The Pride of a Hero

The first thing the party came to after leaving the capital was a dense forest. The forest, known as the Forest of Livia, surrounded the capital on all sides to separate it from the other cities of the kingdom. The lush greens and voluminous trees were said to act as a natural magical barrier to protect the capital. They could absorb vast amounts of mana, withstand the elements, and are heavily durable against physical attacks. But despite the fact that their bodies only surround the capital, the roots of the forest’s trees actually stretched throughout the entire kingdom to protect the Kingdom of Melia as a whole. All of this information was conveyed to Kazuya by Luxias.

“This place is pretty impressive,” noted Kazuya with his mouth agape.

“It is one of our last lines of defense against the Demon Lord,” concluded Luxias.

“Not if we go take him out first!” interjected Timothy confidently.

“Don’t get too cocky now,” rebuked Yves as she walked past them. “Though I can’t say that I don’t agree with that sentiment.”

“Ah, Yves, you’re a tsundere, aren’t you,” pointed out Kazuya with a laugh.

“Tsundere? What is that?” asked Yves, perplexed by the unfamiliar term.

“Oh, it’s, um…something from my old world,” said Kazuya, not sure how to explain it.

“I would love to hear more about your old world!” said Artemis with sparkles in her eyes.

Kazuya grinned. Her words lit up his pride and he puffed out his chest. “Ask me anything you want!”

“How different is your world from ours?” asked Artemis curiously.

“Well, for starters, we don’t have magic back in our world,” informed Kazuya. “But we do have magical items that allow us to speak over vast distances (telephones) and watch the heroic exploits of others on a giant magical screen (television)!”

“What about weapons?” asked Artemis.

“Do you use swords?” added Luxias, getting intrigued by Kazuya’s explanations.

“We used to,” Kazuya answered honestly. “But now, we are use even more powerful weapon! It is a mystical item that is basically a miniature cannon that fits in the palm of your hand!”

“I doubt something that small can possess the same amount of power as a cannon,” dismissed Yves.

“Oh, but it does!” Kazuya told her. “There’s also another weapon that can shoot out a bolt of lightning to harm our foes (stun-gun), though it is only used for self-defense by the common people.”

“Does your world have strong people, too?” asked Timothy eagerly.

“Back in my world, there were a lot of famous martial artists who could split rocks and survive life-threatening falls without as much as a scratch!” Kazuya told him with a cool expression. ‘Well, I’m not exactly lying, even though that last one was really just an end-credit-scene from a movie I borrowed from my cousin who loved Hong Kong action films.’

“How about culture? Though, judging by what you just described of your people, I doubt it is of any significance,” asked Yves.

“Oh, are you interested?” poked Kazuya. Having finally drawn the interest of the hardest-to-please member of the entire party only inflated his ego a bit more. “I’ll have you know that there are many things about my culture that are of great significance that you will regret dissing it in the first place!”

“Like what?” asked Yves. Despite the brevity of the question, her voice carried an eagerness that showed just how interested she was in the subject.

“For example, back in my world, we have anime and games!” revealed Kazuya haughtily.

“Anime?” asked Yves, unfamiliar with the concept.

“Games?” joined Timothy with a tilt of his head.

“They are the legendary records from which I have learned how to be a true hero!” Kazuya told them with a finger to the sky. “I have studied under only the best of the best! And it is with their lessons that I shall become the savior of this world!”

“My, how wonderful,” praised Luxias with a smile.

“Hero Kazuya, I can’t wait to see the lessons you learned be put into action!” said Artemis.

“Hm-hm,” chuckled Kazuya with a confident smile. “In due time! In due time!”

“Well, isn’t it common for heroic records to exist in any world?” said Yves dismissively.

Her words formed a small crack in Kazuya’s glass wall of pride. But he refused to let it shatter completely and changed tactics. “Um, well, there are other things, too, that are not of this world!” he continued with a clearing of his throat. “For example…fireworks!”

“Fireworks?” repeated Artemis.

“Y-Yeah! Fireworks!”

“What are they?” asked Yves with her ears perked up, her intrigue returning.

“They’re, um,…magical spells that create beautiful flowers of fire in the sky!” he answered half-truthfully.

“Magical flowers of fire? That sounds cool!” exclaimed Timothy.

“Are they perhaps weapons?” asked Yves.

“No. They’re used for entertainment purposes,” Kazuya corrected her.

