Almost immediately, the King turned around, already beginning to run away from the snapped Charme. Whilst he knew that The heroes were a low level, it still didn't mean that he was going to take any chances. He disliked any sort of pain after all.
Kurose however, was dealing with a different issue. He let out a hiss as he felt a shock to his hand, the other half of the snapped Charme falling to the floor. Sera grabbed hold of him, pulling him back in preparation for the Charme to explode, except it never did.
[Warning: Heroes cannot use any other weapon beside their assigned weapon]
Was that the warning Eorna had been telling him about? He shook his hand, looking at the broken Charme with a frown on his face. How was he going to explain that to Woodrow?
"Kurose! You said you had a plan?" Eorna asked him quickly, peeking over his shoulder to look at the retreating form of the King.
Kurose wasn't sure how long he was going to keep running until he realized nothing happened, but he had to set it into motion quickly, even if it was a bit crazy.
"I do. We are going to break that window," He gestured towards the window overlooking the city. "And jump out of it."
"Are you suicidal!?" Sera almost shouted. "We are high up! If we fall that far, we are going to die!"
"It's fine! I have a weapon form that can help." Kurose spoke, attempting to calm down Sera.
He didn't even know if the equip effect on his Aransilk Parasol worked like he thought it did, but then again, they didn't really have any other choice. Sera didn't seem comforted by it, but he still nodded his head.
"I… alright, fine. Let me just…" Sera took his spear, quickly jabbing it at the window. The glass shattered easily, and Kurose winced at the sound of it all crashing down.
After a few moments, he stepped forward, looking out of the window. It was only then that he really realized just how high up they were.
"I… Right…" Kurose spoke, any confidence from the previous encounter gone. "Just… hold on tight and jump together I guess."
Sera and Eorna did just that, practically sandwiching him between the two of them. Kurose kept his arm, as well as the Parasol, raised
"On the count of three, jump."
Kurose began to count, and as soon as he reached three, the trio jumped forwards.
The first thing Kurose realized as they fell was that this was perhaps not his best idea. The feeling of the wind whipping against his face was a new experience, and one that Kurose was not intending on repeating any time soon.
"Kurose!" Eorna shouted over the winds, and he immediately realized the issue.
The equip effect, for some reason, had not activated. Out of the two people holding onto, only one was aware of that fact, and was looking at the rapidly approaching rooftops and roads in horror.
"Activate! Something! Glide!" Kurose shouted over the wind, his eyes widening as they came closer and closer.
One of the words he spoke seemed to activate it, or it was a delayed activation, Thankfully, their descent slowed down, enough for Kurose to hear again.
They began to glide forward, with people somehow not noticing the three people floating through the air. He guessed it was true that people rarely looked up in their everyday life. Though, the current situation made him think of something he had heard of back in his world.
He couldn't remember, and it definitely wasn't important, but it was going to annoy him for a while, he could tell.
Eventually, they landed on a flat roof. Once they did, Sera pulled himself off of Kurose, sinking to his knees.
"Oh thank the weapons. Solid… not ground, but close enough." He spoke. He took a moment to compose himself, and Kurose wondered if there was anyone in the building beneath them. Were they concerned about some noise above them?
"Accessory Hero. Whilst I appreciate that you didn't exactly have much time to explain your plan to us… Please don't do that again? I don't particularly want to go skydiving randomly."
"Same here…" Eorna spoke, still attached to Kurose's side. "Ugh… I never wanna do that again."
"Sorry, Sorry," Kurose apologized with a nervous smile. "It was the only thing I could think of though. But I do agree that it's not something I want to repeat anytime soon…"
Sera shook his head at that, but did not comment on it.
"So… What's the plan now?" Kurose asked after a few moments. Sera seemed to think it over,
"We could go to Steeves Armor and Weapons?" Eorna suggested.
Kurose gave it serious consideration. "That could work. Amarita said she would be there, and Woodrow was going to be collecting those gems…"
Thinking about it a moment later, Kurose nodded his head. "Yeah, I think we should go there. Only issue is… where is it from here?"
