—Cole POV—
Examining the hourglass closely, I used several spells to see how what I could learn from the Magic Item. I was curious to see how it allowed people to Class Up, where it got its power from, and how the ancients constructed it. Revealing hundreds of different enchants imbued into the items, it was very clear that the ancient society that built it was far more advanced than I initially thought.
“This is quite fascinating.”, I mumbled as I quickly wrote several of the enchantments I could use down, “The Elves and Dwarves would have a field day going over this.”
As I was writing things down, Sapphire came walking with Ventrice and Vivian following close behind. Catching sight of Malty being dragged by Ventrice, I asked them what happened. Telling me that she had attempted to flee into the Church, Malty was going to use one of the escape tunnels to give us the slip. Staring at her in frustration, she was a moron for thinking she’d escape us for long.
“Next time she tries to run…bind and gag her like a wild boar.”, I told my wives, “We can carry her around like that till we get home tonight. Make sure you tighten the ropes up till they start digging into her ankles and wrists.”
“What a wonderful idea.”, Vivian agreed giving Malty a sadistic smile, “Please go ahead and run, I want to make you look like the pig you are.”
“I will not tolerate such disgraceful treatment, I am a Princess of Melromarc and I-”, Malty shouted before I appeared in front of her.
Grabbing her by the mouth, I gave her a scowl and stared into her eyes. Frankly, I wasn’t happy having to babysit her, but I drew pleasure from the thought she’d enjoy hell every day from my wives. Knowing them they’d make her handwash diapers, clean up vomit, wash dishes, do laundry, and anything else they couldn’t be bothered with.
“Right now you should be grateful I am willing to give you a bed and three square meals a day. After all the crap you have done, I should really make you sleep in a stable and force you to eat pig slop.”, I growled, “Unless you want that, I suggest you keep your attitude in check to my family and me. Do I make myself clear?”
“Y…yes…”, she reluctantly acknowledged.
With that settled, we took a seat and waited for Naofumi’s party to finish their Class Up. Having left it up to them to pick what classes they wanted, the two women took about half an hour to settle on their decision. Picking what each thought would help Naofumi the most, both walked away with smiles on their faces. Telling me they were ready to go, we got up and followed them out.
“Alright man, we are going to head out and look for Melty. Do you want me to take you to Siltvelt really quick so you can look for party members there? You will probably have better luck at the Guild there than here in Melromarc.”, I reminded him.
“No, I think we will return to the same Slaver I got Raphtalia and Senko from first. Senko thinks that there may be more people there that we can use on our team. Besides…I like the idea of saving people from being worked to death in the mines or fields.”, Naofumi said with a smile.
“Fair enough, we will go ahead and…hold on, I forgot to ask you this earlier. What became of the Filolialf Egg I had you buy the other day, did it hatch for you? My daughter found the two I bought roosting on her bed this morning.”, I told him.
“Haha, yes mine did hatch and made quite a mess of things this morning. She must have hatched sometime in the night, when we woke up she’d eaten all of our emergency food supplies and Raphtalia’s kid snacks.”, Naofumi laughed, “We left her in the inn’s stables and paid for feed to keep her satisfied for a while.”
Puffing her cheeks out in protest, Raphtalia argued that they weren’t kid’s snacks. Telling him that biscuit cookies were for people of all ages, Senko backed her up and said that she enjoyed them too. Realizing that he was outnumbered he apologized telling them that he was just teasing her. Giggling at his response, the two admitted they knew he was joking and said they were teasing him too.
“Ahem…”, I coughed snapping them out of their little flirtatious mood, “I recommend keeping the Filolial close by you from now on. Your steed will grow rather quickly due to it being raised by you, the Shield Hero.”
“What do you mean?”, Senko inquired, “Is there something special about a Filolial being raised by a Hero?”
“Yes, they mature very rapidly and actually have an extra evolutionary stage available to them. A Filolial raised by a Hero can evolve into a Filolial Queen, they are able to fight toe to toe with a Dragon easily.”, I informed them, “Not only that, they can use magic and can take on human forms. Just so you are aware, since she is still very young, she will have the appearance of an elementary schooler. You should be aware of that in case you wake up one morning and see her sleeping next to you.”
