Chapter 16: Meager Morale
Flores grunted, tossing and turning in his sleep. His dreams haunted him, as hundreds of thoughts ran through his mind. Thoughts, he believed he locked away for good, but he thought wrong.
"Lee." Flores groaned as he remembered back to a moment he tried to forget. He was wounded and was about to be killed by an enemy soldier hiding in an empty house. Instead of dying, though, his partner came in and entered a firefight that ended with Lee disarming the gunman and Flores shooting him with the disarmed gun. Lee, however, was tagged in the chaos and soon took his place as the one to die in that battle.
The next flash was Kim, left behind in a burning factory, as Flores had to save himself or risk dying with her. Next was James, shot and dead. Benjamin, killed in a helicopter crash. Hamilton, Neal, Beck, and Poppy. Many of his friends, many of his allies during this war across the sea now dead, and he could do nothing about it as he lived on to keep fighting.
He could only hide it for so long, but as the images of his first team flashed through his mind, he had the power and the time necessary to pull out a win. And yet, his fear got the best of him, and they died under his care. A new world, a new start, and powers that only a few may wield. He had it all and was destined to be this world's great savior. But now, the memories of his past failures outweigh the successes. And with the death of Mary being the last to cross his mind, he found himself floating in a sea of black, with one voice echoing through the empty void of his dreams.
"Am I going to die?"
"Am I going to die?"
"Am I going to die!?"
Flores covered his ears, but the echoes were unavoidable. Soon, they were surrounding him, assaulting his ears from every side as the image of the bloodied kid approached him slowly. Unable to move and unable to speak, Flores struggled as the kid grabbed his face and forced him to look up.
Blood dripped to the floor as feathers fell from the boy's wounds. And as the wraith opened its mouth, the echoes stopped, only for them to return as an ear-splitting shout.
"WHY DIDN'T YOU SAVE HIM!?"
/~/
"[ATTACK ORDER!]" Flores shouted and began to wildly swing his flag. Flores shot up from his bed and thrust his spear at a nearby nurse. Realizing his mistake, Flores stopped the attack mere inches from the woman's face and lowered his weapon.
"Gu-good evening. Captain." The girl stammered.
"Sorry. Force of habit." Flores got up, grabbing his shirt lying on the nightstand next to him. Most of his wounds were gone, supposedly healed by magic while he was unconscious. The much deeper wounds caused by the boss, however, were still there and were wrapped around his only good arm. He had no idea how long it had been there. But he could estimate that it was almost done and could be taken off in a few hours or so.
"I'm going to go now. Mind telling me where my gear is?"
"Next room to the left."
"Thanks. A gift for your troubles." Flores put on his shirt and left the room, leaving behind a Lit'sune fur shawl for the nurse who was there.
/~/
"That should do it." Flores sighed.
Before him lay the fruits of his labor. Dissected parts from each wave monster, along with the head and bone of the boss. It wasn't difficult to get access to. He did kill it, and he was a hero. But to allow others to use the materials, he just took the head and left.
Of course, since the other monsters are scattered about and in abundance, Flores gathered 2 of each dead bird and dissected them to get more weapon forms. The rest he had with him would be turned into energy for the never-ending gacha that is his power-up method.
Interdimensional Goose Brawler Bone Flag (B)
Abilities locked Equip Bonus: Atk 2, A, Blunt Damage Up (Small)
Interdimensional Goose Brawler Feather Flag (B)
Abilities locked Equip Bonus: Agility Up (Small)
Interdimensional Goose Brawler Meat Flag (B)
Abilities locked Equip Bonus: Meat Recipes
Interdimensional Penguin Wielder Bone Flag (B)
Abilities locked Equip Bonus: Atk 5, Slashing Damage up (Small)
Interdimensional Penguin Wielder Feather Flag (B)
Abilities locked Equip Bonus: Def +5
Interdimensional Penguin Wielder Meat Flag (B)
Abilities locked Equip Effect: Refrigerator
Interdimensional Penguin Wielder Flag (B) Unlocked
Abilities locked Equip Bonus: Def +5, Atk +5, Skill: Advanced Flourish
"New skills; let's see what they're about." Flores postponed moving on and went to his penguin-wielder flag. Equipping it. The flag was a black pole and white flag, with the image of the penguin's bladed flipper on the cloth.
Refrigerate
Cools down the body while the flag is active
Simple enough. So let's see what the other is about. Flores thought as he clicked on the next skill.
Advanced Flourish
Temporarily strengthen your next attack. If followed up by beginners flourish, increase the power further.
So it's some kind of ladder skill. Flores though.
Using the skill, it activated on its own, and both Flourish skills went on cooldown. When he did it in the intended order, however, he was able to use both skills in rapid succession, with the force and speed of his attack being faster and stronger than the first.
