Their walk to the boss room was fast, as they had not encountered any more monsters on the way there, the floor boss himself was a bit of a pushover compared to the guard they faced in the treasure room, which made all of them feel a bit cheated, as all they had to do is bait the horned rat into using its charge skill against a wall then it was just a matter of, quoted from the guide book, smacking him down. This made Blake a bit more annoyed, as they took a bit of a break after the one-sided fight.
Blake spent the whole break reading over each boss and the strategy that the book recommended, to his internal dismay, every strategy was little more than tricking the boss into using a skill in some way and hitting it until it dies. This raised new questions in his head as to why no one ever got past the eleventh-floor boss and skipped to it.
The eleventh-floor boss is, according to the book, called Kaimer the merciless, and the guide said something different for a change. It called for someone to act as a tank and guide the boss to a grate that fires columns of fire every two minutes, and then hit him hard for a minute after as that is how long his regeneration is suppressed for.
[What, that is it, tank and spank? How is this hard? According to this, he doesn't even have skills that can break him free of aggro. Why are people failing to kill him? I know that there has to be a tank class in this…]
Blake looked up at Claira, "Hey do you know what a tank is?" He asked nonchalantly.
She shrugged, and he cocked his brow over to Jessica, "no idea, sorry." Jessica said.
[That is why, they have a class system but it's all screwy. Should I tell them, it may out me as a hero? Or wait, maybe I can spin it on its head, make it sound like an educated guess.] He thought and skipped to the last boss called Juarm the Wise Hunter, and for him controlling his movements was the key according to the book. [So, this is like a low-level dungeon in video games, it's meant to be like a teaching dungeon, helping them learn how to work as teams.] Blake closed the book and handed it to Claira while rubbing his eyes.
"You ok?" Jessica asked while placing her hand on his shoulder.
"Yeah, just a bit more interesting than I thought it would be." He said then looked up at Claira, "I think I have an idea how to beat the eleventh and twelfth bosses."
Claira cocked her brow at him.
"You know how I use my heavy guard to lead enemies and get them to focus on me, I think I have to use that on them," Blake said with as much uncertainty as he could muster to sound confused. " Maybe that is what this tank thing that the book talks about is."
Claira sighs and looks up "I have been meaning to talk with you about that." Claira said before curling up a bit. "we don't like the way you fight. it makes us feel weird, the way you rush to draw the monsters' attention. At first, we thought it was because that was to gain our trust with the hounds, but then with the dreaded hunters and again with the treasure guard…" Claira started but faltered.
Jessica picked up and took Blake's hands in hers "We don't know why you do that but we don't like it, we think you are a part of the team and we would like to see you live to make it back with us, but after the guard, we talked about it while you were asleep, and we swear to keep your secret, and we will tell you ours, we would all like to be friends, so please."
Blake could see they were both being truthful about their conviction and wished to see him keep on living. [They're being serious, but can I trust them?] Blake sighed and looked up to the ceiling then back down, [They do have a history against slavery so it may not be bad.] before letting go while standing up. [But they act close and have a good relationship, but I still can't remember where I saw Claira, and Jessica is part of the church, Block could just be a good actor. No, get their confessions first then make a decision] Taking a few steps away, before turning back, his eyes locking on Claira, he is keen to know her truth, "Fine I will tell you, but I want to know your secrets first Claira." He said while crossing his arms.
Claira glanced up a bit scared then she stood up and gave him a bow. "I am Clairaentine Ravenary Kain-Frollo, daughter of Duke Joseph Ravenary Kain-Frollo of the Marica kingdom. Last of my family free and in hiding from the royal family due to the claims of crimes of sedition." She said, then straightened out. "I am currently trying to find a way to rescue my twin sister from the palace, but I need a lot of gold to bribe the right people."
Blake stepped back, his eyes told him she was being perfectly honest, and she was hiding nothing, his mind recalling his memories of his summoning, and he recalled seeing someone like her in the crowd. Then he looked back at her. "What crimes have you committed?" He asked in a hard tone.
"My mother, a descendant of the seventh queen from the true line of the hero king, claimed that the Kain-Frollo line that holds the throne is not a true line to the hero king, and their laws go against the teaching of the hero king." She said then inhaled deeply, and her hand tightened their grips on each other. " The King had my mother and father arrested along with my sister. I was out traveling when I heard the news and went into hiding, that is how I met these two about five years ago. Two years ago, he had my mother executed for conspiracy to rebel, and a year ago the king had my father executed under the charges of actively stealing slaves from his neighbor provinces." She was actively holding back tears and was trying to remain calm.
