It had been a few days since the Amphelisks had been dealt with. The town had gone back to normal, or as normal as it could for the time being.
Guards were still being sent into the forest surrounding the village occasionally to ensure there were no Amphelisks hiding away, but from reports given, there didn't seem to be.
Several people had been sent out to report that the issue had been resolved in hopes of potentially getting merchants to return to the village.
Whilst the town had been busy getting back to normal, Kurose, Eorna and Sera had all gotten their armor sorted. Sera had his armor repaired, whilst Kurose and Eorna got similar armor to what they had previously, albeit at a slightly worse quality. Though it was still better than the nothing they had before.
They had also absorbed a few ore with the blessing of the shop's owner, as a small way of thanking them for assisting the village.
Most of them were basic metals, such as copper, silver and the likes. The only special weapon form they had gotten was from something called BoomBurst Ore. When they had asked about it, they had gotten a demonstration.
The blacksmith had them stand back whilst he struck the ore with his hammer, and for good reason. The small part that he hit with his hammer chipped, and several of the small, broken off parts had shot off, burying themselves in the walls.
They had thanked the blacksmith, and absorbed the ore quickly.
BoomBurst Bracelet 0/5
(Abilities Locked) Equip Bonus +4 defense
Equip Effect: Shard Burst
At this moment, it was their fourth day in the village, and Kurose was out in the surrounding forest on his own. The last couple of days it had been him, Eorna and Sera hunting monsters, but they were busy doing something else.
When he tried to ask about it, they shook their heads, and he decided that he would try and get a few more levels. He should have been focusing more on learning the language at this moment, but he just didn't want to.
He knew it was important, but he was more concerned with trying to get to a decent level before the wave. He could always see if there was anyone in the village who could make Charmes for him if it came to it.
As he continued to wander around the forest, keeping an ear out, he found himself thinking of Sheryl, and how she was doing.
He still felt bad about dying in front of her, but in his mind, it was better that he died than her. She had plenty of people who actually cared about her, whilst he had very little going on.
The only real business he had left unfinished in his world was the few commissions, but he had once again only gotten them due to Sheryls help. And he was sure they would understand that they couldn't be completed, considering the circumstances.
Thinking of Sheryl brought his mind towards his parents. Were they even aware that he had died? Had they been notified? Did they still think of him, or did they give him a single thought before returning back to work?
Did they actually care about me? A small part of his mind spoke.
It was a familiar thing, though thoughts like that usually only appeared in his mind on the worst of days. And even then, that simple sentence was the most common of them. Considering how little contact he had with his parents, it wasn't a shock to see why.
He had seen how proud other people's families were of them. Parents turning up to see their kids' results, coming to watch any performances they may put on, the warm smiles they give to their children.
And then there were his parents. Gone when he was 15 for a better job in another prefecture, with minimal contact. The most he got was a happy birthday.
The only reason he actually knew his parents hadn't forgotten about him was the money they sent him, but even then, he wasn't sure they hadn't just set it up so the money automatically transferred to his bank.
Even when they were still in his life, they didn't really interact with him. They usually came home late from work, would mumble something out to him before going to sleep. By the time he woke up in the morning, they were usually gone again.
Kurose's grip on his parasol tightened for a moment before he relaxed. He let out a small breath before shaking his head in an attempt to clear his mind.
The sound of something moving through the bushes caught his attention.
Kurose moved his parasol in front of him, only to pause as what looked like a boar emerged from the bush. Its nose was pressed against the floor, seeming to be looking for something.
He watched it sniff around a bit longer before it finally noticed Kurose. It let out a squeal, and something on its back raised. Before Kurose could figure out what it was, he had to step to the side, dodging the boar as it charged at him.
"Thread Trap" Kurose pointed his Parasol at the boar, and the Threads latched around it for a moment before being torn by the raised parts on its back.
The boar shook its body, and a few of the spiked things dislodged, being sent towards Kurose, whose eyes widened in surprise.
He opened up his parasol, the quills, because he had finally figured out what they were, impacted against the Parasol. None made it through, and he quickly closed the Parasol before stepping forwards and thrusting his Parasol at the boar. He was still too far away to actually hit the boar, but it wasn't his intention.
