Chapter 57.

Adrian

The portal connected them to their destination. Adrian and his party found themselves in the forests near Ayrith. He checked on his party members and Itsuki. Verified that they were in decent health and then drew out a small wooden disc to place Itsuki on. The boy was light but carrying him was annoying.

"Everything alright?" he asked, then shook his head.

What a stupid question.

Isis was gone and the Shield Hero was in another dimension. They had no idea what had happened to them. Isis could be dead or worse. The Book Hero had no use for her. He hoped that bastard was dead. But Adrian wasn't willing to bet on it, not when he had received no experience for that battle.

At least that man had some use for Naofumi.

It was a spark of positive news.

It would take five days for the earliest Wave to open. That underscored how helpless he was. There was no guarantee that the next Wave would lead to Isis. Nor could he be certain that any search party he sent would survive the unknown dimension. Anyone he sent would probably die without accomplishing anything.

"We're fine," said Raphtalia. Rifana offered him a hesitant smile. Trystan tried to look optimistic.

Adrian failed to smile back. He wanted to reassure them, but he didn't want to lie.

Fatigue smothered his mind.

He didn't even know how he was awake at this point. Raphtalia, Trystan and Rifana had gotten a chance to rest. He hadn't given that they hit an hourglass every 5-10 minutes.

Not that he would have been able to rest. Not when the battle with the Book Hero kept running through his mind. Adrian was pathetic. He had become so arrogant, so confident because he had gained enough power to challenge the Waves.

Isis and Naofumi paid the price for his folly.

He took a deep breath. Considered their worried looks and his muddled thoughts, "We need to talk about this," he said.

"This?" asked Raphtalia, and Adrian cursed himself. He needed to be clearer.

"Rescuing Isis and the Shield Hero," he said. Their expressions changed. Grim determination filled them.

"We'll save them, brother," said Trystan, his voice, his tone and his words all serious. Not a hint of his jovial nature. Adrian almost smiled.

It was a pity that Trystan's words were naive.

"If you choose to help then there are a lot of things to consider," he said. He held up a hand when the moved to jump in, "let me finish." Adrian took in a deep breath and tried to stay calm. He bought a moment by pulling out some furniture.

He wanted to have Isis back at his side. Her absence was a void. Adrian hadn't known how much of a comfort it had been to be able to feel her mana or see her using Blindsight. It was a suffocating thought to realize that he might have to ignore the earliest Wave.

Going unprepared was suicide.

"Getting to the rift is not a problem. Remember that once you are on the other side you will not know the language they speak, the food that they eat or the average level of combat ability," he said. finding his worries pouring out with no order, "The nature of their society could be dangerous. Hell, the magic that they have could be different. Plus, you won't have me there to level you up or to act as long-range support-"

"Are you saying that you don't want to save sis?!" said Trystan, genuine anger seeping into his words.

"NO!" he said, paused and said gently, "no. Never...but I don't want to lose you either. If you walk into this situation with so little information and no support then I won't only lose Isis. I'll lose everyone sent after her.'

Trystan looked stunned. Raphtalia and Rifana were surprised. He realized that this was not the time for this conversation. Not now when he couldn't think straight.

He paused for a moment. Closed his eyes and shut down all his senses, even Blindsight.

It was incredible how blind he felt.

He opened his eyes. Activated his senses again. Verified their safety then looked at the three children he was responsible for.

Trystan and Rifana's showed some fear. That hurt, but Raphtalia's understanding expression was more painful.

"I'm sorry," he said, looking at the night sky, both to distract himself and gauge the time, "let's get some rest. We can talk about this later."

"Mr Adrian," said Raphtalia before he could turn away and start moving towards Ayrith. He looked at her with apprehension, "we'll be okay. Even if it is going to be very hard we will rescue Isis and the Shield Hero."

Rifana nodded. Trystan erased his fear and let out a loud cheer in support of Raphtalia. Adrian found himself smiling, but he wanted to cry.

These adorable fools didn't realize the scope of their enemy.

He could tell that Raphtalia wanted to comfort him, but it felt like mockery. For a moment he considered thanking her and letting this go. The memories of his battle with the Book Hero echoed in his mind. Adrian had no doubt that had they been present they would have died.

He moved to agree with her, but what came out was, "The man I fought was as strong as I am. If you fight him then you will die and it is likely that Isis is either dead at his hands or has been captured by him."

