Morale 17: The Lone Hero
"Alright people. Jewelry and other valuables out. If I find anyone hiding anything, I'll hide you in the dirt!" A man threatened. Armed with a hammer and a fox mask on his face, he and a group of twelve other men broke into homes, grabbing any and all valuables inside and from the retreating villagers.
"Mom!"
"Back off, brat!" A child attempted to protect his mom but was pushed aside as his mother was picked up by the hair.
"Imma have some fun with you."
"The orders were to take everyone to the square; why waste time?"
"It's not everyday you come across someone as beautiful as she. Red heads are the best after all."
The bandit pulled out his knife, slowly dragging it across the hem of the woman's long dress. The girl's sobs were drowned out by the chaos going on outside.
"Just be quick about it. I'll handle the kid." The bandit scoffed as he dragged the child away.
"Pete!"
"Don't try it." The bandit pushed the girl to the ground, her calls for help reaching deaf ears. Her husband bled out on the ground behind her, her son dragged away, and her chastity about to be taken. Her world was over, and just as she felt the bottom half of her dress about to fall off,.
"Bastion Dash!"
The man holding her was suddenly launched back by a purple aura. Dropping on the ground, the woman watched as blood splattered in front of her and the blade that did it was removed from his chest. The bandit fell in front of her, forming a pool of blood on the ground. She then scurried back as a man with a fox on his shoulder approached her. Instead of doing anything harmful, however, all he did was help her up and look away to protect her dignity.
"Three out of twelve. Captive accounted for." Swinging his glaive, the blood splattered on the ground.
"Wh-who are you?"
/~/
Flores didn't know what to think of himself. At first, going off alone was more of an emotional outburst than an actual decision. But that turned into his reality as he went on. It felt freeing in a sense. He was free to get stronger without having to worry about losing anyone. Any mistake was on him, and him alone. Well, aside from his pets,. No matter how many times he tried to leave them back at Ken'bitch, they kept escaping Mihare's watch and joining him. After a while, he just decided to take them with him.
The development of his pets was his responsibility anyway. He already knew their potential was high thanks to his time at the sanctuary, and made sure he had all of his methods active for more boosted growth. But they weren't just growing in levels. They were growing in the physical department as well, getting bigger, and in Fonhare's case, bulkier, as time went on. Fonhare right now was around the size of a bundrill mother and was still growing by the day. He could still carry him with little issue; his weight wasn't as bad as the equipment he carried back in the Marines. It was his future size that worried Flores though, and he shuddered at the thought of him growing into the size of a bundrill father
Cinder, however, was quite the opposite. She was around the size of her mother now and even grew a tail… two of them, actually. It turns out that his previous deduction about the Lit'sune aging process was off by a good six hundred years. Instead of gaining a tail every one hundred years like the Kitsune, the Lit'sune would instead gain a tail for every twenty levels they've gained. Although it was weird, the moment she reached level forty, and grew her second tail. She started to not gain experience. The same went for Fonhare, who reached the same level a few hours later. No matter what he tried, none of them would gain exp, so he assumed they reached a cap of some kind and left it at that.
Not that it mattered much anyway. Cinder was near the same level as her mother and two times that of H'lokk, who had no tail at the time. It made sense, as he had a feeling Cadenza wasn't a six-hundred-year-old fox, let alone Riala.
So while they were being held back, he used growth revision on them. Being reduced to level 35, he put the growth bonus on their stats. Unfortunately, boot camp doesn't work twice. So the consistent growth boost will have to be done now.
"Who knew taking care of magical pets was so complicated?" Flores complained. "A new village is up ahead. You two want to stop eating?"
"KWEY!" Cinder jumped up and down, while Fonhare raised one of his ears.
"Alright then. New town it."
Boom!
An explosion rang out from afar. Instinctively, Flores dove to the ground. He was breathing heavily, but after realizing the danger wasn't directed toward him, he started taking deep breaths.
"Calm down, calm down. You're not in danger." After a final deep breath, Flores got back up and quickly searched around for the source. From afar, smoke rose from the village ahead, with the screams of villagers slowly becoming drowned out as more and more explosions rang out from the town.
Sigh "Some things never change." Tying his satchel to his back. Flores swapped to his roc flag and began to run off.
/~/
"Wh-who are you?" The woman questioned. Her body was still shaking from the attack, and the monster on her savior's shoulder gave her a devious glare.
"My name is irrelevant. Sorry, I wasn't here sooner, though. I had to put on my armor and then survey the area first to figure out what I was up against. Right now there are nine bandits left, with the villagers being dragged into the town center." Flores pulled out a Lit'sune shawl from his bag and started to tie it around the woman's waist.
