[Riyute Village]
Riyute Village is a small village southwest of Melromarc Castle Town. Riyute Village is bordered to the west by a swamp, filled with poisonous monsters and harmless insects. To the north, the village is bordered by mountains. In those mountains lies an old coal mine, which is currently home to monsters after the first Calamity Wave.
Now, two very important people are walking through the village. Those two are the Shield Hero, Iwatami Naofumi, and his demi-human Raccoon companion, Raphtalia (who appears to be 10 years old). They are both making their way through the village, looking for a place to sell the items Naofumi created and obtained from the monsters and herbs they both collected, including the Usapil skin.
"How much would it be for everything?" Naofumi asks a vendor at a small stall in the village. "For everything, hmm, two silver coins," he says while holding up the Usapil skin. Naofumi narrows his eyes, a little disappointed at how little money he was able to get for everything. "Is there a place where I can get money quickly?" Naofumi asks, hoping to get more coins. "Hmm, you can get more coins by selling the ore from the mine, but..." "Is there a problem?" Naofumi asks, seeing the merchant's silence. "Well, since the first wave attacked, the place became a nest for several monsters, and no one goes near that place anymore," the merchant informs Naofumi. "I don't understand what those Cardinal heroes summoned in Melromarc are doing that still hasn't solved this problem."
"I understand," Naofumi says, preparing to go to the mine to look for those minerals. "One more thing," the merchant says before Naofumi leaves. "Yes?" "Around that area, there was also a young adventurer, saying he's going to look for rare materials, saying he wants to get strong enough to join one of the hero groups. If you see him around, tell him he still owes me for the healing potions I gave him." Without saying anything, Naofumi leads Raphtalia in the direction of the mine.
[Riyute Mine]
After a long walk, Naofumi and Raphtalia reach the entrance of the mine and enter a storage room near the entrance, where Naofumi finds three things: a sharpening stone, a mining pick, and a rope. Each one is absorbed by Naofumi's shield, and Naofumi is able to unlock three new shields. Pickaxe Shield*, Whetstone Shield*, and Rope Shield*. Naofumi noticed that unlocking the rope shield gave him an equipable combat ability, the "Air Strike Shield." When he tested it, he saw a green energy shield slightly larger than himself form. As Naofumi and Raphtalia walked deeper into the cave, Naofumi held a torch in his right hand and Raphtalia carried one in both of her hands. As they walked, Naofumi told Raphtalia that if a dangerous monster approached, she would flee and should follow its path. Raphtalia agreed.
After walking for several minutes, they finally reach a waterfall where they can see the ore the merchant told Naofumi about in the stone. Naofumi takes the pickaxe from Raphtalia and transforms his shield into the Pickaxe Shield, gaining an Equipment Bonus: Mining +1. He begins to chip away at the stone around the ore to extract the ore. As Naofumi begins to hit the stone, Raphtalia sees some animal tracks on the floor, similar to dog paw prints, while Naofumi celebrates having gotten his first mineral "yes, they will pay us very well for this" says Naofumi having the mineral in his hand, then looks at Raphtalia "now Raphtalia ..." was going to continue talking until he saw the face of his fellow Demi-human, Raphtalia's face was one of absolute terror, when Naofumi saw where the Raccoon was looking, he could see the silhouette of a large monster next to two pairs of red eyes and growls, when the creature could be seen completely it was a kind of two-headed black demon dog with a long neck, that same creature swallowed the tragic memory of the death of her parents to Raphtalia during the first Wave by the Cerberus.
When the monster fully reveals itself, Raphtalia lets out a great scream upon seeing the creature, and the monster attacks Raphtalia with intentions to kill, but Naofumi saves her by grabbing her and throwing himself into the precipice where the water awaited them to avoid his death. The two-headed dog, seeing that his attack was avoided, becomes even more enraged and begins to use his enhanced sense of smell, searching for the scent of his prey.
Some time later, Naofumi uses his Rope Shield to obtain an anchor to return to the surface. Once on the surface, they are suspended by the rope of his shield. Raphtalia coughs a little and Naofumi asks her if she is okay. Raphtalia explains the reason for her fear, how during the first Wave, her parents had sacrificed themselves so that she could live. Naofumi, now understanding the reason why Raphtalia had those nightmares every night, when his attention is caught by the sound of footsteps and they see the two-headed dog monster, waiting for them higher up.
