The girl Naofumi brought was terribly thin, trembling and coughing. It was quite evident that she wasn't in a healthy condition to move around, and was clearly in need of someone's care and protection. However, the fact that she was now accompanied by not only one but two of the four cardinal heroes, one of them being the great savior of her race, shield hero himself seemed to have shaken her out of whatever dark place she'd been in before, filling her with hope and life as she looked around the bustling town with childlike curiosity. Only thing Ben could possibly hope for at the moment was Naofumi not breaking the blind trust she had immediately placed onto him.

It wasn't like the omnitrix bearer didn't have much faith in the shield hero, he certainly did. However, he also knew that at this point Naofumi had rather warped views about the opposite sex, especially due to what the bitchy princess put him through.

To his credit, the shield hero immediately turned off most of the unsavory punishments from his own menu, but if it ever felt like he was letting out his frustration about the scheming princess and the nation of Melromarc in general on a little child, he had to step in to restrain his new friend and bring him back to his senses.

And remove the slave crest from the little girl known as Raphtalia.

But he really hoped things would never escalate to that point.

They hurriedly went past the civilian district and into the marketplace, making their way towards the Blacksmith shop run by Erhart. The omnitrix bearer couldn't help but feel a hint of amusement at seeing a bunch of wanted posters describing him and Naofumi. He thought back about his encounter with Erhart , a small part of him still wondering whether that was an amazing coincidence or an elaborate trap set up by the church. But he considered himself as a rather good judge of character and his instincts told him he could trust that man, which was the main reason he bought the whole gang here to buy some equipments instead of buying stuff in disguise.

There was no need for Alexia to follow along, given that she was already quite well equipped for battle, she went to gather more supplies such as potions and camping equipments in general as instructed by Ben

Opening the store's door, Erhart winced at the sight of Shield hero entering with a little girl. Then his eyes travelled towards the omnitrix bearer, greeting him with an understanding grunt.

"I heard some interesting rumours about you two. Though I have no proof to back my claims, my eyes and hunch tell me that Bow brat would never stand up a criminal."

The blacksmith's trust in Ben clearly astonished everyone, including the omnitrix bearer himself. Erhart on the other hand had never seen the sort of tenacity and determination , he saw in Ben's eyes, ever before. He knew the man was righteous. Call it a hunch, a feeling, or experience, but there was no room for doubts in his mind. A warrior like that wouldn't have defended Naofumi without a damn good reason.

Naofumi sighed in relief while Ben flashed the blacksmith with the brightest smile he could possibly muster, "Right, that so called princess is a rotten girl through and through."

"Shouldn't judge a book by it's cover." Erhard lowered both of his hands, stepping closer to the counter, "But sometimes you can't help it when the book isn't as good as it's cover. So what can I do for you?" He slightly narrowed down his eyes upon witnessing the infamous slavery crest on the exposed part of Raphtalia's chest.

"The armor I had yesterday is gone so I will need a more cost alternative and some clothes for the little one, can't have a companion of the shield hero roam around in these rags."

Erhart Lifted one of his heavy hands and pointed towards an easily missed rack in the back row.

"Go ahead Raphtalia, go pick out the clothes that you think look pretty." Ben spoke up with an encouraging smile.

The young girl's eyes lit up slightly, but she pushed the excitement down, "Y-you want me to chose?" She asked nervously, blushing at the attention.

"Ha! It will be yours so I want you to like it. Just make sure they are comfortable so you can easily move around.." The bow wielder smiled softly at her.

"T-thanks, Sir B-bow hero!"

Raphtalia nodded and quickly went to look at the selection of clothes.

Naofumi decided to speak up, feeling the blacksmith's eyes drilling a hole into his mind, "I am giving her a better chance than anything she could hope for in this shitty country."

Erhart placed a comforting hand on the distraught teen's shoulders, "You are the shield hero. If there is anyone you can count on protecting someone, it has to be you."

"Better to spend some time on her recovery and get her in the right state of mind before bringing her in the battlefield." Naofumi shrugged, letting out a sigh as he turned to Ben, "You think you can help me with that?"

Ben raised an eyebrow, "It doesn't seem like she has anything except some minor cold. Given how frail and malnourished she is, she wouldn't have survived any major illnesses in that place."

