Chapter 52: A Feast for the Hero!

The next morning, Saiba lets out a big yawn as he sits up from his spot on the ground. Around him, Lily and Lazaro are still sleeping, so he stays quiet, as to not wake them up.

He decides to get a breath of fresh air and heads to the door while tiptoeing around the sleeping bodies. He reaches the exit and opens the door as his ears are suddenly flooded by a wave of noise.

Behind the door, it seems as though the whole village has gathered. In shock, he quickly shuts the door. He's still in a dazed state as he cannot comprehend what just happened.

Slowly, he creaks the door open once again as the repeated noise wakes him up. The village shouts,

"Thank you, Legendary Hero!"

Taking turns, they continue,

"Thank you for keeping us safe!"

"We've prepared a banquet and some presents to show how grateful we are!"

"Please enjoy!"

Saiba tilts his head to the side and shows a confused expression. From behind, Lily slowly gets up and yawns. She mutters,

"Hey Hero... What's going on..?"

Lazaro also wakes up as he says,

"What's with all the noise..?"

Again the villagers shout,

"Thank you, friends of the Hero!"

Rushing down the stairs, Mr. Rosso explains,

"I'm very sorry for this! I didn't know that you were awake already. We told them who you were, so they decided to throw a party in your honor. I insisted that they shouldn't, but they did it anyway."

Saiba pats him on the back and reassures him,

"Oh! Don't worry about it! I will accept any gift the people of this kingdom give me! I'm a hero, after all!"

Suddenly, three pairs of villagers all escort the trio out of the Rosso's home and to a large table, topped with food and drinks, specially prepared for the occasion.

At the table, a man is standing, highly awaiting them. He introduces himself,

"Greetings adventurers! I am the mayor of Cambross Town! On behalf of the village, I would like to formally thank you for protecting and saving us!"

He adds,

"Now then, please enjoy, our dear saviors!"

The mayor begins walking away as Saiba nods awkwardly and replies,

"Uh... Yes! I will do that!"

The three begin eating as Saiba thinks,

"I guess I am pretty hungry... A big feast like this doesn't seem that bad..."

He remembers something as he asks,

"Oh right! Lily, do you know what a [Feature] is?"

Swallowing the food in her mouth, she answers,

"A [Feature]? Yeah, I know what those are. Did you get one?"

Saiba nods yes and says,

"I think it was called [Blood-Soaked]."

Lily replies,

"That one's pretty common. Everyone gets that one after making someone bleed. I have that one, but I don't really use it."

With food in his mouth, Lazaro shouts,

"Oh! Me too! I have that one!"

Saiba asks another question,

"How do I use a [Feature]?"

Lily explains,

"Right under the [Skill] menu, there should be a new option called, [Feature]. Once you click on it, it will show you all of your [Features]. Just click on the check box on the left of each one to activate it. I should take effect right away."

Saiba opens up his [SI] and follows Lily's instructions. He reaches the [Feature] menu and sees one option. He hovers over it as a miniature description appears that reads,

[Blood-Soaked: User's stats increase when fighting opponents that bleed]

He clicks the empty box beside the text as it gets filled with a check mark. Right after, Lily says,

"Oh, one last thing. You can only have a certain number of [Features] activated at a time. It shouldn't matter right now, since you only have one, but it will be very important once you get more. Make sure to have the right [Features] ready to give you the best advantages in a battle."

Saiba notices a set of text at the top right of his [SI] that reads,

[1/1 Features Active]

The three continue eating their meal, savouring the food as much as they can. As they near the end, the mayor approaches them once again with three villagers following close behind them. He announces,

"Before you three depart, I would like to hand out some presents to assist you on your journey."

The villagers walk out from behind him and display the presents within their palms. The mayor continues,

"For the bow-wielding adventurer, we have prepared a magic armlet that allows the user to completely conceal themselves for certain periods of time."

A villager hands over a bracelet with a shiny, azure stone embedded within. Lazaro takes it and puts it on. Additionally, he gets a pop-up that reads,

[Armlet of Temporary Stealth: Allows user to conceal themselves from visual-sight for a maximum of 10-minutes. 2-hour cooldown]

The mayor continues,

"For the female adventurer, a rune that protects the user from external attacks."

She takes the stone and gets a pop-up that reads,

[Rune of Protection: A barrier appears around the user that is able to negate some physical and magical attacks]

She replies,

"I don't really need this. You can ha-"

She gets interrupted by Saiba, who nudges her and whispers,

"Just take it! It's a present from the town! You're making me look bad!"

Lily reluctantly accepts the gift. The mayor continues,

"Finally, for the Legendary Hero, a helm that provides mild resistances to status effects!"

He takes the headpiece. It's a cone-shaped hat that looks similar to a birthday hat. He gets a pop-up that reads,

[Celebratory Helm: Provides user with a medium-resistance to burn, poison, shock, extreme-cold, and extreme-heat]

He thinks,

"This looks so dumb... There's no way I'm wearing this!"

The mayor suggests,

"Try it on!" Saiba replies, "Uh... Maybe later... I don't want to wear it out, you know..."

Lily teases Saiba by whispering,

"Come on, wear it. It's a present from the town. You're making me look bad."

Saiba reluctantly puts on the headgear and musters an awkward smile. Finally, the three leave, bellies filled and gifts in hand. The villagers wave them off while Marco and Belliel shout,

"Visit us if you ever come back!"

Saiba gives a thumbs up as they exit Cambross Town.