He had found out through some trial and error what the equip effect of the Amphelisk Parasol did. It relied on movement, much like Amphelisks did, to charge up some sort of energy.
He had tried using it with other skills, such as Erst Scarf or Thread Trap, but none of them had used up the energy. What had used up the energy during his testing however, had been Volt Shot.
"Volt Shot"
The yellow sparks dancing along the Parasol shot towards the very tip of the Parasol, quickly joining the small yellow orb that was forming. The yellow orb grew in size before shooting off.
Point blank, the boar didn't have much of a chance to dodge, and it let out another squeal before collapsing. Kurose ignored the experience pop up, sighing as he crouched down to pick up a quill.
That was… pretty easy to deal with. Kurose thought with a hum.
If it had been the him from when he had first been summoned, it would have taken much longer. Granted, he didn't have any skills, nor weapon forms to actually use, so it was an unfair comparison.
He pushed those thoughts away. He could rely on others to help him. He already had, that's what the Companion Bracelet existed for. He let out a sigh before turning the quill over in his hands.
"What weapon form are you going to give me…" Kurose murmured to himself.
He had noticed a pattern relating to weapon forms. Namely what each part of a monster gave him. The whole monster usually gave him a parasol, whilst something like the meat would give him a ring. How meat correlated to a ring, Kurose didn't know, but he wasn't going to question it.
Kurose thought it was likely that a quill would likely give him an Amulet, like the Amphelisk claw had, but there was only one way to find out.
He picked up a few more quills, absorbing them into his parasol's gem.
Spiked Boar Quill Earrings conditions met
Kurose looked at the pop up for a moment before sighing.
"As soon as I think I know what's going to be unlocked, it just throws something else at me. I'll just stop guessing from now on." He grumbled to himself.
He took his new knife, which he had gotten after everything had been settled, and took to cutting up the Boar.
He still wasn't as good as Eorna, but he got the job done well enough for it to actually count the boar as several different pieces.
Spiked Boar Hide Scarf conditions met
Spiked Boar Meat Ring conditions met
Spiked Boar Bone Bracelet conditions met
Spiked Boar Parasol conditions met
Kurose checked through the weapon forms, but none of them were of any interest to him.
"Huh, now that I think about it. I never actually checked what my bracelet skill did."
He quickly used the skill, and a green bracelet, similar to the Scarf appeared in his hand.
"That's it?" Kurose asked in disbelief.
He looked at it from every angle, trying to see if there was anything to it like Erst Scarf, but there was nothing.
"Why would I ever use this over Erst Scarf?" Kurose murmured, looking at his cooldowns. "They even share a cool down! That's ridiculous!"
He threw the summoned bracelet towards the tree, and watched as it bounced off the tree and back at him.
"Wha-"
Kurose stopped speaking as the summoned bracelet hit his face before breaking apart.
He let out a sigh, but nodded his head. "Don't know what else I was expecting to be honest." He grumbled to himself.
He also elected to try out Erst Ring once the cooldown was finished, but he couldn't see what use it had.
"I cant even change the summoned ring? Maybe if I could do that, it would be somewhat decent, but why would I use it over my other Erst skills?"
He rubbed at the spot where the bracelet hit before sighing. He dismissed the summoned ring before heading a bit further into the forest.
Kurose had gotten a few more levels. He had also learnt some other things about his weapon, namely that he and Eorna were not limited to just absorbing ores and monster parts, as he had found out when he moved the gem of his weapon too close to a leaf.
He had been taking apart another Spiked Boar when his gem had started glowing, and after shoving in a handful of leaves, it had unlocked him the Leaf Amulet.
After that, he had tested various other things, such as wood and grass, and they had all given weapon forms as well, but it seemed like there were some things that wouldn't give weapon forms, regardless of how much was put in.
Sure, none of those new weapon forms were going to be stronger than what he had currently, but it all helped a bit, especially with a few of the bonuses they gave.
But what would really help, Kurose thought to himself, would be a Jewelry store. Imagine how many weapon forms I could copy…
By the time Kurose had come back to the village, they seemed to be filled with some sort of excitement. When he asked the closest guard about it, they smiled at him before speaking.
"Lord Brandt is back, Accessory Hero! Oh, on that note, Captain Liera requested that you head towards the lord's house, if you would?"
