Chapter 28 – How It Is
Matilda stood there, looking at Reina. Her eyes moved to Vyrdrun, who was slowly making his way closer to her and Maria with Kuromo on his shoulder. Her eyes settled on Maria, who was still on the ground not far from Vyrdrun and Reina.
Why was this woman here? Did Reina screw up somehow? One daughter chased her though the underground of a castle while another looked ready to kill her for no reason. Despite her killing that Demon Lord, Reina didn't feel all that safe.
Matilda reached up and scratched the back of her neck. "Hah…I might have just done something unnecessary…"
Her almost casual remark about the situation didn't do much to relieve the tension Reina felt.
Matilda sighed, placing her hands on her hips while looking over at Will's corpse. "Man, these fakes are really pathetic. Can't even bring out the best of whatever they use to transform. Have to use multiple monsters and just degrade themselves even further. What a waste. Then again, your strength was crazy high, even if your attack sucks. Guess even a fake can do something right."
Reina swallowed. There were many ways this could go badly. Now that the Wave was over, her life didn't have as much value.
"Matilda…" Cautiously, Reina took a step closer.
The woman glanced over at her. "Meruthia." She corrected. "Just call me Meru."
If there was any doubt in Reina's mind before, hearing that name removed it. She recalled that name from Lola, it being one of her sisters.
"M-Meru." Reina nodded, continuing her approach. She didn't want the woman to be closer to Maria than her. "Um…"
"Oh, yeah. There is one thing I need to do…" Meruthia turned and started walking over. She neared Maria, not giving her a second glance as she passed the prone wizard who tried to scurry back.
Reina stood frozen as the dragon woman came closer. She was tall, even for the people of this world. At around six feet, she wasn't nearly as imposing as some of her siblings or her father, but her approaching figure gave the same impression.
She stopped just a few feet in front of Reina. With no skills or spells to use, Reina only had her weapon if Meruthia tried anything, even if it would be in vain.
Clawed hands seemed to slowly rise as Reina watched. She could grab hold of Reina and there was basically nothing she'd be able to do to—
With a clap, both claws came together. Meruthia lowered her head slightly toward Reina.
"Please don't tell my dad I stepped in like that."
"W-Wha…" It was all Reina could do, responding like an idiot. In her defense, how was she supposed to respond to a request like that?
"He might get mad if he learned I jumped in after the Wave was already over. I'd really appreciate it if you didn't tell him." Meruthia said, opening a golden eye slightly to look at Reina.
There was certainly an air of genuineness in her words. No real malice or threat of violence.
Swallowing, Reina nodded. "S-Sure…" Despite what she observed, Reina couldn't help feeling nervous.
Meruthia breathed out, lowering her arms. "Oh, that's a relief! Thanks!" She stood up straight, grinning with her teeth on display and her hands on her hips.
With the tension in the air thoroughly dispelled, Reina rushed around the woman. If she wasn't in some sort of trouble, she needed to check on her party.
"Maria!" She called out, kneeling next to the wizard and checking her over. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, Boss, I'm fine." Maria smiled up at her, nursing her shoulder "Just finished a round of healing."
Sure enough, the wounds on her had partly closed. Reina was too focused on Meruthia to pay attention.
She looked over at Meruthia, who was looking back at her. "Thank you for saving her."
Meruthia sighed. "Like I said, please don't mention that…" Then, she plopped a clenched claw into her open one. "Wait, that woman's really important to you, right? So you owe me a favor! If Dad asks, the Wave was still going and I saved your life, okay?"
Reina nodded without hesitation.
Meruthia smiled, stroking her chin. "Heh, heh. Genius, Meru. Genius."
Even with the woman's demeanor being what it was, Reina still felt nervous. Vyrdrun finally reached the two of them, kneeling down.
"You okay?" Reina asked him.
"Yeah." Vyrdrun nodded, though his eyes weren't on her.
"You're sweating, Boss." Maria whispered. "Is that really one of the Demon Lord's children?"
Reina nodded, setting her gaze back to the dragon woman.
"Well then…" Maria looked over at Vyrdrun. "I can heal Vyrdrun, Kuromo, and myself if you want to…"
Reina nodded again, understanding Maria's intent. She'd told Maria about her idea to get closer to Lola to learn more about Derdir. While Meruthia, or Meru, wasn't as young, she did seem friendly enough. Reina might be able to get something out of her.
With a quick casting of Healing Hands from Maria to ease her pain, Reina stood.
"Excuse me, Meruthia—um, Meru." Reina approached the woman, who was still marveling at her own idea. "Is it alright if I ask you a few things?"
"Hm? Yeah, sure." Meru brushed her long, black hair back, setting her other hand on her hip.
Even as she stood there, Reina didn't know where to start. It was pretty obvious Meru was sent to keep an eye on her during the Wave to make sure she wasn't killed. Since the Wave was only a little stronger than the one in Lespax, Reina assumed it was due to the two Demon Lords. But if that was the case, why not kill them earlier? Was it a test? Did Derdir want to see how she was progressing?
"Kuromo!" Before Reina could ask anything, she heard Maria shout.
The dragon ran in front of her and stared at Meru, growling at her.
"Ah…" Reina couldn't speak. She saw Meru staring right back down at Kuromo.
"This is…" Meru's eyes were wide, her mouth hanging open. It then morphed into a massive grin. "Cute!"
She scooped up Kuromo with her claws, holding him up in the air.
"You are just adorable!" She gushed, smiling at the dragon. In response to her compliment, he bit down hard on her scaled arm. "Aw~! Look at you with your little baby teeth!"
