I told you that last chapter would be way shorter than the one before. It was just meant to set up Neela and Ayuma's relationship and the beginning of their adventure together. And now, we get to see just how much their training has really paid off. The next wave will hit soon and it's up to the heroes to stop it. It won't be like slaying wolves, that's for sure. But anyways, enjoy!

-Time Skip: 1 week-

The days were going by and both me and Neela were gaining lots of experience. With us training together and my extra training sessions when Neela slept, we now felt ready for when the wave would hit. I was now level 22 and Neela was 24. And, as we found out, Neela went through some changes. It seems that the faster she levels up, the faster she ages. She now looked like a mature young woman, her fur now shining a bright orange and black and her height increasing to nearly my own, around 5'10". I managed to unlock so many new skills for my axe that I actually lost count at this point. And as for Neela, her magic skills with her stick increased tenfold. When she started out, she could only cast simple magic bullets. Now, she could unleash a burst of flames, ice, and even wind strikes. And with all the monsters we've defeated, we were able to rack up a good amount of money from their materials. I was able to buy some armor so I actually had something to cover me up instead of just a cloak. I bought Neela some new clothes to wear too. She now dawned a gorgeous red and white tunic, black pants and brown boots. She also obtained a hat that looked like it belonged to a witch. It seemed to suit her quite well, actually. But, with the wave quickly approaching, it was now time for us to become fully prepared. We headed into Melromarc and went into Erhard's shop. "Great to see you two again! And look at you, so grown up now!" Erhard said, looking at Neela. "Thank you, Erhard. It's always nice to see a friend." Neela said to him as she smiled. 

"Now, what can I do for you two?" Erhard asked. "This time, we're both shopping. The wave will be here soon, so now's a better time than ever to get ready. I'm here for armor and Neela needs a new weapon. She's gotten used to the one now but she needs something with a bit more power. Recommend anything?" I asked. "I know just the thing. Be right back." Erhard said as he walked into the back of his shop. When he returned, he was holding a large wooden staff in his hands. "That looks familiar.... just like the one in my dream..." I thought as he showed off the staff. It was about 6 feet long and it housed a gem at the end of it. "This should do the trick. One advanced magic staff, carved from the heart of an elder tree." Erhard said as he handed it to Neela. She seemed ecstatic to have a new weapon, and one that she's familiar with now. "Normally, that would come to 750 silver. But being a hero, I can cut it down to 530 at most." Erhard explained as I gave him a nod. "That works. I know I have my rule to not spend over half of my total money, but this time, it's necessary." I said as I handed Erhard his payment for the staff. "Now, what can I do for you, Ayuma? You were looking for armor, right?" Erhard asked as I gave him a nod. "What's your price range?" He asked me. "Well, with the 530 silver you just took, we still have 480 silver and 2 gold pieces. What exactly can that get me?" I asked. "A lot actually. It's enough for a custom order. I've actually had something in mind for you. I made it a few days ago, thinking one day you'd be ready for it. It's one hefty piece of equipment though, and it will cost you both of your gold pieces." Erhard explained as I handed him the gold. "That's no issue. Now let's see this armor you've made." I said as Erhard went into the back and retrieved the armor. It looked amazing. Purple and black scaled padding that covered my shoulders, upper chest, lower arms, and a scaled skirt of the same colouring. I really loved the design. It made me feel like a real warrior. "What do you think? I call it "Black Empress" armor." Erhard said. "It's great! Thank you so much Erhard!" I said as I spun around in the armor. "Looks good on you. It provides extra offense, something you'll probably need. And, it grants heavy resistances to fire, poisons, wind, and water." Erhard explained. "Holy crap, this armor is amazing!" I said as I gave Erhard a few silver coins. "What's this for?" He asked me. "A little extra, for doing such an awesome job." I said as he thanked me. 

