Grinding of the Sword Hero

Obloquy · Jun 24, 2024

Demon King's Throne Room, Final Battle Scene

"Lady Yumiella, I-!"

"Save your strength, Miss Alicia. Edwin is closer, heal him," Yumiella instructed as she tried to apply pressure to her wound.

Unfortunately, the wound was a fist-sized hole in her abdomen that had pierced through her stomach and spine. Her Level 99 magic was exhausted and she was losing a lot of blood, but Alicia was on the far side of the throne room, was equally exhausted, and was prevented from coming over by the loss of her left foot.

The three boys who were Alicia's prospective love interests in the game this world had resembled were splayed out around the chamber with their own grievous injuries.

Indeed, the only good thing in this scene was the body of the Demon King, whom they had come here to slay before his armies could overwhelm the kingdom's defenders. He hadn't been so difficult to defeat in the game -- Yumiella ought to have been able to solo him at Level 99 even though her 4 party members were in their 50s and the recommended party average was Level 70 -- but when the Demon King had realized he was outmatched he had switched to tactics that were not possible in the game, such as collapsing the castle masonry on them and conjuring an impenetrable black mist for hit-and-run attacks.

Their party of five had not adapted well to the switch. Oswald Grimzard, their resident squishy wizard, had been the first to be severely injured, and as Alicia had healed him despite the black fog the Demon King had hurled projectiles with his Level 70 Boss strength to bruise the boys and concuss Alicia when one clipped her head.

He had swiped and harassed and slowly bled their team, running them into each other in the dark mist and launching attacks at ankle height that they could not know to dodge or block, which was how Alicia had lost one foot.

Yumiella's magic was more powerful in raw output, but the Demon King was centuries old and had far greater skill, allowing him on several occasions to unravel her dark magic spells and potentially even refresh his reserves by absorbing her spent mana.

Yumiella had landed exactly one solid hit on him, a reflexive kick when he came at her from behind, and while he hadn't injured her in that attack he had snatched the Protection Amulet off her neck that would allow her to survive a lethal blow with 1 HP.

Said Amulet had allowed him to survive Yumiella's lethal attack when she finally thought she'd got a good chance to hit him, and in the end what had brought them both down was accidental friendly fire.

Yumiella was physically stronger than the Demon King due to her superior Level, and while she'd spent a lot of magic healing her teammates and Alicia she still had the brute strength to fight him in melee and potentially win. Yumiella had managed to turn a lucky grab into a grapple and had immediately called for Alicia to throw Light Magic at the immobilized Demon King.

Alicia had desperately hurled a Light Magic Spear bright enough that Yumiella and the Demon King had both been blinded. It had caught the Demon King in his back, pierced through him, and then to Alicia's stark horror the spell had pierced through Yumiella on his other side and the wall behind her as well.

So now Yumiella was dying.

At least Patrick is safe. He's much higher Level than anyone in the army's main force, and wide-scale battle is his specialty, Yumiella reflected, her dimming mind straying to the gray-haired boy who had shown her kindness, companionship, and eventually even entered a romance with her.

The last thing she saw as her vision went dark was Alicia's teary face as the pink-haired, common-born light mage tried to crawl to Yumiella from across the ruined throne room.

The last thing she thought of was the boy who'd kissed her under the night sky and asked her to return home to him safely.

She faded gently, peacefully into death and was swallowed by a darkness deeper than even her magic could control

And then there was light.

"Oh Brave Heroes, please save our world and our people!"

"Fantastic, the summoning was a success! Oh Brave Heroes, please save our world and our people?"

"What?" Naofumi asked. What the heck is going on here? Wait, were there other voices too?

Still on his hands and knees in the middle of what looked like a glowing fantasy summoning circle, Naofumi turned to see two boys and a girl on his left who were also rising to their feet.

"An Isekai summoning?" the girl assessed softly.

"I mean, I guess it looks like it. Huh?" the tall guy looked in surprise at his own spear, and then Naofumi checked his own arm as well.

"A shield? What is this, where am I? Isekai light novels aren't supposed to happen in real life," Naofumi complained, his head spinning.

The glow of the summoning circle finally dimmed enough to see without squinting, and the robed guy at the head of the summoners stepped forward.

"We implore you for aid, oh Brave Heroes. Our world is in dire need of salvation."

"Is this for real?" Naofumi wondered.

"What do you mean it's in need of saving?" the youngest of the four, who was carrying a bow, inquired.

"The story involved is long and complicated, but suffice it to say that you are the Four Cardinal Heroes, summoned here by an ancient ritual," the lead summoner declared. "Our world is in a most fragile state, and life teeters on the brink of destruction." His face looked stricken and gaunt, and he bowed his head as he spoke.

Naofumi couldn't exactly say no to that kind of plea, now could he? "I mean, I guess I could hear you out," he offered. I really don't feel like a hero, though. Even with this thing on my arm.

"You can send us back to our home world, right?" the tall guy with the spear checked.

The girl in the red and white school uniform (or maybe it was cosplay or a normal fancy dress) stepped forward. "Did you perform this ritual of your own will, or on instructions from someone else? I believe we have the right to hear the situation from our host, if possible," she insisted, her voice flat.

"Not to mention, we need to know what we need to do and what happens when we're done," the boy with the bow declared. "If you throw us away once we've restored peace, what then?"

"How willing are you to accommodate our requests?" the spear guy pressed.

Naofumi stared, but apparently the two boys being so full of themselves inspired the girl to do an about-face. "If we have been given legendary weapons or cheat powers to solve a problem they cannot, then I expect we will be able to provide well for ourselves. After all, if it was possible for them to solve this problem, people in this world would have done so and gained the glory for themselves, rather than asking for help. Mister Summoner," she continued, "you are asking for our help, but we cannot agree in good faith without learning what calamity is threatening the world. Has a Demon Lord begun to muster his armies? Is a poisonous monster spreading a deadly plague? Legendary weapons seem more fit to fighting foes than to ending a famine or halting a natural disaster."

Impressive speech. Though she looks pretty tired out. She immediately identified this as "Isekai" so I'm betting she's an introvert otaku girl... although compared to our street clothes, she looks much fancier and prettier than I'd expect from an Otaku girl. Was she going to a convention in cosplay, or is she just rich?

While Naofumi had been thinking, the spear guy had puffed up. "You're right! we can't figure out anything here when we don't know the situation, so there's no point talking to small fry. Take us to your leader!"

"What are you, a martian?" Naofumi muttered, and the kid with a bow burst out laughing. Right, he's Marvin the Martian until I learn his name or something.

Standing in the second throne room of her lifetimes, Yumiella firmly felt that Balshine did it better than Melromarc. When she'd been called before Prince Edwin's parents, there had been brighter lights, better decorations, and a larger audience. Additionally, she'd also had instructions from the herald on how to behave to avoid embarrassment before she'd been announced, which Melromarc apparently didn't bother with.

If it was because the kingdom was cutting costs due to whatever catastrophe threatened them, then she could understand it, but even if it had arguably given her a third life after her second time dying she wasn't sure she could hold a high opinion of a nation that pulled in ignorant people from other worlds rather than solve their own problems.

"So, you are the Four Cardinal Heroes of ancient legend?" the old king rumbled from his throne. "I am Aultcray Melromarc, thirty-second king of the land of Melromarc. Welcome, brave heroes. Please identify yourselves."

Yumiella expected she was the only one who had any etiquette training in how to address aristocracy, but she wasn't an extrovert and she wanted to get a read on the room first before she dropped her revelation, so she remained silent and gestured for the boys to go.

(She belated realized that this might have been a violation of some "Ladies First" etiquette, but overall she decided that she didn't care.)

The crowd burst into murmurs as the boy with the spear stepped up.

"I'm Kitamura Motoyasu, college student, age 21," Motoyasu declared, his voice warm and proud.

There was a pause.

"Guess we're going by age? I'm Iwatani Naofumi, college student-,"

"Yes," the king interrupted tiredly, "but I don't know what a college is, so saying that won't explain much to me. And you, sir Bow Hero?"

"Hey!" Naofumi yelped, only to be stopped by Yumiella's hand.

"Patience," she cautioned as she scanned around the room. Naofumi and I both have black hair and black eyes, while the other two have much lighter coloring. I cannot see any similar appearance in the people in this room, other than some redheads and brunettes. If we are to be discriminated against, let us not make enemies too quickly.

"My name is Kawasumi Itsuki. I am seventeen years old and I was.. about a year from graduating my homeland's... training to be a national guard," he introduced proudly.

That sounded like a lie, unless he's from a world where Japan is more militarized and he's very fit despite his slender physical stature -- seriously, Oswald Grimzard might have better muscle definition than Itsuki -- but it's also clever. No one will know the truth unless they have lie-detecting magical abilities here, so either we can raise our stature in the eyes of others or flush out the existence of an ability to tell truth from lies.

"And you, Lady Sword Heroine?" King Aultcray wondered.

Yumiella stepped forward and dipped into her most formal curtsy.

"I am Countess Yumiella Dolkness, Protector of Valshine Kingdom, Order of the Orange Dawn Third class, Dragon Knight in Training, made by birthright and by might the leader of Dolkness County in the Kingdom of Valshine. If there is a risk to the innocent people of the world then it is my duty to oppose it, so please explain why you have summoned us here."

Everyone in the throne room shifted uncomfortably or started muttering, and it was then that Yumiella realized something which she had suspected but had not thought about up to now: she was no longer Level 99.

My Level 99 ears ought to be able to decipher each individual whisper easily, but it all sounds indistinct. My eyes as well... when I look out the window, I see less far and less clearly than I am used to. I cannot test my strength or my magic in front of unknown witnesses, but I suspect that when I died my Level was reset.

It was an idea that gave her mixed feelings. On the one hand, she was vulnerable to danger again and even if she had better ideas for grinding now it would still probably take her 4-5 years of grinding to recover her own status.

On the flip side, Yumiella had been very sad that she had hit the Level Cap in her past life and could no longer enjoy growth through her grinding, so the chance to do a New Game Plus with her knowledge and experience and to beat her record in hitting the Level Cap... That was a little exciting.

She put those thoughts aside for the moment to focus on King Aultcray finally giving them the Lore Dump they'd been asking for.

In essence:

1) at various times throughout recorded history, there would be a series of spacetime distortions through which hordes of monsters would arrive to rampage destructively

2) each individual event of a distortion is called a "Wave" and they are collectively the "Waves of Calamity"

3) An artifact called the Dragon's Era Hourglass can predict the time until a Wave arrives, allowing people to get ready for a fight even if they don't know where the wave will occur

4) Rather than preparing for the Waves of Calamity, time had run out unexpectedly and the First Wave had hit the kingdom of Melromarc only a few days ago. It had been fought off by the kingdom's military and an impromptu alliance of local adventurers, but it had lasted longer and done much more damage than predicted, and each successive Wave would only become stronger.

5) Even though historical texts claim the previous Waves of Calamity occurred over the course of several years and even up to two decades, Melromarc's Dragon Hourglass predicted that the Second Wave would strike in the next month or so, meaning the schedule needed to be accelerated and the expected losses were likely to be horrendous if new methods were not used.

6) Waves may or may not have a time limit -- it would be a limit several days long or more if they did, since the first Wave had lasted well over 12 hours -- but each Wave had a Wave Boss who could be slain to end the Wave immediately, which meant a fast-moving strike team hunting down said Boss ASAP was the best method to save the most number of lives.

7) Because the monsters invaded from another world, they could be more successfully opposed by defenders who were also from another world. The Four Cardinal Weapons chose worthy souls to become these defending heroes and lead the world to safety through the coming conflict.

8) Given that the progressive Waves would be stronger, Yumiella could undoubtedly gain tremendous EXP and protect innocent people by fighting them, but she'd probably have to rush since she missed the grinding opportunity of the first and weakest Wave.

Also, the sinister-looking evil old Vizier character standing beside the king promised that they would be handsomely rewarded if they succeeded. Yumiella noted him down as being suspicious -- and the king as potentially being either gullible or corrupt if he wasn't worried about the presence of someone so suspicious -- while Motoyasu seemed happy to accept the offer of future wealth and glory and Itsuki made clear that he didn't want to be looked down on.

Yumiella was looking down on him in her head all the same, but it seemed no one could notice it in her face so it passed without comment. I don't want to let these suspicious people know that I am suspicious of them and of the situation, but since we haven't been branded with magic slave controls or such then I suspect that they cannot force our obedience but need some form of cooperation from us to fight the Waves.

I'll have to see if I can get the other three alone to discuss this. But they look Japanese... I suppose it makes sense to be summoned from your first life instead of your second life, but we'll probably need to cooperate to form a plan of action so we don't set off the wrong kind of political alarms.

At least in Balshine I was too powerful for the assassins to threaten me, but now I'm weak again and I need time to do proper grinding, plus resources for equipment. How troublesome.

"I would ask you brave heroes to now check your statuses," King Aultcray continued.

"Is there a magic tool we will need?" Yumiella checked. She wouldn't enjoy having a Level 1 reading after all she'd lived through, but if it also included STAT data that she didn't have in her past life or an EXP gauge to measure how quickly she could grow...

"There is something called Status Magic that is exclusive to legendary heroes," the king explained.

"Oh! Yeah, like a video game menu in the corner of your eye guys, see?" Motoyasu declared.

Yumiella focused on a little glowing overlay symbol she was quite certain had not been there ten seconds ago, and a video game menu popped up.

"Only Level 1? Well that's really disconcerting," Itsuki commented.

"...I agree..." Yumiella grit out, trying not to cry tears of blood at the damning numbers that hovered in front of her.

YUMIELLA DOLKNESS (COUNTESS) -- SWORD HERO -- LEVEL 1

HP = 99/99 _____ MP = 99/99 ____ SP = 25/25

ATTACK = 9 ____ MAGIC ATTACK = 19 ____ DEFENSE = 14 ____ MAGIC DEFENSE = 11 ____ AGILITY = 17

Has some otherworldly being at least given me a lot of 9s appearing interference to my old achievement? It looks so low, I must be weak! Yumiella grit her teeth and forced herself to stop moping, because conversation was continuing on as the King and the Vizier were explaining how they needed to go on adventures and quests to increase the powers of the Cardinal Weapons.

Naofumi was just voicing how he'd look forward to teaming up with everyone when he got interrupted again (which made Yumiella more sure there was something dirty behind the scenes).

"I'm afraid, great heroes," the Vizier elaborated, and Yumiella also made note of him trying to butter them up by switching from 'brave' to 'great', "that you are advised not to cooperate too closely during your quests and training, only during the Wave itself. Records state that by their very nature, the Cardinal Weapons repel or inhibit each other when kept too close for too long. If you try to work together, it will apparently hinder their development."

Yumiella's eyes narrowed and she silently searched her Status Menu for some kind of HELP or DATA function to potentially confirm this.

HELP --> Cardinal Weapon Functions --> Experience Enhancement

In order to save the world, the Cardinal Weapons receive the "blessing of the land", also known as "the support of the world", where the world itself supplements the energy that the Cardinal Heroes gain through achievements like slaying dangerous monsters.

However, it is the area that immediately surrounds the Cardinal Heroes which supplies this support, and thus if the Cardinal Heroes step within each other's territory, the same piece of land will be forced to divide the blessing it provides between multiple Cardinal Heroes, slowing or inhibiting their growth. If the Cardinal Heroes are too close to each other, they gain 0 EXP due to the conflict.

Sadly, there wasn't any search bar to type in any of the dozen question Yumiella wanted to ask, and the King was still talking, so it looked like she'd have to endure an unskippable cut scene before they got around to the point of being summoned here.

