The Wrong Hero

Chapter 21 - Preparations and Reactions

The next phase of the plan was pretty simple. While waiting for Ann to make the clothes for the demi-humans, the party would again travel to Lurolona. This time, they would keep more leveled up party members on land. Sadeena, Dio, and JoJo would go into the sea. Sadeena would scout out a monster, then guide Dio and JoJo to assist with the kill.

With more studying, and a good amount of help from a wise witch, Dante was able to decipher part of the support spell tome, gaining a greater understanding of Faust Guard. With that, he was able to cut down the MP cost and increase the power and duration of the spell, as well as gain the All variation of it.

There was a quirk he noticed when he learned Faust Fire Shot. While the Claw seemed to increase the proficiency of the spell if it was cast normally or as an All version, the Staff treated them separately. Due to his level, he was able to keep three spells at the V level, so he simply moved the points from the standard Faust Guard to the All variant.

Something else he noticed was that the All variant could actually cost more MP than casting the spell repeatedly. It wasn't so strange, if he thought about it. It was a balance between power, time, and MP. For All Faust Guard, he could target all three of them, spreading it evenly at one-third power and it would cost about the same MP if he cast it full power on one of them. Or, he could target all three at full power, cutting the total casting time by a third than if casting it repeatedly, while more than tripling the MP cost.

Of course, this wasn't a huge concern for Dante at the moment. If his plan for spellcasting worked like it should, he'd only be casting once at the start of combat. Still, it was good to know. He cast All Faust Guard V on the trio of sea hunters and sent them on their way. Of course, he always had food prepared for them whenever they returned, and alcohol for Sadeena.

On land, the remaining five would spend more time practice fighting with each other, like they did while they traveled. Sometimes it would be the demi-humans against Dante while Eclair watched their forms. Sometimes it would be running through combat maneuvers. Sometimes they practiced their teamwork. And sometimes, they would practice combining spells with hero skills.

"Faust Fire Blast!"

"Combo Skill, Shield Explosion!"

The flames from Rifana's hand quickly enveloped the shields that formed around the giant crab on the beach. The glowing orange shields pulsed for a few seconds, red cracks spreading from the center. Then, a small, fiery explosion shattered the shields and sent the remains out about a dozen feet in all directions. The crab was reduced to ash.

"Wow..." Rifana looked at the result of their combination with a sense of amazement, and slight fear.

"That was pretty violent." Raphtalia said, looking over what was left of the monster.

"When can I do stuff like that?" Keel asked, eyes sparkling.

"I'm not sure what kind of combo skills are available with water or beast spells." Dante said. "They probably won't be as flashy, especially when paired with my shield, so don't get your hopes up."

Needless to say, their time spent near Lurolona was well used.

It wasn't all directly related to combat and levels, however. Eclair had some very specific training in mind.

"You want me to what?" Dante had to make sure he heard her right.

"I want you to hug me, Sir MacRory." Eclair said.

"Would you care to explain?"

She was pretty straightforward in her reasoning. Whenever she interacted with men, she didn't handle it well. She'd mostly gotten used to Dante, but she found herself acting too defensively with other men. If they found themselves in a situation where they were surrounded my men—something that seemed all too likely, given Dante's predictions and track record—then she needed to prepare herself.