"Are we talking cheerleaders, here? Cause I could totally get behind that if we are," asked Motoyasu, smiling and hopefully showing he was joking, but I shook my head regardless.
"No, we're talking more like people who want to follow you. I noticed a system similar to it early on when Ben, the rabbit demi-human from Thud who's currently managing Sanctuary in my absence, gained a buff from one of my Bow Forms called 'Chain Breaker'," I explained, shifting the Bow into that specific form for a moment to show it off.
"While in this form, my 'Followers' who have been enslaved at some point in their lives gain bonus stats, and even some EXP bumps. Which was confusing as it didn't explain what 'Followers' meant or how to measure that," I continued as I shifted the Bow back to its basic form.
"During the first night we spent with Queen Fitoria of the Filolials, however, she showed me her Vassal Carriage, the lost Vassal Weapon of this world, and the reason she can apparently overpower so much of it," I said, which got the interest of the Royals as well, at least if the way the King and Queen leaned forward was any indication.
"The first ability it grants her is teleportation. Like our (Fast Travel) skills, but way more advanced if I'm not mistaken. The fact that she took us to a random bluff just outside the border screams that if she wanted to, she could appear anywhere on the planet at any time she so chose," I let that statement hang in the air for them all to digest it, as it was quite the thing to hear, that at any moment a Filolial the size of this castle could just pop out of nowhere.
"Better, her natural stats are on par with the Tyrant T-Rex thing Naofumi's group and I fought, and beat only by doing something unexpected. And beyond that, the Vassal Carriage powers her up even more, meaning if it came down to it, she could probably beat armies all on her own," I say, and again, let it linger for a moment.
"Um…question?" asked Motoyasu, raising his hand up, and I nodded to him, silently giving him the floor.
"If she can teleport like that, and has high stats, then why isn't SHE dealing with the Waves?" he asked, which was a good question.
"I asked her that myself, actually. Turns out, she can't use the teleportation ability while the Wave is striking the world. And given her reluctance to get involved, I doubt she'd be willing to join with any of our parties so she could be part of our attacks," I said, and I could tell Ren was about to say something, so I cut him off with a motion of my hand.
"She IS however dealing with a problem I think we should have been informed of back when all this started. Namely, it turns out boss in other regions don't just go away if we kill the one we're aiming for, but instead keep going," I said, and that brought all eyes, even his wife and daughter's, to stare at Aultcray, who looked ready to tumble out of his seat, given his surprise, as the armor almost unbalanced him. Still, he recovered, coughed into his hand, and then faced us with a serious look on his face, as he set his chin on his hand that he held before him thoughtfully.
"I hadn't actually meant to withhold that information from you, it simply never occurred to me that you would not find out from other sources, and my dau…the Adventurer Myne convinced me it would only encourage you to roam farther afield between the Waves. Given we are already on delicate terms with our nearest neighbors, I felt it was never the right time to point it out," he explained, and that was…not a great reason, but it was at least a good one, as I nodded.
"Her actions do explain reports of massive mana use in regions that had been heavily impacted by the Waves in other nations. I would love to attempt to inform them of what's going on there, but given their lack of belief in Queen Fitoria, I shall allow them to stew for a while yet," said Queen Mirellia, with a grin that was just this side of being inappropriate for that talk, before she motioned for me to continue.
"Tangents aside, her strength comes not from the Carriage itself, but from the Follower System it unlocked for her, allowing a portion of her children's stats to transfer into her at all times," I explain, and the other Heroes start moving through their menus, but their faces quickly say nothing had changed, making me raise an eyebrow.
"So that's it, she gets something like that? You said you unlocked it though. Maybe she has to tell us? Or did you do something else?" asked Ren, and I thought for a moment about when I synced with the Vassal Carriage, making me wonder if that was why it hadn't unlocked for them, meaning we'd have to track her down.
"I mean, I did have to be in tune with the Carriage. Maybe that's the reason? Or maybe it works for my Bow since the Carriage comes from it. I did get a choice of methods, and picked one that lets me transfer stats from my followers into my party members while reducing the members to tw-," I was still talking only to stop as all three of the others suddenly looked like they were having some kind of attacks, which mirrored what Fitoria had described to me.
"Heroes are you?" asked Mirellia, leaping to her feet, along with Melty, who started towards Naofumi, but I raised a hand, causing them both to pause.
"I think they've unlocked it, but it's a bit more complex than how it was with our own methods, I suppose. It opens a huge among of extra menus that weren't there before, let them sort it out," I said, and as if in silent answer, the three nodded, as their hands moved rapidly, making me wonder what their Follower lists were like. It actually took a bit, as they all mumbled something, before finally closing their menus, and then staring at me, not angry…but more like, confused.
"Maybe a little warning before you hit us with a nerf like that?" asked Motoyasu, and it was my turn to look confused, but luckily, Motoyasu seeing it, sighed, pinched the brow of his nose, and then opened his menu up in front of him, waving his hand to scroll to something.
"The Follower system restricts a user to a single 'Pillar', and ten 'Auxiliaries', a total of eleven slots, up from the six we had before. Same with both of you?" he asked, and both Naofumi and Ren nodded.
