"Wake up."

"Huh? What? Oh." After being woken up, I looked around blearily until I spotted Rato at the tent's flap.

It was nice to see she was still here. I thought she might actually leave in the middle of the night with the filolial. That would have sucked, especially since the large bird was nice and warm as it lay on the ground next to me.

We chatted a bit before turning in for the night. Ratotille Anthreya, though her friends called her Rato, not Rat like I thought. That's what I'd be calling her now, since we're friends and all that. She was accused by the Projectile Hero, Conrad, of basically performing human experimentation. He brought forward a chimera that had bits of human in it. Rato denied it, saying she had only ever worked on monsters. Needless to say, they believed the hero over her.

Truthfully, I wouldn't have minded if she did do what she was accused of, and said as much to her. Of course, that depended heavily on where she got the humans, or demi-humans, from. Convicted felons, hardened criminals, and the like were fine. Children were right out. I don't think my viewpoint earned me any points with her, but it didn't seem to hurt either.

We also worked out what we expected from each other. She will provide healing, as well as support spells, teach me things she's proficient in that I'll need, and any other alchemical services I'll require on our travels. In return, I am to kill the Projectile Hero, show her a filolial queen or king, and eventually provide a place for her to continue her research. The second wouldn't take that long, but the first and third had an unknown future date. My money was on the first one being accomplished before the third.

I also promised I'd be able to kill anyone who ended up coming after her due to Conrad's lies, which wouldn't be a problem. By the time anyone would try, I'd be more than a match for any non-hero.

After that, I'd gone to sleep. Between traveling, fighting monsters, using that cursed form, and general mental exhaustion from everything, I was pretty tired. Rato had slept on and off in the cart, plus the time during camp, so she was quite a bit more rested than me.

One thing I took note of was the timer on the Axe of Rage. It had gone up to 16 seconds, a little more than 3 seconds per 2 hours of non-use. My goddess didn't give me exact rates of increasing duration and recovery, so I didn't know what to expect. I'd have to see what it could do later on.

I got my gear on, woke up the filolial, and exited the tent. All that remained of the caged cart from last night was ash. The people, after being killed, were absorbed into my weapon for power ups.

"So, what's your plan?" Rato asked me as I came closer. She was going through what was left over from the guards, packing a few things away in a backpack they had.

"Faubrey's Wave is in four days." I was told as much from my goddess. "I'll need to get to the capital before then and register with the hourglass. Otherwise, it's killing monsters and gaining levels."

Rato slowed her movements before picking back up again. "Am I to go to the capital city with you?"

"That was the plan." I gave her a nod. "Before then, we'll have to get you something different to wear. Honestly, I'm surprised you're wearing all that to begin with."

"Part of me being sold meant all my possessions would become my new owner's, whoever that ended up being." She explained. "Weapons and armor are taken, but everything else stays."

"Strange, but convenient." If she wasn't wearing all that, there was no way I'd recognize her from a glance like I did. "Anyway, I'll make sure you aren't recognizable before taking you there."

With the basics of our plan set, we ate breakfast—food the guards had—and set off.

~The Right Man~

With a filolial, we were making good time. On foot, it would've taken me almost four days to reach the capital. On the bird, it'd be closer to two. I was thankful the filolial was used to pulling a heavy load. A saddlebag, our own backpacks, my armor, and ourselves were carried without much issue.

I was also thankful Rato was good with handling monsters. The filolial didn't complain at all with us replacing its old masters. The only downside was that we couldn't add it to our newly formed party. But that was just fine. I could always hop off the back and kill whatever weak monsters we came across. If Rato had any complaints about sitting in front of me, she didn't voice them.

Level up!

Out in the fields and well-traveled paths, the monsters were mostly balloons. I imagined that was due to the paths being made away from where stronger monsters roamed.

"Careful, Axe Hero. That monster will spray you with quills if you attack it from behind."

Another thing Rato did was give me information on any different monsters we encountered. Thankfully, the porcupine monster thought I was easy prey, since it charged right at me after I dismounted.