At least it would give her the opportunity to figure out how to make a better good impression on these people. If she wasn't Level 99 anymore, then instead of being a mild inconvenience, being mistaken for an evil demon lord could get her killed yet again, and she could end up in some crazier video game world even further away from Ryu and Patrick!

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For those who don't know, this is a crossover where a bad end Yumiella Dolkness from Villainess Level 99 replaces Ren Amaki as the Cardinal Sword Hero.

She's got experience with living in a video game world turned real, and the opportunity to avoid all those level caps is something she can't pass up!

(Although she also really misses Patrick and Ryu, and she'd love to go home and see them soon...)

Obloquy said:
This story is my entry in the Summerfest storytelling Showdown!

If you like my work, please follow this quote to my entry on the thread and vote for me with a Sun rating, thank you!!

Obloquy · Jun 24, 2024

After a tasty dinner of unfamiliar foreign foods, the four heroes had been left alone to talk; Motoyasu figured that as the oldest, he might as well get the ball rolling.

"So are you really a Countess, or whatever? Like, from Europe, or are you Japanese?" he asked the elegant only lady of their quartet.

"I was born the only child of Count and Countess Dolkness eighteen years ago, and I rose to hold the title roughly 6 months ago," she confirmed, her eyes and hands giving the impression that she was still examining her MENU two hours after they'd gained it, but apparently she could multitask which made her pretty and intelligent!

"Wait, do you mean your parents died that recently? I'm sorry for your loss," the guy with the shield, (Naofumi! his brain reminded him,) offered.

"Oh, yeah, sorry if I... I might have a handkerchief if you," Motoyasu attempted, patting at his pockets.

"I have my own handkerchief, thank you," Yumiella denied, producing said piece of cloth. "My parents were not slain, they were arrested and sentenced to life in prison for attempting to assassinate me."

Motoyasu tried to parse that and felt his mental gears grind a bit. Wow, no wonder she doesn't smile or laugh and she's all business. She's a Broken Bird with a really tragic backstory, a real Kuudere! "Right, we'll stop asking until you're ready," he promised, because pressing girls to talk about unpleasant things was how you ended up forced to listen to them describing their monthly flow, and he's a gallant guy but no thank you on that!

"Have you found something particularly interesting in your menu?" Itsuki asked, and she nodded distantly while peering intently at whatever her screen was showing.

"Speaking of, doesn't this kind of seem like a video game?" Naofumi wondered, and Motoyasu had to laugh at how freakin' long it took this doofus to catch on.

"This is a video game," he laughed. "It's exactly like Emerald Online, just with better VR immersion."

"Uh, never heard of it," Naofumi admitted, revealing himself to be hopelessly behind on popular culture.

"Seriously, it's huge?"

"I've never heard of Emerald Online," Itsuki intervened, "but this is far too reminiscent of a console game I've been playing: Dimension Web. The stat matchups and the menu format arrangement are exactly the same, and there's even the plot of the monster-spewing Waves of Calamity."

Motoyasu was about to start an argument about how he'd never heard of it when Yumiella stood.

"Considering the multiverse theory, and the likeliness that none of you know about Balshine, I suspect that we were all inhabitants of different versions of Japan, and thus the popular games we see reflected in this world will be different between our worlds," Yumiella declared firmly. "If we can be summoned from one dimension to another, I see no reason why we cannot be summoned from multiple dimensions."

Whoa, she really is smart! I bet she's a total Class President type... except isn't she from European nobility or something? I know there are still some dukes and counts and things, but is Balshine Kingdom a thing that exists alongside Japan? "Alright then, let's compare some general knowledge, then," he suggested, taking the lead as the oldest. "Historical figures, important dates, or even just what year it was for you."

It took about ten minutes of Q&A exchanges to establish that Naofumi was from a world where Oda Nobunaga had died so some guy named Tokugawa Ieyasu won the Daimyo Wars instead, Yumiella was from a European-style world where there was magic and dragons and dungeons as well, and upon learning that Itsuki had admitted he was from a world where people had begun being born with X-Men like super powers called Quirks in the 1950s and there had been a major shakeup and collapse of civilization in his grandparents' lifetime as a result.

At the end of their revelations, Motoyasu's head was still spinning while Naofumi lounged back looking tired and asked, "So we've got a girl who grew up in this kind of fantasy world and you two both played video games like it? Great. Why am I the only one left out of the meta-knowledge loop?"

Motoyasu opened his mouth to console the poor guy about being stuck with the useless Shield to boot-

"While it's possible that the summoners may have erred in their ritual, and you are paying the price of their mistake, it is more likely that you have some form of talent or real-life experience that will be pertinent to the task at hand, and it is simply less obvious in the metaphorical tutorial stage," Yumiella assessed drily.

"Really?" Naofumi wondered, and Motoyasu didn't have the heart to break his happy bubble.

Sadly, Itsuki was younger and thus less prone to being understanding. "And here I thought it was just because you got stuck as the Shield Hero," the bowman teased.

"Huh?"

"And here I thought it was just because you got stuck as the Shield Hero."

"Huh? Is there something wrong with the Shield?" Naofumi wonder, worrying that he was really drawing the shortest straw in this crazy adventure thing.

Motoyasu claimed it was his job as the oldest to share the bad news, and said, "As far as I've ever seen, the Shielder Class in Emerald Online that specializes in shields is... well, it's pretty much for losers, because no true gamer ever plays it."

"It whaaaaaaat?!" Naofumi wailed, his fragile hopes and dreams collapsing on him. "Itsuki, what about in your world? Yumiella, are there awesome magic shields in a live fantasy world?"

"Sorry man, shielders suck," Itsuki admitted.

Yumiella looked thoughtful (in so far as her face ever showed anything). "Were there weapons in your games that are not represented here, such as clubs or flails? If so, then someone wielding one of those would have been summoned in place of the shield. If nothing else, a shield doubles as both a heavy bludgeon and a powerful protection... Enchanted weapons were not used much compared to spells in Balshine, but I vaguely remember an online game a long time ago where a great-shield user was the third-ranked player who had even PVP killed the two players ranked above her without ever dying. ...It should be possible, but I expect you will have a harder time until we learn what techniques the shield can use in combat."

Naofumi felt a bit more confident, Itsuki huffed, and Motoyasu laughed out loud.

"Ahahaha~! Wow, good luck trying to level grind on Hard Mode, Naofumi. I'll pray for you to get a cheat code or a quick unlock, and if you die we'll make fun of you at your spawn point."

Yumiella smacked the table, showing the first frown he'd seen on her face all day.

"Do not joke about that. This is not a game, Mister Motoyasu, this is a world with similarities to a game; the people here who are dying in the waves are flesh and blood humans with lives and souls and suffering. If you try to treat them like NPCs, they are likely to surprise you in the worst way," she warned flatly. "They - sss! - they bleed just red as we do, and their lives are no less precious."

"Aww shit, your hand!" Motoyasu yelped as Naofumi's stomach squirmed.

Yumiella had used her Holy Sword's edge to deliberately cut the heel of her left palm wide open, producing a lot of blood and a glimpse of pale bone at the center of the gash.

"This hurts. This world is not a game, and if you treat this world-ending catastrophe lightly, you will die," Yumiella grit out, holding out her wounded hand to make her point clear. "Turgid Flow."

Blood kept flowing, dripping down to the floor.

"...Ah. It appears my healing magic does not work in this world."

The door to the room burst open.

"Lady Sword Hero, I'm here to help!" a woman in summoner-group robes from before shouted as she rushed over.

Yumiella's cut was healed with the new world's healing magic easily enough, and the castle kindly provided her with some night clothes and the promise that her blood-spattered outfit would be laundered and returned in the morning.

The maid then showed her back to the meeting room and bowed.

"Before you go," Yumiella requested, "please bring us paper and writing instruments. It will be useful if we can take notes while we speak."

"Right away, Lady Sword Hero," the woman agreed, and a stack of blank paper was delivered with some quills and metal pens a minute later.

"Oh great, high school note-taking time all over again," Itsuki sighed tiredly.

"If two of you have information regarding locations, events, or specific skills and power-ups to pursue, then it seems a good idea to share some of it," Yumiella said.

But that was not what she showed them, written in Japanese.

People are eavesdropping on us, talk and write different things.

"Eh?" "That's?" "Hmm..."

The three boys needed a moment to think it over, but none of them gave it away audibly.

"Well," Motoyasu said slowly as Yumiella continued writing Japanese and hoping she wasn't making many mistakes from being out of practice, "I certainly can't turn down a girl with beauty and brains, milady. I think each weapon has their own individual preferred hunting grounds, so I'll rattle off what I can remember- oy! Don't just crib off the lady's notes, you two, grab some paper and do your own writing," he scolded the other two boys.

They grabbed paper for themselves and Yumiella presented her next set of hopefully-legible Japanese Kana for them to read.

If the king is not secretly evil, then I suspect the Grand Vizier who was beside him has a stereotypical wicked plot in the works. There are certainly other political factions who want our help, our support, or our service. They are listening to us now and the weapons require us to split up, so we will have very limited ability to make plans.

Motoyasu rubbed at his chin, then instead of writing anything he impressed Yumiella with some applicable double-talk.

"The world mechanics are similar to Emerald Online, but there wasn't any Melromarc Kingdom in that game that I recall. Chances are even if locations are similar they're going to have different names," Motoyasu rambled slowly to give them all time to write. "I didn't really party up with other people, but it's a pity there isn't any way to contact the admins or PM each other for references on what we encounter. Miss Yumiella, are you remembering anything from your own fantasy monster hunting experiences?"

"Game fights are nothing like live combat," Yumiella answered firmly as she wrote more. "They're good to predict elemental affinities and weaknesses... Itsuki, do you have anything to contribute in particular?"

"In Dimension Web, each weapon can be built and upgraded with specific rare drops or materials, so each weapon has its own superior 'hunting ground' where it is better to train and find those materials."

"A list of weapons and materials would be invaluable, thank you," Yumiella said perfunctorily as she finished. "If you could read this and give me your opinion, please?"

She held out the paper on which she'd written her big reveal, and the boys gathered around.

"Wait, is this for real?" Naofumi asked.

"Is the idea of a New Game Plus really so surprising?" Yumiella answered plainly, using terminology that ought not to tip off the eavesdroppers gathered around their meeting room.

Japan and Balshine did not exist on the same planet. This is my third life, the second time I came to a new world after dying.
In my first life, I was Yumi Satou, a 20-year-old college student who was struck by a drunk driver and died in the hospital a day later.
I then became aware of myself as a 5-year-old girl, and I realized I had reincarnated into Yumiella Dolkness, a side character in a video game I enjoyed in my first life.
The real world was very different from the game despite some similarities, and those differences got me killed
In the game, the recommended level to fight the Demon King is a party of four Level 70+ characters.
In my second life, I was Level 99 when I fought the Demon King at the head of a party of five capable characters
When he realized he was outmatched in direct combat, the Demon King changed to tactics that did not exist in the game: impenetrable fog to induce friendly fire, hit and run attacks to wear us down, crippling shots aimed to disable our limbs rather than draining our HP, and eventually collapsing the masonry of his castle on us to kill us.
None of these techniques were possible in the game. My inability to adapt despite 13 years of life experience on top of my meta-knowledge got me killed, and I do not know if more than one of my party members survived
Additionally, there were several groups and factions who did not exist in the game but who tried to interfere with, recruit, blackmail, or assassinate me.
I suspect my experience with the dangers of confusing the tutorial video game I played with the increased danger of real life combat is why I was summoned, to counterbalance your knowledge of the world mechanics.
They are eavesdropping on us still despite pretending to give us privacy and calling us great heroes of legend
They are probably watching us with magic too, if they could see see me cut myself and send in a healer immediately, before we called for help from the outside

"Spooky," Naofumi said with a short nod. "Those are all good points about this stuff, too."

"That does explain a few things I was curious about," Itsuki agreed slowly. "And that it was Truck-kun... Hey, this is a slight change of topic, but what were your situations before you were summoned? I had a dump truck bearing down on me at high speed, so I'll admit, part of me was worrying this was some weird coma dream while I was in a hospital bed."

"I had a fist-sized hole through my stomach and spine, and our only healer was exhausted on top of having three other injury victims to treat," Yumiella summarized, since her written paper had most of the words and context already. So it seems we all died before coming here? That would explain why I have no injuries and also suffered a Level Reset. It didn't transport over my Level 99 body and heal it, the ritual created a new Level 1 body and poured my soul inside.

"Ouch! But yeah, I definitely died too," Motoyasu admitted. "Two girls I was seeing, they got into a fight, and when I got between them they both stabbed me."

"Wait, all three of you died? I was just in a bookstore, reading this weird old book when light enveloped me and I was falling through space."

"We all died. Probably the light and the fall was the result of a bomb going off nearby and you died before the pain registered," Yumiella assessed. "If there was civil unrest, a terror bombing could kill you without realizing."

"I could believe that," Itsuki said thoughtfully.

"Ouch! But hey, at least it was painless," Motoyasu offered. "Well, that, or maybe magic existed in your world behind a masquerade and you were reading a magic book that summoned you. What was it about, any weird squiggly writing?"

"There wasn't- A magic book, huh..." Naofumi mused thoughtfully.

Yumiella wasn't sure the book would be important, but the Shield bearer seemed to disagree as he suddenly almost jolted out of his seat and grabbed more blank paper.

"It might have been a magic book after all, let me transcribe some things and you guys tell me what you think," Naofumi said hurriedly as he began writing.

"A bolt of manic inspiration," Itsuki sighed. "Maybe we should all write down our notes and then exchange them?"

I feel we're doing this a bit too obviously... but I suppose it doesn't matter in the long run, Yumiella assessed, so she set to writing an outline of how her experiences with Light Mage & Hero had differed from her experiences living as Yumiella.

Obloquy · Jun 25, 2024

Naofumi:

The book I read was really weird, because it read like a Light Novel but the text looked hand-written, the pages looked at least 100 years old, and it was bound in beaten up leather too. So maybe it was a magic book!

It was about four heroes who had to save the world from catastrophe, and they were a lot like us with each one wielding a sword, a bow, a shield, or a spear. Some chapters focused on all four of them but there were also chapters focused on one of them specifically, but then when I got to the chapter of the Shield Hero, the second page and every page after that was blank and that was when it started to glow.

Yumiella:

That may be why you were summoned. A novel has characters and plot events, so while we have experience with game mechanics and how to translate them into real life actions, your book would give you experience with the characters we will interact with, political factions we may encounter, and other data. What do you remember?

Motoyasu:

Yup, sounds like a magic book to me. Did the characters have our names? Maybe that's why they left the Shield blank, if you were summoned last of us four.

Itsuki:

It might have been a history book. Supposedly there were previous heroes who fought against previous Waves of Calamity, so it might have been their story instead. Yumiella, did your world have any events like a wave of Calamity? You mentioned a Demon King?

Yumiella:

No. The Demon King was a human who used evil magic to become an immortal demon and send his army of undead monsters out to destroy the kingdom. And after twelve years, I cannot remember games and series from my first life very clearly. Naofumi, do you have the book with you?

Motoyasu:

We came with our clothes! I'll go ask a maid if they can send someone to check the summoning circle if you dropped it.

Naofumi:

I don't have it, and I only skimmed to see if I would want to buy it since reading it in a bookstore and putting it back on the shelf is rude.

But the book was really weird because instead of names it used titles for everything. The Kingdom. The Princess. The Spear Hero. The Royal Bird.

Okay, first thing. There are all sorts of magical creatures and then there are many people too. No elves and dwarves, but there are Demihumans who look a little animal like a cat girl, beast men who look more like animals, and then there are Royal Monsters which are monsters who can talk and use magic. They don't all get along.