Naofumi nodded, remembered the hellish slaver's den they visited just mere moments ago. How dozens of beast folk were already broken or went feral. That seemed terrifying, disgusting and heartbreaking at the same time.

"Now about those special orders I placed...

"Ah, it'd take me some more time to finish that. Why don't you check back after a couple of weeks?" Elhart replied in an apologetic tone.

It seemed like Ben wanted to say something, but stopped upon hearing the little footsteps from behind. Raphtalia stood at the side of bow hero, this time with a bundle of clothes in her hand.

Ben sighed in frustration, though still tried his best to keep a smile on his face while facing Raphtalia, "Are those the clothes you want?"

The raccoon girl replied with a nod, smiling happily.

However the warm mood soon dissipated when Raphtalia turned pale all of sudden and started a great coughing fit. By the fourth cough, Ben immediately bent on his knees to take a good look at her. He placed his hand on the trembling girl's neck, true to his horror, the little racoon girl 's body was warm as if she was burning up but there are no signs pointing towards the excess fatigue.

"It's alright you will be fine after some good rest."

"This is horrible, you are not fit for battle at all." Naofumi spoke out with a hint of concern in his voice. Though one couldn't easily tell due to his dispassionate tone and overall cold exterior.

Raphtalia couldn't respond any other way but a weak and tearful sorry as her coughing fit ended.

Ben closed his eyes for a moment, taking a long breath before placing his right palm on her forehead.

Rest Ituo Nowitus Wespinaetro Intus Vigoratus Perwita

A soft blue glow washed over the young girl, the cuts and bruises on her body started to fade away at a rapid pace as her skin regained some of her original color, vigour returning to her eyes which seemed sunken due to countless sleepless nights, her dull dry hair starting look much more vibrant and healthier than before. When the light faded around half a second later , most if not all signs pertaining to her abuse and mistreatment had already disappeared, restoring her almost if not completely back to full health

"You have healing magic?" Erhart's eyes widened in surprise and awe.

Ben on the other hand couldn't help but blink in confusion, originally his healing spell used to be only half as powerful as Gwen but this time it proved to be much more.

Perhaps, it must have something to do with me possessing the legendary bow.

Too absorbed in his thoughts, he didn't realize Naofumi staring at him with an expression mixed with curiosity, confusion and awe

"He didn't even break a sweat while doing that and it feels this isn't even tip of the iceberg as far as his abilities are concerned." Naofumi wrecked his brain, trying to decipher the mystery called the bow hero, "Just who are you Ben and why you seem...so different compared to all three of us?"

Raphtalia brightened up instantly as she grabbed onto one of his hands, waggling her dog like tail, "Thank you, Sir B-bow hero, Y-You are really kind."

The Omnitrix bearer wondered whether to pat her head or not but ultimately decided not to, that'd have felt disturbing on many levels.

"Anything for a team mate. " He responded with a two finger salute, slightly chuckling he playfully smacked onto Naofumi's shoulders "We should still try and visit the local apothecary though. She is going to be out travel companion from now on, better make sure to keep her healthy and happy as much as we can , right? "

"Aye Aye sensei." Naofumi laughed heartily

Their combined laughter proved to be quite contagious as little Raccoon girl began chuckling with them. Noticing that the Omnitrix bearer couldn't help but tease her a little for it, similar to how he used to do with his niece back home.

He leaned in . slightly pinching her nose, "That's nice smile you have, little lady!"

Blushing, the racoon girl slowly moved behind a shelf filled with all sorts of armors, hiding herself from everyone's sight.

Seeing that Elhart couldn't help but laugh himself , he had not seen something so rare and precious in a long while. He almost felt like he was about to cry but those tears were held inside his tear ducts through sheer will and determination to act strong.

"Sorry about that." Ben walked to the counter and turned to the nearest empty wall to lean against, "It seems like I am going to trouble you for a long while, Mister Blacksmith."

"Bah, don't mention it Bow-brat!" Elhart chuckled, "Just remember me when you two are famous!"

"Don't mention it , Old man!"

"So it seems one of you will be teaching the girl brat how to fight."

