Chapter 6: Training of your life
"Here I go!"
Garfiel shouts at the top of his lungs before charging at Raphtalia, starting off their sparring match. He charges with incredible speed towards her, beginning this fight on the offense.
Raphtalia looked as she waited until the demi human boy was close enough to be able to read what his attack's going to be. Once Garfiel was close to her, he swung his right arm to try and land a punch on her.
Raphtalia quickly moves out of the way, avoiding the attack while also going for an attack of her own. She swung her sword directly towards Garfiel's head. Without any hesitation, the demi human moved his left arm up swiftly to block the attack.
As he did this, he was able to move his right leg quick enough to try a hit on his opponent's head. Raphtalia noticed this and quickly was able to block it with her left arm. As she was able to do this, Garfiel's strength was a bit too strong for her to handle which forced her to jump away.
'He's very strong!' Raphtalia thought as she quickly jumped back, gaining some distance from her opponent. She could see that in a physical fight, she would clearly lose to Garfiel. 'I'll have to beat him with pure skills.'
While she was thinking, Garfiel was thinking of how Raphtalia's defense was.
'She's really sharp n'fast! My amazin' self'll have t'get close if I wanna win th's fight.' As Garfiel thought this, he prepared his next move. He observed her stance for a moment before quickly charging once again. As he closed the gap once again, he started to throw a barrage of punches. Raphtalia noticed this, prompting her to quickly dodge and deflect each attack thrown towards her.
"Yer'n amazin' sword fighter! But let's see ya handle th's!"
Garfiel began to increase his attacks, making them hard to follow. Raphtalia took notice of this, seeing that Garfiel's strategy is to do attacks that can't be read so easily, forcing her to deflect on the spot.
As she continues to be on the defensive side, she starts to notice that each punch Garfiel throws were becoming faster and stronger to the point where she was slowly losing her grasp on the fight.
'I must be careful. If I get hit by Garf's attacks, I will surely lose!' As she thinks this, she looks at Naofumi for a moment to see that he's observing the sparring match between her and Garfiel. 'I can't lose in front of Naofumi-sama!'
Raphtalia looked back at Garfiel, continuing to dodge everything he had before finding the opening she needed. Once this happened, she charged at Garfiel and just barely managed to slice off a piece of his hair.
"Tk!"
"Almost got you there, Garf."
Garfiel quickly went into defense as Raphtalia started to throw her own barrage of attacks, swinging her sword with great precision.
'Her swordsmanship's amazin'. I gotta find my openin'.'
Garfiel focuses closely on the fightin patterns Raphtalia was showing, trying to find an opening. After a brief moment, he quickly jumped high up to break Raphtalia's fighting pattern. As he manages this, he quickly dives towards her direction with his left leg charging towards her. Raphtalia saw this and only had three seconds to quickly react to this attack.
She jumped out of the way just as Garfiel landed on the ground, causing a massive crater with just his left leg alone. He was expecting this and with the dust all around, it gave him a chance to charge right in at Raphtalia, pushing her back with most of his strength.
Garfiel continued to throw more and more punches before eventually one of these attacks managed to break Raphtalia's sword as she was trying to block off one of his attacks.
'M-My blade...'
'Eh? I did it?'
Garfiel and Raphtalia were both surprised by this with Naofumi and Ren noticed this, Ren being impressed by Garfiel's strength while Naofumi was a bit annoyed that the demi human boy broke Raphtalia's sword. Raphtalia and Garfiel stopped their sparring match since the winner is clearly the Shield of Sanctuary.
"Sorry 'bout th't."
"It's fine. You are quite the fighter, Garf."
"Eh, took me some time t'get th's strong."
"What? Your captain didn't help you with that?" Raphtalia asked since she was expecting the demi human boy to mention his captain again.
"Nah, he ain't th't strong. He's just a cool guy though sometimes dumb."
"Interesting." Raphtalia said, surprised that Garfiel would call someone he admired dumb. She turned towards Naofumi and Ren, noticing the two approaching them.
"That was pretty impressive, you both did well." Ren said in a calm and impressed tone of voice. Naofumi just stood silent for a moment before approaching Garfiel to smack him in the head.
"What th'hell?!"
"That's for breaking Raphtalia's sword. Do you know how much those swords cost?"
"Okay, my fuckin' bad."
As Garfiel said this, he turned towards the others to see how their fights were going. He saw how the three knights and the two mages were having some trouble against Ren's party. Tersia, Welt, Bakta, and Farrie all four were pretty skilled on their own but when combining their strengths, they were a force to be reckoned with.
Being curious to see their strength himself, he started to approach the two groups in the middle of their fight. As the knights and the mages were about to lose, Garfiel got in between both sides.
"Oi, let me fight y'all."
"Hm? It's rude to interfere in the middle of one's fight!" Farrie yelled as he swung his axe directly towards the demi human boy's direction. Garfiel smiles as he is filled with excitement, wanting to see how capable these four are against him alone.
