Chapter Fifteen: Demi-Humans
We switched off sleep-shifts, and before long morning had come.
By noon, there were already new problems.
We were out hunting Usapils.
“Ah…”
The knife I’d given Raphtalia snapped with an audible crack.
“Here, take it.”
I didn’t really have a choice, so I held out my work knife to her. She took it and killed the Usapil that was biting me.
“I’m so sorry.”
“Nothing lasts forever. It just broke. It’s no big deal.”
It was just a cheap thing, and we’d never even had it sharpened.
“Let’s just head back to town.”
“Okay.”
We’d accrued a sizable amount of luggage. Dividing it between the two of us, we set off for town.
Also, I was now at level 11, and so was Raphtalia.
On the way back to town we ran into a few monsters, but Raphtalia was able to dispatch them with the little utility knife.
Back in town, we sold all our loot and medicine and ended up making 70 pieces of silver.
“I wonder what happened.”
“The knife?”
Raphtalia and I were eating at a food stall.
It looked like we were making enough money to survive. If I could cook Usapil meat, we could eat for free. That took a little pressure off.
I didn’t know where to go, but I knew we needed to get good equipment and keep leveling up.
“Hey, Let’s go to the weapon shop.”
“Okay.”
Rumble…
I heard a stomach rumbling behind me.
“I’m hungry.”
“Didn’t you just eat??”
What was this, puberty?! How many times did she need to eat every day?
“Ha…”
Engel’s coefficient was about to jump through the roof. If we didn’t go hunting, she’d eat me out of house and home.
“What I’m saying, man, is this: give us the best equipment you can for 65 pieces of silver. Throw in a work knife, too.”
The weapon shop owner slapped his palm to his forehead.
“I guess I’m at fault too, giving you such a cheap one… but you still need to take care of your weapons.”
“Sorry. I was using it like it had a Blood Clean coating. Bad idea, huh?”
Right, the balloons, Mush, and Eggugs were all basically inanimate. Sure, the Eggug had some liquid inside that you had to watch out for. But the Usapils bled, and that must have affected the knife. On top of that, we never cleaned or sharpened it, so that just made it break quicker.
“But you know, it’s only been three days since I saw you guys last. You’re looking much healthier.”
“You think?”
Raphtalia shot him a professional smile. What did he want to say?
“Hm? And you look so happy too.”
“I am!”
This was the perfect place to haggle.
“Hey, put most of that 65 pieces of silver into the weapon.”
“What about you?”
“I’m fine.”
“Really?”
Raphtalia looked up at me, confused.
“Do I look like I need something? Geez…”
In all the fighting we’d done so far, I hadn’t been hurt even once. But the other heroes had warned me. The Shielders were strong in the beginning but fall behind as the game goes on.
So I wasn’t going to waste resources on myself until we got far enough that the enemy’s attacks started to hurt me.
“Hmm…”
Raphtalia was acting like she didn’t get what I meant. She was hugging the ball I’d given her.
“Well this is fate, isn’t it? I’ll give you a deal.”
“Just knock some of the price off.”
“I’m already giving you pretty much the lowest price I can. If I don’t, you’ll sick your balloons on me, won’t you?”
So people really were gossiping about me. Not that it bothered me—this particular gossip was good for me.
“I just repay absurdity in kind.”
“… No skin off my back, though I bet you’d think of some other way to get what you want.”
“You know me so well.”
“I can tell just by looking at you. You’re far more business-minded than those other Heroes.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment.”
“Now then…”
The old guy was rubbing his chin as he looked Raphtalia over.
“Maybe it’s about time you moved on from a knife. You think you’re ready for a sword?”
“You think I can handle it?”
“You seem up for it! Maybe a short sword to start off with.”
He went off to a corner of the shop and started rummaging through a box of things.
“Huh.”
“I’m gonna use a sword?”
“I guess so.”
“I’ll look up the instructions on how to use them.”
The old guy came back, and he was carrying a beat-up leather breastplate.
“Here we’ve got an iron short sword, and a leather breastplate.”
He handed her the sword and pulled the breastplate down over her clothes.
At the same time, a loud grumble came from Raphtalia’s stomach.
“Not again!”
“Hey, she’s a demi-human after all, right? She’s a kid, and you should expect this as she levels up.”
What was that supposed to mean? I didn’t really understand it, but apparently the demi-humans lived by different rules.
“Huh, really? Well you just stay put and listen to the lecture. I’ll go get you some food, okay?”
“Okay!”
The old guy at the counter burst into laughter at our conversation.
“All right, get out of here. I’ll teach her the basics while you are gone.”
I left the weapon shop and ran to the market.
Was he saying that demi-humans had to pay for their levels by eating extra food? What an odd type of creature.
But her stats were getting higher, and she was getting stronger. That’s good.