“Interesting…,” muttered Yves to herself with a smile.

“Say, say, Hero Kazuya, do you know how to create them?” eagerly asked Timothy with the excitement of a little child.

“O-Of course!” lied Kazuya with a tap of his chest. “After we defeat the Demon Lord, I’ll treat you to a great show!”

“Ah, that sounds great!” agreed Artemis, bringing her hands together with a smile. “We should watch these fireworks together!”

“I would love to see them, too,” joined Luxias.

“I’m intrigued to see them for myself,” admitted Yves.

“I wanna see magical flowers of fire in the sky!” cheered Timothy.

“Alright! Let’s complete our quest so that we can see some fireworks!” announced Kazuya.

That night, the entire party made camp in the forest. Luxias was preparing food while Timothy and Yves helped to set up the camp. Meanwhile, Kazuya and Artemis were tasked with gathering firewood and patrolling the grounds for monsters. Fortunately, they didn’t spot any while gathering firewood.

They each carried thick bundles back to the camp. Artemis was humming happily to herself with a beaming smile on her face as she carried the firewood like a child on an outing. Kazuya took this moment to voice his curiosity about her that he had had this entire time. “Anyway, Princess Artemis—,”

“Just Emi is fine!”

“—Emi, um, I know this may sound a little rude, but, what is it that you can you do as a member of our party?” wondered Kazuya.

“Like my father said, I am well-versed in both the physical arts and the magical arts. My role in the party depends on how you want to use me. I can cast magic from afar like a mage just as well as I can strike first as a member of the vanguard.”

“That’s amazing!”

“Most of it is standard fare since it all comes with the education of a royal,” she told him with a small smile.

‘So she’s like those game characters who are in between classes and can substitute for any role,’ realized Kazura with intrigue. Now that he was taking a good look at her, he realized that her attire conveyed just that: a dark-blue top and knee-length skirt covered with light armor, all underneath a blue cloak, and a pair of leather boots.

They returned to the camp and was treated to a cheerful greeting from Timothy. Dinner was ready and the party gathered around a fire in the center of their camp. The spicy and sweet aroma from the stew reminded Kazuya of curry. Everyone dug in and were immediately overcome with exciting flavors that danced on their tongues and relieved them from their earlier fatigue.

“I do apologize if this dish fails to satisfy your refined tastes,” politely apologized Luxias to Artemis.

“What do you mean? This is delicious!” honestly exclaimed Artemis with sparkling eyes. She shoveled the food into her mouth like feeding a furnace.

The party finished their dinner and prepared for sleep. Kazuya stopped in his tracks as his eyes fell on the bright stars in the clear sky above him. It’s been so long since he’d seen something this magnificent. And there were two moons in the night sky! Seeing those lunar bodies reminded him that he was indeed in another world.

“Sera and Rias,” said Artemis from behind Kazuya. Kazuya turned to her and realized that she was referring to the moons. “Sera is the moon closer to us on the right. Rias is the one on the left. No remembers how they got their names, but they’ve been in the historical records since this kingdom’s founding. Strange, since the night god is Diantos, yet, the moons do not carry any version of his name at all.”

“Could they be named after deities associated with him?” suggested Kazuya.

“Who knows? Diantos and Solas, the day goddess, were the very first deities to appear in the beginning according to legend. Solas brought light and day while Diantos brought darkness and night. The sun was Solas’ throne and the two moons were Diantos’ throne and bedchambers respectively.”

“Bedchambers?” asked Kazuya, confused and amused by the subject.

“Rias, the farther moon, still appears faintly during the daytime. It is said that Diantos sleeps during the day but still within sight of Solas in case the gods need to mobilize to defeat the forces of evil.”

“Wow, how diligent of him,” commented Kazuya with a chuckle.

“What did you call the moon back in your world?” asked Artemis with a curious smile.

“Let’s see…,” thought Kazuya deeply on the subject. “There’s Selene, Luna, Diana, Chang’e, Khonsu, Chandra, Tsukuyomi…. Oh! Artemis!”

“Artemis? Are you serious?” came Artemis in surprise to hearing her own name.

“Back in my world, one of the names for the moon, well, a deity of the moon, was Artemis,” Kazuya told her. Kazuya’s knowledge of the moon, though, came mainly from his years of watching anime and playing games. That was the only reason why he knew so many names of lunar deities around the world.

