Chapter 14

The four of them walked back to the inn Raphtalia rented. While Rino and Raphtalia were talking, Lyn got onto the balcony followed by Firo, who transformed into her human form and put on her dress. Rino looked at Raphtalia for an explanation so she explained that Firo was a Filolial and that some Filolials have the ability to transform into humans to blend in.

"[All Speed], [Omega Speed]."

Lyn split into two, then into three clones of himself, and started cooking. One clone prepared the ingredients, the second one started to cut them up, and the last one pulled out a grill Lyn made in a random blacksmith shop he was passing by and started to cook. It took a couple of minutes to convince the owner to let him use his shop for an hour, but a few silver coins quickly sealed the deal. Lyn also made a few extra accessories while he was at it, but that's a story for later. Rino looked over at Raphtalia for another explanation but she just shrugged.

"Woah~! You're so fast! Will I be able to do that with High Quick one day?" Firo exclaimed.

"Of course. You're a Filolial, one of the fastest species in the world."

"Yay~.'

*Crack*

"[Airstryke Shield]," Lyn summoned a glowing shield in between the two beds to act as a table. "2 hours and 39 minutes. Not bad."

"You can keep your skill up for over two hours?" Rino asked.

"You should take a seat. I'll get the food ready and then you can ask any and every question you have."

"Don't worry. You'll get used to it in a few days," Raphtalia said to Rino, who began poking the floating shield. Firo ran over to the shield and sat down on the bed next to it.

"Food! Food! Food! Food!" she exclaimed, tapping the floating shield with a fork in hand.

"[Inventory Shield], [Dinner Set]," four sets of plates and silverware rose from out of the glowing shield.

"Woah," Rino said as she picked up the plate. "Are these real? Or are they part of a skill?"

"They're real. I can use my shield as a giant closet and pull out whatever I want. I can also use it as an icebox and a furnace to store and heat up food," Lyn explained as he put some food on the table. "Anyways, we should all properly introduce ourselves and talk about tomorrow's plans."

"My name is Raphtalia, I'm Lyn's first companion in this world. It's nice to have you on our team," Raphtalia said with a warm smile.

"I'm Firo. I like to pull carriages," Firo replied, digging into the pot Lyn handed her.

Lyn stopped running back and forth between tasks and walked over to the table letting the rest of the food cook.

"I'm Lyn, the current Shield Hero."

"Nice to meet you all. I hope we will get along."

"I'm sure we will. First order of business, we need to gear you up. So while Raphtalia and Firo get the carriage ready, you and I will teleport to the capital and stop at Erhard's. Plus I need to get more rope from the capital anyways. After that, we're gonna level you up a bit and I'll go check any quests we can do after that."

"Okay~!" Firo exclaimed with a face full of food.

Raphtalia nodded.

"But for now, let's eat," Lyn said as he sat down and started eating.

Rino hesitantly picked up the fork and tried the food Lyn put on the table. As soon as the food touched her tongue, her eyes widened in surprise.

"Wow! This is really good!" Rino exclaimed as she quickly filled her plate with more food.

"Daddy's cooking is the best!" Firo agreed as she reached for seconds. Lyn quickly finished eating and threw his plate into the floating shield.

"I could get used to this," Rino said as she smiled.

While the team went to sleep, Lyn left the inn and walked to a nearby abandoned mine.

"[Pickaxe Shield]," Lyn muttered, changing his shield to the pickaxe shield.

[Pick Axe Shield] (Awakened) Lv. 25 (Evolved) 30/30 UC

Abilities Mastered: Mining 10

Special Effect: [Drill, Consumption (Large)

"[Drill]."

The shield in Lyn's hand began to spin faster and faster. Lyn hit the side of the wall with his shield.

Whenever Lyn got any exp and leveled up, a second bar under his exp bar also filled with exp. This exp could be used to level up weapons and [Evolve] them. Evolved weapons would gain new abilities or skills as well as increase their stats.

The shield continued to break away and absorb chunks of ore and stone. Lyn kept glancing back and forth between the cave and his status until he felt like he had enough ore. Then he stood up and pulled out an anvil and hammer out of his shield.

"Time to put this stuff to use. I should make a few custom shields while I can. And a few more accessories wouldn't hurt.

Clang*Clang*Clang*Clang*Clang*

Clank*

"F*CK!" Lyn yelled as the beartrap shield he just made bit his hand. He screamed and cursed a few more times before he was finally able to open it with his teeth and other hand. The abomination that he just made was a beartrap attacked to a shield base with a chain and a mechanism to retract the chain.

"F*ck that hurts like hell. Why did I pour Ki in it to make it into a defense ignoring abomination? Grab a weapon and fight back? Nah that's f*cking illegal. But hurt yourself with any weapon or almost lose a hand? Go for it man, not gonna stop you. God damn suicidal shield! [Omega Heal]."

