"Well speak of the devil"
I was barely able to finish my sentence before suddenly being grabbed by Conrad, who yanked me behind him. He had somehow pulled out what could only be described as a large axe. It looked like it was probably used for something other than chopping down trees.
"Conrad, where did you pull that from?" I asked, with a small hint of panic.
"I had it in one of my bags. I couldn't grab my normal weapon, but this will do," he stated.
I turned from looking at Conrad's impressive-looking axe to where I had heard Faith's voice. I turned just in time to see what could be described as a small bi-plane, the kind the Wright brothers could have made, flying straight towards me.
"Looks like there were roaming hostile agents outside of town. I guess that explains the gun-firing sounds from earlier," Conrad growled as he readied his axe to swing.
"Conrad, you don't understand, these guys are-"
"Eat propeller!" I heard Faith yell as she rammed Conrad into the front of her plane.
I heard what sounded like screeching and twisting as I put my arms over my face to brace for the impact. I lowered my arms after a few more moments to see a scene straight out of a superhero movie, with Conrad stopping the propeller with the handle of his axe. He then used his other hand to grip one of the propellers before twisting and turning his body and throwing the whole plane at a nearby tree.
I was nearly left with my mouth agape as I watched that sequence of events unfold. However, it didn't end there. I saw a small explosion erupt next to where I was standing. I looked around for the source of the noise, only to see Nickoli's Tankette a distance away, shooting another round.
This time I had the foresight to back away since another small explosion erupted where I had been standing moments ago.
"Looks like there is more than one. Tidus, take care of the one in the metal chariot!" he yelled as he ran towards where I thought Faith's plane had been hurled.
I obliged and began running toward where Nickoli was. He continued to shoot at Conrad with his small turret affixed to the front of his Tankette.
"Hold your fire!" I yelled, waving my arms in the air.
However, as if he was oblivious, blind, or just ignorant, he continued to fire at Conrad. From a small yelp I heard, I could assume one of the shots hit. It took me literally getting on top of the Tankette and banging on the hatch before he stopped and opened it.
"What?" Nickoli asked.
I gave the Tankette another solid stomp while on top of it before answering, "I told you to hold fire," I angrily snarled as I glared at Nickoli.
"I wasn't trying to shoot you! I was shooting at that weird animal-looking person!" Nickoli yelled as he got up and pointed at Conrad.
"That animal person is not hostile to us! He was going to help us out!" I shouted at him.
"Well, not from the looks of it, as he literally hurled Faith's plane away when she tried to ram him!" he yelled back.
"Well, that's because you guys yelled aggressively before trying to kill him!" I yelled back at him.
He just gave me a blank stare for a few seconds in response before saying, "Oh."
"You know what? Whatever. Just stop shooting at him. I'm going to go make sure those two don't kill each other, okay?" I said as I hopped off the Tankette and began running toward where the other two were.
"Kill?" I heard Nickoli say as I ran away from him.
As I got a little closer, I could see that Faith had gotten out of her supposed flyable bi-plane mode and was now using her smaller version. She looked a little beat up, probably from being flung, but surprisingly not as bad as expected. I could see the results of being flung in the form of a tree with a large dent in it.
She and Conrad were a little distance apart from each other, both of them eyeing daggers at the other as they seemed to wait for the other to make the first move. I never would have thought of Faith as a person to plan out her moves beforehand.
"Guys, calm down-"
Before I could finish, Faith suddenly rushed forward and closed the distance between her and Conrad. She seemed to be expecting to get a quick hit before backing up and preparing to attack again, as she had done with me. Which did work, as she landed a solid punch then tried to back away.
However, Conrad was unfazed and proceeded to slam the hilt of his axe down on her back, which from the looks of it knocked her out instantly as she was slammed onto the ground and stopped moving.
I was scared for a moment that Conrad had just killed her, but looking at her health bar in the top left showed that she still had a small amount of HP left. I let out a small sigh of relief before turning to see Conrad lifting his axe to finish her off.
I quickly ran up and raised my hands to motion for him to stop before shouting, "Conrad, wait!"
He froze for a moment, turned to see me, and kept his axe raised, giving me a confused look.
