Discussions

Within the forge area of the armory, Kirou had just finished creating some new tools when he turned to face the door that both Bladesmith and Old Wolf had entered. He had a feeling that both men were currently busy in discussion and that it wasn't a good time to disturb them. That being said, Kirou currently had nothing to do.

With that being the premise, Kirou decided to enter the door that led to the training area behind the armory. Since he lacked a short term goal at the moment, Kirou decided to work on one of his long term projects, this project being to get his body to learn all of his former skills.

When Kirou entered the training area, he opened up his pet menu to check up on his pet demonic spider. After taking a look at his pet still in subpar health, Kirou could only shake his head in regret at the stunt he pulled earlier.

'I guess I deserved this. Sigh, what am I going to do now? I really need to fight something that isn't human that will come at me with the intent to kill. I guess I'll just have to step out for a bit while the seniors are still in discussion...wait, don't I have two pets?' As soon as Kirou thought this, he looked at his pet menu again, only to see that it is just Shadow Arachne present. Kirou then tilted his head to the side and contemplated for a few moments before he slapped a fist down on his palm.

"Now I remember." Following those words, Kirou looked inside his inventory and saw a peculiar medallion with the picture of a minotaur covered in scorpion carapace on it. Kirou then took out the medallion and held it in his hand. "OK, how do I summon you now?"

Kirou received no answer to his question and was thus forced to sit and contemplate how to do just that. A few ideas flashed through Kirou's mind but he quickly dismissed them as they involved damaging the medallion and Kirou wasn't sure if he could take such a loss should those ideas fail. After contemplating it for a bit longer, Kirou decided to open up his friend's list and give the medallion user a call. After sending out a call via the system, Kirou finally received a response from Mistaken Fox.

[Mistaken Fox: Hello, Brother Kirou. How may I be of assistance?]

"Brother Fox, it's like this. I wanna summon my minotaur from the medallion but I have no idea how to do so. Any suggestions?" Kirou said this while eyeing the minotaur medallion within his hand.

[Mistaken Fox: That's simple, Brother Kirou. Remember that rune that entered your mind after you subdued your minotaur? Just focus on that and think about summoning out your minotaur. Following that, the medallion will exit your inventory and turn back into the minotaur.]

Kirou followed those instructions and less than five seconds later, the medallion in his hand floated away from him before turning back into the Carapace Armored Shield Minotaur. As soon as the minotaur was summoned out, it kneeled before Kirou before standing back up with its carapace shield in hand.

Kirou looked over his minotaur before another thought entered his mind. Since he was still on call with Mistaken Fox, he sent his question over to him, "Brother Fox, how would I go about checking the stats of this minotaur of mine?"

Kirou could hear a chuckle come from the telepathic call before Mistaken Fox responded to his question.

[Mistaken Fox: Same as before, Brother Kirou. Focus on the rune and think about checking its stats. In fact, anything you want to do, just focus on the rune while thinking about it and you'll get your results. A word of caution though, Brother Kirou. Unlike regular pets and summons where if they die, they retreat to the pet space and are unable to be summoned as they need to recover, a dead medallion creature cannot be revived as their medallion will break upon death. Death for them is permanent so if it looks like the creature is about to die and you want to save him, de-summon it instantly.]

"Thanks for the advice, Brother Fox. I'll be sure to give you an answer to your weapon problem when next we meet."

[Mistaken Fox: Anytime, Brother Kirou. I'll leave it in your hands.] Following those words, Mistaken Fox terminated the telepathic call, leaving Kirou to stare at the fully recovered Carapace Armored Shield Minotaur before him. While the minotaur still retained its hostile aura, this aura was restrained before Kirou as he not only beat the minotaur before him into submission but had done so in a spectacular manner.

Kirou gazed at the minotaur for a few moments before looking over at the stats of the creature. To say Kirou was shocked when he saw the stats was an understatement as he never expected it's strength to be where it was.

Pet Name: Carapace Armored Shield Minotaur

Pet Species: Shield Minotaur

Pet Level: 15

Condition: Healthy

Skills: Reckless Charge, Stone Skin, Shield Bash, Feral Roar, Berserk Transformation

HP: 8000/8000

MP: 6400/6400

Strength: 250

Intelligence: 75

Constitution: 800

Defense: 200

Agility: 80

Besides the drop in its health to 8000, ten percent of what it was when Kirou fought it, the minotaur retained all the stats and skills it possessed when Kirou fought it. Seeing this caused a smile to form on Kirou's face. The shield minotaur wasn't showing it, but the hand that was holding the carapace shield started to tremble as the minotaur stared at Kirou's smile. Its instincts were telling it that there was trouble for it brewing behind that smile.

As if he could read the minotaur's mind, the smile on Kirou's face grew even wider before he took a few moments to get out a chuckle before speaking, "As of now, you will be addressed as Tank." Immediately following those words, in the name section of the shield minotaur's stat screen, its name was updated to 'Tank.'

