"Do you know the tale of the four saints, Raphtalia?" The very back of Raphtalia's memories couldn't help but bring back that conversation she had with her parents that day.

"It is said that of the four, the hero of the shield treated us demihumans very well." Her mother told her, causing her to smile brightly.

"Really? I want to meet him someday!" She replied, excitedly. Her mother laughed, before responding.

"Well, the heroes are not summoned during peaceful times..." She told Raphtalia. Raphtalia began to frown as her mother spoke again.

"But you know... you're very lucky..." Blood began dripping from her eyes and mouth as she spoke, a wicked grin adorning her face.

"" The last thing she saw was a set of bloody fangs descending towards her before her vision snapped to reality, shooting up.

"NOOOOO!" She screamed, flailing as a set of arms swiftly wrapped around her.

"Hey! Snap out of it!" You shouted, shaking her awake. Raphtalia looked at you, with dull eyes.

"D...dad?" She asked, sniffling. You sighed, shaking her head.

"Sorry, but incorrect." The light returned to her eyes as she fully registered her surroundings. Over the course of the next day, you had gotten back into town, and spent a few days there, doing small jobs for work. It was tough, with Raphtalia still needing teaching in several areas, such as bed-wetting, and whatnot, but you pulled through.

"O-oh. I'm sorry...." she said, looking down at the covers of her bed. You let out a chuckle, flicking her in the forehead.

"Don't worry about it, kiddo. Come on, Sir Naofumi's taking us to get you a new weapon." You told her. Raphtalia nodded, getting out of bed. After you left the room, she changed from simple robes you bought her to the shrunken clothes you had given her.

Master calls these 'Hunters Garb,' whatever that is. I think it has something to do with that voice I heard....

"Great One...." Raphtalia whispered, remembering that feminine voice that spoke in her ear. It was smooth, with an accent similar to your own. She pulled on the shirt, fastening some buckles before grabbing her knife, affixing it to her belt. It was time to go shopping.

Naofumi tossed a small bag of coins on the counter in front of the blacksmith.

"Get me a weapon that's worth this much." He ordered. The shopkeeper looked at Raphtalia with an approving look.

"Time to finally get the little miss a sword, eh?" He asked.

"Well, let's start her on the shorter side..." he went off to look around at the options as you walked up behind the two.

"What are we doing next, Sir?" You asked the hero, your leader.

"Getting Raphtalia a sword, then we're going to see if there's anywhere we can go with our equipment." Naofumi told you.

"By the way, Y/n, what 'materials' did you need the other day?" Naofumi asked you. From nowhere, like you always did, you grabbed two crude wooden swords.

"Stuff for training. You won't always be able to defend us, so she needs to learn how to dodge, and be more on the offensive." You told him. Raphtalia, who overheard, twitched her ears as she looked at the swords you made.

"Alright, how will this do?" The shopkeeper placer an unsheathes sword on the counter.

"Straight iron short-sword." He told you. You nodded, grabbing the weapon. It was no longer then the length of your forearm, but it would do. You sheathed the sword, giving it to Raphtalia. She looked at it, unsheathing it to give it a few practice swings.

"Hey Boss, is there anywhere we can go with our equipment?" Naofumi asked. He thought over the question f or a moment, grabbing a map.

"If anywhere, it'll have to be here." He pointed at a village. Naofumi nodded, looking at the map.

It was less than a days travels, you had arrived. It was a small village by the name of Lute. You were studying a map of the local area while Naofumi was asking around, seeing if there was a place you all could get a bit of money.

"Did you find something, sir Naofumi?" Raphtalia asked the approaching hero. Seeing as how you've been raising her, she started taking on some of your habits. Namely, calling Naofumi 'sir.'

"A mine we can get some ores from." Was the response.

"Problem is, it's occupied." Naofumi admitted.

"Monsters or Beasts?" You asked.

"Monsters. And on top of that, we're looking at something else. Something new." Naofumi told you. You raised a brow, looking at Naofumi.