After healing himself, Lyn picked up his creation and watched a new message pop up in his status.

[Reinforced Magic Shield Copied]

[Bear-Trap Shield Copied]

[Grappling Hook Shield Copied]

"Worth it. Let's see how it works in this world."

[Reinforced Magic Shield] (Unawakened) Lv. 1 0/25 C

Abilities Unmastered:

Equip Bonus: [Magic Barrier, [25 Magic Defense]

"[Magic Barrier]," Lyn said, equipping the new shield. A magic circle appeared in front of him like his airstrike shield. Sadly he could only guard himself, however, it was still good to have a little extra magic defense.

[Bear-Trap Shield] (Unawakened) Lv. 1 0/20 C

Abilities Unmastered:

Equip Bonus: [4 Attack, Hunting 4

Special Effect: [Bear-Trap Counter, Grapple [1 Meter]

Damn it. It doesn't have the bleeding effect. I might need to evolve it.

[Grappling Hook Shield] (Unawakened) Lv. 1 0/20 C

Abilities Unmastered:

Equip Bonus: [1 Attack]

Special Effect: [Grappling Hook] (10 Meters)

"[Grapling Hook]!" Lyn yelled, pointing the shield at a nearby minecart. A small harpoon flew out and got itself lodged in the side of the cart. The next second the shield pulled the cart towards Lyn, tipping it over and pouring out its contents onto the ground.

Perfect. This could be pretty useful for when I have to venture into the mountains.

Lyn fed the original shields into the Legendary Shield, doubling their stats and skill range. Then he looked over the contents of the cart. There was quite a bit of ore, some rope, another pickaxe, and a lantern.

[Small Lantern Shield Unlocked]i

[Small Lantern Shield] (Unawakened) Lv. 1 0/10 C

Abilities Unmastered:

Equip Bonus: Shadow Resistance Up (Small)

Special Effect: [Light] (Weak)

Huh.

Lyn equipped the new shield and activated the skill.

The shield looked like a small lantern with a small shield on each side. Nothing too special, however, it could be used to hide the shield. The light it generated was the same as a normal small lamp, and its SP consumption wasn't too big either.

Lyn looked outside. It was still dark so Lyn went deeper into the cave to gather more resources, drinking another vial of medicine on the way down.

"Morning everyone!" Lyn yelled as he walked into the inn. Raohtalia was already ready to go and was trying to get Firo to get up. Rino was nowhere to be seen.

"Where is Rino?" he asked, pulling out a cooked Usapil leg and waving it in front of Firo to try to wake her up.

"She went to the bathhouse about 10 minutes ago. She should be back any second."

"Fo~od," Firo muttered in her sleep and slowly began to crawl towards Lyn, who took a step back and put the food on a plate just out of Firo's reach.

"I heard about an old cave that has magic crystals that we could use for Firo's clothes. It's abandoned because dangerous monsters took it over, but I think we can handle it. Can't be worse than the second wave."

"Well, it would be great to finally get Firo transforming clothes. If you think we can handle it, I see no harm in trying."

"What are you all talking about?" Rino asked as we walked into the room.

"Ah, Rino. So since Firo can transform, she needs special clothing that transforms with her. Unfortunately, we couldn't get it last time because they ran out of magic crystals, so we're going to get them ourselves after we level you up a bit."

"Alright. So what are we doing right now?"

"Erhard's place. Raphtalia, get Firo and the carriage ready for when we come back. Rino, meet me outside once you are ready. I'll go sell an accessory really quick."

Lyn pulled a bracelet out of his shield and left the inn. It only took him seven minutes to find a buyer and two more to sell it. Rino, Raphtalia, and Firo walked out of the inn. Rino walked up to Lyn while the other two went towards their carriage.

"Ready?"

"As ready as I'll ever be, " she shrugged.

"[Portal Shield]," Lyn activated the skill, and a bright light engulfed the two.

"WHAT THE...?!" a loud voice yelled as the light finally disappeared.

"Hey, Erhard."

"'Hey Erhard' my *ss. You can't just teleport inside without a warning!"

"Sorry bout that. Next time I'll send a letter five minutes before I teleport."

"... I can't tell if you're serious or messing with me."

"A little of both. But while I'm here, could you help me gear up my companion?"

Lyn pointed at Rino. Erhard looked over her for a few seconds before turning back to Lyn.

"So what kind of freaky power does she have? Does she spit poison or breathe fire?"

"I can't do either last time I checked," Rino protested.

"Don't tell me that you finally brought in a norma companion?" Erhard eyed Rino again before returning his gaze to Lyn.

"She is a totally normal person. So don't worry about anything."

"... Ironically, bringing in a normal companion feels like the least normal thing you have ever done. What are you looking for?"

"Armor and a weapon. What are you comfortable with using Rino?"

