Chapter 7

Lyn and Raphtalia arrived at a small village called Lute. People there didn't seem to notice him because he put his shield on his back under his jacket. Lyn asked around for any quick and easy tasks in the village and got directed to a mineshaft that has been abandoned because of the monsters inside.

"Raphtalia let's go," Lyn bought a pickaxe and checked the distance on his rope shield. 4 meters. He bought a bit of extra rope and absorbed it when he was inside the shaft.

"The moment things go south, run like hell."

"Okay."

They entered a big opening in the cave. It had a waterfall and lots of blue glowing crystals. Lyn also found a whole mine cart filled with different ores which he quickly absorbed to get their bonuses. He also absorbed an extra pickaxe he found and got a pickaxe shield, putting it to good use. In just two minutes he got a small pile of gems that he threw into his shield.

"Let's go further Raphtalia," Lyn said, turning to where the girl was. But she didn't hear him. She was trembling and staring at something behind him.

Lyn quickly turned around and yelled "Air Strike Shield!". The green shield slammed into a big black double-headed dog. It bit and clawed at the shield, cracking it a bit, while Lyn grabbed Raphtalia and used the Rope Shield to swing them to another platform.

"M-monster. He killed the villagers. He killed my mother and father!"

God damn mental trauma. So Raphtalia can't sleep properly at night cause of this sh*t.

Lyn hugged Raphtalia and patted her head.

"It's alright. This isn't the first wave. This isn't the same monster that killed them right?" Lyn asked Raphtalia after she's calmed down a bit. She shook her head.

"Raphtalia, same strategy. I'll tank its attacks and hold it down while you take it out." The dog found a way across and started to run at Lyn. Lyn lifted his shield and ran at the dog.

"[Airstrike Shield Bash]!" Lyn yelled, sending a shield down on the dog, slamming it into the ground, and paralyzing it for a few seconds.

"HIt it now Raphtalia!" Lyn yelled, holding the creature down. But he noticed that Raphtalia didn't move.

"I-I can't."

The dog stood up and bit Lyn. At his level, it didn't pierce the skin but it still hurt. Lyn punched the dog in the eye but it just bit him with the other head.

"Raphtalia we need to kill it now!"

"Please no," Raphtalia cried out. The dog threw Lyn down and bit him again. Lyn pushed it away with [Airstrike Shield], but it quickly recovered and ran at him again. Raphtalia took a step back.

"Alright. Then run out of here."

"Huh?"

"When you get out, find the sword hero. Tell him I sent you. And tell him to find my corpse and take my items. They will be useful to him."

"Just like... my parents" Raphtalia mumbled.

Lyn jumped back and pulled some daggers and shot them at the beast. But they were too small to do any serious damage. The beast charged at him once again.

"Raphtalia run!" Lyn yelled, switching to his sword and slashing one of the monster's heads.

"[All Speed]!" Lyn yelled, sending all his base stats into speed, and dodging both heads, slashing one as he jumped over. The hurt head roared and twisted around, biting Lyn in the arm. Blood spilled everywhere, including his sword, but before the dog could tear the arm of...

"[All defense]!" Lyn yelled, turning his speed into defense. The bite didn't get worse, but it still hurt like hell.

"No... if I leave you... you'll go too..." Raphtalia was muttering to herself as she grabbed her sword tighter and took a step forward.

Lyn swung his sword and slashed at the dog. But it jumped out of the way due to its higher speed. Lyn pulled out a dagger and switched back to his shield, letting the dagger fly out of his hand and hit the dog in one of its eyes. The dog ran at him again, one of its heads biting his shield and the other biting his leg.

"Noooooooooo!" Raphtalia screamed and stabbed the big creature in its chest. The creature roared in pain, spraying blood everywhere and making one last-ditch effort to run at them.

"[Airstrike Shield]!" Lyn yelled, putting a shield in front of him. But the creature ran past him and jumped at Raphtalia.

"Raphtalia, run! [Omega Guard]!" Lyn yelled, covering Raphtalia in a thick green aura, increasing her defense. Raphtalia jumped out of the way but a claw still managed to tear her sleeve. She lost her balance and tripped. The beast jumped at her again, raising its leg despite still bleeding out.

"[OVERDRIVE]! [Airstrike Shield Bash]!" Lyn yelled, praying that whatever adrenaline was in his spilled blood was enough for the shield to unlock. Thankfully it was.