"You get any information? On these new things?" You asked. Naofumi nodded.

"Apparently, they baited one of these things out. It's a massive, stick figured, creature thing. It's only face is a massive mouth, with some flower thing. That's all the description I have." Naofumi told you.

That sounded like a creature you only ever fought in two places, the Pthumarian labyrinths, and the college of Byrgenwerth. These things were called Celestial Centipedes. They weren't beasts, but rather something called Kin. The only difference between the two being close contact with the eldritch truth(high insight) giving Kin high affinity with Arcane, as well as a number of other changes.

But... if Kin were starting to show up, then.... there was the possibility that they would show up.

You've slain gods, mean, beasts that even the heroes could never comprehend, but there was exactly one creature that could make you hesitate. One damned creature, neither beast nor Kin, that struck fear in your hunters heart. Back in Yharnam, it was thankfully confined to the nightmares, but here, no such limitation existed.

You no longer feared the Winter Lanterns, but at their level, Naofumi and Raphtalia would die at the smallest glance.

"Alright. I say we go in the caves." You agreed. If those death beacons were in a cave, you would hear their songs. You would have plenty of time to warn your companions.

Outside of the mine, Naofumi searched through a storehouse, grabbing a few pickaxes. He came out, looking at his shield. You knew that look.

"What's new?" You asked. Naofumi lifted his arm, as his shield began to shift. When the green light faded, it revealed itself to be a circle of rope.

"Air Strike Shield!" With a shout, a green, holographic shield struck the ground in front of you. You looked at it, nodding as you tapped it. Solid.

"That'll be good in a pinch." You said, as Raphtalia started walking, alongside Naofumi as you lagged behind for a moment.

Naofumi has a skill tree, and the other heroes probably have one as well. But.... you flicked around your UI for a bit, before finally finding the text.

Open Skill Tree

You focused on it as a large screen appeared in front of you. It all centered around one object. You.

An outline of the human body, with the outline of your True Body floating behind it. From it, several branches split off. Arcane Tree, Weapon Tree, Blood Tree, Beast Tree, Great Tree, Dream Tree.

As expected, they were all completely filled. You had everything unlocked. You scrolled through the arcane tree as you all descended into the mines, spotting the most powerful spell.

A Call Beyond. If this was similar to Naofumi's shield, then you could use this and the item separately, meaning you could temporarily entrust the item to Raphtalia and still use it. You'd just need to call out the move, same as the other heroes.

You closed the menu as you pulled out your torch, as Raphtalia walked close to you, holding a few pickaxes.

"There are dangerous beasts in here. The moment things turn south, we run." Naofumi instructed. You nodded as Raphtalia let out a hum of acknowledgement.

"Umm...." Raphtalia gripped the two pickaxes tightly, as you looked back at her.

"What is it?" You asked.

"...how should I address you, Master?" Raphtalia asked. You scratched your chin, thinking about it.

"Honestly, call me what I am to you. If I'm your master, call me your master. If you view me as a father, call me your dad. Your teacher? Call me your mentor. And if you believe we are friends, you can call me Y/n." You told her. Naofumi sighed at your response, walking ahead.

"Well, what about Sir Naofumi?" Raphtalia asked.

"Well, he leads me, so you could call him Master as well. Alternatively, I call him sir, so there's that. Or if you're into fancies, you could call him the Shield Hero." You told her. Raphtalia nodded, looking towards the ground as you emerged into a massive cave. The walls around you shimmered green as you walked towards the edge, looking over into the ravine below you. There were sublevels, but they all fell down into an abyss, where you did not fail to notice several glowing points slowly moving through the darkness, as if moved on sticks while tried to string.

"As I thought. These aren't beasts." You muttered, grabbing a Molotov cocktail from out of sight.

"Not beasts? What are you talking about?" Naofumi asked, looking over as you used the torch to light the rag, tossing the bottle down into the ravine. After a solid five seconds, it shattered in front of one of the glowing points, revealing a grotesque, insectoid creature attached to it, before the flames died out.