His own words surprised him. Adrian watched Trystan wilt. Rifana stared at him with horror but it was Raphtalia who stunned him.

"What you say might be true but that doesn't matter. Isis might still be alive and that is enough." she said, "I know that this will be difficult. We could die or fail, but we will do it anyway. Have some faith in us."

Adrian laughed. It was not a controlled laugh nor a happy one. It was a loud grating noise.

He couldn't stop.

"Thank you," he said after a long minute. He didn't know how to apologize to them. Or how he could make up for his shameful behaviour.

Trystan slammed into him and held on tight.

Adrian hugged him back.

He looked at his party, not his charges, not anymore, not after this. Not when he could hardly think of himself as something better when he was so weak. "We'll figure something out," he said, his thoughts starting to move. Grief and fury driving them forward.

Raphtalia's smile and Rifana's relieved look was humbling. It was a reminder that these two had suffered far more than he had, and very recently at that. So what if they were weaker than him in a fight? That was nothing more than one limited form of power.

He picked up Trystan and held the boy as they moved towards Ayrith at his signal. Adrian mentally apologized to them. He knew that they were in danger for as long as they were by his side. The Book Hero wouldn't be the last threat that they couldn't hope to match but he didn't want to leave them behind.

Adrian didn't think that he could.

_______

Raphtalia

"He's better now," said Rifana, her voice holding some cheer. Raphtalia shared a look with her friend and smiled. Rifana went back to her conversation with Nicol. Raphtalia found her smile fading as her attention strayed to Adrian.

She knew that he wasn't alright.

He was acting. Greeting Mr Oldrin with the same distant, polite tone she was familiar with. He smiled like nothing was wrong but he was still holding onto Trystan. The filolial was more than happy to spend time with his father. The boy was sitting on his shoulder looking around the village. Sometimes he'd wave at one of the children who were looking at their leader and their saviour speak.

They had arrived in town a couple of minutes ago. Already most of the town had come to take a look at Mr Adrian. She could tell that they all knew that he was the Sword Hero now. More than a few of them glanced at his sword and all had looks of either awe or fear. Mr Adrian had paid them no mind glancing at them once and nodding at the rare few who met his eyes. He was assessing them as threats and dismissing them.

"Are you going to join us?" asked Rifana. Raphtalia turned to Nicol and a girl her age standing next to the older woman.

Nicol hesitated, "I...I think I am." she said, "but…"

Raphtalia understood. It was hard to imagine how powerful a Hero was without witnessing it. Raphtalia had heard dozens of stories about the Heroes. Many of them were about the Sword Hero but none of them had prepared her for Adrian. Without that awareness, it was easy to fear the Waves.

"Mr Adrian doesn't need your help with the Waves," she admitted. Surprise bloomed on Nicol and her fellow villager. "He can defeat a Wave by himself, but he wants to be sure that there is no damage done and that he defeats all the monsters. He'll do everything he can to keep you safe."

Her mind turned back to the Wave that they fought under Fitoria's supervision. Raphtalia had not understood it in the heat of battle. Mr Adrian had funnelled monsters to them for practice and had chosen to extend the Wave.

The cautious, careful man who never did anything without planning it out had chosen to toy with the Wave. That was absolute proof that he had found the Wave simple to deal with. To her surprise, Raphtalia herself had found it quite easy.

The woman was silent for a moment and then looked at Mr Adrian and Mr Oldrin who had walked up to the gate. She could feel that Mr Adrian was doing something to the plant.

"Then where is the other girl?" asked Nicol, "if the Waves didn't take her then…"

Raphtalia grimaced and kept her anger under check. Nicol didn't know. She had a right to ask. Anger filled her regardless when she saw Mr Adrian turn towards Nicol. He moved back into his work within a second.

Ignorant or not Nicol was picking at a gaping wound.

Rifana answered for her. "The Sword Hero was trying to save the Shield Hero-"

Raphtalia glared at Rifana who clamped her mouth shut. Mr Adrian had told them to let him tell the others about this. They weren't supposed to spread it around.

"Keep that a secret," she commanded, glancing at Mr Adrian who turned to look at her at the right moment to smile and nod. She felt her worry fade.