"I suggest hiding somewhere for now and don't come out until the situation is dealt with. It should only take about thirty min-." Flores got up, but the woman grabbed onto his arm before he could leave.
"Wait, my husband is bleeding out. You have to help him!" The woman whined.
"Simple enough." Flores took the medical kit out of his bag and placed it by the man. After checking for breathing, Flores removed the shirt to see his wounds and began taking out the supplies needed.
"Slash to the back, and a deep cut to the arm. I may not be a medic, but I know how to wrap this thing. It'll be up to you to wrap up his back injury. Make sure you clean it as well so it doesn't become infected." Flores instructed as he wrapped a tourniquet over the man's arm.
"You're not going to do it?"
"Unfortunately, I don't have the time. Just be sure to do what I said, and your husband should be fine."
"Y-yes. Thank you."
"Stay safe and stay calm. This will be over before you know it." Running off to the village square. The woman took notice of the gem on the blade of his weapon. There were rumors about the Successor of Miguel being summoned, but she had no idea if they were true or not. She was about to call out to him once more, but stopped herself and began tending to her husband instead.
/~/
Hiding on the rooftop, Flores watched as all the bandits grouped up, with the villagers kneeling before them. Good news is, the bandits were all in one place. Bad news is, the bandits were all gathered everyone in the village that they knew of and took them to the town square. Now he had a mass hostage situation, with pissed-off captors who found out someone has been killing their friends. All in all, not a good situation for the hero.
The moment to strike was now. And he'd had to draw the battle away from the civilians so they couldn't force him into a disadvantageous position. He had no idea what to do until an idea formed in his head.
Waiting for the perfect moment, Flores sent Cinder off and took action the second the bandit on guard turned his back on the civilians. Taking a step back, Flores began to run and lept off the roof towards the civilians.
"Wall of light form on command... Block the path of the bandits that stand."
Landing on the ground, he used the moment to grab the bandit by the neck before stomping his foot on the ground.
"[Star Prismatic Wall!]"
A crystallized light shot up from the ground and spread across the two houses in front of the villagers. Flores then used this moment of confusion to further his hold on the bandit and bring his flag's blade close to his neck.
"Stop moving and drop your weapons." Flores surveyed the battlefield but tilted his head as he found something off.
"Hold up, one two... Hey, where's your ninth? Pretty sure there were nine of you left." Flores asked.
"The hell are you!?" The bandit exclaimed.
Two archers, one mage, the rest melee. But that only accounts for eight... Did I misscount?
"I'm right here, dumbass! Now drop him or this kid gets it!"
The final bandit got up and revealed himself from the crowd with a kid in hand.
Ahh, I didn't catch that… Well, all is accounted for at least; we just need to unfuck this situation. Flores sighed.
"You know. Taking a hostage isn't an advantageous position. You kill him and I kill you; don't kill him and I still kill you. I think the better solution is to rethink your li-"
The bandit scoffed at Flores's comments and raised his arm.
"Woah, woah, woah. Chill, I was joking." Flores immediately let go of the bandit and backed away.
And there goes intimidation. Ugh, I hate hostage situations. Flores sighed. He looked towards the crowd and spotted his furry friend sneaking his way through. With a subtle nod, he turned back to the bandit group.
"Alright. I'll be free to open negotiations."
"You crazy pal? It's one against eight over here. And that spell you put up cut yourself off from the hostages. We have more leverage and manpower than you do." The only bandit with a mask grinned. It was a fox or lit'sune mask, from what Flores could tell. What it meant, however, was up to guess.
"Yeah, now toss the spear and drop your valuables." Another ordered.
"Look. I don't want the civilians to be harmed anymore, and I'm pretty sure you don't want the Ken'bitch military to be on your ass. If we talk a bit, I'm sure I can come up with a compromise with my superiors that would allow you all to walk free if you don't hurt anybody else."
"The hell are you on about?"
"I'm trying to say I'm a captain. And in exchange for the villagers, I'll allow you to leave without a report."
"Yeah, right, like you're a captain. Now drop the weapon already. Last warning." The hostage bandit warned, his arm getting higher and higher.
"Alright fine. Boomerang Flag." Flores whispered, taking a step back and tossing his flag far away with all his might. Staggering to a stop, Flores turned back to see the bandit ease up a bit but not release his hold.
Man, these guys are tough to crack. I need a plan before that flag comes back… Hey, that rhymed. Flores pondered.
"Good. "Captain," empty your pockets. All your Laura on the ground." Fox ordered.
"He's an adventure, right? Maybe he has silver."
"But he's from Foo, right? Aren't they using notes now to save material?"
"Fuck the money; let me at him. I'll drown his ass when I take him for a swim." The one who Flores took hostage cracked his knuckles.
