"Everyone get away from here! This way!" a man yelled, gesturing for people to evacuate out of the village as the fire behind them consumed everything. He picked up a pitchfork and pointed it at the source of the fire.

"Damn, this village is broke as hell too. Doesn't anyone have anything good around these parts?" a man grumbled, tossing an egg covered in burning red scales with a dragon perched on top, hugging a gem. He was tossing the weapon into the air, as the flames danced around him.

"You will not go a step further!" the man said, lunging forward with his weapon. However, the man with the capsule suddenly threw it forward, barely giving the man any time to react. In an instant, the egg exploded, sending the man and his weapon to the ground.

The farmer groaned as he tried to get back to his feet, but his whole body was pierced by shrapnel, quickly bleeding onto the ground.

"Dad!" a woman yelled, quickly running towards the man.

"Wait, Evaline! Run away!" the man screamed, trying to use the pitchfork and a nearby wall to raise himself off of the ground, but it was too late.

"Well well well, since when did a cutie like this appear in this dump?" the man with the egg asked, walking past the injured man. His eyes were glued to the girl in front of him as he licked his lips, approaching her slowly. The weapon began to transform, turning instead into a spiky ball with a similar lever on top.

"Don't touch her, you monster!" the man screamed, pushing himself off of the wall as he tried to stab him, but the invader simply slapped the weapon away and kicked the man back.

"Get out of my way you old fart. You're gonna dirty my clothes," the guy spat, giving the farmer one more kick. He then looked back to the terrified young woman standing just a few meters away with a bandage. "Hey there, beautiful. I'm a hero sent to save the world… my world. Why don't you join me in bed tonight and I can help you escape from this dump you call home?"

The girl looked at the man with a mixture of confusion and fear.

"W-what kind of h-hero comes to a village to burn it and h-hurt its people?!" the woman mumbled.

"Eh, unfortunate casualties. If the guards weren't such jackasses and simply let me into the treasury like I asked instead of attacking, none of this would have happen. I mean, the least you villagers can do is support a hero on his journey, right?" he reasoned.

This just disgusted the girl, as she looked at him like he was the most vile piece of garbage she had ever seen. The man glared at her and grabbed his weapon tighter.

"Oi, what's with that f*cking look?" he growled, approaching the woman.

"G-get back! Get away you bastard! Haven't you hurt us enough?!" she yelled, taking a few steps back. But before she could run, he grabbed her by the hair and pulled her closer.

"Damn, now you just had to glare at me like that, didn't you? A shame, I was gonna let you be one of my girls if you weren't such a b*tch," he grumbled, pushing her to the ground. As she began to crawl away, he tossed his weapon onto her back, muttering something. The weapon attached itself and began to glow brighter and brighter, as cracks began to form.

"No! You leave her alone!" the farmer screamed, limping towards the pair, but it was too late.

"D-dad?" was all she managed to say, before a blinding light covered the weapon.

"Boom," the invader grinned, right before the weapon on Evaline's back burst. With a loud explosion, the girl disappeared, leaving behind a bloody crater. The smell of burnt flesh hit the father's nose, as he collapsed to his knees at the edge of the crater.

"F*ck, it's always the goddamn smell that's the worst part of this… oh right, forgot you were still here, old man," he said, the weapon quickly appearing in his hand. "I guess I should finish on the cleanup, right?"

But then something caught the corner of his eye, making him frown and put his weapon away.

"Damn it, out of SP again. This skill shouldn't cost so much at my level. Well, you live for now. Just don't cross my path again. Not like there would be much left to cross after I'm done," he laughed, walking in the direction of where the villagers escaped to. The farmer didn't follow, instead, he continued to sit at the edge of the crater, tears running down his face as he faced what was left of his daughter.

After a while, the fire in the village began to die out. The buildings collapsed, people and items turning to ash, blowing away in the wind. The sounds of screams in the distance ceased as well, leaving the man alone with a destroyed village and a crater for a grave.

He continued to sit there, blood spilling out of his wounds as his body weakened. His back was about to give out, but just as he began approaching the ground, someone grabbed him by the shoulders and gently set him down.

"Um… is this a bad time?" a girl with flowing white hair asked. "Sorry, I'm still trying to grasp the situation. This has only happened once before and I didn't understand what happened last time."

"Who… who are?" the farmer wheezed out weakly.

"Um… uh… sorry hold on, I'm still working on my magic," the girl said, forming several stars. After a couple of seconds the stars formed a glowing cross which she quickly pushed into the man's chest. In an instant the bleeding began to slow as the wounds closed up.

"What are you? What did you do?" the farmer asked in awe as his skin began to regain its natural color.

"I'm Reiya," Reiya smiled brightly. But her smile quickly faded once she looked around the village. "I'm sorry about what happened here."