Reina's tolerance for excitement today was reaching its peak. She really didn't need her pet giving her a heart attack by attacking someone who could easily kill everyone present.
"Look at us!" Meru held Kuromo against her, both of their faces looking at Reina. "We could be cousins!"
"Ah ha, yeah…" Reina gave a weak nod.
She really could see the resemblance. It wasn't their faces or even their scales. Kuromo had the same golden eyes as everyone in that family. She wasn't really surprised when she first saw it, she just didn't think it was important enough to mention. Black claws, wings, horns, and scales weren't the only things that family got from their transformation using a black dragon.
"Gau!" Kuromo didn't care for being so close to Meru. He thrashed around, claws pushing against her to escape. A tearing sound seemed to echo around them.
"Oh." Meru let go of Kuromo, who immediately placed himself between her and Reina. On the ground in front of her were the tattered remains of her clothes, along with the weapons she had.
"Ah!" Reina shielded her eyes with a hand, turning away slightly. "I-I'm so sorry!"
"Eh, it's fine." Even with her view partially blocked, Reina could see Meru give a shrug. "They were just props anyway."
Now that she mentioned it, Reina didn't see Meru using any of her weapons in the Wave, just her fists.
"Kuromo, go back with Maria and Vyrdrun! Now!" Reina shouted.
"Gau…" He looked up at her pleadingly for a moment, but soon walked back over to the others.
"Hm hmm." Meru let out a chuckle. "So energetic."
"Here, uh…" Reina looked down as she fiddled with her weapon. Her item drops were up in her status and she selected something to pull out. "Something to wear. It's…got some blood on it…" She held out the tunic in her extended hand, though she kept her gaze down.
"Oh, uh, sure." Meru accepted the clothing after looking at it for a moment.
Try as she might to keep the dragon woman out of sight, Reina couldn't help but glance up at her while she worked to get the shirt over her. Meru was muscular, but not in an overbearing kind of way. She wasn't bulky like a weightlifter, but not really lithe like a track runner or a swimmer either. Reina had to admit, she was a bit envious. Meru had muscles, height, and…a few other assets that Reina tried her best to achieve, only to fail miserably.
"This is so not the time or place for this, brain!" She chastised herself.
Wings receded into Meru's body, allowing the tunic to pass easily. Once it was in place, a new set of tears were heard as Meru's wings came out the back again.
"Better?" Meru asked, hand on her barely covered hip.
Reina nodded, looking up again. "Don't you care about being…naked?"
"I feel more naked without my scales out than I do without clothes. Not to say I usually wear clothes." Meru smirked. "Besides, there's only two women, a baby dragon, and a Gromnar shaman here. Who cares?"
"I do!" Reina couldn't bring herself to say. The fact that the woman had scales only going up to about mid-thigh wasn't helping any. "Why can't your scales be more practical and cover your front, not just your arms and legs!?" Her simple idea of getting information out of Meru, one of the Demon Lord's children, was quickly falling apart.
"Anyway, you wanted to ask me something?" Thankfully, Meru put them back on track.
"A lot of things. If you don't mind!" Reina quickly added the last part. "Why does your father want me to fight the Waves?"
"Don't know." Meru replied.
"You…don't know?" Reina asked to confirm.
"Nope. Something about preventing damage to the world. I don't really get it." Meru shrugged.
Derdir seemed to know even more about the Waves than Reina did. It wasn't for lack of trying. All that Bishop Valais told her was that the Waves would spawn monsters to attack everyone. If there was more to it, well, she didn't think it would be worth keeping from her.
"Then, he would want me to go to Hascain as quickly as possible." Reina reasoned.
"Probably." Meru shrugged. "The Cleaver Hero is there, but I think Dad said you were more important. Don't know why."
"Then wouldn't it have been better to just bring me to all the hourglasses?" Reina asked. "I mean, he attacked Savia and had me chased out."
"Uh…" Meru scratched the back of her head. "To see what you would do? I think he had other things to do in Savia than getting you moving and dealing with the prince. I don't really know since I usually keep watch over our home. I wasn't even in Savia for that."
"What about after?" Reina pressed on, feeling a bit braver from Meru's relaxed attitude. "Lola put me on a log and sent me down the river. She could have just taken me to your father instead."
Meru leaned from side to side, humming. "I guess…"
It was starting to dawn on Reina that this woman might not be the best person to ask. She didn't seem to be lying. Lola was clearly younger, but she seemed to know a lot more than Meru.
Since that seemed to be the case, Reina shifted topics. "Could you tell me a little about your family? Like, what I should do if I see Maphai again."
Reina didn't forget about that time in the restaurant. She likely couldn't forget that, ever.
"My siblings? Sure! But first…" Meru looked around them. "Ah, here."
Just a few steps away were two gnarl corpses. They must have fallen on one another when they were killed.
However, Reina wasn't paying much attention to the dead Wave monsters. The tunic she gave Meru was long enough, but the woman's tail inhibited its job in covering her. Thus, Reina was able to see her rear end.
"Toned…" The thought occurred before Reina could block it out. It didn't help how Meru sat down against the corpses.
With a plop, she fell down against them, leaning back like they were a soft couch. Her wings spread out with her tail curled to the side. The front of her shirt rose a bit against her, giving Reina a full view. Meru crossed one leg over the other, showing off her thighs.
"Don't look!" Her intrusive observations of the woman were winning against her more rational mind.
"Ahh, much better. Too much work in just a few days. Today was too much work, too." Meru waved her forward. "Come on, sit down for a bit."