"Yeah sure. It's where everyone moved towards when the Amphelisks broke in, right?" Kurose asked for confirmation.
"Correct. The Dagger Hero and your other companion are already there."
Kurose nodded, thanking the guard before setting off. His nervousness was back now, and he was wondering whether or not the three of them should have just left immediately after the whole thing with the Amphelisks.
Would they try to take them to the prince immediately? Had they already told the prince where they were and simply waited for them to arrive? There were plenty of things that could go wrong, and it did nothing to help with his nervousness.
It didn't take him long to reach the lord's home, and a knock on the door revealed a gray haired man.
"I presume you are the Accessory Hero?" Kurose nodded. "I see. Then please follow me. My lord is already hosting your companions."
The servant turned, beginning to walk further into the house, with Kurose walking behind him.
He took this time to look around the hallway they were traveling down. Compared to the capital, where there had been pictures of the royal family almost everywhere on the walls, the hallway was barren.
They quickly reached another door, which the servant opened without speaking. Kurose quietly thanked him before entering the room.
Eorna and Sera were stood in front of the table, with Liera and another person, who Kurose assumed to be the lord, drinking something.
"Accessory Hero." Liera spoke politely, nodding towards him.
Kurose gave her a nod before moving to stand beside Eorna and Sera, who greeted him with a nervous smile.
"Accessory Hero." The man spoke, putting down his drink. "It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm sorry I couldn't be here when you first arrived."
"It's a pleasure to meet you as well, lord…" Kurose trailed off, fishing for his name. He knew someone had said it before, but he couldn't remember for the life of him.
"Please, no lord. Just call me Brandt." He spoke with a smile.
"Then it is a pleasure to meet you Brandt." Kurose responded easily. "Can I ask why we are here?" He got to the point immediately.
"Of course. It's to reward you!"
Kurose looked at him, confusion written on his face.
"Were you not expecting that?" Brandt asked curiously. He looked towards Eorna and Sera, who seemed just as confused as Kurose. "You weren't. Could you tell me why you are so confused?"
"If I may, Lord Brandt?" Liera spoke up from his side.
"I told you not to call me lord, Liera! You're a friend, you don't need to use my title." Brandt complained, but Liera ignored him.
"The Accessory Hero and Dagger Hero did not give their identities upon entering the village." She explained to Brandt, who nodded in understanding.
"Can I ask why you didn't? I'm sure if you had told them your identity, they would have welcomed you more than you already were."
Kurose looked towards Eorna and Sera, but they were both looking at him as if they were expecting him to explain their situation.
He let out a sigh. "Well… It's a bit difficult, but I'll explain from the beginning, if that's fine?"
With a nod from Brandt, Kurose began to explain
"I see." Was all Brandt said. He leaned forward, his hands clasped together as he thought it over.
Kurose once again looked towards Eorna and Sera, who both looked as nervous as he was.
"Well, this is the first I am hearing of it." Brandt admitted after a few moments. "The official reason given for the king's death was an assassination carried out by people unhappy with him. He also blamed those on kidnapping the Accessory Hero. He never mentioned a thing about the Dagger Hero…"
That caught Kurose off guard, and he frowned. "So the prince has said nothing about us beyond me being taken by people or something?"
"Essentially." Brandt confirmed. "Something odd is happening, especially with something I discovered on my last night in the castle. Liera, you recall when I sent a missive to the king?"
"I do. It was for a squad of knights to assist us in eliminating the Amphelisks, correct?" She responded, earning a nod from Brandt.
"Exactly. According to Orith, the King did receive it, and mobilized a group immediately, yet we never got any aid."
"So, there's someone higher up disrupting everything?" Sera asked, earning a nod from Brandt.
"Correct. Whoever it is has a considerable amount of power to do so. Enough that even after a group of knights was assembled, they could be dismissed." Brandt explained.
"Could it be the prince?" Sera asked, earning a curious look from the young lord. "I mean, he's the one who chased us out of the castle. Plus he gave the order to his personal guards to take down my squad."
"Yeah! It could be him. He's high up, and he seems to have switched between it being me who killed his father and it being an assassin!" Eorna cried out.