He easily blocks off the attack with his shield from his right hand before trying to land a punch on the giant man's face. Just as it seemed like he was going to land a punch, Tersia the female martial artist managed to use her strongest kick to block off Garfiel's punch while Welt attempted to use his knives to stab the boy's leg.
The demi human boy noticed this yet he wasn't worried, he was fast enough to avoid the attack while also managing to push the axe guy back with a swift kick. As this kick connects, he manages to push back Farrie before turning towards the other three.
Tersia charged at Garfiel before using her martial arts to attack. Bakta looks at Garfiel from a distance as he is being distracted by the combined efforts of Tersia and Welt. The mage waited before he saw the right open to attack.
"Zweit fire!"
A ball of fire is created to throw directly at the demi human boy. Although Garfiel was still holding his own against a martial artist and what seems to be an assassin who is good with knives, the demi human boy was able to sense the ball of fire being thrown towards him. He continued to block all of the attacks until he felt the fire was extremely close.
He jumped up to dodge the attack, forcing Tersia and Welt to jump away from the fireball attack thrown by Bakta. The mage was surprised by how fast Garfiel was able to react to his attack, prompting him to prepare another attack while the demi human was on the air.
Just as he was about to attack Garfiel, the demi human boy took off its shield from his left arm before throwing it with extreme strength at Bakta.
The mage wasn't able to see this until the shield was right within a few inches from his face. He was shocked by this for only a second before the boy's shield was able to easily knock him out.
'Ha! Ya think I wasn't gonna see yer attack, wizard man!' Garfiel thought confidently, figuring that the mage would've attacked him while he was on the air. He turned towards the ground to see that Farrie, Tersia, and Welt all three recovered and were preparing to attack him the moment he returns to the ground. 'Y'all think ya got me but my amazin' self won't lose th't easily.'
He dives down towards the three and prepares to attack the three. Farrie prepares his axe to swing at Garfiel, being the one closest to the boy once he reaches ground level. Just as Garfiel was close, Farrie swung his weapon in hopes of landing a powerful hit. Garfiel noticed this and quickly blocked the attack with his right arm's shield. As he blocked this attack, he swiftly landed a strong left hook at Farrie's face, knocking him out. Tersia and Welt were both surprised by this.
"This demi human boy is just..."
"...on a whole other level..."
Garfiel looked at the two, noticing how shocked and slightly scared they were of him. He smiled with no malice while telling them,
"Y'all need t'fight with everythin' ya got if ya wish t'be stronger than my amazin' self."
The two were stuck in place for a moment, at first unsure if what the boy said was even possible until they thought about how they were in a party with the Sword Hero, someone who is pretty strong and skilled. This gave the assassin with knives and the martial artist a slight confidence booster.
The two charge at the demi human boy with everything they had, managing to do a bit better than before.
'They got potential but they need t'believe in their own strength.'
As Garfiel thought this, he increased both his speed and strength which allowed him to completely overpowered the two. As Garfiel defeated the remaining two party members, he turned towards the three knights and the two mages.
"Y'all need t'really step it up if ya wanna be ready fer th'waves."
"Sorry...we will do better..." The leader said as he got back on his feet. Garfiel crossed his arms as he looked with a serious facial expression.
"There's no need fer apologies. Just get stronger'n y'all be capable of beatin' anyone on yer path."
"Understood." The knights and the mages nodded at what Garfiel had said with one of them having responded to what the demi human boy said. All five of them understand that they should fight with everything they have if they wish to protect those they care about. The demi human boy nodded back at the five of them before turning around to assist Ren's party. While this was going on, Raphtalia, Naofumi, and Ren were observing the fight from a distance.
"That boy is quite the fighter. I didn't think he would throw one of his shields just to knock Bakta out. That was very impressive." Ren said, having observed and concluded that Garfiel is for sure a formidable fighter. Naofumi crossed his arms as he was annoyed that Garfiel interrupted the sparring match between the group of knights and mages and the Ren party. Before he could say anything, he turned towards her left side to see that Filo had returned with Melty by her side.
"Hm. What's the princess doing out of her castle?"
"You could be a little nicer, Savior of the Heavenly Fowl." A slight disdain in her voice could be heard, but she wanted to try to keep things civil.
"Tsk." Naofumi was about to turn away yet he noticed a box Filo was holding. "What's that you are holding, Filo?"
"There presents from the slave owner man! He gave me Wyvern talons… what's a Wyvern?" She asked with a tilt of her before going on with what she was doing.
Filo set the box on the ground before opening it, revealing a few items. Filo grabbed a sword before handing it towards Raphtalia.
"And he gave you this cool new sword, Raphtalia!"
As Filo hands over the new sword, Raphtalia takes a good look at it, happy considering that her previous sword was destroyed by Garfiel.
"Oh and he gave you these, Garf!" She pulled out some Shin guards that look similar to his own shields on his forearms. Garfiel heard this and turned to see the shin guards, prompting him to quickly approach Filo to try them out. As he put them on, he observed the way the shin's looked on him before saying,
"Not bad. Looks good on my amazin' self."