Naofumi tells Raphtalia that if that is the monster that killed her parents and Raphtalia denies saying that it was one with three heads, Naofumi tells Raphtalia that she will have to kill the monster, so they can become stronger and that more children lose their parents, Naofumi intercepts an attack from one of the monster's heads while the other attacks Naofumi's shoulder, Raphtalia due to her trauma to the monsters can not attack, Naofumi seeing that she froze ordered her to attack, for not having followed the order the Slave Crest electrocutes her, seeing that this did not help, Naofumi told her to stop and run away, that he would take care of buying her time to flee, Raphtalia did not want to lose anyone else when she finally attacks the creature wounding one of its necks, the creature was going to counterattack against Raphtalia and when Naofumi was going to summon his Air Shield, It was when suddenly the noise of chains moving with force was heard and in that instant a ball with swells was flying until it hit one of the monster's heads bursting it, with a scream of pain the creature stepped back and both Naofumi and Raphtalias see where that attack came from "Who's there?" Naofumi asks to the shadow of the person who finished off one of the monster's heads.
From the shadows emerged a 19-year-old young man. He has an athletic build, the result of his physical training. He is approximately 1.75 meters tall, with a confident and alert posture. His hair is dark, almost black, slightly disheveled by the wind and battles. His blue eyes are the most striking feature of his face, along with the unusual weapon in his hands that resembled a medieval spiked mace connected by a chain to the spiked ball. The flail head is a deep black sphere with multiple sharp spikes radiating from its surface. The sphere appears to be made of polished obsidian, as described above. The chain is a chain of metal links that connects the flail head to the handle. The links are a dark metallic color, and the handle is a long, cylindrical, black handle. At the base of the handle is inlaid with a turquoise gem, surrounded by obsidian-black ornamental details. The top of the handle, where it joins the chain, also features obsidian-black details.
The armor he wears is based on Tight Cloth. Beneath the plates, a garment of tight blue cloth with white and brown details can be seen, covering the torso and arms, acting as a comfortable and flexible base. The chest and shoulder plates are protected by light gray plates with red borders and details. These plates cover the chest and extend to the shoulders, where they connect with smaller, rounded shoulder guards, also in light gray; the arm guards are that the forearms are covered in white guards with red borders, leaving the elbows relatively free for ease of movement. Dark gauntlets are seen covering the hands; the leg guards are that the legs have white guards on the upper thighs and knees, secured with brown straps. The lower legs are covered in tall brown boots, and he wears a brown leather belt around his waist, from which hang several pouches and holsters, and his accessories suggest the carrying of essential equipment for the adventure, "we'll sort that out later, now we must finish off this beast before the beast finishes us."
Without saying more the boy threw the ball of his weapon with his chains trying to catch the beast, but the last remaining head of the demon dog monster, the monster tried to attack Raphtalia but Naofumi activates his air shield saving his partner "Now Raphtalia, finish that thing" Naofumi tells her after deactivating the air shield and the boy holds the remaining head with his chains after being able to catch it with his weapon "Miss Raccoon hurry, I won't be able to keep it held for long" says the boy holding the chain with one hand and the handle with the other, Naofumi went to help him and together they held the demon beast, Raphtalia seeing this opportunity attacks the monster with her short sword stabbing it right in the center of the two necks, blood gushed from the wound and the beast died.
Naofumi: +340 Exp
Raphtalia: +430 Exp
???: 360 Exp
With the monster dead, everyone was finally able to calm down and take a few breaths "Are you both okay?" The boy with the strange weapon asks, now with the chain retracting until it looks like a Medieval Mace. "I didn't think I'd run into people in this mine," he says as he takes out two flasks of liquid and begins to distribute it to Naofumi and Raphtalia. "...we're okay, thanks to you," Naofumi says, still catching his breath, while taking the offered flask and inspecting the liquid. It seems to be a healing potion of decent quality. Raphtalia, trembling slightly but breathing more evenly, also accepts the potion with a shy nod. "Thank you…" she murmurs, still shaken but regaining composure. "But that doesn't answer the question from before. Who are you?" Naofumi asks with narrowed eyes, after drinking the potion and Raphtalia taking hers.