“Seriously, fight a Dragon toe to toe!?”, Naofumi gasped, “I see now why you wanted me to get one. If that is the case, we will make sure she comes along with us from now on. Also, thank you for the heads up…I would have had a heart attack in the future if you didn’t tell me that.”
Giving him a grin, I pull in close so the women wouldn’t hear my next warning. Telling him to keep the Filolial away from Motoyusa, I warned him that Motoyusa would quickly develop a creepy attraction to them. Nodding his head, he swore to keep Filo away from him the best he could. Patting him on the back, I took my group and headed off to find Melty.
—An Hour Later—
Starting at the International Conference, we started working our way along the few roads that headed southward. Checking each of the settlements they would have had to pass through first along each road, we quickly determined their travel path. Using Telekinesis to carry Vivian and Malty, the rest of us continued on foot down the road at high speeds.
Stopping at each settlement we came upon, we confirmed with the locals that Melty’s convoy had passed by already. As each passing mile went by, I wondered why we hadn’t reached them yet. Based on the Royal Convoys I had been with, Melty’s covered far more ground than I would have expected.
“That’s because she’s probably wanting to get home as fast as possible. She’s always done everything our parents have asked of her to the letter.”, Malty grumbled out of frustration.
“Be that as it may, we have already covered probably thirty miles at this point.”, I stated, “That is an awful lot of ground to cover in the wilderness on poorly maintained roads.”
“There aren’t any tracks though.”, Vivian said having been watching the roadway closely.
“That just means whatever was chasing them was airborne.”, Venice remarked using her nose to smell the air closely.
Stopping for a moment to let Sapphire and Vivian use their heightened sense of smell as well, all three of them quickly found something. Telling me that they smelled something burnt up ahead, I looked through the canopy and saw no smoke in the sky. Trusting my wive’s sense of smell, we picked up the pace to locate the source of the odor. Covering another mile of ground, the unmistakable roar of water began cutting through the usual sounds of the forest. As we drew closer to the sounds of the raging waters, we heard men shouting in the same vicinity as the body of water.
“I want her alive, that bitch made us chase her for over three miles! She is going to be our whore tonight before we kill her!”, a man shouted.
“Stay away from me!!”, a young woman screamed.
Reaching a large, collapsed wooden bridge by the river we had been hearing, Melty was desperately holding onto one of the support ropes for dear life. Using that same rope to pull her towards them, the mercenaries were loudly discussing what they’d do to her once they got their hands on her.
Setting Vivian and Malty down, I asked Sapphire to handle pulling Melty in while I dealt with the mercs. Launching herself forwards, she shoulder-tackled the man pulling the rope into the middle of the river. With nothing out there for him to grab hold of, he was quickly sent downriver through a series of rapids.
“Who the hell is this bitch, one of the fucking Demihuman locals!?”, the mercs shouted in anger, “Kill this wench!”
Shooting tendrils of napalm up from the earth, I caught the men before they could make a move on her. Struggling around trying to get free, I shot a small arc of lightning at the nearest merc to me and watched him go up like a firework. Screaming like a stuck pig the man dropped to the ground and tried rolling around to put the flames out. Quickly realizing that the flames weren’t going out, he made a very rash decision to jump into the river.
Watching him get dragged away by the current, he was dead before he reached the rapids. Looking back at our group, the men stopped when they saw my face. Realizing that they had been caught red-handed, they immediately tried bargaining for their lives. Shouting over one another the reasons they should be left alive, I waved my hand and put a silence field around them.
“I don’t bargain with people that hurt children, and threaten to assault them…”, I said as my Bloodlust and Killing Intent boiled over, “Originally I was going to let the Four Heroes and the Queen handle the Church, but you changed my mind. When you see them in Hell, tell them you were the reason I hunted them down like dogs and killed them! I will send every one of fucking cultists to Hell, and I will dance over their smoldering ashes! Begone from my sight!”