Ben almost bit his tongue as he held back a waspish remark, "You are still trying gauge my coin purse, aren't you?"

"The day is still young, heroes." Erhart shot back.

"Ah, it's alright senpai, leave that to me. I studied economics afterall." Naofumi patted Ben's shoulder with a reassuring smile, leveling his own glare with the blacksmith's challenging look.

After a lot of haggling and exchange of some friendly insults, some haggling and less friendly but still good natured insults followed by acceptance of three hundred silver coins and some grumbling on Ben's side, both Raphtalia and Naofumi's equipment problems were sorted out. With Naofumi managing to convince Erhart to throw in a short sword for Raphtalia to fight.

Why do I feel they are a little bit over prepared for hunting balloons and bunnies, though?"

...xxxxxxxx...xxxxxx...xxxxxx...,...

Once they were done with the shopping, Alexia joined them outside the door and started leading them to a place called "Melromarc's magical Items and spells" . The moment they pushed the door open , they were met with the sight of various unusual concoctions and raw of books lined up on the shelf alongside all sorts of unusual items which covered the store front.

The middle aged woman, dressed in a typical medieval witch like attire, even possessing a purple hat with crooked tip in addition to all that, greeted them with a smile,

"Welcome! How may I help you?"

Alexia quickly stepped forward, showing her a parchment of paper, with the royal stamp placed at the bottom of it.

"My Liege, Sir Bow hero requires your assistance."

Ben tensed for a moment, but relaxed upon noticing the soft smile on the woman's face despite learning his identity.

"You don't seem upset to see me and the shield hero though." Ben calmly stated, more of an observation rather than a question.

The middle aged woman shrugged, a hint of grin on her face, " Sword, Spear, Bow, Shield...it matters not. You are all here to protects us and if I can offer any help, then..I will do so. Though I hope Sir hero would listen to a selfish request of mine. "

Ben nodded.

"If you ever find yourself near the village of Riyute, I'd implore you to defend it's inhabitants. I have got relatives living there, you understand. We in Castle town are relatively safe , but people living outside these protective walls, not so much. I heard Hero of the Bow is the most powerful amongst all four. It shouldn't be too much difficult for the likes of you."

Ah, so that was it. Ben could work with that. A person who was upfront with their desire was someone you can easily predict and control. That wasn't bad. That wasn't bad at all.

"I will make sure to visit there once I am done with the preparation."

"Certainly, I expected nothing less from the honorable hero of the bow." The middle aged woman shook her head with a smile, " So what exactly I can help you three with? Some books, some enchanted artifacts, a lesson perhaps."

Naofumi's child like excitement started to resurface upon seeing the prospect of learning magic for real.

"I was hoping to learn the basics of magic. I have never used it before and thought it would be quite useful to learn."

"It's not that easy to learn arcane arts." Ben let out a sigh, "Magic, despite being very helpful and powerful, takes a great toll on one's mind, body and spirit. Even the most mundane spells are hard to manage for first timers."

The woman's smile only grew upon hearing this, "That's correct Sir hero. But you can start with basic spells and slowly build your way up to something a lot more advanced." She reached below the counter and retrieved a large crystalline orb,

Seeing it Ben couldn't help but feel a pang of sadness in his heart.

Gwen...Kevin...I hope you don't blame me for what I did.

"Let's check to see what magical affinities you have. Everyone has one or two they are most attuned to, spells related to those particular elements are easier to master and require less mana than usual. Why don't you go first Sir Shield hero, just place your mind on the orb and relax. It will respond to your mana and change color according to your affinity." The middle aged woman said, monitoring the changes in shiny orb.

"You have a rare affinity for healing and support magic, Shield hero!"

Naofumi frowned, well that turned out to be a bummer. Not only he couldn't wield a proper weapon, he couldn't use any offensive to work around his weak attack values either. It would have been great if he could access some sort of destructive , like Area of Effect spell without violating the shield's restriction but it seemed that he was forever bound to play a supporting role.

Raphtalia was next to follow suit and the result was quite obvious. She was half raccoon after all.

"The girl has light and dark affinity. I'd recommend her to learn illusion magic and like."

"It's alright, I am quite well versed in that field." Alexia remarked with a smile

"Great job, Alexiai! I knew I could rely on you. " Ben flashed an encouraging smile to the former shadow , who just beamed at him in response.

