The Saint and the Heavenly Fowl
We left the capital quietly that night, heading towards the forest.
After seeing the aftermath of the duel, and confirming Naofumi did fall into despair and rage to unlock the Cursed Series, there was no need to stay around any longer.
The heroes would be compensated, given money by the king the next day, but since we never needed money, we just decided to leave. Wolf was getting bored.
Of course we can buy consumables and things like accessories to buff ourselves, but they're also not needed.
Not yet.
We shall keep hunting those with the 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗸, but we shall stay in the country of Melromarc. After all, several important things happen between the Second Wave of Calamity and the Third Wave.
'Speaking of the Third Wave...'
I looked at the timer in the corner of my vision.
39:12:08
We have a little more than a month and a quarter left till the next wave. Plenty of time to get stronger.
Naofumi will also get stronger during this time.
For starters, Naofumi will get a filolial named Filo around tomorrow, and he'll go on a series of adventures with it, peddling his wares and being called some saint merchant.
How ironic, being called a saint and a devil.
Ah yes, a filolial. A filolial is a giant bird that can travel quite quickly. They're kind of look like chocobos from Final Fantasy. They for some reason enjoy pulling things like carriages, and they are mortal enemies with dragons, for also some reason I don't know.
Nevertheless, it'll grow fast, and he'll then fight an undead dragon Ren killed because he didn't bother to secure the corpse, making to poisonous to the surrounding environment.
We'll eventually meet up with Naofumi sometime soon, if fate has connected us. We would also want to kill the undead dragon with him. The undead dragon is another monster who we want to 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗸 and hunt. Wolf would especially enjoy killing it.
We both need to grow stronger to prepare for the Third Wave. The cooperation of the four cardinal heroes are needed to defend the world, and so far, only we and Naofumi qualify. Ren has some hope in getting his mind set straight, but Motoyasu really needs a reality check.
We quickly arrived at the forest, and began our hunt once more.
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[Naofumi] POV
I sighed as we left the castle.
"What a pain..."
We were called to be in the audience of the king once more, to be gifted money to compensate us. He gave the money to the others, only to give me a little as I 'owed' them for the slave crest removal.
How idiotic.
Oh yes, Kindred also left again. I hid a smile when the king's face twisted hearing the news from an attendant. Serves him right.
Although...
'That Kindred really is strange.'
I thought, walking with Raphtalia towards the slave trader I previously bought Raphtalia from.
"Mr Naofumi, are you angry?"
I turned to look at her. Her eyes showed concern when looking at me.
"At them? Of course, but I don't really care about getting the money."
"Oh...alright then."
We continued walking.
Raphtalia insisted on getting a new slave crest, in order for me to trust her once more. I was quite touched to be honest, she didn't really need to. She was already trustworthy, but she was adamant in her decision.
I didn't complain.
'Anyways, Kindred.' My head bowed, thinking.
She-no 'they'-were quite strange. Wolf was easier to judge and predict, but Lamb-I think that's what Wolf called her-is a different story. She seems to know a lot of things that she shouldn't be able to know, like me being framed when she wasn't in the capital at all, and information of the Church of the Three Heroes. How peculiar...
She doesn't strike me as someone who has malicious intentions towards me, but I get a feeling she only helped me in order for me to help her in a future situation.
That's fine.
If she wanted to help me because she 'wanted to be a nice person,' I would get even more suspicious. I get stronger, and I owe her a favor.
Speaking of Lamb, I wonder what she looks like under that mask. She never seemed to take it off. I can't even see the eyes in the curved slits of her red patterned white mask.
"Ah, Mr Naofumi! We're here!"
I looked up from my pondering.
We've arrived at the slave trader's place.
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[Lamb] POV
29:04:36 - till Third Calamity
Around a month has passed since we left the castle.
29 days are left till the Third Wave arrives...
I ran through the forest, leaping over obstacles, Wolf hungrily following behind me. As I kept moving, I fired arrows at the nine somewhat huge grey wolves running away from us.
Twang.
Wooooosh.