With the two of us now ready to go, we left Erhard and his shop. "Finally, I feel like i'm prepared for the wave now." I said as Neela looked at me. "When is this wave supposed to hit, miss Ayuma?" She asked me. "Sometime later today, I think. If so, that gives us time to find Naofumi and Raphtalia. We did promise that we'd meet up before the wave hit, after all." I explained as Neela agreed with me. "Strength in numbers would probably be the best decision going into this. So let's find him quickly." Neela said as I now agreed with her. But, as we just began to search for Naofumi, the sound of a clock striking an hour could be heard. The sky then suddenly turned dark and red and strange clouds could be seen. They were light blue and purple in colour and they were swirling in the sky. "This must be the wave." I said as something began to appear from the strange clouds. I tried to focus and I could see it was a zombie. A zombie soldier to be exact and it was wearing some sort of gladiator style armor. And it was not alone. Hundreds more followed it down until they landed on the ground. The battle had officially begun. Me and Neela rushed out of Melromarc to meet the zombies head on but when we reached the top of a small mountain, we could see that the zombies were not headed here. They had gone in the other direction and were attacking smaller towns that were nearby. We saw the largest group heading for the nearest town and we decided that that's where we would head to. 

When we arrived, the town was being overrun by the zombies. The towns people were fleeing and those who stayed the fight weren't doing so well. "Everyone, you need to leave now! We'll handle the enemies!" I yelled as people started running over to me and Neela. "It's another one of the cardinal heroes! We're saved!" Some of the people yelled as I grew curious. "Another hero? That means one of the others is here as well. But which one?" I thought as zombie soldiers began to charge us. "Neela, now!" I said as she stepped forward. She had her new staff in hand and she held it straight out in front of her. "I call upon thee, great spirit of roaring flames! Scorching inferno!" Neela cried as she unleashed a burst of flames from the end of her staff. The flames engulfed the zombie soldiers and incinerated them where they stood. Nothing remained but small piles of ash. "Wow! That thing really does pack one hell of a punch! Thank you, Erhard!" I said as Neela agreed with me. "We should keep moving. The enemies seem to have spread out in this town." Neela said as we both went deeper into the town. We helped evacuate more towns people along the way, as well as, combating more and more enemies. But, as we entered the heart of the town, we met the other hero who was here. It was Naofumi. He and Raphtalia were fending off the enemy forces as well. Raphtalia seemed to grow too, just like Neela did. She was wielding an iron sword with ease, striking down zombies left and right. Naofumi looked like he gained some new armor. He now looked like a real hero. We ran over to them, taking down enemies along the way. "Took you long enough. What happened to meeting before the wave hit?" Naofumi asked me. "Sorry, I didn't realize how much time was left. But we're here now, so let's do this!" I said as he gave me a nod. 

With that, the four of us teamed up to defend this town and its people. Naofumi defended while the rest of us went on the offensive. I lead the charge, switching up my axe so I could take down the enemies in front of me all at once. "Barbarian Minotaur axe!" I shouted as my axe changed shape. It was now a dark silver colour with two large horns appearing from the blades. This axe tripled my strength and created shockwaves with every strike. I swung my axe downward against the ground in front of nearly a dozen zombie soldiers. The shockwave that I created when I struck the ground blasted the zombies to pieces, sending them flying into the horizon. "Air strike shield!" Naofumi yelled as I turned to face him. A large, green glowing shield had appeared behind me and it defended me from a new enemy. The enemy was a much larger zombie soldier, looking like a type of juggernaut. It managed to sneak up behind me but thankfully, Naofumi made this shield appear and defend me. The juggernaut struck the shield but didn't break through it. "Thanks for the save, Naofumi!" I yelled to him. "Just watch your back! I can't save you every single time!" He said as he went back to helping Raphtalia. The green shield disappeared and my fight with the large zombie began. I swung my axe at it but landed a hit on its chest. However, the resulting shockwave did not do anything to it. This enemy was a much higher level than the ones before it. The juggernaut raised up a large club that was in its right hand and it swung it down at me. I managed to block the attack by holding my axe out in front of me. But the attack was so strong that it made me slide back a few feet. "So, one of my strongest axes can't beat this thing? That's fine. Let's see what my most powerful axe can do to it then!" I said as I changed my axe again. "Dragon Heart axe! Ignite!" I roared as a red bladed axe appeared in my hands. Symbols of dragons were carved into it and the axe emanated an intense heat. The juggernaut raised its club up again, readying itself to attack me again. I did the same, pulling my axe behind me, readying myself for a rising strike. We both began to swing and I called out my attack. "Searing Dragon's Roar!" I shouted as my axe ignited into blue flames. Our weapons met and I sliced right through the juggernauts club. I then swung my axe over my head and sliced downward. I chopped the juggernaut in half, right down the middle. The added flames from my weapon made the juggernaut burst into flame, reducing it to nothing but ashes on the ground. 