"Hm… I don't know." Eorna answered with a smile, earning a groan from Kurose.
"Well, if we get down from here, I could always ask some people?" Sera offered up.
Kurose went to speak, to say that wouldn't he be recognised, but Sera was obviously prepared for that.
"Sure, the people probably don't know who you guys are, but it's well known that the heroes have a gem in their weapons. Whereas if I ask them, it's just going to be a guard asking for directions."
Kurose frowned, but nodded his head. "I guess that's fine. Now it's time to get down from here…"
After some more use of the Aransilk Parasol, Kurose, Eorna and Sera managed to Glide down into the alleyway by the building they had landed on. Sera went out first to hopefully get directions to Steeves Armor and Weapons whilst Kurose and Eorna waited in silence.
Kurose still wasn't certain that Sera would just leave them, and if that did happen he couldn't exactly fault him. He understood that Sera had stood up for them, and had followed through with his stupid plan to jump out of a window, but he was still a guard.
He decided to push those thoughts away, instead focusing on what had happened back in the castle.
"So…" Kurose spoke, breaking the silence between them. "What happened back there? With the King?"
Eorna stayed silent for a moment, and Kurose was concerned that she just wasn't going to say anything, but she finally did.
"It's… odd." Eorna spoke with a frown. "It started off weird. I tried to offer my… what's the word? Con… Condo?"
"Condolences?" Kurose offered up.
"Yeah! That! Anyways, I tried to offer that, but he just told me not to?"
"Well, I imagine he's probably had a lot of people doing that, reminding him of… that." He spoke with a frown.
"Yeah, that's what I thought as well! But then, he started saying he needed me to do something, then asked for my Dagger!"
"Huh? Doesn't he know that our weapons just can't leave us?" Kurose questioned her.
"No, apparently he did know! He just ominously said 'I have my ways', which was just weird. And then… well…" Eorna frowned again before continuing. "He started threatening people. Seemed proud of it as well."
"Who did he threaten?" Kurose asked her.
"He threatened you, saying that there might be an accident on one of your future journeys, and he… he threatened my sister."
Kurose stayed quiet, thinking it over. Like Sera said, weren't heroes important? So why was the King going that far, to even threaten him to try and get Eorna's Dagger?
"I don't even know how he knew I had a sister! I never even mentioned anything about her, or my family to anyone…"
"I'm not sure either. But then again, heroes are important right? If so, then people probably try to learn whatever they can about them. I guess he just had more resources for it.
His mind was still stuck on what he had said. Mainly the part where Kurose's weapon wouldn't help with his build. Yet, before he could think about it more, Sera came back into the alleyway.
"Hey. Turns out we are actually pretty close to it." Sera spoke cheerfully.
"That's good! Eorna responded quickly, her frown being immediately replaced with a smile. "Come on! Let's get going!"
As Sera had said, they weren't actually far from the shop, being a five minute walk from where they were. Kurose changed his weapon form to the iron bracelet to make it less visible whilst Eorna just held her dagger close to her side.
It wasn't long until they were at the door to the shop. They stopped outside, standing in a semicircle.
"So, what's the plan? Is there any reason you wanted to come here?" Sera asked the two.
"Well, I have some stuff to pick up here, and it's probably going to be the last chance I get to pick it up before we leave the city?
"Hey! Welcome to- Accessory Hero? Dagger Hero? What are you doing here?" Steeve, because that's the only thing Kurose could believe he was called considering the name of the shop, asked.
"Hey." Kurose spoke with a small, nervous smile. "Has there been anyone looking for Woodrow?"
Steeve stared at him for a moment longer before nodding his head. "Yeah, there has been. She went out looking for him though, but asked me to keep him here if he comes by. Why? Has he done something?" He asked.
"Nope!" Eorna spoke from behind Kurose. "We just… need him! For reasons!"
Steeve looked at Eorna, then looked to Kurose before sighing. "Do I even want to know? Does it have something to do with that guard standing behind you two?" He questioned.
"...yes?" Kurose answered hesitantly.