My arrows flew fast, accurately hitting three wolves from behind, drilling into their skull.
I nocked two arrows into my bow, and fired them while leaping over a fallen tree trunk.
Two wolves dropped.
Five were left.
The wolf in the lead, a black one, howled, and the other four responded.
The four split to the left. The black wolf, what I assume is the alpha, was twice the size of the grey wolves, kept running straight.
I followed, the 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗸 appearing slightly above its head. Wolf splitted from me, chasing the other four with excitement.
As soon as Wolf left, the alpha moved to face me, growling. I didn't stop shooting my arrows. Although the alpha was faster than most, it was not able to dodge my arrows.
Howling in anger, it pounced on me. I rolled underneath it and jumped away, firing a few more arrows.
After this happened a few times, the alpha seemed to finally had enough, running straight at me, ignoring my arrows.
A fatal mistake. I leaped high, landing on the branches of a tree, and fired two arrows. Two landed in the eyes.
"Horn Piercing Arrow."
20 MP was taken as I used the skill, a shining blew arrow appeared nocked into my bow. I fired it.
The wolf never had the chance to dodge, the arrow cleanly landed deep into its head.
It tripped over, sliding until it bumped against the tree.
The alpha was unnaturally strong for tis species, as it had tanked several of my arrows. Unfortunately for it, it has met us.
"All your life has led to this moment," I whispered.
*Ting*
Something flew out of the alpha, and it flew into me, pink and orange petals swirling around me.
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𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗸 of the Kindred (34)(39)(+1) => (74)
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Kindred (Lamb and Wolf)
HP: 480/480
MP: 460/480
-𝐎𝐜𝐜𝐮𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: Hero of the Bow Level 39 / The Eternal Hunters ???
STR: 102(40)(+30) =>172
VIT: 33(+15) => 48
DEX: 193(120)(+30) => 343
INT: 33(+15) => 48
LUC: 38(+15) => 53
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Bow of the Hunter (Legendary Armament)
Attack: 157(+73)=> 230
Special Skill: Portal Bow
Special Skill: Piercing Horn Arrow
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"That was a good chase!"
Wolf appeared beside me, grinning, feeling content by the hunt.
During the month, we found and hunted several monsters around the country.
Our marks have nearly doubled our current level. As our levels grow higher and higher, it was more harder to gain more EXP.
Marking, however, was simple. Place a 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗸, and collect it by killing the one Marked.
We have grown stronger, now is the time to see what Naofumi is currently doing.
While we were hunting, we happened to encounter a group of travelers camping next to the forest, and eavesdropped on them from a distance. They talked about many things I don't care about, but what caught my ears was what they said about the Saint travelling around with the Heavenly Fowl. Apparently, the travelers heard from other travelers that the saint recently removed an overgrown, out of control plant from a village.
I remembered that.
Motoyasu, still thinking this was a game, found the village that is in a famine. In order to give the villagers food, Motoyasu and his party ventured into an old alchemist's cave, collecting a special seed that grows fast. Motoyasu planted it, causing the plant to grow and bloom fruits almost instantly.
The villagers kept praising and thanking as he left...for only a couple days.
Why? The plant mutated, growing into a monster. It then spawned other monsters soon after, terrorizing the villagers.
The Saint of the Heavenly Fowl took care of that with a bunch of herbicide, and reconfigure the seeds so that it doesn't mutate into monsters anymore, retaining its ability to grow fruits fast.
Still though, a saint? Really? Wolf and I couldn't hold in our laughter.
The saint is actually Naofumi travelling on a wagon, being pulled by Filo the Filolial Queen. Raphtalia accompanied them inside the wagon. The reason why Filo was called the Heavenly Fowl, is because it looked significantly different than a normal filolial. Apparently, filolials grow even further if they're raised by heroes, from their chocobo look alike, to growing taller and fatter, becoming Filolial Queens. I don't plan on getting one anytime soon, no thank you.
Anyways, they called Naofumi a saint because he travels around, selling his merchandise. Apparently, all his medicine and wares were high quality, and so people misunderstood him as a saintly merchant.
