Chapter 3: Secret Tunnel

"Hayden, Hayden! Look at this!" A brown cat demi-human exclaimed.

He was accompanied by a group of 12 others, all of whom were tasked with mining the various crystals they found in a nearby mine.

"There's a hole. Is this from a previous expedition?"

"I'm not sure. It's too small to crawl through, but I think I see some crystals on the other side." A deer demi-human added.

"Perhaps we found a cluster. Stand back." Hayden ordered.

Harnessing the magical energy within, he chanted a fire spell that blasted open the wall. On the other side, he indeed found the crystals Randy claimed he spotted.

"Hell yes, we hit the motherlode."

"Yeah!" The kids cheered as they ran inside, only to stop the second they got in.

From afar, there were indeed the crystals they saw. But further below was a pit filled to the brim with monstrous dogs. Dogs that caught onto their presence the second they walked inside.

"Don't worry, they're down there. If we bombard them with magic, then we can kill them before they get—

Before he could finish. The dogs started to charge the edge of the pit and leap off each other in order to reach the top.

"Scratch that… EVERYBODY RUN!"

/~/

Day 7

"Aww, look at them. They're like mini oranges." Melty gushed.

"Don't you think we bought too much? Blowing all our money on twenty filolial seems counterproductive... Melty?" Naofumi turned around to see Melty lying on the ground, with all the filolials using her as a jungle gym.

"MELTY!"

"No, I wasn't distracted!"

"Shut up and answer my question."

"Well, if you aren't so rude, I'll get to that." Melty cleared her throat. "Anyways. This will be a good investment in the long run, as we're able to properly do our trade once they fully grow. With their help, we can expand our mining, fishing, and potion businesses by being able to carry more than one shipment.

"Yeah, but how are we going to feed all of them? We can barely feed ourselves."

"Don't worry about that either. With the kids at level 20, they'll be able to get more kills by the day."

"If you say so. Gather all the kids for me, please."

"Naofumi, what are you planning?"

"Don't worry about it."

"Saying that makes me want to worry about it."

/~/

Standing in their usual line, the villagers watched as Naofumi held a bowl in front of them. Its contents are a murder of filolial chicks thrashing about.

"We're missing some people. Specifically twelve people." Naofumi pointed out with a quick gaze at the crowd. Where are cats one and two?"

"You mean Hayden and Dalton?" Melty grumbled. "They haven't returned from the mines yet," Melty replied.

"I thought I told them to come back hours ago."

"Perhaps something happened?"

"I hope not. I'll check in after this."

Naofumi turned back to the villagers and placed the bowl down on the stone table.

"Now I'm sure you all noticed that the filolials have finally hatched. So from this day forward, I'll be leaving them to all of you. In this bowl are approximately twenty filolial. Whether you decide to group up and raise them or separate them from birth is completely up to you. But I want to see these twenty birds grow up healthy for later use, am I clear?"

"Yes, master!"

"Good. You in the back, what is it?"

"Um, master." A girl with sheep horns called out. "Are you going to raise one yourself?"

"The hell would I do that for?"

"Come on, master."

"Yeah, why not!" Another kid spoke up.

"Boo!" Several of the kids started to boo him. Naofumi turned to Melty for help, but she only smirked as she clung to Hamon.

"Goddamnit fine." Naofumi begrudgingly reached into a bowl and took out a small pink filolial chick. "There, happy now?"

"No, what's their name?"

"Yeah, you gotta name it."

"Fine, her name is Filo."

"As in filolial, come on, master." The kids complained.

"Does nothing satisfy y'all?"

"Perhaps more food woul-"

"Not happening, Keel. Alright then, it's Sakura. Better now?" Naofumi waited for the complaints, but the kids were praising the name. "Alright, alright, shut up and hurry up. We have a long day's work ahead of us."

"Yes, sir." One villager stepped up but was immediately dragged back into the crowd. This led to a large-scale argument breaking out over who was the best choice, which almost broke out into a full-scale riot.