"Fine. right, come on. We are going upstairs so you can wait for your friend." Steeve responded immediately. "Then you can tell me, alright?"
"Alright!" "Okay" "There's an upstairs?" Were the three responses from Eorna, Sera and Kurose respectively.
"Yes, it's where I live. Stairs are in the back. Now come on."
The trio followed behind Steeve, quickly making their way to the second floor, as well as the blacksmith's home. Once they were all gathered, Steeve shut the door behind them.
"Right. Wanna explain why you're here? From what I heard yesterday, the two of you," He gestured to Eorna and Kurose, "Were supposed to be having lessons with the inscriber, right? And you, I don't even know who you are, nor your relation to the heroes."
Kurose and Eorna looked at each other. How were they supposed to explain what happened? He had promised Amarita that he wouldn't tell anyone without her permission that the King was dead, and would he even believe him if they said the Prince had tried to attack them?
"Ah, well…" Sera spoke as the two heroes considered how to go about this. "My name is Sera, a guard, or well… I suppose a former guard, at this point. It's a pleasure to meet you."
"A…former guard? Why are you with them?" Steeve inquired.
"The Prince demanded that the heroes be jailed, of which me and a few other guards disagreed with. They had done nothing wrong, which is why I included the whole former guard bit."
"The prince, huh? Heroes, you got any idea why?" He asked, dragging Kurose and Eorna into the conversation.
"Uh, yeah, I have an idea as to why?" Eorna spoke nervously.
"Well come on then, let's hear it." Steeve insisted.
Once they had finished explaining the situation, Steeve let out a sigh, seeming to think it over for a moment.
Kurose looked towards Eorna as Steeve began to speak.
"Well, that all sounds like one massive mess." He summarized, and Kurose couldn't exactly say he was wrong
"Considering the situation, I doubt the prince, or rather the King, is going to let you just leave the city without a fight. He's probably already alerted the guards stationed at the gates to get the three of you."
"Probably." Sera agreed. "The guards won't question it either because it will have come from the prince after all."
"Exactly. You are still going to need to get out though, and I can see two ways. You either manage to sneak out through the gates somehow, or you try and climb over the walls which is going to be difficult unless you have some sort of wall climbing ability." He looked towards Kurose and Eorna, who shook their heads.
"We could always wait for Woodrow?" Kurose spoke slowly. "I mean, we would need to fill him in obviously, but he would probably have some sort of Charme or something to help us escape."
Kurose still hadn't forgotten about all of the pockets in his cloak. He kind of understood why he had them, but it must have been annoying to try and sort through all the pockets if he forgot where he placed a specific Charme.
"That could work." Steeve agreed. "But you would have to wait until he got here at the very least. Oh, damn. Almost forgot. Be right back."
Steeve disappeared down the stairs, leaving the trio in the room together. They all stared at each other for a moment before Kurose broke the silence.
"So… Sera. What's your plan?" He asked nervously. "I mean, you probably don't want to come with us and all that-"
"What?" Sera asked in confusion. "Of course I'm coming along with you!"
Kurose looked at him in confusion. Why would he want to stick with them? He looked towards Eorna, who seemed similarly confused.
"But why?" She asked Sera in his stead. "I mean, we are going to be on the run. You're going to have to go against guards you probably trained with, right? And the King has already shown he isn't above targeting people that we know! I mean, he already spoke about going after my sister and Kurose."
"I'm aware of that. But I'm still prepared to go through with it. I'm sure that if any other guard was in my position, they would choose this option as well." He responded with a smile.
Kurose could think of a few guards who wouldn't choose to do what Sera was doing, primarily the ones who had threatened Sera after he stood up to them, but he kept his mouth shut.
Sera continued on, unaware of Kurose's thoughts.
"As for the King targeting people I care about…" The man faltered there, a small, nervous smile on his face. "Well, there isn't exactly much he can do. I was more of a loner during training so no friends other than my squad mates who are likely already…" He trailed off, shaking his head. "As for any family members, unless he wants to dig up their bones and revive them…"
The conversation went silent after that reveal, but it didn't stay that way for long. The sound of Steeve coming back up the stairs made the mood disappear, and once he opened the door, he held up a small bag.