"Wait... what the hell was that?" Naofumi asked, watching you prepare another Molotov.

"This kind is called Kin, instead of beasts. If my memory serves me right, they're... closer to the gods. I think this kind specifically is called Celestial Centipedes, but I could be wrong." You bluffed, as Raphtalia hung out near the tunnel entrance.

Raphtalia sat, waving her legs as she watched you and Naofumi get to work mining. She looked back and forth, before looking on the ground, spotting monster tracks seemingly by chance.

Dirty, bloody dog tracks.

"Are those...."

You dislodged a large chunk of this mines green gems, looking at it with a whistle. You tossed it towards Naofumi, who caught it.

"Alright, this'll fetch us a bunch." He stated, placing it in his pocket. In the distance, Raphtalia screamed.

"Raphtalia?" You dripped your pickaxe, drawing a single long blade as you ran forward.

Raphtalia was curled up against a wall, shuddering at something coming from a separate cave entrance.

You heard ragged, inhuman breathing as a two-headed dog slowly dragged itself into view. It was slowing down, with blood leaking from its orifices. Raphtalia screamed as it growled, and tried to charge forward.

"Wait, it's weakened, right? We can kill it here?" Naofumi looked at it. You slowly nodded, as Naofumi rushed forward, holding one of the dogs heads with his shield as you rushed forward, using your hands the other.

"Alright Raphtalia! Time for a bit of training!" You called out. Raphtalia started hyperventilating as images flashed through her mind.

"Raphtalia?" You asked, looking behind you at the panicking slave.

"Raphtalia! Come on and stab it! It's not like it can hurt you!" You shouted out encouragement.

Raphtalia whimpered at the sight of the dog as her surroundings started to change. She saw silver at the edges of her vision as a voice whispered in her ears.

"Your heart wavers, Young Hunter. You remember what to do?" Raphtalia took in a deep breath, holding up her sword.

"Trust in the Great One. He will guide you through."

"Raphtalia, kill it!" Your voice overtook her mind as her slave crest began to spark, before she rushed forward, leaping up and stabbing down on the left head of the monster.

It let out a howl of pain as the one head fell down, limp. The other head began to thrash around as the body moved spastically, breaking free from your grip as the dog howled, before falling to the ground, dead.

Raphtalia began to cry, dropping her sword as she fell to her knees. You looked over at her, running towards her as she panicked.

"Raphtalia! Raphtalia, what's wrong?" You asked her. She began to take a few deep breaths as you calmed her down.

"A dog... demon killed... my parents during the first wave...." she choked out. You looked down at her, stroking her head in order to calm her down.

"Listen, we won't be able to help your parents, but if you're as brave as you just now, we can stop other kids from going through the same messed up stuff you've had to." You told her. She slowly nodded, standing up as she dried her tears.

"Yeah..." She looked at you, then the weapon you currently had equipped, a single curved blade.

"Master..." You looked at her, giving her a smile.

"Yes?" You asked.

"Can... can you teach me how to fight like you?" She asked. You rolled your eyes, lifting her up to stand on her own.

"That's the plan. Come on, whatever hurt that dog might still be around." You told her. Naofumi finished taking parts of the dog, absorbing them with his shield.

"We have enough ore. Let's get out of here." He ordered.

"Yes sir." You responded, walking ahead, with Raphtalia in tow. You only made it a few feet, passing a tunnel before Raphtalia stopped. It took a second for you to realize this.

"Sir Naofumi, hold up." You called out. Naofumi stopped, turning around to see Raphtalia staring into the entrance of the tunnel.

"Raphtalia? What's wrong?" You asked, approaching her. She pointed down the tunnel, where only complete darkness lay.

"There's something down there." She spoke, her ears flicking. You knit your brows, listening. You didn't hear anything.

"What do you hear?" You asked her. Raphtalia looked up at you, and down the tunnel again.

"Footsteps. Soft footsteps. And...." Raphtalia lifted her ear, listening.

