A/N. Someone commented in the last chapter about the Prophets Hammer so let me in more detail clarify it's ability's and what I plan on doing with that hammer, I can easily see how you'd think that [Grand Prophesy] is OP and too that I say you're absolutely correct as it isn't meta knowledge like in other fics where an OC is summoned as a hero and they're a fan of ROTSH, rather its out right future vision, think Garnet's future vision from Steven Universe allowing Naofumi to see into the future. However the description of the ability [Grand Prophesy] states "Allows user to see up to a day into the future of the most likely outcome." Note the "most likely out come" bit that'll be important, as just because its the most likely possibility doesn't make it the only possibility. In a scenario where there are thousands of possibilities the odds would still be very low, its like a game of roulette it's easier to bet on either red or black than a specific number let's say 7, even if you were to remove the number 6 and replace it with 7 the odds of it being seven to it not being 7 are still 2 in 38 of it being a 7, so while its more likely to be a 7 than any other nuber but you'd still be more likely to have it not be 7. (Also I fixed the formatting for this chapter, because ch1's formatting was just bad.)
"Talking"
Thinking
[Magic/Skill]
Menu stuff/Shouting
*Onomonopia*
Transition
ch2.
As Naofumi made his return from his now second XP grind he then heard the sound of a woman crying, rushing upstairs Naofumi was met with the sight of Motoyasu holding his only companion Mein in his arms as she bawled her eyes out. The heroes of Hammer and Staff then made eye contact, Naofumi being worried and confused where as Motoyasu's once also concerned visage quickly shifted to one of great anger, Motoyasu then lunged forward small red staff out stretched Motoyasu then snarled lividly shouting "YOU BASTARD HOW DARE YOU!" swinging his staff at Naofumi.
Motoyasu was surprised to see Naofumi raise his hammer and block his attack easily, Naofumi in shock of what had just happened sputtered out "What do you mean!? I didn't do anything I just got back! Did something happen?!" To this Motoyasu only looked even more angry swinging his staff only to be parried by Naofumi yet again as he bellowed "LIAR! HOW DARE YOU TRY TO RAPE MEIN!"
This was not even close to what Naofumi had expected so he froze in place a deep look of horror and confusion etched into his face only to be snapped out of his shock when he took a strike from the Legendary Staff to his face, unfortunately for Motoyasu what he perceived to be an instant knockout had only made Naofumi flinch then the aforementioned hammer wielder had asked the question "What do you mean rape!? It couldn't have been me! I wasn't even here, I just got back from some monster grinding!"
As Naofumi said this he saw 2 doors opening and his fellow dimension hoppers step out with varying levels of exhaustion and irritation on their faces, then Ren complained tiredly "What's all this noise about..?" then Itsuki stated in an irate tone "Why is Mein crying and why are you two fighting!?" Mein then scuttled towards the other heroes and cried "Oh Sir. Heroes please save me! The Hammer Tried to rape me!"
To this Ren narrowed his eyes, clenching his fists, and glared at Naofumi while Itsuki cracked his whip and hollered "HE DID WHAT!?" Naofumi seeing this shouted in a panic "Waitwaitwait! I didn't do anything I swear! It couldn't have been me! I can explain everything!" To which the Itsuki glared sharply and Ren with a scowl on his face said "Explain."
Much to Naofumi's relief Ren was willing to give him a chance to explain, so that's what he did though not before parrying another strike from Motoyasu's staff so Naofumi finally retaliated pushing his hammer forward and pushed Motoyasu away and to the ground to this Motoyasu lashed out and rushed Naofumi with his staff only to be impeded by an armored hand on his shoulder turning to face the hands origin.
Motoyasu saw his fellow hero Ren, Motoyasu was shocked at this and asked "Ren why are you stopping me!? Can't you see what he's done!?" Ren with a distrustful glare turned to Naofumi, took a moment of pause looked back to Motoyasu then said "He should at least be given the chance to explain himself." Motoyasu struggling against Ren's hold stood back up and looked Naofumi dead in the eyes huffed and drew his staff to his side and glared at Naofumi with contempt, seeing this Mein let out an even louder faux cry for help from Motoyasu who clenched his fists walked over to Mein and held her in a warm embrace to which she clung to like a newborn clung to its mother.
