Rise of the Soul Hero

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After the incident with the bandits, our four were able to get from them a lot of useful things that could be sold. As a token of gratitude, the jeweller taught Naofumi and Andrew his art and introduced them to other merchants. From the merchants' mouths they learnt information about the other heroes. Motayasu was the first they heard about, he had recently become famous for helping a starving village by bringing magical seeds to a village where fertile trees were growing. Ren was famous for defeating a dragon that had been terrorising the villages there. Itsuki's news was vague, one day he was there, the next he was here. But that wasn't the last thing that was useful, the jeweller also gave them a letter with which they could gather materials in the caves for free. In the same way they learnt where the stone they needed for the special machine was. For the moment they were travelling in a wagon as usual, but now they were with the same old sorceress.

As far as they knew, the cave they needed was under the temple of an evil wizard. Andrei was alarmed by this, but he tried to remain calm. Now he just looked at the road and thought about how he could get the gifts he had promised to bring. This went on until they arrived, getting down from the wagon Andrei held out his hand to the old sorceress and helped her down. She smiled and began to speak.

- Thank you, young man. -

Andrew also smiled and began to reply.

- You're welcome, you just have to be kinder to everyone and help if you can, that's how I was brought up. -

With that he walked over to Naofumi and Raftalia. Then he started talking.

- I don't know what's waiting for us out there, but something's got me worried. So we'd better be careful. -

Naofumi nodded and began to answer.

- Don't worry Andrei, we're together. And that means we can't be defeated by any monsters. In addition, we are quite strong, especially you. I still can't recognise your level and characteristics. -

Then Raftalia began to speak.

- Naofumi-san is right, Brother Andrew, as long as we are together, we are strong. But I'm suspicious of this temple too, as if it reeks of evil. -

Andrei gently stroked her head and then patted her shoulder. Naofumi did the same to him, and then they walked over to Firo, who was still in bird form. They stroked her too, and then Naofumi smiled slightly and raised his shield upwards and began to speak.

- Let's go, let's get started, let's get it over with. -

Everyone just nodded, but as if they felt a new strength and went forward to the entrance of the temple.

Once inside, they found themselves in a barely lit place. As they walked along the path that led forward, Andrew was still tense and kept his palms on the hilt of his swords, preparing to draw them from his belt to attack and defend. But everything went quietly.

So they walked to the passage and saw there a large chest and an inscription. Naofumi and the sorceress walked closer, while Andrew, Raftalia and Firo walked to the side, and then Andrew began to read what was written on the wall opposite the open chest. What was written there did not make both Andrei and Naofumi very happy, whereupon he began to speak.

- I hope this seed was destroyed and not taken by some fool who doesn't read inscriptions. But that's not why we're here, we need to move on. -

Everyone agreed and walked towards the entrance to the cave. But as they walked forward, a skeleton fell next to Raftalia as soon as they opened the passage. From the surprise she screamed a little and pressed herself against Naofumi, who in turn had already put up a shield. Andrew smiled slightly and walked over to the skeleton and bent over it. Then began to speak without removing the smile.

- Someone has dropped a very fresh skeleton, maybe we can take it with us. It'll be more fun. What do you think Naofumi. -

That made everyone smile, and Naofumi could hardly contain his laughter and just replied.

- Let's go on, we don't have time to talk to tourists. They'll find their own way. By the way, Raftalia, can you let me go already? -

Raftalia blushed slightly and moved away from Naofumi, then walked forward without looking at the skeleton. The others followed her, but after walking a little deeper, Andrew sensed something wrong. And then there were quiet voices. They belonged to Naofumi, Raftalia, Firo, even the sorceress who was walking with them. They were all saying all sorts of nasty things, but at the same time Andrei realised that something was wrong. So he looked at the sorceress and began to speak.

- Can you please light up the light with some spell. I don't like the way these voices are talking. They don't sound realistic. -

The sorceress nodded in response, and then she cast a spell and everyone immediately saw bat-like creatures on the ceiling of the cave. Everyone looked at them for a few seconds and then realised that they were the cause of those strange voices. In that instant their direct and ruthless extermination began, the monsters tried to fight back, but eventually they lay on the ground dead and Naofumi gained another skill for his shield.

Quickly recovering from the fight, the team moved on, but Naofumi quickly walked up to Andrew and started asking a question.

- Andrei, you've never thought of getting rid of me and going anywhere, have you? -

Andrei looked at him and started to answer.