Still though, I couldn’t afford to spend all my money on food.
I bought some food and ran back to the weapon shop. The owner was in the middle of teaching Raphtalia how to use her new sword.
“See?”
“Thanks!”
Raphtalia kept stuffing food into her mouth, and the shop owner kept talking about how to swing the sword, and how to dodge attacks.
It seemed like they were making progress.
“You up for this too?”
“I’ll just watch. Thanks.”
“Yeah, your defense is so high it doesn’t matter anyway. But if you lose your balance, you’ll be in serious trouble.”
… Said the owner, and finished his lecture. We settled the bill. Then the guy passed me a lump of white rock.
“What’s this?”
“It’s a whetstone. The new sword isn’t coated either. If you don’t do some periodic maintenance on it, it’s going to break just like the last one.”
“You don’t say…”
The shield started to react, so I let it absorb the stone.
“H…Hey!”
Sharpening Shield: conditions met
Huh? That was a funny name.
I guess it was still a shield though.
There were so many iron ore derivatives… but I guess the idea was not to be derivative but to use it in combination with the Sky Egg Shield and the UsaMeat Shield in compounding.
I guess because you needed a sharp knife to cook.
The defense level was pretty much indistinguishable from an Egg Shield. Apparently, letting the shield absorb a dead Usapil before it was butchered would result in an Usapil Shield, which had a higher defense value.
Sharpening Shield: ability locked:
equip bonus: sharpening level 1
Special Effect:
automatic sharpening (8 hours): consumption (large)
Special effect?
I checked the help screen.
Special Effect:
Special effects are effects that appear only when the specified weapon is equipped for the first time. Unlike equip effects, these effects cannot be learned for later use, so be careful and only use them when you are sure they will be useful.
Just like those other games with their effects.
So, like, if it was a dragon-type, you could expect a really spectacular effect when it was equipped. I think it was supposed to be something like that.
I hurried to change my shield.
“Woah! What was that?!”
The Sharpening Shield was a little larger than the Small Shield. It consisted of a large, white stone.
But it was covered in etched grooves. Some of them were small. Some of them were big. Some of them looked like you could slip a sheet of paper through them.
“Hey, you idiot! Listen to me!”
Whatever… “automatic sharpening (8 hours): consumption (large).” I wonder what that meant?
If it was like the name, I guess it meant that the ability would be useful for a certain amount of time…
“Hey!”
“What is it, old dude?”
“What’s with that Shield?’
“You saw it before! It’s the Legendary Shield.”
“I never heard of it, and I never saw it.”
“Yes you did. It was a Small Shield back then.”
“Then why is it a giant whetstone now?”
“Because I let it absorb the whetstone you gave me. Come on, man.”
“…”
He looked at me like I was a lost cause, like he couldn’t follow anything I was saying.
“I’d heard that the Legendary Weapons were imbued with a mysterious power. Is this what they meant?”
“Didn’t the other heroes tell you?”
“I haven’t seen them in a while. And you’re the only one that I’ve seen do something like that.”
We probably should have talked all this out in advance, but who had the time to deal with pleasantries when a terrible fate would be upon us in just over a week? Apparently the other heroes were planning on keeping secrets to give themselves an advantage.
Well, they had earned my distrust.
… But in their defense, there really was no need to go around showing your abilities off. I suppose they were being efficient.
“What are you all worried about?”
“Well, it says automatic sharpening for eight hours, with large consumption. It sounds like it will automatically keep your sword sharp.
I didn’t know what it was going to consume though.
“Hmmm…”
The owner took an old, rusty sword out from behind the counter and thrust it through one of the grooves on my shield.
“I’ll give you some of my trashed equipment. You can try it on this.”
“Right. Thanks.”
An icon appeared in my field of view. It said, “Now sharpening.”
It felt heavy, and my shoulders felt burdened.
I looked at my status screen, and there was an SP rating listed there. It had not changed yet, but now it was slowly decreasing.
I had figured it was probably related to skill points, but I was surprised that it was used up on activities like this.
“All right, let’s get going.”
“We’re going?”
“Yes.”
I put my hand on Raphtalia’s head and headed for the door.
We needed to focus on leveling up, and then on getting enough food to settle Raphtalia’s belly.
“Hey, old man.”
“What? Did you forget something?
He was leaning on the counter like he couldn’t stand to be bothered by any more questions.
“There is a dungeon in the town on the other side of the forest. Do you know anywhere populated by monsters of a similar strength?”
I unrolled my cheap map and pointed to the dungeon that the woman had told me about.
I figured it would be better to ask. I didn’t have to believe what he said though.
“The town itself, and the road leading to it, has monsters more similar to the dungeon than to the forest.”
“Okay, cool. I’m going to visit.”
We needed to focus on leveling up, and on making money, before the prophesied day arrived.
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