"Now let's go!" Said L'arc excited as he lifted his scythe into the air.
They went to the shore.
L'arc wanted to take the boat to the second island but Issei had other plans.
Kiyomi transformed into her dragon form and flew them to the second island because it was way faster than the boat.
They landed and took off to grind some levels.
As they were walking through the jungle, a group of monsters popped up.
"Oh hell yeah!" Shouted L'arc as he dashed at them with his scythe slashing them in half clean.
"This beast is in way better condition than the first time I used it!" Shouted L'arc excited.
"Watch out" Said issei as he blocked a higher level monster from attacking L'arc.
L'arc didn't waste any time and slashed the monster with one hit.
"Whew bud, that was a close one" Laughed L'arc.
"You are way too carefree" Joked issei.
"Fire slash!" Shouted L'arc as he swung his scythe and a fire wave hit the monsters killing them instantly.
"He surely is having fun" Said Kiyomi.
"Let's have some fun too" Said Theresa in a sweet voice.
She started to chant and her jewels that were on her hands started to glow including issei's made one.
As she finished the chant a green and blue fire lit up and covered her whole hand.
"Jewel fire!" Shouted Theresa.
She swung her hand and a powerful fire wave hit the monsters completely destroying them.
"Well, that is an interesting way to use your jewelry" Chuckled Issei.
"Now let's join them too" Said Issei.
Kiyomi spread her white wings and her eyes glowed pink like beautiful gems.
Her hands lit up in pink fire and she started to attack the monsters efficiently using her sharp nails.
The good thing was that she could be a support type fighter by using her draconic magic or offensive type by fighting in close combat.
Raphtalia took out her new sword and slashed every single monster with ease.
Issei decided to join in the fun as he equipped his gear and slashed every monster with its sharp claws.
Sometimes he used aura bullets or fire magic or even shadow or ice magic to kill the monsters.
After three hours of fighting they took a small break.
"As soon as you hit the level seventy, the experience you are getting isn't enough anymore, not talking about me who has reached level one hundred first" Said Issei as they walked through the jungle.
"It's fine, let's go find big guys then" Said L'arc as he pointed at a large monster which looked mixed between a lion and a giant bird.
"Now we are talking" Said Issei as he and L'arc rushed at the monster.
"We can just watch them enjoy for now and take some rest" Said Theresa as she Raphtalia and Kiyomi sat on a big flat rock and watched the two buddies fight.
"They got really close after just one day" Giggled Raphtalia.
"I agree, I haven't seen him this happy when he interacted with someone except us" Said Kiyomi.
"I guess they are naturally like brothers" Giggled Theresa.
In just one day they got along really well like siblings with similar interests (battle maniacs).
Soon after, the duo came back with monsters blood on them.
They had toothy grins splattered across their faces but they looked goofy and the blood smelled horribly as it mixed with their sweat.
"We're done with that one" Said L'arc.
"That's great and all, but you smell really bad" Said Theresa as she pinched her nose with Raphtalia.
Just imagine how bad it was for Kiyomi.....
"C'mon, it's not that bad dear" Said L'arc.
"Yeah, I think it's okay" Said Issei.
"It's alright, I can fix this really quick" Said Kiyomi as she used some kind of magic to clean them.
The clothes their gears and they themselves were cleaned and smelled like roses.
"That's way better" Said Theresa with a smile.
"Didn't know you can use this kind of magic sweetheart" Said Issei.
"I'll need you to teach me this" Said issei.
"Maybe I will" Replied Kiyomi.
The day came to an end and they returned to the main island's town.
"Well that was fun, this party is insanely amazing" Said Issei.
"I couldn't agree more thanks to you we surpassed a lot of levels in just one day" Said L'arc cheerfully.
"Yeah, the two of you are the best duo I have ever seen so far, you worked so in sync" Said Theresa with a kind smile.
"Yeah well....maybe you wanna team up tomorrow again?" Asked Issei.
"Sure bud! that would be fun!" Replied L'arc with a smirk.
"Then see ya tomorrow, have a good night" Said Issei.
"Yeah you too" Said Theresa as they parted their ways.
A week passed and Issei and his party have been grinding levels like crazy, that was until they found a strange cave.
"Guys, look what I found" Said issei as he found some kind of small cave entrance behind some large leaves.
"What ya found here buddy?" Asked L'arc as he came up to him.
"Some kind of cave and I think we could find something interesting there" Said Issei.
"Ya think? maybe we should check it out" Said L'arc.
"Yea maybe, but let's not go all together maybe me, you and Theresa should go and Raphtalia and Kiyomi will stay here so if anything would happen while we are done there they would call for help or something because I can communicate with them from a distance, plus right now I think they should take a rest" Said Issei.
"Alright then, let's head inside of it, Theresa come here! we are leaving into the cave!" Shouted L'arc.
Issei this week learned a new skill from Ddraig.
