier the second time." Ren answered.
"Damn that rabbit." One of Ren's teammates muttered.
"So each island does have a boss?" Naofumi asked for confirmation.
"The four main ones should. Wasn't sure how my information would hold up, but it did, even the respawn timer was the same." Ren explained.
"We figured it out, got the boss twice." Naofumi responded.
"Not bad, we also got ours twice. Getting to the boss was a hassle." Ren admitted.
"Don't be modest, Sir Ren, you had no issue. We were the ones struggling." Another of Ren's party members defended.
"Either way, it seems we made it through the first day, and with these level gains, tomorrow will be easier. We're hitting the hotel." Naofumi went to leave.
"Actually… Naofumi? You make accessories, would you want to buy this?" Ren said, pulling out an item.
[Oreikul ore]
The ore seemed odd and a simple inspection lead Naofumi to believe that the ore was something special.
"Wow, that's expensive… I mean, it's okay I guess…" Leon admitted before trying to play it off.
"..." Naofumi considered it.
"Sure, for something like that-" Naofumi went to offer.
"One gold… Please." Ren interrupted.
He needed the cash. He had to borrow coin just to rent the boat today. Unfortunately, Naofumi was likely to offer 2 gold or more, but if Ren was happy with one-
"Sure, here you go." Naofumi exchanged the coin for the ore.
"Now we can eat…" Ren whispered.
"By the way… Why didn't you equip that ore in your sword? I'm sure it'll boost better than any ore you have." Naofumi asked.
"I plan to." Ren answered.
"What?" Naofumi wasn't getting it.
"The bosses drop that ore, I'll get more." Ren clarified.
"Wha-" Naofumi went through his drop items and sure enough he got two of them, one for each time they beat a boss.
"Game knowledge is to be acquired and used by those who learned it, not handed out to noobs." Ren said, calling back to their earlier interactions.
Ren smiled, walking away. Naofumi wanted to yell at him for tricking him into buying an item he was going to be getting a lot of, but after he sold medicine to Ren for 50 silver a bottle, that seemed like a fair move.
Ren looked like he was walking away smoothly, but internally…
"Oh shit, it actually worked! Now run, run away before he demands a refund!" Ren thought to himself.
"W-Wait for us, Sir Ren!" A teammate called out.
They all ran to catch up to him. Wyndia gave Leon and the others a wave as she left.
"Maybe we can work on dragon's vein later? See ya." Wyndia said as she chased after the others.
Naofumi wanted to hit up some shops, ask about the dacna pearls, sell medicine…
"They all look worn out, though…" Naofumi thought.
"Alright. Let's get to the hotel. I'll get some things done in town afterwards." Naofumi told them.
"I'd like to come too." Raphtalia expressed.
"...Sure, of course… Monti, keep an eye on your siblings and Keel, make sure they don't cause any issues."
"You can count on me." Monti said confidently.
All his confidence made sense, though. After all, they were all tired and after some food, they'd all be asleep. In Monti's mind, it was an easy task.
As they made it back to the hotel, Naofumi started forming a list of things he wanted to do.
"I can't actually sell my medicine to customers directly, I'd need to be here to sell and then I couldn't be out there leveling up. So, my best bet is to sell to the shops. I'd have to charge less, but I could sell in bulk and we'd still be able to level all we want. I also need to ask about those dacna pearls, maybe sell them to the guy. Maybe I-" Naofumi continued thinking.
They made it to the hotel and were greeted by some workers.
"Welcome back, shield hero. The second room that was requested has been prepared. We've moved in extra beds so that the second room now has five beds. Is that satisfactory?" The man at the desk asked.
"Oh, um-" Naofumi was busy thinking and lost where he was.
"It is, thank you very much." Raphtalia answered for him.
"Y-Yeah, thanks." Naofumi managed.
"I'll keep an eye on everyone, see you both when you get back." Monti waved to Naofumi and Raphtalia.
They both felt like Monti had it covered. They were tired.
What no one saw was a look that Teal was making. She had an evil plan forming, one that would cause all sorts of headaches. She'd need to gather allies for her plan to work.
"Don't stay out all night, you two need rest too." Teal added.
The group split for the night and now was the time to rest for the kids. Teal quickly whispered in the ears of Filo, Leon and Keel her plan, while Monti was still facing the front exit.
"Why would I do that? I'm tired." Leon wasn't receptive to Teal's plan.
"Do it and I'll help you kidnap that woman you took a liking to." Teal told him with a sinister smile.
"..." Leon thought for only a moment. "Rebel!" Leon yelled.
"Wha-" Monti turned around, seeing the others running for the exits.
"See ya Monti, we'll be back before Mom and Dad get back… probably." Teal teased.
"W-Wait!" Monti began to chase them down.
And so Warden Monti now had a prison break to deal with.
.
[Author's Notes]
Chapter is big and late, yes, those are related.
The party ran into some very rude adventurers claiming to be gladiators. Both Naofumi and Monti seemed to find their leader familiar, why?
They fought to the center of the island and killed a boss, twice. Which is ahead of canon, but canon had to deal with Naofumi going to a different island because of Itsuki. So in the end, the planning was worth it.
Ren is no longer going off on his own and that means spending more time with his party, maybe better cooperation will matter later?
Itsuki is being Itsuki, overly judgemental, off the mark and needlessly rude, but through all of that he found a positive opinion of Mia.
Motoyasu, L'arc and Therese seem to be getting along great and Motoyasu introduced them to [Soul-Healing Water]... Poor Moto...
Liviccic's two additional party choices are strong, but they are more than a little annoying and may cause more trouble than they are worth.
The day was going too well, so now poor Monti has to catch everyone else before his parents return or he'll look irresponsible.
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