Shield Hero: A New Hero

Chapter 5

I was speechless. I never even noticed. "Makoto, how..?" she took the paper back and began writing. Not long after, she slid it back.

"I've lived in Melromarc for 17 years. In that time, I've learned how to hide them pretty well." looking up from the paper, Makoto had a grin plastered across her face. "Pretty well is an understatement."

She took the paper back from me and began writing. After a couple more seconds, she gave it back. "My family always lived in Melromarc and they tought me plenty of tricks to blend my ears in with my hair. The tail was a bit more difficult. I had to keep it going up my back and as still as possible. But, I learned and now, I can hide them whenever I want." looking up from the paper, her ears and tail were magically gone. Watching her, her ears suddenly sprung up and her tail moved back into sight. "Why hide them?" I asked.

She gestured to the paper.

"Demihumans here in Melromarc are slaves. So, to avoid becoming one myself, I hide my ears and tail. My family was never able to afford moving out of this place, and after some time, my parents were...taken. I had to fend for myself. And when I heard guards were looking for adventurers to help the heroes, I had to go to see if I couldn't join the shield hero. But, when I saw you, I knew you were the one I had to pick. There's...something special about you."

I placed the paper down gently. "I'm...sorry that happened to you." Makoto just nodded in response. "Do you...wish you could just be yourself?" I asked. She, again, nodded her head. "Maybe..." I rubbed the back of my neck. "I don't know. Maybe we can find some way for you to walk around without having to hide who you are."

Makoto nodded before yawning. "We should get some sleep." I said.

She stood up and walked over to one of the beds. Doing the same myself, I took off my armor, cloak and boots, placing them on the floor next to the bed before laying down. "Goodnight, Makoto."

I closed my eyes and drifted off.

The next day

Heading into the woods, I wasn't sure what to expect. "Any clue what to expect here?" I asked, glancing back at Makoto. She shrugged in reply. "Awesome."

Pulling out my weapons, we began walking through the woods, looking for anything that we could fight.

After what felt like forever, we didn't run into any monsters. It was surprisingly quiet, the only sound was the twigs and leaves crunching beneath our boots. That, and the wind blowing through the trees.

After a few more feet, I could hear the faint sound of...something. "Do you hear that?" I glanced back at Makoto. She stopped to listen for a second before shaking her head. "There's something here."

I scanned around the trees, a massive wave of uneasiness running through me. Making our way to the sound, it got more clear. It sounded a bit like...growling?

Pushing through some bushes, the sound was almost on top of us but immediately stopped. Looking down, there was a fluffy white bunny scratching its ear. "There's no way a bunny was making that noise. Right?" I looked back to Makoto to see she was staring at something to our right. Looking at what she was, I saw the head of a massive dog peeking out through a bush. It hunched down and pounced on the bunny, immediately tearing into it.

Falling on our backs, the dog slowly turned to us after it was finished with its meal. Once it was facing us, I saw it had 3 heads. I could also see its level and name. "Level 20...Cerberus..."

Seeing the beast get ready to pounce, I rolled out of the way but saw Makoto still laying there, her eyes filled with fear and her hair a snow white. "Makoto!"

She didn't even react.

Seeing the monster about to pounce, I tossed my second dagger and caught it by the blade before hurling it into the beast's side. The giant dog didn't even budge as the weapon sunk into it's side, still focused on Makoto.

Rushing to help, I pulled out my main weapon. "Fire dagger!" the blade lit up with fire as I sunk it into the beast. This time, I got its attention.

As it turned to me, it swung its paw, knocking me back. Hitting my back against a tree, I fell onto my stomach, coughing up some blood as I looked to see the Cerberus turning back to Makoto.

"Damnit!" getting to my feet, I threw my dagger next to Makoto. Popping up next to her, I picked her up, and my dagger, and jumped out of the way just as the Cerberus tried to bite down. "You okay?" I asked her.

She didn't even blink. "Makoto, you gotta-" feeling a sharp pain in my right shoulder, I was ripped away. Digging my feet into the dirt, I could feel its teeth tear through my skin with every small movement.

As I tried to get free, I used my dagger and thrust it into one of its necks, ripping it to the side and feeling my clothes get soaked in blood. It finally let go as it howled in pain.

Stepping to attack again, the pain in my shoulder caused me to fall to one knee. "Damnit..." looking up, the Cerberus stalked towards me, one of its heads limp and lifeless. Closing my eyes, I waited for it to finish me off but it never came. Instead, I heard it howl.

Slowly opening my eyes, I saw Makoto with her sword through one of the necks of the remaining heads, her hair a pitch black. Clenching her teeth, she ripped her sword free and ducked under its paw as it tried to swipe at her and in one quick spin, she cut the last head clean off.

Some time later

Back in our room at the Inn, I felt the tug of thread as Makoto stitched up my wound for me. I was scrolling through my skill menu, eager to get some more abilities after our fight with that 3 headed mutt. It gave us quite a bit of XP. So much, in fact, that we jumped from level 4 to level 13.

Wincing as I felt the needle pierce my skin, I felt the thread pull again before the needle went through my skin once more. "Isn't there some sort of medicine that'll heal this or something?" I asked.

Makoto replied by pushing the needle through my skin again. "That's a 'no' then?" closing my menu, I waited for her to finish.

Minutes later

Feeling her finally finish stitching my shoulder up, I grabbed my shirt and pulled it on. "Thank you."

Makoto gave a soft smile before her hair slowly turned blue. She looked up at me as her eyes began to tear up. Suddenly, she wrapped her arms around my neck, burying her face in my chest.

"Hey, what's this for?" I asked. She didn't move. Returning the hug, we stayed like this for a few seconds before she slowly pulled away, wiping the tears from her eyes. "Let's get some rest, okay?"

She nodded before sliding into bed.

End of chapter 5