The Rising of The Masked Hero - The Flames of Ares

The Village Near The Sea - Chapter 01

Rock Valley.

Once a land that witnessed the first carnage of the Wave of Calamity, left to rot after the inhabitants were killed or captured for slavery. Now it was slowly rebuilt by the orders of Naofumi Iwatani, the lord of the land and the current Shield Hero.

And on the road leading to the village, a man in horseback galloped towards the settlement. As the rider got closer to the villager's view, the villagers saw a male warrior in armor, a sheathed gladius hanging on his hip and a round shield and spear straped on his back. His helmet can clearly be seen, a greek hoplite helmet with the metallic face of the centurion helmet and a small crest on top of the helmet starting on the top forehead and ended on the back of the head.

Marius drove his horse to the nearest ranch. The horse stopped right near a hitching post, then Marius gets off the horse handing the animal to a demi human who was tending the horses.

"Sir Masked Hero. We didn't expect you to return so early." said the demi human.

"I got homesick. Thought I stay here for abit longer." said Marius as he patted the side of his horse's head. "Rest now, Kratos."

The white warhorse neighed to its master as it was brought into the barn. Marius looked around the village and noticed how all of the buildings were almost repaired. He then walked towards the manor, hoping to see a familiar faces.

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Marius looked around and saw what looked like the future filolial queen, but her size was rather too short for one, looking throught unopened crates. "Filo?"

Surprised, Rishia quickly turn around and saw Marius without his helmet. "HOEEE!"

"Rishia? What on earth are you wearing?"

"T-this costume. It-Its suppose to enhanced my abilities... And I like to wear them..."

"I see. Have you seen Filo around?"

"Filo? Master Naofumi sent her to hunt... So she can level up..."

"I see... Well, it as been a long journey for me. Since you are wearing that, maybe you can give me some 'Welcoming Pleasure' "

"W-what! No no no no please! I can't-"

"I was only joking. Do you atleast know where Naofumi is?"

"He's with Raphtalia at the training round... T-they probably still there."

"Very well." Marius placed his helmet at a table and stored his weapons on a weapon rack except for his gladius. "If you see Filo, tell her I have return."

"O-okay."

And with that, Marius headed towards the exit and went to the training ground.
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On his way to the training ground Marius saw two familiar faces, Naofumi and Raphtalia. 

"I see you have managed this place well, my friend." said Marius.

"Marius. Welcome back."said Naofumi, "It's not much. We're still drawing more people here." 

"Good to have you back, Marius." said Raphtalia, "So how's your travel?"

"It went swimmingly. I mostly went bandit hunting. I did helped stopped a Norse revolt on the north. But other then that, it's just more bandit hunting."

"Anyways, I'm conducting an experiment here. And since you're here maybe you can participate?" said Naofumi.

"Very well. Tell me what to do."

"Master Naofumi, are you really sure you wanna do this again? Filo kicked you too far last time." said Raphtalia.

"Filo's kick was strong but she didn't dealt any damage. But I wanna see how Marius's attacks affect my defences." Naofumi turned to Marius. "Marius, I want you to hit me with all your strength."

"Are you sure about this?" said Marius.

"Yes. With your bare hands, and don't hold back."

"Very well." Marius clenched his right fist and pulled back before striking Naofumi below his chest.

Naofumi fell on all fours. He clenched the area where Marius punched him. "That... Actually hurts... "

"Are you okay?"

"Why did you hit him too hard!" Raphtalia yelled.

"He asked me to hit him. I just did what he said."

"Yeah..." Naofumi slowly got up while wiping the drool off his mouth with his forearm, "I did tell him not to hold back... I didn't expect your punches to completely ignored my defences."

"What was all this about exactly?"

"Testing my defences. I got it up to four times then my previous stats. Tested out with Rishia, Filo and Raphtalia-" Naofumi groaned in pain, "But apparently your attack just blew it out of the window. Did you do anything while you were travelling?"

"I punched a few faces."

"Yeah, pretty sure it's not that. Guess there's alot of things you and the people from your from your worldthat we don't know."

"Are you okay, master?" said Raphtalia.

"I'm fine... The pain kinda went away slowly. Besides, this not as painful as Blood Sacrifice. Alright, this experiment is over."

"It's been an honor participating." said Marius.

"So what are you gonna do now?"

"I'll take a look around the village. See what improvements have been made."

"Well, you go do that now. I'm heading back to the manor... And Marius. Welcome back."

And with that, Naofumi and Raphtalia left the training ground behind. Marius then observed his right hand before he walked away to see the village.

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After his stroll across the village, Marius rested on the top floor of the manor. As he was enjoying the view of the ocean he felt a kick on the side of his shin guard. He turned and saw Filo glaring at him.

"Why did you hurt master!" said Filo.

"He asked me to! And I recalled you kicked your master as well!"

Filo pouted as she turned her back and crossed her arm.

"Is this really how you greet me? Don't you miss me at all?" Marius picked Filo up and sat her on a platform infront of him. "Cause I missed you. Everyday during my travels. That's why I came back." 

"Well..." said Filo with a sheephish smile and blushed cheeks, "... I really do missed you."

"From now on I shall stay here alot longer, so I can be with you."

"Can you join me level up tomorrow?"

"As long as I can be with you, my love."

As they are about to leaned in for a kiss, Rishia suddenly interrupted, "S-sorry for bothering you two, but... Master Naofumi wants everyone downstairs right now."

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"The Spirit Turtle?" said Marius.

"A legendary Magical Beast." said Naofumi, "It was supposed to be sealed by the previous heroes. But apparently someone broke the seal and now there's a giant turtle running amok."

"But who could've broke the seal?" said Raphtalia.

"According to the messenger it was Itsuki, Ren and Motoyasu's fault. Right now those three idiots were nowhere to be found."

Marius glanced at Filo in her filolial form, who was constraining Rishia from running off.

"Let me go! I have to save Itsuki!" Rishia shouted.

"The queen as summoned us to meet her. We should move right now." said Naofumi.

"Right. I'll get go prepare the carriage." Raphtalia walked towards Filo and ushered her to follow.

"And I was just about to take a long break." said Marius.

"You can take your frustrations on the other heroes later." said Naofumi, "Just gear up and meet us at the carriage.

Marius nodded. He grabbed his helmet from the table and put it on as he prepared himself for another battle.