"… I'm a bit out of the loop; what's with the rhyming?" Flores asked.
"What? Never seen a warlock apprentice before? What kind of captain are you?"
"Apprentice?" Flores looked off to the side. "You know what? Forget it. You're the captain, right? The only one with a mask? Mind if I call you Fox for simplicity's sake?"
"The hell are you talking about?" Fox questioned.
"Just wanted to know who not to kill. Cinder, use flamethrower!"
"Kewy!"
Cinder lept out of the crowd and landed on the captive boy's head. Opening her mouth, a ball formed inside before being released into a powerful blast of fire. The bandit holding the kid screamed out in pain and dropped the boy as he tried to pat the flames on his mustache. Meanwhile, on the other side of the wall, Flores used the moment of confusion to drop an Erst Flag down onto the burning bandit's head, killing him. Instanty.
"Keith!" Fox shouted.
"I always wanted to do that. That makes four."
"You're fucking dead!"
Fox drew his hammer and swung it down on Flores's head. Before it could hit, however, Fonhare lept out of Flores's back and wrapped his ears around the handle. He then rotated his ears, spinning Fox around before tossing him away.
"Get him!" Fox ordered.
Four of the six bandits drew their weapons and rushed at him. Sliding his hand to the very edge of his weapon, Flores twisted his body and swung his flag.
"[Beginners Flourish!]" Spinning around, Flores stopped the bandits approach as they all moved back to avoid the weapon. He then moved to the closest one and followed up with an [Advanced Flourish], slashing them across the chest with an overhead slash.
"Bastion Dash." When the bandits attacked, Flores grabbed one of them by the arm and rushed forward in a purple aura. Tackling one of the archers, he then tossed the one he grabbed far away, thanks to the added speed.
He then turned around, blocking a sword strike with his flag while taking an arrow to his arm. His arm then turned into an arrow of paper before launching itself into the archer's chest.
"Six."
Behind him, a bandit came out of Flores and silently raised his blade to kill him. His plan was foiled, however, when a torrent of flames crashed into him. Falling over and screeching from the pain, Fonhare leapt off Flores's head and drilled through the bandit's chest with his ears. Coming out of the ground and shaking the blood off of himself midair, he landed back on Flores head as Cinder made her way to his shoulder.
"Thanks for the assist. That makes seven now."
Pushing the dagger bandit away, Flores turned to the side and blocked a hit from Fox. Flores grunted as the hit felt much stronger than before, and retreated back towards the light wall to gain some distance.
"Okay, he hits kind of hard. Props to Fonhare. [Feather Folly!]"
"[Planet Water Ball!]"
Flores slammed the feather flag on the ground, summoning dozens of feathers in the air. Pointing his finger at Fox and others, the feathers all launched themselves at the group. The bandit Flores took hostage, came to the front, and formed a ball of water that caught the feathers in its tracks. After stopping the attack, he shot the ball back at Flores. But Cinder evaporated it before it could get too close.
Fuck I forgot there was a mage... warlock? Fuck it, I'm calling them mages.
Ready to fight, Flores narrowly dodged an arrow and formed a wall of paper before more could come.
Right, another archer is back, which means the guy I threw is also back. The archer is a priority for now, though.
"[Bastion Dash]"
Dropping his paper wall, Flores dashed past the group and over to the archer. Flores raised his spear in preparation to thrust, but Fonhare tapped him on the shoulder, and he quickly turned around to block an attack from the bandit coming out of his shadow.
"What the!"
"Your friend did the same thing. Don't think the same failed tactic will work!"
Kicking the bow out of the archer's hand, Flores turned his attention to the dagger bandit and punched him in the face. As he was staggering back, Flores turned around and slashed the archer in the throat before turning back and thrusting his spear into the dagger bandit's face.
"That makes nine."
"Quinn. Together!" Fox yelled.
"Yes, Boss. Water and Wind, gather and twist. Ice of old, summoned by mist."
"Freeze our foe in ice so cold; trap the man who dares to be bold."
"[Melodic Magic: ARCTIC ABYSS!]"
The two bandits fired off a blast, and a mass of ice headed straight towards Flores.
"Fonhare. Drill Run!"
"Cinder, Fireblast!"
"Gwey…" Leaping off his head, Fonhare wrapped his ears and began to spin them rapidly.
"Breakthrough with power unknown. Power them up with the strength of a stone! [Star Boost!]"
A purple aura surrounded Fonhare as ran forward. Leaping forward, Fonhare's body began to twist and form himself into a drill He collided with the ice, stopping it in its tracks. After a bit, however, the rabbit began to lose ground. It proved to be too much, and he grunted as he struggled to hold the ice back.