With another wave of my hand, a large fissure opened up beneath the mercenaries. Watching charred, black skeletons rise up from the ground with chains in their hands, they slowly affixed them to their necks, wrists, and ankles. Pulling the men down into the fissure, black smoke and flames bellowed out from within.
Removing the silence field, the men screamed for mercy as they were dragged into the depths. Once the men were gone from sight, the fissure closed and no trace of them was left behind. Hearing a loud audible gulp from Malty, I was certain she was reevaluating the literal hell I could place her in till the castle was cleared.
Pulling Melty out of the river, she immediately grabbed Sapphire tightly as her small body shook violently. Between the threats of being assaulted and the cold river water, she was in a very bad way right now. Tossing Sapphire some towels and fresh clothing, I told her I would get some tea on to warm Melty up. Jumping in to help her, Ventrice and Vivian wanted to make sure she was taken care of properly.
“Wha…what was that spell?”, Malty asked me as I got a fire going, “What were those skeletons, and those chains?”
“You saw it with your own two eyes, it was a portal to Hell. As a former Sage, I have studied every form and type of magic in existence. I have familiar contracts with powerful magic creatures as well as beings from other dimensions and planes of existence. One of those contractees allows me to send people directly to Hell if I request it.”, I told her with a smirk, “If you want I can send you there so you can have a look.”
“N…no…I am fine not knowing.”, she shivered in fear.
Remaining silent after that, she sat next to the fire watching the water boil. Adding dried tea leaves, I let them steep for a bit before dumping the first pot of tea. Boiling another pot of water, I used the same leaves to boil another pot which I then poured for us to drink.
“You threw out the first brew, why is that?”, Melty asked as the four of them walked over.
“The first brew using dried tea leaves is always terrible. Tea leaves need the first brew to open up, the next three to four brews are where the flavor is.”, I told her, “I learn from my wife Elouise how to brew this way, and I have always stuck to it.”
Passing out the cups of tea to everyone, Melty quickly downed hers to warm up. Pouring her another cup of tea, we sat there in silence for a while letting her gather her thoughts.
—Cole POV—
Examining the hourglass closely, I used several spells to see how what I could learn from the Magic Item. I was curious to see how it allowed people to Class Up, where it got its power from, and how the ancients constructed it. Revealing hundreds of different enchants imbued into the items, it was very clear that the ancient society that built it was far more advanced than I initially thought.
“This is quite fascinating.”, I mumbled as I quickly wrote several of the enchantments I could use down, “The Elves and Dwarves would have a field day going over this.”
As I was writing things down, Sapphire came walking with Ventrice and Vivian following close behind. Catching sight of Malty being dragged by Ventrice, I asked them what happened. Telling me that she had attempted to flee into the Church, Malty was going to use one of the escape tunnels to give us the slip. Staring at her in frustration, she was a moron for thinking she’d escape us for long.
“Next time she tries to run…bind and gag her like a wild boar.”, I told my wives, “We can carry her around like that till we get home tonight. Make sure you tighten the ropes up till they start digging into her ankles and wrists.”
“What a wonderful idea.”, Vivian agreed giving Malty a sadistic smile, “Please go ahead and run, I want to make you look like the pig you are.”
“I will not tolerate such disgraceful treatment, I am a Princess of Melromarc and I-”, Malty shouted before I appeared in front of her.
Grabbing her by the mouth, I gave her a scowl and stared into her eyes. Frankly, I wasn’t happy having to babysit her, but I drew pleasure from the thought she’d enjoy hell every day from my wives. Knowing them they’d make her handwash diapers, clean up vomit, wash dishes, do laundry, and anything else they couldn’t be bothered with.
“Right now you should be grateful I am willing to give you a bed and three square meals a day. After all the crap you have done, I should really make you sleep in a stable and force you to eat pig slop.”, I growled, “Unless you want that, I suggest you keep your attitude in check to my family and me. Do I make myself clear?”
“Y…yes…”, she reluctantly acknowledged.