[Overdrive]

A second Airstrike shield appeared, slamming the dog into the ground and trapping it under its weight. Raphtalia lunged at it and stabbed its uninjured head, finally killing the monster. Both she and Lyn dropped to the ground.

Lyn began to laugh, startling Raphtalia.

Damn. It's been way too long since I struggled this much at the start.

Raphtalia ran up to Lyn and hugged him.

"M-master *sob* Lyn. Please don't die. Promise me you won't die," Raphtalia said, sobbing into his shirt. Lyn hugged her back and petted her head.

"We won't die. As long as we fight together and cover each other's weaknesses, we won't die." Lyn replied. They stayed this way for a few minutes till Raphtalia's sobs eventually quieted down. Lyn whispered 'all recovery' and healed both Raphtalia and himself.

Lyn was looking through his skills, upgrading some of them. The most used were [Shield Prison] and [Airstrike Shield]. But a few combos alongside his other shields were also there.

Shield Skill list:

[Shield Prison]

Traps the enemy inside a ball of shields.

Defense 110

Range - 7 meters

Effect duration - 20 seconds

Durability - 150

[Airstrike Shield]

Summons a floating shield

Defense - 83

Range - 10 meters

Effect duration - 15 seconds

Durability - 200

[Dog Bite]

This one required the Two-headed Black Dog Shield to be equipped but when struck, the two heads would bite the attacker.

Attack - 3

Range - 2 meters

Lyn looked over the combo stills.

Combo Shield Skill List:

[Airstrike Shield Bash]

Summons a glowing shield that pushes away enemies.

Power- 3

Special effect: Paralyzation

[Airstrike Shield Prison]

Summons a Shield prison out of shields reinforced with Airstrike Shields, increasing its durability and defense.

Defense - 193

Range - 10 meters

Effect duration - 70 seconds

Durability - 350

[Airstrike Dog Bite]

This summons an Airstrike shield with two dog heads. But it was a bit weaker than the normal Dog Bite attack but it had extra range.

Attack - 2

Defense 83

Range - 10/12 meters

Effect duration - 15 seconds

Durability - 200

And finally, the [Overdrive] mode which increased all stats by 2. However, it's really expensive. It consumes Stamina, Mana, and even Health so it wasn't a skill Lyn could use constantly, even with 'All Recovery'.

[Airstrike Shield Prison Dog Bite]

This is a skill that traps the enemy inside a Shield Prison reinforced with Airstrike Shield and filled with Dog Bite.

Defense - 386

Range - 20 meters

Attack - 4

Effect duration - 20 seconds

Durability - 700

[Airstrike Shield Dome]

This skill summons a giant dome that could protect a small village.

Defense - 320

Range - 1000 meters

Effect duration - 120 seconds

Durability - 600

These were his best Shield Skills. Lyn upgraded the overdrive skill a few times and used whatever materials he had left to make the shield [Auto-craft] a bunch of pipe shields that gave him the [Shield Prison] skill.

Currently, Lyn was working on a bracelet. It was a simple silver bracelet he made out of 75 silver coins, with small pieces of the gems he mined two weeks ago all around it, plus four bigger pieces on all sides. It took almost two days to polish the gems by hand and even longer to melt and forge the metal. He had to convince Erhard to let him borrow his forge.

Enchanting was another matter altogether. Lyn used some runes to give each of the four gems a different purpose.

The first one, which turned red, contained health. Lyn was always draining himself whenever he could to store up a total of about 7500 hp into the small gem.

The second one, light blue, contained mana of which he had almost 8000.

The third one, dark blue, contained SP, almost 6000 points.

And the final one was exp which wasn't used up yet. Lyn mostly kept extra exp for when he needed to upgrade certain weapons. But this one was at 200 exp since he used most of it.

The runes he absorbed into his shield allowed him to drain exp, hp, mana, and stamina from different monsters which was super useful. But he could only drain so much each time.

And now, while he was draining a porcupine that tried to hurt him, Lyn watched as Raphtalia chased after another porcupine-like monster who, upon realizing its disadvantage, fled the battle.

Raphtalia was at level 32 and Lyn was at 31.