The window to activate the skill though was pretty small, around a one- to two-second window from what Flores tested. Thrust attacks proved to be a terrible opener, as he ran out of time in his attempts to retract them quickly enough. This led him to test out a few opening attacks that could follow up with others. But with no enemies alive right now, he would have to test them out later.
"Now for the final one." Flores looked at the final monster head and wasted no time tearing it apart. Dumping the three components in, Flores jerked back as he looked at the unlocks.
Ravager Roc Flag (B)
Abilities locked Equip Bonus: +5 Atk, +5 Agility, +5 Stamina, Skill: Bastion Dash
Ravager Roc Feather Flag (B)
Abilities locked: Equip Bonus: Feather Folly
Equip Effect: Agility up (small)
Ravager Roc Claw Flag (B)
Abilities locked Equip Bonus: +5 attack
Ravager Roc Bone Flag
Abilities locked Equip Bonus: +5 stamina
Ravager Roc Meat Flag (B)
abilities locked Equip Bonus: cooking 2
"Two skills, 3 equip bonuses, and a boost to cooking. Truly, that's the most important bonus out of the bunch."
Flores swapped flags and looked at the new one. It was a blue and white flag, with the image of the Roc's wings crossed over each other. The stats eclipsed every other flag and banner he had. And it was completely unique compared to the others as well. Instead of the usual spear tip at the end of the flag. It had a glaive-like blade on the end, with the flag being a pennant instead of the usual guidon. It was refreshing for the hero, seeing as he still had more weapon types to unlock.
"Alright. What do these do?"
Bastion Dash
Rush forward in a defensive aura.
Feather Shot
Fire off a volley of arrows in certain direction
"A ranged and a rush skill? What should I unlock first, though?"
"FLORES!" Yomiko yelled.
Turning around, Flores saw Yomiko storming towards him. Fire burned with every step as her legs looked more and more like a bundle of paper as they spread.
"Hey Yomiko."
"What are you doing outside of bed? You just fell out of the sky!"
"I don't see what the issue is. I lived and healed up enough to walk on my own. Pretty sure that's what most medical patients strive for."
"That's not the issue, Flores. You're pushing yourself with a freshly healed body; you need time to rest or the fatigue will mess you up." Yomiko grumbled as she grabbed Flores by the arm.
"You're going back to bed to get some proper rest. Once three days have past, you can-"
Yomiko felt her hand get hit and pushed away. She lost her grip on the hero and quickly turned around in anger.
"The hell was that for?" Yomiko exclaimed.
"I don't have time for sleep. I'm used to shrugging off minor injuries anyway."
"MINOR!" You had a concussion, a twisted ankle, a strained rotator cuff, several entry wounds, and dozens of more cuts and bruises. "Minor" is not a damn word to describe all of that."
"It's only major if it's life-threatening. I can move, and I can fight. End of story." Flores began to walk off, but his arm was grabbed again by Yomiko.
Sigh. "It's about the kid, isn't it? Romeo right?"
"It's not." Flores turned away.
"You're lying. You tend to put your thumb in your pockets when you do."
Flores looked down for a second and mentally face-palmed as he remembered that his hand was currently being restrained. That, however, was all Yomiko needed in order to press on her attack.
"Guess that proves it. Flores-"
"I'm telling you. It's not about him. I only knew him for, like, five minutes."
Yomiko sighed. "Remember what you said earlier. When the woman was yelling at you?"
/~/
"The mother is right. I did fail to defend him, and it's my fault. My best clearly wasn't enough."
/~/
"I know you take a lackadaisical attitude when it comes to death. But you need to know that Romeo's death wasn't your fault. The same goes for H'lockk, Guile, Mary, and Trent!"
"If you were there, I'm sure you would have saved the kid easily, right?"
"Yes bu-"
"The same goes for Lizen, and dare I say Shun? Hell, put you all in any situation I was in, and everyone would have left unscathed."
"Flores, that's not a fair comparison. We've been here longer and have a better grasp of the world and its levels. You're still learning, and you've taken on the wave boss alone! Not to mention, you said you were evenly matched against the orc until your skill ran out."
"YOU THINK I DON'T KNOW THAT!." Flores yelled. Yomiko let go of his arm and stepped back a bit.
"I could have stopped them, or at least tried harder. If I had deployed it earlier, I could have stalled until Lizen came to rescue us. If I had subdued the Roc earlier, Romeo wouldn't have gotten grabbed again. Or get this, I spent all my time in the air making a stupid, long ass set up for a crash landing. When I should have just used my damn teleport skill! I'm supposed to be a hero, but every fight I'm in either leads to me getting beat up and saved by Lizen or someone else dying because of my incompetence. Tell me, Yomiko, is that the hero you want?"