Ms Nicol nodded, but her apprehension had returned. Raphtalia felt a little bad that it seemed that Ms Nicol wouldn't be joining them. Raphtalia understood. Ayrith was her home and it must be very scary for the wolf-demihuman to give up everything for a risky endeavour.

"What?!" said Nicol, looking at something behind her. Raphtalia turned to see and then gaped as the trees that protected the town began to change.

The trees were already quite tall. Their many branches were full of fruit-bearing trees. She could see them getting even taller right in front of her eyes. Within seconds their heights had doubled.

Impressive, but it was what happened next that shocked her.

Glowing branches began to grow out of the higher sections of the tree. Within a second the darkness that permeated the village was gone. It was like Adrian had planted a smaller sun right above Ayrith.

Raphtalia glanced at Mr Adrian who had let Trystan down so that the Filolial could climb up trees. He speaking to Mr Oldrin who was thanking him. The old man turned towards the village centre and called for Nicol and another girl named Augusta. Mr Adrian turned towards her and signalled her to come as well. A quick look at Rifana and they both followed Nicol.

She noted how easy it was to catch up to Nicol. A reminder of their difference in stats.

Mr Oldrin was smiling, "Daughter!" he said, his broad hands waving about as his tail swished behind him, "Have you made your decision? And what about you Augusta?"

Nicol hesitated but a glance at the village around her had her nod. "Yes Father," she said, sharing a look with her friend, "we're ready."

"Excellent," he said, with a bow "Lord Hero. I cannot thank you enough. With this, we will no longer have to worry about the dark nor the threats that wield it as their weapon. Thank you."

Oldrin looked certain and eager. Mr Adrian did not. He turned towards Nicol and Augusta.

"You both have doubts," he said, his voice certain. Nicol opened her mouth to protest but he continued, "that is wise. Let me show you that I can empower you enough to survive the ordeals you will face. If you choose to join be and rest assured that I promise never to throw your lives away. So give me a couple of hours. I will delevel you and then raise your power to level 40. After that, I will tell you about what I expect from you and you can make a final choice. Is that acceptable?"

Nicol looked surprised but still dared to ask. Even in the face of her friend's and father's disapproval, "Sir Hero please do not waste your time on us." she said, "please allow us to understand what you expect of us first before we squander your blessings."

Raphtallia could see that Mr Oldrin looked furious. Mr Adrian was approving. He thought her to be impressive and Raphtalia did as well. Ms Nicol had not stopped thinking because of the massive debt she had to Adrian. Raphtalia knew that even if Mr Adrian would never trust blind faith. As odd as it sounded he preferred it when people had obvious, ulterior motives.

"Of course," he said, his tone firm, but with an undertone of grief, "It's a little complex so please bear with me…"

So, he explained, about Isis' loss and who was responsible. He also expanded on the Waves they were to fight. He didn't give specifics but he allowed her to grasp the situation. Nicol considered every word but Mr Oldrin and Augusta looked at Mr Adrian with awe.

Ms Nicol spoke after Adrian had finished his explanations, "I'm sorry about your daughter." she said, her voice determined, "I'll help find her it is the least I can do after you returned Alvin and Razieh to us."

Augusta and Oldrin added their voices to her promise. Raphtalia smiled at their support and the stunned look on the Sword Hero. It was at times like this that she realized how little he understood when it came to how much he helped people. He had saved her life and that of Rifana. He had reached out to a slave and granted her a better life. Then changed his plans to save a friend of that slave when she could offer him nothing.

He looked at the world assuming that it was cruel, and it was, but he seemed to assume that he was cruel. He was always underestimating his kindness.

It annoyed her.

"Thank you," he said, his voice was warmer, "I'll do my best to prepare you for it. In fact," he mused, looking at her and then at their two new allies, "let's get started right now."

Raphtalia interrupted here, "Mr Adrian," she said, her tone short, "you need to rest. I don't think you've slept in days please stop punishing yourself like-"

He laughed, a small chuckle compared to that mad laugh a couple of minutes prior. "Thank you," he said, and then promised, "I'll rest soon. Let me get a couple of things done first."

She nodded. Well aware that this was the best she was going to get from him. Raphtalia turned to Ms Nicol only to find that all three of the villagers were staring at her with a shared expression of shock and awe.

"What is it?" she asked, feeling quite uncomfortable. They didn't answer but she heard Mr Adrian's amused laugh from behind her.

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