"Just make sure you don't break those too."
Naofumi's comment didn't go unnoticed. Ren groaned in frustration about it. It did not help that both Garf and Dadfumi were avoiding each other, more on Dadfumi's part. He tapped the Shield Hero on the shoulder, getting his attention. Once this was achieved, he said to him,
"Mind if we speak in private for a bit?"
"Um. Sure."
The two heroes step to the side, Naofumi being skeptical on what Ren would like to talk about with just him. As the two walked for a bit, they eventually stopped with Ren turning towards Naofumi with a serious facial expression.
"You've been avoiding Garfiel on purpose, haven't you?"
Ren spoke with a stern tone, wanting to confront his ally about something he had suspected for the past few days. Naofumi was left silent for a moment, a bit surprised that Ren was being direct. He continued to have a blank facial expression while responding with,
"That's none of your concern, Ren."
"Maybe but this is not the time for disagreements and distrust. We need to work on our teamwork and coordination. Distrust can lead to someone being severely injured. You know this better than anyone."
Naofumi kept his blank expression yet deep down he was a little annoyed since he knew Ren was right. He knew that working with Garfiel is necessary to prepare everyone for the wave but at the same time he was still pissed at the demi human boy for attacking him.
"Look, I don't know what happened between you two but right now you need to work with him. We don't know what awaits us in this next wave, we will need to be ready. That means to put this problem to rest, even if it is temporary."
"I hear you." Naofumi said as he turned towards Garfiel's direction, seeing the boy having a conversation with Melty and Filo while Raphtalia was swinging her new sword, testing it out. Ren also looked at the group for a moment before looking back at the Shield Hero.
"He isn't a bad person, just a very bad risk taker."
"That's the issue. Someone like him can turn a situation south very fast."
"Then why not talk to him? I'm sure he will listen."
"…"
The Shield Hero stood silent for a moment before starting to walk towards Garfiel, Filo, and Melty's position. The Sword Hero followed behind a second after. Once the two returned back with the group, Naofumi tapped Garfiel in the shoulder. The demi human boy turned towards Naofumi.
"Oi, what's up?"
"…Come on, we have to get you ready for the wave."
"Aight. My amazin' self's ready fer some more trainin'."
"I want to join!" Filo said with excitement. "Can I please join in, master? Please!"
"…sure, you can join us, Filo."
"Yay!"
Filo jumped up in excitement. Naofumi turned towards Melty to ask her,
"Is there anything else you need? Shouldn't you be in the capital?"
"There is no need for today. Besides, I want to watch you all train."
"Tch. Fine but don't get in our way."
Naofumi just looked at Melty with a blank facial expression before him along with Filo and Garfiel walked towards an area of the large field to train. As the three were walking away from where they were at, Ren approached Raphtalia to ask her something.
"Raphtalia? Mind if we do some training? I'd like to work on some sword skills with you." This caught her attention. While she has had her reserves
"Well umm… Master Naofumi has been a good teacher so far…"
"While I don't doubt that he has taught you a lot about fighting but swordsmanship is something he can't teach you or help you with much. Holding this sword, I gained all the skills I need to wield and use not just this sword, but any sword I hold in my hand. I believe I should be able to help you out."
She stood there for a moment, thinking about Ren's offer. He is right. She knows how to swing a sword, but she should refine her form, something she can't learn on her own.
"You have a lot of talent, and the experience you have gathered so shortly is shown. Let me help you get stronger, for Naofumi's sake and your own." Ren spoke to her in a reassuring tone. He knew that they had and with how he noticed Motoyasu was acting. He knows Naofumi can take care of himself, but still.
"Alright. Let's begin." She responded in kind as she got into a fighting stance. Ren nodded as he returned the same energy.
"On the count of three, we begin." Ren instructed as Raphtaila nodded. She listened to the count, and upon hearing the number 3, she felt the pressure of Ren's sword against her. The hissing sound of metal against metal rang out as the two of them locked blades. She held strong, but she can feel the difference in their strength.
'He's just like Master Naofumi!' She thought before finally the lock broke, freeing her to counter attack. Ren blocked each attack with ease though he did notice that Raphtalia's skills were very sharp for someone her level.
"You are pretty good."
"Thanks."
The two continue to clash swords for a bit more with Ren testing out Raphtalia's sword skills, wanting to see where he could help her with. As she continued on the offense, he waited for a moment before quickly changing the ties of the fight for his favor.
He began to build up his sword's power, wanting to see how Raphtalia will respond when facing a powerful foe, especially one that's beyond her power.
Raphtalia felt completely overwhelmed by the sudden increase of Ren's power yet she wasn't afraid to keep fighting. She used every skill she had in her to keep her defenses up.
'Although she ain't strong, she is certainly keeping up with my level of strength.'
Ren continued to put pressure on Raphtalia up until a point where she was barely able to dodge, forcing her to rely on dodging. The raccoon girl continued to dodge until finally she tried to go for the offense only to end up getting disarmed.