"It wasn't your fault. None of us had a chance against a wielder of the vassal weapon. Even the Hero Hunters fell, despite the power they had against heroes. But I just… if only my daughter survived… why me?"

Reiya looked down at the crater and then back at the man with a sad expression.

"Why did he leave me," the man mumbled, tears brimming at his eyes. Reiya stood up and looked to the side.

"Wait here," she said, dropping into the crater left behind by the explosion. The man slowly crawled over to the crater and looked inside, but to his surprise, the girl completely disappeared, as if she wasn't there to begin with.

"What in the world is happening?" the old man asked, looking down at his hands. His body was rejuvenated, but everything felt too surreal. Like it wasn't supposed to happen. Like something was off but he didn't know what.

"I'm back," Reiya said excitedly, phasing through the bottom of the crater.

"Please tell me what is happening. This… this feels off," the old man said, touching his face to see if he had any injuries. Was this a hallucination? Or a near death experience.

Reiya looked at the man with a sad expression and kneeled down next to him.

"I'm sorry to say this… but you… are no longer alive," she said slowly, carefully observing the man. But instead of yelling or crying, he simply sat there and let out a heavy sigh.

"I see… well… I lived a long life so I suppose dying in my birthplace is not so bad. It's a shame I had to go like this though. I just wish…" he paused, looking down at the crater. "I wish my daughter would have made it out of here. She didn't… she didn't deserve this…"

Tears began to run down his face again as he slumped on the ground. Reiya patted him on the back. The two of them stayed silent except for the occasional crack of a nearby building, the drops of rain falling down from the sky, and the whirling of the wind around them.

"If you could… would you like to talk to her one last time?" Reiya said, standing up from the ground.

"If… if it's possible, then yes… yes, of course," the man exclaimed. He looked up at Reiya with hope in his eyes and wiped away the tears.

Reiya reached her hand into the crater as a bright light engulfed her. A hand appeared, wrapped around Reiya's. As she pulled the hand up, the owner came into view, causing the old man to let out a gasp.

"D-dad?" Evaline whispered, looking up at her father in teary eyes.

"E-Evaline!" the man exclaimed, getting off of the ground and rushing to his daughter, embracing her. Tears flowed from their eyes as the two hugged each other, their sobs overpowering the surrounding noises.

Reiya took a few steps back, leaving the two to talk to each other, as she looked around at the ruined village. The rain washed away the ashes and left behind a burned pile of charred wood where houses used to stand. Craters began to fill with the rainwater and what little was left standing began to collapse.

But then the ground beneath her became blurry, the rain fell slower, and the sounds around her seemed to quiet down.

Weird, this shouldn't happen until the person dies, right? That's how it fell apart last time. But he seems fine now, so why is it stopping already? Is it because his memory ends here?

She turned back to the two people behind her and paused. The two people in front of her were talking about something, but their bodies were starting to fade away, turning into glowing dust that disappeared into the air around them.

"Huh? Wait, are you guys-?" Reiya began, but she wasn't sure how to finish her question. Thankfully she didn't have to, as the two of them turned towards her.

"Thank you for letting me see my daughter one last time before I passed. I wish we could have stayed more but… this is fine too," he said, as he and his daughter continued to disappear.

"I see… I'm glad I could help," Reiya smiled, waving at the two. "I hope you two are happier wherever you end up next."

"Thank you. I'd say 'see you later' but I hope that won't happen for a while," Evaline said, waving back to the girl with teary eyes.

Just a few moments later, the two of them disappeared, leaving Reiya in the burned village. Reiya looked down at the scorched ground, the events of the day slowly coming back to her. She grabbed her chest and kneeled down at the ground as her chest began to tighten.

Images of the passed villagers began to appear in her mind, as the memories of their last few seconds surfaced. The terror, the loss, the regret, tears, screams, blood, loss, pain, everything began to overwhelm her. She began to sob as the ground around her darkened, the faint light of her surroundings deteriorated.

Why… Why did so many have to be hurt? What did they do to deserve their lives being ended so early?

Her body began to shake as the surroundings faded away, leaving her in a dark void. With no one around her to distract her, the pain the villagers felt just seemed to get worse and worse. She felt like she was suffocating, and it wasn't ending anytime soon.

"Mhn, Reiya?" Clara mumbled, opening her eyes. Her body felt a bit sore, but still better than the day before. She looked over to the girl in her arms and her mind quickly cleared up.

Reiya was trembling as tears rolled down her face. Clara gently nudged her, however, Reiya barely reacted and continued to cry in her sleep. Clara sat up and began to shake Reiya's shoulders, hoping to wake her up.

Suddenly, Reiya shot up gasping for air. She looked around in a panic, barely understanding what was happening around her.