A swift downward chop was all that it took. It didn't even get close.

"Hm. Think we should take a short break? There's a stream over there." I pointed across the short field.

"We've been traveling for a few hours now." Rato nodded and directed the filolial toward the stream.

Meanwhile, I picked up the dead monster. Balloons couldn't be dissected, but this could.

We sat in silence as I skinned it with a knife. On the road, we chatted quite a bit. Part of it was her asking me questions, trying to get a feel for my character. Hobbies I had, family situation…what I did for a living. Her reaction told me our relationship would be mostly a business one, though she wasn't horrified about working with a hired killer. She cared more about studying monsters in the books, and that held up here.

Rato also wanted to know how I knew about her. So, I told her. Her reaction to that was a bit lackluster, like it was a footnote. I was a little disappointed, since I wanted a little practice on how to tell others about that and convince them I wasn't lying, like for Naofumi. Still, a neutral reaction was better than a negative one by definition.

After I finished with the monster, I got two forms from it.

Animal Needle Axe
(abilities locked) Equip Bonus: attack 1

Porcupine Meat Axe
(abilities locked) Equip Bonus: dissection 1

It was my first non-combat stat, so that was nice. At least, as far as I knew. Since the filolial was going to rest a little bit longer, I decided to take the time to go over my weapon forms and status. I hadn't really done so earlier due to being busy shopping, stalking, watching, or killing, and the filolial was going fast enough that I didn't think I should try to read and ride.

I was already at level 10. A couple of those prisoners were actually a higher level than the guards, if the XP gains were anything to go by. Rato gained a few levels today too, but she was level 1 before due to her imprisonment. I guess the Projectile Hero had it out for her or something.

A decent chunk of weapons were unlocked, waiting to be mastered. The one I was currently working on had fascinated me, but also disappointed me.

Iron Halberd
(abilities locked) Equip Bonus: defense 2

The stats on it were average, I suppose. It didn't really excel in anything, and the defense wasn't all that much higher than most of the other forms. The only justification for using it was its range, seeing as it was a polearm. I suppose if I thought of this world as a game, it made sense. Axe head against armor, a spear point at the top for thrusting, and a hook on the back to pull mounted knights from their saddle. I wasn't a huge history buff, but I knew halberds were pretty badass. Lackluster stats were the cost here.

As for my status, specifically the power up methods, I didn't have a lot to work with at the moment.

The Axe method let me increase my stats with points, though there was this weird puzzle-thing that dictated the distribution. It also had a cooldown of three days, though I got new points every level I was free to use right away.

The Carriage method required me to have monster corpses sitting in my monster drops, but the bonuses weren't that big. I also didn't have a wide variety at the moment.

The Spear's Spirit Enchantment was pretty low cost, one monster soul for one seemingly random effect. The same is true for the Status Enchantment. Both could use items instead, but I had more bodies to use.

The Sword's Level Link was passively boosting my stats, so no further work needed there. The Mastery would also slowly increase as I mastered the weapon (confusing terms), but I wouldn't have a lot of energy from resetting that yet.

The Bow's Job Level was a little costly, but I managed to increase my attack stat by one yesterday. I also had a few ore I could slot into weapons, moving them to the next form when needed. I didn't bother with the Spear's Smelting method just yet, since I couldn't get those ore back.

Everything else was a bit out of reach. I had the Whip method to lower levels for stats, but I couldn't use it on myself. Like, literally, I was unable to do so. My goddess wanted levels from me, so I couldn't complain. Any party members I had, however, could benefit from it.

Most of the power up methods were already known to me, or at least a version of them. The Claw was closer to the web novel than the light novel. Some of the Holy Heroes' methods were either mixed up or forgotten, but the packet my goddess gave me filled in the blanks.