"That explains and dispels my fears then." Blake said, making them both look up at him, but he took a knee and bowed a bit. "It is a pleasure to meet the true heiress to the throne, I am Blake Winters, summoned hero, currently on the run from the false king for being a nuisance and classless when I was summoned. And I will happily lend you my power to set this kingdom right."
Blake could hear them shuffle a bit and a few quick whispered exchanges between Claira and Jessica, before Claira coughed “Can you prove you are a summoned hero?”
Blake moved his left hand with the palm up towards Claira, without looking up “Open rank” he said, and the soft glow of light painted the floor next to his hand a dull blue.
The silence that hung for a few seconds was broken by steps towards him and a hand on his shoulder. "I am happy fate brought you to me then, thank you for your support." Claira said.
Blake looked up before standing. "The way I fight is the way a tank would fight. It is a combat style used to keep your friends safe at the cost of increasing your own risk. I am sorry if it makes you worried, Claira." He said with a hand over his heart, "Please have faith in my power, and don’t get scared if I fall over, I promise not to lose."
Claira nodded then turned to Jessica, making her stand up and looking at Blake a bit sheepishly. "My full name is Jessica Whitewail Haystack, I am a descendent of Naomi Haystack, the first saintess of Geie and bringer of her word. I am in the process of trying to implement change to the church to get it back on track with her word." Jessica said with a bow.
Then Claira walked over to Block and patted his shoulder making him look up to Blake. "I am Block, son of Brick, son of Whick, and son of sons of the magic hero Larch, I don't know anymore but my head hurts when I think too much." He said with a bit of confusion.
"We think he is cursed, but we can’t be sure.” Claira said and looked up to Blake.
Blake focused his gaze on the giant, and his eyes narrowed, but he saw nothing, so he shook his head. “If it is a curse, it doesn’t restrict his freedom so I can’t see it.” Blake said then kneeled down “But I can still try to break it” he spoke as he put his hand on Block and focused his magic, “Dispel Curse.”
As soon as the spell passed into Block, a crown of black magic formed around the man’s head then shattered, and Block blinked a few times, then looked down to his hand, and back up to Blake, and then at Claira, and smiled before locking his eyes on Jessica, “I feel lighter, and I think I understand what we are and more importantly who we are.” Block said in an uncharacteristic amount of elegance. “Also, How dare you Blake, using my trapped mind against me by guiding my idiot self into danger” He added as he rose to his feet, and pointed at Blake “I’ll have you know that I do not appreciate the way you did that.” then sighed as he stepped out from between the two staring and stunned people, “that been said, I have to agree to your plan, the procurement of both power and wealth is needed to further all of our goals, not so much mine for me, don’t think I have a goal,” then widened his eyes and turned to face the trio with a malicious smile “aside from maybe revenge on whatever family place that curse on mine.” he then stepped around Blake and over to a still stunned Jessica, taking her hand and giving it a kiss while bowing “Thank you for being kind to my accursed self for the past five years, I will repay your kindness in full moving forward.”
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“What the fuck kind of curse would change someone this much?” Blake asked Claira while gesturing at Block.
But Block turned to him first, “The kind of curse that is placed on the soul to entrap the mind and lock away ambition, a curse meant to stifle the house of Mortimer from maintaining power and cause its downfall, but the curse has had an interesting side effect, as I have retained all my memories, and I know exactly why it happened, now I just have to find out by who?” Block said as he walked over to his pack and slung it over his shoulder, “also Blake is right, his method of fighting is exactly what we need to win, and if Jessica devotes about ten percent more of her power to keeping Blake alive, we will be fine. Now Let’s go.” He roared and started walking to the stairs.
Blake looked over at Claira, and then at Jessica, before bursting into laughter, gathered his things, and then chased off after Block, Getting the other two to get their own effects and follow close behind.
As Blake caught up to Block, “This new or old you, is going to confuse the hell out of the guild, you know that right.” Blake said as the ladies caught up.
“Oh, I don’t plan to tell anyone, there is a chance that whoever put the curse on my family is watching, so for all effective purposes I am better off letting them believe that Block Mortimer is still a dull brute,” Block said then turned to Claira and Jessica, “Plus people are scared of that brute enough for these two to move unnoticed in most times, I am happy with that, as long as they can do me favors every now and then.”