"Flores…" Yomiko frowned, looking upset at the question.
"If you can't answer that, then it's clear what your answer is." Flores swapped flags, with Yomiko recognizing them as the Hourglass banner.
"I'm weak; there's nothing to it. So I'm going to become strong, one way or another."
Sylvester Flores has disbanded the party
"Where are you going?"
"Who knows. I just can't be around you two. If I have someone to bail me out every time I'm in danger, I'm not going to grow."
"Flores please! Just come back to the hospital. We can work through it together. Going at it alone is-"
"I'll only be a burden to you all. I'll return once I see myself as suitable for this army. "Waypoint Banner!"
Flores raised his banner into the air and turned around to peer at Yomiko one last time. The paper lady had some tears in her eyes but refused to let them fall through sheer force of will. He was mesmerized for a moment, only to turn away and stab his banner into the ground.
Yomiko had no words to say, no pleas to give. On the surface, she wants to follow and help him badly. But deep down, she knows that it won't help. The only thing she could do was watch him disappear in a purple light, off to who knows where.
As soon as Flores left, however, a bolt of lightning fell from the sky, next to the paper girl. Lizen came out of it, bow in hand. But he put it away once he realized the coast was clear.
"What happened? I saw Flores disband the party."
"He left."
"What?"
"He went off to grind on his own. He... didn't like his performance during the wave."
Lizen sighed. "This isn't the first rodeo he's been to. But this specific circumstance seems to be the straw that broke the camel's back." Lizen put away his bow. "Want me to go after him?"
Yomiko thought for a second, staring off into space as she wondered and worried for Flores. At the snap of Lizen's finger, however, her trance was broken, and she was brought back to reality.
"N-no. I feel like he needs to clear his head for a bit."
"I know he'll be fine alone. But on the off chance he isn't?"
"We'll just have to trust that he can survive. I'm pretty sure of his reasoning for leaving anyway."
"I see your point. We can't kidnap him forever." Lizen joked, getting a chuckle out of Yomiko.
"Now. What do you plan to do with the deserters?" Lizen asked, changing the mood completely.
"Bring the captured ones to the lord's house. I'll deal with them personally."
Yomiko fixed her form and walked back with Lizen by her side.
"By the way. You think he has it yet?"
"I hope not. The curse series isn't something to mess around with. And Flores having it means the situation is far worse than we thought."
/~/
A few days later
"Ketsu! Over here!" A soldier yelled.
In the far corners of the bar, a group of soldiers sat together, drinking their hearts out. Ketsu heard his friends call out and walked over to join in on the fun. As he passed by a table, however, he noticed a man in a dark cloak sitting down, dining on a meal with a fox and bunny. This weirded him out a bit, but he ignored him and got to his table.
"Ketsu, I didn't expect you to be deployed to Akasha. It's been a bit. I'm shocked you're still alive." A girl laughed.
"I'm not on deployment, just on vacation after the wave... Wait, you thought I died?"
"Well, you are very squishy."
"I'll have you know, Trinity. I came out of that battle unscathed."
"That's a lie; he got his shit rocked the second we teleported in."
"Called it!" Trinity laughed.
"Come on, Ragesh." Ketsu grumbled.
"What? It was funny."
"You're lucky you're on the mage unit. One order of Hypasia wine please!" Ketsu yelled.
"So, what was it like! I heard from the others it was hectic as fuck. Like the gates of hell opened for all to see."
"Surprisingly, that description is not too far off." Ketsu poured a glass of wine out of the bottle, and drank it before he continued. "Instead of demons though, it was birds. Birds that can either beat the shit out of you, or just cut you like it wielded a blade."
"The sky also cracked open, and bleeded red as it dropped everything. Then it was just a matter of defending the village from the endless hoard as we waited for the boss to be found."
"You're joking right, The sky cracked?"
"Not at all. I can't even guess the amount of people who walked away from there with some sort of repressed trauma."
"I knew it monsters were going to spawn, but no one told us how much it would be. If it weren't for the grandmaster, we probably would have been overwhelmed."
"Speaking of the grand master. What happened to the Morale hero?"
"He's a phony that's what!" A gruff voice exclaimed. Turning around, the group saw an old man chugging down another mug. And by the amount next to him, they could tell he wasn't all there.
"Phony sir?" Ketsu asked.
"Please, you were there. I'm sure you know what happened." The old man stood up and raised his voice. "The Morale hero is nothing but a sham. He couldn't even save one kid from these "Birds" Ken'bitch said he mowed down.
"Here he goes again." A patron groaned.