Reina slowly walked toward her. "Can you please cover yourself?" She asked as she sat down.
Meru raised an eyebrow, but complied nonetheless. Her tail snaked around and sat on her lap, letting Reina breathe a sigh of relief.
"You're pretty weird about nudity." Meru commented, relaxing against the bodies with her claws behind her head.
"No, I'm normal." Reina's response didn't come. Instead, she tried to focus on the task at hand. "So, about your family…"
"Right." Meru closed her eyes, still smiling. "You've met my angry older sister, and my annoying young sister. Oh, and my grumpy older brother, too."
It was pretty easy to identify which ones she was talking about.
"You haven't met Darvon, but you might have talked with one of his spies. He does most of the information gathering." Meru opened her eyes slightly. "I wonder if I should have said that."
Reina would say that wasn't likely, but she honestly had no idea. If those two Demon Lords could transform like that without Vyrdrun noticing, who was to say?
"Oh, and I have a new younger brother. Have to include him." Meru added.
"Another…" Reina remembered what Lola said, or implied, about her siblings.
"Yeah. He took a while to finish. Over two months of transforming. Came out of his little cocoon thing the other day. Hm, I probably shouldn't have mentioned that…"
If she was so willing to speak about things like this, Reina wanted to keep things going. She held back her thoughts on what Derdir did to that poor boy. "What about Maphai? She doesn't seem to like me."
"Heh." Meru laughed. "Yeah, that was probably Lola's fault. She's been calling you 'Big Sis' for a while. Maphai hates anything that reminds her she's a human. Oh, I'm sorry, she used to be a human." She let out another laugh.
"I see…" Reina had to wonder about that. Did Derdir pick kids that hated people? Would they be easier to manipulate that way? If she ignored their initial meeting, Lola didn't seem all that hate-filled. From what she recalled in Savia, their brother didn't seem all that interested in being there. Even Meru here wasn't that bad, especially since she saved Maria and clearly didn't need to.
"I bet Maphai gave you the Dread Glare." Meru said.
"The what?" Reina asked.
"It's something dragons can do. And, well, since we're part dragon now, we have it too." Meru explained. "Maphai isn't all that good at controlling it. I'm much better. Here, I'll show you."
A demonstration of one of their abilities sounded pretty good. Reina hadn't noticed Maphai doing anything back in the restaurant. This could be…
She was going to die. Reina was certain of it. Here she was, without a spirit ready to defend her, sitting in front of someone with the power to kill her several times over. Why did she think this was a good idea? Why hadn't she learned more magic? If she had, she'd be able to protect herself and—
"Breathe, Reina. You're fine." Meru's voice snapped her out of her thoughts.
"What…" Without realizing it, Reina had fallen back, barely supported by her elbows on the ground. She took in a breath, noting how hard it seemed.
"Dread Glare. Dragons use it to force weaker monsters into submission. Helps keep monsters from coming to their lairs and taking their eggs and treasure and such." Meru explained. "It only works if there's a big enough gap in levels. Which, you know…"
Reina didn't need her to finish that sentence. All their levels were doubtlessly much higher than hers.
"So yeah, my big sis probably did that to you…" Meru let her voice trail off as an inquisitive look appeared on her face. "Say, how old are you? You've got to be older than Lola."
"I'm 17." Reina said as she straightened herself out.
The smile on Meru's face grew. "I guess that makes me Big Sister Meru. If you're ever around me and Maphai at the same time, call me that. It'll piss her off real good. Just don't say it without me around. She'll probably rip your head off if you do."
Reina gulped. She remembered a similar thing said by Lola.
"So!" Meru slapped her claws against her scaled legs as she leaned forward. "What else did you want to know?"
~Forging Legends~
Reina ended up asking Meru questions for only about 10 minutes more. The dragon woman didn't say too much about her siblings, mostly saying it was private. Which to be fair, it was. Most of what she got wasn't all that useful. Though, Reina was pretty surprised to learn that the oldest sibling, Goalith, was only 21 years old. He looked far older than that.
That did bring up another thought. All the Demon Lords she'd seen so far looked fairly young, probably in their early 20s. Derdir looked like he could be another sibling and not his children's 'father'. His appearance put him around 30, but Reina couldn't imagine that being the case.
The way the witch siblings talked about this transformation magic made it sound extremely difficult and would take a long time to learn. If Goalith was 12 when he was transformed, like Lola said, then Derdir would have been in his early 20s at the time, based on appearance. The witches' protector, Alister, said Derdir was an archmage, and the only two she knew about were at least 50, given what Maria told her about this Mirdon person as well as meeting Iru.
Reina also got a better feel for Meru and her family as a whole. It was just from a few sentences the woman said.
"I'm not my older sister. I don't want to kill every human I see. I'm not my dad, either. I don't like making big plans or anything. If he wants someone to die, they're going to die. That's why he's the Demon Lord, and all these guys are just fakes wishing they were him."
Even when talking about the 'fakes' earlier, Meru knew full well that her father was a Demon Lord. She seemed rather proud of that fact.
When their talks came to a close, Meru had one final thing to bring up.
"I almost forgot. I have something for you." Instead of standing, Meru repositioned herself and crawled over to her discarded clothes on hands and knees. Reina did her best not to look at what the woman was carelessly showing off. After rummaging through her clothes, she pulled out a satchel. "Here."
Reina took it in her hands. "What is it?" She asked.
"It's a Somnium deck. I wrote the rules down for you." Meru sat back down again.
That was the game Lola wanted to play with Reina before. "Why?"