Claira faltered, “Wait didn’t you say you remembered everything that you had experienced up to now?” She asked slowly.
Block glanced her way and smiled wide, “Yes, and for your follow-up question yes, and before you bother, no I am not interested, I am sorry to say that like my ancestor the great Larch Mortimer, I don’t find humans all that attractive.” He said flatly with a chop at Claira’s head, “Now, Yaierre from the guild she is something, maybe if I play my cards right, I can catch her.”
Blake glanced at Jessica, and she smiled, and spoke “She is an oni that is an A-ranker and is a part of the team Heaven’s Clubs, an oni-only team that favors heavy weapon users.”
Blake spaced out a bit as he tried to recall who that was but couldn’t find anything that matched her explanation, so he shrugged, “I can see the allure of a muscle mommy, Good luck with that hunt, let me know if you need a wingman.” Blake said with a slap on Block’s back as he started down the stairs.
Their descent down was not long and as they reached the next floor Blake readied his weapon but found nothing all that different from the upper floor aside from the floor being a cobblestone walkway. Glancing about he looked back to the trio, as they made their way down, “Same formation, or has the great mind of Block found a better formation?” Blake asked sarcastically.
“Actually, your tactical formation is perfect for when we are moving in the hallways,” Block said with a serious tone as he walked past Blake, “In the room fights though we are better off with you tanking, also I think I know all my skills and can actually use them, the old version was just hitting really hard.”
“Great then let's move, this floor should have some rat-men, rat-men grunts, and rat-men runners.” Claira said as she opened the book and read from it, then flipped to the map page. “Ok, looks like it is left then right then two lefts followed by a right… Then things get interesting as it's a straightaway to the boss, along a trapped corridor.” She closed the book and put it back in her bag.
“Right, let’s move” Blake said as he took his spot and gripped his halberd.
Their walk was again uninterrupted, but Blake spotted a few of the rat-man in the shadows. But they always scurried away as soon as he shifted to take a better look. [Why the hell are they always running away, it’s like…] he thought but was cut off as Claira spoke up.
“So, now that we know each other better, can you tell us who Jackie and Hilda are?” Claira asked plainly.
Blake looked at her and saw she was watching him out of the corner of her eye, as was Jessica. [of fucking course, you want to know too Jessica… well no real harm in telling them as I would know it was them and I could hurt them back if they pulled anything… right?] he let out a sigh. “Ok, you want to know so bad, they are two of five women I have sworn to go back to, of the five, four are currently carrying my children, according to Jackie’s prediction. Hilda is the only one not bearing my child as she had chosen to protect the others until I return, then I am to give her a child and protect them all until she births that child. Happy?” He said slowly and noticed the two blush at the information before turning away.
“You have five wives already, to think you are so…” Jessica stammered, then shook as her mind started to think up something that Blake couldn’t read and was happy not to.
“Oh, my, even the hero king only had two wives… to have five, you are either skilled or resilient…” Claira said before trailing off a bit as her thought took hold.
“What, so is Hilda like your muscle momma?” Block asked over his shoulder.
Blake had to let out a hum, He did remember her body, and she was the one the most in shape, not to a massive degree, but she was definitely the most fit. “I guess, she is a shield maiden, and she works as a woodworker to earn money.” he said after he finished thinking about it.
“Wait, how did you meet them, the heroes were summoned about a week ago?” Jessica asked softly.
“Oh, well, I did save them from a life in slavery, I was basically going to be killed off in an inn, but I got out after getting my powers, I think it was the next day when I met them, they were being taken to the capitol to be sold by a pack of scum bags,” Blake said as he glances around one corner. “I freed them and offered to escort them home as it was my path anyways, We got to talking on the road, and apparently I left a good impression, then I fought the troll the night we reached their village, apparently they were all widowed after a goblin attack and while they didn’t think anyone else would be as nice as me or as strong they basically all asked me to…” he stopped and glanced away then scratched the back of his head as each caught on, “well yeah, but Jackie told me that I was fated to go back, so I made a decision to marry them when I get back there, and they all agreed in a way.”
“So, they aren’t your wives yet… that means I…” Jessica started but Claira gave her a chop to the head.