"I mean, mine says 'Champion' and 'Reserves' but otherwise, yeah," Ren said, Naofumi pointing at him.
"Same here. On the names, I mean. Champion and Reserves. It's the same with the other stuff too," he commented, and Ren stopped, obviously wondering, as I was at why his names were different, but he moved on.
"Only the…Champion benefits from adventuring with us. The others get the EXP boost, but EXP gains are not shared with the Hero or the Champion. Instead, the system is suggesting we send them out on their own as a unit," explained the Spear Hero, sounding miffed, not angry, but more…annoyed at a change like that.
"There is a benefit though. The Champion can be swapped out on the fly with a special skill for ANYONE in the Reserves," adds Ren, and Naofumi, who's reading his nods.
"It also offers stat benefits too. Pretty good ones if I'm reading this right. Like, a large percentage of our Reserves have their stats 'copied' into the Champion," he points out. Motoyasu, who had apparently missed that part, quickly scrolled to it, and looked a lot less annoyed as he read through it.
"I see…so it is a base improvement to our companions. Not bad actually. I withdraw the nerf complaint," he said, and I had to wonder, stroking my chin.
"No, no, you were right to complain. I did get an option for a direct stat benefit to myself, like what happens with Fitoria. Sounds like, when I selected the one that went more with my play style, it gave you the same thing. Sorry," I said, and Motoyasu waved it off before anyone else could say anything.
"Nothing doing, man. Not like you knew that would happen. Still, I wish we had another Vassal Weapon now. This system, weird ass as it is, is a real buff. Looks like the sort of thing you get from a real grind of a raid. A few more of these and we could probably each solo a boss," he said, and that got all three Royals to look at each other, drawing our eyes to them, before Mirellia sighed in annoyance.
"I believe we can, perhaps tomorrow, help with that, as the Vassal Staff is contained within one of our nation's vaults. It will take a few hours tonight to retrieve it, as it is well protected via magical means. Beyond that, however…," she trailed off, looking dark, and King Aultcray placed his hand on his wife's shoulder, earning him a grateful smile from her, before he coughed and stood up.
"We know that at least three of the remaining Seven St…Vassal Weapons are in the hands of the King of Faubrey, my brother," he said, and that…well it didn't sound like they had a good relationship if what the Queen said about them was any indication.
"Faubrey is a nation of excess and indulgence. My brother more so than most. They blacken their skies with industry, and produce weapons of exceptional ability," he began, and I shot up.
"Wait, so those guns we saw your soldiers with, were from Faubrey?" I asked, and Mirellia shook her head.
"Those were not my knights, Bow Hero. They were Faubrey's. They would never sell those arms to us, and I suppose in the chaos of us coming, you must have missed them leaving," she said, and truth to tell, I hadn't noticed, so it was a fair point.
"Regardless, after the battle with the White Tiger, Tyran, where I defeated him, we were able to wrest the Vassal Claw from his body, and pushed through to claim the Vassal Hammer from the capital. Denying Siltvelt those Weapons was the reason the wars finally ended, as they had no chance of winning against our nation without them," he said, a bit of pride entering his voice for a moment, before the Queen nodded and drew our attention to her.
"Those Weapons are very much the reason for the hatred of the Shield Hero in our nation. Siltvelt claimed that with them, they had the blessing of the Shield itself, and to be fair, their smaller forces constantly harassing our border, while we did the same to them over the centuries is proof that they were at least powerful, if not blessed by the Weapon itself," she added, and the King nodded thoughtfully.
"Afterwards, my brother, whose nation had rendered substantial aid to our own, demanded them as recompense. We…we were in no shape to refuse, and given how much had been lost to the foul creations of the Hammer, or to the Claw's dark power, I was glad to be rid of the things," he said, sounding like he legitimately was too.
"He also possesses the Vassal Axe, passed down through the ages in Faubery. That one, he is attuned to, though I have heard he has had his whole army at one point attempt to attune to the Claw and Hammer. As far as we're aware, none of those efforts have borne fruit, but he tries regardless," he said, and Naofumi nodded.
"And given we didn't unlock anything until Bard told us what he got when he used it, I doubt just telling us what they do will give us anything," he opined.
"Makes sense. I learned from Ray and Lucia that the Hammer can transfer effects between people. Siltvelt used it to make a really nasty dagger Rabier had. A dagger I destroyed," I added the last quickly, as I could actually see the elder Royals' eyes go wide at the mention of it, and knowing they'd said it was famous, I wanted to make sure they knew it wasn't coming back. Both of them looked relieved, and I even saw Mirellia lean over and squeeze her husband's hand, as he looked towards the wall, like he was staring at the horizon beyond it.
"Then this kingdom, no, this world, owes you a debt. That fetid thing, the Dagger of Death's Flowers, was known far and wide. Its power of Curse could corrupt even a pure soul to darkness with a single cut," she explained, and Aultcray, recovering, nodded at his wife's words.