'Seems like the fight's over.' Ren thought this until he heard his opponent say,
"I'm not done yet!"
She quickly landed a kick on the side of Ren's face, stunning him for a moment. This gave her the amount of time she needed to grab her sword. Once she retrieved her weapon, she quickly went on the offense. Ren managed to recover fast enough to block away her attack.
'That kick caught me off guard. That's something I have to keep in mind when a real fight happens.'
Having this in mind, he continued to block off Raphtalia's attacks with some ease, noting that her fighting style has changed into one more refined. He blocked and blocked until finally Ren switched his sword type into a powerful one.
The moment he swapped swords, he completely overwhelmed Raphtalia with his full power. She was sent back flying a few feet away, causing Ren to worry that he might have overdone it.
"Are you okay?"
Raphtalia got up slowly, her leg hurting a bit since she landed a bit rough but nothing too dangerous. As she was up, she responded to Ren's question by saying,
"Yes, I'm okay."
"Okay, that's good." Ren said after he sighed. He took a moment to breathe before saying, "You have impressive swordsmanship skills. I can see why Naofumi looks at you highly."
Raphtalia had a smile when she heard this, feeling her heart racing a bit yet she kept herself in check.
"So lets refine those skills a lot more." Ren added. "Let's go again."
"Yes sir!"
While Ren and Rapthalia were training, Naofumi looked at Filo and Garfiel, mentally preparing himself for the battle ahead.
("Look, I don't know what happened between you two but right now you need to work with him. We don't know what awaits us in this next wave, we will need to be ready. That means to put this problem to rest, even if it is temporary.")
'He makes a point. I'll have to let this disappointment feeling towards Garfiel be put aside for now...or...'
Naofumi without warning started to attack Garfiel first, wanting to see his reflexes while also taking this opportunity to let out some steam.
"Air Strike Shield!"
A green shield gets created before being thrown towards the demi human boy. Garfiel noticed this and quickly planted his feet on the ground with immense strength before taking on Naofumi's attack head on.
'So, th's how we're gonna settle th'score.'
Garfiel figured that if they are going to settle their current issues, it might as well be right now. He moved his right arm back for a moment, slowly increasing it into its tiger form before using every bit of strength to destroy the flying shield thrown towards him. As he succeeded in destroying the first attack, Garfiel noticed Naofumi preparing his next attack.
"Shield Prison!"
The demi human boy felt his surroundings closing in on him, attempting to trap him in the giant ball made of shields. Without a second thought, he jumped with great speed, managing to avoid getting caught by the Shield Hero's attack.
"Nice try but yer gonna have t'do better than th't if ya wanna beat my amazin' self!"
"Is that so?"
Naofumi prepared for another attack only to hear Filo shout at him,
"Don't forget about me, master!"
Naofumi turned towards Filo, noticing that she was charging right at him in her filolial form. Just as she was going to land a hit on him, he quickly pulled up his Chimera Viper type shield in order to block off Filo's attack. As he was successful with this, he noticed Garfiel charging at him as well with his right arm having returned back into human form. Seeing this as an annoyance, he quickly turned his focus back onto Garfiel Tinsel.
'If you think I will lose like this, then you really are very arrogant.'
Naofumi blocked off Garfiel's attack, with the shield reacting to this by creating a counterattack on the demi human boy. Three snakes from the Chimera Viper type shield appeared out of the shield itself and attempted to bite the Shield of Sanctuary.
Garfiel noticed this and knew that he didn't have enough time to jump away to dodge the attack.
He quickly put on the shield from his right arm in order to block two of the three snakes's attacks, having the two bite down onto his shields. The third snake tried to go for Garfiel's neck yet the demi human boy was able to move in such a way that allowed his right leg to kick the neck of the remaining snake.
Naofumi was surprised by this for a moment, a little bit impressed by Garfiel's quick thinking yet the boy left himself open for a trap.
"Shield prison!"
"Shit!"
Garfiel realized that he was trapped since he didn't expect Naofumi to try this ability on him again. As the demi human boy was temporarily trapped in the shield prison, Naofumi returned his focus back to Filo, seeing her attempting another attack on him.
He quickly blocked this attack though he did notice that this one was very strong, managing to slightly push him a bit back. With this in mind, he quickly created another air strike shield to test on how Filo will respond when being attacked.
Filo noticed this and quickly was able to avoid the first air strike shield. She noticed the second one and was about to dodge it only to lose her footing.
"Watch out!"
Garfiel quickly broke out of the shield prison before throwing one of his shields directly towards the air strike shield. With the amount of strength he put on the throw, it was fast enough to counter the air strike shield, giving Filo a chance to not only recover but to also charge at her master once again.
The Shield Hero blocked off a few of Filo's attacks, seeing that the item the slave owner gave her is really helping Filo. He blocked a couple more attacks before finally making his move, using the balloon creatures still on him to distract Filo momentarily.
She looked at the three balloons thrown towards her, viewing the creatures as nothing but weak creatures. She easily disposed of them but before she could react, an air strike shield managed to hit her chest area, sending her flying a couple of feet away.