"Reiya, it's ok, I'm here, everything is fine," Clara said, gently holding the girl up as her brain began to catch up. As her surroundings registered, the tears continued to fall from her eyes. She looked at Clara and let out a choked sob.

"M-miss Cla-Clara," she whimpered, before collapsing onto the girl's arms. Clara hugged the ghost girl and gently patted her head to try to calm her down.

"It's ok, it's gonna be ok," she whispered, gently rocking back and forth. Reiya didn't answer and continued to sob, hanging on tightly to Clara's shirt.

Is she… is this because of yesterday? It seems to have taken a toll on Reiya more than on me.

…

I have to get stronger. Strong enough so that she doesn't suffer like this again.

Just then she noticed that Reiya stopped crying and was simply leaning on Clara, her eyes almost closed. Clara laid her back onto the bed and tried to get up, but Reiya was still holding onto her shirt.

"Wait… can we lay down for a bit longer?" Reiya pleaded, pulling Clara back down. Clara looked out the window and saw that the sun was about to come out. They had maybe 20 more minutes before Laura or Goron would come knocking on their door.

Clara laid back down and hugged Reiya again. The two of them laid in silence, listening to each other's breathing, as more and more light began to stream into the room.

"Miss Clara?" Reiya suddenly spoke up, breaking the silence.

"Yeah?"

"... how strong do we have to be to beat the waves?"

Clara paused for a moment as she thought. The last wave wasn't that difficult since she overleveled, but it was only going to get harder from here.

"I don't know," she answered honestly.

"Do you think we'll get that strong?" Reiya asked after another pause.

Clara looked into the ghost girl's eyes, thinking for a moment. But with everything that happened today and the days before, she knew she only had one real option.

"Of course we will," she replied. Reiya smiled in response and closed her eyes, curling up closer to the little hero. Clara opened up her status and looked at how long was left till the next wave.

[Royal Island - 2:03:15:06]

Only two days left. I'll be good for this set, but I don't know about the next one.

I hope Hol comes back soon.

"Miss Clara… can we get a plant?" Reiya piped up suddenly.

"Huh?"

"Our course is set for Tiger Fang next to get some armor and weapons ordered by the queen. While there, you can stop by the shop and get yourself some armor and weapons," Ellrona explained, pointing to the fanged shaped island on the map. "Then we stop by the Yin Yang islands, go to Ground Zero, stop by Enchanted Lands, before making our final stop at the Royal Island."

They were currently in the room that led up to the control panel of the ship, with a paper map on the side of the wall, as well as a table with a large screen. The screen was currently turned on and showing an electronic version of the map with several moving dots and land outlines. Reiya sat at the table and poked a few of these, looking at the text that popped up and mumbling to herself while she did.

"What about these four?" Clara asked, pointing to three islands on the left and bottom sides of the map, as well as a large red smudge at the bottom left corner.

"This orange island is just called Magma. Despite the volcano in the center being dormant, the island still has some magma pockets here and there, and it has only one inhabitant that represents it," Ellrona began to explain as she zoomed in on the island on the desk, much to Reiya's displeasure as she was watching a ship move on the map. "This island is very potent in mana so we drop off the larger batteries used in ships, like the two we got on this ship."

"What are mana batteries by the way? I heard you guys talk about them several times but didn't Ellis say they were hard to come by?" Clara asked, looking at the Magma island image.

"Oh they are. There are two main components in making mana storage. One is the crystals used to store it, which isn't hard to find, but is to refine and remove any impurities to increase its storage capacity," she explained, walking around the table to a drawer. She opened it up and pulled out a small perfectly clear ball. "There are very few of these with such purity, but they store a lot of mana. However, it leaks mana very fast, so we use an isolator to stop that. Problem is, said isolator is a very rare material, so we only make a few very large batteries to power ships."

"What about those weapons the knights used to set off several glowing arrows mid fight?" Clara inquired, remembering the large arrow launchers.

"Those use the crystals to make spell molds that can be easily and quickly powered by anyone to activate whatever spell pattern is created with it. But we don't use the same isolator as we do for mana storage, so we use alloys to slow down the mana leakage process," the captain answered. "You'll have to ask one of the blacksmiths for more details though."

"You mean like the shield Sherone had that let him make a barrier very fast?"

"Exactly. Now onto the other islands. The one closest to Magma Island is the Getaway Island, which is basically a resort. We come there every now and then to let the crew relax," Ellrona explained, moving the table map. "And this one is the Sky Iceberg. I recommend asking Laura for more information on it since they're closed off from the rest of the world. Any trade we do make is very rare and we have a separate smaller ship for that."

"What about that smudge over there," Clara asked, pointing to the red blur on the corner of the map.