“But that’s the same name as mine,” said Artemis in a small voice, blushing. She wore a small smile and tried to shield her red face from Kazuya’s gaze.

“Ah, and for our sun, one of the names it used to be known as was Apollo,” added Kazuya with his arms crossed and nodding his head.

“Apollo? That name is almost like my sister’s name,” pointed out Artemis.

Kazuya saw the mention of Apolia as a chance and asked, “Say, what kind of guy does your sister like?” As he asked it, he couldn’t help but look away while blushing.

Artemis wore an impish grin. “Heh? Do you have a thing for my sister?” she teased.

“T-T-T-That’s not why I asked!” quickly rejected Kazuya, not knowing that his overreaction only confirmed her words. “I was just wondering out of curiosity.”

“Well…I don’t know,” drawled Artemis, playfully tilting her head from side-to-side. “My sister gets many offers from nobles who want her hand in marriage. Some have even come from neighboring nations.”

“N-Neighboring nations?!” repeated Kazuya with a yelp.

“Of course, she refused each and every one of them,” Artemis revealed with a shrug of her shoulders.

“O-Oh, I see,” sighed Kazuya in relief.

“She’s the only one without a fiancé,” revealed Artemis.

“Only one…? Wait, you’re already engaged?”

“Remember the noble who tried to stop me from coming?”

As she said it, Kazuya’s saw a flash of the threatening young man. “Ah, him.”

“I know what you’re thinking,” said Artemis. “You think that he’s a pain-in-the-butt, right? A lot of people think that, too.”

‘How did she get it right?!’ wondered Kazuya in awe.

“But he’s a good guy at heart. He’s just a little too stubborn and overprotective,” she said, crossing her arms with a frown.

“Excuse me, the two night owls over there, let’s go to sleep,” called Yves.

That night, the party slept peacefully.

When morning came, the party traveled deeper into the forest and arrived at a stream. The water was a clear blue and the current was calm. The party decided to use the stream to wash up. After a quick discussion, it was decided that the girls would go first while the boys stood guard for monsters.

Yves and Artemis undressed themselves closer to the stream and went in. “You boys aren’t peeping on us, are you?” called out Yves sternly.

“Of course not. Please, take you time,” replied back Luxias.

“Well, since it was Luxias who replied back, I can trust him,” said Yves with a sigh of relief.

“You don’t trust the hero?” asked Artemis with a giggle.

“I trust him as the hero. But that doesn’t mean that I trust him as a man,” answered Yves while streching her arms over her head.

“I think I understand where you’re coming from,” agreed Artemis. “Just last night, he was asking about my sister.”

“Your sister? Does he hold lewd thoughts about the First Princess?” asked Yves, scowling at the thought.

Artemis laughed. “No, not at all. At least, I don’t think so.”

“You can never be too trustful with men!” warned Yves. “They are wolves who prey on young maidens. Especially those with just right amount of meat on them!” As she said this, she came up to Artemis and her gaze became fixed on the latter’s body. “Princess Artemis, especially someone like you would make fine prey for them! Just look at your healthy, developed, mature body!” Yves reached out and cupped her hands over Artemis’ breasts.

Artemis let out a yelp. “Geez, Yves, what are you talking about? Can you let go now?”

“Firm and round yet supple and soft…,” muttered Yves as she groped the princess’ chest. “If you’re not careful, princess, you will find yourself devoured by wolves!” she insisted with a serious face.

Artemis couldn’t stand the sensation that wracked her body in response to Yves’ touches. She decided to fight back. She grabbed Yves’ chest and pushed her back. “What are you talking about, Yves? You’ve got a very fine figure, yourself.”

“Ah, princess, that’s—,” squirmed Yves.

“Now, now, it’s time for you to feel the same pain you just put me through,” said Artemis with a cruel smile.

Meanwhile, Kazuya’s ears were bright red like a tomato and his body trembled. The sounds coming from behind him was just too stimulating! But he had to remain strong and reject the temptation that was trying hard to pull him to sin. On the other hand, Luxias and Timothy were indifferent to everything happening behind him. How come Kazuya had to be the weakest of the three?—it was unfair!

“Hero Kazuya, are you okay?” asked Luxias, noticing Kazuya’s trembling body.

“Just fine,” answered Kazuya in a high-pitched voice.

“You don’t look fine at all! Do you need to go poop? When I hold it in for too long, I get like that, too,” said Timothy.