Naofumi thought he would have to intervene, but they were able to calm themselves down and send forth their 18, much to the anger and disappointment of a few who weren't chosen.

"Some good choices. I see Raphtalia and Delia doing well, and Rifana is… questionable, but I don't have any issues. Though there are only 18 of you up here."

"We were hoping for Hayden to come in, but he's not here."
"Yeah, he went to the mine earlier."

"I heard he-"

"Shut up. We don't have time for rumors right now. I'll go out and find Hayden; while that's happening, Raphtalia is in charge."

"M-me?"

"The kids listen to you, so use this as a learning experience." Naofumi mounted Hamon with Melty and grabbed onto the reins. "Who knows where Sadeena is?"

"She's over by the beach."

"Good, I'll pick her up along the way."

/~/

Reaching the entrance of the mine, Naofumi witnesses a trail of red on the group. Inspecting it further, he confirmed that it is indeed blood.

"Blood. It's also not dried, so whatever spilled it was recent."

"There are also some scratch marks over here, and the daggers of Hayden's group."

"Damn, something must have happened," Naofumi grumbled as he absorbed a few items around the area.

"What are you doing?"

"If there was a struggle, my shield should unlock a shield to give me a better idea of what we're up against." As Naofumi found a nail on the ground, he placed it in his shield and unlocked something odd.

Interdimensional Dog Meat Shield: Conditions Met
Equip Bonus: Stamina Increase (Small), Speed Increase (Small)

"Interdimensional?"

"As in creatures from the wave?" Melty replied.

"A wave monster did this? I thought the knights finished the job."

"Not quite. The knights were successful in killing the boss. However, before I left for Zeltoble, several of these dogs were out and about, so I killed them before they could cause any trouble. Looks like I missed a few." Sadeena explained.

"Then we better get a move on."

"I agree, no more lollygagging." Sadeena took out her harpoon as it gave off an electric charge. Naofumi and Melty also get ready as they move into the cave.

/~/

The cave was pitch black. The only source of light they had was the one torch Naofumi was able to hold onto, but even that would only last for a while. Following the blood tracks on the ground, they encounter a few of those interdimensional dogs, but they stand no chance against Sadeena.

Naofumi knew Sadeena's strength firsthand. He saw her showing many crazy feats of strength when she arrived, but Melty was the real shocker. She was surprisingly very proficient in magic at her age/level. She would swap between water and earth magic and even utilize Dreifach-class spells to cover Sadeena's blind spots. The two of them together were indeed an unstoppable force.

"Sakura, calm yourself; you don't want to end up like these things," Naofumi said to the cheerful bird on his head.

"My, my, you sure are amazing with those water spouts of your little Melty."

"Oh, thank you."
"Yeah, I didn't think you had it in you."

"What does that mean?"

"Well, to be rude, you are."

"Do not say I'm a child."

"I was going to say level 16, but that would also be a factor."

"S-shut up."

"She's right, little Naofumi; level doesn't always mean anything."

"I'm pretty sure it does."

"I speak the truth. Any expert in a style can defeat a level 100 newbie any day. It's just a difference in skill that shows who's really at the top of the pecking order."

"I'll believe it when I see more proof. You did most of the killing, an- oh shit." Finding a hole in the wall, Naofumi and the others went through, only to find a full sleeping pack of dogs in a cave full of crystals.

"They have a full pack in here."

"They also seemed to have bred."

"Can they even do that?"

"Apparently so." Taking out his spyglass, Naofumi looks across the cave of sleeping dogs and spots a couple of the kids in the corner. A deer demi-human is cowering behind a crying cat as he tries to fend off a dog and their demonic puppies trying to rip off his arm.

"There they are. Melty fires a multi-target attack right there."

"Including the puppies?"

"Including the puppies."

"Alright. As the source of thy power, the crowned princess commands thee. Make the way flow freely, and dice my enemies with a blade of water. [All Dreifach Water Cutter]" Releasing 5 blades of water, all the blades immediately cut through the puppies, killing them instantly. The bigger dog took the hit to the neck as well, but before it could go down, it let off one final howl, waking up all the dogs in the area.