"That isn't true. I was there firsthand and saw the feats he displayed. He saved the kid from the boss, fell 3000 feet from the sky, and killed the wave boss alone." Ketsu defended.
"Yeah, I saw him too. He went through everything to get that kid back home, and he passed out once he finally got Romeo back. Cut our hero some slack!"
"Sure, you saw the aftermath. But did you really see that fall and fight firsthand? Did you!?"
"Well, no bu-"
"And there you have it. You all are just relying on the words the grandmaster says, just because. This isn't even his first incident. MY DAUGHTER DIED, IN HIS PRESENCE AS WELL! All because he couldn't defeat some damn pigs."
"Okay, now that's unfair! He lost an arm in that fight, and you know it!" Ketsu argued.
"If the hero can solo the wave boss, then why didn't he kill the pigs, huh!?"
"He was just summoned. Hell, he eradicated the pigs a few weeks later!"
"And yet, my kid is still dead! Morale hero this, other bullshit that.
Our "hero," the one we're putting all our trust in in the hopes he can save us all, has not only let five individuals under his protection die. But he also lost his arm! How is a cripple supposed to protect us at all!?"
"Okay, you had a point, but that last part is uncalled for."
"Come again?" The old man questioned.
The cloaked man in the corner got up, with the bunny and fox jumping on his arm and head, respectively.
"Don't disrespect battle scars. They're a reminder of what needs to be improved."
"What, are you a member of the church? Want to lecture me about the complexities of the successor of Miguel?"
Flores picked up Fonhare and took off his hood. The bar was silent, none recognizing his face. The few who recognized the hero, however, were confused but questioned nothing as he continued his speech.
"Fuck no. To be honest, I hate the Morale hero more than any here. Insulting his performance is fine; he's not a great hero. But leave his injuries out of this. Those are the marks of a warrior, not a weakling."
"The morale hero isn't a warrior!"
"He is. What he's far from, however, is a hero."
"I'll believe it when he tells that to me in his face."
"Um, sir, that is-"
"Don't. Let him grieve. He has every reason to hate him anyway."
Flores left the building, paying the bartender on the way out. When he teleported away, he grabbed a horse and rode to the closest settlement, a town known as Cadia. He would spend his time in and out of the forest, grinding constantly to make up for his weakness.
As the days went by, he'd continually return to this bar to eat and take a mental load off for the day. Flores never thought of what the public thought about him. He wasn't used to getting the spotlight at all back in his previous life. So he was genuinely shocked once he heard a few people talking about his performance.
Many people saw him in a positive light. He already had some fame when he eliminated that orc camp and a bit of notoriety when he threatened the king of Hatyr. He thought he'd receive more flak for that action, but some citizens of the city actually appreciated it. But his most recent performance during the wave spread like wildfire, for better and for worse.
Many refugees from the city of Yuu talked about him quite highly. They saw the length he and the army of Ken'bitch went through and gave their respect to them as they successfully fended off the waves with few casualties. But it was that little amount that brought them negativity. Even though he killed the wave boss, many focused on his failure to protect Romeo. That was some of the most talked-about news in the bar, something the old man was a passionate believer in. And although most didn't blame him for the death,. Many saw that their hero wasn't good enough because of it.
Although Flores was initially annoyed, he couldn't help but agree with their claims. What they said was true, and there's no good in denying it. If he wants to be the successor to Miguel and live up to his legacy, he'll have to work harder, get stronger, and stand above the standards of what it means to be a hero.
"Captain, Captain!" Ketsu yelled. Followed by Trinity and Ragesh, Flores stooped as the soldier ran up to him. Cinder turned around and lit a fire in her mouth, but Fonhare closed it with his ears before going back to sleep.
"Chill Cinder, he's fine. Lieutenant correct?" Flores asked.
"Ye-yes captain. Lieutenant Ketsu of Ken'bitch's 5th spearman unit."
"I see. Thanks for serving your country. Now, what is it that you need?"
"Sir, why do you let them badmouth you like that? Surely,what they say isn't true?"
"Oh, but it is. At the moment, I'm a warrior. I'm nowhere near the status of hero, especially after what happened."
"But you are. I saw you firsthand; you're so powerful."
"And what is all that power if I can't protect anyone? I should have killed the boss faster or stocked up on more bandages. Or even just… be better. If I can't even do the basic things all heroes do, then I'm obviously not enough."
"Captain, listen-"
"Tell Yomiko I stand by my decision. Until then, don't follow me."
Flores walked off, ignoring the further comments from Ketsu. The soldier only stood there, sulking at the hero. Taking out his reflector, the glass repaired itself as it began to rumble. Seconds later, Lizen appeared on the screen.
"Captain Lizen, I have a report to give."