Seeing his buddy struggle, Cinder lept off Flores and landed by Fonhare's side. Generating flames in her mouth and tails, she fired them into a concentrated beam that blasted through the frontal layer, allowing Fonhare to push through and drill through the rest of the ice, shattering it as he came out on the other side.
"Impossible! What are you?"
"A marine is passing through. Burning bright like a midday sun. I introduce high noon with this gun."
Making a finger gun, Flores aimed at the water mage and fired a small beam of light through his chest. Whether he hit the heart or not is unknown to him. But the mage fell to the ground, and the exp appeared shortly after.
"Ten."
"RAH! I'LL KILL YOU!"
"Bring it, Fox! [Bastion Dash!]"
Rushing forward, Flores closed the gap in on the final two bandits. Raising his hammer, it glowed with a green aura as he swung it at the hero. Flores did the same, clashing with Fox as he flowed lifeforce into his own weapon.
Lifeforce huh? No wonder that hit hurt… just a bit anyways.
Breaking off, Flores leaned back to dodge a hit before retaliating with his own. Fox, however, parried the attack and closed in, but Flores dodged and parried everything he threw. He didn't attack back, though; he observed Fox, waiting for the opportunity to launch a critical counterattack, and that moment showed itself as Flores parried his swing into the ground.
"Got you."
Using his foot, Flores pinned Fox's weapon to the ground. He then used the blunt end of his weapon to knock him away. As Fox lost his balance, Flores ran up and shot for his legs, taking him down with a fireman's carry into a grounded headlock.
"Four years of wrestling. Fourth place in the 170 district of Brevard County. Sure you don't want to yield?"
"You bastard… I'll kill you without a weapon."
"Alright bet. Cinder, Fonhare, take five." Flores released his hold and moved towards Fox's weapon to prevent any funny business. He equipped his entertainers pom-poms and began bouncing around like a boxer. He'd prefer a knife when engaging in melee combat. But his hand-to-hand was not too shabby either.
Fox, meanwhile, was stunned, his mouth agape at the sight of the pom-poms. He slowly stepped back, looking as scared as ever, but he had nowhere to run as he ran into the wall of light.
"Those weren't spells at all. That wasn't even Lifeweave! That weapon, those techniques. You're the successor of Miguel!" Fox exclaimed.
"The successor? Here."
"But wasn't he moved to the capital after being injured during the wave?"
"But you saw everything he did. There's no way he isn't him."
The crowd shifted from fear to murmuring, and from murmuring to cheering.
"Ugh, that name again. Look, Successor of Miguel is cool and all, but can I get a more unique nickname?" Flores sighed. "Whatever, run their hands."
Flores ran forward, throwing a right hook into Fox's face. The bandit staggered back, only to be hit again with a left hook, then a strong jab to the stomach. Flores backed off, smiling as he left Fox to recover a bit. And just as he got over the pain, Flores came in with a kick to the side of his face. Fox was on the ground, coughing up saliva as he attempted to catch his breath.
Looking over to his last living subordinate, he nodded his head as he struggled to get back up.
"RAAGH!" Letting out a battle cry, the final ally of Fox ran at Flores with his sword. Flores, however, had no issue avoiding these attacks; it was just random flailing—nothing compared to Shun or Lizen.
Man, this guy's worse than Guile… Actually, that's an insult to Guile."
Punching him in the face, Following up on his attack. Flores delivered several blows to the bandit's chest. He then backed up and ran up into a very sloppy spin kick. Flores scoffed at his failure and dove under one of the bandit's punches. He then wrapped his arm around the bandit's back and tossed his body over his, slamming it on the ground.
Okay, he was most likely a distraction; where's Fox?
Flores looked around, noticing that the hammer was gone. He then looked around, searching for possible ambush points, but he couldn't find him at all.
"Successor! Above you!" A girl shouted.
Heeding the warning, Flores looked up just in time to see Fox descending upon him with a flaming hammer.
"Thank you, random citizen! [Defense Order!]"
"[Planet Flame Smash!]"
Swapping from Pom poms to a flag, Flores raised his weapon and blocked the flaming smash from Fox. Using the opportunity to move, Flores rolled back as the ground released as pillars of flame as the hammer smashed into it.
"What the hell, man, It's supposed to be hands only."
"Shut up and die already! Hamilton!"
"Y-yes… boss." Hamilton huffed and puffed as he struggled to get up. After he did, both of them circled Flores. Hamilton behind him, and Fox in front of him.
"Cinder, Fonhare. Breaks over!" Flores ordered.
He looked over to Cinder, who was behind the wall and being petted by some kids. Sighing, he looked over to Fonhare, who was sleeping on the mage's body.