"Conrad, first of all, please lower the axe," I pleaded with him as I got in between him and Faith.
"Why should I? They were attacking us, and I'm going to put an end to the threat," Conrad said as he got one of his hands off the axe and tried to move me aside.
I steeled myself against his hand, though he was surprisingly strong and able to make me hobble slowly to the side, but I was able to dig my feet into the dirt to stop it.
"Listen, Conrad, these guys are not our enemies," I said with a grunt in between trying to stay between the two.
"What?" He growled angrily as he turned toward me.
I could sense a small hint of anger in his voice, but I ignored it and continued, "These guys are my acquaintances. They are not your foes."
I felt the pressure of him trying to push me aside and let me up as he lowered his axe to his side. However, I sensed something off as, from the corner of my eye, I could see the grip on his weapon tightened. I pulled one of my arms to my side and began to draw my legendary weapon just in case.
As I took it out, initially his look went from pensive before turning into surprise as he dropped his axe next to him and suddenly got on one knee.
"I wish for mercy, O great Mythic Warrior! I have not had the slightest idea that you were a Hero," Conrad pleaded as he kneeled before me and lowered his head.
"What? Mythic Hero?" I asked, pretty confused about what he was talking about.
He continued, "I apologize for my previous attacks on your acquaintances. I beg of you, please spare my life at the very minimum."
Thinking about it now, I vaguely remember something about there being other heroes. I don't remember if they were called mythic heroes, but this just confirms it. He is just mistaking me for a mythic hero.
"Um, Conrad…" I sighed, assuming he was confusing me for a mythic hero.
Now that I think about it, I was never told what kind of hero we were. I just know I wield a legendary weapon. So I guess I'm a legendary hero then?
"Yes, great hero?" Conrad said, still in his kneeling position.
"Okay, first of all, raise your head so I can speak to you properly," I said, motioning for him to raise his head.
He obliged, facing me, his face now looking petrified compared to before.
"Listen, I think you are confusing me for something else. I am not a hero," I explained as I loosened the grip on my revolver and put it at my side.
His face showed confusion before he asked, "But you are a wielder of a Mythic weapon, are you not?"
"No, I am wielding a legendary weapon, not a Mythic weapon. So I'm not a mythic hero, Conrad," I elaborated.
There was a moment of silence as he stared at me for a few seconds.
"So does that mean you are a legendary hero?" Conrad asked.
"No—I mean, technically yes, but… I guess so," I said with frustration as I did a small facepalm.
I began to pace back and forth. I mean, technically, I was a legendary hero, but does that apply to all three of us? I don't even know myself since if I can remember correctly, my status menu only named me as the "Ranged Weapons Hero," if I recall.
"Um, Great Hero, what are we to do with your acquaintance?" Conrad spoke up as he pointed towards Faith, who was lying on the ground still.
"Oh! I forgot, help her! I think I have a healing potion or two stored in my inventory," I said as I opened my menu to look for them.
"There is no need. I can heal her if you so allow me, Great Hero," Conrad suggested.
"You can? Alright, please do so, Conrad," I said as I closed my menu.
"If you will it so, Great Hero," he said as he squatted next to Faith and raised one of his fingers forward.
I was pretty confused about what he was doing, but a few moments later, he exclaimed, "Delta Heal!"
A small light could be seen going from the front of his finger down onto Faith. Then a whitish outline quickly covered her and disappeared.
"What was that?" I asked, rather confused.
"I healed her. Is that not what you wanted, great hero?" Conrad asked, also confused.
I looked at the top left of my field of vision to see the health statuses, and to my slight surprise, Faith's health had risen from low to a fair bit above halfway now.
"Are you not satisfied? I can cast a beta to heal if you so desire, great hero. I would just need to grab a Gem from my bag as I'm not as adept as I used to be in using zero points to cast beta-tier spells," Conrad continued, pointing to one of his bags.
I had no idea what he was talking about. I had seen magic, well, I think I have seen it in action with Tidus and the guards, though that was only one instance. I think one of the lizardmen also used magic against Nickoli, but I don't remember much about that whole ordeal other than me fighting for my life against that particular lizardman.