Kirou circled Tank a few times, touching the carapace armor on its body before nodding in satisfaction. It seems that Kirou was satisfied with the result of his checks. Kirou then walked a few meters away from Tank before he unequipped all of his main weapons, leaving him with only his armor, and even then, he removed a few pieces, lowering his overall defense and health.

After doing a few stretches, Kirou then equipped a normal-looking glove before turning to face Tank and giving him a few orders, "Tank, for the next hour, you are to attack me with all the hostility and killing intent that you possess, as your life will be on the line."

As if answering Kirou's orders, Tank's body immediately started glowing red and growing a bit bigger before it rushed at Kirou, hell-bent on getting revenge for the beating it took at his hands from last time. Kirou, for his part, also rushed at Tank full force as he was planning to force his body to learn new skills and this was the best way he could think of for doing that; through live combat.

As Kirou engaged Tank in a dangerous and life-threatening melee, he was not aware that he was currently being watched. Or maybe he was aware but didn't care. It's Kirou we're talking about here. He might possess a sixth sense for these things.

*************

Three groups of people were currently watching Kirou fighting it out with his shield minotaur. All three groups watched the fight with an invested interest as they were seeing a man, no, a young Lycan halfling engaging in combat with a creature that was clearly stronger than him, while under a handicap and still the creature found it hard to pummel its master to death.

While the elves and the dwarves looked on in amazement, the werewolves looked on with pride evident on their faces. Without taking their eyes off of the fight, the three groups continued their discussions.

It was here that Hammerton spoke up, "You were right, Bladesmith. This young one truly is a unique existence. For him to be able to take on a creature such as that while under a handicap of weapon and armor, he truly isn't someone we can underestimate."

"That's right. Besides the fact that he has so many unique toys to make use of, this young pup of yours is taking on that strange beast and leading it around by the nose. If I didn't know any better, I would say that he's even better than you were when you were that young, Bladesmith. Am I right or am I right, Old Wolf?" This was said by the other dwarf watching the show, Old Copper.

Old Wolf looked on at the fight for a few moments before he addressed the group, "You're right, Copper. He's indeed better than Bladesmith was during those years. In fact, I don't think any of us would have been able to pull off what he's doing now when we were that young."

"And therein lies the problems." This was said by an elf, Old Oak.

"What do you mean, Senior Oak?" queried Bladesmith as he turned away from the fight to look at Old Oak's image.

"This young one is aware of his strengths. It won't be easy to get him to join the war that will soon take place. He's strong and confident in his skills but his interest lies elsewhere. I fear if we don't appeal to this, even the threat of death won't sway him to take part." When Old Oak said this, he released a helpless sigh from his mouth. Both Old Wolf and Bladesmith narrowed their eyes slightly when they heard his words, however.

"What do you mean by that, Oak? You know something, don't you? Explain it for the rest of us." These were the words that left Old Wolf's mouth after a few seconds.

"Well, it goes like this..." Old Oak then went on to explain the events that transpired when news of the demons' movements was initially obtained by the party of three, Kirou's question of not wanting to take part in the delivery mission, along with what he suspected was the reason why Kirou eventually relented. By the end of it, both the werewolves and the dwarves were silent for a bit before someone started laughing.

The others turned to look at the individual laughing, only to see that it was Hammerton doing so. Bladesmith raised an eyebrow in response to this, Redwood released a helpless sigh while the rest had their eyebrows furrowed.

It was only after he got his fill did Hammerton finally stop laughing and spoke, "It seems this pup knew about the importance of the intel long before it was even delivered. In fact, I'm willing to hazard a guess that he knew what would happen after he met that Murloc bastard in the dungeon."

When the others heard this, they could only release dry chuckles in response. It seems they too picked up on this and were wondering what to do about it. It was here that Redwood spoke up, "Since that is the case, why don't just work around his preferences then? That way, we'll have another promising youth to help us who won't be easily swayed, if his behavior so far is anything to go by."

It was Old Copper who went next, "And what would those preferences be, young Redwood? He doesn't seem like the type easily swayed by money or power, so what could we offer him that would get him to work willingly?"

"That's simple, Senior Copper. If Senior Oak's and Brother Bladesmith's words are accurate, then why don't we use his passion as a crafter to get him to participate. It's not like each of us doesn't have a treasure trove of items just lying around that we can't use."

"While that would work, we also can't constantly be using the inheritance he obtained as a hostage as he's sure to go rogue and abandon it if we constantly use it against him. It would be fine in the beginning but later on, it would be hard since he'll actually earn all the other classes themselves and we can't have Old Wolf lose his inheritor because we want to force the pup into a fight he wants nothing to do with." Bladesmith was the one who spoke here and he had a look of clarity on his face as if he now understood something about Kirou that the others overlooked.

Not only that, Old Wolf too had this same look of clarity before he spoke up, "That's right. We also can't lie to him. As young Hammerton said, he probably predicted the repercussions of the intel long before he turned it in, yet he still showed up with those two elves. That means he was prepared for us asking him to join the fight, so long as we use things he would want as bait. It's not that different from what we would have used with other recruits, except he has no interest in such mundane things and prefers items and skills that he can use to further his crafting. It seems like he was prepared for us long before we even knew what to do." As Old Wolf said this, he too released a hearty laugh like what was done earlier by Hammerton. Bladesmith joined him in laughter while the other two groups could only form helpless smiles on their faces.