The subject of my goddess was one thing I decided to keep to myself for the time being. Not only was that a harder thing to explain, and accept, she didn't want other people to know about her needlessly. Her competitors had eyes in many places and she felt lucky no one seemed to know about her acquisition of the Axe. Only the man I replaced was a known champion of hers, not the weapon he wielded as well. Otherwise, she was confident she wouldn't have been able to reclaim it to summon me.

On that note, I was free to make any decisions I wanted. My reward guaranteed loyalty, and it wasn't like she could watch me anyway. Well, she could, but it would take a lot away from her other activities, so I would be using my own discretion for most things.

I continued looking over things when I noticed something. I actually had one weapon form with an equip effect, something I could apply to other weapons with the Hammer method.

Throwing Axe
(abilities locked) Equip Bonus: throwing 1
Equip Effect: returning

A bit puzzled, I stood up from the ground and switched to it. The weapon wasn't that big, about a foot long in total. The stats on it were about the same as the Small Axe. But the effect…

"I wonder." I said aloud, holding the small axe in front of me. Then, I did something I wasn't able to do without the weapon touching some other part of me. I let it go.

The head of it sunk into the ground ever so slightly, keeping it from falling over. Then, as if on instinct, I opened my hand and the Axe flew back to it. I looked at it for a moment before lobbing it a few dozen feet away. After a few seconds of waiting, my hand wanted to open again and the Axe flew back.

I held it in my hands, the head of it resting in my palm.

"Yessss." This was fucking amazing.

"What is it?" Rato asked from her spot on the ground next to the filolial. She'd been casually looking it over.

"Heh." I glanced her way. "I just found something that'll make my time here that much more fun. Now all I need is a boy in the party."

She raised an eyebrow.

"That sounded a lot worse out loud than in my head." I waved her off, smiling. "If my filolial is male, I apologize in advance for all the references you won't understand."

"Right…" She nodded and returned to relaxing.

I'd have to make a note to buy a throwing axe to keep. After so many uses, the Hammer method will lock out the weapon the effect was pulled from. I would also need to practice a bit with it. There wasn't a skill for throwing it (yet) like Motoyasu's javelin ability, so it would rely solely on my own ability, plus my throwing skill (again, confusing terms).

As if reacting to my anticipation, a cracking sound came from my pack next to the filolial. That could only mean one thing.

Stowing my axe, I opened up the pack and pulled out the egg in its case, removing the top. The egg rocked back and forth, the small crack lines on it spreading. Rato stood next to me as I watched.

Then, the shell broke apart.

"Cheep!" Sitting in its egg was a red-feathered filolial.

"Adorable." I held out a hand toward it. The chick sniffed me a little before jumping onto my hand, letting me put down the case.

"Cheep! Cheep!" It chirped at me, and I swear I saw it smile with its beak. Its big red eyes looked at me happily.

"Yes, you're absolutely precious." As I stroked its head with my free hand, it leaned into it.

"May I, Axe Hero?" Rato held out her hand to me.

"Please." After petting the filolial a little longer, I handed it over. "And seriously, just call me 'Dante'."

I would no doubt have to deal with formalities in the future, but I'd also rather put that off for as long as I could. Politics wasn't my thing at all.

Looking over the filolial didn't take that long. Mostly it was just a quick physical examination to check for any irregularities. Stretching wings, looking at eyes and throat, that sort of thing.

"Uncommon feather color, but not rare either. Average size for a riding filolial. Unless there's some strange internal issues, she's completely healthy." Rato offered the filolial back to me.

"Ah. Well, a girl is fine. Thanks." I said, setting the little filolial onto my shoulder. She began to nuzzle the side of my face.

"Well, this one here is male." Rato pointed to the sitting filolial.

"Gweh?" The filolial sensed he was being talked about and craned his neck to see us.

"I'm pretty sure the filolial has to be raised by a hero from an egg…well, with some exceptions?" I vaguely recalled deep in the spinoff web novel that Motoyasu found Yuki, one of his three filolials, fully grown in one time loop and she was still able to transform. Then again, that was deep, deep, into New Reprise. Or, maybe it was at the end of Reprise? Also, it was Motoyasu. Regardless, the grown one wasn't registered to me.