"It could be him, I'll give you that. In fact, he seems to be the most likely, from what you have told me." Brandt answered. "However, I don't want to jump to conclusions, but he seems to be our most likely target. Hopefully Orith can shed some light on it."
"Orith?" Kurose asked, confused. "What's he got to do with this?"
"I spoke to him before I left, and he is the one who told me that the king did set something up to assist us. He seemed shocked by my news that it hadn't arrived. He promised to help by looking into it." Brandt explained easily.
"But enough of that! You three have done us a service by helping to deal with the Amphelisks when you didn't have to." Brandt leaned back, a smile on his face. "Normally, I would give a money reward, but we are currently unable to provide that. Is there anything else I could offer?"
Kurose thought about it for a moment, turning to look at Sera and Eorna, who seemed content to let him decide.
An idea began to form in his head, and he nodded.
"There is. Could you gather up all the daggers and jewelry for me and Eorna?"
Liera stepped forward, ready to speak, and Kurose realized just how bad asking for every bit of jewelry in the town seemed.
"Not to take it!" He quickly amended, getting Liera to step back. "Me and Eorna, we can copy them, and everything we copy can help us grow stronger." he explained.
"I see. Yes, that can be done, but are you sure that's all? It's a rather minor thing, and the people would be happy enough to have a chance to help out a hero."
"Well, if you are offering something else…" Kurose looked over to Sera before speaking. "Do you have any better weapons for Sera?"
"Hey, I'm fine with-" Sera was interrupted by Eorna.
"Yep! He only has a basic sword and spear!" She added happily. "If there's any sort of upgrade you could give him, that would be appreciated!"
"Yes, those two things are certainly within my power. It's just a matter of actually sorting it out…" Brandt hummed, taking another sip of his drink. "It will take some time, both to sort out a new weapon for your companion,"
"That's fine. Take as long as you need. As long as its before the wave, obviously." Kurose spoke with a smile.
"Of course. I'm certain it will be done before the wave arrives." Brandt responded. "Liera, could you get everyone together and explain that they need to show their jewelry and daggers specifically? Make sure to tell them they are not being taken, and that the Accessory and Dagger Heroes wish to make use of it, however it is they do so."
He looked over to them, and Eorna filled him in on weapon copy.
"I see. Then yes, it will be much easier than having everything gathered in one place and potentially losing it or starting arguments over who owns what. Would you mind gathering everyone, Liera?"
"Of course not. It should not take long." She lowered her head to everyone in the room before heading off.
It didn't end up taking long, with the people of the village being more than willing to aid them.
Most of the Jewelry Kurose copied wasn't fantastic, with most of it being simple stat bonuses. That wasn't bad on its own, but he was sort of hoping for more skills. As it was, out of everything, he only got one skill, and that was from a ring.
Manalyte Ore Ring 0/5
(Abilities Locked) Equip Bonus: +4 Mana, Skill; "Detect"
Kurose had no idea what detect did, and when he had swapped to it and used the skill, nothing happened. Kurose still thanked the person before moving over to Sera.
He was standing on his own as Kurose and Eorna went around copying stuff, and he seemed to know the most about the world in their little group.
"Hey Sera?" Kurose spoke.
"What's up?" Was the immediate response.
"Any idea what Manalyte is?" Kurose asked him. If he could figure out what Manalyte did, he could probably figure out how the skill worked.
Sera thought it over for a moment. "I vaguely remember it from training. I didn't really focus on it much because I was guarding the castle, and Manalyte is kind of useless there." He explained.
"Okay, but what exactly does it do?" Kurose asked once more.
"Ah, my bad. Manalyte basically detects any mana being used in the area. There's all the Charme Défense's active in the castle constantly, which is why I said it was useless there." Sera explained.
Kurose nodded his head at that. Now that he knew what it did, 'detect' actually made sense. Though he couldn't see when he would use it.
He shrugged, and pushed it to the back of his mind, smiling as Eorna came over to talk about a dagger she had copied.
Time passed by in the blink of an eye during the time they were in the village, and before they knew it, It was less than an hour before the wave.
Kurose hummed, checking over his weapon and his level. It was the final couple of things on his list of preparations to do, everything else having been completed earlier in the day.