As Naofumi sent the air strike shield on Filo, he quickly turned towards Garfiel to block his powerful attacks. A few attacks in, Naofumi's Chimera Viper type shield once again created its counter to try and force Garfiel back.
The Shield of Sanctuary noticed this and quickly had enough time to jump back, gaining some distance from the Shield Hero. As he lands a few feet away, another shield prison appears and traps the boy.
"Th'hell?!"
Naofumi prepared another air strike shield, seeing that this was the moment he was waiting for. He threw it with everything he had, timing it to the right moment when Garfiel was about to destroy his shield prison. The Shield of Sanctuary used every strength he could muster on his right leg to smash the ground, managing to destroy the shield prison.
Just as the boy did this, the air strike shield managed to hit Garfiel on his face, sending the boy flying back onto a tree, destroying it on impact. Melty watched the entire thing unfold, surprised by how strategic Naofumi was.
While this was something that impressed the princess, she did not like how brutal he was with Filo and Garfiel, especially Garfiel. She went to check on Filo first, wanting to make sure her friend was alright. As she approached Filo, the filolial returned into her human form while having a pouting face.
"Master is so mean!"
"Are you okay?" Melty asked with concern in her voice. Filo just looked at her friend for a few seconds before giving an innocent smile.
"I'm okay, Mel! That was really fun!"
"Are you sure? You took a big hit."
"I'll be fine."
Melty couldn't help but smile as she assisted her friend back on her feet. As Filo was standing up, the two turned towards Garfiel's direction, seeing that he was slowly getting up.
"Are you okay?" Melty shouted towards Garfiel, worried for his sake after seeing him take such a brutal hit. Garfiel stood silent for a moment before smiling the pain away.
"It's fine. My amazin' self'll bounce back from th's."
Although Melty would want to check on the demi human boy, she could see that he was fine as he was walking towards Naofumi's direction in a calm manner.
"Man, ya sure know how t'kick some ass."
"Mhm."
Naofumi just crossed his arms and kept a cold gesture. Although Garfiel noticed this cold expression, he held his hand high for a high five, having learned this from his captain. Naofumi at first didn't want to but after seeing how Garfiel was handling his defeat, he gave in and high fived the boy.
"There ya go. Was th't so hard?"
"Don't push your luck."
Garfiel just smiled away before approaching Raphtalia, wanting to check up on her to see how she was doing after her training with Ren. As Garfiel went off, Melty and Filo both approached the Shield Hero.
"You really are a tough trainer, aren't you?"
"This isn't even me trying."
"Is that so?"
Melty crossed her arms as she questioned Naofumi's cold attitude yet she did admire how impressive the Shield Hero's skills are when facing against the combined strength of Filo and Garfiel Tinsel.
"What now, master?" Filo asked as she was curious to know what happens next. Naofumi noticed the question he was asked, prompting him to look around for a moment, seeing that everyone needs some time to rest.
"That's all for today's training. It's time to rest, Filo."
"Okay!"
Filo nodded at what Naofumi had said, understanding that it's time to rest. Before she joined Raphtalia and Garfiel, she turned towards Melty to ask her,
"What are you going to do now, Mel?"
"I'll need an escort to the capital soon."
"I can take you home!" Filo said before turning towards Naofumi. "Can I, Master? Please!"
"...Just come back safely."
"I will, master! Thanks!"
Filo smiled at Naofumi before going off with Melty to drop her back at the castle. As the two girls left Naofumi, Ren approached the Shield Hero.
"Well, how does it feel beating Garfiel?"
"What are you getting at?" Naofumi responded back sharply.
"Nothing, you just seem to be on better terms with Garfiel now. After all, you gave him a high five."
"It was just so he wouldn't annoy me about it later."
Ren couldn't help but tell that Naofumi was not being honest, at least with himself. He just smiled at this response off before turning towards his party members, seeing that they are recovering from their match with Garfiel.
"We should rest up for the day. We still have a few days before the next wave hits."
Naofumi just nodded at what Ren had said before going with him to inform everyone on what they have to work on.
A few days had passed with Naofumi and Ren training their party members to get stronger while also trying to think of some coordinated attacks the two could implement should they have to team up against a powerful monster during the wave.
A day before the wave was going to hit, the two cardinal heroes wanted to try out one last training session with their respective parties. As the Shield Hero and Sword Hero's parties gathered together, Ren took this opportunity to address what they would be doing with Naofumi's approval.
"Today we won't be training as long as we usually do since the wave is sixteen hours from now and we would want everyone to have time to rest and get all their items they need. But before that, this training session will be different."
"How different?" One of Ren's party members asked. Naofumi chose this moment to speak by answering the question with,
"All of you are fighting us."
"What?"
Many of the members were caught off guard by this, especially with the tone of voice the Shield Hero was giving. Garfiel smashed his fists together with excitement, feeling confident that he could beat Naofumi this time.
Raphtalia was also excited as she gets another chance to spar with Ren while also wanting to show off her moves to Naofumi. Ren noticed that many of their group were somewhat worried by what the Shield Hero said, prompting him to clarify.
