Shield Hero: A New Hero

Chapter 15

The following day

Hooking Daenerys up to the carriage, I glanced back at the hot springs. "We're gonna have to come back here some time." I said as I climbed onto the carriage.

"I wouldn't mind that." Daenerys said.

Taking the reins, Daenerys led us out of the village and began following the road. "Alright, lets-" I was interrupted as a pigeon suddenly flew down in front of me. The pigeon stared at me as it flew in place. "Strange..."

Makoto joined my side, holding her hand out to the bird. It landed on her index finger as Makoto pulled it close, gently taking something that was tied to its left leg before letting it fly off. She handed it to me, and I realized it was a small piece of paper.

Unrolling it, I began to read.

"Hey, Merc

I'm sure no one's told you, but there's something called a class upgrade for your party once they reach level 40. You can get one at any dragon hourglass.

I don't know much about it since the one in Melromarc doesn't allow the Shield Hero's party to get it and since you're basically a brother to me, I highly doubt they'll let you either. Head to a different dragon hourglass so you don't waste your time, man.

See you during the next wave.

-Naofumi"

Folding the paper, I placed it in my pocket. "Thanks for the heads up, man." I glanced at Daenerys and Makoto's levels, seeing they were both level 40, before turning to Makoto. She was sitting on her knees, her hands resting on her thighs. "Do you know where another dragon hourglass is?" I asked her.

She placed her index finger on her chin as she thought. After a few seconds, she shook her head. "Maybe we should head back to Melromarc and ask that weapons owner about the other hourglasses. Maybe he'll even provide a map."

"Melromarc?" Daenerys groaned. "I hate that place."

"I know." I leaned forward, resting my arms on my knees. "That bitch princess and her shit father don't exactly make me jump at the idea of heading back there, either." I sighed. "But, it's the only place we can go that'll give us, somewhat, reliable intel."

Daenerys groaned again. "Fine!" she began following the road. As we moved, she kept muttering under her breath.

Leaning back, I let out a sigh.

A day later

Finally making it back to Melromarc, we entered through the gates and parked. Hopping down to unhook Daenerys, I noticed one of her scales had fallen off. Picking it up, I looked it over, admiring how warm it felt.

I was about to toss it, when an idea popped into my head. Pulling out my dagger, I fed the scale to the jewel. Once I did, a menu popped up showing a lot of potential new skills.

The name of the skill section is: Dragon Curse.

Scrolling through a few of the skills, I noticed I wasn't a high enough level for a least half of them. But the ones that stuck out were Blazing Dagger, Cursed Blade and Dragon's Mark.

"Hm." closing the menu, I sheathed my weapon and began heading for the weapons shop. Walking inside, I saw the man standing behind the counter.

"Mercury!" he smiled. "How can I help ya?"

"Hey, I got a message from a carrier pigeon about class upgrades." I told him.

"I assume the shield hero sent you it?" he asked. "Yeah, you can upgrade your party, once they reach level 40, at any dragon hourglass."

"He mentioned that." I placed a hand on my hip. "He also said that because me and him are good friends, the people in charge of the hourglass here, or whatever, won't let my party get the upgrades."

"He's probably right." the shop owner said. "It'd probably be best if you head to Siltvelt."

"Siltvelt?"

"It's population there are demi-humans." the shop owner continued. "They also worship the Shield hero. Since you're good friends with Shield bro, it'll probably be your best bet."

"Demi-human ruled and they worship Naofumi?" I smiled. "You wouldn't happen to have a map, would ya?"

"Actually..." he crouched down for a second before popping back up, the map in his hand. "Here."

Taking it from him, I laid it out on the counter. "So, Siltvelt is the neighboring country, or something?" I asked.

"It's actually two countries over." he replied. "It shouldn't be too difficult for you to get there."

"Shouldn't be, huh?" I folded the map and put it away. "Well, guess we should be on our way. Thanks, man." I turned around and saw Makoto looking over a helmet, while Daenerys was watching her. Clearing my throat, Makoto looked at me.

Gesturing to the helmet, she went to put it back but dropped it, causing a rack of swords to topple over. She tried to pick a few up but dropped them in her rush. "I'll take care of it. You guys get going." the shop owner said.

Glancing at the shopkeep, I said a quick apology before gesturing for Makoto and Daenerys to leave. Following them out, we walked over to the carriage. "Alright." Daenerys changed into her dragon form so I could hook her up. "We're heading to Siltvelt."

"Merc?" I heard a familiar voice say, a voice I really didn't want to hear again.

"Motoyasu." I said while I finished hooking Daenerys up. "I thought I told you that only my friends get to call me that." I turned to face him, crossing my arms. "What do you want?"

"Just curious about where you're headed." I looked passed him to see that bitch, Myne, standing a few feet away.

"Yeah, sure, I'll send you a post card." I climbed onto the carriage.

"Sir Motoyasu is-"

"I couldn't care less about what 'Sir Motoyasu', or you, have to say, Myne." I cut her off. "Now, if you'll excuse me."

"If you keep showing me disrespect, my father will-"

I glanced back at her with a smile. "Sweetie, I'm not scared of you or your father. So you can go ahead and tattle to daddy and tell him the big bad dagger hero was being a meanie." I mocked. "I don't plan on coming back here anyway. And, if the waves drag me back here, I won't be staying long."

"What's your deal?" Motoyasu asked.

"You don't want me to start on that list, Motoyasu." I turned my back to them. "Let's go, Daenerys."

Moving towards the gates, I was happy to finally be leaving this place for the last time.

End of chapter 15