*Several pages were splattered with ink and discarded as Motoyasu immediately began asking about cat-girls and fox-girls and cute girls with angel wings*

Yumiella:

I had a tame pet dragon in my last life, Ryu. I miss him.

Naofumi:

Dragons exist and so do tame monsters, I think. There was a big deal about a very powerful Royal Bird?

The first specific chapter had the Sword Hero taking point in the first wave, where cut off all three heads of a Cerberus at once while the other heroes killed its pack of hellhounds. However, the Sword Hero became too proud of his achievement and slew a dragon, only for the dragon's family to somehow swear vengeance? The plot was still going, I don't know.

The Bow Hero's chapter was about how he became hunted for some crime he got tricked into earlier, and then when the second wave hit he had to argue for his right to one of the chimera's heads as a prize alongside the others.

Apparently there's something about monster material being valuable? I think the Bow Hero went on to coat his arrows in snake poison, but maybe that was Hercules.

The Spear Hero was well-loved, and then he became the most powerful when he learned that he could use the other weapons special strengthening methods on his spear, because the others didn't want to bother using his methods, but it turned out people in his party were plotting against him.

The Shield Hero chapter was blank, but before that there was The King who trusted the wrong people and The Princess who had some kind of malevolent plan to seize the throne? Since apparently she didn't want to wait for her parents to die of old age. Oh, and The Queen exists and is alive, but she's visiting another country.

Itsuki:

Motoyasu, you're a ladies' man. Can you avoid getting stabbed if you ask a maid to tell you about the queen and whether there's a royal princess?

*Ink smudges from a scuffle as Motoyasu demonstrates his ability to give a noogie*

Yumiella:

Since the Cardinal Weapons do not translate the written word, at some point it may be worth taking an hour to have people read a history book out loud to us. In the meanwhile, I have a short list of the types of situations we might encounter.

1) Resentful companions -- people who resent our growth and resent that strangers are gaining the power we will use to save the world. In my Balshine life, several people whom I knew to be generally nice characters in the game were very resentful, distrustful, and accusatory to me for years because they were scared of my capability and hated that I outshone them by reaching the Level Cap.

2) Leeches -- people who will seek to befriend us so they can ask favors and profit off of us. After I became known as Level 99, several people aggressively offered me gaudy, expensive gifts in hopes I would be bound to them. One idiot actually offered to buy me "all the jewels and gowns I wanted" if I married him and helped him conquer our neighbors.

3) Trick Quests and Trap Quests -- at the end of the first year in-game, there was a quest to go slay a fire-element dragon that was terrorizing a town. The character dialogue seemed to push you to go out where it was hunting livestock and attack it immediately with fire resistant armor, but it was a trap. If you scouted out the dragon's nest, you would discover that it was a mated pair of dragons guarding an egg, and you needed wind-resistant equipment to avoid being killed by the second dragon. The quest killed me three times in the game before I figured out how to beat it correctly.

4) Disguised Assassinations -- be very careful if anyone claiming to be an agent of the crown asks you to do something that sounds suspicious. In my last life, an assassin once approached me in broad daylight claiming to be a researcher for the Royal Tool Laboratory. He invited me to a room to test anti-magic manacles the crown wanted to use to restrain criminals. When I reported that I could not access my magic at all, several assassins emerged to attack me.

Naofumi:

I'm definitely seeing treachery and betrayal as a recurring risk here, with the Bow Hero tricked into crime and the Spear Hero being plotted against by his party.

And having the Shield means I don't even have the option to play it safe and go solo because my ATK is so low.

Itsuki

Being framed for a crime would be a nightmare for me, yes. Motoyasu already mentioned that he was stabbed by two girls he trusted, and I can see Yumiella's pride in being Level 99 and having the experience of a New Game Plus might make her overconfident.

Dimension Web didn't have very many trap quests, but there were a few chain quests where you had to do them in multiple steps as the situation changed after each step: go to the forest to get ingredients for a woman's medicine only to discover when you return that the town was attacked by bandits and you need to rescue the kidnapping victims, that kind of thing. There was also one quest where you went into a cave and then the quest-giver ambushed you because he wanted to steal your gear and sell them.

Motoyasu:

I just finished my list of Emerald Online's Mastery and Enchanting methods, don't talk bad about me while I'm too busy to read after I found out for us the Queen is out of the country! Where's your list of cool data stuff Itsuki?

Don't worry, I'll go back to the regular format for the next chapter, I just wanted to show what they were writing to each other while having inane conversations to mostly mislead the people eavesdropping on them. Thank you for reading!

Obloquy · Jun 25, 2024

It was dark the first night after their summoning, but darkness hadn't stopped Yumiella from intently staring at the phantasmal Status Message that only she could see.

New Sword Unlocked! -- Ichor Sword I (unmastered)

Base Power = ATK+3 ... ... Equip Bonus = +4 M.ATK

Ability: Rush of Blood -- Passively increase M.ATK by percent equal to the percent of HP you have lost, to a maximum of +99%

Yumiella would have told the three boys about this 'new form' she had presumably unlocked by bleeding on the Cardinal Sword when she cut her hand open, but she hadn't noticed the alert message until she was already in the room the palace set up for her, and she remembered how Patrick had reacted the first time she invited him into her bedroom in broad daylight when they were both clothed and Rita was present to chaperone.

Instead, she had done her own investigations in her temporary guest bed.

Sadly, discovering there were new ways to unlock new swords she could then master (AKA, Level Up each weapon individually,) had prompted Yumiella to do an even deeper Status Menu wiki walk than she had attempted earlier in the evening, and as a result she hadn't gone to sleep until well past midnight.

She'd needed to be shaken awake twice by a maid the next morning, and they'd brought her a small breakfast to eat quickly so she wouldn't keep the king waiting in the audience chamber, so there hadn't been time for any more surreptitious secret discussions.

Still, last night's discussion had given each of the four a list of location descriptions to level-grind, a list of particularly nasty trick monsters to look out for -- they all agreed that Yumiella's description of a Shadow Assassin was very spooky -- a list of common scams they'd each heard about from pop culture in their worlds, and a list of how the mechanics of the two video games could translate to improve a character and their equipment in a real fantasy world.

Yumiella was still Level One, but she and the others would be changing that very soon, and Motoyasu had even made a bet for a favor about which of them had a higher level come the next Wave. She hoped it would be an engaging (and distracting, because she missed Patrick and Ryu and Balshine all so much) competition for a good cause.

The next morning, Motoyasu and Naofumi had keeled over laughing when Yumiella rushed up to the door to the audience room with a piece of toast still half-eaten, so Yumiella quickly gulped it down and tried to hit them with Dark Bind repeatedly (to no avail, her magic just wasn't working,) until the doors swung open.

"Great heroes, thank you for answering my summons! We sent out for capable volunteers, and we have gathered brave souls to accompany you on your quest!" King Aultcray declared.

Yumiella had already started contemplating how she would vet the ones applying to be her teammates when the King continued, and it took her a moment to parse that the applicants would instead be selecting which hero they wished to follow.

And when was the last time I ever won a popularity contest? Yumiella reflected tiredly as the dozen adventurers each moved to stand behind the hero they had chosen. Moreover, this guarantees that a spy can be slipped into each of our parties without missing anyone or doubling up. Excellent plotting on someone's part.

Once the decisions were made, Yumiella turned to look-

What?

-and she found that both her prior assumptions may have been wrong, as not only did she have the most followers behind her, but Naofumi had none, which would leave him unsupported but also with no spies to control him or report back.

Perhaps I read it wrong, and the kingdom just did not plan this out very efficiently, she acknowledge. Still... "Six party members, that seems a little much."

"It's way too much!" Naofumi complained.

"Hahahahahaha~! Looks like Melromarc knows the value of a powerful and beautiful woman," Motoyasu cackled.

"I only like men who can defeat me," Yumiella answered on reflex as he finally exceeded her tolerance for stupid flirting. Motoyasu saluted her challengingly with her spear. Wait, I'm no longer Level 99 now! "I have a boyfriend, no flirting."

"Ma'am yes ma'am," he drawled smarmily in reply.

"Yo! King!" Naofumi shouted. "What's with this?"

"Despite my title of Wisdom King, even I was not expecting this," the King slowly mused.

Wisdom King? No one is snickering so I guess he wasn't senile enough to invent that name, Yumiella assessed.

"No volunteers? He must have zero charisma," the now-confirmed-almost-certainly-evil Vizier mocked unhelpfully. Meanwhile, Yumiella was at least relieved to see a knight lean in and whisper help to the aging and potentially senile king.

"Hrm? I see... My apologies, but servant gossip has unofficially spread rumors of the contents of your private discussion last night, Great Heroes. There seems to be a belief that the Shield Hero is more ignorant of our world than the other three, even though the heroes are supposed to be summoned with knowledge regarding our lands and language. In contrast, Lady Sword Hero-," Yumiella twitched at the title, which had begun to be by used servants after she'd revealed herself to be a countess in her previous world. "-is reputed to be a veteran who rose to the Level Cap despite her young age, and our adventurers are understandably very drawn to her."

"Damn, and here I thought the eavesdropping worries were overblown," Motoyasu hissed to Naofumi.

"You think? Better late than never I guess," Naofumi replied. "Still! Yumiella, there's no way you need as many as the rest of us combined! Just give me half and it'll be fair."

That does sound reasonable. "That does sound reasonable," Yumiella agreed, only for her group of six to shift uncomfortably and begin muttering. "...Six is too large a party to manage this early. If two or three of you help the Shield Hero for a week or two, we can switch back afterward."

"Ahem!" Yumiella had to turn her attention back to the king before any of her followers could cave in to her plan. "Brave Heroes, as the heroes are the ones who will lead their party to victory or death, an adventurer's need to trust in their commander must not be ignored; in light of this, I am unwilling to overrule the companions' decisions and force them to move."

"I wouldn't want to kick out any of the ladies in my party," Motoyasu agreed. "Sorry!"

"Forcing the issue definitely could destroy everyone's moral, making them give up because they feel trapped and unhappy or unsafe," Itsuki added.

This isn't really between the two of you, it's between me, Naofumi, and six figures who may want to leech off me without putting the work in, Yumiella brooded.

"Oh come on! You're telling me I ought to just go it alone?! I have no attack power!!"

"If you are willing to spend this first month with the Shield Hero, and switch back after I will be in your debt for the convenience," Yumiella pressed, and all six again looked very uncomfortable. This... is not natural anxiety on their parts.

"If I may, Sire," the sinister-looking vizier interrupted, and Yumiella braced for a malicious plot, "perhaps the matter can be remedied with money? We had already planned to give each Hero and their Party a small allowance for expenses; if the Shield hero receives a slightly larger allowance while also having smaller expenses due to traveling on his own, it should be easy for him to hire a few companions to help him level up and train."

On the one hand, I am now wondering if I misjudged and the Vizier is not evil, Yumiella assessed. On the other hand, this could be a good opening for a long-term plan to slip thieves or traitors into the Shield Hero's party in a different method. By why not just have an adventurer join the Shield Hero of their own accord without this show?

There is something very important we do not know, and unlike my last life I have no meta-knowledge to guide me.

Yumiella had been repeatedly told that she lacked some elements of common sense (although she disagreed with this statement), but she usually had relatively solid political sense for understanding plots and plans in the making. This time, she was utterly confused and had to assume either that some first step had failed off-screen in a comedic way and that everyone was scrambling to cover for it... or there was some other unknown detail that would explain where this was going.

"That does seem-,"

"Sir Hero!" One of Motoyasu's followers, a redhead with an armored leather bustier and a sword on her belt, stepped out of their line-up. "If it wouldn't leave you too understaffed, Sir Spear Hero, I'd be willing to shift over and join the Shield Hero's party instead, with your permission."

"Um." One of the women who'd stood behind Yumiella leaned out and admitted, "I'm not sure about the Shield, but if Lady Sword Hero is willing then I would like to move over to the Spear Hero's party?"

Yumiella desperately resisted the urge to face-palm and gestured for the appropriate re-shuffling to commence. At the end of everyone's awkward shifting, she was down to 4 followers, Itsuki had 4 after an archer had moved over from Yumiella to join him, Motoyasu had three girls again, and Naofumi had the redheaded adventurer Myne.

The first month's funds were distributed, with Naofumi's 2-man party getting an extra 200 silver to hire help, and finally they were all dismissed to move out the front gate and off to the castle town.

As they passed under the portcullis, Yumiella declared, "Please give us privacy to speak with my fellow heroes." She had to shoo her hands a few times -- I really miss being Level 99, with almost everyone willing to listen to me about normal things -- but eventually all of the followers stepped away.

"Is it just me, or was that whole thing weird?" Naofumi complained. "Like, I got zero people?!"

"Aww, suck it up. You got the absolute ten of a beauty all alone with you in the end, didn't you?" Motoyasu countered. "Bet someone's gonna get lucky soon~!

"No, it was very suspicious, and the king seemed... slow," Yumiella agreed. "I suspect the Vizier tried to sneak a spy into each of our parties to report on us and control us-,"

"Except Naofumi almost didn't have a party," Itsuki countered.

"Yeah! No way a beauty like Myne could do anything sneaky!" Motoyasu agreed loudly.

"My maid of three years, Rita, was forced to poison my tea because her sister's life was being held hostage against her compliance. You don't have to be evil to do a bad deed for the sake of your family," Yumiella disagreed. Motoyasu grimaced and Naofumi scowled.

"Okay, but that doesn't explain why it didn't work and Naofumi almost had no party," Itsuki observed. "Did they not want to spy on him or something?"

"Do not assume that other people's plans cannot suffer misfortune. My best guess is that one of the prospective spies got replaced, or the Vizier didn't have enough spies," Yumiella reasoned evenly, "but for six people to refuse to join the Shield Hero even though they were willing to join the other heroes?"

"I mean, the Shielder class is for losers," Motoyasu said with a shrug.

"Hey! Just because I haven't unlocked my Hard Mode Super Move powers doesn't mean I never will!"

"Do you usually solo-play Emerald Online? Does it have a party system? I can imagine that no one wants to be the Shielder unless it's as a boast," Yumiella noted, "but it would be very helpful to have a Shielder teammate who can protect you."

"Moreover," Itsuki agreed, "we didn't know why Naofumi had a different summoning event until he remembered about the book. We don't know why the shield was summoned, but as Countess Dolkness-," She smirked at her and she resisted the urge to scare him with dark magic she did not possess. "-said, the fact that you were summoned with a shield instead of a club or a flail seems significant. ...I guess we can't cooperate directly until the Wave without consequences, but good luck with Myne and your recruitment."

"Ah. I checked my Help menu," Yumiella relayed before the boys could split, "and the 'support of the world' is a multiplier of 10 to experience gained, but it then gets divided between all the heroes in range. If your experience gain does not end in a multiple of 10, it means we are too close and the benefits are splitting. Please use that to estimate how far we need to travel away from each other. Also..."

"What, again?" Naofumi complained as Yumiella cut her finger and squeezed a drop of her blood onto his Shield's jewel. "Huh? Ichor Shield II, but its ability is locked?"

"Two? I unlocked Ichor Sword One when I bled on my own sword last night." Maybe it's-,

"Aha, got it! Ichor Sword I, needed my own blood. Here, let's see if I can get you version three," Motoyasu offered, holding out the finger he'd stabbed with his spear head.

It took several tries to make Naofumi bleed, because apparently the Shield's bullshit defense meant that Yumiella's sword swing would bounce off him and Motoyasu had to put effort into a thrust, but eventually Yumiella was staring at the Status Updates of all four Ichor Swords.