I can ask him more about it later. I have more urgent questions I want to ask.
"Uh, it's alright. She doesn't seem so beat up anymore," I said as I gave Faith a quick glance.
Other than a small impact mark where the hilt hit her and some dirt on her clothing, she seemed to be fine. Well, the health at the top left already confirmed that, but it never hurts to check.
"Is everything to your liking, great hero?" Conrad asked.
"Listen, don't call me great hero. Call me by my name, Conrad," I told him.
"Hero Tidus?" Conrad suggested.
"No, you don't need to put hero, and also, call me by my real name!" I said with frustration as I facepalmed again.
"But is Tidus not your real name?" Conrad inquired.
Oh right, I gave him a fake name in order to not raise any suspicion.
"No, I gave you a fake name. My real name is Alex, Alex Rodgers," I revealed.
"I see… Sir Rodgers, would you please explain to me why you did such a thing?" Conrad asked.
"Listen to si— you know what, fine, but the reason is rather long and I don't want to get into the details. For now, just know that alongside my two acquaintances, I am not your enemy. Is that clear?" I asserted.
"Yes, Sir Rodgers," Conrad stated.
"That will take a bit to get used to," I mumbled to myself before beginning to walk away. "No matter, Conrad, grab Faith and bring her over to where we initially arrived."
"Yes, Sir Rodgers," I heard Conrad say as I attached my weapon to my side and then proceeded to walk away.
Well, that was a lot of stuff that happened in a short period of time. Still, though, I'm just lucky that Conrad is praising me or revering me. I forgot the word for it. If we had to fight, judging from his reflexes and how he knocked out Faith in one hit, I can assume I would have probably met the same fate as she did.
And I can probably assume that Nickoli probably would have followed suit… Nickoli… Oh yeah! I almost completely forgot about him. I left him behind and told him to just not attack. I'll assume he is probably waiting where the fire used to be last night.
I arrived a bit later to find him not at the fire. Though looking around, I was able to spot him exactly where he was before I left him. I couldn't exactly tell, but he seemed to not have even moved an inch. I went to check on him to see if he was alright.
I moved to where Nickoli's tankette was. I wasn't sure, but I could tell that the tankette was rocking back and forth ever so slightly. As well as a very faint sound of someone whimpering. I opened the hatch on the tankette and peeked inside, only to see Nickoli in a fetal position, rocking back and forth.
"Uh, Nickoli, are you alright?"
"I didn't get them killed, did I?" he wept.
He looked pretty shaken, not sure about what or why, but he didn't look like himself. He looked like when I initially saw him when he first got summoned. I think it might just be emotions resurfacing from whatever happened beforehand or something.
"What? Get who killed? I don't—"
"It wasn't my fault, right?! It wasn't!" He wailed.
"What wasn't your fault?" I asked in confusion.
He didn't answer and instead returned to his fetal position, quietly sobbing to himself while continuing to rock back and forth. Well, I don't have Faith to comfort him, and since I don't exactly know what is making him cry uncontrollably to begin with.
I thought that attempting to comfort him would just be walking into an active minefield. I would rather not risk it; doing anything reckless would only create a bigger mess, so I might as well leave him as he is.
"I'll just hope he comes to his senses over time," I mumbled to myself as I hopped off the tankette and began walking back.
I walked a distance back and arrived at where the fire used to be. Conrad was standing with his arms crossed next to the fire, while Faith was lying against a tree. She didn't look conscious, as she wasn't trying to strangle Conrad to death, so I can assume he put her there.
"Sir Rodgers," Conrad stated as he got on one knee like before.
"At ease, you don't have to kneel every time I approach you," I said to him while motioning with my hands for him to stand again.
"Sorry, Sir Rodgers, it is just a habit from prior experience," Conrad stated as he got up from kneeling.
"It's all good. Now then, I guess I have some explaining to do, I suppose," I asked him.
"If you wish to share that information with me, I would be most grateful, Sir Rodgers," Conrad replied.
It's weird to have an older person, or at least someone who looks older than me, calling me "Sir." The only time I've been called anything similar was when a teacher in my sophomore year insisted on calling everyone Mr. and Mrs. That fell apart whenever he exploded at some students about something—I forgot exactly what—but it returned to a first-name basis after that.