"Because, apparently, you agreed to play it with Lola and now she won't shut up about it. Whenever we aren't doing something, she'll bring up how she gets to play it the next time you meet her." The look on Meru's face grew serious. "For all that is good, learn this game and play it with Lola the next time you see her. She's been so annoying lately. Big Sis Reina would play with me! I'm barely around her and it's still too much."
From there, the rest of their time in the same area was spent mostly on cleaning up. There were plenty of monsters to absorb, if only three different types. Despite dissecting them, the gnarls and harpies only gave one form each.
Gnarl Totem
(abilities locked) Equip Bonus: attack 6
Harpy Totem
(abilities locked) Equip Bonus: electric resistance (small)
Unlike the last boss, this one did give more than one form.
Spine Arachnid Spike Athame
(abilities locked) Equip Bonus: spirit attack 8
Spine Arachnid Chitin Amulet
(abilities locked) Equip Bonus: defense 5
Spine Arachnid Crosier
(abilities locked) Equip Bonus: Skill "Change Spirit", Skill "Second Spirit"
Equip Effect: minor spell amp
She had a good idea what those two skills could do, but she would test them out later.
There was also the matter of the two Demon Lords. Reina couldn't stomach the idea of trying to dissect them, so she simply absorbed them both whole.
Tainted Chimera Totem II
(abilities locked) Equip Bonus: forge efficiency 2
From what she gathered, this bonus decreased the cost of the different Forge abilities she applied to her spirits, though not the templates. She'd be able to pile on even more now.
While Reina was collecting monsters, Vyrdrun had gone up to Meru. She watched the exchange, barely able to hear due to the distance. It seemed he was curious as to why he couldn't sense either of the Demon Lords, let alone her. It was pretty worrying, honestly.
"Our transformations are more like an innate ability, like that little guy's acid breath." Meru said, pointing up at Kuromo once again perched on Vyrdrun's shoulder. "Or mine, for that matter. The magic is in change, not how our bodies currently are. That's probably why you couldn't sense any of us. Probably. I'm not great with magic like Maphai or Dad."
It seemed she couldn't help but drop these nuggets of information.
"Would it be alright if I try getting a feel for this magic?" Vyrdrun asked.
"Sure!" Meru grinned. "Feel around as much as you need to!"
He did just that, holding his hand to her chest as she transformed back and forth. It was pretty surreal to see a woman shed scales and retract claws, horns, and wings, only to bring them out again.
With her final moments with Meru drawing near, Reina went over in her head what she knew about the woman. If she had to sum up her thoughts on her…
"Hey, you don't need all these monsters, right? I'm kind of hungry after all that work…"
"Look at this! This is the pincer of a muck crab! A muck crab! Not majestic like the mighty black dragon! What was this guy thinking?"
"These gnarl things are just adorable! I'm going to have this one stuffed!"
Meru was kind of dumb.
On the one hand, she told Reina things she probably shouldn't have, even if Reina couldn't do too much with the information she got. On the other hand, Meru didn't seem to know too much. In fact, the way she acted about having to do work, even the small effort here, she almost sounded like a NEET. Reina could see the woman lounging around in her underwear doing nothing, especially due to her comment about not normally wearing clothes.
Though, Reina tried not to imagine that specifically. One of the last things Meru said to Reina was a bit unexpected, and not exactly in a pleasing way.
"You know, you're pretty cute. I wouldn't mind taking you for a ride." Meru grinned when she had said that. "I'll take you to the edge of the world and beyond!"
Despite everything that had gone on, Reina couldn't help blushing at that.
With their encounter with the Demon Lord's daughter behind them, metaphorically and physically, the party headed back the way they originally came. There were plenty of monsters to absorb for tokens and gacha rolls. The gnarl tokens boosted her agility much more than the forest dolls, and there were plenty of them.
While they worked to collect them all—and finish off any remaining monsters—Reina reforged one of her spirits and got started on the other. The time was down to about three minutes each and it was much easier to maintain concentration.
Which was good, considering someone wanted to make that task difficult.
"So, Boss, I couldn't help but notice you were gazing at something with a certain look in your eyes~." Maria cooed in her ear, floating right behind her.
Reina whirled around, face flushed. "Her personality is very disarming, that's all!"
"I'm not so sure~." Maria drifted to her other side. "Seems like you enjoy women of every shape and size~. I can't really blame you. She was quite beautiful, wasn't she~?"
"I just thought she was in really good shape!" Reina defended herself.
"Oh, she was! Such strong arms to hold you, and shapely legs to caress~. Oh my, now I've gone and gotten all jealous!" She gave a pout, holding a hand to her cheek.
"Don't be. I think you're much more beautiful than her—" Reina faced forward again, ignoring the bright smile on her girlfriend's face.
"Haha! Aren't you just the sweetest!" Maria spun slightly in the air as she moved forward, keeping Reina in her sights.
"W-We need to get better equipment." Reina decided to change the subject. She just finished her other spirit's reforging, so now she shifted her thoughts. "My new armor should be done soon. We can get you and Vyrdrun something better, too."
With Vyrdrun's size, they'd need to get something custom made. No doubt it would be expensive, and maybe not even possible in Keston. Reina did see Gromnar slaves acting as guards for a few people, but they wore little armor. Baric might be able to help with that, though the cost was sure to be high. His armor was a cut above others Reina had seen.
As for Maria, Reina briefly entertained the idea of giving Maria the current armor she wore. Its stats were good and it didn't seem to interfere with her spells much. However, one look at their chests told Reina the taller woman would be lucky to fit in the armor at all, let alone not have her breasts pop right out. Maybe Baric could resize it a bit.