Instead of dwelling on that big 'what if', I turned my attention back to my little filolial. "Hungry, sweetie?"

"Cheep!" That was a 'yes' if I ever heard one.

As I went through my pack for the beans to crush up, I went through names for the filolial. Naming things wasn't my thing either. Mary always came up with funny names for things…

Try as I might, I couldn't ignore the pain in my heart from the memories. That's what I was here for, though. I'd do my job and bring them all back. It was just a matter of carrying on until then. There were times when I had to be away from Mary for extended periods of time, mostly before we had to move. This would just be one of those long periods.

As for a name for my filolial…

"Hm. Filolials are fast. Motorcycles are fast. I own a Harley motor cycle. Harley, Harley…Hailey. Yes, Hailey!" A quick string of thoughts led me to the perfect name. Well, it was better than Filo, but that's not saying much.

"A bit of a strange name." Rato commented.

"Oh?" I responded, though I started mashing up the beans.

"Usually, filolials are named to invoke some excitement or wonderment, or just titles, though I suppose that's more for racing filolials." Rato explained. "Night Sky, The Duke, Straight Arrow, Speed Wagon, that sort of—"

I nearly dropped the beans when she said that.

"Cheep?" The little filolial bumped my cheek, looking at me with concern.

"I'm fine." I assured her. "Hailey Speedwagon. That's your full name." I then looked over at Rato. "I can tell we're going to be good friends."

"I don't understand, but I won't complain." Rato sighed. I think she already resigned herself to my weirdness.

I needed to find someone to share these jokes with. Unfortunately, we'll either be from different worlds or enemies. Pity.

I gathered up Hailey's egg shell and got the first Monster User Axe to increase her growth, while Hailey ate the beans I prepared for her. Thinking about it, I took a few feathers from the other filolial as well, the ones he was preening off himself.

Filolial Feather Axe
(abilities locked) Equip Bonus: filolial growth adjustment (small)

And the good tidings continued.

~The Right Man~

For the rest of the day, I performed a bit of a balancing act with the monsters. Nothing dangerous, but I had to gauge how much went to my weapon and how much went to the filolials.

That also meant we had to search out some stronger monsters. Really, monsters that had meat or organic matter. Really, that just meant non-balloons.

And, of course, I was sure to have a bit of fun with a monster or two.

"Oh, you're approaching me? Instead of—fuck." The mushroom monster I attempted to meme had quite the jump on it. A chop to the side with my Monster User Axe was more than enough to stop its lunge and kill it.

Blue Mush Axe
(abilities locked) Equip Bonus: simple recipes 1

On the plus side, that was my first crafting form. Once mastered, I'll be able to make potions while we traveled, assuming I had the ingredients. Some of the non-balloons dropped what was needed for basic medicine, so that was nice.

"Cheep!" Hailey pecked my cheek with her beak.

"Don't worry. You can have the next one." I assured her while I gave her a scratch. Even this small, her feathers were nice and fluffy.

The nice thing about jumping off of the larger filolial to fight monsters was it gave him a short break to rest. He wasn't much of a combat steed, so I couldn't just ride him in and skewer monsters on the tip of my halberd. All things considered, it worked out pretty well.

Now that Hailey was hatched, we went more offroad to find more of those fleshy monsters, and more monsters in general. Many monsters meant many levels for the three of us. A variety of monsters, as well as plants and other things to absorb, led to more weapon forms. Meat, bones, leather, and whatever else the monsters had increased that further. Stat bonuses, non-combat bonuses, another recipe, and even a couple skills.

Funnily enough, it wasn't the Rope Axe that gave me what I was looking for, or even a skill.