Ichor Sword I (unmastered)

Base Power = ATK+3 ... ... Equip Bonus: +4 M.ATK

Ability: Rush of Blood -- Increase M.ATK by percent equal to the percent of HP you have lost, to a maximum of +99%

Ichor Sword II (unmastered)

Base Power = ATK+3 ... ... Equip Bonus: +3 M.ATK ... +2 ATK

Equip Skill: Baying For Blood -- spend SP over time for a damage increase (large) against any opponent who has injured a member of your party or a fellow Cardinal Hero (the user does not count)

Ichor Sword III (unmastered)

Base Power = ATK+3 ... ... Equip Bonus: +3 M.ATK ... +2 ATK ... +2 SPD

Ability: Blood in Your Eyes -- enhance perception to improve chances of landing a critical hit against a target that has injured you

Ichor Sword IV (unmastered)

Base Power = ATK+3 ... ... Equip Bonus: +2 ATK ... +2 M.ATK ... +2 DEF ... +2 M.DEF

Ability: Write with Blood, and Thou Will Find that Blood is Spirit -- the Status Menu gains a Messages Tab where you can send messages to other Legendary Heroes through their weapons, but sending a message will drain HP in proportion to its length

The fourth ability seemed to be shared between all four heroes, even if the details on the other weapons in this development tree tended to vary slightly.

"Hah, great! So we've got accessed to email again, but we literally pay for it in blood? That's useless," Motoyasu complained.

"It's more useful than not having it," Itsuki countered. "Email can be hacked, snail mail can be lost or delayed or stolen, but with this there's no way for anyone to intercept or overhear our discussions. I have more than 100 HP, I can burn 10 or 20 if I'm not going to fight much."

"Sent," Yumiella declared, having written a practice message while the boys were talking. "It seems to be roughly 1 HP per word. Have you received it yet?"

The boys all checked and nodded.

"All right. As the oldest and the guy prophecized by Naofumi's book to be the most awesome, I hereby dismiss us for training! Booyah!"

"Yo! Try not to get stabbed by your teammates," Naofumi called after him.

"Don't go reading the wrong books while I'm gone, ya useless Shielder!" Motoyasu fired back as the four parted ways to reunite with their parties and start their day.

Obloquy · Jun 25, 2024

"My name is Bakta, Lady Hero," began the largest and oldest figure at their brunch table. "I spent my early years helping my father cut timber in the woods, until monsters attacked us one afternoon and I found my calling in cutting them apart. I'm skilled in tracking, woodcraft, and carpentry as well as harvesting monsters for materials."

Yumielaa considered this. "In my homeland, monster that were slain would usually dissolve and leave behind a mana stone. Here they need to be rendered down into hide, sinew, meat, and oil fat by hand?"

"Yes! It's a messy job, but I'm happy to do it! You kill 'em, I grill 'em! Plus I can cook too," he boasted, "and I'll kill anything that tries to get me when it thinks I'm busy."

"Thank you... Mister Bakta." I ought to put more effort into remembering their names than I did with my classmates' names. At least I remember roughly how job interviews and team introductions went from my first life. "And you?"

The gray-haired boy -- Don't think of Patrick, don't get distracted by remembering Patrick -- shifted around like he wanted to stand and bow, but also didn't want to make a scene over lunch.

"My name is Welt, Countess Dolkness. My aunt is the Countess Bluegrass, and she funded my magical studies. I have an array of Faust spells across the elements and several Zweite spells of the wind and ice elements."

"I see. I am unfamiliar with the terminology and elemental notation that you mentioned, but that can wait. If you have the resources, I would be interested in learning to cast magic as well."

"Y-Yes milady! It would be my honor!!" he shouted, bolting up eagerly from his chair and spraying a bit of spit that just missed Yumiella's face.

...Another loud and excitable person, less cute than Eleonora, Yumiella realized. She turned to the next man, an orangey brunette, who gave her a sharp smile and a nod.

"My name is Tersia, Lady Hero," he greeted with a smooth voice that reminded her a lot of Principal Ronald when he was trying to make himself sound trustworthy. "I have scouting skills much like Bakta, although my combat skills lean more toward knives and agility."

"A rogue-type. Climbing trees and ambush tactics?" Yumiella assessed.

"Hah! Just because you're unable to take them head on," Bakta laughed with a hearty backslap. "Man up and learn to hunt, why don't you?"

"Name your place and your prey, old man," Tersia countered with a bit of grit to his voice before he remembered himself. "Ahem. Bakta might arguably be better than me in the deep forest, but if we'll be traveling across Melromarc then my naturalist skills and herbal remedies cannot be beat, whether we're in the mountains or by the sea. I've also served several years running high-priority messages between noble houses, so my discretion is top-notch and many noble guards are familiar with me."

"Poisons and other herbal techniques are likely to be very useful," Yumiella agreed, which for some reason made the three men shift anxiously. "And finally...?"

The green-haired girl had literally done a cartwheel from excitement on their way to the restaurant, so Yumiella was braced for a more Eleonora-style outburst, but instead she put her hands together and bowed in her seat.

"My name is Farrie, and I specialize in unarmed combat augmented by a little magic. My dream is to become skilled enough that I develop my own unique style and have it named after me. After treating my own injuries, I have also taken lessons first aid and medicine, so I can splint a bone, stitch up a cut, remove an arrowhead, and suck the venom from a snakebite. Thank you for accepting me into your party."

Yumiella took a moment to reference her Japanese and Balshine etiquette lessons for her reply/introduction.

"My name is Yumiella Dolkness, summoned from Balshine Kingdom as the Cardinal Sword Hero. Despite wielding the cardinal sword, I have only three years of sword lessons, as I primarily used to fight with my raw strength and magical skill. Nevertheless, I became the youngest and most powerful person in our Kingdom's history by achieving Level 99 prior to my fifteenth birthday, and I intend to use the lessons I learned then to repeat the feat faster now that my level has been reset, and hopefully to bring you with me to the highest echelons of ability. It will take tremendous effort and a lot of combat, but I intend that we will conquer the Waves and save the world."

"""YES!!""" the other four cheered, and Yumiella smiled at their enthusiasm.

Even if one of them is a spy, I hope we can succeed without problems. No one has ever showed enthusiasm about my leveling methods before. It feels nice to be accepted.

"Holy Sword Hero! How may we be of service?" invited the very excited nun/priestess.

"The Dragon Hourglass, please," Yumiella requested.

"Yes, of course, right this way!"

Yumiella had wanted to get started with Level Grinding immediately after brunch, but when he'd heard she was planning for them to leave the capital city Bakta had suggested that she needed to synchronize with the Dragon Hourglass so that it would alert and transport her to the Second Wave when it came.

"The Hero of the Holy Bow came by earlier, and he revealed that the Dragon's Hourglass sand can be used to unlock the power of the Three Holy Weapons as well, so we'll be happy to provide you with a small amount of that too," the holy woman gushed as she led the way. "It won't be necessary yet, of course but when your brave companions eventually reach the Level Cap then you can return to the Three Heroes Church have them Class Up at no cost as a courtesy at any time."

"Level Cap? Class Up?" Yumiella asked intently. Three Heroes Church? Not four?

"Oh! Yes, um... Ordinary human people cannot progress beyond the Level Cap at Level 40, no matter what great deeds they obtain, unless they come to the Dragon's Hourglass to undergo a Class Up ceremony, after which they can progress all the way to Level 100," the woman recited. "When you Class Up, you change from your basic Class to an advanced class with superior stat growth and specialties. I am a priestess, so if I ever reach Level 30 I could become an arch-priestess, or a cleric, or a paladin, or something similar."

"Level Thirty? Or Level Forty?"

"My most fervent apologies for being vague, your holiness," the woman clarified. "For people who live violent and active lives seeking combat, it is usually wiser to Class Up when you reach the Level Cap at Level 40, but it is possible to Class Up as early as Level 30 if you don't mind your options being restricted and your growth afterward being less than what it could be."

"That is very useful, thank you. Can you tell me more about Class options?" Do I have a Class? It might be that "Sword Hero" bit in my status menu... but how do people check their status if status magic is supposed to be exclusive to the Legendary weapons? A magic tool?

"I must shamefully confess that I don't know much about anything other than being a Priestess, your holiness. It's all I've ever wanted. But! If you'll give me a minute or two, I can fetch someone far more educated than I, while you link to the Dragon's Hourglass."

"Yes please," Yumiella sighed. This brief exchange while moving through the church had left her with far more questions than answers, and she had some sinking suspicions about the answers she would find after some digging. How is it that a kingdom with a literal 'Anti-King Faction' felt more cohesive and less corrupt than Melromarc does?

Obloquy · Jun 25, 2024

Mister Ficser said:
Huh. Neat.

I've been following this over on Spacebattles.

I'm glad you brought it here! Little miss Dolkness is a fun read, especially with how she's actually got a brain compared to literally everybody else.

Thank you!

Yumiella isn't going to fix everything just because she has a brain -- she also has significant problems of her own to over come -- but she has different problems than Ren had since being a loner who continues on mostly alone is boring for me to write about, and she'll have to face her own different types of issues and grow along the way.

I decided to port this over to enter it in the Summerfest Storytelling Showdown, so I hope my readers will support me when it gets going!

Obloquy · Jun 26, 2024

People who lacked faith might have believed that the Sword Hero's arrival in poor timing was a sign that heaven was against them, but Biscas T. Balmus the Supreme High Priest (a.k.a. "Pope", according to a Holy Sword Hero of generations past,) held no such doubts.

Did it feel inconvenient that the Holy Sword Hero had arrived during his lunch hour, meaning he could not immediately introduce himself and assess her character? Yes.

However, in truth this turn of events merely allowed Balmus to demonstrate his humility and dedication by abandoning his half-finished plate to attend to the holy heroine and answer her questions! Rather than force himself into the three heroes' spheres, he had always intended to let them come to him -- as the Bow Hero had done already that morning -- in order to take their measure and to judge whether or not they were true heroes willing to support his Holy Crusade.

Best of all, he had his remaining lunch hour to speak with her before other business would interfere.

Melromarc was a matriarchy, so having a woman summoned as a Holy Hero was an exciting proposition, and he'd had to forcibly remind his spies in the companions group to stick with their assignments rather than gathering around the Sword Hero.

Moreover, while Balmus knew that a True Holy Hero was summoned with some knowledge of their world -- and that the Shield Devil lacked this knowledge was a convenient confirmation of his incompetent evil and his corrupt nature -- his Shadows had reported that the Holy Sword Hero was reputedly a high-level noble warrior potentially at or near the Level Cap before her summoning induced a Level Reset.

The word of a female Holy Hero would pull in tremendous national support, even from those sinfully tepid demographics who held too much trust in Queen Mirellia. The Holy Sword Hero would not 'make or break' his upcoming campaign -- divine mandate had ensured that he would succeed, the only question was how many of his loyal followers were slain by the sinful in the process of purifying Melromarc -- but she could sweep him to triumph with ease or she could turn the battle into a long and bloody slog.

Balmus bowed reverently when he arrived to find the Holy Sword Hero waiting by the Dragon Hourglass.

"Your Holiness, I am Pope Balmus, the leader of this church. Sister Challene mentioned that you had some questions, in addition to needing to synchronize with the Dragon's Era Hourglass. May I be of service to you this day?"

The long moment it took her to respond was enough for Balmus to write off the Sword Hero as either slow or possessed of a very good gambling face.

"Yes, thank you," she finally said with a polite curtsy. "I have questions about Classes and Class-Up options."

"Ah, certainly! I admit, I have not memorized all the pertinent information," Balmus lied, "but I keep a few reference texts in my private office when I discuss options with my petitioners prior to a Class Up ceremony. If you'll follow me there- oh! Before we go, legend says that the sand of the Dragon's Hourglass can be absorbed to unlock a Hero's wondrous powers. May I offer you some?"

"Thank you," the Sword Hero agreed, showing neither contempt nor gratitude.

Balmus fiddled around with the Dragon's Hourglass far longer than necessary to give his Shadows time to set up his 'private office' -- in actuality just a cluttered room far below his dignity that he kept stocked with various 'humanizing' items like children's books to put skittish parishioners more at ease than his genuine office's spacious luxury would provide -- and then led her slowly to the small side room he would use, giving a nod to the shadow-disguised-as-a-friar who was sweeping the hallway outside to keep an ear open.

They even remembered to bring in my plate of lunch, wonderful, Balmus chuckled as he led the Sword Hero inside.

"Now your holiness, how may I be of service to you?"

The resulting conversation was... thorough. Balmus had to mentally adjust his judgement of the Sword Hero's mind to resemble the Spirit Tortoise of legend: slow moving and yet very strong.

She questioned him at length about Class benefits, Class Up options, the meaning and uses of people's stats, and magical elemental affinities to begin with.

...

"There is no prejudice against any of the magical elements?" she asked intently.

"Certainly not, outside of some rural superstition. The element with the worst reputation might be Fire, as it spreads and can rage out of control so easily, but fire is so commonly used in combat that it is too popular to suffer discrimination. Was there such a thing in your home world, child?" he asked in his best sad grandfather voice.

"Light-attribute magic was considered holy, and dark-attribute was unpopular because it was used by a Demon King to attack the world," she answered. "I was worried whether learning any particular element would cause a problem."

"Certainly not," he assured her. "In fact, if you wish to learn, I have an introductory grimoire of magic right here in my office. Please take it with you."

"Thank you." The Holy Sword Hero took the book gratefully but put it on her lap rather than open it.

Balmus was momentarily stumped. "Please make sure to read the chapters in order, as you'll need to learn the magic alphabet in the first chapter- ah. Are you able to-? Oh, no, wait," he 'remembered' like a doddering fool, "you would have learned literacy at a young age, my apologies. So many of the children who come in haven't learned to read the word of god," he sighed.

"I cannot read your language, only my own," the Sword Hero corrected placidly, "but my teammates have offered to help me learn."

"Always useful if you have the time," Balmus said agreeably. "Queen Mirellia prefers to focus on infrastructure and economy over education, but we've been able to set up more church-run schools the past few years. Might be my favorite achievement as Pope!"

This was a complete lie. Mirellia did set up schools like her aunt Queen Marcella had done before her, as did the church, but his crowning achievement would soon be the installation of the Three Heroes Church theocracy that could then move on to bring order to the sinful world.

However, it was a lie that would be difficult to verify and would almost certainly blacken Mirellia's name and make the Sword Hero more willing to overthrow her in the future.

"I have some basic literacy primers as well. The waves will keep me too busy for the next month or two to invite any children in for a reading hour, so you might as well take them," Balmus said, having seen that the Shadows put those books on his shelf as well.

"Thank you."

...

From there the conversation moved to the doctrine of the church, legends about the powers of past heroes, and records they may have left for the heroes of future waves to peruse.

"Sadly, the royal library that held all our records was pillaged and burned in a war against Siltvelt roughly 25 years ago," Balmus 'apologized'. "Any first-hand records the heroes may have left would be best found in Faubley, but I must strenuously recommend against ever setting foot in that kingdom," he insisted, eager to keep the Sword Hero pinned in Melromarc and gleeful that he was able to use a verifiable truth to do so.

"What if a Wave occurs in Faubley? Don't they occur over the world?" Yumiella checked.

"According to legend, the Waves spread out like ripples from the area of the first Wave, which is why Melromarc summoned all four heroes," Blamus lied smoothly. "If a Wave does occur in Faubley, and Faubley does not simply repel it with their military as they have publicly claimed a desire to do, then at least you will be fighting that Wave with the other two Holy Heroes to help defend your virtue from Faubley itself. The country has long had misogynistic leanings, but with the ascension of 'Rape King' Bör Faubley to the throne, even your holy status could not protect you. You would be undoubtedly forced to guard your honor with violence and bloodshed."

Alas, the Sword Hero had an excellent poker face, but she did shift her weight in her seat at the mention. Balmus guessed she felt disturbed.