"So excuse me, I'm Ichigo, Tatsuo Ichigo, and you?" Naofumi becomes slightly wary and replies, "I'm Iwatani Naofumi, and this is Rahtalia." the young man gives a small smile "Good. You two looked like you were in serious trouble. That thing wasn't just any monster—it's created by the Waves."
Naofumi eyes him with a hint of suspicion, still protective of Raphtalia and not quick to trust. "You're not from the village, are you? The merchant mentioned a reckless adventurer who came here looking for rare materials. That wouldn't happen to be you, would it?"
The young man raises an eyebrow and then laughs lightly. "Guilty as charged. I'm an adventurer-in-training. I'm aiming to join one of the Cardinal Hero parties, though I haven't had the best luck so far. The Spear Hero only accepts women in his party, the swordsman is a very quiet guy for my taste, and the bowman would surely hit him to make him shut up about his "justice." Mostly been hunting monsters, collecting rare items, training for when I find the right hero to follow. "
Naofumi, still somewhat skeptical, crosses his arms. "That weapon… it's not something I've seen before. What is it exactly?"
Ichigo looks at his Flail and holds it up. "This? It's called a Flail. I trained to fight with one since I was little. The chain extends and retracts, and it connects to my mana for better control. A little conspicuous, I admit, but it does the job."
Raphtalia, now feeling steadier, takes a step forward. "You… really saved us. Thank you." Her voice is small, but honest.
Ichigo bows his head slightly. "You're welcome, miss. I don't like seeing good people get hurt. Especially not kids."
She flinches a little at the word "kid," but Naofumi places a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "She's stronger than she looks."
Ichigo smiles. "I can tell. That final strike was clean—right where it needed to be. That monster won't be getting up again."
Naofumi finally relaxes a bit. "You mentioned you were here for rare materials. There's a merchant in the village who said you owe him for healing potions."
Ichigo groans. "Of course he brought that up... I was planning to pay him once I found something valuable enough. Turns out I found more than I bargained for."
Naofumi chuckles slightly. "You and me both."
Ichigo looks at the two of them, then glances back toward the path leading deeper into the mine. "Listen, I've already mapped a few of the tunnels. I think there's a vein of enchanted ore deeper in, but it's crawling with monsters. If you're heading back that way, maybe we help each other out?"
Naofumi looks to Raphtalia, who nods with a determined expression. "Alright," Naofumi says. "But no more surprises."
Ichigo gives a short nod and smirks. "No promises, Shield Hero—but I'll try to keep it interesting."
Silence filled the space between the boys, becoming very heavy when Ichigo's last words sank in. Naofumi's gaze darkened, and Raphtalia's tail hairs prickled with tension. "How did you find out?" Naofumi asked, preparing for a battle. "Well, for starters, if you want to go unnoticed, you shouldn't be carrying a shield that looked like it was made of rope with a green gem in the center," Ichigo said, pointing to Naofumi's shield on his right arm. "And second, I heard you say 'Air Shield' during the fight." Naofumi cursed himself inwardly for being so careless with this stranger around.
"...And what will you do with this information?" Naofumi asks cautiously wanting to know if the boy is an enemy or an ally, "Nothing, I would just like to ask Hero-sama if you would let me join your group, I want to be able to help you fight the Waves of Calamity, please" he says giving Naofumi a ninety-degree bow, with his eyes closed tightly waiting for his answer.
The silence was long, Naofumi staring at the boy with distrustful eyes, suppressed anger, and narrowed eyes. He sighed at the end and said, "Okay, but no more surprises from now on."
Ichigo smiled, "Hai, General," and began leading Naofumi and Rahtalia deeper into the mine.
As the three began to return to the depths of the Riyute Mine, an unlikely alliance was forged: an alliance born of blood, danger, and a shared determination to survive and thrive in a world shaped by the Waves of Calamity.
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[Party Formed]
Naofumi Iwatani – Shield Hero
Raphtalia – Sword Wielder
Ichigo – Obsidian Flail
[Quest Updated: Clear the Riyute Mine]
Defeat Remaining Monsters: Incomplete
Recover Rare Ore: Ongoing
Return to Merchant: Pending
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TO BE CONTINUED