Kurose himself was at level 30, having reached it just a day ago before being told to take some time to relax before the wave. Eorna was slightly higher at level 32, but she had started off a few levels higher than him, so it was understandable.
Amphelisk Parasol 15/15
(Abilities Unlocked) Equip Bonus: Stamina up (Small), Skill: "Volt Shot"
Equip Effect: Charge Up
Item Enchantment: Lvl 5: +10% Magic Defense
Kurose had attempted multiple times to get past level five on his enchantment, but each and every attempt was met with failure.
He hadn't gotten any closer to learning the language either, mainly because any time that Eorna or Sera urged him to learn the language, Kurose always found something else to do.
He could have bought some, now that he thought about it, but it was a bit late now. He would just have to make do with his skills, and hope it was enough.
Out of the corner of his eyes, he watched as Lord Brandt, alongside Liera, approached them.
"Heroes!" Brandt spoke with a smile, "I pray for your safety in the upcoming wave. Though I know from legends that it will likely be tougher than what you faced with the Amphelisks here, I am certain that you will be able to defeat it easily!"
"Thank you, Lord Brandt." Kurose spoke, bowing slightly. "We appreciate your belief in us."
"Yep! I'm sure we can definitely clear it easily!" Eorna spoke with a wide smile.
"Yeah. I'll be there to make sure those two actually stay safe." Sera spoke, his fingers tapping nervously on his new spear.
It had been made by the village blacksmith, and reinforced with Amphelisk parts. It gave an increase to electric based damage, but without a slot to put a Charme into it, it was rather useless. It was still better than the spear he had held previously though.
"We'll be fine!" Eorna declared with a smile. "Sure, there will be a ton of monsters, but we just have to beat the boss then it's easy from there." She spoke cheerfully.
00:10
"Ten seconds." Kurose spoke, his nervousness clear in his voice.
"Stay safe, you three." She spoke, a slight frown on her face.
Liera had tried to insist on them bringing three other guards along with them, just to fill out their party temporarily, but they had collectively agreed to turn her down.
Kurose did not respond with words, instead opting to lower his head slightly.
Moments later, the sound of glass cracking echoed throughout the world, and the trio were engulfed in a light before it died down.
Kurose looked around, confusion on his face. He was still standing in front of Liera and Lord Brandt, who were looking back at him in confusion.
"It… didn't work?" Kurose spoke, a frown on his lips.
Had he done something wrong when linking to the hourglass? He had done exactly as Amarita had told him, as had Eorna.
"Eor-" His words died in his throat as he turned to face her, only to find her looking up to the sky.
He followed her gaze, his own face paling as he looked up at the sky. It was coloured a dark red, with several tears in the sky.
The wave had happened exactly where they were.
Matthias let out a breath as he emerged from the forest. He wasn't sure how long it was until the wave, but it was likely pretty soon. Or at least he hoped. He wanted a bit of time between the Ortensca and Palinfa waves.
He really hoped he could get to the other two heroes before the wave started. If only so he could get their methods. No doubt they had already shared them with each other.
The menu for sharing had been closer to the bottom of his help menu. Not very helpful, and he hadn't discovered it for a while after becoming a hero. He had focused only on the important bits back then.
And even after everything had calmed down, he was still kept busy, from either looking after Tommy or just sorting out issues between arguing nobles. It was pretty tiring.
Plus, when he had actually found out about sharing and started researching the other heroes, he had found that there was absolutely no mention of their methods.
There were plenty of books and scrolls that spoke about previous heroes, though they tended to lean more towards dagger heroes than accessory heroes. The books spoke about their adventures, but they had several pages vandalized. Whether that was through simply tearing it out, or covering the relevant information with ink. I
His musings were cut short as the sound of glass shattering filled his ears. He fought the urge to cover them, instead letting his eyes dart around.
He quickly found the source. The previously clear blue sky was now stained red in the distance. Small dots, which Matthias assumed were monsters, dropped from the sky, but he couldn't make out more than that.
"Shit." Was all he had to say before he began to run.
If he was to make a guess on how long it would take him to run there, it would be an hour at minimum. That was provided he encountered nothing out of the ordinary on his way.
"The other two heroes better be there to stop it getting out of hand…" Matthias grumbled to himself, continuing his run towards the location of the wave.