"That bad?"

"King Faubley possesses a powerful weapon, the Seven Stars Vassal Axe, and he has bought the loyalty of similarly-minded brutes to prevent himself from being violently overthrown. He's also politically canny and has built up the world's most powerful military while annexing, conquering, and colonizing a number of other smaller nations," Balmus listed solemnly. "Unless you and your party were all Level 90 or above, he would certainly be able to catch and 'taste' you for the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to 'enjoy' a Cardinal Hero. I expect the resultant outrage would see him deposed and overthrown in the next two months, but you would still be dead or worse. Please do not risk it. I would happily bloody my blade again in your name, but I suspect I am too old to survive the battle, and many loyal followers would die alongside us." All my plans will go up in smoke if you go abroad or you get killed and we need to fight a war with Faubley before I'm ready to bring the Holy Three Heroes Army against them! And for that matter, please take the bait and drop the subject!

"I will not risk it," the Sword Hero affirmed. "...Your blade?"

"Oh! Yes," Balmus laughed, gesturing to the sword his Shadows had hung on the wall. "I used a sword in my youth as a Church Knight-," Another total lie, he had always eschewed the battlefield front lines in favor of casting spells and commanding a clear numerical majority for purges, which was why he had lived long enough to become Pope while most of the other candidates had died in battle (or by assassins who caught them at the end of a valiant battle). "-but I'm afraid my old bones aren't up to swinging it around anymore."

"May I try? It resembles the swords I studied with more than my current sword."

"Be careful. The edge is sharp, and there are stories about the Holy Weapons refusing to let their wielder be sullied by lesser weapons, but I'm not certain how to interpret that aspect of mythology." He genuinely wasn't certain, but if he could get confirmation of his suspicions...

The Sword Hero examined the sword and checked its balance, but after giving it a single swing the Holy Sword emitted a shock of magic.

"Ah."

"Did something occur?"

"Wielders of the Cardinal Weapons are not permitted to use other weapons," she confirmed. "Thank you for the loan."

"It was my honor," he lied, "and pleasure," which was true enough. "May the might of the supreme god go with you."

"And you too." she stood, moved toward the door, and then doubled back. "One more request, sir?"

"Certainly!" Please get on with it before the Spear Hero arrives and I need to have my 'office' rapidly redecorated with spears.

"Much like the sand of the Dragon Hourglass, the Cardinal Weapons can absorb other substances to unlock their powers. May I trouble you for a drop of blood, or a hair? An offering from a saint like yourself must be of even greater efficacy than one from royalty."

The old man's pride swelled in satisfaction: not only was she entirely viewing him as a friendly holy figure, but she had asked a favor of him! A favor that he could guilt her into repaying at a later date. A chance to permanently merge his body with a piece of divinity, in preparation for his true ascension!! Oh this was so exciting, especially if he could replicate it with the Replica Weapon, he just had to see how it would work!!!

"It would be my honor, Lady Hero. A bit of hair and a bit of blood, and I can heal myself with magic so if you'll let me flense off a little skin as well..."

Having finally left the Church, Yumiella took a seat on a bench outside and took a moment to just breathe in the shade.

She wanted to fight something. She really wanted to go out fighting and stop being Level 1 and get out and move and-

The time-limit.

More than anything else, the time-limit was making her antsy. They had 29 days and 2 hours before the start of the Wave, so she needed to squeeze in as much grinding as possible, but that also meant she needed to get as many resources and forms and skills and power-ups as possible.

Without any casualties or making mistakes that would screw them over, because there was no resetting the game file to redo a quest here.

In her first life, Yumiella had been trying to speed-run the dragon's egg quest in Light Mage Hero her first time playing and she'd suffered a party wipe three times straight as a result.

She couldn't try a Speed Run in real life, it had to be a 100% Completion No Party Deaths run (this was not a game), but she had to do that 100% Completion Run with a time limit when she barely knew any of the mechanics or upcoming plot events or anything, and some of the information she got form the other heroes could easily be inaccurate.

Not to mention the lying and the politics, Yumiella fumed as she finally opened her eyes to view the damming Status Update floating in front of her face.

New Sword Unlocked! -- Decorative Sword (unmastered)

Base Power = ATK+1 ... ... Equip Bonus: +1 ATK ... Disguise Improvement (small)

I had my doubts about him before, but claiming this was a sword he used to win accolades in bloody combat with? He lied to my face, and I don't know what else he lied about.

Worse, Pope Balmus is the leader of the major religion in this country, which controls access to the Dragon Hourglass, and he lied to an ostensibly holy figure with no sign of guilt or shame.

In Balshine, I had to deal with rumors, discrimination, and wariness, but never anything like a religious Crusade or an Inquisition. He's manipulative and a hypocrite, and I have no doubt he'll abuse his political and spiritual power if he has reason to focus on or suspect me.

Melromarc -- 32:01:45:52

Melromarc -- 32:01:45:51

Melromarc -- 32:01:45:50

It was the paradox of the time limit. Yumiella could not waste time, but making a clumsy misstep early on would be more catastrophic and could get people killed in the Wave.

If you had to get somewhere fast, tripping was an acceptable risk to run instead of walk; if the risk was a broken leg that would need to weeks to heal, the risk was less acceptable.

But either way, standing around will get me nowhere fast.

Yumiella stood, glanced around the square, and began walking.

"Pardon me, Ma'am," she greeted a gray-haired woman who was struggling to wrangle a basket of groceries and a rambunctious boy.

"Peotre, will you-! Oh, yes, thank you kindly, Miss," the woman agreed, and Yumiella took the basket so she could pull the boy up into her arms and scold him.

It was short walk to the woman's door, Yumiella accepted her thanks, and then she asked a question as she handed over the basket.

"I am a visitor from Faubley Kingdom, Ma'am, and I wanted to say prayers of gratitude at the Church. People told me the main church was the building I met you outside of, but when I stepped inside earlier, the decoration, it seemed...?" Yumiella trailed off, hoping this was common knowledge.

"From Faubley?" The old woman's nose wrinkled and she almost turned away. "Melromarc follows the Three Heroes Church, for the most part."

"Three, instead of four?" Yumiella murmured and got something a bit like a stink eye before the woman sighed.

"Those beasts worship the Shield exclusively, dearie, so we cast it out for the sins of its wielder a few centuries ago. If you want the Four Saints Church, you'll need to go down to the..."

Yumiella listened to the directions, thanked her guide, and then went off in a different direction because going directly to a rival church immediately after leaving the prominent church could be problematic if she was being followed. She'd need to see how well the Decorative Sword improved her disguise skills (which currently amounted to a bit of make-up from her first life and hiding her black hair under a hat,) before she risked exploring that in person. Still...

Yumiella wandered slowly back to the fountain where her new party had agreed to meet after completing their morning errands, and when she saw she was the first to return she settled down by the running water to wait.

She opened her Status Menu and began to carefully compose a message.

MESSAGES --> ALL

Suspicious Discovery: Kingdom's main religion worships three heroes, not the Shield. Four Saints Church at Marsham Square.

NOT Naofumi investigate. Itsuki or Motoyasu compare to Three Heroes Church? Secret mission please

Yumiella double-checked the contents, hit send, and cringed as the blood-thirsty magic devoured 30 HP for the message.

She'd confirmed with her first test that it didn't injure her beyond pain (and this was nothing compared to when the Boss Dullahan had cut her arm off, or many other training agonies,) and that it was 1 HP per word even if she sent it to multiple people at once, but the idea of wiping out a third of her health bar made her uncomfortable.

She wanted to chug some healing potions, or better yet get her healing magic back already by grinding some monsters, but getting her team outfitted and making travel arrangements shouldn't wait either. 'Well begun is half done,' and all that.

Not to mention the disturbing discovery that Cardinal Sword forms could be unlocked with other people's blood, hair, and flesh. Balmus had donated and then gotten a more junior priest to donate as well, and then she'd lied that the second donation hadn't generated any gains because he was disturbing her a little -- only for that to puff him up more with how important The Pope must be -- and he'd given her a bit of Holy Water to unlock that sword form as well.

Bloodshed Sword I (unmastered) 2/20 ... ... Base Power = ATK+5

ATK +1 ... improved damage to humanoids (small) ... improved damage to humans (medium)

Haircut Sword (unmastered) 2/30 ... ... Base Power = ATK+1

ATK +1 ... SPD +1 ... haircut and shaving +3

Epidermis Sword (unmastered) 2/20 ... ... Base Power = ATK+2

ATK +1 ... DEF +1 ... M.DEF +2 ...

Human Meat Sword (unmastered) 1/20 ... ... Base Power = ATK+4

ATK +3 ... dissection improvement (medium)

Energetic Sword (unmastered) 1/40 ... ... Base Power = ATK+2

ATK +1 ... improved damage to unholy (medium) ... improved SP restoration (strong)

Yumiella hadn't been certain about what the numbers were or meant, but they seemed to be counting the samples that had been fed to her sword? Balmus had cut himself on the sword deeply enough to count as getting flesh in there, while she had been much more careful to peel off skin from the priest Balmus had pulled in for a sample.

Did this mean she was supposed to feed the sword human flesh?

As a woman who had unjustly been treated like she was the evil Demon King, this made her feel a little sick and suspect that the 'Holy' Cardinal Weapons may be secretly evil.

A manipulative Vizier, a lying Pope, a human-eating weapon... This new world is certainly going to be complicated and difficult to navigate, Yumiella sighed to herself.

"Lady Hero! Lady Hero!"

Yumiella looked up from her seat to see Welt Bluegrass running with his shoes slapping against the street stones, his gray hair ruffled by the wind like ~~Patrick~~ Don't think about it.

Yumiella nodded politely. "Mister Welt."

"Lady Hero, I found what you wanted!" Welt gasped out excitedly. "I found it! My aunt had one locked away, although she warned me that it's cursed, but it's an amulet that increases experience gain!"

"Where is it?"

"Agh! Hurting," Welt gasped as his fingers twitched, and Yumiella realized that she had grabbed his wrists and was squeezing.

She released him. "My apologies, Mister Welt."

"It's fine- All good-," Welt wheezed as he got his breath back. "But- Um, here it is." He handed over a small pouch, which Yumiella opened quickly yet reverently. "But it's cursed, too she said."

"How so?" People called me a cursed child for foolish reasons, but at the same time, you'd think to expect to see more of these about in times of Calamity when strength can save lives.

"It works by the concept of 'drawing in' and 'absorption'," Welt explained. "You gain extra experience by drawing in the life and soul of the monsters you slay, but you also suffer extra damage and have a hard time dodging because attacks are drawn toward you as well. You're more likely to die before you get strong."

"How much is drawn in?" Yumiella asked.

"...Double or triple? She didn't say, since it wasn't used for ten years or more."

"Then it's worth trying out." Yumiella smiled as she looped the chain over her neck and tucked the 'cursed' amulet into her shirt. "I have a lot of experience with killing monsters."

Obloquy · Jun 26, 2024

"The driver wanted all 100 coins as a down payment to show we're serious and it isn't a prank," Farrie reported breathlessly, "but he says if we do show up then he'll give 50 back."

"Take this in case we have other expenses," Yumiella offered, handing over another handful of silver since she wasn't much for shopping anyway.

"50 silver is highway robbery," Bakta growled. "Lady Hero, I don't understand why you believe this is necessary."

He's been complaining... but his words are "I don't understand" rather than trying to tell me that I am wrong.

"We are on a time-limit," Yumiella reminded him. "If possible, I want everyone in our team to Class Up before the Wave, which requires dedicated training and time efficiency. Given the likelihood of being stymied by the presence of the other three around the outskirts of the capital, it makes sense to move to other areas quickly, especially since we can stay close enough for the first day or three to move back to the capital if necessary. We need to train, travel, and sleep as efficiently as possible, or we need to establish that my methods of Level Up efficiency are flawed within the first week so that we can fall back on the more conventional methods you prefer for the remaining time period."

"But the tried and true methods aren't good enough?" Bakta pressed. "I worry this could backfire badly."

"The tried and true military techniques were not enough for the First Wave, Mister Bakta," Yumiella reminded him. "If you prefer a more conventional adventure, you are welcome to keep your share of the silver and join one of the other Cardinal teams instead."

For a moment, Yumiella both hoped and worried that Bakta would take the offer, but finally the large man shook his head and relented. "My instincts told me to trust you, Lady Hero. I will obey."

"I will endeavor to live up to your faith in me. Mister Tersia?"

"I've got maps, I've got potions, and I've got recommendations from store owners about trouble spots and where to shop along the way. Bakta?" he prodded.

"Made food arrangements and got the bones and wood and things you asked about," the big man rumbled. "There's also a butcher's shop that said they had a whole carcass gone rancid that they couldn't use it, promised to give it to us if we can by sunset. Not sure if that will matter."

"Finding out whether I personally need to kill the monsters I absorbed is worth experimenting with," Yumiella assured him.

"I got three grimoires and some enchanted items my aunt was okay loaning me, but she'll want them back or paid for after the Wave or we'll have hell to pay," Welt finished hurriedly.

"Thank you. I have one last experiment for today: I want to see what will happening if you each add a sample of blood and hair to the Cardinal Sword. After that, we will have our first hunting expedition."

A casual sword slash bisected a floating Orange Balloon monster through its jaw as it flew at her hungrily.

+ 4 EXP

You are now LEVEL 5! ... ... ... HP = 50/108 ... MP = 109/109 ... SP = 19/32

"Hold," she ordered quietly with a frown. "We must have strayed too close to another hero's hunting grounds, my experience was diminished."

"I'll look around and see who it is, be right back," Tersia volunteered, promptly climbing up a tree.

"Don't forget the balloon fragments, Lady Hero," Bakta reminded her as he stooped down, a yellow balloon monster held in one large hand to be killed once they got out of range again.

"Yes." Yumiella took them absently and absorbed them into her sword as she scanned the surroundings in hopes of seeing something.

"Lady Her-!"

Orange Rubber Sword (unmastered) 41/50 -- Base Power = ATK+2 ... ... Equip = ATK+1 ... DEF+1

Yellow Rubber Sword (unmastered) 17/50 -- -- Base Power = ATK+2 ... ... Equip = ATK+1 ... SPD+2

NEW SWORD UNLOCKED!

Captivity Sword I (unmastered) 1/20 -- -- Base Power = ATK-2 ... ... Equip = ATK+3

Unique Ability: Pommel Into Submission -- store a single subdued monster in your Sword Inventory and release it at will

"Hah," Yumiella huffed. "I fed it a monster."

"No harm done, mildly, I was going to kill it in a minute or two," Bakta dismissed.

"No, it-,"

"Lady Hero!" Tersia called, reappearing from his jaunt through the treetops, "I saw the Bow Hero hunting northwest of us, so we should move widdershins around the capital to escape his range."

I don't know how to calculate either of those directions... "Please lead the way," Yumiella invited. "Also, I want to try feeding the Sword a live monster instead of dead materials."

"Another sword form? How many are there?" Farrie wondered. "Here."

"As many holy weapon forms exist as there are ideas in the world," Bakta intoned solemnly.

Yumiella took the Orange Balloon Farrie offered and fed it-

ACTION FORBIDDEN, PLEASE REALEASE THE STORED MONSTER TO STORE A NEW MONSTER

-and held onto it a little longer as they walked until she judged that it might be enough to escape Itsuki's territory.

"Pommel Submission," she commanded, which released the yellow balloon and didn't cost her any SP.

She slew that yellow balloon-

+30 EXP

-fed its rubber to her Sword, and then shoved in the Orange Balloon to see that the count had become Captivity Sword I (unmastered) 2/20 now, but also that she'd spent 2 SP, so it seemed the cost was for storing monsters and not releasing them.