Naofumi then explain his side of the story "After we got back from the fields we had eaten dinner then after that I got up went back down stairs waved to Ren and left to grind some more in the fields. I had left after dusk and I just got back..." Naofumi pulls his phone from his pocket and checks the time "At midnight, it's 12:07AM" returning his phone to his pocket Naofumi was then met with a question from Itsuki "Do you have anyway to verify this?" To this Ren interjected "He did leave when he said he did, that much I can confirm."
Itsuki then turned to Mein and asked "Do you know how long it's been since you were assaulted?" To this Mein had taken a seconds pause to think over how to best spin this tale to her favor while feigning more tears "This isn't good... That blasted Hammer just had to come back at the worst possible time... If he hadn't returned it would have solidified his guilt in the eyes of these insects, or if he came back earlier I could make it seem like it was a rape in progress... DAMN THAT HAMMER SCUM!"
Then Mein said "Only moments ago..." letting some more crocodile tears fall from her bitch face. Mein had taken careful consideration of her situation realizing the other interlopers weren't as stupid as she thought they were, that the Whip and Gauntlet fools would be warry of her if she didn't act fast, as Mein was about to say something the Gauntlet Hero had interjected again stating how those times didn't add up, with Naofumi and Itsuki coming to the same conclusion, that it'd have to be that Mein had been violated by someone who just so happened to look like Naofumi, Motoyasu had been momentarily placated by this conclusion but Ren... No Ren was a realist where as the other three heroes were idealists.
More so Itsuki and Motoyasu than Naofumi but he was still fairly naïve and lacked the requisite trepidation, Ren thought there was more to it than there appeared to be. The 4 Heroes and Mein decided to discuss what they should do "We should probably report this to the king." Ren spoke, then Itsuki said "I agree, we should leave now."
As the group of five made their way to the castle Naofumi took note of a group of seven people tailing them, so he nudged Itsuki and said "You know what these people are about?" Itsuki inturn faced the group of people and said "What business do you have with the cardinal heroes!" The group tailing them stopped in their tracks as four of them drew weapons and three set their hands alaight with magic specifically fire from a woman with seaweed green hair and a small scar under her left eye, earth from a woman with navy blue almost black hair and piercing gold eyes, and wind from a tall rotund man with unkempt blonde hair, no shirt on, and a large X-shaped scar across his gut, though the one thing all seven had in common was blood shot eyes, ragged and torn clothes, and pendants bearing the likeness of a wand with a whip coiled around it pressed between two gauntlets.
The one they assumed were their leader an aged and emmaciated half blind old coot with a rusted sword and dagger stepped forward and said "Please holy heroes step aside and let us your humble servants rid this world of the Devil of the Hammer!" The old man rushed forward at impressive speeds and coated in an earthen armor virtue of the earth mage in the backlines, swung his sword and readied his dagger for the kill only to be met with the face of a mighty warhammer crashing down on the top of his head.
A panicing Naofumi blindly swung his hammer as some crazed geezer he'd never met before rushed him down screaming while bloody murder, slowly opening his eyes in fear Naofumi was faced with an unconsious and possibly concused old timer with his face burried in the cobblestone road they walked, one of the fanatics with cropped red hair and a nasty burn scar on his lower jaw and neck drew his sling and loosed a stone at Naofumi all the while shouting in a gravly baritone "HOW DARE! LOATHSOME DEMI-HUMAN LOVING SYCOPHANTS LIKE YOU ARE NOT WELCOME IN GLORIOUS MELROMARC! DIE FOUL HAMMER!"
Naofumi to slow to move took a pellet to the shoulder and let out a cry of pain as he bled all over Itsuki's armor, the other heroes initially to shocked to do anything suddenly kicked themselves into high gear as there doubiously felonious interloper suffered a bullet to the shoulder and began to take action, Motoyasu taking hold of Mien in a princess cary fled around a corner to keep her safe and stand gaurd incase anyone else wanted to pick a fight and to distance both of them from the hammer wielding serial rapist they called a hero.