With the money from the beginning of his adventure, along with whatever he got from selling the mob drops, Lyn bought Raphtalia some equipment from Erhard, as well as a new weapon. Her clothes had to be switched several times due to her spontaneous growth. While Lyn was able to resew Raphtalia's old clothes for when she was between 10 and 12, he had to buy some new ones for her since she was now a teenager.

"Kii!?"

"I did it!"

Raphtalia triumphantly returned while gripping the dead porcupine.

"Nice! I'll cook it."

Lyn used his [Dissection Shield], which he got by absorbing the almost broken knife he used to dissect the monsters he found and dropped his porcupine into it. The shield took it apart automatically and unlocked all the different shields. This way he wouldn't have to take it apart by hand.

The needles gave him an extra one attack power.

"So how is it?"

"An extra attack point but mediocre defense."

"Can my sword be polished please?"

"Sure, let's go back to town and get any extra preparations before the wave."

"Okay!"

Lyn dropped her sword into the [Whetstone Shield] and started walking back to town.

"Lyn-sama, are you sure you don't want any other armor? You look a little weird fighting in those clothes."

Raphtalia pointed to Lyn's current attire.

"Hm? Oh, no thanks."

Lyn dropped her sword into the [Whetstone Shield] and started walking back to town.

"Lyn-sama? Do you know that you might get fatally injured if you keep acting so reckless with your equipment?"

"Raphtalia, I fought with these clothes for a very long time, I know what I'm doing."

"Please Lyn-sama. I would feel a lot safer if you were more protected than this.

Instead of answering, Lyn pulled up his status.

STATUS

NAME: Lyn Reith

WEAPON: Bastard Sword (Legendary Weapon) / Small Shield (Legendary Weapon)

LEVEL: 31

AFFINITY: Lightning /support, healing

EXP: 29 / 405

STATS

ATTACK: 576/20

AGILITY: 120/96

DEFENSE: 96/608

RECOVERY: 56/84

STAT POINTS: 180/180

HEALTH: 3500

SP: 3500

MANA: 3500

Lyn looked at his stats and at the free 180 stat points he has yet to apply. Thinking for a second he added them all into defense getting 788 defense and 756 for his attack form. Looking back at his faker profile, he doubled everything including his level. To anyone else, he was now level 12. Lyn thought for a bit more and changed it to 21, changing his stats accordingly.

"...n-sama" Raphtalia puller Lyn out of his trance. "Did you sleep today?"

"I'll sleep later," Lyn answered.

So far, Raphtalia hasn't seen Lyn sleeping.

"Please rest before the wave Lyn-sama. You won't be able to fight if you don't get any sleep."

"Let's go get equipment first and discuss everything else later."

After returning to the castle town, the pair has gone straight to the shopping district.

When Erhard saw Raphtalia, his mouth jaw dropped.

"We're only meeting again after a short while... and look at how much of a beauty you've become."

"She is quite a beauty isn't she?" Lyn agreed. Raphtalia's cheeks reddened at this.

"You've developed so nicely... this is far too different from your previous, famished complexion."

"Please don't phrase it as if I'm getting fat."

"Gahaha, you grew up into such an adorable mink. So what were you up to this past week? Hunting?"

"The village inn staff had taught me some table manners. Since I wanted to be able to dine as elegantly as Lyn-sama someday."

"Looks like you're well on your way. So, what's your business with me today?"

"We are looking for better armor for Raphtalia. And a sword as well. Around 500 silver for both."

"Alright. Let me see what I can find."

Erhard went into the back of his shop and returned in a few minutes. He came out with light metal armor.

"Here is what I can do for you."

"Alright, Raphtalia try it on."

"Okay!"

Raphtalia took the armor and went into the changing room.

"As for me, could I ask for a custom order?" Lyn asked, pulling out a piece of paper with blueprints on it.

"Hm. A Vambrace? Well, I should be able to make it by tomorrow morning right before the wave if you have the materials."

Lyn pulled all of his metal ores out of his shield. Erhard looked at the pile in awe.

"Lad, you have not been wasting any time have you?"

"Can't waste time when the world is this way."

Erhard picked out the ores that he needed and Lyn put the rest away.

"So what do you plan to do during the waves?"

"Well the waves can hit anywhere, so we need to be prepared to evacuate. I already have some essentials packed for just in case."

"How about buying some medicine?" Lyn asked, pulling out three vials of Healing Water. It could heal all none fatal injuries like small stab wounds and broken bones.