Which makes sense, as storing a monster is an unnatural action that requires effort, while releasing it is simply a restoration of the natural order. "Pommel Submission. Please bring me more live balloons, I wish to experiment."

+30 EXP

Her party moved steadily through the fields of tall grasses where the balloons lived, and she found that while the orange and yellow balloons didn't raise the count above 2/20, adding in a Red Balloon made it 3/20 once they found a few of those.

"They need to be different colors, eh?" Tersia figured, dipping into a warm-up stretch. "We've still got at least two hours to sunset, so if we only need one of each how about I run around to each area and bring back one of every color I find?"

"You'll miss your own grinding opportunity," Yumiella warned the rogue, but he only laughed.

"It's only our first day, umahahaha~ and if we won't be back to the capital until the next Wave then milking everything we can today is more important. I can get experience any time, but balloons mostly only live near the capital and a few other large population centers. Be right back!"

"...I think I see the marks of an Eggug that passed by. I'll try to bring it back for you, Lady Hero," Bakta offered deferentially.

"Thank you," Yumiella acceded. I can't improve Captivity Sword until I get more live monsters, so I may as well switch to the Energetic Sword for SP regeneration.

"Hey Welt," Farrie wondered, flipping herself into a walking handstand as they moved into an area where the grass wouldn't cover her upside down head, "you're supposed to be a mage, but you've hammered the balloons with your staff or popped them with a knife. When are we going to see some magic?"

"My MP will exhaust itself long before my arms exhaust themselves, you wild brawler," he riposted, and Yumiella let their back-and-forth banter wash over her as they meandered toward the next patch of tall grass to find more balloons.

Farrie flipped back to her feet once they were at the waist-high field, and the killing continued.

Orange Rubber Sword (M) 50/50 -- Base Power = ATK+2 ... ... Equip = ATK+1 ... DEF+1

Yellow Rubber Sword (unmastered) 39/50 -- Base Power = ATK+2 ... ... Equip = ATK+1 ... SPD+2

It was all well and good until Welt ruffled his hair with one hand, and all of a sudden Yumiella was looking at Patrick beside her, making that same gesture as he joked about Edwin avoiding Eleonora while she scratched Ryu behind the ears, and her stomach was churning, the world was spinning, it felt like she couldn't breathe and there was a hole in her-

"-miella, Lady Yumiella!"

"-an you talk to me? What's your name?"

"-any colors you see. Five colors? What color is this?"

"O-orange," Yumiella muttered.

"What color is that?"

The sky is blue. "Blue. White cloud," Yumiella muttered, squinting against the sunlight.

"Drink this," a different voice ~~Patrick~~ said, pressing a glass bottle to her lips.

"Lady Sword Hero?" rasped a deeper voice as a stabilizing coolness spread through Yumiella's chaotic, overheated chest, and her fluttering heartbeat slowed. "What happened?!"

"It looks like hungry memories. We were walking, then she did a double-take, staggered, started sweating and muttering about a Patrick and a Roo-,"

"Ryu." I miss Ryu. I've never been away from him for more than a day since he hatched. How is he doing without his scratches? Will the Kingdom let Patrick keep him if I don't come back? He's a cute child and helpful, he knows to listen to Patrick, but maybe Patrick won't be allowed to take him home to the Ashbatten March, but I wanted Patrick to move into the Dolkness County, Patrick and I were going to- Patrick-!

Yumiella sucked in a ragged breath and her vision stabilized. "I'm here," she declared, seeing Farrie, Welt, and Bakta all gathered around her worriedly.

Sadly, this declaration did not assuage her party members that she was able to continue, so instead of being able to fight and move and get things done Yumiella needed to spend another five or ten minutes (they were on a time limit they barely had a month) resting before she finally grabbed the two Eggug that Bakta had brought.

Captivity Sword I (unmastered) 5/20

+20 EXP ... +30 EXP

Pale Egg Sword (unmastered) 1/50 -- Base Power = ATK+1 ... ... Equip = DEF+1 ... Cooking +1

Sky Egg Sword (unmastered) 1/40 -- Base Power = ATK+1 ... ... Equip = ATK+1 ... Simple Recipes

"Waiting here will not help us Level Grind," she insisted.

"Nor will letting this incapacitate you again in the field," Bakta rumbled.

"Is there-? That looked like hungry memories eating your brain," Ferrie pressed, leaning in with her big, wide eyes exactly the way Eleonora did when she was begging. "Can you tell us what it was so we don't do it again?"

"It- It's not a weakness to get help from other people, Lady Hero," Welt said earnestly, leaning in with an intent expression like-

"Hair!" Yumiella gasped as her vision spun for a moment. "Gray... can you dye your hair? You look like- like Patrick." Her heart hurt. She had seen him not so long ago, but she might not see him again now if she couldn't...

"Oooh! Is Patrick your boyfriend?" Ferrie squealed, and Yumiella found herself at a total loss for how to answer that.

"I- I can do that, Lady sword Hero! I can definitely do that, I can even shave my head and-,"

His eagerness broke the similarity he had to Patrick; Yumiella closed her eyes, allowing herself to relax a bit as she tuned him out.

Bakta offered his hooded robe to cover Welt's hair, Yumiella got some food and was made to sit down for a few minutes (again, instead of getting things done, she needed to Level Up did they not understand this?!), and then their party finally started moving onward once more.

Further on they came upon what looked like a furball rabbit.

"That is...?" Yumiella tried to recall the list of monsters found in the area.

"Usapil, Lady Hero," Bakta said, moving in front of her. "Please let me fight this one, so I can show you how to dissect it."

It bounced at them with its two buck teeth bared, and Bakta split it with a swing of his axe. Then he gave a quick lesson on how to skin and debone it before he offered the materials to Yumiella.

"Not the bones, too?" she wondered as he moved to dispose of the rest.

"I... suppose so," he acknowledged, handing them over.

NEW SWORD UNLOCKED

Usapil Sword (unmastered) 1/30 -- Base Power = ATK+2 ... ... Equip = ATK+2 ... Jumping improvement (medium)

Usapil Hide Sword (unmastered) 1/30 -- Base Power = ATK+2 ... ... Equip = SPD+2

Usapil Meat Sword (unmastered) 3/40 -- Base Power = ATK+2 ... ... Equip = Dissection improvement (small)

Usapil Bone Sword (unmastered) 9/40 -- Base Power = ATK+3 ... ... Equip = ATK+1 ... DEF+1 ... SPD+1

"No fur sword, but the bone sword is versatile," Yumiella assessed, shifting into that form to find that it resembled two incisor teeth stretched out into sword blades. I suppose teeth are made of bone, after all. "Mister Bakta, I want to help dissect the next one. The meat sword gave me a dissection improvement," she insisted when she saw he was about to argue.

Bakta struck her as a reverent man who didn't like to see the 'Holy Lady Sword Hero' get dirty, but if the 'Holy' Sword wanted her to do it...

"Usapil don't usually stray this close to the wall on this side of the city, so we might not see many more," he warned.

"Oh! I know!" Farrie volunteered. "You take Welt and go bring back a couple of live Usapil for her capture sword too! That way she won't see his hair and get startled."

"My-?" Welt curled in on himself (like a frightened little Alicia had, their first few days of school,) and pulled the hood tighter over his head.

"Good thinking. Come along, boyo. We'll leave the ladies to it, beggin' your pardon, Lady Hero," Bakta rumbled, picking up Welt (who squawked in shock) with one arm.

Yumiella gave a nod of permission and Bakta meandered away with Welt still shouting to be let down, he could walk, he wasn't a child, etc.

Yumiella's lips twitched at the sight. Then she turned back to the field ahead only to see-

"Hiyah!"

-Farrie kill a charging Orange Balloon with a dramatic kick.

"Whoops, sorry! I should have left that one for you."

Flickers of the game character quartet rendered injured and helpless by the Demon King flashed across her mind, and Yumiella shook her head.

"No matter how powerful, one person can only be in one place at a time," she asserted. "Attempting to do everything with my own power led me to ruin before, and I should not repeat that mistake again when the fate of this world is on the line. You all should be leveling up diligently as well, even if we need to gather materials."

"And we are! But I was already Level 8 when I volunteered, so you're still behind me, no worries," Farrie assured her.

They kept walking toward the next field of high grass, and as Yumiella stepped up to face two more balloons, the green-haired girl eventually asked, "Do you mind me cheerful?"

+20 EXP ... +20 EXP

\

"Hm?" Was that a question, or an error in the translation magic?

"I'm... normally loud and cheerful, Lady Hero, but I know that sometimes I get on people's nerves. You seemed to tense up a bit when Welt was gushing and babbling, so I went with my more reserved face, my 'show respect for your teachers and the training hall' mode... but I keep slipping up now. Do you mind me being loud and cheery?"

"...You remind me of Eleonora, my friend," Yumiella said as they kept moving onward and more balloons rushed toward them.

"Like Welt reminds you of your boyfriend?"

+20 EXP ... +20 EXP

Yumiella didn't really have a good answer for that -- she and Patrick had chastely kissed a few times without explicitly naming their relationship, but at the same time they'd been discussing marriage arrangements she needed to make with the head of his family -- so she said nothing.

"Sorry, milady. I might be less awed by you than Welt, but I still blabber a bit. Hi-yah! Hyah!!"

"I... don't mind the company. Red," Yumiella requested, as she'd mastered the Orange Rubber Sword so there was no point in feeding more shreds to her weapon.

"Right. Y'know, these are still worth a few coppers, and I heard that artisans outside the capital might buy them for more," Farrie reflected as she tucked the orange rubber shreds into a pouch while Yumiella fed the red to her Sword.

"What do they make with them?" Yumiella asked idly. Wait. Rubber to make 'rubbers'. Her face grew hot. "Ah, never-,"

"Toy balls to bounce around and waterproof bags, mostly? Hey, you look flushed, are you feeling hot?"

"Fine," Yumiella insisted, pushing ahead and using her embarrassment as fuel for a balloon hunting surge that got her most of the way to Level 6.

And then, after about ten minutes of a relatively satisfying low-level grind session (but it still wasn't enough, she used to clear hordes and dungeons with such speed)...

+2 EXP ... +4 EXP ... +2 EXP

"We're in the same area as another Cardinal Weapon," Yumiella declared.

"Whoopsie. Think we need to outrun the Sir Bow Hero if he's following us?"

Yumiella answered by picking up her pace, though Farrie followed along so effortlessly that she could still do the occasional cartwheel as they moved.

Instead, finding themselves at the top of a sloping hill, Yumiella looked down Naofumi repeatedly punching a bunch of balloons while his companion (she really needed to get better about names, but she really didn't care) stood by supportively so as not to kill steal.

"Yeah!" Naofumi shouted as he suddenly popped the balloon. "Wait, only seven?!"

Yumiella mentally winced -- Is he still Level 1? Seven experience sounds like what I was earning per balloon at the start when I discount the bonuses. -- and descended the slope as Naofumi was suddenly swarmed by several orange balloons, which latched on with their teeth but seemed unable to injure.

"Wait!" Yumiella called as the redhead drew her sword and moved to pop a balloon.

"Miss Yumiella?" "Oh! Dame Sword Hero."

"My apologies for the experience loss, Mister Naofumi," Yumiella said. "We came this way to get out of Mister Itsuki's territory and entered yours. Please wait to slay more until we move further on."

"Eh, it happens," Naofumi dismissed, stooping to pick up the shreds of orange rubber. "Cool, new shield."

New? Definitely still Level 1. He must have gone shopping for armor and equipment and only just begun grinding now, Yumiella realized. "Miss Farrie, please share our collected rubber bits with Mister Naofumi as an apology."

"I-? Right, here," Ferrie agreed.

"Oh, thanks," Naofumi celebrated. "Huh, what's this counter?"

But he was the one who described this from the Cardinal Shield's Help Menu last night? "Last night, you said if we store enough of the material that unlocks the shield-,"

"It will automatically master the shield, right! Slipped my mind after everything," Naofumi laughed. "You've probably got lots more unlocked than I do, but I'll catch up with Myne helping me soon!"

"I do, see?" Yumiella pulled up her Status Window, positioned for Naofumi to read.

"Uh, I can't see it."

No 'screen sharing'? Hmm… "Take my hand," she instructed.

PERMIT SHIELD HERO NAOFUMI TO VIEW STATUS? YES/NO

Yumiella selected YES.

"Sweet! Wow, you have got a lot already," Naofumi complimented.

"Yes, and in addition to the swords we unlocked together, I unlocked some other similar swords. Miss Myne, may I trouble you for a drop of blood?"

The redhead shot a questioning look to Farrie, who gave a short nod.

"Certainly, Dame Hero," Myne allowed.

ICHOR SWORD V REQUIREMENTS UNLOCKED — CURRENT STATUS INSUFFICIENT

It revealed a new Ichor Sword form instead of adding to my Bloodshed sword? I could ask, but it would give away that I know something is suspicious. Not now, Yumiella decided. "Are you having difficulty slaying the balloons?" Yumiella asked instead.

"Haha yeah~," Naofumi laughed awkwardly. "Each punch only does, like, 1 damage to them; they can't hurt me at all, but I have to cherry tap them to death."

"Exactly?" You can measure the one damage?

"That's what it says from the status thing," Naofumi confirmed.

Yumiella thought a moment about how to get around the damage issue.

"Hitting them with a flaming torch may do more damage... If you can hold the balloons safely, you may stick them in a campfire instead if your Shield protects you from the burn. Alternatively, squishing them with your weight or drowning them in a rock-filled sack in a pond may also give you experience from killing them."

"How barbaric!" Myne cried. "Isn't that what commoners do to unwanted puppies? You aren't a puppy killer Sir Naofumi, are you?"

"What? No!"

"Or if you place some spiked object on the ground and press the balloons against it, you are not wielding the spikes like a weapon but you are still the living being responsible for dealing damage," Yumiella continued. "Miss Myne, Miss Farrie, would you two be willing to get some sharp stones or branches and to capture some more balloons to help Mister Naofumi?"

"I… can go cut a few tree branches, but we shouldn't start a fire unless we want to burn down the entire field," Myne offered.

"I'll go grab some more balloons, but I can only hold a few at a time," Farrie agreed carefully.

"Stick them in here," Naofumi offered, holding out a sack that he had pulled from somewhere.

"I will keep walking to move out of your territory," Yumiella offered.

"Thanks," Naofumi told her.

All three girls started moving away from him in different directions, but Yumiella doubled back once the two companions were out of easy hearing range.

"Mister Naofumi."

"Huh? Oh, Miss Yumiella, weren't you going?"

"Yes, but first." She produced Welt's loaned amulet from her neck. "This amulet doubles experience gain, but it also doubles the damage sustained by the wearer. I will need it back by sunset, but I am willing to loan it to you briefly."

"That would be great, thank you!"

Yumiella handed it to Naofumi, who put it-

Did he just feed that to his Shield? "Did you just feed that to your shield?" She wasn't the most expressive, but the sheer callous carelessness he'd shown prompted her to try to glare venomously at him.

Naofumi didn't seem to notice her outrage; once again, Yumiella really missed being a Level 99 badass that everyone listened to for her achievements and abilities.

"Yeah? Ooh, cool," Naofumi celebrated, "it gave me the Absorption Shield, halves my defense to improve-,"

"That amulet was a loan from my party member's aunt. I will need you to repay them for destroying it."

"It's... not destroyed?" Yumiella blinked as Naofumi reached into his shield's green jewel core and drew out the amulet. "I just put it in my Inventory?"

...I forgot that we had a subspace dimensional inventory. I can never let him know. "I had assumed that the first sample material was consumed to unlock a new form. Thank you."