Ren took a gaurded fighting stance or atleast he tried to as he had little to no experience in a fight and instead sloppily replicated somthing he'd seen in an anime once, Itsuki the noble hero of justice he was cracked his whip and said "What is the meaning of this! Why would you attack us!?" The fat man with wind whirling around his meaty fists charged forth and threw a punch into Naofumi's side only to be tripped up by a whip wrapped around his leg and instead driving his fist into the armored hands of the chuunibyou gauntlet hero, Ren.
Pushed back several feet by the punch and watching as a sizeable portion of his healthbar was drained Ren shot his fist straight into the fat mans nose as an audible crunch was heard and the fat man fell to his back unconsious blood gushing from his nose, the bowman who shot Naofumi turned to Ren with a paniced look in his eye "PLEASE HAVE MERCY MIGHTY GAUNTLET HERO HIS ACTIONS WERE AN ACSIDENT! THAT STRIKE WAS MENT FOR THE BASTARD HAMMER NOT YOU!"
The moss headed fire mage muttered an encatation and flung a torrent of flames forth "I Jacklynn have discovered a new law of nature let toungs of billowing flame take form and reduce this hellspawn to ash in the wind, Faust Fire-Squall!" Naofumi, reasonably panicing as a bout of fire the size of a small dog is headed for him does the only thing he could think of and cried out "[Domineering Charge]" a orange flame wrapping itself around Naofumi's form and condencing around the head of his Goliath Swine Hammer, charging forth bathed in flames Naofumi swings his hammer in a wide arc crashing into the bowman and a balding spearman who was readying to skewer Naofumi.
Snapping the spear in two and slamming the archer with tusks of his hammer goring him and flinging him towards the two remaing spell casters, the earth mage shouting an encantation of her own "I Maria have uncovered a hidden truth may the world bend to my will, rise up and gaurd my allies, Zwiet Stone Wall!" A 2.5 by 2 meter wall rose up from the ground and kept the fire from scathing the two spell casters and catch the body of their commrad, Itsuki stepping forward cracked his whip while Ren cracked his knuckles at the same time they both cried out "[Suckerpunch]/[Bind Whip]" Ren fist coated in a dark energy smashed the wall to pieces and seending shrapnel everywhere while Itsuki lashed the two mages leaving a deep gouges across their bodies, forcing them to be peppered by even more shrapnel and tying them togeather.
Motoyasu stedpping out from cover saw the bleeding fat man slowly get up and quietly mutter a spell "I Bruce have understood this law of nature and call apon the winds to reach gale speeds and depart your swiftness unto me, Faust Wind-Sprint." Running at speeds impossible for a man of his stature the fat man lunged for Naofumi, rock in hand to bash his head in, Motoyasu seeing this and wanting Naofumi to face trial for his crimes used a skill of his own and shouted "[Erst Blast]"
As the fat man was hit from the back by Motoyasu's skill then beaten back into unconsiousness with the holy staff, he raised his wand and loosed seconed skill against the fanatics "[Goo Cannon]" As the semi translucent white sticky substence covered the crooks, Naofumi crashed his hammer into the neck off the spearman and slammed him into what was left of the magic stone wall, Motoyasu went back to check on Mein only to see her off in the distance crying to a knight as a platoon of gaurds came marching forward and came to a stop at the request of Motoyasu "I'm glad to see you guys we need these people arrested they came out of nowhere and started attacking us!"
The soliders looked between the huffing and bleeding form of their target the devil of the hammer by order of the pricess but they wanted to gain the favor of a holy hero so they all simulatiously had internal debates two of the eight gaurds went to seize the hammer hero and the other six went to detain the criminals who would dare assault the three saint heroes, "Hammer Hero! You are under arrest for the rape of your companion Mein Sophia!" the elder of the two gaurds barked out as he roughly grabbed Naofumi's bleeding arm and went to drag him before the king to stand trial, only to be intersepted by the hand of the holy gauntlet hero who simply said "Its fine we've got things handled just focus on those vagabons." the knight and hero had a short staredown, Ren beging to sweat at the prolonged eye contact but after a few short seconds the knight knodded in afirmation of the hero's statement and motioned to his junior to follow him as they aidded in the datainment of the heratics who saw fit to attack the holy heroes.