"All I really need is a new staff. My old one back at the church can work for a little while." Maria told her.
"No. You need more protection. Both of you do." Reina reaffirmed.
"Aw~. Worried about me?" Maria batted her eyelashes at Reina.
That caused Reina to stop in place. Maria continued floating forward before coming to a halt.
"Maria, you're scarred. Vyrdrun is too." Reina pointed at Maria's right shoulder for emphasis. There was a hole where Vyrdrun's now-broken spear had entered her. It had since been healed, but a nasty scar remained, compounded by the burn around it.
Likewise, Vyrdrun had several punctures from the boss in his left shoulder that were scarred over now. Weak healing magic could recover HP and repair wounds to an extent, but it couldn't prevent scars from forming.
Maria gave a shrug. "It's the price of being an adventurer. I'm just lucky I never got more." She gave Reina a smile. "If you feel so bad about it, why don't you give it a kiss to make it feel better~?"
Reina gave her a hard look that immediately softened. She took a few steps forward, wrapping her arms around Maria's waist. Leaning up, she placed her lips on the woman's scarred shoulder and give it a kiss.
When she looked up, Reina saw Maria had a nervous blush on her face. She leaned her face against Maria's shoulder. "Please take this seriously. You two were hurt badly, far worse than me. And Maria…you almost died. I don't want to see you that close to being killed again. Either of you."
She looked over to Vyrdrun, who gave her a nod. "If Meruthia had not helped us, we certainly would have perished." He said.
That was the truth of the situation, even if Reina didn't want to think about it. She turned back to Maria and spoke again.
"I wasn't able to protect the people I care about without the help of the Demon Lord's daughter. I had to rely on people who want me alive for reasons I still don't fully understand. So, please, take this more seriously."
Fight the Waves. Don't die during a Wave. Stay out of Derdir's way. Beyond that, she really didn't know anything else. That felt even truer with the very last thing Meru said to her…
"I'm sorry, Boss." Maria lowered her head. "I am taking this seriously. I just…don't want to worry about things all the time. We'll get better equipment and I'll work on my spells more. That way, we won't have to worry when it comes to the next Wave."
Nodding at her words, Reina stole one more kiss from Maria's lips before separating. With her hat pulled over her face once more, Maria followed after Reina as the four of them continued on.
Reina knew Maria wasn't the only one who needed to work on spells. There wasn't much time to work with the Fire Attribute she got from the Fire Spirit, not enough to really do anything with it. Maria was going to help her combine the attribute with other spells, but that would only take her so far. Without more offensive spells to go off of, Reina would have a hard time making use of it in combat outside of buffs.
What's more, Reina was very aware their group was lacking in physical combat. Vyrdrun had his size and stats, but his training was almost nonexistent. That's why he used simple weapons. Reina likewise had little knowledge in terms of practical ability. Hopefully, she'd be able to get some training from some templars. Since the sword she had came from their church, the Crimson Blade might be the best place to go; at least for her.
Their battles had been easy so far. Even against Demon Lord Karth in Lespax, it was only a single enemy to focus on, and they had twice as many people to fight him. Vyrdrun relied more on his levels and stats than technique, with Reina being the same, just with her skills added on. That needed to change.
While they walked, Reina went over her weapon forms. With her level at 43 now, she had access to more forms that were previously restricted. A few of them looked promising.
Radiant Cross Ceremonial Crossbow
(abilities locked) Equip Bonus: Skill "Piercing Shot"
Like what she got from the Crimson Blade Church, this was a proper weapon she could use. Bolts would manifest and be ready to use. It had good attack and agility, but really lacked in everything else. What's worse, she had to pull the string back herself before a bolt could automatically load, which took a bit of doing. It wasn't exactly easy to wield, either. Thankfully, the skill sounded like it was good against high-defense targets.
Black Dragon Leather Totem
(abilities locked) Equip Bonus: mental fortitude (small)
Reina betted the mental fortitude would help her against that Dread Glare Meru told her about. It might even help with stress as a whole, something she'd probably have a lot more of in the future.
Black Wolves Greater Idol
(abilities locked) Equip Bonus: Forge "Rapid Fists"
As a church that was more in tune with the underside of society, it shouldn't come as a surprise that a weapon form from them would give an unarmed ability. It drained SP while in use, but the attacks from her spirit sped up. It certainly reminded her of a certain series she thoroughly enjoyed.
While many were good, the last one she focused on really stood out. It wasn't the weapon itself—which wasn't all that great—but the ability it provided.
Silver Falcon Pious Arrow
(abilities locked) Equip Bonus: Forge "Absolute Senses"
She tested it out with her spirit on the way. When activated, everything seemed to slow to a crawl. If she had to guess, everything moved at about one-tenth speed, including her. In that time, both through her own senses and her forged spirit's eyes, Reina could perceive so much more. The exact direction sounds came from, the distinct scents of the different monsters, and fine details on nearby objects. Her movements felt sluggish, but it would give her plenty of time to formulate a plan when in combat. Well, sort of.
The good news was this ability used up SP, which she regained much faster. She didn't have as many Forge abilities that used SP that she also had on her main spirit. The bad news was it consumed a lot of SP while active. For one second of real world time, her SP dropped by one-tenth. Luckily, it took no effort to activate or deactivate, so she could use it in moments that really counted.
Like, for example, combined with Rapid Fists for numerous, precise strikes.
"Things are going to get more JoJo around here." Reina laughed to herself. Her reflexes had slowly been improving, both from actual combat and from her increasing level. This was basically a way to greatly improve on it.