"How're you doing, Neela!?" I shouted over to her as I looked to where she was fighting. I watched as she used her staff to encase several zombie soldiers in ice. "Looks like I don't need an answer for that question." I thought as I heard something get fired from somewhere. I looked into the sky and saw several balls of light come together and hover over the town. The now giant ball of light then scattered and shot down rays of light, hitting the buildings and enemies in the town. It didn't seem like this attack was focused on anything as I saw some of the rays nearly hit some towns people who were still trying to evacuate. "Miss Ayuma, Look out!" Neela said as she ran in front of me, creating a force field around us with her staff. She blocked some incoming rays of light that would've hit me. "Thanks Neela, but who the heck cast this attack? Don't they know there's still people here?" I questioned as the answer quickly revealed itself. "We burned them all to death in a single strike." A royal knight said as he and his squadron patrolled through the now burning town. "Hmm? The shield hero? And the axe hero? You're pretty tough." The same knight said as my anger began to rise. "Pretty tough? You mean they didn't even know we were here? They were just casting that spell blindly?" I thought as I walked over to the knights, my axe in hand. Raphtalia beat me to it though as she clashed blades with the royal knight. "Did you know master Naofumi was here? Answer me or i'll have your head!" Raphtalia demanded. "Draw your swords." The same royal knight said as the rest pulled out their swords and surrounded Naofumi and Raphtalia. "What's this? Are you with the shield hero?" The knight asked Raphtalia. "I am master Naofumi's sword, respect him or die." Raphtalia said, keeping her sword pointed at the knight. "Damn demi-human, how dare you point your blade at the royal knights." The knight said as I stepped in. "And how dare you for blindly attacking this town! There were still people here trying to evacuate. I watched as you nearly killed several people! What made you think attacking like that was a good idea!?" I angrily asked the knight as I held up my axe to him. "We-uh, didn't think there were any people left! Honestly!" The knight nervously said. "Had I have seen you kill someone, then you would've been the next monster for my axe to slay." I said as the knight stepped back a bit. "Now, now, no one was killed so there's no reason to be so hostile." The knight said, trying to calm me down. But then, Neela stepped in. "Shall I burn him alive, miss Ayuma?" She asked me. "No. It would be a waste of magic power." I said, giving an intense glare to the knight. "What kind of knight neglects the people he's supposed to defend!?" Raphtalia asked, keeping her sword pointed at the knight. 

"All of you, that's enough. Just let it go." Naofumi hesitantly said. The three of us slowly lowered our weapons and the knights put away theirs. "Excellent advice. If you stay out of our way, we won't be forced to make any mistakes." The knight said to us which made me laugh a bit. "I guess you're right. I suppose we could all just sit tight and watch the zombies munch on all of you morons. This wouldn't be the worst idea." Naofumi said as another juggernaut zombie appeared behind the squadron of knights. The knights all turned around and their captain called out their commands. "Hold your ground and get into formation!" The captain commanded as the juggernaut swung its huge club down on him. But right before it struck the knight, Naofumi jumped in and blocked the attack completely. "How about dying an honorable death in battle? Raphtalia!" Naofumi said as Raphtalia rushed past him. She jumped over the juggernaut, swinging her sword at its head at the same time. With just the one swing, she sliced the juggernauts head in two. The juggernaut then fell over and disappeared. "Listen up, we're gonna buy you time! Use it to get into formation! Now, let's do this." Naofumi said to the three of us as we prepared our weapons. But as we readied for battle with more of the enemies, the captain of the knights had other plans. "Let the shield and axe handle this! We'll offer reinforcements to the other three heroes!" The knight said as most of his squadron followed him, heading to where the others were fighting the forces of the wave. However, some of the knights stayed and chose to fight along side us. "Falanx formation to support the shield and axe heroes!" A knight said as the other remaining knights took up a circular formation. They went into battle with incoming zombie soldiers and they weren't doing half bad. They were making it easier for us to clear out the weaker enemies and allowing us to focus on the stronger ones. And in terms of the strong enemies, only one remained. It was a zombie manticore and it was huge. 