"The gems you wanted me to take out of that bracelet" Steeve explained upon seeing Kurose's confused look.
Upon being told that, Kurose took the bag, a conflicted look on his face. Steeve caught sight of it, and a frown formed on the blacksmith's face.
"What's up? You haven't even looked in the bag yet."
"No! It's nothing to do with the bag or its contents!" Kurose paused. "Well, it kind of is." He corrected himself.
"How so? You haven't even opened it." Steeve pointed out.
"It's just… We aren't going to have much money once we are out of here." Kurose explained, earning a nod from the man. "I don't know about Eorna, but I left my money pouch in my room back in the castle, along with my armor."
"Yeah, same here!" Eorna added on. "I didn't expect to be doing anything until later, so I left everything I didn't need in my room."
Steeve turned to Sera, who seemed to understand the question. "No, I don't have any money on me either." He spoke nervously. "I tend to leave most of my stuff in my storage box at the barracks, and I can't really go back there now, can I? As of now, it's just my armor, and my spear."
Steeve nodded his head, accepting that answer easily.
"Well… I really can't help you out there. My funds are tight each month as it is,.." He hummed, tapping his foot against the floor as if thinking something over
Kurose made to speak, but froze as the sound of a bell ringing rang from the room. He looked around before Steeve spoke once more.
"Don't worry. Just a system I have that lets me know if there are customers in the store whilst I'm up here. I'll be back in a minute, gotta check if they are good and all that."
Steeve went back down the stairs, shouting as he did. "Be with you in a moment!"
"Are you sure you don't want to leave us?" Kurose asked once more, just making sure.
"Accessory Hero." Sera responded firmly. "I'm going to come along with you and the Dagger Hero, until either death takes me, or one of you two dismisses me."
He stood there, and Kurose could actually see him being a royal guard for a moment.
"I-If that is fine with you of course."
…And there it went.
"Well, I'll be glad to have you with us. Eorna?"
"Yup! I'm fine with it as well, though you do need to work on your confidence a bit more." Eorna spoke with a grin. Sera groaned at that.
"I'm trying! Just… it's difficult, alright?"
"Alright, alright. As long as you are trying." Kurose spoke with a small smile, earning a glare from Sera. Eorna laughed at that, and after a few moments Kurose and Sera joined in.
"Yeah, right up here. Come on." Came Steeves voice from downstairs, prompting the three to stop laughing.
The sound of two people coming up the stairs was heard, and a few moments later the door opened, revealing Steeve, with Woodrow at his side.
"Kurose, Eorna! How are my two favourite heroes doing! Oh, and new guy, nice to meet you!"
"We are the only two hero's you know." Eorna spoke, a small smile on her face.
"And? Doesn't stop you being my favourite heroes, does it?" Woodrow responded cheerfully.
"I-Inscriber?" Sera spoke in confusion. "W-What are you doing here?"
"Well, I was here to pick some stuff up for Kurose, but it turns out that he beat me here." He spoke with a shrug. "Anyways, Shop owner looked concerned and said he had some people that wanted to speak to me. I'm assuming that was you three?"
"Yeah, it was. But it's going to require us to explain how we are here." Kurose answered.
"Of course, of course. Go ahead."
The sound of a bell ringing played once more, and Steeve turned around. "Take your time. I'll be back up once the customer is gone. Probably should have put a sign up saying 'temporarily closed'…" He sighed, shaking his head before disappearing back downstairs.
As soon as Steeve shut the door, Kurose began to explain everything that had happened, with Eorna and Sera occasionally adding onto it. It didn't take them long to catch Woodrow up with everything.
"Alright… I see. Now before I get to any of the other stuff, I wanna see what you meant by that Charme. Do you still have it on you?"
Kurose shook his head. "It's probably still in the castle somewhere."
"Hm, I see. Then take this and snap it!"
Woodrow produced another Charme from somewhere, holding it in front of Kurose.
