-Gold region, Wastelands-

Heinrich carefully walked around, scanning his environment for any monsters. Since he heard about the competition organized in Grand Noah, he decided to get back on this world's road to see for himself the monsters that were roaming around. It was as much an occasion to train as it was to explore his new "home", and to see if his skills were still useful.

Going by the rumors and hearsays at the Pocket Castle, the strongest monsters to train against could be found in a region called the Devastated Plains, in the western part of the Gold Region. The monsters he did find there were horrible. They looked like nothing he ever saw, strange amalgamates of various creatures, and sometimes included even angel parts. They initially made for tough opponents, but aster training so much, they were only slightly threatening. Besides, he had difficulties finding some enemies to face. Their density seemed to have decreased by a great deal since the last time he came here to train.

He could hear steel clashing and spells being cast behind a wall. As he cautiously approached, it was clear someone else did choose to come in this area to train against the local monsters. When he reached the corner, he could see San, a strong looking elven amazoness recruited by Luka. She was wielding a spear against two monsters, relentlessly chaining her attacks on one, then on the others without break. It was clear she did not need any help against those enemies for the moment. The hero from ancient times decided he could as well leave her alone for now. When he turned back, however, he noticed several more chimeras were approaching the elf extremely fast. One of them propelled itself using its tentacles and tried to grab the elf on its way. The amazoness only narrowly managed to avoid the attack, and was now in difficulty as the other monsters didn't lose a second before exploiting the occasion.

Heinrich decided to step in to support the elf. He charged the monster that tried jumping on the elf and slashed with a fire imbued blade at its tentacles. Right afterwards, he slashed at one that was covered with bandages, knocking her out instantly. As soon as he joined the elf, it was clear that, despite their large numerical superiority, their opponents didn't stand a chance. The amazoness fully focused on her initial opponents and knocked both down with a single spear thrust. Heinrich's blade spun as he sent several fire waves at his opponents. Most of them fell right after his assault, and the remainder fled soon thereafter.

As soon as the monsters disappeared from his line of sight, he heard a surprised cry and the sound of a spell being cast. A chimera was blown across Heinrich's right away, and another one could be heard screaming in agony as a rainbow light was visible. Heinrich could hear feminine chatter about who could claim which kill. When they came around the corner, he could identify them as Magical Mari-Chan and Witch, the succubus sorceress. It took him a second to realize that the one who was wearing less revealing clothing was the succubus. The latter took a good look at him for a second, blinked, and then finally asked him.

"Oh it's you Heinrich, did you came here to train as well?"

The hero smiled. "I heard that the monsters here were the strongest. Although I've never seen anything quite like that back home..." He took a look at the now dead chimeras.

Witch shuddered. "They're artificial monsters. Not even good ones at that." She smiled back at Heinrich. "Anyway, we thought you needed help when we ran into them."

Heinrich laughed heartily. "Oh, they weren't much, but still, what you did was spectacular!"

Magical Mari-Chan stepped forward. "We want to give everyone in the coliseum one show they won't forget!" The magical girl was as hyper energetic as usual. She proceeded to take several poses as if someone was taking pictures.

The succubus witch shrugged in front of her friend's shenanigans. "We'll be leaving and taking a break to see a few spectacles at Grandeur anyway. Searching for those chimeras take too much time, and fighting them feel now as challenging as taking on those guards from Ilias Village. See you later!"

The witch proceeded to take a harpy feather from her pouch and disappeared, bringing the magical girl with her. Heinrich then turned toward San who had remained silent during the whole exchange. The amazoness bowed in front of the hero.

"Thank you for your help. I was careless, and it is only thanks to you that I escaped unscathed."

Heinrich smiled. "You're welcome."

"As the law dictates, I owe you my life and my body, you can violate me to give me your children."

The hero's eyes widened for a second. "WHAT? WHY WOULD I DO THAT?"

San raised an eyebrow. "Because you saved me. Do you not wish to have a strong partner to carry your progeny?"

Heinrich's face reddened. "No! I am a hero! I saved you because that's w-what heroes do!" He shook his head to clear his mind. "Besides, I am not interested in romance and even less in s… in that. I already have a world to save!"

The amazoness took a moment to ponder what the hero just said as if they were words of wisdom.

"I see." She bowed again. "Then I shall become stronger to be able to claim you for myself at the tournament. Until we meet again, hero!"

She took a harpy feather from a pouch and proceeded to disappear. Heinrich slowly exhaled. Even if he was in another word, some things remained constant through the different universes…

He leaned against the wall for a moment. The conversation with San was more exhausting than the last three hours of monster killing. Still, he started to think about his own desires. With his attention being fully turned on slaying the Monster Lord and on saving the world, he didn't have the time to think about what happened back home. He spared a thought for Edina, the princess of Remina. She seemed interested in him. Or maybe he could try his luck with a monster at the Pocket Castle…

Heinrich shook his head. He was a devout to his ideals, and giving in to a monster's temptation was out of the question. Maybe he should ask Luka on the matter. The young hero was looking up to him for a reason, and even if he surrounded himself with monsters, he was still a follower of Ilias, and certainly would have found a way around his companion's ravenous needs without compromising himself, right?

He was pulled from his thoughts by a commotion coming from further down the main road. He took a glance from the corner of the wall, and noticed the Queen Vampire and her clique annihilating the few chimeras that were too slow or too dumb to get close to them. As he considered that he could no longer train in the area, he took a harpy feather from his bag and got back to the Pocket Castle.