Bark Axe
(abilities locked) Equip Bonus: skill "Erst Chop"

Brigand Axe
(abilities locked) Equip Bonus: skill "Uproar"

Despite the name, I did not absorb a brigand for that axe. It was drop item that I copied. Erst Chop was a strong attack, much like how the other weapons had skills that worked in a sequence. Uproar was sort of like a mini berserk ability. The cooldown wasn't bad and it increased my attack, agility, defense, and strength, while locking out magic and skills, even the ability to end that one. The duration and cooldown weren't too long, the SP cost was low, and I didn't have magic or many skills, so it'd be fine to use for a while. As a plus, equip effects didn't seem to be affected.

Just before nightfall, we made it to another town, this one a little smaller than the other. I went in by myself first to get something for Rato to wear as a disguise, just in case. A short trip to a tailor, back out to where Rato was, and in again with the four of us.

"I suppose it could be worse." Rato said as we walked the streets.

"It works, it was cheap, and it didn't require any measurements." I said as we looked around for an inn.

What Rato wore was basically a wizard or priest robe, depending on the setting. It had a large hood that covered the top of her head and I got one of those jaw-covering scarf-things one might see a bandit wearing, also depending on the setting. With those on and her other accessories off or hidden, she was quite indistinguishable. It also helped that she was arrested right away before, so no wanted posters were ever made.

We got to an inn with a stable attached for the grown filolial and turned in for the night. All in all, we had a good day of grinding. I ended the day at level 18, Rato at 14, and Hailey at 11. Rato's knowledge of monsters made it far easier to find where they would live and hunt near. Her healing magic, and support magic, made battles easier and less dangerous. Having all those power up methods didn't hurt any, even if I couldn't use half of them effectively yet, with the stronger ones needing more time and resources than what I had.

I didn't expect our level gains to remain. After getting into the 10s, level increases slowed down. That was in addition to the gradual decline after every level.

Also, levels weren't everything. Equipment mattered. I had monster parts I could pull out and sell, but doing jobs for the guild was much, much more profitable, or so I was told. But then I wouldn't gain as many levels. It wasn't too bad just yet, but if I wanted to gain more levels and fight stronger monsters, I'd need better gear. The best I'd gotten gear-wise was a steel helmet—which I was glad to have a bit more armor, and it was pretty good at that—and a simple wand for Rato to use.

Based on our speed with monster hunting and the time before the Wave, we decided to wait until reaching the capital to work on gaining more money. Once I registered to the hourglass, it would be known I was a hero. Jobs would be offered quite readily.

To be clear, I wasn't exactly hiding my hero status. I just didn't see the need to announce it, like pulling things out in front of people. I wasn't concerned about Projectile Hero Conrad, or at least not as an immediate concern. He apparently took quests to subjugate bandits often and was well liked. While my predecessor never came into contact with the man, Hammer Hero Khana did, who my predecessor did meet. Since Khana was still walking around at least a month after her last known contact with Conrad—in Faubrey, no less—it was pretty safe to assume I wasn't going to be killed on sight.

That put me a bit more at ease.

Well, other people might try their hand at killing me if they knew I was at a relatively low level. Not out of malice, but in the belief they'll become the hero instead. Technically, that was possible, if it wasn't this weapon specifically. You defeat the hero, you're generally worthy of wielding it, unless you're particularly unheroic.

I had the curse series form for anyone who wanted to try that.

~The Right Man~

"Uh oh."

"Well, this is certainly an interesting development."

I realized my mistake when we woke up next morning. Hailey had grown significantly during the night. She wasn't quite as big as the other one, but still big. Really, I should have thought of that. By last night, she was already a round little thing that could barely fit in both of my hands. Her bones had been creaking all day.

Well, Rato was impressed by her growth, so at least I was fulfilling one of my obligations to her.

After navigating Hailey down the stairs of the three-story inn, we got our other filolial and started moving. I made a quick stop by a blacksmith to get a throwing axe, plus selling a few weapons from the drops neither of us could use. I ended up making 30 silver from the whole exchange.

This day proceeded much like the last one. We went in the general direction of the capital while being mostly offroad. Kill monsters, unlock forms, eat meat (mostly the filolials doing that), and master my weapon of choice. I even got more ore to put into weapons, still not expending most them until I was sold on what weapon I'd use in the Wave.