She continued looking over her weapon forms. A few more got her attention, which she would test out later. As they got closer to where they believed they arrived, the nearby town came more into view. The sight of it caused alarm.
"There're fires burning!" Reina called out as she spotted the flaming buildings. "We have to help!"
They ran as fast as they could. With how many monsters came after their small group before, there was no telling how many were drawn to town full of people.
The gate to the town was open, allowing them to easily enter. Bodies littered the ground, both from normal people and town guards alike, plus the numerous gnarls. As Reina's eyes trailed up, she saw a few small groups of templars, each standing only with members of their own order. Those weren't the only ones as other templars were on the ground not too far away, clearly dead.
"What are you doing?" Reina called out to them all as she got closer. "There're fires in the town! We need to put them out!"
The group she was closest to was from the Golden Hammer Church. The captain of that group looked at her calmly. "That's nothing to be concerned about."
"W-What?" Reina came to a stop as she neared them.
"This town has been purged. There's no reason to put out the fires with none of the blasphemous residents alive anymore." There was a certain warmth in the man's voice. Contrarily, it made her shiver.
"What are you saying…?" She asked, looking to the other groups. "You were supposed to help the people…"
"Not this place." The captain of the Crimson Blade group spoke up. "The people here have been secretly doing trade with the Mist Mountain brigands for some time. We simply didn't have the opportunity to do this sooner. Thanks to the Wave, it was possible. And, of course, to you as well, Spirit Forger." He crossed an arm over his chest and gave a bow.
"No…that's not…" Reina looked around in horror.
The people on the ground…their wounds weren't from claws or electrical burns. Not all of them. Most of the ones nearby had slashes over their chests, arrows or bolts sticking out of them, and burns that were clearly from fire.
They weren't the only ones. Members of other churches had the same wounds on them. From what Reina could tell, most of the dead templars were from the lesser churches. In fact, the only living ones she could see were from the four bigger churches. They weren't the only ones who killed the normal citizens. Crossbows were used by Radiant Cross and arrows from the Silver Falcon.
"You killed other templars, too." Reina murmured.
"Hmph." The Crimson Blade captain crossed his arms. "They would have done the same to us. Half my men are dead thanks to those heretics, and the other three main churches templars didn't fare much better. You should be happy, Spirit Forger. The four churches personally consecrated by the founding Spirit Forger prevailed!" He called out with glee.
Reina felt sick to her stomach. It wasn't her fault. She knew that. Had the Wave happened anywhere else, only the templars would have been killed. It was just bad luck it occurred somewhere these…monsters wanted to kill the innocent.
"The Mist Mountain brigands? Were they really so bad that you'd wipe out an entire town? And for what? What trade could they possibly be doing with them to justify this?" Thoughts swam in her mind. Before she could stop herself, she uttered a single word.
"Murderers."
The Crimson Blade captain dropped his self-righteous demeanor in an instant. "What did you say?"
The Azure Star and Evergreen Sickle templars seemed to take notice. They slowly drew closer to Reina's party and the other two groups.
"These traitors gave the vile Mist Mountain brigands resources to continue their attack on our lands. It was only right that we exterminate them from the world!" He declared.
"They were a blight to this nation."
"They deserved nothing less."
"Any who side with raiders deserve the same fate."
Other templars started to voice their own opinions.
"That can't be right!" Reina shouted to them. "An entire town…How could you say everyone here deserved that! Children are dead here!"
"If this had gone on, they would have done the same as their parents!" The captain of the Evergreen Sickle templars said with conviction.
"No! They were kids! And you killed them for nothing!" Reina furiously argued.
The weak sound of distant flames was the only noise in their small gathering.
"So, it's true." A templar of the Golden Hammer spoke.
The air around them grew heavy. Reina could see the looks on their faces.
"She would rather side with Gromnar than humans."
"She has a Gromnar shaman with her now! There's no greater proof!"
"This Spirit Forger is a fake!"
"She's a far cry from the first empress!"
Weapons were drawn. The templars started to surround them, though there was still some distance.
The last thing that templar said caught Reina's attention. She knew a previous Spirit Forger started the churches, but she didn't know she was part of the empire too. No, that's not entirely true. In the back of her mind, she thought that was a possibility.
But now wasn't the time to think about it.
"Boss." Maria held up her hands, pointing them at the templars. Without a staff, her power wouldn't be as great.
The same was true for Vyrdrun. Both of his weapons were destroyed and he only had his enchanted metal to work with. He formed it into a long club and held it up.
"Gau!" Kuromo let out a small growl, tightening his grip on Vyrdrun's shoulder as he glared at the templars.
"Forge Spirit!" Reina brought out the flaming zombie she had before. She had her two spirits again, but she didn't think it'd be enough for all these templars. That was especially true after fighting the Wave. They were healed up and replenished MP with potions, but they were still tired.
Reina started looking through her weapon list once more, trying to locate what she recently found.
Then, a figure approached from behind the Crimson Blade templars. Reina almost didn't recognize him with his broken helmet on, but the bloody weapon in his grip told her who he was.
Silently, he came up behind the templars.
"What the—"
Before one of the others could voice any warning, the sound of flesh being torn reached her ears. The heads of two Crimson Blade Templars fell to the ground, one belonging to the captain, their bodies quickly following them. The remaining members jumped to the side and pointed their blades at the attacker.
Grimwald stood there, just coming off his backswing and breathing heavily. Blood covered his body, arrows and bolts sticking out of his chainmail-covered arms and shoulders with a few broken ones on his breastplate. His eyes were filled with rage as he stared down the templars.