"It gladdens my heart to hear that it has been found and permanently dealt with. I lost many, many good souls to it. To hear that Rabier had it all this time is…disturbing. A decade hence, I trusted that man with my life. To know that, even then, he must have hidden that thing from me? It saddens me. He was a vile man, from what his captives said, but I can still remember a valiant knight who rode headlong into a charge, and did not back down from odds stacked against him," he said, sighing at the memory, and, shockingly, even Naofumi gives him a moment to, before he coughs, and motions with a hand for us to continue.
"Okay, so we have the Carriage power, and we'll have the Staff when you guys bring it out, will that be tonight, or tomorrow?" asked Ren.
"The latter. We stored it in a sealed vault, and it is not easy to get into. My husband…set aside that Weapon after the wars," she began, but Aultcray held up his hand to stop her.
"I am not sinless, dearest, and they deserve to know. When the war with Siltvelt was all but done, after I felled their king, I used the Staff to do something vile, knowingly. A town cast into the earth simply because it stood in my way on the path to the capital of their nation to claim the Hammer. While it is rumored by the people that I lost the right to wield it, in fact, I did willingly forgo its power from then on, and had my wife seal it such that I might not use it again, save for dire need," he explained.
"Well…that's dark, but it's in the past, and I don't think we can judge you for it, given we weren't there to see how the war went," said Motoyasu, very pointedly staring at Naofumi, who looked like he was going to do just that, but closed his mouth and said nothing.
"Anyway, so Carriage is unlocked, and Staff will be here tomorrow. And we know where Axe, Claw, and Hammer are. But if there's eight, where are the other three?" asked Ren.
"The Whip was in Shieldfreeden until recently, a prize for winning a Tournament that set you against the nation's greatest warriors. It was believed that, as it supposedly is a symbol of strength, it would attune to the strongest. Someone finally proved that correct, but then vanished shortly afterwards. To where I cannot guess," admitted the King.
"As to the Projectile Weapon, I have heard rumors of it, but nothing concrete, as its wielders, and there have been many, tend to be wealthy merchants and the like, who use it for one quest, and are left destitute afterwards. An effect of a curse on the weapon, or so it is claimed. Regardless, it will reveal itself in time. It is never lost for more than a few seasons," explained the Queen.
"The final one, the Vassal Gauntlet, is sealed at the moment, with a monster that eclipses even Fitoria's power. And yes, I have met her, so I can tell you for fact that it has sealed something that is far and away beyond anything you might combat. As such, I propose leaving it there, unless such measures must be taken," she said the last less like a request, and more like an order, but, given Fitoria's power, I was very much willing to leave something stronger than her alone for the time being.
"With that decided, the afternoon is swiftly turning into evening. My desire to set as much with you four as I can in stone is at odds with the needs of a Queen who has been away from her realm for so long. Tomorrow, I beg you to return to the castle. I believe I have at least one piece of information you will want to hear, as well as the Vassal Staff to attune to," she said, rising from her seat, and bowing to us, before leaving the room with her husband and daughter, while leaving the doors open for us to go our own ways.
"Guess you guys have to go talk with your parties then, and decide who's going to be your Champions, while I pick my own," I said, and Motoyasu scoffed.
"Yeah, Rishia for me, Naofumi's gonna pick Raphtalia, no question, and I'm going out on a limb and saying you're going to probably be picking Lucia for yours," he said, which was…blunt, but accurate, however, we all turned to Ren, who shook his head, sighed, and got up.
"Idiots. This isn't a dating sim, so finding yourself your next waifu is less important than power," he said, which got the three of us to shout 'hey' in the exact same tone and volume, while staring at him. We looked at each other, but I motioned for Naofumi to take the lead on informing this child that waifus were the…second or third thing on our minds.
"Raphtalia is my only real party member, and she's damn good at fighting besides. I'll be seeing if I can borrow Ake Squad to fill out the rest of my ranks, and sending them on a mission, but otherwise, I'd have to pick between Raphtalia and Filo anyway, and Filo's considered an animal companion by the system, not a party member, I checked as soon as we got the change," he explained, passing it to Motoyasu next.
"And Rishia is the one who gave me this armor, so she's going to know it best. How to maintain it, maybe even how to improve it, so she's the one I'm taking with me. That and you know she's still kind of…a mess thanks to everything. I'm not sending someone who's got her kind of issues away just so I can get a few points more of power," he added, and then turned to me.
"As to my choices, and I have two slots, but no reserves or whatever, so I'm taking Lucia AND Ray, because the two of them have artifact level gear, and are good at their jobs. I won't say I don't like them, because I do, but they are also the strongest people I know," I said, and before Ren could respond, there was a clatter, drawing our eyes to the door, where Raphtalia, Rishia, Lucia, Ray, and the rest of the parties stood.
"And you better not forget that last bit, or I will prove it to you, Bard," she said, getting a laugh from the parties, as we all went with our parties. Naofumi to see the castle's guard captain, Motoyasu and Ren to…I have no idea. Meanwhile, Ray and Lucia reminded me I had to see Balmus before the day was out, and they most certainly wanted me to return to Sanctuary right after, given I had lots of business to take care of there.