Now he can mentally contact people like Ddraig did with Coram crouch or Fafnir or Albion, but it isn't as strong as Ddraig's because Issei has a distance limit.
It wasn't easy as he tried to learn this skill for almost two months but finally he succeeded.
Issei mentally told Kiyomi and Raphtalia about their plan as he, L'arc and Theresa entered the cave.
It was dark so Issei used his flames and lit up his hand, Theresa did the same using her jewel magic.
Issei was walking in front, L'arc in the middle and Theresa in the back.
"Theresa, I was wondering how are you using these jewel magic? I've never heard of it before" Asked Issei.
"I'm unique, I somehow discovered that I can use gems to fight, I always loved jewelry because my mom had lots of it, she died while I was four, she was killed by some thugs, the gems give me power and the most powerful gem is the new one that you made, I haven't seen anything this powerful...when I was young I was called a witch because I was the only one capable of using this kind of magic.
They all thought it was black magic so until I turned fourteen I was always alone.....one day the people planned to kill me because they thought I worshipped demons and devils by using my magic, but L'arc saved me and since then I was with him until we fell in love and we had our wedding" Explained Theresa.
"Oh..... Sorry for asking something like this, it was insensitive of me" Apologized Issei.
"No no, it's fine you don't need to worry" Said Theresa with a kind smile.
They continued to walk until they found some kind of stone stairs that led down,.
"Well, I guess we are going down" Said issei as he went down first L'arc after, and Theresa right behind them.
The walls were made out of bricks too, that looked really old, cracked and wet with some greenery growing on them.
They suddenly reached the end and upon entering some kind of large corridor a bunch of torches lit up and at the end of the corridor a large double doors were revealed.
In front of them were some kind of stone sign with a text that was unreadable.
"What does this say?" Asked L'arc as he tried to read it but nothing..
"As the shield hero I order thy dechy for the laws of nature and reveal the meaning of this writing" Issei chanted and the text glowed golden for a second.
In his vision a screen popped up.
"Shield hero's secret level grinder, extremely dangerous boss and ancient loot" Read issei out loud.
"Dangerous boss? ancient loot? hell yeah! we are so going in!" Shouted excited L'arc.
"Maybe we should call for Raphtalia and Kiyomi for help?" Asked Theresa.
"Nah, we will be fine, right Ise?" Aksed L'arc.
"Yeah sure" Said Issei and the trio walked down the corridor.
They reached the large doors but as L'arc tired to open it didn't work.
Issei wanted to blast the door open but Theresa stopped him.
"Don't try and destroy everything, just use your brains, did you forget that it said that this is the Shield hero's secret level grinder? you are the Shield hero too, so just try to open the doors you two dummies" Giggled Theresa.
"ah.....yeah alright" Said Issei as he just lightly touched the doors
His shield glowed green and the doors opened by themselves.
Issei and L'arc felt really stupid right now as they lowered their heads down.
Seeing their expressions Theresa started to laugh a little making it even worse for the duo.
They entered the room where a bunch of torches lit up too but at the end of the large room it stayed dark and the doors behind them shut tight.
A screen popped up in their visions.
"You have entered the Shield hero's secret dungeon, to leave it you have to defeat the boss or die!? what the hell!" Shouted Issei.
"Ghhh the doors aren't opening" Said L'arc as he tried to open the doors by force.
"Alright, let's just calm down and defeat the boos, it can't be that powerful" Said Theresa.
Suddenly the end of the room lit up too and revealed a large throne with some kind of giant figure in a cloak.
Suddenly the figure stood up and removed its cloak.
In front of them stood a large skeleton with a large sword on its back and equipped with strong armor.
The skeleton had a golden crown too and its eye sockets were black and just a tiny red glow could be seen in that black void.
The skeleton took his sword out and pointed at the trio.
The skeleton's health bar appeared and they saw his name.
"Skeleton king of the dead.." Whispered Theresa.
"Alright, let's kill that monster as fast as we can" Said Issei.
The couple nodded and issei and L'arc charged at the skeleton while Theresa attacked it from a distance.
L'arc slashed it with his scythe but it barely did any damage.
The skeleton swung it's sword at L'arc at insane speeds.
He couldn't even react.
It only thanks to issei's dragon sharp senses that he could block it with an airstrike shield to give him enough time to escape.
The airstrike shield shattered almost instantly upon contact.
L'arc backed Away.
'Damn, the room is too small to use my juggernaut drive' Thought Issei.
He wanted to charge at the skeleton again but the monster charged first.
Despite being literally a giant skeleton they were barely able to see the skeleton charge.
It charged straight at Theresa.
She froze from fear and couldn't even move as tears streamed down her cheeks.
She was scared to die and leave L'arc.
Theresa!" Shouted L'arc as he tried to reach her but he was too far away.
Issei's airstrike shield wouldn't have helped either so the only thing he could do was push her away.