"Neela, just like we practiced! Let's take this thing down!" I said as Neela gave me a nod. She stood behind me and held her staff out, pointing it at me. "Thy ancient gods, I call upon thee! I grant thee strength of a dragon and speed of a falcon! Tempest Wings!" Neela called out as a beam of light appeared from the end of her staff. It engulfed me and made my body glow a bright red. And then, wings made of wind emerged from my back and they made me take off into the sky. The manticore had wings of its own and it went after me, readying its huge claws to strike me. "Ayuma, wait! Let me help! Shield prison!" Naofumi yelled as his shield began to glow a bright green. Appearing around the manticore were flying pieces of metal and chains. As it flew towards me, it became surrouded by the metal until it all came together, trapping the manticore in a sphere. The chains wrapped around the sphere, ensuring the beast would not break free. "That's perfect! Ice Titan axe!" I said, morphing my axe to now wield the element of ice. It not looked like it was made of ice, the blade a light blue and chunks of ice emerging from the sides of the blades. I swung my axe down and struck the sphere. The resulting impact from my axe froze the entire sphere solid, making it now fall to the ground. When the sphere hit the ground, it shattered into dozens of pieces. The same could be said for the manticore, meaning it froze as well even though it was inside the sphere. It was in pieces on the ground as well. I landed back on the ground safely and I walked back over to the others. "Now that's some teamwork!" I said as Naofumi agreed with me. "Master Naofumi, look at the sky!" Raphtalia said as we all looked up. The swirling clouds were disappearing and the colour of the sky was changing back to normal. We had done it. We beat the wave. We were victorious. 

About an hour later, the sun was beginning to go down. The people had returned to the town and already starting to rebuild. Lives were lost but that's something that everyone must eventually push past. Some of the towns people had gathered together and were now facing me and Naofumi. "Thank you both very much. Please accept our gratitude. There's no way we could've survived without your help and courage." One of the villagers said as he bowed to us. "Well, it wasn't really us. We were just lucky, that's all." Naofumi said. "No. If neither of you had been here, we would never have been able to have pushed those monsters back all on our own. We'll never forget what you've done for us." Another villager said as the rest then bowed to us. "Yeah whatever." Naofumi said as the villagers all walked away. "Well, as cold shouldered as you can be, they did look truly grateful." I said as Naofumi looked at me. "I guess so." He said to me. "Well, one thing's for sure. We did save some kids from having to go through what I did." Raphtalia said, indicating she had a terrible experience when she was a child. "Good job today, Raphtalia. And both of you, too." Naofumi said to all of us. "You weren't half bad yourself. And I know you may not care, but i'm sure the other heroes did fine as well." I said as Naofumi rolled his eyes. "Please, where were they? We were the only ones who did anything meaningful." Naofumi said as I let out a sigh. "Jeez, fine. Whatever you say." I said as Neela came over to me. "Is it all over?" She asked me. "Yes. For now, anyways. Now, the dragon hourglass should reset and begin counting down to the next wave. And the next wave.... will be even tougher than this one." I explained as Naofumi agreed with me. "We're all gonna have to get much stronger if we wanna have any chance at surviving that wave." He said as I agreed with him. "Well, at least all of us were able to make it to the point where we were strong enough for this wave. That's what counts." I said as everyone agreed with me. We all then left the town and returned to Melromarc where we celebrated by getting dinner together. But, something still lingered in my head the whole time. If this wave was that tough, then what will the next one be like when it hits?