"I'll get the two. You two fend them off."

"As you command [Drefach Chain Lighting]" Dropping into the dog's den, Sadeena releases a bolt of lightning that pierces through one of the dogs. The bolt then ricochets off the wall and passes through another dog. The bolt continued its course, killing several of the dogs before they could even reach Sadeena, while the killer whale stood in the middle and stabbed anything that survived the initial hit.

"[Erst Shield]" A translucent green shield appears in front of Dalton, protecting him from one of the dogs trying to eat him. Naofumi then jumped down himself and ran over to the two kids.

The dog charged at Naofumi and pounced forward, but the shield hero stood his ground and stopped the dog in its tracks. Grabbing it by the jaw, Naofumi took a step and tossed it away, allowing Melty to get a shot off.

Giving a thumbs up to the princess, Naofumi went over to the two kids and picked them up. They both were heavily injured. The deer's arms were bitten and bleeding, with his horns chipped, one half even broken off.

Dalton's injuries were worse. He was missing part of his ear; his right ear was a bit more than the deer's. And even his left arm was no longer there, just ripped off with only some bandages and rope keeping him from bleeding out.

"I got the kids; light them up."

"Did you find anyone else?" Melty asked.

"H-h-hayden i-is."

"Save your energy. Melty, Sadeena." Naofumi nodded his head. Both girls immediately knew what he meant and immediately started chanting.

"Let's do something grand, little Melty, in honor of everyone here."

"But I don't know any cooperative magic."

"Just follow my lead."

"[Dragon Vein! Hear our petition and grant it. As the source of your power, we implore you. Let the true way be revealed once more! Give us the power to overcome the obstacle before us!" Melty and Sadeena were both chanting in unison, a chant Naofumi had never heard before. Melty's casting was only slightly behind the killer whales, but it didn't hinder the spell by any means.

"Cooperative Magic."

"[Conduit Burst]"

Melty shot out a stream of water, piercing through all the remaining dogs and tying them all together. With the dogs bunched up, Sadeena had thrown her harpoon in the middle of the group and unleashed a stream of lightning that hit the harpoon and passed through the water, frying all the dogs from the inside.

Melty fell into Sadenna's arms after the casting. This specific type of magic Sadeena utilized was a bit too much for the young princess to handle, and she quickly passed out due to all of the energy loss.

"What was that magic just then?"

"Something very special. I'll tell you the details later, but we need to move now."

"You're right."

/~/

"AGGH!"

"Somebody hold him down. Strelitzia, grab me more water."

"Understood, Randy." A couple of kids held the cat boy down as a sheep girl ran out of the tent.

Outside, the entire village is waiting for the results. They saw Naofumi come in with blood dripping from their friends, so they could only hope that they were okay.

"Thank god this bite was recent. Any more blood loss and he would have died."

"I did my best to wrap the arm, but I had little time to do so," Randy explained.

"You did the best you could. I got it from here."

Naofumi tried using some healing magic, but it didn't work. The wound was too much for his current level of magic to handle.

"Damn it, healing magic isn't working."

"There is still too much blood for the bandages to absorb if this keeps up."

"No, he's not dying on me."

"The shield hero is an alchemist, right? Why not do some alchemy?" A kid asked.

"This isn't your storybook, kid; I'm not an alchemist, and that's not how alchemy works!" Naofumi grumbled.

"R-Randy."

"No, Dalton, don't speak. Masters got this."

"I only have one idea in mind. But it will certainly hurt."

"What are you—" A sock was stuffed into the kid's mouth as Naofumi tied him down with some rope.

"Sadeena, use lightning on his arm."

"Oh my. Are you sure that is a good idea?"

"It should cauterize the wound and make it stop bleeding. I can't heal him, nor do I have the supplies to make a tourniquet, so unless you have any other ideas, do the spell."

"I see. Sorry about this little Dalton."

Dalton's eyes widened as he heard lightning. He tried to escape, but the knot was too strong for him to get out. With no options left, he gritted his teeth and braced for the pain.