Issei unfolded his wings and flew straight at her.
He was barely fast enough to push away but at a cost....
"ISSEI!" Shouted both L'arc and Theresa as a lot of blood hit the ground as well as issei's arm.
He coughed some blood out too.
"FUCK!" Roared Issei, even the whole cave started to shake.
"Language!" Shouted Theresa.
"Language my ass! my fucking arm is on the ground woman!" Shouted Issei back.
"Ah right....then you can curse for now" Said Theresa.
"Thank you, FUUUCK! AAAAAAAAHHAAAAH!!" Shouted Issei.
Now Issei was furious.
"INCURSIO BALANCE BREAKER!" Roared Issei.
[WELSH TYRANT BALANCE BREAKER!" Roared Ddraig and Issei was in his armor just with one arm.
A dangerous aura was swirling around him.
Using his wings and jets he flew at the skeleton straight at his face.
Upon contact the giant dropped its sword and fell on the ground.
It slowly got back up but issei didn't let the monster do anything else.
[DIVIDE DIVIDE DIVIDE DIVIDE!] Roared Ddraig.
"KNEEL" Roared issei and the giant fell on his knee, not because it obeyed Issei but because issei divided all of its strength.
"Good now say goodbye" Said Issei.
[BOOST BOOST BOOST BOOST BOOST BOOST] Roared Ddraig.
"Shield prison!" Roared Issei and both L'arc and Theresa were safe inside the shield prison.
"AURA BULLET! PENETRATE!" Roared Issei and a large beam hit the skeleton.
The whole room shook.
L'arc and Theresa were released from the shield prison and saw a lot of smoke and dust.
Suddenly they heard a flap of wings and all of the smoke and dust disappeared revealing Issei in his armor and a huge crater in the ground, but no monster, not even its remains were seen.
"Y-you killed it all by yourself" Said Theresa in disbelief.
"Yeah.....you know where is my arm?" Asked Issei.
L'arc picked up his arm from the ground and gave it to Issei.
"Remind me to never anger him" Whispered L'arc to Theresa who just nodded as she was still in a state of shock.
Issei took out his new medicine and poured it on his sewered arm and put it back in place.
After a minute he released his arm and moved it a little.
It was completely reattached like it wasn't cut off in the first place.
L'arc and Theresa watched in amazement.
"For now I need my arm to heal a little because right now it's my weak point" Said Issei.
L'arc and Theresa just nodded as they still processed what just happened.
"The sign said that there will be ancient loot but the skeleton didn't drop anything or.....you destroyed the loot..." Said L'arc.
Suddenly a door appeared in front of the throne.
Issei opened the door and revealed a small room with three chests.
They walked in and opened a chest each.
L'arc found a book with a scythe on its cover, Theresa found a beautiful red gem, and issei found a scroll.
He opened the scroll and gained one skill.
'System update?' Thought Issei.
'Once in a while I will be able to update my system?" Thought Issei.
'System update skill will be useful' Thought Issei.
"What ya get L'arc?" Asked Issei.
"A book about a legendary weapon scythe.
Apparently there was a scythe hero who wielded a legendary weapon scythe that resembles mine a lot and I can use this book to activate my scythe and become the scythe hero, it says that shield hero and scythe hero were great friends and companions like brothers and were one of the most powerful duo" Explained L'arc excitedly.
"That's amazing what a find" Said Issei amazed.
"What about you Theresa?" Asked Issei.
"I got a red gem and it feels very powerful....could you please make me another accessory!?" Shouted Theresa with starts in her eyes.
"Sure, but on one condition" Said Issei.
"Alright anything!" Replied Theresa.
"I will use a little of it to make Raphtalia and Kiyomi each too, deal?" Asked Issei.
"Deal!" Replied Theresa without hesitation.
"What did you get Issei?" Asked L'arc.
"I got a skill called system update" Said Issei.
"System update? interesting" Said L'arc.
"That boss gave a lot of experience points tho" Said L'arc.
"Yeah, I'm on one hundred fifteenth level now" Said Issei.
"I'm on the ninety second" Said L'arc.
"And I'm on eighty ninth" Said Theresa.
"Shield hero's secret dungeon is really efficient" Said Issei.
"I think we should get going" Said Issei
They exited the small room and in the middle of the boss room something rose from the ground.
It appeared to be a dragon hourglass.
"What is this thing doing here?" Asked Issei.
"Wait, doesn't the wave strike where the dragon hourglass resides?" Asked Theresa.
"Yes that's true..." Replied L'arc.
"Then it's really bad the people on these islands are in danger" Said Theresa.
Issei's shield shone bright green and the hourglass revealed the time until the next wave.
"What!? only two days until the wave!" Shouted Issei.
"This is bad, we need to inform the people on the surface, we need to evacuate them immediately" Said Theresa.
"Then let's go" Said Issei and they ran out of the room and got to the surface as fast as they could.