"Some backup," Flores grumbled.
Fox was the first to move, with Hamilton shortly after.
Flores held out his spear to block Fox and his paper arm for Hamilton. He then pushed Hamilton aside to attack Fox with a flurry of strikes.
Forced on the defensive, Fox backed up as he barely kept up with Flores's raid strikes. He felt like a deer running away from a lion, slowly losing breath, and at the mercy of its hunter. Then suddenly, a moment showed itself as Flores stopped his assault to block Hamilton. Using the moment, Fox swung his hammer, hitting Flores in the side. Flores didn't budge, but the grunt that escaped his mouth as he kicked the hammer away.
Tooking another swing, Flores had already begun to back away and narrowly dodged. Now he was on the defensive, swapping back and forth, defending against the quick and heavy strikes of the two bandits. Their coordination was superb and gave Flores a lot of trouble. He'd taken many unavoidable hits from the two, but none of them were enough to take him down. His moment of relief came when Hamilton backed off, clasping his chest as he struggled to breathe.
"Perfect. [Beginners Flourish!]" Dodging Fox's last hit, he swung his blade at Fox's hammer, the force launching it away.
"[Advanced Flourish!]" With little time to spare, Flores lept forward, bringing his flag down onto Hamilton's head and knocking him to the floor. He then turned back to Fox, grabbed him by the face, and used Bastion Dash to dash forward, slamming his face through the wall of a nearby building.
Picking up Fox, Flores pondered how he survived the crash as he tossed him onto the knocked-out Hamilton. Beaten, battered, and bruised, Fox slowly crawled towards Flores. Hands outstretched and chanting.
"Flame of hell... gather and swell. Form a ball, burning like hell… The hero is my target; the flag the seeker… chase him down as he gets weaker. Follow him, and don't let him run. Show him the unmatched power of the sun!"
"I swear, everyone in this world just can't quit, can they? [Feather Folly, Boomerang Flag!]"
Flores swung his flag, tossing it along with several feathers that followed. The feathers hit Fox, followed by screams of pain as they flagged him, knocking him to the ground once again
"[Galaxy Heat Seeking Flame!]" Raising his hand one more time, a ball of flames appeared in his hand.
Flores sighed, dodging to the side as the spell came its way. But it suddenly turned around and made another pass at Flores, forcing him to dodge once again. For the next minute, Flores would play the most dangerous game of dodgeball. Everything he did to avoid it was futile, and his ranged skills weren't enough to quell the flame.
Thinking fast, Flores threw his flag once more and implied the wrist of Fox, pinning him to the ground. And with his final dodge, he stood his ground, surrounded himself with paper and braced for the impact.
The spell collided with the paper and exploded. Burning paper falls from the sky as the dust from the fireball fills the area. Fox watched from the ground, a flag still stuck in his hand. As the dust started to clear, he saw the burning paper and the empty inside of the shell Flores had made. Although he couldn't make it out at first,. He did see a purple banner lying in place of where Flores once was. And with the wall of light falling down, he knew he'd won.
"Heh, heh. HAHAHA! I DID IT. I KILLED MIGUELS SUCCESSOR!" Fox cheered, his jubilant voice being heard all across the village. The villagers all looked on in horror as they witnessed the same sight.
Their hero was slain before their eyes, and their terrorizer was still alive to wreak havoc on them all. Many tears began to shed as they believed their savor was gone. But for the few who stood strong, they did the Ken'bitch salute and took up arms with the fallen weapons of the bandits. Simultaneously, many of the citizens did the same and took up arms with anything they could find. Marching as a unit towards Fox, the bandit boss struggled to escape from his flagged binding. Every attempt would end painfully as he slowly pulled it out of his hand. But before he could finish, one of the villagers raised his fellow bandit's dagger in preparation to kill him. But as he was about to finish the job, Hamilton got in the way and blocked the hit.
"Back away from the boss you savages." Pushing the dagger away, the villagers backed up as Hamilton brandished his falcheon once again.
"And that's eleven."
"What?" Hamilton turned around, Flores being the last thing he saw before getting impaled. Fox looked on in shock, both at the sudden arrival of Flores without a single burn on him. And the loss of his final comrade. Putting in all his strength, Fox attempted to lift the flag off him one more time, but Flores pushed it right back down, eliciting another scream of pain.
"HOW! I SHOT YOU WITH MY STRONGEST SPELL; YOU SHOULD BE DEAD!" Fox shouted.
"Indeed, you nearly had me at the homing attack, but I planned ahead.
/~/
"[Waypoint Banner: Territory Claim]"
Flores threw his flag once more and implied the wrist of Fox, pinning him to the ground.