"Eh?"
"Snap it! It's simple, no? If it's like you said, then the Charme just won't explode."
"But what if it was a one off thing?" Sera spoke up. "Plus this is Mr Steeves home and business! We can't do it here!" It seemed like Sera was against it, not that Kurose could blame him.
"Of course we can!" Woodrow spoke, a smile on his face. "If it does blow up, it's going to leave a scorch mark at worst. Kurose here isn't nearly a high enough level for it to destroy buildings or anything."
"Then why did the prince run away? I mean, he must have known Kurose wasn't that high of a level right?"
"No idea. Maybe he overestimated what you could do right now?" Woodrow offered with a shrug. "Either way. Take it and snap it."
Kurose hesitantly took the Charme, looking down at it with a frown. Was it really fine to do this? He looked back up to Woodrow, who gave him an encouraging smile.
He moved to snap it, and two things happened. The door swung open, revealing Steeve whose eyes immediately locked onto Kurose. His eyes widened as Kuroses thumb pressed down on the Charme, and he began to move.
The next was the feeling of the Charme snapping under his fingers. It was the same as the previous one. That being incredibly thin, and thus making it easy to snap. Another jolt shook his hand, and the same warning as before popped up. The bottom half of the Charme fell to the floor, and Woodrow spoke.
"Well, looks like nothing happened. Curious…" Woodrow seemed excited, but before he could continue, Steeve shut him down.
"I'd appreciate it if you didn't just snap a Charme in my home!" Steeve shouted, a scowl on his face.
Kurose rubbed the back of his head, feeling bad for doing so whilst Woodrow waved him off.
"Oh come on! It wouldn't have been that bad, he's only level five! Unless he went out to do some midnight grinding, but even then it wouldn't have done anything! At worst it would have left a small scorch mark. Plus we are friends! Don't you trust me?"
"I met you literally yesterday." Steeve responded in a deadpan voice.
"And?" Woodrow continued on with a grin. "It's proof of just how much of a match we are! You make the weapons and armor, I make the Charmes!"
"After this stunt, I don't think I should let you in my home, let alone my shop ever again." Steeve grumbled, shaking his head.
"Anyways, i picked up some of the spare cloaks i had, so you lot are free to go whenever, preferably sooner than later, especially if you are going to mess around with Charmes."
"Sure sure, we will get out of your hair. Thanks for having us for a bit. I'll keep you updated." Woodrow spoke with a grin.
"If you must." Steeve spoke with a sigh.
The group of four left Steeves' store and quickly began making their way to Woodrow's house.
Woodrow walked confidently, flashing smiles at people who stopped to greet him. He waved them off, stating he had somewhere to be and that he would love to catch up at a later date.
Kurose, Eorna and Sera were all hidden under the cloaks they had received from Steeve. Each one of them was nervous about being recognised by any of the people attempting to catch Woodrow's attention. The longer they lingered outside, the more likely that they would be spotted by any guard who had been given a description of their appearances.
Thankfully the amount of people coming up to Woodrow died down as they entered a seedier part of the city. More of the buildings in this section looked run down, almost like no one took any care of them.
Kurose frowned at that, but continued following behind the Wizard. He didn't look behind him at Eorna or Sera, but he wondered if they were having the same thoughts as him.
Woodrow ushered them down an alleyway, stopping in front of a door before rifling through his pockets. Kurose looked the door over whilst Woodrow looked for whatever he was looking for.
Likely his keys Kurose thought to himself. However, that thought soon vanished as he took a closer look at the door. It had no key hole, but before he could bring it up, Woodrow pressed a Charme to the door.
It glowed for a moment before swinging inwards, and Woodrow motioned for them to come in.
"Not the best of places, but it's cheap and gives me plenty of room underground!" He spoke with a grin.
The trio looked around, Kurose squinting as he tried to make out anything in the dark room as Woodrow fiddled with something. The door closed behind them, and a flash of light illuminated the room, causing Kurose to blink rapidly.