"Aww, you are making me blush here, Ben-sama!"

"You should be glad Naofumi, you have got yourself a little ninja here." Letting out a chuckle Ben slightly ruffled the little raccoon girl's messy hair, causing her to tilt her head cutely with a nervous smile, her tails swishing slowly behind her.

"Yeah, sure." Naofumi snorted contemptuously, Illusion magic didn't sound that impressive when it came to battle. Perhaps he'd reconsider that later down the road but right now, it didn't seem like Raphtalia was the best companion to choose. He'd have hoped for someone... much more strong and resourceful. Like Ben's companion for example

Only if she wasn't a woman...like that bitch!

Though as long as that seal remained on her, she'd be under Ben's control. Which he thought to be only good development out from all of this

He just didn't know what could he do with the raccoon girl right now. Ben and his companion were a lot more well versed in terms of fighting compared to anyone else he knew. If he thought that illusion magic wasn't so bad than he must have some way to make this whole thing work in his favor. So perhaps they should be able to turn her into a capable fighter by the time next wave of calamity struck.

He could only hope for the best right now.

Now Ben was the last one left.

"I must say I am quite curious about what kind of element you have, nobody has ever heard of a hero coming to this world with their own unique kind of magic. " She said, excited to witness history in making. Ben just shrugged in response , taking deep breath as he emptied his thoughts, he placed his hands on the crystalline orb with closed eyes.

Alexia watched in anticipation, eager to see Bow hero's specific element. She couldn't help but think of him as a fire mage- wild, magnificent , uncontrollable, breathtaking, filled to brim with warm and life , at the same time irresistible to touch even though you knew you'd end up getting burned in the end.

After a few moment, green sparks of electricity flared off of his palms and water placed in the nearby jug flew upwards, forming a miniature thundercloud , contained by a spiralling water vortex engulfing the entire orb, surprising everyone present in the room.

"Oh my goodness! I have never seen someone with affinity for lightning this powerful before. You also have an incredibly strong affinity for water. Which is unusual as these elements don't mash well together like light and darkness and constantly oppose each other."

The shop owner said, scratching her chin in thought.

"How is that even possible?"

Taking a moment to recover from her shock, she spoke once again, " It seems like you have a considerably strong affinity for healing as well. Which was quite unexpected. Now where to start , when you have so many options?" She trailed off for a moment.

"Like that weirdo Hex always used to tell me , Magic isn't simple at all." Ben let out a sigh, "Let's just pick one first and move on to something else only after completely mastering it."

"As you wish, Ben-sama!" Alexia bowed slightly in his direction, "Get us beginners tome on healing spells, guard magic , aqua manipulation, thunder spells, light manipulation and shadow bending." She pointed towards various thick books stacked on the shelves behind them.

Ben sweatdropped upon witnessing the shop owner put several old heavy books on the counter one by one, laying them in front of the group to see.

Darn! This will keep us occupied for a long while.

Naofumi blinked in confusion, unsure about what could he possibly do with all these books when he didn't even know how to read or write properly. He couldn't help but feel Ben was being a little bit extravagant and spending money in place instead of saving their funds to use later down the road, perhaps while preparing for the waves. Though unbeknownst to him , considering the money he made from selling crystal, funds allocated to him by Aultcray and secret fund bestowed upon Alexia by the queen, he barely spent any at all.

"Starting tomorrow, you are going to be going through daily training with me, Naofumi." Ben called out to him, breaking his train of thoughts.

"Daily training?" Naofumi asked, and Ben nodded in response

"Every morning from tomorrow I will wake you up sharp at 4:30 and I will start training you for real." The omnitrix bearer explained to him

"F-four t-thirty?"

"Yup, and trust me when I say, once we will be done with that, you won't fear any monsters you are about to encounter in this world or the waves." He cracked his knuckles as he concluded with a devious grin, a sadistic glint appearing in his eyes.

Oh, he could totally see why Magister Hulka used to enjoy this so much back in those days.

"Except one."

Naofumi couldn't help but feel a shiver running through his, several droplets of sweat starting to form on his forehead.

"Is this guy even a human in the first place?"