- Though in our first acquaintance I promised, you know, that I would get rid of you if you were a bastard, but in fact, I never thought of such a thing. It's just a manipulation by these things. Don't forget, we're almost like family, and family doesn't betray each other. -

Naofumi nodded and they walked on. So they walked to a wide cave, in the middle of which was a creature that reminded Andrei of a chimera from the Greek myths. Its head and body were almost like a lion's, and it had the tail of a snake. Andrei realised that this was obviously not an easy opponent, but at the same second Raftalia became invisible and went to attack him, and Firo ran forward. Even Naofumi didn't have time to say anything, but those attacks were in vain. The monster blocked both attacks and back Raftalia started talking.

- It was like he saw me while I was invisible, is that even possible. -

Then Firo began to speak.

- And I was almost bitten by his snake tail. -

Andrei thought about it and so did Naofumi, they looked at the sorceress and Naofumi asked her a question.

- Do you know what this monster is and how to fight it? -

The sorceress thought for a moment and began to answer.

- It's a Wue monster, and it looks very young. Their eyesight is not very good, but their hearing is very good. In close proximity, they defend themselves with fangs and claws, as well as with a tail in the form of a snake. And it's their hearing that's their weakness. -

Naofumi had an idea and walked forward a little, then began to speak.

- Everyone get behind me, I'm activating a new shield. Firo, you will shout into it and the sound waves will go straight to the sensitive ears of this monster. The rest of you, I suggest you cover your ears as much as possible. -

Andrei immediately covered his ears and the others did the same, Naofumi activated the shield and Firo shouted into it and the sound wave travelled into the monster. They caught up with it rather quickly, and rather painfully. Blood rushed out of its ear holes, Naofumi smirked and shouted.

- Firo, go! -

Firo ran at the monster without any questions and with a powerful kick of his paw he made a blow to the monster's jaw, from the sound of it you could tell that it was clearly out of joint. The monster immediately fell down bleeding from its ear holes and mouth, but it was still twitching. Andrew walked over to it and decided to ease the creature's suffering. He pulled out one of his swords and leaned the point against its neck and stabbed it in, the monster immediately stopped twitching, closed its eyes and made one last flimsy sound.

Naofumi also walked over to the monster's dead body and leaned his shield against it, then unlocked another ability. He then began to speak.

- That's done with, the only thing left is to find the stone. Doesn't anyone see it by any chance? -

Everyone looked around and Raftalia was the first to speak.

- I think it's over there, looks a lot like the one you described. -

The sorceress smiled slightly and began to answer.

- Yes, it's the same stone, the only thing left to do is to take it and then create the threads you need, as I remember. -

Everyone just agreed and by evening already in the dressmaker's house Firo was creating threads with a special machine that the sorceress gave them. Firo once again turned the handle of the loom and rubbed her eyes, and then began to speak.

- For some reason I'm very tired. -

The tailor smiled and began to speak.

- This is a special machine dear, they create magic threads from your manna. Don't worry, there's not much left. -

Andrew smiled and scratched his cheek and walked up to Firo and began to speak.

- Yes Firo, just a little more and I promise you that we'll have a great meal at that tavern. I know how you like to eat, so I'll buy you lots of goodies. -

Firo immediately smiled broadly and began to turn the handle of the loom even faster, while the dressmaker smiled and began to speak.

- You're like a big brother in your company. -

Everyone laughed a little after these words, and Andrei began to answer.

- Well you could say that, I'm the older brother, Raftalia is the middle one, Firo is the youngest, and Naofumi is our caring father. -

Naofumi shook his head with a small smile on his face and began to speak.

- You're more of a brother to me than a valiant son. I don't argue with the rest of it. Oh, so much has changed in our lives. -

He and Andrei stepped aside, and then Andrei began to speak.

- It's been a hard day, but our journey isn't over yet. Where are we going next? -

Naofumi didn't think long and started to answer.

- We'll go to the borders, we'll probably find something else useful there. There should be work there too, and you like a good fight and you don't like to be idle. -

Andrei nodded, and then began to speak.

- That's right, I like good fights and when we work as a team. By the way, do you think his majesty is mad that they call you a saint, Firo a sacred bird, and me and Raftalia your apostles? -

Naofumi smiled slightly and began to reply.

- He's probably furious, but it's not his anger we need to think about, we need to think about the church. They're probably not happy about calling us that, so we have to be careful. -

Andrew nodded and just continued to watch Firo.