“I’m fine,” Kazuya reassured him. He closed his eyes and breathed in deeply. “I’m fine,” he repeated in a stronger and firmer voice.

Luxias laughed. “You see, Hero Kazuya, I was quite surprised when I saw that you were at Level 1.”

“Is that strange?” asked Kazuya.

“Not exactly,” answered Luxias. “Although, for a hero, it’s quite unusual. For everyone else, Level 1 is the default level that everyone starts at. But for heroes, they often get blessed with higher levels.”

“Well, I can just build myself up from Level 1!” Kazuya told him confidently.

“That may be a problem,” said Luxias in a low voice almost as if he was speaking to himself.

“A problem?” repeated Kazuya.

Luxias threw his hand behind head and laughed. He then sobered up and, with a more serious expression, said, “Normal people are able to level up, so starting from Level 1 is normal for them. But heroes are not the same. There’s a reason why they are blessed with high levels to begin with. Unlike normal people, heroes cannot level up. There is no precedent for such a thing. All heroes in our historical records have been blessed with varying levels, but more often than not, are above Level 70. Though they may seem random, there is actually a correlation between a hero’s level, their patron god, and the calamity that which they were tasked with preventing. All of the heroes’ levels were always within the necessary range for them to execute their mission.”

“In short, you’re saying that I can’t level up, but there must be a reason why I’m Level 1,” concluded Kazuya. That knowledge bomb dealt a blow to his confidence and pride. ‘N-N-No, this is alright! I’m sure that the reason for why I was chosen to be Level 1 must be a really good one,’ he reassured himself. ‘Yeah! I can be the first Level 1 hero to accomplish big and become a big legend!’ he told himself more confidently, rebuilding back his pride and ego. ‘Besides, almost 60% of the Isekai series I’ve read and watched had heroes who were low-level but still managed to win in the end! They were the underdogs but they pulled through! I’ll take a note from their book and push forward with confidence. Though, a good majority of them were Slice-of-Life titles.’

“Hero Kazuya, I apologize if my words offended you in any way,” apologized Luxias.

“Worry not, Luxias! I have witnessed many heroes back in my own world who were of low level defeat evil! Their strength lied not in their physical or magical abilities, but their bravery and willpower!” grandly declared Kazuya. “I shall do the same and show that my level is but an arbitrary number! True strength comes from guts!”

“Guts? What’s that? It sounds awesome!” exclaimed Timothy with the eager eyes of a child.

“It’s a special power that all heroes back in my world possessed! With it, I can vanquish my enemies and reshape the world to my liking through willpower alone!” Kazuya told the young beastkin.

“My, how wonderful, Hero Kazuya!” praised Luxias.

“Say, Hero Kazuya, can you teach me about guts, too?” begged Timothy.

“Of course!” agreed Kazuya with a haughty laugh.

“What’s this about guts?” came Yves. The girls were done and came to change places with the boys.

“It’s a hero ability from Hero Kazuya’s old world!” said Timothy with star-filled eyes.

“Really? How wonderful,” said Artemis with a smile.

“I don’t know about any of this hero ability, but it’s time for us to switch places,” dismissed Yves with furrowed brows.

The boys walked down and undressed and soaked their bodies in the stream. They finished their bath and walked back to join the girls. The party, now clean, continued their walk through the forest.

They walked a good fifteen or so paces when Timothy stopped them. Using his wolf sense of smell, he determined that there were enemies nearby. A horde of goblins appeared. Their small stature and light green skin and deep-set yellow eyes looked quite similar to what Kazuya had seen before in games that he automatically knew what they were.

“I thought you said that this entire forest acts as a barrier,” said Kazuya. He wasn’t really all that opposed to fighting monsters since he knew that it came with the role, but seeing them just pop up still surprised him nonetheless.

“This area where monsters appears is far from the capital. The farther we get from the center of the forest, the weaker the barrier is, so monsters take advantage of it and make their nests around the forest’s edges. The magic from the roots stretch throughout the kingdom as a whole, but it will only act in response to powerful attacks that threaten the entire kingdom,” explained Luxias. “This does not include monster attacks. That’s why monsters still exist throughout the kingdom.”

“Well, at least I’ll be able to test out my Blessing, whatever it may be,” said Kazuya, looking on the positive side.

Among the horde of goblins were taller individuals with muscular frames and tusk-like fangs protruding from their bottom lip. They carried in their hands wooden clubs.