What a joke.
As Wolf finished eating the alpha's corpse, I then decided its time to meet up with Naofumi. Ren should've already killed the dragon, leaving its corpse to rot.
...
Hours passed by.
The sky was darkening, the afternoon ending, and the night beginning.
I followed Wolf, who was sniffing into the air. He had memorized his scent, and so we were able to track where his current location was.
As we traveled in a certain direction, we happened upon a carriage being pulled by an... oversized bird.
It was really huge, taller than a normal filolial. It was white, with big blue eyes. It has two long eyebrows, being colored pink. As we watched, they suddenly stopped. Raphtalia and Naofumi got off the carriage, and made camp.
So they were setting up for the night?
As we watched, the Filolial Queen suddenly poofed. In its place, a cute blonde girl with angel like wings appeared. Wearing a cute mostly white blue-striped dress, she ran to Naofumi, hopping around the already made campfire, talking in a childlike voice
"Master, Master! Filo is so hungry!"
"I know, I'm making food right...," Naofumi sighed, cooking what seems to be a giant piece of meat. Of what kind, I don't know.
Still, Filo seemed to enjoy the smell, because she sat down, waiting for Naofumi to finish cooking.
I guess its time to make my entrance.
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[Naofumi] POV
As I kept rolling the stick with the meat on it above the campire, I looked at Filo, who was humming.
It's been a month since we recruited Filo into our team, and although she has been quite a handful, she was quite useful. We bought an egg from the slaver trader. Apparently, he also delve into the monster slave industry to.
It hatched days after, hatching into a filolial. I named it Filo. It was a normal filolial, but it grew too fast. Apparently, my shield had a monster saturation growth. It was the same with Raphtalia to.
When it grew into an adult, we happened upon Motoyasu and Malty, who declared the village we were currently at theirs. We raced them, and we won, even when a bunch of knights interfered using earth magic to make holes.
In thanks, we got a wagon and a merchant certificate from the village chief. A day after, Filo grew even fatter! Like the hell, are all filolials like that or what?
What shocked Raphtalia and I even more was that Filo can change into a girl as well! We had to get magic cloth in order to make clothes that can change form along with her.
After that, we traveled about, gaining a name for ourselves. Its a good thing to, as the Shield Hero in this country is labeled as a devil. With our reputation, we were accepted by a lot of people, and we sold my wares. I even happened upon a village that had a famine, and oh boy was it troublesome. We had to use a lot of herbicides to kill the things.
Wading our way threw the plants, we happened upon the root of it all. A huge tree with a huge monstrous eye in the middle, vines moving about. We attacked it of course, finding some difficulty in defeating it, as Raphtalia was caught on a vine. She was then rescued by Filo, and then tossed a bunch of herbicide onto the eye. It died, dropping a bunch of seeds. By a bunch, I mean hundreds.
We then had to pick them all up one by one. Even more troublesome. We were compensated for our actions, and we planted a couple seeds-seeds that I changed with my shield-so that they will have food. We parted with them happily. Apparently, that also helped grow our reputation as the "Saint and the Heavenly Fowl."
And now, here we are.
As I kept cooking the meat, Filo suddenly tensed, looking scared. Raphtalia and I noticed.
I stood up immediately, warily looking at our surroundings, and see nothing. Raphtalia hurried over to Filo.
"Filo, what's wrong?" Raphtalia asked concerned.
"Something scary is approaching! Filo doesn't like it!" Filo whispered, standing up and looking intently at a direction.
We both looked at that direction, preparing ourselves for a fight.
After waiting for a few moments, we spotted a figure, and relaxed, all tension flowing out of us. Well, just Raphtalia and I. Filo seemed confused by our reaction.
"Master and big sister know who this is?"
"Yeah," I sighed, scratching my hair as I looked at the figures approaching.
A goat like demihuman with a mask, holding a bow. She was followed by a floating head of a huge white wolf, purple patterns appearing on its face.
They slowly appearing from the darkness of the night.
"It has been quite a while, Kindred. What brings you here?"