"What the Shield Hero means is that we want to test all of your skills combined. We want to test your cooperation and teamwork with one another. We are also trying to test out our own teamwork as well, so remember that team attacks are important."
Both parties nodded at what Ren said, understanding their main objective. The two cardinal heroes got out their strongest variation of their respective weapons before charging at their group, beginning the last training session before the wave starts. Garfiel and Raphtalia were both the first to respond by having Garfiel clash with Naofumi and Raphtalia clashing with Ren.
Filo joined in on facing Ren in her human form, having been told by Naofumi that she should also work on her human form as well as her filolial form. Ren was expecting either Garfiel or Raphtalia to target him but he wasn't expecting Filo to also target him. Naofumi also noticed this yet he didn't pay too much attention to this since a few mages started to assist Garfiel by sending in long range attacks towards him.
As Naofumi was being pushed back, a few of the knights went to assist in facing off the Sword Hero while Ren's party members were curious on the Shield Hero's strength and defensive skills. Farrie charged at Naofumi with his large axe ready for combat.
Welt and Tersia joined him side by side with Bakta providing cover with his spells. Farrie waited for the right moment before throwing an attack at Naofumi, prompting the Shield Hero to block off the attack with ease.
Just as he did this, Tersia and Welt both attempted to attack Naofumi from two separate sides. Naofumi noticed this and quickly jumped back a few inches before creating a shield prison around him, protecting him from any attack from the three members of Naofumi's group.
"Move outta th'way!"
Garfiel shouted as he charged directly towards the shield prison with everything he had in him. Farrie, Tersia, and Welt all three moved out of the way as they saw the demi human boy putting everything he had in his arm, ready to break the shield prison. Just as he was about to connect with the shield prison, it suddenly disappeared with Naofumi creating his air strike shield.
As the Shield Hero sends this attack towards Garfiel, confident that this would knock the boy out, the Shield of Sanctuary quickly changes his arm into its beast form. Once this change happens, he uses the strength of his beast form to break the attack.
As Garfiel is successful in doing this, Naofumi turns towards Ren's direction and creates another air strike shield, this one being in front of the Sword Hero to block off Raphtalia and the others from attacking him.
Ren noticed this and quickly reacted by charging at Garfiel, figuring that he is the biggest threat out of the combined members of his and Naofumi. The Shield of Sanctuary sensed the Sword Hero charging at him, forcing him to quickly go on the defense.
As he blocked off each attack, Naofumi takes this chance to help back up Ren, both heroes having a chance to try out one of their combined attacks. Ren jumps high up once he sees that Garfiel won't try a counterattack. As he jumped, he shouts:
"Air Strike Bash!"
Ren's sword flashes with a bright light, prompting it to release a shockwave that temporarily stuns Garfiel. Naofumi takes this chance to quickly use Air Strike Shield once again, this time having the opening to land a hit on the demi human boy.
Just as it seemed like it would connect, Filo was fast enough to tackle Garfiel to the ground, helping him narrowly avoid this attack. Bakta noticed the perfect opening for him and the other mages to attack with long range attacks at the two cardinal heroes. He turned towards them and quickly said,
"This is our chance! Attack with everything you got!"
The two other mages nodded at what Bakta said before all three of them started sending a barrage of ice, fire, and lightning attacks respectively. Naofumi and Ren both noticed these attacks and reacted by having the two block each and every attack thrown towards them. While the two heroes were dealing with this, Garfiel got up with Filo asking him,
"Are you okay?"
"Yea...ya saved my amazin' self...thanks fer th't, Filo."
"No problem!"
"Do you have a plan?" Raphtalia asked as she approached the two, curious to know if Garfiel had come up with something to take on the combined efforts of her master and the Sword Hero. The demi human boy stood silent for a moment, having a blank facial expression before answering to her question,
"I got somethin' but y'all need t'listen very carefully."
Filo and Raphtalia nodded before listening to his plan, seeing it a bit crazy but workable. The three all turned towards the two heroes before charging towards them together. Garfiel turned towards Farrie and the other two while saying to them,
"Come on, we're gonna win th's fight!"
The three members of Ren's party noticed what Garfiel said, prompting the three to join in as they were slightly moved by the boy's determination.
With the six of them running towards the two cardinal heroes, Garfiel initiated his plan by nodding at Raphtalia first, indicating that it's time to try out his idea of closing the gap between them and the heroes within a few seconds.
She got in front of Garfiel before jumping as high as she could. Garfiel quickly used the few seconds he had to place both his hands onto one of her feet, preparing to throw her with everything he had.
"Be careful, th's could be dangerous if ya mess up."
"I'll be fine, Garf, just go!"
"Got it!"
Garfiel slammed his left leg in front of him, planting it in order to add in more force into the throw. As he was ready, he did not hesitate to give Raphtalia a powerful boost to her leg, sending her flying all the way towards Ren's direction.
