" ": You talking

' ': You thinking

* *: Narrator/Voice-off

Filo: Rocks !

Raphtalia: Naofumi, those are...

Naofumi: Therese gave these to me. She asked me to make an accessory out of the ones that look good.

"Raw jewels... And all of high quality, it seems..."

Naofumi: ... 'After showing me those faces...'

"Something's the matter ?"

Naofumi: It's just... having received this request, I should make sure to do it well.

"Well then... What to do ?"

L'Arc: Hey ! You alone ?

Filo: Oh ! It's the guy who fell over ! Doing well ?

L'Arc: thanks to you, haha ! But man, your master really is something... And what are you doing here ?

Filo: Filo have free time, so master said I should enjoy the vacation ! The others are... At the steelworks, I think !

L'Arc: The steelworks ?

Filo: They're making the foundation for the accessory !

Therese: Oh !

L'Arc: Y'know, we've been here for awhile. Should we get together and do some leveling soon ?

Filo: Yeah ! Let's go !

L'Arc: Alright then, let sonnies-boys know, and we'll set a day ! See ya !

Filo: MASTER !! Raphtalia, where's master ?

Raphtalia: Huh ?! FILO ?! How'd you get this wet ?

Filo: I was swimming in the ocean !

Raphtalia: Did you find anything there ?

Filo: Hmm... Well... ... ... It was really pretty !!

Raphtalia: Were there a lot of fish ?

Filo: yeah ! Ah, master's here.

Raphtalia: I guess they wants to finish it up tonight.

Filo: Hmm... They looks like they're having fun...

Raphtalia: Hm ?

Filo: Filo is going swimming again !!

Raphtalia: What ?! Now ?! At least wait until tomorrow ! Filo !!

L'Arc: Yo, sonnies.

"You guys are finally here."

L'Arc: Oh, what's this ? You're up before us today ?

"Yeah, you kept us waiting."

Naofumi: Therese, we finished your accessory.

L'Arc: Oh ! Sonnies, you made this ?

"Praise Naofumi, all I did was melt the ore for the bracelet."

Naofumi: Starfire is a pretty rare ore, it piqued my interest. For something made on a whim, I'd say we did pretty well...

"H- Hey, is there something wrong ?"

Therese: This... The jewel is radiating happiness. I didn't expect something this magnificent.

L'Arc: Hey... Therese... It can't possibly be something to cry over.

Therese: L'Arc, can't you see ?!! This masterpiece opens a new world to my eyes !!

Naofumi: That's a bit...

Therese: NAOFUMI !! This is the work of a true craftsman ! I can't let this kind of ability go unnoticed... I'll cheer for you with all my strength ! Please continue your work in the future as well !

Naofumi: Wait... What ??

L'Arc: To think Therese would be this amazed... Sonny, you wouldn't happen to be...

'Finally, they got it...'

L'Arc: A FAMOUS MASTER CRAFTSMAN ?! That's why you're pretending to be the Shield hero !

"NO !!"

Naofumi: Damn, give us a break... more importantly, the payment...

Therese: ... OH !

Naofumi: Hey ! Wait ! This...

Therese: I know ! This isn't nearly enough ! L'Arc !!

L'Arc: Hm ?

Therese: You have some, don't you ?! Hand it over !

L'Arc: Huh ? Have what ? You... Hey !

"H- Hey, Therese... You don't need to..."

Therese: No, I do !! I can't let you be underpaid for this craftsmanship ! Come ! L'Arc !

L'Arc: You want me to give you everything ?! Hey, stop, don't touch there- AH !

"Don't look, Filo..."

Naofumi: STOP MAKING NOISE ! Therese !

Therese: ... yes ?

Naofumi: You can pay us later.

Therese: ... All right !

"I must say, Naofumi... I knew you were competent, but..."

Filo: You're amazing !!

Naofumi: It's just that the raw material was good.

L'Arc: Well, it's nice that we caught each other. Want to do some grinding ? We could head out now !

"I suppose we could."

L'Arc: This place looks good ? Hey sonnies, I forgot to ask, but how high are your levels ?

Naofumi: Raphtalia is at 65, I'm at 63.

"Filo is 67, and I'm 69."

L'Arc: Nice. That's pretty high.

"Well, we haven't exactly stayed idle since we got here."

L'Arc: Therese is at 52, and I'm at 56.

Naofumi: I see... 'So they've finished their class advancement already'.

'They're not just some random adventurers...'

Naofumi: Let's review our formation. Therese...

Therese; I'll be on the back, I'll manage magic.

L'Arc: Hmm... Sonnies, where are your weapons ?

Naofumi: Weapons ? I'll be using this, of course.