He quickly adjusted to the light, and he noticed just how much of a mess the room was. It wasn't a mess of clothes, but rather papers and Charmes thrown around haphazardly. Kurose moved forward, intent on picking up a paper to see if he could understand anything, as unlikely as it was, only for Woodrow to stop him.
"Please don't do that. Everything's where it needs to be, and it will be hell for me to start moving stuff around now."
"So… Organized mess?" Kurose questioned. He could relate to it, that was practically his home most days, only really changing when Sheryl had come round.
"Exactly! I'm glad you understand. Now, just follow me you three! Please be careful of the papers on the floor. Oh, the Charmes as well."
Kurose spared a look back at Eorna and Sera, who both looked concerned at everything scattered around, but he found it rather charming.
They slowly made their way across the room, stepping over any paper or Charmes in their way. Kurose noticed that a few of the Charmes looked different. There was of course the wooden ones that he was familiar with, but there were other Charmes made of other material. Some were made of paper seemingly cut into a circle, whilst others were made of metal.
Once they had finally gotten across, Kurose took the chance to peek through a door, blinking as he caught sight of an absolutely ruined room. It looked like some sort of vehicle had crashed into it, and had yet to be repaired.
"What happened in there?" He asked Woodrow before he could stop himself.
"Hm?" He took a look at where he was pointing before laughing.
"Oh, that. Easy answer. Hero from another world crashed into my home. Not sure how she managed to miss every other place as well as keeping herself hidden from everyone, but she made do somehow."
"Huh?" Sera looked confused. Eorna shared his look, the two looking at Woodrow as if he had grown another head.
"A hero from another world?" Kurose wondered. "What weapon did she have?"
"A train." Woodrow answered quickly. That explained why it looked like something had crashed into it. Because it literally had.
Kurose paused for a moment. "A…train?"
"Yep. Is that so weird?" Woodrow responded, earning a questioning look from Kurose. "I mean, look at your own weapon. An Accessory is a rather weird choice for a Legendary Weapon, wouldn't you agree?"
Kurose had to concede that point.
"Well, did she mention what other weapons she had in her world?" Kurose asked.
"W-Wait! Hold on a moment!" Sera spoke up finally. "Why are you accepting this so easily, Accessory Hero?"
Kurose tilted his head at that. "Huh? I mean, sure it's a bit difficult to believe but y'know…" He gestured to himself. "I'm from another world, being summoned and all that. Is it really a stretch to believe that some other worlds would exist?"
Sera opened his mouth once again before promptly shutting it, looking at Kurose. "I… I see…"
"How did she even get here?" Eorna asked. "I mean, I've never even heard of another world, let alone anything about traveling to them…"
Woodrow shrugged. "No idea. She didn't tell me. All I know is I woke up one day, and her and her partner were gone. Nice guests though. Now to answer your question," He turned towards Kurose. "I only know one of them, but she spoke about her world's main weapon being Morale tools."
"Huh. What about their other lesser weapon?" Kurose continued.
"No idea." Woodrow repeated. "All I know is it's magic based, mainly because the guy she was with complained about it, and I quote, 'being able to bullshit our magic system." So there you have it. Though, instead of discussing that, we should probably get the three of you prepared to leave."
"Ah, yeah right. We probably should." Kurose agreed with a sigh.
"Just give me a few moments to collect a few things. You three just make yourself comfortable in here, alright?"
Woodrow disappeared into a door, and the three looked around the area. There was only really two safe places to be. The first was where they had come in, the area around there being clear of any papers or Charmes, and the area they were currently in.
He looked towards Eorna and Sera, but neither seemed to be willing to speak. Sera was still likely trying to understand other worlds, if Kurose had to guess, and Eorna… He had no idea, if he was being honest.
He turned his attention to his weapon tree, smiling as he realized the weapon he had equipped had been mastered. He debated whether or not he should try to add an enchant to it. He wasn't sure if they were actually going to be able to get out of the city without a fight, so it would probably be best to do so.
But on the other hand, it took up his already small stock of energy. Spinlings and Aransilks didn't really give much in terms of energy, and it was only made up by the fact that they had taken out plenty of them.