"You totally forgot we had an inventory, didn't you," Naofumi chuckled, eyeing the belt pouches full of potions and other material she was wearing.

"I assumed that the first sample material was consumed," Yumiella repeated, snatching back the amulet and feeding it to her own Cardinal Sword Core.

NEW SWORD UNLOCKED

Absorption Sword (unmastered) 1/10 -- Base Power = ATK÷2 ... ... No Equip Bonus

Unique Equip Skill: Soul Sucking -- Reduce DEF, M.DEF, M.ATK, and SPD to activate skill. While skill is active, gain EXP with each strike on a live foe equivalent to the damage inflicted.

Then she moved over to the Inventory tab that she hadn't experimented with much yet -- it did have what looked like all the materials she had harvested up to now -- and pulled the amulet out again to put it back around her neck.

"If it's a loan, you should probably hold onto it, but thanks for the new Shield."

"I can share some materials, too."

"Thanks, I'll get my own in time on my adventures, and if there's anything I miss we can trade back come the next Wave or something. Get out of my area you experience thief," Naofumi joked.

Yumiella twitched, nodded, and left as requested.

Obloquy · Jun 26, 2024

"You requested to speak with me, Lady Sword Hero?"

"Thank you, your Majesty," Yumiella confirmed with a bow. "After discussion with my teammates and consulting the maps, my team has decided our path of training in preparation for the coming Wave. I wished to ask if there were any documents or travel passes we needed?"

"You may need to pay a few tolls," the King mused, "but national and international law grants the Legendary Heroes generally free travel and permission to access most areas, including restricted preserves. Though these may be revoked or restricted if you abuse them. Otherwise, merely displaying your Holy Weapon should grant you passage."

"An odd law if there are centuries between the waves," Yumiella opined mildly.

King Aultcray shifted for a moment and then admitted, "Legendary Heroes count not only the Four Cardinal Heroes, but the Seven Star Heroes, who are not summoned from another world but recruited from our own people, to keep the peace in between the Waves."

"Ah yes, Pope Balmus mentioned that King Bör Faubley held the Seven Stars Axe." She caught the king's mild wince. "Is there more information about the Seven Star Heroes? I expect it would be useful to recruit them, or to gain advice in wielding a Legendary Weapon."

"The only one of the seven outside of Faubley is the Vassal Cane, which... is temporarily unavailable. I will speak on this no further."

Yumiella waited patiently, debating what to say. Aultcray did not speak.

"If you ever wish to unburden your heart, your Majesty, I will be waiting," she offered, since it would be invaluable to get a glimpse of what the man was actually thinking. "Beyond that, I have uncovered a Sword Form that is unlocked and empowered with the blood of great men, like Pope Balmus or my fellow heroes. May I trouble you for a drop of blood? After that, I must meet my teammates by sunset."

"Blood?" King Aultcray agreed shifted his hand, as though he were attempting to reach for or fiddle with an item he was used to holding. "I... ask me again after the coming Wave, Sword Hero. I do not feel it would be good right now."

"By your leave then." Yumiella curtsied and departed.

The setting sun had just touched the horizon as Yumiella arrived at the capital city's southern gate.

"Lady Sword Hero," Bakta greeted, standing respectfully from his seat on the large cart that was waiting by the gate, and the other three quickly moved over.

It was a very large cart, long with a prarie schooner canopy over it and two large ostrich-sized birds (they'd been called Filorials when she asked,) hitched to the front.

Birds with cloth over their eyes, because apparently blind Filorial were the only ones that could reliably pull carts overnight and sleep during the day.

"Dame Sword Hero," greeted the carriage's driver. "I scarcely believed it was you who hired me."

He was an older man, not quite wizened but definitely worn, like a knotted hardwood walking stick, and he smiled though he missed half his teeth.

"Thank you for taking our patronage, Mister Driver," Yumiella greeted. "Will there be any problems with our planned trip?"

"We'll be going slower at night than we would during the day, but we'll be moving steady so you all should be able to sleep. All aboard the Marston carriage, next stop Lute village!"

The overnight carriage was parked in the outskirts of Lute Village when Yumiella woke up the next morning.

Melromarc -- 31:07:11:21

Melromarc -- 31:07:11:20

Melromarc -- 31:07:11:19

"I was just getting breakfast started, Lady Hero," Bakta greeted by a small campfire with Marston.

"I have food supplies." Yumiella offered, producing some of the meat and egg monster materials from her Inventory.

The rest of the team woke up in due time as well, and after breakfast they went into town to check for local supplies in shops and to hear about which monsters were nearby.

"There's a mine with 'Light Metal' nearby?" Yumiella asked. That sounds like something more useful to Alicia than to me... but since I don't currently have any Dark Magic available, the point is moot either way.

I really want my dark magic back....

"Not many monsters, apparently, but good for supplies."

"We can buy Light Metal for the new sword form," Yumiella observed. Wait. This is a world with real people, but it isn't impossible that a mine could lead to a dungeon-like area or to hidden treasure. "We should investigate until noon and then reassess," she decided.

"Lady Hero, before we go any further," Bakta mentioned, "I spoke with members of the Holy Spear Hero's party last evening and it seems they have a method to share experience between party members. Perhaps you should activate it?"

Yumiella paused. I heard something about that but it slipped my mind. Bother. "One moment."

It took a bit of experimenting with her STATUS MENU over several minutes, but she managed to send the Party Invitations -- she very carefully did not express how stupid she'd felt over forgetting to do that while they were grinding yesterday, it meant her party members missed all the benefits of being in her party! -- and view everyone's status in a new Party tab.

PARTY STATUS

Yumiella Dolkness -- Cardinal Sword Hero -- Level 7 -- HP = 113/113 -- MP = 117/117 -- SP = 37/37

Welt Bluegrass -- Sorcerer -- Level 7 -- HP = 84/84 -- MP = 105/105

Farrie Bonheim -- Martial Artist -- Level 8 -- HP = 152/152 -- MP = 81/81

Bakta -- Ranger -- Level 10 -- HP = 200/200 -- MP = 87/87

Tersia -- Scout -- Level 5 -- HP = 97/97 -- MP = 91/91

Egg

Egg

Egg

Yumiella had picked up three (cheap, but random) monster eggs from a dealer to hatch and raise on Tersia's recommendation before they left

"Are the eggs supposed to be in the party?" Yumiella wondered.

"They are? Cute! Does it say what they are yet, or when they'll hatch?" Farrie wondered.

"Monsters grow faster from gaining experience, so it makes sense to be possible," Bakta explained. "We should probably leave them in the cart, though."

Yumiella twinged, remembering her time with Ryu's egg, and she said, "Give me a moment."

Two minutes later, she had established that two of the eggs were the same type while the third was different, and that eggs could fit in her Captivity Sword (now 15/20 after Tersia had brought her all 10 kinds of balloons) but they still counted as one monster each.

Yumiella put the lone egg in her Captivity Sword to take with her while she left the twins in the carriage, packed their boxed lunches into her inventory with other supplies, and followed Bakta toward the semi-abandoned mine.

"The tunnels might get cramped, maybe we should have half of us venture in and half stay outside," Tersia assessed.

"Tersia, Farrie, will you come in with me?" Yumiella decided, as they were small and agile.

There was a brief discussion as Bakta didn't want to let her out of his sight, but Yumiella observed that he was large enough that he could cramp the tunnels, and his skills were more in forests by his own admission.

"...By your will, Lady Sword Hero," Bakta conceded, and the trio entered.

"What do you think we're going to see first, bats?" Farrie wondered. Her voice was cherry, but quiet so as not to echo much. "Maybe a voice gengar?"

*shink!*

+80 EXP

"Snakes," Yumiella declared, having stabbed a snake that crawled out of a hole by her ankle. Good, my instincts honed by the Shadow Assassins I fought growing up are still there, even if my stats have been reduced. Which one was...? She switched to the Usapil Meat Sword for its dissection bonus and began to skin the corpse and de-bone it.

"Want me to scout ahead in case anything is coming down the tunnel?" Tersia offered.

"Thank you," Yumiella agreed.

NEW SWORD UNLOCKED

Tunnel Snake Sword (unmastered) 1/30 -- Base Power = ATK+3 ... ... Equip = ATK+1 ... improved sneaking skill (small)

Tunnel Snake Skin Sword (unmastered) 1/40 -- Base Power = ATK+1 ... ... Equip = DEF+1 ... improved healing (small)

Tunnel Snake Meat Sword (unmastered) 1/20 -- Base Power = ATK+2 ... ... Equip = Dissection +1

Tunnel Snake Fang Sword (unmastered) 1/40 -- Base Power = ATK+4 ... ... Equip Skill: Snakebite -- use SP to make coat sword in mild poison

"The snakes may be poisonous," she warned.

"Venomous, 'cause they bite you," Farrie corrected automatically, juggling the glow-rock-on-a-stick they were using as a torch. "Hey, do you know if the venom on its own can make a sword?"

"It did not this time. I will ask Bakta to help me extract it next time."

They continued deeper into the tunnel. The floor was relatively even, with cart rails, but the walls bulged unevenly, meaning that there were lumps and corners obstructing deeper vision. Then they came to a three-way fork

"Hold your breath please," Yumiella requested, and Farrie took a deep inhale.

Yumiella closed her eyes to listen. Her senses had mostly diminished with her level reset, but even before she reached Level 99 in her first life she had learned to use her senses to navigate the darkness of the Dolkness County Dungeon, and those skills still remained.

Yumiella listened.

Dripping water and air currents. Skittering, scrabbling, and scurrying little legs. Rustling near the top of one tunnel. A wet splash. Controlled breathing.

"There are bats near the top one the left tunnel. Tersia is in one of the other tunnels, but I'm not certain which," Yumiella reported.

"The right tunnel, he marked an arrow on the wall," Farrie confirmed, pointing to it.

Yumiella fought the urge to twitch about having missed that. "Should we follow him or wait for him to return?"

+17 EXP

"Wait, so we don't get something from another tunnel following down after us in a pincer," Farrie advised.

"I just received an experience notice." That wasn't a multiple of 10. Maybe it divides unevenly in favor of the person who dealt the last attack? I can't disagree with that.

Farrie paused, frowned, and declared, "I think it must just be the heroes, I didn't get anything. Think it was Tersia?"

"I cannot guess. It could be outside." It would be very convenient if I had a Message function to reach my teammates, even with the HP cost. "What strategies should we use?"

"Bats are pretty simple, Voice Gengars are trickier. They trick your ears, make you think your friends are saying horrible insults to upset you. People get angry, start fighting with each other..."

"The imitate voices? But how do they know what to say?" Yumiella mused.

"It's magic, it tricks your mind."

"Hallucinations," Yumiella assessed. Then she turned back down the tunnel, holding up a hand to Farrie. She peered, listened, waited a moment, and then as he came into their view she asked, "Mister Tersia, what did you find?"

"There's three big wolves sleeping further down the right tunnel. Really big," Tersia reported. "I wasn't sure I even had enough to kill them in their sleep, so I came back."

"The experience was from outside, then," Farrie muttered.

"Let me decide which sword form to use," Yumiella requested. ...The Tunnel Snake Fang Sword, and then Ichor Sword III if they survive and fight more. "Will 25 attack be enough?"

"These things? Absolutely not," Tersia said.

"Could she kill one while we fight the others?" Farrie checked.

"They were big. Wolves, not dogs," Tersia insisted. "We might need back-up."

+23 EXP

"25 attack with poison won't be enough?"

"They're probably double our stats each," Tersia replied.

Yumiella closed her eyes to think.

She was very used to smashing through problems with her overwhelming Level 99 might, but that probably wouldn't work well here.

She still wanted to just try fighting already. She wanted to stop being so painfully weak.

She wanted to get back to Patrick and Ryu, Eleonora and Alicia and everyone else.

She wanted to get something done already without all this hedging and planning.

"Was there anything we could use in the tunnel?"

"Let's go down a different tunnel," Farrie suggested. "Get another Level or two and some useful new sword forms."

"The wolves could wake up and follow us," Yumiella observed. I thought the wolves were our largest priority for now, in case they attacked us later.

"If they didn't wake up when Tersia went down the tunnel, they won't wake up from some noise down another tunnel. You have nets and wiretaps to block off the tunnel, right?"

"I do," Tersia confirmed. "I think I can set it up to cover the whole entrance."

"You only really need the bottom half to fence them in," Farrie observed.

"Wires and nets," Yumiella agreed, nodding slowly. I wonder...

NEW SWORD UNLOCKED

Rope Sword (unmastered) 1/20 -- Base Power = ATK+2 ... SPD+2 ... ... Equip Skill: Air Strike Slash -- project a sword strike at range ... ... Unique Equip Ability -- Extending rope

Wire Sword (unmastered) 1/20 -- Base Power = ATK+3 ... ... Equip Skill: Binding Slash -- spend SP to bind two things together by cutting them both with one slash

"It didn't give me a net sword, but the wire sword is useful and the rope sword gives me a ranged attack option."

"Meaning we can get the Voice Gengars on the ceiling?" Farrie suggested quietly, punching excitedly as Tersia tied off the last net.

"Voice Gengars?" the scout hissed.

"Or bats, down the right hand tunnel." If I can hear them rustling, then I can aim at them. The Air Strike Slash can probably hit them on the ceiling.

"Don't freak out, we just stop up our ears if they're not bats," Farrie insisted.

+31 EXP ... +27 EXP

"There is more fighting outside. Do we worry about monsters coming down the entry tunnel?" Yumiella checked.

"There's nothing like that that'd be dangerous around here," Tersia assured her, though he was now twirling a knife nervously. "Wolves and bears are the biggest threats, though I thought those wolves would be smaller..."

"Just remember to ignore your ears and we can deal with the gengars," Farrie pressed.

In the end, Tersia convinced them to let him scout down the central tunnel, and in frustration at how weak she was Yumiella fell to randomly grabbing things at the cross-road tunnels to feed to her Sword, which proved... shockingly productive.

NEW SWORD UNLOCKED

Limestone Sword (unmastered) 1/50 -- Base Power = ATK+1 ... ... Equip: DEF+4 ... Equip Skill: Heavy Block -- spend SP to increase your weight for 30 seconds

Cave Moss Sword (unmastered) 1/50 -- Base Power = ATK+2 ... ... Equip ability: improved regeneration (small)

Sand Sword (unmastered) 1/50 -- Base Power = ATK+2 ... ... Equip = SPD+2 ... Equip Skill: Sand Slash -- use SP to throw sand from the arc of a swing

"Lady Hero?" Farrie wondered.

"Miss Farrie, I just got three new sword forms now. What else... Please consider what else I can use while I get more sand and limestone," Yumiella requested, leaning down to get handfuls of sand and limestone and shovel them into her sword.

"Wait, seriously? Like, water and ice and leaves and grass and sand- ew, do you think you can feed the Holy Sword manure? That's not sacrilegious is it?"

Despite her cheery chirp, Farrie kept her voice low, and she knelt down to help Yumiella add to her sword, eventually pulling Yumiella back down the entry hall to see if a waist-high boulder would gain any particular effect (it didn't).

Then she suggested breaking off stalactites (none were in view) and stalagmites (they found two).

Limestone Sword (MASTERED) 50/50 -- Base Power = ATK+1 ... ... Equip: DEF+4 ... Equip Skill: Heavy Rock -- spend SP to increase your weight for 30 seconds

Cave Moss Sword (unmastered) 11/40 -- Base Power = ATK+2 ... ... Equip ability: improved healing (small)

Sand Sword (MASTERED) 50/50 -- Base Power = ATK+2 ... ... Equip = SPD+2 ... Equip Skill: Sand Slash -- use SP to throw sand from the arc of a swing

NEW SWORD UNLOCKED

Stalagmite Sword (unmastered) 2/40 -- Base Power = ATK+2 ... ... Equip = DEF+2 ... Equip Skill: Stone Spike -- cut the earth and spend SP to conjure a stone spike

Even celebrating and brainstorming, they were quiet, which meant that they both could sprinting footsteps and half-audible shouts well before Tersia came into view.