I guess that's what teachers feel, though from the opposite perspective. I'm not really sure myself. I'm not a teacher, and I haven't even graduated high school yet! One thing I can say for certain, though, is that math, well, more specifically calculus, doesn't help in anything, especially not in another world. I'm not sure what my calculus teacher was talking about with real-life applications, but all I'm going to say is that all of those claims are lies or just not applicable in another world.
I was lost in thought until my eyes came across Conrad, who was just standing in one spot and staring at me.
"Do you need something, Conrad?" I asked him.
"No, Sir Rodgers," Conrad responded.
"Are you sure, Conrad…?" I skeptically asked.
He took a moment to respond but then said, "I was just waiting for your next order, Sir Rodgers."
"Oh! Right, I forgot. Yeah, I'm willing to tell you what led up to this. Let's take a seat first," I said as I sat on the grass.
He, on the contrary, did not sit down and instead remained standing.
"Are you going to sit down, or…?" I asked him.
"If you wish for me to do so, Sir Rodgers," he stated.
"Yes, please sit down," I ordered him.
"By your will," he said as he sat down cross-legged.
There were many things to talk about, though I should probably prioritize the more important stuff first.
"Alright, so, to begin with, would you mind telling me what a mythic hero is?" I inquired.
Conrad gave me another confused look but then returned to normal.
"A Mythic Hero is a selected warrior by God in order to carry out his will using the Mythic Weapons," Conrad explained.
"I see… well, what is a Mythic Weapon?" I asked curiously.
"Mythic Weapons are powerful relics made from time immemorial, given to us by God through falling stars that power them. They possess powerful abilities and also greatly empower the wielder, enabling them to destroy anyone or anything that dares to challenge the will of God," Conrad continued.
"So, basically, these Mythic Heroes are powerful people ordained by God to wield said weapons to destroy his foes?" I asked him questionably.
"Yes," Conrad replied.
"How many of these Mythic Heroes are there?" I asked him.
"If my memory serves me correctly, there are three Mythic Heroes in total: the Mythic Greatshield, the Mythic Scimitar, and the Mythic Recurve bow. Each of them specializes in their own unique categories and possesses unique abilities as well," Conrad stated.
"I see, and how powerful are these Mythic Heroes?" I questioned him.
If these guys are about our strength, then they should hopefully not be a threat to us. I mean, not that I want them to be hostile; it's just the most likely thing to happen, considering everyone here, excluding Conrad, attacked us on sight.
"Last time I remember, the Mythic Recurve bow was able to defeat multiple columns of enemies in a very short period of time," Conrad said as he stroked his beard.
I didn't exactly know how many people were in a column, but I did know it was probably in the double digits, which was already way above our level. So I guess that if we come across one, we're practically dead at that point.
"I don't know much about the Greatshield and Scimitar. I do know that the Greatshield has out-of-this-world defensive capabilities. It was once rumored that even before he got the Greatshield, he had to endure a Cleansing flame from a Holy Dragon to be allowed to wield the Mythic Weapon and that he was left unscathed afterward," Conrad further elaborated.
Well, I'm not sure what a Cleansing flame is, but I do know what a dragon is. So I guess if we come across the Greatshield person, they will basically have immunity from attacks or something. So basically, we're dead just from us being unable to fight back.
"Then with the Scimitar, there have been reports of them being able to clear out rows upon rows of enemies even when outnumbered without stopping, and still coming out on top with their enemies being decapitated," Conrad continued explaining.
I guess this just confirms that if we were in a situation where we would need to fight, we would just have to do as Conrad did and beg for mercy. Though I guess this does explain his earlier behavior with him being terrified for his life. I mean, I would be terrified if those guys suddenly appeared out of nowhere.
"Now, if you would be so kind as to inform my ignorant self, please do explain what exactly a Legendary Hero is," Conrad pleaded.
Well, I myself did not know exactly what a legendary hero is, but I guess I can try my best to explain it.