...xxxxxx...xxxxxx...xxxxxx...

A bunch of individuals clad in priest like attire dragged a brutally beaten and tortured young knight in the middle of an abandoned church, two men who held him by the arms merely scoffed at the poor youth pleading them for mercy. Balmus frowned upon witnessing this. It only added to his annoyance.

"I can never stand such whimpering and whining."

"Please spare me, his holiness!" The pitiful knight begged over and over again with a bloodied tear stricken face.

Pope quickly stepped forward to take one good look at this man. His followers quickly formed a protective circle around him. Most prominent of them being a busty fair skinned, dark haired young woman in her early twenties, a familiar circular pattern adorning her chest. The woman quickly showed Balmus her fists dripping with blood.

"I assume you never bothered to learn what happens to those who betray our faith, Sir Belzad!" Pope asked the young man with malicious grin emerging on his face, who couldn't help but tremble in response, "Of course you didn't. We included you in our higher circles just a few months ago due to your uncle's recommendation, who happened to be an ardent follower of our faith, but it hadn't even been a few months and I started hearing rumors about you already. And you even left so many pieces of mundane evidence behind, how could we not learn about you?"

"You know I am really displeased to learn about things like that. It only confirms my suspicions about our great and honorable queen. It's my fault for being too lenient with that unruly vixen, I knew she was up to something, Now tell me, what is it that you told her?"

The young knight gulped , hesitating for a moment, but he couldn't hold himself much longer once the dark haired woman started walking towards him. Ready for round 2

"Lady Mirelia offered me huge sum. She is running an intelligence operation of her own. She even..offered me more position and estate if I were to give her a very...small intel in regards of our schemes."

"Even small intel is something, child." Balmus let out a chuckle, a sadistic glee flashing in his eyes, "It would have to a component of our great schemes. What exactly did you tell her?" He calmly repeated the question once again.

"Only about the summoning and the rumours regarding Shield hero." The young knight trembled with fear.

"That's what I feared." Balmus then stepped back, motioning the dark haired woman to come closer to what appeared to be some sort of sacrificing altar.

"Please, you gotta believe me. I-I was cornered. Queen is an extremely dangerous woman. I d-didn't have any choice but to comply."

The robbed individuals forming circle frowned and started murmuring amongst themselves.

"It's unfortunate that a scion of such ancient and noble family ended up like this. But now that you have put our great schemes at danger, ..the matter is out of my hands." Balmus spoke in a semi sympathetic semi mocking tone.

"What are you going to do to me?" The young knight paled in horror, fearing his impending doom.

"How could I possibly harm anyone child? I am nothing but a servant of God." Balmus replied with a reassuring smile

The young knight sighed in relief, "Thank you, his holiness. You truly are kind and magnanimous like my uncle Idol used to say."

"I can't say the same thing about my little pet." He stated with a smug grin.

"NOOOOO!" The young knight screamed in horror as the dark haired woman's body started to take on more animalistic shark like appearance. She jumped on all fours and landed on the top of him, chomping his head off through her razor sharp teeth within a blink of a second. Blood squirted out from his neck as his lifeless body fell to the ground , followed by a resounding thud. Several of Pope's aides started whistling and chuckling upon witnessing such sheer display of strength and brutality.

"That was beautiful!" A robbed individual started clapping

"Spectacular show, His holiness." Another one cried out.

The dark haired woman stood there motionless, quickly regaining her human like form as she kneeled in front of the pop , touching the knuckles of the old man using her lips,

"Is there anything else I can do for you, Master!"

"That'd suffice for now, Sadeena!" Balmus chuckled, brushing off the traces of blood from her mouth using his napkin.

"Thank you, please let this serve a reminded as to what happens when people try to betray our great faith. Now everyone please disperse. We still have a job to do. And I..have to rethink my strategy regarding to that despicable... Bow fiend!"

Balmus muttered the last part with the great distaste. He then remembered something, turning to the dark haired woman once again.

"Would you be kind enough to clean up that. My dear Sadeena!"

"I live to serve you my lord!" The dark haired woman replied in a blank emotionless tone as a fishing harpoon materialised into her hands.

And just like that a bright thunderous explosion engulfed everything.