“Hobgoblins,” said Yves with a scowl. “They’re nasty buggers who will go on violent and bloody rampages. They may be slower than regular goblins, but their strength is the same level as an ogre’s.”

“Good to know,” thanked Kazuya with a nod.

Everyone got into fighting positions: Luxias placed his hands in prayer with his eyes closed in deep focus; Yves held out her scepter with a powerful look in her eyes; Timothy got into a fighting stance with his fists clenched and his legs spread out; Artemis opened her palms and got them ready for spellcasting; Kazuya pulled out his sword and held it firmly in front of him.

One of the hobgoblins let out a roar as if to initiate the battle. The horde advanced forward like a swarm of bees. The entire forest was filled with their monstrous battle cries.

“Ignis Meteora!” casted Yves. The gem on her scepter glowed and a magic circle appeared. Three flaming meteorites the size of motorbikes descended onto the forest, clearing a large of patch of goblins and turning them into soot.

“Vento Tempestra!” casted Artemis, holding out her hands with her palms wide open. Her palms glowed and a magic circle appeared. Storm-level wind gusts swept away three columns of goblins.

Timothy, like a true martial artist, took out his enemies using his fists and feet only. His punches and kicks dealt fatal blows to the goblins, killing them off with single strike attacks. They weren't much of a work-out for him given their strength and speed, but their numbers still had him on his toes.

When a goblin was about to attack Yves while she wasn’t looking, Luxias stepped up and casted a barrier spell to protect her: “Kaul’s Aegisl!” Yves thanked him. “How about I give you a little boost?” he suggested before casting, “Megara’s Blessing!”

Yves and Artemis felt more power surge through their lightened body. The blessing of the goddess of magic increased the damage, range, and effectiveness of their spells. More and more of their enemies were turned to soot and ash.

“Me too!” Timothy called to Luxias.

“Of course,” accommodated Luxias with a smile. “Kaul’s Strength!”

Timothy’s already destructive attacks leveled up even more. Now, his attacks were capable of chaining to multiple targets with just one strike. Soon, the enemy army was half of its original number.

Kazuya was truly amazed witnessing just how powerful his allies were. More confident and motivated than ever by their bravery and competence, Kazuya couldn’t let them leave him behind. In fact, he was the hero. It was time for him to show them why he was chosen as the hero! With a confident smile, he swung his sword at an attacking goblin and sliced it in half. The goblin quickly turned to ash. ‘Heh, this is pretty easy,’ he smugly thought to himself with a smile. A few more swings and he took down a dozen of goblins.

Initially, the hobgoblins kept their distance while their lesser comrades sacrificed themselves like cannon fodder. But when the remaining number of their forces were a quarter of their original number, the giants trudged forward to join the battle. With their huge clubs, they violently and mindlessly swung at any moving target, whether friend or foe.

Kazuya found himself engaged with one of the hobgoblins and used his sword to protect himself from its club. But the hobgoblin’s strength was like that of a bull’s, pushing Kazuya back with the latter’s feet forming streaks on the ground. The monster’s face was way uglier up close and a strange stench lingered from its mouth. Kazuya did everything he could to keep himself from gagging—if only he could do the same about the monster’s inhuman strength.

The monster threw Kazuya against a tree. The collision sent a sharp pain up Kazuya’s spine; it was like being thrown against concrete! Blood began to seep from the corner of his lips, but it wasn’t anything too grave. With its target apparently too weak to fight back, the hobgoblin aimed to finish Kazuya with a blow to the head. Its club was raised above its head. Kazuya, still reeling from the pain, decided to use the monster’s slowness against itself and jabbed his sword right into its gut.

The hobgoblin let out a painful howl before stumbling back. Kazuya retrieved his sword and swung the blade at its neck. The sharp edge of the blade sliced through the hobgoblin’s thick neck like tender meat, decapitating the monster in one slash. Once the adrenaline from the fight began to wear off, Kazuya felt a little sick seeing the decapitated body of the monster in front of him.

“Hero Kazuya, are you alright?” shouted Luxias.

“U-Uh, yeah! I’m fine!” Kazuya called back. He placed a hand to his forehead and closed his eyes. ‘It’s okay. This is to be expected. The guys had to get used to this, too,’ he told himself, with the ‘guys’ referring to the heroes of Isekai works.

“We almost got all of them,” reported Artemis.