With that settled, we took a seat and waited for Naofumi’s party to finish their Class Up. Having left it up to them to pick what classes they wanted, the two women took about half an hour to settle on their decision. Picking what each thought would help Naofumi the most, both walked away with smiles on their faces. Telling me they were ready to go, we got up and followed them out.
“Alright man, we are going to head out and look for Melty. Do you want me to take you to Siltvelt really quick so you can look for party members there? You will probably have better luck at the Guild there than here in Melromarc.”, I reminded him.
“No, I think we will return to the same Slaver I got Raphtalia and Senko from first. Senko thinks that there may be more people there that we can use on our team. Besides…I like the idea of saving people from being worked to death in the mines or fields.”, Naofumi said with a smile.
“Fair enough, we will go ahead and…hold on, I forgot to ask you this earlier. What became of the Filolialf Egg I had you buy the other day, did it hatch for you? My daughter found the two I bought roosting on her bed this morning.”, I told him.
“Haha, yes mine did hatch and made quite a mess of things this morning. She must have hatched sometime in the night, when we woke up she’d eaten all of our emergency food supplies and Raphtalia’s kid snacks.”, Naofumi laughed, “We left her in the inn’s stables and paid for feed to keep her satisfied for a while.”
Puffing her cheeks out in protest, Raphtalia argued that they weren’t kid’s snacks. Telling him that biscuit cookies were for people of all ages, Senko backed her up and said that she enjoyed them too. Realizing that he was outnumbered he apologized telling them that he was just teasing her. Giggling at his response, the two admitted they knew he was joking and said they were teasing him too.
“Ahem…”, I coughed snapping them out of their little flirtatious mood, “I recommend keeping the Filolial close by you from now on. Your steed will grow rather quickly due to it being raised by you, the Shield Hero.”
“What do you mean?”, Senko inquired, “Is there something special about a Filolial being raised by a Hero?”
“Yes, they mature very rapidly and actually have an extra evolutionary stage available to them. A Filolial raised by a Hero can evolve into a Filolial Queen, they are able to fight toe to toe with a Dragon easily.”, I informed them, “Not only that, they can use magic and can take on human forms. Just so you are aware, since she is still very young, she will have the appearance of an elementary schooler. You should be aware of that in case you wake up one morning and see her sleeping next to you.”
“Seriously, fight a Dragon toe to toe!?”, Naofumi gasped, “I see now why you wanted me to get one. If that is the case, we will make sure she comes along with us from now on. Also, thank you for the heads up…I would have had a heart attack in the future if you didn’t tell me that.”
Giving him a grin, I pull in close so the women wouldn’t hear my next warning. Telling him to keep the Filolial away from Motoyusa, I warned him that Motoyusa would quickly develop a creepy attraction to them. Nodding his head, he swore to keep Filo away from him the best he could. Patting him on the back, I took my group and headed off to find Melty.
—An Hour Later—
Starting at the International Conference, we started working our way along the few roads that headed southward. Checking each of the settlements they would have had to pass through first along each road, we quickly determined their travel path. Using Telekinesis to carry Vivian and Malty, the rest of us continued on foot down the road at high speeds.
Stopping at each settlement we came upon, we confirmed with the locals that Melty’s convoy had passed by already. As each passing mile went by, I wondered why we hadn’t reached them yet. Based on the Royal Convoys I had been with, Melty’s covered far more ground than I would have expected.
“That’s because she’s probably wanting to get home as fast as possible. She’s always done everything our parents have asked of her to the letter.”, Malty grumbled out of frustration.
“Be that as it may, we have already covered probably thirty miles at this point.”, I stated, “That is an awful lot of ground to cover in the wilderness on poorly maintained roads.”
“There aren’t any tracks though.”, Vivian said having been watching the roadway closely.
“That just means whatever was chasing them was airborne.”, Venice remarked using her nose to smell the air closely.
Stopping for a moment to let Sapphire and Vivian use their heightened sense of smell as well, all three of them quickly found something. Telling me that they smelled something burnt up ahead, I looked through the canopy and saw no smoke in the sky. Trusting my wive’s sense of smell, we picked up the pace to locate the source of the odor. Covering another mile of ground, the unmistakable roar of water began cutting through the usual sounds of the forest. As we drew closer to the sounds of the raging waters, we heard men shouting in the same vicinity as the body of water.