They heard the crashing of a greater weight and a wet roar before Tersia got to them too.

Yumiella stepped to one side of the tunnel and readied her sword.

"-bear, owlbear! Zombie Owlbear, run!"

Tersia wasn't trying for any type of stealth, he wasn't keeping any kind of cool, and the hulking, red-eyed reason why rounded the corner barely ten paces behind him, loping on all fours with a wet wheeze roaring out from its half-rotted jaw.

Ever since she bled out in the Demon King's throne room, Yumiella had been off-balance. She hadn't felt the ever-present pleasant pressure of her oceanic magic in her bones, she hadn't known where she was or who was surrounding her, and beyond guesses as she waited to learn more, she hadn't really known whether it was even possible to fight these Waves and win, possible to go home.

All she'd really had to solve her problems with were basic manners and a tremendous capability for violence.

She couldn't solve her ignorance with violence.

She couldn't solve her disorientation with violence.

King Aultcray was untrustworthy or senile at best, and she couldn't solve that with violence.

Pope Balmus had blatantly lied to her face, and she couldn't solve that with violence.

She felt eyes watching her and following her when she wanted to be alone, and she couldn't solve that with violence.

She had no idea whether Patrick and Ryu had survived the Demon King's army, and she couldn't solve that with violence.
A rampaging monster?

Here at last was a problem she could solve with violence.

Obloquy · Jun 26, 2024

"Zombie Owlbear!! Run!!" Tersia shouted. Farrie grabbed for her, but Yumiella exploded forward in a lunge that had led to the deaths of countless monsters.

Zombie is undead, which means unholy. Energetic Sword, she mentally commanded, and the Cardinal Sword shifted into a sizable longsword that glowed bright with silver light.

Yumiella hadn't really slain many beasts with a bladed weapon, but she knew how monsters worked: they tended to flinch when a dangerous blow came toward their head and then get very angry if it hit and they survived. Large monsters tried to rear up and intimidate or crush smaller prey. Quadrupedal monsters had problems trying to spin or turn, so they tended to move up, down, or forward first.

Her silver blade cut a blazing arc aimed at the owlbear's eyes, and it attempted to duck. Having learned from Patrick how he could manage to spar against her without being totally overwhelmed, Yumiella had already been prepared for a dodge, shifting her weight and the angle of her elbows mid-swing.

Instead of glancing off the hard top of its skull, her sword dug into the zombie's left eye, its red glow snuffed out, and carved wicked line down its muzzle to break part of its beak.

Yumiella hadn't stopped running, so she was several paces past the owl bear as it tried to change course and pursue her, which gave her another chance to slash at its side.

Having killed its momentum by thrusting a paw against the cave wall, the owlbear zombie reared up on its hind legs, expecting its prey to cower. Instead, Yumiella stepped in closer on its blind side and stabbed upward into the gash she had already opened on its side.

The Energetic Sword flared with white light, and the zombie warbled out a scream of hate as its paw rose up to smash this agonizing enemy.

Usapil Sword, Yumiella had directed even before the paw started to rise, and the large broadsword shifted to a smaller blade stylized like sharp rabbit ears.

The smaller blade slid free of the oversized wound with no effort, and the jumping bonus helped Yumiella leap away out of range as the clawed paw began to fall.

When she was ten or eleven or maybe twelve, (no one in Dolkness kept close track of her birthdays,) Yumiella had already beaten the local dungeon and had sought to make training more fun with self-imposed challenges, such as the time she lost her arm attempting to punch every monster in the Dungeon to death.

About a month after she'd regrown her arm, Yumiella had spent two weeks trying to Goomba-stomp every enemy in the Dungeon to death, and then she'd spent another month trying a floor-is-lava challenge where she didn't touch the ground at all, only bouncing off walls and the heads of the monsters.

Sword Hero Yumiella may have lost the Level 99 strength that propelled her across rooftops, but she possessed the balance, the judgment, and the raw kinesthetic experience she had learned along the way that made those acts possible.

When Yumiella leapt away from the zombie owlbear's strike with her Usapil Sword, she landed on a slanted ledge of cave wall and immediately sprang back toward the monster as it was realizing that its prey was gone.

The momentum of its own missed paw strike carried the zombie forward, and it couldn't see from the side she approached.

Heavy Rock, Yumiella commanded, brutally willing the recently mastered Limestone Sword's skill to increase her weight.

"Yumiella Stomp," she declared, lancing both legs down in a devastating double kick. She overshot the head, but she felt the owlbear's vertebrae shatter underfoot with a satisfying crunch. Despite her skill use, she still had the Usapil sword active, and as the bear collapse she rolled to the right and let the momentum carry her to land by its left side.

Right beside the stab wound she had made already.

Switch to Epidermis Sword, Yumiella commanded, and the Cardinal Weapon shifted into the smallest form she had unlocked as she leaned forward and shoved her arm up to the elbow into the gash in its side. Switch to Energetic Sword.

Now impaled, the zombie owlbear spasmed.

Right arm soaked with slimy gore, she stepped out of range as the zombie owlbear thrashed, now having a holy water-infused broadsword longer than her arm piercing through all its insides, with the point poking an inch out of the back of its neck.

+30,320 EXP

Yumiella saw that she had a Level Up message -- she probably had several with that rush of experience -- but she dismissed it in favor of her ears, which told her that Farrie was sobbing while begging her to stay away, that Tersia was hysterically calling her a crazy monster, and other noises like Ryu's pained keening and the 'female demon king' whispers of her classmates.

It was these last ones, combined with feeling something fluttering past her hair as she'd been in mid-air moments ago, that had clued her in to what happened.

Epidermis Sword, she ordered, wrenching her smallest sword free of the carcass with a squelch. Usapil Sword. She jumped again and then rebounded off the wall with a twist to make her spin as she rose toward the cave ceiling.

"Rope Sword: Air Strike Slash," she ordered, twirling like a ballerina, and her new ranged attack skill slashed out repeatedly in every direction, shredding more than half the colony of monsters fluttering around the ceiling with their chittering and chirping.

Then the top of Yumiella's skull slammed into the stone ceiling and white stars exploded behind her eyes. Ow. I jumped too high.

She lost control of her arc but fortunately broke her fall by hitting a wall instead of suffering a straight drop; still, her whole head was throbbing like bite wound (she'd had plenty of those) and her eyes had teared up too much to see clearly even as she flailed to her knees and then tried to struggle to her feet.

Her ears weren't quite ringing, though, which meant she could hear perfectly well even if her focus was shot. I forgot how much pain hurt! "Where are you two?"

Tersia and Farrie's voices both came from the same direction, which meant-!

"Sand Sword: Sand Slash Sand Slash Sand Slash!" Yumiella called, putting her teammates at her back and slashing forward. I feel like a Pokemon trainer... or a Pokemon.

Her brain spat that image up at her, but she was used to keeping alert in a dungeon and her ears tracked the sand she'd sent flying.

Most of it fell to the floor of the cave in a gentle susurrus, but despite the voices of her two teammates being behind her, Yumiella heard huffs and growls as some of the sand splashed into vulnerable eyes and noses.

The vulnerable eyes and noses of monsters.

"Stalagmite Sword: Stone Spike." She stabbed the ground and a pained yelp came from further down the tunnel. "Stone Spike. Stone Spike." She had just under half of her SP left from that; if the wolves had woken up and gotten through the net barrier then she needed to wall off their approach.

Yumiella blinked again; her head still throbbed, but her eyes were finally clearing enough to see the three pointed pillars she had made in the middle of the tunnel, and that one wolf -- half again as large as the monster wolves were in Balshine -- was slinking down the side of the tunnel with a hungry rage in its eyes.

You're too close to the wall. Here's a trick I learned from Patrick. "Stone Spike. Stone Spike."

The foremost wolf whined and pawed and struggled, but rather than try to impale it Yumiella had grown the spikes out to one side of it, pinning the wolf between two rock spikes and the hard wall.

Yumiella moved forward just as the other two wolves started to make their way around her barrier. "Wire Sword: Bind Slash, Bind Slash. Energetic Sword," she shifted to hopefully regenerate the SP she had used now that glowing energy had bound the first wolf to solid stone.

Then she charged, because predators were rarely prepared for a direct charge.

"F-Faust Stone Skin! Faust Stone Skin!"

Yumiella heard Farrie's voice and felt friendly magic settle over her as she ran. She swung for the muzzle and the wolf tried to dart away just as the owlbear had.

Tunnel Snake Fang Sword. "Snakebite," Yumiella commanded mid-swing, and her envenomed blade bit into the canine's face.

It howled, but Yumiella kept moving to lunge and thrust the poisoned blade into the third wolf. It missed the face but scraped across the wolf's ribs, though she would probably need to roll when it-

"Faust Tailwind!"

-retaliated. Energy enveloped Yumiella and she dodged around the wolf, lighter and fast than before, dodging a snap of its fangs with ease and twisting her head just enough to check that the other wolf was occupied by Farrie and Tersia.

Wire Sword. "Binding Slash." Yumiella stabbed out to nick the wolf's leg and then the cavern floor. It tugged at the line of green light, lowered its head to bite, and Yumiella stabbed it in the mouth to tie its jaw together.

She checked over her shoulder that Farrie and Tersia were still handling the second hound while the first had not escaped, and shifted to her Energetic sword.

Rather than aim at the neck, which might risk bouncing off its skull according to Patrick's lessons, Yumiella made sure to hack at its back so she could sever the spine to cripple it.

Farrie and Tersia were sounding increasingly distressed, so she left the crippled wolf alive to bail them out.

Farrie had latched onto the wolf's neck and seem to be trying to choke it as she shrieked, while Tersia kept daring in and around to knife it so it couldn't focus.

Yumiella smashed her Energetic Sword into its eyes at it snapped at Tersia's green cape. This blinded it, but Farrie was startled enough to release her choke hold and get thrown flying.

Yumiella shifted to the Usapil sword, jumped, and with Heavy Rock active she stomped the full weight of both heels down on the wolf with a crunch.

+2,800 EXP

Yumiella hummed pleasantly, shifted back to Energetic Sword again, and moved to finish off the first wolf, still trapped by her stone.

She swung. And swung. And swung again, and again, and again, and again.

It took about eight strong hits to kill, which was long enough for the poison to finish off the crippled wolf as well.

+2,800 EXP ... +2,800 EXP

There might have been a bit of fluttering around the roof, and she took a moment to judge whether she could kill the rest of those monsters too for more EXP, but it sounded like they were going deeper into the cave system and she would need to chase them down.

Chasing them down shouldn't be too difficult, and I can find more monsters in there too. Maybe I can even find a boss to kill for better loot or a reward.

Yumiella felt good. She began to move deeper into the cave, to continue Leveling Up and finally get enough power to fix her life, to end the Waves and go home to Patrick and Ryu.

And as she was proceeding with this task, the mission she was summoned to fulfill, the main purpose her life had now and her only way home, some idiot grabbed her.

"Lady Yu-!!"

Yumiella could not have put a name to the roiling cauldron of emotions in her chest, but she finally felt good again after failing against the Demon King and being constantly on edge for betrayal or noble games with no power to defend herself. She felt strong and confident and capable, like she was supposed to! Fighting is what they were supposed to do, slaying monsters to grow strong!

"I'm going to hunt," Yumiella declared, her sword blade resting softly against Farrie's throat. I'm going to hunt and get strong and fix everything. Let go of me.

"I-I-I-! L-Lady Hero, Tersia is injured! W-We already nearly died, he needs help!"

"Give him a potion and we'll continue." I'm on a roll and I want to keep going.

"I- I don't have-!" Farrie shut up, eyes wide, as Yumiella pressed ever so gently with her weapon.

Then what good are you? He's bleeding from one arm, he isn't dying! I lost my arm above the elbow and I kept going!

That's what you do, you keep going!!

You can't go back to your old life and the parents who love you and the neighbors you help around their house and the classmates you game and trade and study with! So you keep going and get stronger and try not to think about them and keep busy so you won't miss them!

If you walk forward while looking backward, then you'll trip over your own feet and get killed by the OP Heroine or a Demon King you ought to beat one-handed!!

The fate of the world is at stake, and I'm going to get strong to stop it because power is the only thing people care about in these worlds! It all comes down to being strong!! You need to Level Up!!!

I'm going to be strong so that no one can imprison or bully or kill me again, so that no one can tear me away from my family!!!

If you're going to be this useless, I may as well just turn you into EXP now and go clear the cave myself, so you won't fill some monster's stomach to make it stronger instead of me!!!

...

REQUIREMENTS MET!

CURSE SERIES: SWORD OF GREED UNLOCKED!

wouLd yoU LikE To gaiN mOre Power...?

"...Yumiella, please. You really need to be more considerate of other people's feelings," Patrick sighed. "We can't all be as strong as you."

"You could if you put in the effort," Yumiella grumbled, but secretly she was enjoying the Princess carry even if she didn't need it.

Falling off Ryu was no big deal for her! She was fine!

Patrick laughed. "I suppose, but what's the point of having that strength? What are you doing with it that you can't do otherwise, flattening mountains for fun?"

"Mm." Yumiella pouted at his tease. "You were there, Mister Patrick. Last vacation, Their Majesties asked me to help heal old injuries as a goodwill volunteer mission among the populace. Alicia is only Level 3, so I'm still the only healer in the country able to regrow limbs."

"Good point, that is impressive," Patrick agreed, smiling at her as Ryu soared down to them. Her heart fluttered a little, and she found herself smiling back at him.

...

"Right," Yumiella sighed, "I have the potions all in my inventory. My apologies." She lowered her sword from Farrie's throat and produced several potions from the inventory. "Are these ingested, or topical?" she checked, leading the still-rattled martial artist over to where their dirty blond scout was dazedly clutching his bleeding arm.

"I- I don't know what topical means," Farrie managed faintly.

"Do I pour it on his wound, or in his mouth?"

Between them they got Tersia treated and standing, though he still needed support from both of them because he'd lost a lot of blood.

Deciding that it was best to pause the grinding mission for now, Yumiella and Farrie lent their shoulders to lead their injured teammate to daylight.

As they saw some daylight around a cave in the bend, Farrie mused. "Hey, I... I feel sort of weird? Floaty? Is that a thing with fighting?"

"I feel it too. I expect we level up repeatedly with our victory," Yumiella answered, pulling up her MENU to check.

PARTY STATUS

Yumiella Dolkness -- Cardinal Sword Hero -- Level 19 -- HP = 129/153 -- MP = 179/179 -- SP = 28/99

Welt Bluegrass -- Sorcerer -- Level 15 -- HP = 98/108 -- MP = 72/105

Farrie Bonheim -- Martial Artist -- Level 16 -- HP = 193/205 -- MP = 57/98

Bakta -- Ranger -- Level 10 -- HP = 200/200 -- MP = 87/87

Tersia -- Scout -- Level 14 -- HP = 32/131 -- MP = 91/91

Egg
Egg
Egg

"You're now Level 16," Yumiella told her.

"H-Holy shit," Farrie laughed drunkenly. "Let's never do that again, okay?"

"Not until we have better team combat abilities," Yumiella allowed.

\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

AN:
The Grinding of the Sword Hero, Arc 1: "I Was Reincarnated (Again) In A (Different) Fantasy World" is now complete.

Arc 2: "Nose To The Grindstone" will commence with the next chapter.

Thank you for reading!

Grinding of the Sword Hero

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