Ren much gentler took Naofumi by his good wrist motioned to the castle, "Come on Naofumi we should just get this over with yeah?" Naofumi nodded in agreement "Yeah your right we should, but first you think you could do somthing about this arrow?" Ren took a look at the puncture and nodded "Yeah I can take care of it, I'm no doctor but my mom was a nurse so I might be able to do somthing about it." Ren taking hold of the arrow began to push it through Naofumi's shoulder and saw as it clattered to the ground with a bloody squelch, while Naofumi was hissing in pain bitting down on a clump of ballon leathers so he doesn't crack tooth or bite his tounge off.
"Thanks man..." Naofumi hissed, "No problem, just drink this you should be fine." as Ren said this he handed Naofumi a vile filled with a thick red liquid, Naofumi eyeing it curiosly took a hesitant sip then downed the entire thing watching as his health bar rose back to max and the hole in his shoulder nitting itself shut leaving little more than a small scar on either side of his body, Ren doing the same and drinking a health potion to heal his sore hand after taking that hit from the fat man.
As Motoyasu and Itsuki finished talking with the soliders explaing the situation with the fanatics and Naofumi's assault on Mein headed over to Naofumi and Ren who was helping Naofumi to his feet after pushing out the arrow and healing him, "So shall we get going? Those crooks are being dealt with we needn't linger any longer." Itsuki said as he lead the other three heroes to the castle, along the way Motoyasu caught up with Mein and the group of five entered the royal dinning room where the king was enjoying his breakfast as the confrontation and walk had taken long enough for midnight to turn to dawn, king Aultcray was apparently an early riser.
Aultcray wiping any extra crumbs from his face turned to see a blood-soaked Whip, Hammer, and Gauntlet hero, and a Staff hero holding his daughter in his arms "Ah! Heroes what seems to have happened to you all," The once wise Spear King said as he stood from his seat and approached a look of great concern on his face occasionally sending Naofumi an apathetic glare.
"We were ambushed by a bunch of vagrants." Ren spoke with apathy and a hint of annoyance at the whole ordeal, "And is this why my daughter is in such a state?" Aultcray spoke in a warning tone. "No papa! The hammer hero raped me!" Mein wailed as she buried her face in Motoyasu's chest. "YOU FIEND! BLASTED HAMMER I KNEW WE SHOULD'VE NEVER SUMMONED YOU!" Aultcray roared as he drew a modle replica of the seven-star spear from his robe and aimed to slay the wicked creature in his home.
Only to be intercepted by a franticly waving Itsuki "King Aultcray please wait! It's a misunderstanding we can prove it!" Aultcray came to a stop as if he didn't he'd've run through not just the devil of the hammer but the holy whip saint as well, "We all agree it's more complicated than that your majesty," Ren spoke neutrally "The given times just don't add up, from Naofumi leaving the city to level up more after leaving Mein at the inn with us, to him coming back to Mein crying to Motoyasu's about the crime, the timing of it all conflicts too much, according to Mein's statement Naofumi burst into her room reeking of alcohol and forcing her to the bed ripping her clothes off, but Naofumi is clearly not drunk and smells more of blood and burnt rubber than alcohol, which leads us to our conclusion; rather we think someone who looked like Naofumi tried to violate Mein. Whether or not this was to hurt Naofumi's reputation as a hero or just an unfortunate coincidence we don't know, either way, our statements should be enough to clear Naofumi of any guilt."
Aultcray paused and took a deep shuddering breath calmly stating in a tone that barely held back the fury of a thousand suns, "Is this true heroes?" Itsuki looking ever so slightly miffed at Ren stealing his thunder simply nodded and said "Yes King Aultcray, we believe so. Naofumi is innocent and someone else is to blame for Mein's state." Aultcray took in another deep breath, let out a heavy sigh that aged him 30 years, then turned to glare sharply at Naofumi, "You may not be to blame for assaulting my daughter but that does not excuse your neglect of her! I forbid you from ever approaching her again, she will leave your party and join with one of the other heroes! Do I make myself clear!" Naofumi shrinking under the glare of the man who was about to kebab him if not for Itsuki and Ren, nodded frantically "Yes sir, King Aultcray, I understand!"