“Alright, to finish them off!” said Yves, raising her scepter high into the sky. “Rex Incantationum: Explosivo!” she chanted. A giant magical circle appeared over them. And then, like a massive bomb, a blast of epic proportions eliminated each and every one of their enemies. Vegetation that was caught in the blast was reduced to ashes and the grassy floor became pure dirt. As for the heroes, Luxias activated a barrier spell that shielded them from the blast.

With all of their enemies defeated, Yves, drained of all of her magical power, crumpled to the ground. Luxias supported her with his shoulder and held her up. The group regrouped and celebrated their first victory together with smiles and cheers.

“Since we’re close to the edge of the forest, that means that we’re only a day’s walk from Garia,” said Luxias.

“That was quite a workout, but I hope that our journey from here to Garia will be without trouble,” said Artemis with a half-smile.

“It’s alright! The more enemies, the more we can fight! Fighting monsters are always fun!” declared Timothy.

“Hey, don’t go setting flags now,” admonished Yves with a frown.

“Hero Kazuya, you were quite brilliant with the sword,” complimented Luxias with a smile.

“Oh, really?—I-I mean, of course! I am the hero after all! Hahahahaha!” laughed Kazuya pridefully.

“Of course, I had faith in you all this time, Hero Kazuya,” revealed Artemis. “But seeing your skills in the flesh really sealed the deal that you’re a true hero and not a liar.”

“Hehe, I see,” giggled Kazuya, blushing. “It must be from all of the sword training I did back in my old world,” he told them.

“Sword training? How intriguing!” said Luxias with wonder-filled eyes.

“What kind of training did you do?” asked Timothy eagerly.

“Back in my world, we have a special sword-training called Kendo!” revealed Kazuya grandly . ‘Although, I never actually took Kendo ever in my life,’ he admitted internally.

“Special—?” repeated Luxias.

“—sword—?” chained Yves.

“—training?!” finished Timothy.

“My, how wonderful!” praised Artemis.

“Do you have, like, some kind of special move?” wondered Timothy with the curiosity of a young boy.

“S-Sure!” lied Kazuya. “There’s the ‘Red Chaos Strike’, the ‘Nine Slashes of Orochi’, th-the ‘Splitting Galaxy Blade Technique’…. Oh! And there’s the most powerful technique of all! The ‘Immortal God Slaying Blade Strike’!”

As he listed off all of these attacks, the others listened to him in pure awe. If only they knew that all of these attacks were 100% lifted from anime and tokusatsu shows that Kazuya watched back home. But their otherworldly ignorance was the saving grace for Kazuya to continue to pose as a hero without any question.

The party had made it to the edge of the forest when a rustling of leaves perked their ears up. And then, from the shadow of the forest, a gigantic beast appeared. It had two horns protruding on the sides of its massive dark green head, flaming red eyes, boar-like tusks jutting out of its bottom lip, a flat nose like the snout of a pig, and wide elephantine ears with pointed tips. It stood as tall as a mountain and had a heavyset body on par with a rhino’s. In its large mitt-like hand was a tree-sized club.

“An Orc King,” gasped Luxias.

“I’m all out of mana. I’m sorry, but I can’t help you out,” apologized Yves through gritted teeth.

“How can we even take this thing on?” wondered a terrified Kazuya.

“The best way to kill an Orc King is by taking its head,” explained Artemis.

“I think that’s the best way to kill most things,” commented Kazuya in retort.

“I hate orcs. An Orc King is even worse,” cursed Timothy. “Their skin is like an armor made out of rubber. All types of physical attacks are weak against it. They just bounce back without dealing so much as a scratch on it.”

“But the area around their neck is soft and vulnerable,” pointed out Artemis.

“And that’s what makes the Orc King a very dangerous opponent to face,” added Luxias. “Given its size, strength, and use of a weapon, there’s just no way for a normal person to be able to close that distance without facing death head-on.”

Hearing the word ‘death’ stoked Kazuya’s prideful confidence and hero’s spirit. “Hah, I don’t fear death! In fact, I welcome it!” He stepped forward and pointed at the Orc King with his drawn sword. “Alright, I guess it’s time for me to show you all the power of a hero from another world!” he announced grandly.

“Hero Kazuya, I don’t think—,” attempted Luxias.

Kazuya didn’t care to listen to the White Mage’s warning and shouted, “Orc King! I, Kazuya, will slay you right where you stand!”