"Well, I am a Legendary Hero, alongside my two acquaintances. There's Faith," I then proceeded to point at Faith before continuing, "and then there's Nickoli, who is far away in the distance if you can see him," I said while now pointing at where Nickoli is.
"I see," Conrad noted.
Now I was at an impasse. Either I could tell him the truth or I could lie to his face about us also being ordained by God. Either one has its risks, and he might even decide to kill me. What to do…
I was always told not to lie by my parents, but like all kids, I ignored anything they told me. Not that I did anything major like shoplifting—mostly for trying to convince them that the teacher gave me a bad grade by accident and I didn't just flop an important test. Not that I have flopped a test in my high school run, but mostly in middle school…
Okay! I'm getting sidetracked. I think that I will just have to…
"Alright, first of all, promise me you won't try to attack me or my acquaintances after I tell you this, okay?" I appealed to Conrad.
"Whatever you tell me, I promise you wholeheartedly that I won't attack you," Conrad assured me.
"Alright, I'll try to explain as best as I can, but it will be confusing, so please save any questions until the end, alright?" I stated.
"Yes, Sir Rodgers," Conrad reaffirmed.
"Okay, so to begin with, as you probably already noticed, Faith is not from here, and neither is Nickoli nor me," I said as I took off my hood to show my head, "We all come from another world, not from the same world, but from different worlds. We were all summoned or transported here somehow and were given these legendary weapons. Faith was assigned a plane and Nickoli a tank. I was given the Ranged Weapons, though right now, it is in the form of a revolver." I pulled out my revolver and showed it off, "We were given this special task through this giant blue hourglass. It told of impending doom and calamity approaching, threatening the whole world," I explained.
Conrad seemed to be taking it rather calmly. He nodded his head once or twice and was rather stoic, surprisingly. I guess with old age, you either don't have the energy to react or maybe you've seen enough not to be surprised.
I continued explaining, "Ever since we got here, we have been attacked left and right and basically have been on the run. It's not that we have done anything wrong. Literally, the first village or town or whatever we came across was pretty much hostile from the get-go, attacking us right off the bat. We were imprisoned, then escaped, and then basically went wandering from place to place in the forest. It hasn't exactly been easy, eating only Tacs every day and being forced to keep moving to make sure that if anybody is trailing us, they won't catch
up. That is until we finally ended up where we are today."
Conrad was just looking pensive at the ground when I finished. Deep in thought about the whole dump of information I just dropped on him. That is until he spoke up.
"So, these impending calamities of doom you brought up, do you know when and where they will happen?" Conrad asked me.
I quickly checked the wave clock timer countdown to see…
[Willowing Fields 18:5:9:34]
"Approximately two weeks and a half, taking place in a location called the Willowing Fields. Not sure where that is," I stated.
"I see… Do you have any idea how to stop them or why they are happening?" Conrad questioned further.
"No, I have no idea how to stop them, nor do I know why. I just know that my task is to prevent them from causing havoc and chaos in this world. Even though it has tried to kill me multiple times, I don't think I should allow the actions of only a small section of this world to dictate whether or not I should save it," I declared.
Conrad gave me another hard look before letting out an exasperated sigh.
"Alright, if these supposed calamities are approaching, then I guess we should prepare, right? Our highest priority as of now would be to level up as much as possible before this occurs, as well as getting as close as possible to where the supposed ground zero is supposed to be," Conrad decided.
"Yeah, I think you can already tell that we are not exactly at the highest levels currently. Leveling up should be at the top of the list of things to do. That, on top of getting more people to help us. Although, considering how everyone seems to be hostile towards us, I highly doubt anybody else will join us. Though I guess weapon forms can make up for that," I agreed.
"Weapon forms? What are those?" Conrad inquired.
"Oh yeah, weapon forms are forms that our weapons can take by absorbing materials. Each of them gives unique buffs and bonuses that increase my power. Like whenever I get a rope pistol from absorbing rope, I can use rope from it. Not sure how it works myself, but yeah," I explained.
"I see, I guess that is what makes you a legendary hero, I suppose, Sir Rodgers. Wait! Are there any restrictions on what exactly you can absorb?" Conrad asked me.
"No, not that I remember. Why are you asking?" I questioned him.