/~/
"I used my waypoint banner so I could return to that position. All I had to do was escape, which was trivially easy with a teleport spell of my own… Well, not really teleporting, more like magic email." Flores chuckled, whipping the blood off his blade. "After that, it was a matter of waiting for the spell to end so I could teleport back. I even dropped the prismatic walls and left an Erst banner so I could give you a false sense of victory. And would you look at that? It worked."
"YOU BASTARD! YOU KILLED MY CREW!"
"Good. You deserve to die anyway. [Advanced Flourish!]" Flores brung the blunt end of his flag onto Fox's head, knocking him unconscious.
"But we need you alive for the questions. So you won't join them for a while." Putting the flag on his back, Flores felt the fatigue wash over him as he fell to the ground. The only time he ever felt this tired was after the waves, and even then, the amount of positioning and planning he had to do was mentally taxing as well. But despite all that, he couldn't help but smile. He finally did his job right, and that was something he needed after all this.
"Successorrrr~!"
"Oh right, you gotta make sure the civilians are- omph." Flores got knocked over as the kid latched onto his leg."
"I was so scarrred!" The kid whined.
"Yeah, they caught my bluff. Sorry about that. It wouldn't have happened if I didn't misscount." Flores scratched the back of his head, still annoyed that he had made such a trivial mistake.
"Nonsense. Mistakes happen; there is no need to chastise yourself." An old voice asserted.
Many murmurs broke out as an old, robust man came through the crowd. He had many bruises on his cuts all across his body, some recent, some not. He had a sword, but it was brittle and blunt, but it held onto dear life as some of the metal began to chip off.
"Grandpwaa!" The kid ran over to the old man and was picked up once he reached him.
"There there, Pete. The trouble is gone." The old man smiled. Now, as I was saying, just earlier I was tricked and lured into a trap. Mistakes are just commonplace in a man."
Lured into a trap… this man is probably cracked.
"Are you a warrior of this village?" Flores asked.
"Minister, actually, my lord. Minister Gaylan." Gaylan stretched out his hand. It was missing a finger, with his wrist pretty clumsily wrapped up. But Flores felt respect for the man and grasped his hand with the best clap they could muster.
"The Successor of Miguel has repelled the enemy! We live to fight another day!" The crowd cheered, performing the salute of Foo once again.
The minister put Flores's hand down before kneeling to the ground.
"Or, great Successor, we are indebted to you. We, the people of Kallum, will fulfill any request that you ask of us."
Flores looked down at the minister, then over to the rest of the crowd. He'd never had anyone bow to him before, so it took a minute before he could properly respond.
"Uhhh… well, uh. Rebuild and, uh… don't lose hope, I guess."
Flores watched as the crowd raised their heads, causing visible confusion on their faces as he suddenly became a bumbling mess in front of them. He wanted to continue in order to salvage the situation, but Gaylan got up before he could utter another word.
"What are you waiting for, Taco Fest!? The Morale hero wants us to rebuild for the future out of Arcadia! We aren't going to be taken out by some bandits, are we?"
"No!" The crowd roared.
"Then we shall rise one again, for the future of Kallum!"
"Yeah!"
The crowd dispersed, as one of the first tasks done was stopping the fires caused by Fox. Flores sighed in relief, as he was saved from another blunder. Suddenly, a hand was placed on his arm.
"Don't fret, my lord. You get better at speaking with time." Gaylan reassured.
"I'll figure it out sooner or later. But may I ask, you're an elder of this place, right? Why are you fighting? What happened to the others?" Flores asked.
The minister hung his head low before looking to the sky.
"The fighters we asked for are long gone. That man has been attacking for days. Intercepting out messengers for help, driving away merchants and other supplies, and engaging us in skirmishes every few hours. Soon, our reserves ran low, and I was the only fighter left to hold them back. I'm surprised I fought them off for as long as I did."
The old man said a silent prayer before turning to Flores. "I once again thank you for saving us. I ask again, Is there anything you desire? We won't hesitate to help fulfill the request."
"It's just in my code to help those when I get the chance. But I do have one thing I want."
"Yes, anything?" The man eagerly asked.
"Tell me where to find their remnants. I'll wipe them out for you."
"I… unfortunately do not know that."
"Shame. Glad I kept this mofo alive then." Flores picked up Fox and tossed him over his shoulder. With another whistle, both Fonhare and Cinder came to his side. Cinder, Cinder however, was angry at her shoulder spot being taken.
"Actually. Do you guys have some form of transport? I've been walking for days, and the distance between these towns is wack." Flores grumbled.
"I know someone who can fulfill that, my lord. Hopefully, she's still alive."
/~/
"Wilma! Wilma! Are you alright?"
"Mommy! Please answer!" Pete whined.