"Growling. Slurping. I think another dog demon is down there." She started to grow nervous, stepping back.

"No, dogs don't sing." You took a sharp breath as the sounds she described entered earshot. That off key singing....

"Damnit!" You grabbed Raphtalia under the arms, surprising her as you tossed her towards Naofumi. She flailed in the air for a flat second before being caught by the shield hero, as you prepared a Molotov cocktail, throwing it down the tunnel. The flames grew, and you spotted it.

That massive, brain-like head. That tall body, dressed with dolls clothing. The hanging tendrils, and that single, massive eye.

"Sir Naofumi, run!" You shouted, making a break towards the tunnel you came from. Naofumi decided to trust you, and turned around, holding Raphtalia, as he began to run. The footsteps grew louder as the Winter Lantern exited the tunnel, turning towards you.

Naofumi yelled out in pain as a spike of blood flew out of his head, splattering you.

"Don't let it see you, no matter what!" You shouted. Being who you were, you couldn't be affected by Frenzy. Frenzy was caused by the Lanterns forcing Eldritch Knowledge into your mind. Knowledge that a human simply cannot process, and as such is repelled as blood. If too much of this knowledge was learned, your head would simply explode. This is why your true body was only conceivable in the dream. If you were to physically bring your true form to the Waking Realm, any human to lay witness to you would die, their minds becoming simple objects for one to use to gain Insight.

Naofumi ducked into a small niche, panting as you skidded to a halt, turning around to face the Lantern as it started to speed up. When it reached arms length away, it spread it's clawed hands out to grab you.

"Augur!" You shouted, thrusting your left hand out sprouted tentacles, which burst on impact with the attempted grab, knocking the unholy creature to its knees as you hopped forward. Jamming your hand into its heart, you formed a fist, ripping it out. It had a rubber band effect, knocking the Winter Lantern backwards, onto its back.

You ran towards it, down a slope, as you jumped, landing blade first on the body of the stunned lantern, stabbing it through the eye.

It let out a gurgled cry, before falling limp, as you drew out your bloodied sword, flicking the blood off as you took out a bottle of sedatives, drinking the thick human blood from the bottle. It took no effect except show as you threw the bottle aside, shattering it as you looked to your companions.

"It's dead." You spoke. Naofumi left, limping as he held his head.

"What the hell was that!?" He shouted, startling Raphtalia.

"That thing, alongside the beasts and Kin, are what destroyed my homeland." You spoke. Naofumi stopped, looking up at you in surprise.

"Your homeland? Is that how you know so much about this Scourge, and all the beasts we fight?" He asked. You nodded, sheathing your weapon, the blades of mercy.

"Yes. If any more Winter Lanterns reside in this cave, it must be sealed off. They are capable of killing you by simply looking at you. Your best bet is to fight off the effect by drugging your mind with strong sedatives as you run away." You spoke, drawing your Saw Cleaver. Raphtalia gagged as you brought it down on the body parts of the Lantern, cutting it into manageable pieces. Naofumi was able to recover from his spurt of frenzy, to see an eye with a hole stabbed into it in your gloved hand. He held up his shield, and you pressed the eye into the gem.

Naofumi lowered his shield, looking at it curiously.

"Winter Lantern Shield? Guess I should try it out..." he sighed, as you shook off your gloves, which were absolutely covered in Winter Lantern blood.

"Doesn't matter. We need to leave. If those things are here, then this mine is too risky." Naofumi announced. You nodded, as Raphtalia ran ahead, probably wanting out of the cave. Understandable.

A notification appeared in your vision as you walked, catching your interest.

Raphtalia walked beside Naofumi, looking back to see you distracted by something.

Mom, Dad. I got to meet the Shield Hero! He was scary at first, but now, I think I wasn't destined to meet him.

His only comrade is a man who suffered similar to me. His home destroyed, and him forced to be alone. He bought me as a slave, but treated me as his daughter, as his student. Mom, Dad, thank you. I'm alright now.

Because I am with Lord Y/n!