Aultcray huffed and nodded "Very good, now get out I must attend to my daughter." Naofumi nodded and left the castle with haste returning to the inn he rented rooms at. Passing by the guards who glared at him while they were arresting the hobo fanatics, Naofumi entered the now empty Inn save for the few farmers who were accustomed to rising so early and the Inn staff capitalizing on this fact to make some early morning coppers, Naofumi feeling hungry after the whole ordeal sat down at the counter and waved down the barmaid, a woman with blond thick pigtails and large assets she looked like a typical german barmaid, with a small beauty mark bellow her bottom lip, and stern but kind face typical of rural life.
"What can I get you young man?" she spoke softly with a thick country accent as she handed Naofumi a menu, only to Naofumi there was one huge problem he'd overlooked until now. I CANT READ THIS, WHAT THE HELL! Naofumi internally panicked at this fact and flipped the menu over in hopes of salvation, the salvation he was met with as on the back of the menu was pictures of what each food item looked like with numbers to correlate what each item was eventually Naofumi settled on a number 3, it was grilled fish and wild greens paired with honey tea, a simple meal to start your day with or in Naofumi's case end it as he had yet to get some sleep.
Finishing his meal, paying the barmaid, and returning to his room which he still owned until noon Naofumi finally got to lay down on his bed and get some sleep. Eventually, his rest had to come to an end as hours later Naofumi was met with the sound of banging on his door, "Excuse me, Sir Iwatani, your time is up we need you to vacate the room." Fortunatly for Naofumi it wasnt trouble that'd come a knocking rather it was the barmaid from before telling him his time was up. That was ok, and so Naofumi got up got dressed and got out to start his day, or rather afternoon, eventually Naofumi found himself back in the fields to level up some more.
Wandering into the forest to hunt more monsters, the sound of leaves crunching beneath his boots Naofumi heard some rustling and felt an impact into his back, rolling over with a slight wince he was met with a porcupine the size of a large mastif, shoving it off of him Naofumi rose to his feet and winced again, reaching over his shoulder he felt long protrusions sticking out of his back and shoulder, plucking one he noted the long barbed quills of the beast that was quickly transitioning from glaring at him to charging at him. Raising his hammer Naofumi swung it down, only to miss as the beast sidestepped his strike which pulverized the stone and dirt infront of him, swinging again Naofumi drove the brunt of his hammer upside the jaw of thee porcupine a loud crunch echoing on impact.
The spiky beast collapcing to the ground with a shattered jaw could only ruffle its spines in warning at the approaching brute raised his hammer once more, with a final downward swing the porcupine was reduced to a chucky red paste and visera, Naofumi reaching over to the corpse and scooping up the remains with a grimace and absorbing it into his hammer.
New Hammer Unlocked
Lv rec. 12
Animal Needle Hammer
+9 ATK
+ Armor Piercing (Medium)
+ (Special Equip Effect) [Needle Hammer] (Small)
[O,O]
Equipping the new hammer Naofumi analyzed it, a thin but flexible shaft ending with a single ball riddled with spikes, it looked more like a mace or a morningstar than a hammer but he supposed that just meant anything with a shaft and a bludgeoning tip could be considered a 'hammer' to this thing. Continuing down the beaten path for a few more hours, smashing anything that moved Naofumi kept on his merry way. Stepping out of the woods and into the clearing Naofumi gazed upon a worn down sawmill, it clearly hadnt seen use in a while, could've been a few months or a few years he couldnt say, walking into the derelict building Naofumi looked around and took note of some axes, saws, iron fittings, refined wood, and some leather. After a short inspection of the items Naofumi absorbed them all into the hammer, unlocking forms for each item, they all offered single-didgit bonuses to stats and small skill proficiency bonuses to tanning, wood cutting, crafting, and wood working. Beyond that there was little of note in the mill, taking a step towards the exit the floor boards snapped and Naofumi fell through the floor. With a loud splash Naofumi awoke under ground in a cave full of glowing crystals of various colors, climbing out of the small reservoir he landed in Naofumi looked up and saw the sunlight peaking through, "Shit how far did I fall? Im still alive so it couldnt have been to far... but that light looks pretty high up, maybe 20 meters... Well at least nothings broken... Right?" Giving himself a quick pat down Naofumi happily concluded nothing was broken.