Unlike before, Hailey couldn't rest on my shoulder—not by a long shot. She ran alongside us since she wasn't yet big enough to carry a rider. In combat, she was smart or clever enough to know which ones she could stomp over and which ones she should let me lead against. Rato kept on healing and supporting us, making this day even more rewarding than yesterdays.

My level ended at 25 with Rato and Hailey at 19. Getting the kill on a bunch of monsters really helped Hailey catch up.

It almost felt like a mistake to not try getting to Melromarc in time, but that was only viewing the end results. We spent all day finding monsters to fight, going around quickly due to having filolials, plus picking some herbs and ingredients every so often. That extended our travel time by almost a whole day. We wouldn't have time for any of that going to Melromarc, since that guild member said I'd need to switch mounts out, likely riding all day long.

But I really shouldn't think about that. Nothing I could do about it right now.

Hailey was also now big enough to ride. Just like the other filolial, her feathers were soft to the touch, more so than before. She really liked being scratched on her neck. I'd ridden her a little bit before we stopped for the day—which she also loved—though I didn't try to joust any monsters with her.

The next day, Rato declared Hailey's normal growth to be finished. She was as tall as the other filolial, and a little bulkier. And, since she was finished growing…

"All Faust Guard!" Rato cast her spell.

"Ride, Hailey, and let loose the dogs of war!" I felt like I had to say something before she charged. Our target was a giant frog, located near the edge of a small swamp. It was just a little shorter than me, making it a good target.

With advice from Rato—who stood in the back, safe from battle—we were able to avoid its tongue when it shot out at us. With my halberd pointed at it, the frog was run through, but not killed. It lost its footing as I was pushed off of Hailey, though I was quick to recover and reposition myself on the ground before it could. Hailey, being the trusty steed she was, pounced on it with her talons.

Level up!

And so, our first attempt at mounted combat was a success. Note to self: don't attempt to joust without stirrups. If we tried that against something more dangerous, it wouldn't end as well as it did.

After that, the rest of the day went as the previous ones, with one exception.

We sold our fluffy companion, the filolial with no name, to a small village. On the one hand, the filolial didn't have a monster seal on it, not even a deactivated one—which explained why it complied to Rato's directions so easily. A seal cost money, and if it was just going to pull a cart, something filolials were happy to do, there was no need. On the other hand, taking that to the place it came from was just asking for trouble.

Hailey could carry us now, so we didn't need the additional liability.

I would have killed and harvested him, but I just couldn't bring myself to. I wasn't worried about Fitoria getting mad about it, since it improved my weapon and the filolial wasn't part of her flock. My soul didn't look any different than a normal summoned hero, and the Axe didn't give off any vibes she might sense, according to my goddess. My goddess also said I wouldn't have to worry about the powerful filolial, but she didn't elaborate further.

This filolial was just too adorable to kill.

~The Right Man~

We arrived at Faubrey's capital in late afternoon. It was huge. We could see how big it was as we approached, and even quite a bit before while on the plains.

Again, thanks to her disguise and the fact that no one had any notion to look for her, Rato went completely unbothered as we rode into the city.

It was much more bustling here than the towns we visited. That was to be expected. What was a little unexpected was the automobiles I saw. They weren't anything great, looking like a little box with a small extension in the front for the engine. I couldn't remember what they were called, but I remembered something similar from old black and white movies. They probably ran on kerosene or something.

There were a few other designs, all of them with less material and smaller spots for the engines. If I had to guess, Takt made more advanced versions in the books, keeping the even more advanced and steampunk stuff for himself. I did spot guards with muskets, which weren't in the other towns, so there was that.

We didn't have much to do here other than registering at the dragon hourglass. Outside of that, we'd see what would work best. Maybe register and take a quest at the guild, maybe sell the monster parts I had or use them for better armor. The stuff I wore currently held up pretty well, but a small upgrade wouldn't be bad. It all depended on the price, and how much money I could make.