Then again… Kurose thought to himself, Once we get out of here, ill be able to get even more energy.
With that, it was an easy decision for him to make. He pressed the enchant button and looked it over.
Aransilk Parasol 0/5
(Abilities Unlocked) Equip Bonus: +3 Agility
Equip Effect: Glide
Item Enchantment Level 1: Defense up 2%
Defense was an odd choice to give him. He knew that it was random each time, but defense had to be one of the least useful bonuses to give him, with it being one of his lowest stats.
He levelled up the enchantment once more before changing tracks. He took out one of the gems from the pouch, letting his weapon absorb it before using it on the Parasol.
Aransilk Parasol 1/5
(Abilities Unlocked) Equip Bonus: +3 Agility
Equip Effect: Glide
Item Enchantment Level 2: Defense up 4%
The Sapphire seemed to provide him with a useful stat increase at the very least. It increased the magic attack stat of the weapon form, which was a nice bonus. Though due to how low quality the gem was, it wasn't a massive boost. Still better than nothing though.
"Right! I have gathered up a few things for you all!" Woodrow declared, a grin on his face.
He stepped towards the table, pushing some papers to the side. Kurose shot him a questioning look, but he waved it off. "It's fine. I was more or less done with those papers. Most of the info there led to a dead end for my research."
"Research?" Kurose questioned.
"Not right now." Woodrow spoke with a shake of his head. "Perhaps at a later point, but right now, we need to focus on getting you three out of here. Now, let's see…"
He began to take stuff out of the bag, placing it on the table. Kurose watched as he pulled out a few bottles of… something out of the bag, setting them gently on the table. That was followed up by a few books along with some Charmes as well as a few tools and a pouch.
"Alright. So firstly, these," He motioned towards the bottles before continuing. "These are some spare healing salves. Keep them for any injuries, because if you are going to be escaping this city, you probably don't want to stick around in any other sort of big city. Just put a little bit of the Salve on your wounds, and it will do the rest. Just don't overdo it, alright?"
The trio nodded, and seemingly satisfied, Woodrow continued.
"Now, the books. These are more for Kurose, but you two are also free to look into them if you wish. This is basically a beginners guide to making Charmes, or rather the outline for them." He lifted the first book, handing it to Kurose before reaching for a second.
"This one is going to teach you to actually give the Charme the instructions it needs. Mainly, the Magic script of our world. Open it up." Kurose gave Woodrow a look, but did as he asked.
After inspecting the book's pages for a few moments, Kurose spoke. "I can't understand a thing in this book."
"Huh? Is it too complicated?" Woodrow asked him.
"No. It's because I can't read the language in the slightest." Kurose responded.
"Ah. That would be an issue. Hm…"
"It's fine! I'm sure me and Sera can teach Kurose on the go!" Eorna spoke cheerfully.
"Yeah, we should be able to. As long as Kurose is willing…" Sera continued.
"Alright then! Last few things. These Charmes here. You won't be able to fight with them, primarily because they are communication Charmes. This one…" he lifted one of the Charmes, showing it to the trio. "If you activate it, it will send a small pulse to my copy of the Charme."
"Why?" Kurose asked with a frown. What use would it do to send a pulse to his copy of the Charme? What did that even mean?
"Well, that's for the second one. The second one will allow whoever's holding it to talk to the person on the other end."
"Oh, so like a phone?" Kurose asked.
"Like a what?" Eorna asked him curiously. Woodrow and Sera also looked at him, questioning looks on their faces.
"Never mind. Something from my world."
Woodrow nodded, accepting the explanation easily. "But this will let you keep in contact with me. It does use Mana to keep itself active, keep in mind. And the further you go, the more Mana it will take. Though I'm sure you should be fine with that Kurose."
"So, the first one to alert you, the second to actually talk. Got it." Kurose spoke, earning a nod from Woodrow.
"Yep, also a little bit of money. Just enough for you to enter a small village and buy essentials and stuff. They aren't likely to ask, especially if you wear a cloak. Though if they do, just say you are travellers or something."