“Trust me, sister, you don’t want anything Blake has, if he is willing to marry five women, it means he is a freak.” Claira said sternly, getting Blake to laugh a bit. “What, am I wrong, you effectively said that you slept with all of them. That's five women, not something most men in this world would be able to handle.”
Blake opened one eye at her, “No, I am surprised that you think so highly of my libido. I see that I need to ward off both of you now” He said with a bit of sass, getting her to blush and turn away.
“But you did, didn’t you?” Block asked as he peeked around a corner.
“Yeah, but not all at the same time.” Blake said back, then looked over as he saw a rat-man run past them on a parallel pathway. “More like over the course of one day. And even then I had the help of magic and Miann’s drugs.”
Jessica glanced back, and asked, “Wait, magic and drugs?”
“Well, yeah, the spell quick recovery helps you regain lost stamina, and it boosts your body’s recovery rate, great if you have to fight for a long time, but it can’t give you back moisture, so you still need a drink.” Blake said back and saw Jessica stare at her hand, he guessed she had the spell, but she used it to help people who were injured. “And Miann is the herbalist in their village, she gave me a drug that put me in a state where I didn’t need a break for like an hour and a supplement that boost, umm… the stuff I have in the list of things a man and woman need, letting me make more of it faster.”
“So she gave you an aphrodisiac and something to help your white knights. fun, think she could hook me up?” Block asked.
“Maybe if you come back with me, but I could ask her if she could send me some, I plan on sending them some money anyway.” Blake said.
“Wait, so you have five women that are carrying your offspring that you are not married to, but you rejected Jessica, what gives buddy?” Block asked after a second, making Jessica let a bashful yelped moan loose at the question she must have been mustering the nerve to ask.
“Yeah, what the helgan, Blake,” Claira said before stepping closer to Jessica, and slapping her ass, making Jessica let off a short and soft squeak “Don’t you want this hot ass, you know rumor has it she is a virgin.”
“Claira, that is not…” Jessica said in a hurry but lost focus as she saw Blake’s eyes, but he looked away and closed his eyes. "That is not true."
Blake opened his eyes after two seconds, and then held out his left hand with the palm up “Open rank” he said then focused on the penta-loved and the blessing of the long breath. Opening the information for them both. “Read dumbasses, Jackie knows about this, and I am sure she has told them about the blessing, and while they will only be in my life for a short time, I do want to see them after they are gone, even if I have to wait a few thousand years.”
Jessica read the information carefully, “So you rejected me because you don’t want to betray their feelings for you.” she said after a second, then looked back to him, and smiled warmly, “You really are a good man, a rarity these days.”
Claira looked over the Jessica and smiled then to Blake, “You are too sweet for this world, or too perverted, not sure yet, but I can see that you are at least a man of your word, which is good.” She said with too much focus on the second option.
“That does bring up something I don’t get, I am acting as I did in my world, and there I was kindly referred to as an asshole with a heart,” Blake started as he put his hand down “Why the fuck did they even fall for me, I mean all I did was fight and protect them. Which is not a lot, but they seemed to be smitten with me, How the hell does that work? I mean all I did was be nice even when I didn’t understand something. also, they all kept saying I am a good man like Jessica right now, are all guys in this world dickheads or something?”
The team stopped and they all looked at him, with cock brows, Blake just shrugged and got Block to speak up. “Well, that is mostly the case in this nation, because of the slavery thing, most guys stopped caring about women, if you wanted one and she was refusing, then hire a bandit to kidnap her and make her a slave then buy her. Most of the guys in this nation are basically dickheads and the issue is spreading as some other human nations to the north and west are adopting the system too, the only human nation that has outlawed slavery in its totality is the Sundom, way to the east.” Block said then leaned towards Blake, “So what do you think most women’s reaction would be to a man, who is more kind, smarter, more attentive to what they say, and is strong enough to forcefully take them but doesn’t because it is not the right thing to do, would feel, and to add to that, you are also not that bad on the eyes.”
Blake thought over the answer, and realized what Jackie meant in her conversation with Hilda was really about and slapped his forehead. “I am a fucking moron. of course, when the world is filled with assholes, then I am a fucking golden egg, even if I don’t want to be” he said in a tone of defeatism, getting a giggle from Jessica, and a smirk from Claira.
“There you go, now let's go, the last turn then we have the trap corridor.” Block said as he turned back around and started walking, followed by the ladies and then Blake.