As we trotted along the street, I continued to take in the sights. The Four Heroes Church was just up ahead. There was a chance we'd see Conrad while there, but it was unlikely. The odds of a hero being there at this particular moment was slim.

"Come on! Just one red ursa?"

"No, not even one."

The odds suddenly increased.

At the steps leading up to the church were two groups. One was a single man and a griffin, the other being five people. It was the leaders of these two groups that made me nervous. I recognized them both from my predecessor's memories.

To the right was Lloyd, the Whip Hero. Unlike back then, he had a good set of chainmail on with hardened leather over his arms and legs, his light brown hair still pulled back into a ponytail. He stood next to his griffin, which looked like it had been hitting the gym every day. If this was one of the griffins from that memory, then I was impressed. It was the second tallest thing I'd seen so far here.

To my left, and the first tallest, was Khana, the Hammer Hero. Like I mentioned, I saw her in my predecessor's memories, but seeing her in person was something else. She was a beast of a woman who towered over the other hero, standing roughly seven feet tall. Her long, dark hair in a few small braids in the front and a larger one in the back made her feel like a barbarian warrior. The somewhat light armor with bracers and thick, metal shoulder guards added to that image.

"Do you see him?" I whispered to Rato as we halted a couple dozen feet from the groups.

"No." Rato shook her head.

"Hm. Wait here." I told her before hopping off Hailey. If the Projectile Hero was around, well, it'd be pretty bad if I had to do something about him right now.

Was Rato worth making an enemy of a nation by fighting another hero? Not by a long shot. Was I going to abandon my first ally in this world? Not a chance in hell. I'm a man of my word. So long as she doesn't cross me first, she'll have my support.

Two of my weapon forms were smelted once each, plus the Axe of Rage once. The former required ore that was common enough, while I only had one for the latter. I could throw a bunch of other methods at the Axe of Rage, too. If things went bad, I was somewhat confident, so I'd be on my best behavior. Unless their levels were crazy high, I was confident we could at least escape.

"I know you raise a lot of them. All I'm asking is one for myself." Khana argued, though it looked a little silly to be practically pleading with the much shorter hero.

"I raise a lot of monsters, Khana, but I'm not just going to give you one because you asked." Lloyd replied, stern but empathetic.

"Can you imagine what I'd look like riding on the back of a red ursa into combat? Think about it! Hm?" Her very persuasive argument was interrupted as the man—or boy—behind her tugged on her armor.

Most of her group was filled with rough looking people. They had their own styles and equipment, but they all seemed to add to Khana's wild esthetic. All except for the one gaining her attention. He looked soft, and not in a fat kind of way. I meant he looked meek. The mage-slash-witch outfit he wore didn't help. He also looked to be a teenager, and on the younger end at that. Still, in this world, he was probably old enough to make his own decisions, so I wasn't going to say anything. As long as he wasn't a slave, but that was a baseless thought.

All eyes were on me now. I pulled my recently acquired helmet off my head to better show my face.

"Hello. Are you two the Hammer and Whip Heroes?" I started the conversation.

"We are." Khana said, shifting her stance. He jabbed her thumb to the Hammer on back, which was secured in a similar way to my axe. "You wouldn't happen to be looking to challenge me, would you?" A grin crept onto her face.

I shook my head. "No. I've got one of my own." I mimicked her, sticking my thumb over my shoulder to the Axe on my back.

"Ooh." Khana placed her hands on her hip. "I'd heard the last Axe Hero was killed. Guess another one was already chosen." She looked off to the side. "Kind of wish you were here to fight me, honestly…"

From her appearance and small bit of her personality thus far, she struck me as someone who'd be the Axe Hero, not the Hammer Hero, but I suppose the weapons were close enough.

"Maybe later." I gave her a halfhearted reply. "I'm a little surprised two other heroes are here right now. Are any of the others here?"

Lloyd shook his head. "Conrad is traveling west of here to other hourglasses. He should be back for the Wave, though."