“I want her alive, that bitch made us chase her for over three miles! She is going to be our whore tonight before we kill her!”, a man shouted.
“Stay away from me!!”, a young woman screamed.
Reaching a large, collapsed wooden bridge by the river we had been hearing, Melty was desperately holding onto one of the support ropes for dear life. Using that same rope to pull her towards them, the mercenaries were loudly discussing what they’d do to her once they got their hands on her.
Setting Vivian and Malty down, I asked Sapphire to handle pulling Melty in while I dealt with the mercs. Launching herself forwards, she shoulder-tackled the man pulling the rope into the middle of the river. With nothing out there for him to grab hold of, he was quickly sent downriver through a series of rapids.
“Who the hell is this bitch, one of the fucking Demihuman locals!?”, the mercs shouted in anger, “Kill this wench!”
Shooting tendrils of napalm up from the earth, I caught the men before they could make a move on her. Struggling around trying to get free, I shot a small arc of lightning at the nearest merc to me and watched him go up like a firework. Screaming like a stuck pig the man dropped to the ground and tried rolling around to put the flames out. Quickly realizing that the flames weren’t going out, he made a very rash decision to jump into the river.
Watching him get dragged away by the current, he was dead before he reached the rapids. Looking back at our group, the men stopped when they saw my face. Realizing that they had been caught red-handed, they immediately tried bargaining for their lives. Shouting over one another the reasons they should be left alive, I waved my hand and put a silence field around them.
“I don’t bargain with people that hurt children, and threaten to assault them…”, I said as my Bloodlust and Killing Intent boiled over, “Originally I was going to let the Four Heroes and the Queen handle the Church, but you changed my mind. When you see them in Hell, tell them you were the reason I hunted them down like dogs and killed them! I will send every one of fucking cultists to Hell, and I will dance over their smoldering ashes! Begone from my sight!”
With another wave of my hand, a large fissure opened up beneath the mercenaries. Watching charred, black skeletons rise up from the ground with chains in their hands, they slowly affixed them to their necks, wrists, and ankles. Pulling the men down into the fissure, black smoke and flames bellowed out from within.
Removing the silence field, the men screamed for mercy as they were dragged into the depths. Once the men were gone from sight, the fissure closed and no trace of them was left behind. Hearing a loud audible gulp from Malty, I was certain she was reevaluating the literal hell I could place her in till the castle was cleared.
Pulling Melty out of the river, she immediately grabbed Sapphire tightly as her small body shook violently. Between the threats of being assaulted and the cold river water, she was in a very bad way right now. Tossing Sapphire some towels and fresh clothing, I told her I would get some tea on to warm Melty up. Jumping in to help her, Ventrice and Vivian wanted to make sure she was taken care of properly.
“Wha…what was that spell?”, Malty asked me as I got a fire going, “What were those skeletons, and those chains?”
“You saw it with your own two eyes, it was a portal to Hell. As a former Sage, I have studied every form and type of magic in existence. I have familiar contracts with powerful magic creatures as well as beings from other dimensions and planes of existence. One of those contractees allows me to send people directly to Hell if I request it.”, I told her with a smirk, “If you want I can send you there so you can have a look.”
“N…no…I am fine not knowing.”, she shivered in fear.
Remaining silent after that, she sat next to the fire watching the water boil. Adding dried tea leaves, I let them steep for a bit before dumping the first pot of tea. Boiling another pot of water, I used the same leaves to boil another pot which I then poured for us to drink.
“You threw out the first brew, why is that?”, Melty asked as the four of them walked over.
“The first brew using dried tea leaves is always terrible. Tea leaves need the first brew to open up, the next three to four brews are where the flavor is.”, I told her, “I learn from my wife Elouise how to brew this way, and I have always stuck to it.”
Passing out the cups of tea to everyone, Melty quickly downed hers to warm up. Pouring her another cup of tea, we sat there in silence for a while letting her gather her thoughts.