Woodrow quickly put everything back into the bag, checking it over once before handing it all off to Kurose, who took it gratefully.
"Right. You lot should probably get going. Keep the hoods up, alright?"
"We will. I'll make sure those two keep theirs up." Sera responded.
"Hey! We aren't that bad!" Eorna responded with a frown.
"Yeah! What she said!" Kurose added on.
The two earned a look from Sera. "Kurose, your first idea was to jump out of a window. And Eorna… I don't actually know if you have done anything like that yet, but you seem like the type of person to."
Kurose opened his mouth to respond, but had no comeback for it.
"Come on, let's get going." He spoke instead.
The four made their way to the door, with Woodrow opening it once more before speaking. "Right. Once you have actually got a decent distance away from the city, please contact me. I want to know if you are actually safe or not. Does Amarita know anything about this?"
"She doesn't." Kurose answered him. "We were going to catch her at Steeves shop, but apparently she left to look for you."
"Look for me? Huh, well I didn't see her. I'll go check in at Steeves again, then head to the castle if all else fails. No doubt I'll need to meet with the new king and guide him through everything. The joys…" Woodrow sighed, shaking his head. "Stay safe, alright?"
"We will!" The trio answered cheerfully before heading out, the cloaks pulled over their heads.
"Oh come on… why aren't they responding?" A red haired man spoke, tapping his foot against the flooring beneath him impatiently. One hand held a small, metal Charme whilst another held a small hammer, a cyan gem embedded between both heads of it.
"Maybe they are busy with something?" A woman beside him spoke.
"Maybe." The man conceded. His hand left the Charme, putting back on its podium with a sigh. "But still. Ronald is usually better than that. He typically has someone on it at all times."
"You still never told me why you wanted to actually talk to them dear."
"Sorry, thought I had Marissa. Ortensca is supposed to have summoned the Accessory Hero, and I'm wondering when I can meet him. They should have done it a couple of days ago, but I haven't heard anything… Hell, I haven't even heard anything from him about that meeting that was supposed to happen…"
"I'm sure it will be fine dear." Marissa spoke softly, but a hint of her own worry leaked through. "Though, if you are that concerned, you could always go over there? But maybe drop by the church first. They have that statue, don't they?"
"Hm…I do need to register to their hourglass. And the statue is a good call as well. I haven't actually checked on it in a while, at least since I was chosen…" The man sighed at that.
"I'm sure it will be fine, Matthias." Marissa responded with a sigh. "It's not going to be that bad going to the church, is it?"
"It shouldn't. But that's what I thought last time. They kept talking about asking me to bless them with my weapon! What am I supposed to do, give them a light tap in the head with my hammer or something?"
"Of course not! Just… I don't know, say some words? They don't have to mean anything, just make them sound… profound or something, i don't know. You do that all the time whenever you have to talk to people, don't you?"
"I mean, yeah, but that's different! They probably don't even think of me that much."
Marissa did not respond to that, simply shaking her head in disappointment. It seemed to be very effective on Matthias though, as he sighed.
"Fine, fine. I'll go to the church, then I'll head to Ortensca. I should probably set a portal there anyways. Don't know why I haven't before."
"Good, thank you. Before you leave, make sure to say goodbye to Tommy. I think he has a Charme he wants to show you before you go."
"Yeah, I got it. As if I would leave without saying goodbye to my boy!"
"Just making sure you remember." Marissa spoke with a smile.
[Accessory World Info]
This block will be about communication Charmes.
Communication Charmes work by connecting with its partnered Charme. A Charme can be partnered up with another by making an exact copy of the Charme. Whilst difficult to do by hand, there exist custom made machines that make the process more accessible.
The further the two Charmes are, the more Mana it will take to keep the communication line open. There is also the chance that one person will communicate with the other whilst it is not active, making it a waste of Mana.
These are typically used for short range communication, such as coordinating armies or large groups of adventurers. Each major city also has one to communicate with the capital or other cities in case of emergencies.
[End of Accessory World Info]