/~/

"Today we mourn the loss of Hayden. Sacrificing his life to save Randy and his siblings. He was a great friend and a very cool warrior, and jus-." The kid burst into tears as he ran off the stage. The kids line up by the empty casket, dropping in flower after flower, to mourn for their lost friend.

Far away from the funeral lies Dalton. Down an arm and a brother, he lies down on the cold beach sand, just waiting for the waves to take him away. But instead of his desired wave, it was Naofumi carrying a plate of food.

"You missed the funeral."

"Why does it even matter? There's nobody to bury anyway."

"It's still a sign of respect to show up to your sibling's grave. You of all people should know that."

"And do what! Mock his nonexistent body to survive! HE DIED BECAUSE I FROZE. IN WHAT UNIVERSE WOULD SOMEONE GO TO A FUNERAL FOR A DEATH THEY CAUSED!"

"But it wasn't your fault." A punch came to Naofumi's face, but the hit was nullified by his defensive stat.

"You don't know. I was supposed to die; I was supposed to take the hit. But he took it instead." The kid grabbed onto Naofumi's leg. "Why is he dead for a mistake I made?" A stream of tears fell from the kid's eyes. Naofumi comforted the child as he continued to cry on his clothes.

"That's just how it is. Your brother didn't die so you could sulk. He died so he can see the both of you live on. He knew the consequences and was ready to pay them to save you both. I probably would have done the same if my brother were in that situation."

The cat boy kept on crying as Naofumi laid a cover over the kid.

"The world is a cruel place, and the waves are even crueler. If you truly want to honor your sibling, then help everyone here grow. That's probably what he wanted."

"Y-you're r-r-right. I'll work hard, okay."

"Sounds good." Naofumi tried to get up, but the kid had a surprising amount of strength and kept him down.

"Can you stay here for a bit?"

"Fine." Naofumi sighed as he hugged the kid. It lasted for around 10 minutes before Dalton finally got off. Wiping off his tears, he says goodbye to the shield hero and walks over to the hill carrying his brother's grave.

"Wow, that was very nice of you."

"Agh, Melty. When did you get here?"

"We were watching from afar."

"We?!" Naofumi looked behind Melty, seeing a couple of the kids' ears poking out behind the rocks of the beach.

"He sees us scatter." One of the kids shouted. Everyone then ran away in several directions.

"Eavesdroppers."

"Hey, don't be mad. We just know you're truly kind on the inside."

"No, I'm not!"

"Then what do you call that?"

"Dealing with kids' issues. They will now work twice as hard."

"Stop making every good thing you do sound evil. I'll talk to you about the crystals we found later."

"I am evil!"

/~/

Extra Story: A New Sibling

"No, we're using stone for the outer walls and wood for the inside. And don't cover up our only well; we need that!" Naofumi ordered.

"Master, you called?"

"Dalton, I need you to follow me. Delia, you're in charge!"

"Yes, sir. Alright everyone, get a move on!"

/~/

After a few minutes of walking, the sounds of construction are dampened out as they reach a stable.

"What are we doing here?"

"While you were gone, the town voted for 19 people to be the main caregivers for the filolial. Hayden was one of them." Unlocking the stable door, Naofumi picks up a bowl. Inside lies a filolial with black feathers. "The kids couldn't agree on who should take care of him, so I believe you should take his mantle then."

"You're giving me?"

"Yep, treat Kuro well."

A tear fell from Dalton's eye as the black filolial was placed in his hands.

"For you, brother, I will treat him well."

/~/

Character Entries Unlocked

Name: Dalton
Weapon: Sword (Formerly), None

Magic: Fire/Wind

A cat demi-human with a missing arm. He's fascinated with monsters, though he doesn't like dogs (not demi-humans, just dog monsters).

Name: Randy

Weapon: Dagger

Magic: Healing

A deer demi-human. His mother was the village healer, and now he follows in her footsteps, being the village lead medic.

Certain types of apples make him drunk.