"I have a couple of items in my bag. If you would like to absorb them into your weapon to unlock new forms," Conrad suggested.
"I could! Would you mind letting me do so?" I asked him.
"Sure, let me just pull them out if you allow me," Conrad said as he grabbed the nearest bag.
"You can. I would appreciate it," I answered.
He pulled out several items I did not recognize, which I then took and absorbed into the gem on my weapon. I was able to unlock a few more weapon forms from them as well.
Mana Gem Rifle LV 1
Abilities Locked Equip Bonus: Spell Support, SP Up (Small)
[O,O]
Jol Meat Pistol LV 1
Abilities Locked Equip Bonus: Cooking Skill 1
[O]
Jol Feather Pistol LV 1
Abilities Locked Equip Bonus: Dissection Skill 1
[O]
Sharpening Shotgun LV 1
Abilities Locked Equip Bonus: Sharpening 1
Equip Effect: Automatic Sharpening (4 hours), Consumption (Medium)
[O,O]
Pickaxe Musket LV 1
Abilities Locked Equip Bonus: Mining Skill 1
[O]
Axe Sawed Off Shotgun LV 1
Abilities Locked Equip Bonus: Woodcutting Skill 1
[O]
Kaol Pistol LV 1
Abilities Locked Equip Bonus: Fire Attack Power Up (Weak)
Equip Effect: Ignite
[O]
Conrad was actually quite intrigued by the whole process, patiently watching as I absorbed the items one by one and unlocked their forms. I didn't change a form in front of him, though. I wasn't particularly interested in any of them, well, other than the mana rifle, but that can be checked out later.
"Are you sure you are fine with me absorbing these items?" I questioned Conrad.
"If it's for the greater good of the world, then I am willing to lay down even my life," Conrad declared.
Well, isn't he very passionate? I'm honestly surprised he is going along with this to begin with. But considering the course of events that led up to this, I probably shouldn't be surprised. Especially if I were as old as him. Well, not saying he was, but you get my point.
"Now then, I think we should start off with leveling up. Also, on a small side note, Faith will probably want to kill you since you pretty much took her out in one hit. But we can cross that bridge when we get there," I sighed.
"I see," Conrad mumbled.
"Oh right, I forgot to invite you to my party. Let me send you an invite," I said as I sent him one.
[Conrad has joined your party]
I looked at his status and saw that he was level 67?! I think he noticed my surprise as he gave a small chuckle.
"Now then, shall we begin? I can explain the details later," Conrad suggested.
"We've got no time to waste, so we might as well get a move on!"
End of Chapter 13
[Other World Index]
[Ignite]
Ignite is an equip effect unlocked by absorbing a Kaol, which is a combustible ore mined for heating uses. What it does is that it allows the user to ignite the weapon form on fire, not harming the user, illuminating and heating the area. The fire effect is treated as a literal fire to anybody else that will burn items and persons if they get too close.
Authors Notes:
Hello everyone! Firstly I wish to apologize for uploading a little later than usual, my WIFI decided to stop working late at night whenever I was just finishing up my chapter so I just decided to wait until the next day to upload.
Secondly, I will begin the process of changing the names of "Special Equip Effects" to just "Equip Effects." I was informed by my fellow MWP authors that the term was incorrect so I will slowly begin to edit it out of all the weapon forms and replace them. Sorry for the inconvenience!
Thirdly, I have decided to change two of the four weapon forms Alex has. This would explain the reason why the weapon forms seemed less full than normal. The reasons as to why, I wish to keep to myself but do know it is for a reason. One thing I will note is that Alex will only know the method of "Weapon Synthesis" and "Weapon EXP," with mentions of the other two being erased from weapon forms and text. The reason as to why will also be put into the text so it isn't just out of nowhere that he forgets the new methods.
Lastly, I did decide to change Alex's name from Rober to Rodgers, this was mostly to differentiate from the already famous Mark Rober, and also so that I could add some things to Alex's background. This will also be changed alongside the previously mentioned changes.
Anyways now, please be sure to come back next week for Alex's journey, now with Conrad in his party! (Even though they were fighting not even a few moments beforehand)
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