"Damn kid, where did you get these?"

"Made em myself."

This surprised Erhard.

"So how much for each?"

"These are on the house. It would be a shame if I gave you nothing in return after all you have done for me and Raphtalia."

"But that was mostly business."

"Think of this as a future investment. If I want armor from you, I have to make sure you don't die. Also, did the other heroes come to copy weapons yet?"

"Yes. The bow and the spear hero came by here. Luckily they didn't copy more than five bows and spears. Sadly those were my best ones. But I'd be damed if I let someone copy my weapons without paying, hero or not. Made them pay every copper."

"What about the sword hero?"

"He came by and bought a few swords, mentioning something about layering, but I didn't quite understand it. He copied the swords he bought and then merged them."

"Weapon merge. You can copy the same kind of weapon as your own, but you can also merge identical weapons to double their abilities. Come to think of it, mind if I take a look at your swords? You don't have to worry about me copying them since I'm the shield hero after all."

"Yeah, sure. Go ahead," Erhard nodded.

Sorry old man, I'll pay you back later.

Lyn walked around and copied every sword in the shop, as well as any new shield he saw. Thankfully a specific sword could also unlock a specific shield. This method earned him the Flamethrower shield as well as the lightning shield.

Raphtalia walked out of the changing room, now in metal plate armor mixed with leather.

"Looks good. I also want to ask for a resale on the sword," Lyn said, pulling the sword out of his Whetstone Shield.

"Fumu... looks like you've properly maintained it this time around."

"All thanks to my shield."

"That's a convenient shield... I want one too."

"You won't be able to equip any other weapon, you know."

"That part is quite bothersome. There's not a speck of rust on the blade. As expected of the legendary shield, its performance is superb."

"Let me see... with this much leftover, I can sell you a magic iron sword."

"It should be a given that blood-clean coating is included, right?"

"Urg, I'll add that as a bonus. I know full well that you're working hard, lad!"

"Thank you."

Erhard somehow seemed satisfied as he handed the magic iron sword to Raphtalia.

"Good weapons will only become powerful in capable hands, while they'll only turn into worthless junk in the hands of the talentless. However, I believe that you'll be able to fully master their strength. Give it your best shot, Jou-chan."

Jou-chan? Ah right, Japanese honorifics and terms.

"Okay!"

Raphtalia sheathed the sword on her waist with sparkling, motivated eyes.

"Now then, please come again around this time tomorrow."

"Will do."

"Thank you very much!"

"Until then."

They left the shop and went towards the restaurant where Lyn first fed Raphtalia.

"Let's go get something to eat at the restaurant we went to a while ago."

"Are you sure it's alright?"

"I'm looking forward to seeing Raphtalia's gluttonous manners as she devours the food off her plate again."

"Please stop that Lyn-sama, I'm not a child anymore!"

The previously cheerful Raphtalia was now getting angry as she puffed her cheeks.

"I'm just messing with you. Though I wouldn't categorize you as an adult yet."

"Welcome!"

Oh wow. No disappointment in his tone this time. Guess Raphtalia's good looks can go a long way.

"I'll be ordering the cheapest meal set you have, while this girl will get the lunch for kids, the one with the little flag on it."

"Lyn-sama!"

Raphtalia turned to the server.

"Err, please give me the cheapest table course meal as well."

"Y-yes."

The server nodded at Raphtalia and was about to leave until Lyn stopped him.

"Why tho? There isn't anything good about the cheapest meal. The kids' meal however will provide you with the necessities to grow."

Lyn turned to the waiter.

"Scratch that, two kids meals please."

"A-alright."

The man quickly walked off before they could change their order again.

Raphtalia pouted, looking down at the table. Lyn reached out and petted her head. She didn't react but her cheeks reddened a bit.

The next day, we showed up at the weapon shop.

"Well, if it isn't the lad."

"How's our order coming along?"

"Done! I finished it a long while ago."

Erhard pulled out the vambrace and Lyn put it on his right forearm. It was a piece of armor that covered his entire forearm and had over a dozen slots for gems to be added in.

"Thank you. Well, I'll be off then, the wave will hit in a little over 20 hours. And I got other heroes to find. See ya, Erhard."

"Until next time."

We said our farewells and headed for the clock tower. As they entered, a nun looked at them.

"You're the Hero of the Shield, are you not?"