Just as I was about to start adjusting my plan, Khana spoke up. "Not a chance. He knows the two of us are gonna be here, so he isn't going to bother. No XP with three Seven Star Heroes around."

And just like that, the universe has aligned with my desires. Well, my most immediate ones. I'm sure there'll be some karmic repayment later, as is the norm.

"As for the others," Khana went on, "the Staff Hero is in Melromarc and probably won't come out, seeing as he's a king and all. The Claw Hero sticks to Siltvelt and Shieldfreeden, so that's a no on him. And there's no Gauntlets Hero right now. It'll just be us three, plus whoever we bring with us."

I nodded, thinking. I'll try to convince one of them to not participate in the Wave so I could gain more XP, like Conrad was planning on doing. This early on, it shouldn't be an issue. That would be for a bit later, though, after I've gotten to know them a bit, and to show I'm competent. Since they're heroes, they wouldn't leave people to get hurt without believing I could get the job done.

"Sounds good to me." Now it was just a matter of figuring out which one to ask. "I'm sorry, I haven't introduced myself. Dante MacRory, the Axe Hero." I held my hand out to them.

"Khana, the Hammer Hero." The tall woman said, gripping my forearm. Not many people would do that. I only knew of one.

"Lloyd, the Whip Hero." The younger man said, shaking my hand, not quite firmly.

"Grrr." The griffin behind him didn't seem to like that and started to loom over me.

"Oh! Hey, stop that!" Lloyd quickly chastised. The mass of rolling muscle easily backed off. "Sorry about that. He really doesn't like filolials, and, well…"

"No worries." I waved him off and looked over my shoulder. Rato was doing her best to keep Hailey from stomping forward.

"So, 'MacRory', huh?" Khana said, scratching her chin. "You a noble like Lloyd here?"

It slipped my mind, but most people with last names were probably nobles, or at least wealthy. Kind of a medieval thing, if I remembered right. That also meant Rato had some noble blood. It made sense, her ancestor in the past with that other Shield Hero from the books. I think her family tree was full of alchemists. It didn't help her much, what with the arrest and all.

"No, I'm a summoned hero." I told her. The way Khana's eyes nearly lit up was almost concerning.

"Ah~. Guess that means I get to show you the ropes, huh?" She stepped forward, placing a large arm over my shoulder. "Well, that's only right."

"Oh boy." One of her presumed party members muttered.

"Here we go." Another one added on.

Khana gave them a flat look before she started herding me up the steps. "As the senior Seven Star Hero, it's my duty to teach those who come after me. I'll make sure you know everything you need to do your job properly. If at any time you get the urge to call me 'Big Sis', please feel free to do so."

I held my hand up toward Rato, letting her know everything was fine. She was close enough to hear about Conrad, so there was no worry there. While looking back, I saw the exasperated looks Khana's party was throwing our way. The mage boy pulled his hat over his eyes.

"I'm pretty sure I'm older than you." I told my 'senior'.

"With that scruff on your face? Hardly." She laughed.

I'd hardly call it scruff. That's what happened when I don't shave for a few days. Mary didn't like my beard, so I always kept it cut.

Another memory I had to keep pushed down.

"How old are you, anyway? I'm 23." Khana continued as we neared the top.

"I'm 28, and I know I don't look that young." I told her. There was the slightest hitch in her step.

"You can still call me 'Big Sis'." She said, though a bit weakly.

"I don't think I'm going to do that."

Author's Notes:

And here's the end of the leveling chapter. The level increases might seem a bit high, but I think they're appropriate. Naofumi was able to get Filo from 1 to 12 in a day of grinding, and that was from only monsters around Lute; he went from 20 to 23, Raphtalia from 25 to 27. Dante also had all the power up methods, pulling a little bit from each, as well as someone to heal and buff him and predict monster locations, and a fast mount to get places quickly.

The next chapter might have the start of the Wave at the very least, if not the end of it. If anyone's worried, I don't plan on spending too much time before the start of canon. Just doing a bit of worldbuilding and prep before then.