The Sword Hero barely noticed this and was only able to block off Raphtalia's sword though the moment the two swords connected, the strength Raphtalia had was enough to push the Sword Hero back.
Naofumi noticed this but before he had time to react, Garfiel threw Filo towards him. Naofumi prepared his defenses as he noticed Filo preparing to attack him from the front. Filo waited for the right moment before grabbing onto Naofumi's shield. Once this was done, she used her strength to push herself up in order to be right above her master.
"Hm?"
Naofumi was a bit intrigued by what Filo was trying to do. She looked at him and smiled before turning into her filolial form, using it to try and land a decisive hit on him yet he was fast enough to block it.
'That was a pretty good attempt, Filo.'
Just as he thought of this, he immediately sensed that Garfiel was trying to do an attack of his own. He turned towards the boy to see that he was closing in on him with his left arm ready to punch.
Without hesitation Naofumi changed his shield into the Two Headed Black Dog type shield. As this changed occured, the Shield Hero blocked Garfiel's attack in order for the shield's counterattack happened with the two dogs moving away from the shield and attempting to take a bite on Garfiel.
The demi human boy expected this to happen; he turned towards Tersia, Farrie, and Welt to say to them,
"Now!"
The three nodded at the demi human boy before quickly taking this chance to attack. Tersia and Welt both took down the two dogs going for the attack on Garfiel while Farrie charged at Naofumi, preparing to swing his axe at him.
The Shield Hero quickly switched his shield back into the Chimera Viper type before blocking away the attack. While this was happening, Raphtalia with the assistance of the three knights all attacked with a few coordinated attacks on the Sword Hero, each sword clashing with a great amount of strength.
Although they had the advantage in numbers, Ren's immense power was slowly overwhelming each one of the knights, with Raphtalia being the only one somewhat keeping up. Just as it seemed like she was about to lose, Ren suddenly felt the floor he was standing on explode.
"Huh?"
"Don't ya dare lose!"
Raphtalia looked at Garfiel, seeing that he was responsible for this random attack that Ren took. The demi human boy continued,
"Just cause they're strong, doesn't mean they can't be beaten! We can win th's!"
As Garfiel finished shouting, he turned his attention towards Naofumi once again, confident that these attacks would be enough for a victory.
Despite this being a training session, Garfiel knows that his opponents will be on the level of the cardinal heroes, meaning he will need to be at his very best if he wishes to fight alongside them.
He charged in towards Naofumi and went for his strongest punch on his human form. Raphtalia was motivated by this, prompting her to turn towards Ren with a strong sense of determination.
'If Garf has this amount of determination, I shall also have this determination as well.'
Rapthalia held her blade tightly before charging in towards Ren, pushing him into the defensive side. Ren was surprised by this for a moment before having a confident smile on his face, seeing just how much Raphtalia improved since their last training session.
Naofumi noticed Garfiel's attack and was able to barely block the attack. While he was on the defensive, he had noted that he and Garfiel haven't improved in the sense of being able to talk like before but he has noted that the boy is learning to be mindful of his surroundings.
Despite not being involved in the fight against Ren, he was able to provide Raphtalia some assistance and motivation while having such high determination himself.
'You are annoying but you are improving at least.'
Garfiel continued to go on the offense before letting Filo in her filolial form to attack Naofumi, forcing the Shield Hero to quickly analyze his situation and to find the best path for victory. After a few seconds of analyzing, Naofumi turned his attention towards Farrie before shouting,
"Shield Prison!"
As Farrie was trapped, he quickly blocked off a couple of Filo and Garfiel's attacks before his Chimera Viper type shield's counterattack activated on Filo's attack. The three serpents tried to bite on the filolial only for Garfiel to take the hit.
As two out of three serpents bit him, the third one was knocked out by Garfiel's punch.
While he had punched the third serpent, he was under the effects of the poison, though not as bad as the poison from the dragon.
"I can still fight!"
"Persistence can only get you so far, Garfiel Tinsel."
Naofumi waited for the right moment before using Shield Prison on Garfiel.
"Again with th's damn ability."
Garfiel was frustrated and was about to break the ability once again only to hear Naofumi shout,
"Ren, now!"
"On it!"
Ren jumped away from his fight with Raphtalia while turning towards the shield prison holding Garfiel. As he turns towards Garfiel's direction, he throws a powerful bolt of lightning from his sword, directing it towards the shield prison the demi human boy was trapped in. Garfiel increased the strength of his arm as he went to break the shield prison.
'Th's ain't gonna hold me forever!'
As Garfiel breaks this barrier, he notices the lighting about to hit him in a few seconds.
'Shit! I'm 'bout t'get his by th'same attack again! I can't let it happen once again!'
Just using his wits, Garfiel grabbed the ground with his foot and quickly created a barrier, allowing him to avoid Ren's attack. Ren and Naofumi were impressed by this, seeing that Garfiel's improving.
'That boy has really improved...not just him but the others as well. They are surely ready for the fight ahead.' Ren thought as he lowered his weapon.