*RUMBLE* With a sudden jolt Naofumi snapped to where the sound came from, it appeared part of the cave he was in had just collapsed, and shortly after the small cave in, the sounds of rabid barking could be heard from the other side of the cave. "Its a good thing what ever that was is on the other side of that cave..." *CRACK* Just as Naofumi said this a large black paw broke through a part of the dirt and gravle, the paw retreating and taking its place was the head of a massive snarling black dog, it seemed that there were two of them as just behind the head of the one dog was an identical copy, almost suspiciously identical. "Maybe their siblings?" Naofumi couldnt really tell as most of the figure was completely covered by the collapsed part of the cave. Both dogs snarled at me in sync before huffing and walking away, though oddly enough there was only one body visible when there were two heads.
"Maybe one of them is just behind the cave..." Naofumi shrugging at this wiped the sweat from his brow as the cave was deceptively hot and while it was just looking at him those dogs were still kinda scary. Figuring there was no other option Naofumi started to climb his way back up, switching his hammer to the iron fittings hammer which held the appearance of a chisel with a ball-peen hammer at the other end, using it like a climbing pick Naofumi began to scale the walls of the cave, after slipping off and falling back into the water Naofumi snagged a few of the crystals and absorbed them into his hammer in the hopes that he'd get something that could help him escape, but it was no luck they were all unhelpful to his current predicament so he simply continued climbing with the chisel, eventually succeeding and escaping the hole he was stuck in.
Exiting the sawmill properly Naofumi looked to the sky and saw how the moon was taking its place in the sky as the sun was barely visible as it sunk below the horizon, going off of how the sun had just barely started to set when he first entered the mill Naofumi had to guess he'd been in that hole for several hours. Naofumi thought it best if he got some sleep, walking back into the sawmill he moved around some planks to cover the hole and grabbing an empty sack to stuff it with dirt and saw dust to use as a makeshift pillow, Naofumi laid down and pulled some old leather over himself as a blanket and went to sleep.
8 hours and 2 minutes later
Waking up the next day Naofumi rose to his feet and began to ready himself for the day, dusting off his clothes he left the sawmill and started walking. After about 20 minutes Naofumi found himself on the other side of the forest from where he entered and was met with a small village surrounded by sparce woodlands and walls, approaching the village Naofumi was met with a guard standing by the gate with a short sword by his hip and a halberd in his hand. "Halt! State your business in Riyute village!" The gate guard barked in a practiced manner, Naofumi standing slightly straighter at this then spoke "I've come here to resupply and rest." To this the guard nodded and spoke once more now in a quieter but no less commanding tone "Very well, pay the entry toll of 5 coppers and enjoy yourself." Naofumi reaching into his satchel pulled out a series of copper coins and handed them over to the guard who placed the in a satchel of his own then shouted for one of the guards inside the village to open the gate.
With the gate being opened and Naofumi being granted entry he entered the out of the way village and looked around seeing a cave entrance off in the distance and a plethora of street merchants peddling their wares to the common folk, not nearly as many as there were in castle town but there was a pretty nice selection of wares to buy, though there wasnt much of anything that piqued his interest or anything he really needed so he just carried on his way. Entering the villages local inn simply call 'Riyute Inn' it was a quite place with the receptionist dozing off on the counter with her head in her arms, Naofumi not wanting to be rude just sat down at a table to the side and began drafting short-term plans, "First things first I should probably pickup a map of Melromarc sometime soon, maybe they'll have one in this market place in this village, if not I might need to check with the local stores or the inn keeper once she wakes up... and if that wont work then I might need to speak with this places lord, beyond that from what I've heard from the locals the mine here has been abandoned for some time because of a monster infestation... As much as I'd like to do so right now, it feels like I'm not strong enough to go to that mine just yet, especially if its an infestation I shouldnt go into that mine unless Ive got a party member."