Gaylan and Pete banged on the door for a bit before deciding to enter the house through the broken wall. Inside was a mess, signs of a struggle as a trail of blood led into the room next to it. Gaylan feared for the worst as he made his way into the other room.
"Wilma, Tenya." Gaylan moaped.
"Well, good and bad news. The blood is recent, but it seemed to be covered up pretty quickly. So it's possible she survi-
"Father!" The woman exclaimed. Flores was startled a bit as she came out of the floor boards below, along with her wounded husband on her back. "Are they gone? Did the successor get rid of-"
"MOMMY!" Pete hugged his mother as she came out the floor boards.
"Hey, you're that girl from earlier. Right this is your house." Flores pondered.
"Su-successor! I didn't see you there. Thanks again for the medical kit. I don't think my husband would have survived without it." The woman knelt on the floor and offered Flores his kit. It was a bit embarrassing to have more people kneel in front of him for the most trivial reasons. But he accepted anyway and put it back in his stachel.
"Is he going to be okay?"
"Yes Pete. He just needs some rest." Wilma reassured. "Wait father. What are you doing here!? I haven't had the chance to clean yet! Oh no, the successor is house, house and there's a hole through the wall." The woman panicked.
"Don't worry about it. If I had a nickel for everytime I entered a house with a destroyed wall, I'd have two nickels… I mean, it's not a lot, but then again, different world, different count." Flores chuckled.
"That's no excuse for a dirty house, my lord."
"Calm down, ma'am. I'm not here to stay; I'm just looking for a horse so I can track the bandits down."
"A horse, you say. Yeah, I have plenty of those. I inherited it from the Geezer." Wilma luahged. Gaylan sighed at his daughter's antics.
"I'll take Tenya and Pete to the medical wing. Wilma, give the hero our best horse."
"You mean. The supreme specimen."
"Are you seriously still calling it that?"
"Yes!" Wilma declared with a burning passion in her eyes.
"Um, I don't need the greatest, just a normal one shou-"
"No, my Lord. You saved the village and my family. You must get the best of the best." Wilma took Glores by the arm and dragged him to the secret room under the floor. It led to a tunnel, which had a cave at the very end. Inside the cave was a stable, with a waterfall next to it. It also had food and other supplies to last someone for months if needed.
"If only the village had time to get to this place."
"I tried, but the attack was too sudden, and I didn't get the chance."
"Then may I ask why a stable is underground?"
That's only the entrance. My family has been raising horses for a century now and has used this as their base of operations to hide from someone called the vanguard. Now that he's supposed dead, I took over when I became of age, and I kind of sort of did a bit of trolling and tricked a pegasus into impregnating a unicorn." Wilma manically chuckled.
"I'm sorry, come again?"
"That's what the pegasus said."
"What? Ew, no, I meant." Flores sighed. "Fuck it, skip the impregnation story, please."
"That's also what the pegasus said."
"Wilma!" Flores shouted, flustered.
"Sorry, my lord. Anyway, a few weeks later, the child was born and then abandoned by the parents, so they weren't exiled. That's when I knew my gamble had paid off."
At the very end of the stable was a door, and beyond said door was a grassy plain.
"The hell is this?"
"A demi plane. Dimension magic made by the very first metronome hero, Evylyn Wright. We have her to thank for my families success and for the defeat of the vanguard."
Yomiko can make fucking pocket dimensions... damn why do they get all the cool abilities.
Flores looked around the demi plane. Dozens of horses and mules ran about, living their lives. But the one Flores was hoping for was nowhere in sight.
"Where's the supposed trolling victim?"
"Over there, Lord Hero. By the lake."
Flores looked over to where Wilma was pointing and was thoroughly disappointed.
"Excuse me, Wilma, but I thought you said it was a crossbreed between a pegasus and a unicorn."
He watched the horse from afar with his telescope. He could tell it was female, and her white coat glistened in the pond she was drinking from. Her mane and tail were shakesphere blue, with frosty mint running along her hair to each tip. Aside from being a bit taller and more muscular than normal horses, that's exactly what it was, a normal horse. No wings for flight, no horns for magic. Just horse, and that annoyed him a bit.
"Well, it's still an Alicorn… sort of. It just got the boring half of both. Like the minotaur and siren kid who got both human halves of their genes. He went on to rule Fallum."
"The hell is up with the lore of this place." Flores grumbled.
"You said something, my lord?"
"No." He sighed. "She'll do for now," Flores grumbled, annoyed that he wasn't getting a pegasus.
"Alright, horse, good news. You're traveling with me today."
The mare looked up from her pond and scoffed at Flores before she continued to drink again.
"Alright damn. Pony's got an attitude."