"It seems like the pup planned for us. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if the show we are currently watching was prepared for us in advance." As Old Oak said this, he, along with the other members of the discussion were paying close attention to the fight between Kirou and the shield minotaur.

As if he could see them, Kirou dodged a punch to the head and backed off a bit before turning in the direction of the group and flashing a cheeky smile. The three groups saw this and they all started to laugh in response. It seems Old Oak's words probably weren't far from the truth.

After their round of laughter, the group was finally greeted by the sight of Kirou blasting away the shield minotaur with a palm strike before rushing to engage the off-balanced creature before Hammerton spoke up, "I don't know about you guys but I'm ok with using a few of my items as the bait for him to work. A person capable of this level of thought is one we should keep close instead of turning into an enemy."

"Besides, the lad's a Weapon Master." As Bladesmith said this, the other five members looked towards him, waiting for him to explain his words. Bladesmith saw this and smiled at the group before he spoke, "Weapon Masters are the embodiment of monster level beings. Not counting myself and Senior Wolf here, which proficient Weapon Master do you know has not gone down in history as an amazing person, both as an enemy and ally alike? I'd rather work with one than against one."

The others in the group nodded their heads at that statement. It seems that they were all in agreement to pitching in from their personal stashes if it allows such a competent person to take part in the war, even if he can't be in the main force.

The group once again turned their eyes back to the fight, only to be greeted by Kirou tossing the shield minotaur over his shoulder like it was nothing. Watching this, Redwood was the one to speak up here, "With that decision out of the way, what are we each going to be taking from our personal stashes to motivate this young pup? We can't skimp out now."

The three groups then descended into a discussion on what they would use as a motivator. Some recommended materials, some wanted to use skills, some even wanted to use special location maps. This discussion continued as they watched Kirou and the shield minotaur exchange attacks until the hour was up, by the end of which both combatants collapsed on the floor in exhaustion. If one were to take a look at their respective healths, they would realize that both Kirou and the shield minotaur, Tank, were currently on less than five percent of their total health right now.

*************

Kirou laid on the floor next to Tank, completely exhausted. Tank gave him a whole lot of pressure during that entire hour of fighting. It didn't help that he was crazy enough to handicap himself by removing half of his armor and restricting his weapon usage.

As for the discussion still going on about him between the members of the three villages, Kirou had no idea what he should do about it. Just as they thought, Kirou did indeed predict a few of the consequences that would take place after he joined the girls in delivering the intel but he honestly had no idea it would have spiraled this far out of control.

If he was to have heard all the things they said about him during the discussion, Kirou might have spat out blood. While Kirou was sure he would be dragged into the war, one way or another, he never expected all these people, er, NPCs would have such high opinions of him. Hell, Kirou was greatly spooked less than a minute later as he received a few system prompts that he wasn't expecting in the slightest, along with the ones he caused.

[System Message: Your Affinity with Old Wolf has increased to Worship]

[System Message: Your Affinity with Bladesmith has increased to Worship]

[System Message: Your Affinity with Old Oak has increased to Worship]

[System Message: Your Affinity with Old...]

.....

Kirou just stared at those six prompts and wondered what the hell happened while he was fighting Tank. He was now sure that those old bastards were the ones watching him. He only did that cheeky smile on a whim. He never expected that it was they who were watching him. Kirou eventually released a sigh as he was now sure he could no longer escape.

'I only hope they use the stuff I want. Otherwise, this really would be a waste in the long run.' As Kirou thought this, he was now looking at a few other system prompts, most importantly, the ones near the end.

[System Message: You have trained in the <Unnamed Training Grounds>]

[Stats for Strength, Defense, and Agility has increased 50.]

Following that, Kirou opened up his menu and took a look at his stats, only to see that they have been updated.

{Name: Kirou}

{Race: Werewolf(Lycan/Human)}

{Class: Weapon Master}

{Subclass: Crafting Master}

{Traits: Lycan Transformation(Minor), Keen Senses(Minor), Adaptability(Minor), Information Analysis (Minor), Man-at-Arms(Class), Forge Your Own Path(Class), Fast Hands(Class), <Chimera Creation>(Incomplete)}

{Weapons: Fighter's Glove}

{Level: 15}

{HP: 20/580 (480+100)}

{MP: 500/500 (400+100)}

{Str: 49(+50) (29+10+10)}

{Int: 32 (27+5)}

{Def: 63(+50) (28+10+10+5+5+5)}

{Const: 40 (30+10)}

{Dex: 30 (25+5)}

{Agi: 30(+50) (25+5)}

It was here that Kirou remembered the information Mistaken Fox had traded him. Kirou then examined the area he was in before speaking to himself, "I'm definitely coming back here later. I'm definitely getting the rest of the point bonuses before I move on from here."