"That is correct. I wanted to see if any other heroes were here."

"The spear hero has just arrived. Please come this way."

The nun led Lyn and Raphtalia over to the hourglass where Motoyasu was standing.

"Huh? Isn't that Lyn over there?"

Lyn saw as Motoyasu, surrounded by a harem, walked over to him.

"Did you also come here in preparation for the wave?"

"Of course. I wanted to see how you guys were doing. Are Itsuki and Ren here?" Lyn asked. However, Motoyasu ignored Lyn and instead looked surprised at Lyn's lack of armor. The vambrace was hidden under Lyn's sleeve so he didn't see it. And the bracelet was inside Lyn's shield.

"What the hell man. Are you planning to fight without any armor at all?"

Motoyasu was wearing shiny armor made from silver, a pale green cloth underneath. And on top of that, he had a set of chainmail in between. He had some cool spear equipped instead of his base spear.

"I have my shield's defense, any armor would just slow me down. Your armor is pretty cool tho. Did you get it from Erhard?"

"Yep," Motoyasu grumbled.

"Lyn-sama? Who are these people...?" Raphtalia asked. But she was interrupted by another person entering the room.

"Oh, Motoyasu-san and... Lyn-san."

Itsuki arrived on the scene with his companions.

Ren had also come and walked up to us in silence, nodding at Lyn. But for some reason, he was alone.

"Haa..."

"Just who is this beauty? She's simply adorable."

Motoyasu pointed at Raphtalia and uttered.

Oh my god, he really does give off the skirt chaser vibes. Damn it.

"Nice to meet you, young miss. I was summoned to this world as one of the four great heroes. Please call me by my name, Kitamura Motoyasu. I'm honored to make your acquaintance."

"Ah, yes... so you are one of those heroes."

Raphtalia nodded timidly while her eyes eluded his gaze.

"What's your business here today, cutie? For what purpose are you carrying around such a dangerous sword and equipment?"

"I am here to fight along with Lyn-sama, that's why."

"Hah? For Lyn?"

Motoyasu turned and stared at me with eyes full of suspicion.

"What?"

"You fiend, why are you dragging such a cute girl into these dangerous places?"

Motoyasu said while glaring daggers at Lyn.

"She is a capable companion."

"And here I thought you would shoulder this battle alone... so you're just leeching off Raphtalia's kindness in the end."

"..."

What the f*ck is this bastard. The spear spirit must have ridiculously low standards to summon someone like him.

"*sigh* So are we gonna talk about our strategy before the fight? Or just do whatever?"

"I have nothing to discuss with you fiend!" Motoyasu yelled, walking away from Lyn.

Itsuki just shook his head.

"Let's meet again during the wave," he said as he walked towards the hourglass, followed by his companions.

When he was out of sight, Ren walked up to Lyn.

"I'm glad you were able to find a companion."

"What happened to yours?"

"Disbanded my party. None made the cut. I did a little digging after what you said and it does seem like this entire country is out to get you. Sorry bout that."

"Don't apologize for something you can't control. But why disband your entire party?"

"I didn't know if I could trust those that the king assigned to me. For all I know, some of them joined me just to watch my every move."

"Well, I know a person that would be useful to you."

"Who?"

"I heard some rumors about a female knight being imprisoned after she tried to sign up as my companion. She was also pretty famous for her sword skills. If we got her out somehow, we could both get you a trainer and a trustworthy companion."

"Why do I need a trainer?"

"Ren, you are literally a normal teenager with a super powered anime sword with no experience."

"Fair point. Oh and I wanted to thank you for showing me those enhancement methods. They helped me grow in strength a lot."

"Good. That makes two prepared heroes."

Lyn looked back at a very confused Raphtalia.

"Raphtalia, this is Ren, the sword hero, Ren, this is my companion Raphtalia."

"It's nice to meet you Sword Hero Ren."

"Likewise."

Lyn gestured towards the door. But just before he left, he grabbed Ren by the shoulder and handed him a piece of paper with a rune on it.

"Huh? What's this?"

"Absorb it," Lyn said, walking out of the church. Ren pushed the paper into his sword. It glowed like it was absorbing new material, but nothing has changed. He looked through the help manual for any changes.

After a few minutes, he finally realized that the rule about heroes being unable to gather exp next to each other was missing.

Lyn, just who the hell are you?