L'Arc: A shield as a weapon ? You really have the act down, mister Shield hero !

Naofumi: Thanks.

"I have my weapon with me at all time. With so many frontliners, I can at least be at ease.

L'Arc: We DO have a lot of them...

Naofumi: That's right...

Filo: Frontliners ?

"Those who stands at the front of the formation for defense and offense. Your attacks have pretty low range, so you need to fight in the front, which makes you a frontliner.

"As mages, me and Therese are backliners."

Filo: But Filo can use magic too !

L'Arc: Someone who can serve in both positions would be a midliner, though.

Naofumi: That's something for people with finesse. Not for her. We'll keep our normal formation, it'll be problematic if we screw up.

"So the usual: Naofumi will be aggroing the mobs. L'Arc, you should follow Raphtalia and Filo's lead. We will provide magic support from the rear."

L'Arc: Alright ! Sounds good !

Naofumi: Oh, they're spawning fast.

"Karma... The wild dogs we fought yesterday had a similar name... Stay on guard everyone, I wouldn't be surprised if there was a boss nearby."

L'Arc: A boss ?

Naofumi: perhaps that black orb...

Filo: Master !!

"Well, now what do we have here... Naofumi ?"

Naofumi: I know.

*BONG !!*

Naofumi: Ngh... It's not that light..

"My turn...

Naofumi: NOW ! RAPHTALIA !!

L'Arc: You're pretty good at this, miss Raphtalia.

Raphtalia: You to !

Filo: Master ! There are still lot more !

"I saw... If they keep coming, it'll be a pain... Naofumi, can you round up the little mobs in one spot ?!"

Naofumi: Got it ! Everyone, give me some space !!

Raphtalia: Alright !

Therese: Round up ? How will you...

Naofumi: 'I can't use this with other adventurers around, so...'

Therese: Amazing !

L'Arc: Whoa...

"Now ! While they're all piled up !!"

L'Arc: Yeah ! Let's go !!

Therese: Wait ! Could you let me handle this ?

Naofumi: The hell are you doing ?

Therese: O universal power of jewels, heed my call and take form. My name is Therese Alexanderite. My allies; give us the strength to destroy our enemy ! PYROXENE RUBY FLAMES !!

"Wait wait WAIT !! What are you thinking, you'll hit Naofumi as well !!!"

Naofumi: 'It's not hot... Only the monsters are taking damage. Or rather, they're... being purified.'

Therese: Alright ! I leave the cleanup to you, L'Arc !

L'Arc: Got it !

L'Arc: Haha, we sure got plenty of experience.

"I am... perplex. I've never seen magic of this kind before... Only the monsters were affected."

L'Arc: As if Therese's magic could hurt her friends ! Such great strength from the pyroxene flames... All our money wouldn't even be enough to pay for this.

Naofumi: Wait up... It's not that great...

Therese: My magic works through the power of jewels. And this too, is saying... "Thank you".

L'Arc: Well, I'll be taking half of our prey.

"Half ? Oh, that's right."

'... I've seen enough bullshit to know where this is going...'

L'Arc: What's up ?

"Nothing..."

Naofumi: 'Absorbing raw materials into a weapon... It's something that should only work with the heroes' weapons. But L'Arc isn't a hero, and we got experience from that too...'

'Can there be heroes other than the five heroes ?'

L'Arc: Sorry for the sudden invitation today.

Naofumi: Well, the same goes for us.

"We had a nice hunt, and you helped us out quite a lot."

L'Arc: Well, sonnies, the same goes for you. Your skills are pretty solid, almost like the real... Well, if we get the chance, let's do it again, boys.

"... ... Yeah, see you later."

*For some reason, we haven't seen L'Arc or Therese much since then.*

"73, 75, 76 and 78... We keep gaining levels..."

Raphtalia: That's... Right...

Naofumi: is something wrong, Raphtalia ?

Raphtalia: Nothing's wrong, but... It feels insufficient. We gain level just by grinding small mobs. It feels like we're not training our skills...

"i can see what you mean... Even the boss monsters we encountered are becoming easy preys... Without a challenge, even if our stats goes up, we'll lose strength."

Naofumi: A higher level isn't an indicator of skill in battle. The other three heroes are a good example, they might be of higher levels, but in battle L'Arc and Therese would be a much stronger force.

Raphtalia: leveling with them was quite enjoyable. We were able to see plenty of new things.

"New things..."

Filo: Yes ! Yes ! Filo saw something new ! When we're done here, let's go there !

"Where ? Did you find another ruin somewhere ?"

Filo: Yeah !

"Where ?"

Filo: On the ocean floor !