"Idiots!" He roared, looking at the church knights with clear contempt. "I was trained by the Cleaver Hero! You think you lot are enough to kill me? Pathetic zealots!"
"The Hascain heathen still lives!" The Azure Star captain yelled.
Reina was shocked as well, but she didn't have time to focus on that. Instead, she found the weapon she was looking for. With a few movements, she changed something in her party status and looked to Grimwald. He turned his head to her. Without a word, he accepted the change and joined her direct party.
"I really hope this does what I think!" Reina switched to one of the recently available weapons.
"Kill them all!"
"Death to the traitors!"
Reina activated the skill.
"Return Spirit Locus!"
As the templars rushed to them, Grimwald slashed with his cleaver. In an instant, the town around them disappeared. In the next, their surroundings were that of a place Reina visited only once before: the location of the spirit that granted her Enchanted Fist.
Dragon Hourglass Sand Amulet
(abilities locked) Equip Bonus: Skill "Return Spirit Locus"
That was the weapon form she had to thank for their survival. From what she could see from the brief time between activating the skill and choosing a destination, it looked as if she could teleport to the location of any spirit she currently had a contract with. She could also see the cooldown for it, a whopping five days. This clearly wasn't the intended use of the skill.
Grimwald stumbled as his target was no longer there. He looked around, surveying his surroundings. "What…"
"I got us out of there." Reina answered his unasked question.
"Hah…" Maria let out a breath, lowering her arms. Vyrdrun also returned his metal to its usual state and stowed it away.
Grimwald looked around a bit more, doing a full turn before settling on Reina. "We're safe then?"
Reina nodded.
Grimwald sighed. "Good…"
With that last word, he fell forward, slamming into the ground.
"Oh, crap!" Maria let out, quickly flying over to him. "Healing Hands!"
Reina brought her spirit closer and had it use Healing Touch on him. Whatever she thought of the man, he clearly fought with those templars. Whether he only defended himself or also the people that lived in that town, Reina didn't know. His distraction helped give her time for their escape. For now, healing him and hearing what he had to say was what mattered.
After all, he wanted them to go to Hascain next. Anywhere was better than Keston at the moment.
As they healed him, pulling the bolts and arrows out of him all the while, Reina thought back to the very last thing Meru told her.
"Dad's probably going to have one of us at every Wave you fight in now, probably Lola or Goalith, but we'll just sit back and watch for trouble. You just do your thing."
Those words that had made her worry before now filled her with a small amount of comfort. If she came across more templars during Keston's next Wave, she'd be glad one of those siblings was there.
~Forging Legends~
"Hah…" Meruthia sighed, dropping two corpses to the ground. "What a pain."
It was a whim. Just a simple idea that crossed her mind. Meruthia had never been this far north before. Really, she'd never been this far from home. The farthest was when Dad killed the Chisel Hero in his own tower a few days ago. Back then, there wasn't really a time to do any sightseeing. Not that Meruthia really cared for that, but Lola was curious. Maybe if Meruthia got her a treat from the nearby town, she wouldn't have to hear her sister's jealous whining about seeing "Big Sis Reina".
It wasn't even that long ago that Lola last saw her, the same day as the fight with all those golems. But no, her little sister could be a bit spoiled like that.
So, Meruthia decided to fly in the direction of town. She'd land somewhere discrete nearby, change forms, walk in and find something for her sister, then signal Dad for a portal home.
Of course, that didn't happen. Meruthia saw Reina and her party rush into the town. She flew overhead, far enough away that no one could see her, but she could see them with her superior sight. That's when it happened. The templars were about to attack.
She began a dive, ready to sink her claws into the templars. Even if one of her party members died, Meruthia was confident the Ritual Implement Hero would be able to survive long enough. If she didn't, Meruthia would never hear the end of it from Lola. Dad probably wouldn't be too happy to hear Reina died from templars, though she was sure he could work it into his plans.
Before she reached the ground, however, Reina and her party disappeared, along with that Hascain noble.
Of course, after a brief moment of confusion, those templars spotted her before she could turn off course. And, of course, she couldn't just let them be.
What followed was a battle…for the templars. For Meruthia, it was just more work. Her claws easily tore through their armor. Her acid breath melted metal and flesh alike. The last couple tried to flee, forcing Meruthia to fly after and kill them.
That brought her back to the present.
"Huh." Meruthia took a look at her surroundings. "I'm not sure if that was the smartest thing to do. I hope Dad didn't need any of them alive. Eh, probably not. They went and killed each other during the Wave, so they couldn't be that important. Dad will figure out what the hell they were thinking later."
Just because she didn't like to do things didn't mean she wasn't observant. These Wave monsters didn't use bow or crossbows, so there'd be no reason for templars to have arrows and bolts in them.
She didn't even want to be here, but there wasn't anyone else to send. Reina had met almost everyone else in her family, and Darvon was busy doing his spymaster stuff. Dad didn't have anyone in Keston to watch over Reina in case another fake Demon Lord started trouble, which they did. Two of them, in fact. That wasn't even mentioning what happened in Hascain's last Wave.
"This is such a pain…" She muttered. Maphai wasn't around to complain about her whining, so she'd do that as much as she wanted.
"Well, I might still be able to find something for Lola. Maybe there's a bakery intact or something. She likes sweets." Meruthia mused, walking through the desolated town. She liked sweets, too, so it would be a win-win.
All around her, the dead citizens littered the ground. She didn't know much about this place, aside from it being close to the Mist Mountains. Whatever issue these templars had with this place, it was no concern of hers.