"A sword."

"Armor and a sword. I'll see what I have," Erhard walked into the back. Lyn summoned a [Small Airstrike Shield] and sat down, downing another bottle of liquid.

"After we get the equipment lets spar out in the field. Also we will need to re-level you, but that part should be simple. So how strong do you wanna be?"

"As strong as I can!"

"See, I have extra stat and exp bonuses for people in my party, right now it's a little over double. If you want to get even stronger we could slap a slave seal onto you and you'll get three times as strong instead of two."

"A slave seal?"

"Yep. Currently everyone in my party gets a bonus from me, Raphtalia and Firo get an extra slave bonus, and Firo also gets a monster bonus. The slave seal is optional so you don't hav..."

"Let's do it," Rino said without hesitation.

"Huh?" Lyn gave Rino a confused look.

"I want to be strong enough to defend myself and get revenge on the b*tch that sold me off. If a slave crest increases my chances of survival, it would be dumb to ignore the method just because it's morally wrong. So let's do it!"

Damn. That was fast. Does she hate Myne so much that she would give up her dignity for a bit of extra power? Well that makes my job easier.

"Alright. After this, lets visit the creepy slave merchant and get the slave seal."

Erhard came back with a set of armor and several swords.

"Try this one on and see how it fits," he said, putting everything on the table. Rino picked up the armor and went into the changing room.

"Are you sure she isn't like a vampire or something?"

"I only brought in two unique companions. Is it that hard to believe that I got a normal human being in a world where all humans hate me?"

Erhard and Lyn looked at each other for a moment.

"Point taken. I'll bring someone related to a dragon or something next time. Anyways... got any rope?"

"*sigh*. Yeah I got some rope. Wait here," Erhard sighed, walking into the back of the shop. Rino walked out of the changing room, now in blue metal and leather armor. It was similar to Raphtalia's, except it didn't cover her shoulders.

"Alright, which sword do you want?" Lyn asked, pointing to the swords Erhard left on the counter. While she was picking out a sword, Erhard came back with a giant bunch of rope.

"Here you go. Can you at least show me what you're doing with this?" Erhard asked, throwing the rope to Lyn. He grabbed the end and absorbed it into the shield, letting the rest get sucked in. When that was done he switched to the [Rope Shield] and showed it to Erhard.

"You bought all my rope for a small shield made out of rope?"

"It's not the shield itself that I got the rope for, even though this shield made out of rope is unironically my best shield right now just because of how many stacked shields it has. The thing that I'm after is the skill. [Small Airstike Shield], 1 though 37."

A bunch of small shields that looked like his default shield appeared all over the shop.

"Woah," both Erhard and Rino looked up at the floating shields.

"Usualy they are bigger than this, but I don't wanna do it indors. Also the more rope I have the more shields I have. Also I can do this."

Lyn snapped his fingers and 12 of his floating shields turned into a random shield from his inventory.

[Crystal Ball Shield], [Queen Balloon Shield], [Furnace Shield], [Whetstone Shield], [Rope Shield], [Two-headed Black Dog Shield], [Crystal Drain Shield], [Pipe Shield], [Thunder Shield], [Fire Shield], [Whirlwind shield], [Meteorite Shield].

Lyn snapped again and the shields dissapeared.

"Currently my rope shield evolved once, so now I can unlock more skills by having a certain ammount of rope shields. I got the airstike shield dome from just this shield now instead of using a combo of the rope, pipe, and overdrive, and now want to get the second amount skill before the next wave."

"*Sigh* none of what you just said made any sense to me except that getting more rope makes you stronger."

"Pretty much. Hey, do you have a meteorite shield by any chance?"

"Meteorite shield? Yeah I think I have one in the back. One second." Erhard dissapeared into the back of his shop once again.

"Did you pick a sword?" Lyn asked Rino.

"Yes, this one," Rino answered, picking up one of the swords.

"Here it is," Erhard pulled out a shield which looked like a bunch of red rocks in a metal frame.

"How much is it?"

"You can copy it, on the house," Erhard said as he handed Lyn the shield.

"Thanks Erhard. Let's see what thsi shield is capable off."

Lyn didn't actually need to copy it as he already had the shield for a long time when he copied the meteorite sword. But Erhard doesn't know about that.

The shield on Lyn's arm turned into an identical copy of the meteorite shield, except for the green gem in the middle.

"[Meteorite Shield]!"

A red dome appeared around him.

"What does it do?" Erhard asked.

"It's a protective dome that only lets my allies through, while repelling everyone else."

Rino tried to touch the dome, but just as Lyn said, her hand went through it. Erhard put his hand put and tried to hit the dome, but the dome didn't budge.

"So how much for everything, including the ownership of this shield?" Lyn asked, spinning the shield on his finger.

Lyn payed for everything and soon him and Rino were headed for the slave merchants tent.