The Rising of the Shield Hero of Peace

Chapter 7: A Twist of Fate

After solving the misunderstanding with Todoroki and Raphtalia, the 7 heroes and their new party member headed to the church to raise their level capacity. There was one problem, however, after the quote on quote "betrayal" of the king, their reputation was left on the low negative regardless of the number of quests they did while laying low in the forest.

"...and he still hasn't told me what he meant, he just walked away." Motoyasu said, having a conversation with Deku and Itsuki after Todoroki regarded him as "not the sharpest knife in the crayon box."

"Yeah, Todoroki-kun tends to do that when he doesn't want to sound as bold as he usually is. It always ends up confusing them." Deku replied.

"This isn't the first time this happened?" Itsuki asked.

"Nope, and I have a feeling this won't be the last time, either." Deku said.

"Alright, we're here." Yagi said, stopping the group in front of the church.

"Well, we're here! Let's move it!" Bakugo yelled, clearly impatient.

"Would it kill you to be a little more well-mannered?" Motoyasu asked.

"Hah?! What are you trying to say, ponytail?!" Bakugo spat back.

"I think he's telling you to stop being... Well, you." Todoroki said.

"Screw off, Icy Hot!" Bakugo yelled.

"That's enough. Now, we should get inside." Yagi said, breaking the incoming fight between Bakugo and Todoroki.

"Sensei's right. The faster we're in, the faster we can get this over with." Ren said.

Everyone agreed, with Bakugo letting out a "Tch" in hesitation. They made their way into the church, finding themselves facing the Red Hourglass of the Dragon's Era. No one could tell how much time was left until the next wave, but judging by the very little sand there was left on top of the hourglass, it had to be in a few days.

Yagi couldn't want to take any chances, he needed to figure out the exact time the waves of calamity would occur. Then, he got an idea. He noticed there was a box of red sand, presumably to refill the hourglass in case it breaks. He took some of the sand and poured it on top of his shield, unlocking the Dragon Hourglass Sand Shield, which told him the precise time until the next wave which was 1 week away.

"Alright students, the next wave is 1 week away. We're very well capable of handling it with ease. So in the meanwhile, we'll be training young Raphtalia." Yagi said. Everyone nodded in agreement.

"Good idea Sensei, if Raphtalia is gonna help us fend off the waves, she has to be strong enough to handle them." Itsuki said.

The rest of the heroes understood the situation and agreed to train Raphtalia. Even Bakugo, who was reluctant before accepting to train the girl. With all that said and done, everyone headed to do some quests and accelerate the leveling process. Yagi also made a training schedule for Raphtalia in which she would go on quests with different people, all including himself.

The first three days would be dedicated to looking for what weapon fit Raphtalia best, as she was unarmed and hand-to-hand combat wouldn't be an option anytime soon. Considering the amount of money they acquired via quests, buying weapons of the highest quality wouldn't be a problem. She would have to work hard to become one of the strongest members of the team, given the fact that her role wasn't at least as important as the other seven.

Day 1: Long-range with Itsuki

Itsuki spent most of the day teaching Raphtalia how to handle a bow properly, as well as how to aim and fire it. Unfortunately, all of this was easier said than done. Bows were a lot more complicated to handle than a sword or spear. Raphtalia shot at a few targets, but her aim wasn't exactly the best. Itsuki decided to let things slide for now and moved on to archery. He showed Raphtalia the basics and then began explaining all sorts of tips and tricks about how to use a bow.