The horse looked up once again and snorted. Turning her flank toward Flores, the horse bucked outward, kicking the hero to the floor.
"Lord hero!" Wilma ran over to Flores, but the hero got back up quickly.
"Daughter of a bastard, that actually hurt." Flores chuckled. "I may not be an equestrian. But I know how to deal with an aggressive horse. This leash of light will be its course."
Flores ran up and lept onto the unsuspecting horse. Letting out a mighty neigh, the horse began to run wild, trying it's best to shake off the unwanted rider. Flores, however, stayed on with a whip of light wrapped around it's snout and pure strength. Realizing she's not going to shake him off with the normal method, she began to run wild and crashed into everything in sight. Trees, stones, and the edge of the dimension itself. Nothing in its path was spared as it broke through everything it could. Flores was barely hanging on at that point; the only thing keeping him from falling was his grip strength. Pulling himself back onto the horse, he braced himself as they approached the biggest tree in the dimension.
Instead of crashing into it like before, the horse began to run up the tree and leapt off. Being upside down, Flores lost his grip and fell to the earth. Being a pro at falling, though, Flores just reinforced his legs and did a super hero landing once he hit the ground.
"This horse is fucking hard core." Looking up, the horse flipped midair and slid across the ground as it landed. Letting out another mighty neigh, the horse planted it's hooves on the ground and stared at Flores.
"Alright, breaking it has failed. Bring it on!"
"Um, Lord Hero. Perhaps we should leave and try again later."
"No. It's totally challenging me. And I ain't no bitch."
"But wouldn't challenging her head make you one?"
"Damn it, Miguel. [Bastion Dash!]"
Rushing forward, the horse glowed blue and began to run at the same speed.
Yeah, that's right. Break off; no balls. Literally.
Both of them were halfway between each other, and none of them dared to break off. To Flores, it was exhilarating—the greatest game of chicken he's had since Korea. He started the horse down with a determined look in his eyes as his skill timed out, but he was still running just because. And the horse did the same as his speed timed out as well.
This continued until the final moment, both mere seconds away from each other. At this point, there was no turning back, and losing was not an option. Both runners braced themselves and crashed into each other.
Flores laid on the ground, clutching his head in pain, and the horse did the same. Said pain turned to heavy breathing, and heavy breathing turned into gazing into each other's eyes. And soon enough, when the pain and tiredness died down, they both began to laugh, confusing the hell out of Wilma as she came to check in on them.
"You're a crazy mother fucker horse." Flores chuckled.
The horse neighed, and Flores laughed once again.
"I guess that means you think I'm the same."
The horse nodded his head.
"You know it." Flores got up and dusted himself off. "So, ready to ride now?"
The horse snorted and got up. There were no attempts at kicking or sarcasm. Just pure respect as she allowed Flores on her back.
"Perfect. I shall call you Trixie." Flores smirked, but Trixie scoffed in annoyance and kicked Flores off her back.
"Agh. Alright, damn, not Trixie then." Flores shook his head.
Bitch understood my otherworldly reference.
Trixie turned back around, shunning Flores for the horrible name.
"Fine. How about... Hollowtrix?" Flores suggested.
Hollowtrix looked around and tilted her head. She seemed to be lost in thought for a moment before kicking Flores in the shin.
"Ow. Damn, don't like that one either?" Flores asked.
Hollowtrix shook her head and laid on the ground, gesturing for him to get on. Once he did, Hollowtrix glowed blue, and a pop-up appeared in his face.
Lesser Alicorn has been registered
Hollowtrix: Level 12
Class: None
She can do that without a behemoth collar? She really is special.
Class: Mount
Stat growth boosts speed and stamina.
"Mount acquired. I'll be sure to get you some apples as a welcome gift."
Neigh. Hollowtrix smiled.
"Whelp Wilma. It looks like I'm taking Trix over here." Flores declared. Wilma, though, was still going through a heap of emotions. Shock, confusion, and, generally, what the fuck just happened. No matter how many times she replayed the events in her head, all of them just came back as they were.
"... so you tamed a horse... by playing chicken?"
"Yep!"
Neigh!
"…I'll grab the saddle," Wilma sighed as she walked to a nearby shed. Flores paid her no mind, though. All he did was pet Hollowtrix's head.
"First, a three versus 12. Now a new mount. Everything's coming up, Flores, now."
Hollowtrix neighed as she got up.
"That's right, girl. Now, let's go catch some bodies."
/~/
Party Status
Name: Sylvester Flores
Level: 56
Class: Morale Hero
Name: Fonhare
Level: 40
Class: Melee
Name: Cinder
Level: 40
Class: mage
Name: Hollowtrix
Level: 12
Class: Mount