'Garfiel Tinsel, you have potential to be a great fighter if you weren't so damn headstrong...but I won't deny your progress.' Naofumi thought this as he lowered his weapon as well.
"Okay, I think that's as far as we go with today's training."
As Ren said this, everyone sat down with relief since they were all reaching their limit. Garfiel was a little annoyed but he accepted the break, knowing that they would need to prepare for the battle ahead.
After having a chance to rest, they all meet up in the shop where the three knights and two magic users joined Naofumi's group. With only a couple of minutes left, they all made sure that their weapons were ready for battle. As everyone was preparing for the wave, Ren and Naofumi took this chance to speak.
"Do you believe that we are ready for the wave?"
"Considering that everyone has improved in their abilities, I say we are more than ready to handle whatever the wave throws at us."
"Well then, I expect this wave to go smoothly then."
As Ren said this, he looked at Garfiel for a moment, seeing that he was speaking with Raphtalia and Filo.
"He has gotten stronger. You have noticed that, right?"
"Yes...he has. He's still very headstrong."
"Even so, when it comes down to battle, he's very skilled."
"...Yeah."
Ren looked at Naofumi closely, seeing that the Shield Hero still held some resentment towards the demi human boy but not exactly the same as a couple days ago. He crossed his arms and looked at the timer, seeing that there were five minutes left before the wave began.
"Talk to Garfiel one last time, actually break the ice between the two."
"..."
"You have to, Naofumi. The wave is about to happen. We need you two to work together without any issues."
"I know."
"Then what seems to be the problem?"
"..." Naofumi still recalled the small shouting match between him and Garfiel.
("When a kid asks ya a question, ya answer with kindness. When talkin' with someone innocent like Melty-sama, ya answer with respect! And when speaking with someone, ya look at them in the eyes! It's called having manners!")
("... I don't need to. She is just like her father and her damn sister.")
("Yes ya do! Shield Guy… Naofumi. What ya did was a dick move! She's just a child and ya treat her cold just because she's related th't stupid King?")
("All the more reason not to trust her.")
("She has done nothin' wrong! Yer blamin' her fer what happened between th'King and ya. We just met her!")
It made him angry to think about that argument yet he knew that Ren had a point, he needed to bury the hatchet with Garfiel. He turns towards the demi human boy's direction before going off to approach him.
"Garfiel, we need to speak."
"...Okay, Shield guy."
Garfiel nodded at Naofumi and followed him a few feet away in order to speak just the two of them. Once the two were alone, the Shield Hero started to speak to the Shield of Sanctuary. Naofumi looked at the timer, seeing that he now has four minutes to speak to Garfiel.
"Look, I'm still pissed at you but we need to work together."
"Yea, I know. What's done is done. I don't hate ya, Shield guy, if anythin' I respect ya. Ya remind my amazin' self of th'Cap'n. Though yer a lot stronger than Cap'n."
"Really?" Naofumi said as he crossed his arms with a surprised facial expression, having expected more from the person Garfiel calls captain. "Then mind if I ask, why do you follow the person you call Captain?"
"Cause he's a reliable guy. Regardless of how weak Cap'n is, he never backs down from a fight. I respect him not because he's physically strong but because he cares fer others. Especially me, when I was being stupid."
"Hm." Naofumi was a bit curious about this, noticing that this must be tied with why Garfiel acts all strong headed but before he could learn about this, he realized that they have two minutes left before the wave begins.
"We can talk more about that later, but for now let's defeat this wave with our combined strength."
"Yea! My amazin' self won't let ya down!"
The two nodded at each other before returning to the others, both of them ready for what comes next. Raphtalia and Filo both noticed the two and smiled at them.
"Are ya two ready fer th'fight ahead?"
"Yes!" Both Filo and Raphtalia responded in unison. Naofumi noticed this response and just smiled at the two, confident in their abilities. Ren looked at Naofumi and his group, seeing that they were doing well.
'I hope you two are on better terms, even if it is for now, Naofumi, Garfiel.'
"Sword Hero?"
"Hm?" Ren turned towards the voice to see that it was Tersia with Welt, Bakta, and Farrie behind her.
"We want to tell you that we are ready for the fight ahead."
"Yeah. We trained hard because we want to be as strong as you."
Ren stood silent for a brief moment before smiling at them.
"I'm proud of you guys. I have the greatest team members."
Welt, Bakta, Tersia, and Farrie all four smiled as they felt how genuine Ren's words were, prompting each of them to smile confidently.
"We are going to win this...together, as a team."
"Right!"
As both Ren and Naofumi's parties prepared for the countdown towards the start of the waves, Garfiel looked up, ready for his first wave battle.
'Don't worry Cap'n, Brotto, my amazin' self'll survive th's!'
As he thought this, they all started to teleport. Garfiel slammed his fists together as he yelled out,
"Let's win th's!"
Author's Note:
Pardon me and KoolKen for not having this chapter out, we were struggling in the middle but still, hopefully you all enjoyed it. Not to mention that Shield Hero Season 2 has already begun so we are excited to see what is in-stored.