"I just don't see what Lola likes so much about killing them. Seems like waste of effort. Well, Dad wants to do something about the churches, too, so I guess it's not a complete waste." Meruthia thought aloud as she looked at the buildings she passed.
She scanned them as she approached, stopping at one that looked to be right. The sign was without words but had a drawing of a pie on it. Of course, the door was broken in and part of the wooden wall was collapsed.
"Might as well." Meruthia stepped forward, crushing the door beneath her clawed foot.
Inside the shop was a mess. This looked to be the work of Wave monsters, though the dead one at her feet told her someone finished it off. Just her luck, the food that was on display before was strewn about the ground, completely ruined.
Just as she was about to resume her search, a noise caught her attention. She walked around the counter, looking for the source. There she came across the body of a Violet Storm templar, a bloody sword in his hand and a crossbow bolt in his back.
"Dumb templars." She kept her mouth shut, still looking for the source of the noise. It almost sounded like sobbing, muffled as it was.
A couple feet beyond the dead templar was a knocked over shelf. It was at an angle, denoting something beneath it. Meruthia grabbed the wooden piece and lifted it, revealing a woman with a slashed backside.
"Hrrm." The sight didn't bother her. It was clear from all the other bodies what happened, even if she didn't know why.
Just then, the noise stopped and the woman moved. No, that wasn't right. Peering over the woman, Meruthia saw someone else. Held within the woman's arms was a young boy, maybe 10 or 11 years old, and with the same messy, sandy blond hair as the woman. His face had tear streaks from his eyes as he nervously gazed up at her.
"Hrrm…" Meruthia continued to look down at the boy, making no movement.
She found herself to be in a strange situation. It wasn't a good idea to leave anyone alive who saw her like this, with the exception of Reina and her party. She wasn't above killing kids if the situation absolutely demanded it. But this…
"Hey, little boy." She said, causing him to flinch. "Are you hurt?"
Slowly, he shook his head before looking back to the woman. "Mom…Mom was hurt by the templar. She told me not to make a noise, but…" His eyes began to tear up again. "C-Can you help her, Miss?"
Meruthia felt something stir in her heart. The boy was afraid of her, she had no doubt. Still, he fought past that fear and asked for her help to save his mom.
She shook her head. "I'm sorry, little boy. It's…too late." Even if she was any good at magic, she couldn't raise the dead. Not even Maphai or Dad could, at least not properly.
The boy trembled as the tears came in full force. He reached over and pulled his mom's body into a fierce hug. There was already blood on his hand before, and now there was even more of it.
"This woman knew she was going to die, but she still did what she could to keep her child safe. Just like any parent should." Meruthia watched as the boy cried into his mom's shirt.
The scene that played out in front of her…it called back an old memory.
A less-traveled road on the countryside.
A cart pulled by her parent's nipeigh.
A stranger that appeared in their path.
The smell of iron.
Her mom's body pressed against her.
The feel of blood on her hands and face.
The yell of her dad.
The sound of metal clashing.
The silence that followed.
The long, lonely silence.
And then, finally, after so long, the sound of wings beating.
The winged man who stood in front of her.
As Meruthia looked at the boy desperately clinging to his dead mom, she had to wonder what it was like back then. What was it that her now-dad felt to see what had happened? Was it anything like what she felt now?
With a sigh, Meruthia placed her other clawed hand on the shelf and carefully moved it away from the boy. With it now out of the way, she took a step forward and knelt down next to him.
"Little boy." She said, gaining his attention. "Would you like to come with me?"
His eyes looked up at her before turning down again. "But…Mom…"
Meruthia gave a reassuring smile. "We'll bring her with us. I know a nice, peaceful spot to bury her, far away from what happened here."
The boy sniffled, wiping his nose with his shirt's sleeve. He gave her a nod.
"That's a good boy." She reached forward, patting him on his head with her claw. He barely flinched at the contact. "A brave boy. What's your name?"
"Isaac." He said with the slightest quiver of his lip.
"Isaac." Meruthia repeated with a smile. "You're safe now."
With nothing left to do, Meruthia scooped his mom up in her arms, carrying her. She stood from her place on the ground and waited for Isaac to stand as well.
When he did, she turned around and slowly made her way around the broken bakery. There was a small tug from behind. She looked back to see Isaac lightly holding onto the end of her tail.
She felt herself smile at that.
"I'm sure Maphai will bitch and moan about me bringing him home, but she can just mind her own business. She's got those vampire pets of hers. I can bring back a single human boy. Besides, I'll have Lola and Goalith on my side, not to mention Dad. Templars attacked the kid's home. There's no way they wouldn't approve me bringing him. It's not like Dad doesn't bring back some kid every now and then. We'll just have to get him altered like the others."
Confident in her decision, Meruthia carried the mom's body through the town with her son right behind, still clinging to her tail.
Author's Notes:
Another long chapter, 9k words…*sigh*. I mean, it's great for readers, but I thought it'd be much shorter. I wrote a whole other story for over a year and I still can't get chapter length estimates accurate. Eh, whatever. I'm confident next chapter will be shorter.
So, this is Meruthia, otherwise known as Meru. A woman who doesn't always think before she acts or speaks. I hope I portrayed her personality well. I was going for sporty and somewhat upbeat, but also lazy. A bit contradictory, but I thought it'd be fun.
Yeah, the teleport skills seem to be available at 50, but I made a creative decision here. 5 days is just a tiny bit longer than 1 hour, so it seemed fine. Plus, the locations are fixed, even if more could be gained through finding more spirits and maintaining contracts. Useful, but not especially convenient.