"That's the Blood Sea. Every 10 years that part of the sea gets dyed with blood and anyone nearby disappears, so we just stay away from there. The last time it appeared was actually a bit under 9 years, so it should happen again soon," she replied nonchalantly, as if a part of the ocean being filled with blood was completely normal.

"Oh… did… did anyone try to check out why several hundreds of gallons of blood randomly appeared in the water out of nowhere? … repeatedly?" Clara asked, pointing to the red blob on screen.

"Well, maybe you can find a convenient skill that lets you be underwater for long periods of time without suffocating, or being crushed to death, or eaten by a giant shark. Then please, explore all you want and tell us all about it," Ellrona replied, turning the map off, much to Reiya's dismay. "Though, please do it after you defeat the waves, in case a lucky shark bites your head off, alright?"

"...ok," Clara mumbled, shrinking in her seat.

Guess some things are better left unanswered.

"Now get moving. I have to return to work to make sure we remain in the air and don't crash into an island," the captain said, showing Clara and Reiya out of the room.

As the door closed behind them, Clara opened up her status and glanced through the weapons again.

Other than the unobtanium knife, none of these weapons are made for someone with 76 levels in mind. Even with upgrade methods, it would probably be better to upgrade the unobtanium knife instead of trying to master the weaker forms.

I definitely need more knives.

"Since we have some time, and Goron gave us a day off, what do you want to do?" Clara asked, turning to Reiya. She furrowed her brows as she thought about it and then shrugged.

"Maybe go talk to big sister Laura? I heard she trained you, so maybe I should train with her as well?" Reiya suggested.

Well… I don't think it would be a bad idea. As of right now, Reiya definitely has stronger base stats, so mixing that strength with technique would be pretty useful if she runs out of mana mid fight.

Oh, how wrong I was.

"Miss Clara, protect me!" Reiya cried, hiding behind Clara, who was gasping for air on the bench with a water bottle in hand. Reiya was cowering behind her and glaring over her shoulder at Laura, who stood in front of them nervously.

"Come on Reiya… don't be mad. This is just training, I didn't mean to hurt you!' she pleaded, but Reiya pouted and turned away, much to Laura's despair.

"This is just training, Reiya. Don't be too mad," Clara explained, patting her on the head. "I guess it's my turn now?"

"Yeah. I won't go easy on you though," Laura warned. Clara adjusted the sakura stone bracelet and attached her weapon to her hip so it wouldn't get in the way, before taking a battle stance. Laura took her own stance and the two stared at each other for a moment, waiting to see who made the first move.

Seeing that Laura wasn't moving, Clara decided to take the initiative and lunged forward. Laura's eyes widened, surprised at Clara's sudden speed, but this only lasted for a moment. As Clara went in for an attack aimed at Laura's face, the woman was able to dodge to the side and counter with a hit to the stomach. Clara barely managed to put her other hand to block it. Though the punch still stung as she hit the burned part of her arm.

Clara tried to elbow Laura with her outstretched hand, but the woman ducked under it and aimed for her head. Clara grabbed her hand and kneed her in the stomach, but it was quickly blocked and countered with a jab to her face, and another to her throat, pushing her back and leaving her coughing. Laura then grabbed Clara's hand, kicked her in the leg, and knocked her to the ground.

"So. What did you do wrong?" Laura asked, crossing her arms as she walked to a table and grabbed some water.

"Leave an opening," Clara mumbled. Reiya rushed to her side and began to summon stars until they formed a cross. The instant it touched Clara, her body felt a bit lighter, and the pain of the hits faded.

"Exactly. You may have a holy weapon to help you attack, but it's all useless if you leave openings for an attack. That's what the lizard man was able to exploit to wound you last time," Laura explained, setting down her drink. "Now, Reiya, back to you."

"Hmm, ok. I won't hold back this time," Reiya grumbled, lunging forward with her mushroom knight form.

Clara counted about six seconds before Reiya was pinned on the ground by Laura. It seemed like even Reiya's monstrous strength was no match for Laura.

"Miss Clara, help! Big sister Laura is being mean again! " Reiya yelled, trying to wiggle out from under the woman.

"Reiya, it's just training! Please don't hate me for this!" Laura exclaimed, scrambling off of Reiya.

The edges of Clara's mouth began to rise, and a giggle escaped her as she watched the two interact. She hoped these days could last for longer, and one day she can laugh about things without the waves pressing in the back of her mind.

A pinging noise suddenly broke up the atmosphere. Laura suddenly shot up and looked back at her tablet she left on the bench. A few taps later she turned to Clara and Reiya.

"Alright, looks like we're at the next destination," she exclaimed, picking up her things. "Go take a shower and let's go get you guys some gear for the next wave."