The Orc King, regardless whether it understood Kazuya’s words or not, understood a challenge when it saw one. It contorted its face in an ugly expression of aggression and roared. It then rushed forward with its club raised above its head. Answering the monster’s challenge head-on, Kazuya rushed forward with his sword prepped to deliver a side slash.

When Kazuya landed his slash on the Orc King’s skin, his blade bounced back. The unexpected surprise stopped him in his tracks. Meanwhile, the Orc King took no damage at all and turned around to swing its club at Kazuya. The contact sent Kazuya flying into a nearby tree. His vision turned black.

“Hero Kazuya…Hero Kazuya…Hero Kazuya!” echoed Artemis’ voice.

Kazuya’s eyes shot open and he found himself lying against a tree while Artemis was healing him. “W-What happened?” he asked groggily.

“I thought you were a goner for a second,” cried Artemis, who sounded like she was almost on the verge of tears. “Luckily, my healing magic worked. I don’t know what I would’ve done if it didn’t.”

“Thanks, Emi,” said Kazuya with a grateful smile. “By the way, where’s Luxias and the others?”

Artemis pointed in the direction of the Orc King. Timothy, supported by Luxias, was darting around like an annoying pest, confusing the monster and forcing it to swing wildly like a madman. Yves, whose mana still hadn’t recovered completely yet, aided by casting small ice and fire spells to keep the monster on its literal toes.

“They’re doing a good job distracting the Orc King,” acknowledged Kazuya with an impressed smile. He picked himself off of the ground. “But now, it’s time for me to finish it off as the hero,” he said with a cool smile.

“Hero Kazuya, you haven’t fully recovered it,” protested Artemis. “Let’s leave it to them for right now. The best we can do is hope to confuse it long enough so we can have time to escape.”

“Escaping is not what a hero would do,” objected Kazuya with a shake of his head. “I shall see it through and vanquish this dreadful monster!” Then, echoing a line from one of his favorite shows, he heroically declared, “Righteousness is a privilege that is shared only by those with a virtuous heart unsullied by the temptations of evil or sin!”

‘Man, that line feels so good to say!’ he squealed happily in his own head.

“Hero Kazuya…!” Artemis’ worries were replaced with newfound confidence and awe.

“Will you join me in defeating this monster?” Kazuya asked Artemis, imitating those charming heroes from anime and manga.

“Of course!” quickly affirmed the princess.

“Alright…how do you suggest we do it?” asked Kazuya.

Artemis thought for a moment. “If we need to cut its neck, then how about we use a spell to trap it? That’ll restrict its movements, too.”

“Nice idea!” agreed in Kazuya in English, confusing Artemis and making her pull a face. “While you prepare the spell, I’ll get the monster’s attention.” He dashed forward and, while waving his sword, called out, “Hey, you ugly hog of a monster! I’ll be your opponent!”

The Orc King turned to Kazuya and released a throaty roar. It raised up its club with a snarl. Kazuya brought up his sword and the weapons clashed once more. Kazuya could feel the weight of the club in his very bones.

Meanwhile, Artemis had rushed over to Yves, who had by now recovered a little less than half of her mana, and told her the plan. With the might of two magicians, the spell’s effectiveness and range will be doubled—exactly what they needed to deal with this monster. Both magicians raised up their hands and chanted in unison: “Terra Syrtis!”

The ground around the Orc King suddenly softened and turned into a giant puddle of quicksand. The monster was trapped and began to sink slowly into the ground. It thrashed about and swung its club in an attempt to reach Kazuya, who stayed a very good distance away from range.

Kazuya rolled his shoulders and gripped tightly onto the hilt of his sword. And then, with a deep breath, he ran forward with his sword aimed right for the monster’s neck. As he did so, Luxias granted a boost to his physical abilities. Feeling more empowered than he did when he drank energy drinks in his previous life, Kazuya got within range of the monster. He was about to deal his strike when the looming shadow of the monster’s club appeared above him. Just when he thought he was a goner, a lightning-quick silhouette appeared before him and smashed the club to smithereens—it was Timothy.

Now free from any and all obstacles, Kazuya swung his sword at the Orc King’s neck. The blade sliced cleanly and effortlessly through the tender flesh like a knife filleting a fresh fish. It’s soul vanquished, the Orc King’s body became lifeless and evaporated in a cloud of ash.

Following their victory, the party took a much-needed rest. When morning came the next day, the party continued on with their journey. Next stop: Garia.