Chapter 60 by fenharel

What's Verdi up to?

Signing up for the tournament

"Hey, Verdi, what, uh, the fuck was that all about?" Fenri asked, watching the strange trio walk away, the scent of a wolf lingering behind them as Verdi looked at the coins they gave him. They could see Citrinas and Varrick from the corner of their eyes, the duo hard at work studying the list of tournament events and identifying which ones Tristiana was likely to target based on the prizes and their enchantments.

"That girl walked up and said I helped her leave the bright place and fought the Watcher." Verdi answered as Fenri blinked, hoping that he had some more context or at the very least a witty response. Sadly, he was still too confused to even comment on just what happened.

"... What the fuck does that even mean?" She asked as he rubbed his chin, deep in thought before shruggin his shoulders

"I dunno, but I'm just happy that somebody referred to me as a guy for once." He said after a moment before handing Fenri the coins. "Either way, they're paying for our entry fee now." He said as she tossed them into her inventory for later, the duo making their way to the end of the line for tournament sign ups.

"Not gonna follow her?" Fenri asked.

"Why would I?" Verdi asked in turn.

"Because she knows you?" She answered as Verdi raised a confused eyebrow.

"She might think she knows me, but I know she's a few fruits short of a basket case." He answered with a sigh, feeling stupid over the whole affair. Finding out his identity wasn't going to be that easy, and he damn well knew it logically. His heart, however, was still easily swayed.

"Are you sure? I mean, she looked like she was sure she knew you." Fenri said awkwardly, half expecting Verdi to freeze up at the reminder of his current state. Surprisingly, he was unfazed by the remark as he answered her question.

"Harvin said I was probably an older hero from a few hundred years ago that died early on in my career. I doubt there's anyone alive from that era that knows me. If I'm finding my identity out, it's by reading history books or remembering things." He answered with a glum voice, surprisingly realistic about his prospects of finding his past. Everyone he knew was probably dead, he had no achievements to go for, and no memories to work with. Rather than mull over the impossibility of finding his past, he opted to shift focus to another topic. "By the way, I grabbed forms to sign you up for every event that had knives as a prize." He said while holding the form up, the name Fenri Volk written in neat letters as she tried to discern the strange writing on the page.

"Good work. So what am I competing in?" Fenri asked as he went through the events.

"Hand to hand combat, weapon combat, one on one combat with no limits, doubles **** match, and magic." He answered as she looked up at him.

"You signed me up for magic?" She asked.

"Well, 2nd place prize has a throwing knife enchanted to return to the user's sheath with summoning magic. Also, it has wind magic so it can shift direction midair when you throw it." Verdi said as Fenri seemed to pant, the description of the knife akin to foreplay for her. Verdi was almost insulted by how lustful her eyes were, this unrestrained desire wholly absent from their tryst.

"Go put your name in there. I'll let you go wild and mod my body however you want if you win as long as it doesn't get in the way of fighting." She demanded as Verdi fought back a grin. It seemed his past persona was quite studious when it came to body modification potions, knowing formulations that even Citrinas had no clue about due to their depraved nature.

"Deal." Verdi said with a smirk. "I'm surprised. I thought you'd sign up yourself." He noted as Fenri shrugged.

"I don't know how to use magic." She admitted without hesitation.

"Can't you use the holy claw thing you did to me?" He asked with a puzzled voice, tasting firsthand just how potent her skills were. Though she was using magic to tear limbs off, it was still magic nonetheless.

"No, I can only use Huntress' Cloak once every 3 months, and I don't wanna waste it unless I can kill the target." Fenri answered with a scowl.

"3 months? Do all your skills have long cooldowns." Verdi noted, now realizing how Fenri's skills from the hero of the hunt were balanced. Hunt gave her the ability to steal attributes from a target and debuffed anyone who intervened by 40%. The person intervening also risked getting a bounty placed on them if Fenri was feeling particularly angry about the interruption. The issue was that it had a 1 month cooldown period. If her other skills had such long cooldowns, then it would explain why she wasn't a physical God by now. She had to be careful when to use her skills, and when to save them.

"Hunt-bitch who summoned me says that claiming prey as a trophy should be a special occasion." Fenri said with a sigh, giving her patron goddess none of the respect she deserved. "I'm saving the world damn it! Let me use it more often!" She complained as though her patron could her hear whining.

"Saving it from what? The war's over." Verdi asked as Fenri flinched, his question having merit. The war ended, and until recently she was just wandering around killing everything in sight.

"Hey, fox-bitch is still a threat. Hunt-bitch should be making me overpowered like Bonds or Commerce." Fenri said indignantly, comparing her supposedly lackluster blessings to her fellow heroes. Verdi almost wanted to laugh at how ridiculous she sounded. Just when he was about to mock her, he rubbed his chin in nostalgia.

"Commerce is strong?" He asked, remembering the many potion orders he completed for her in Kolderia. He never met the hero personally, but he did fulfill most of her potion orders at the alchemy guild, his ability to mass produce weak, cheap potions leagues above any human. He'd scammed the poor fool out of a small fortune making the potions at a tenth of the cost of supplies and selling them back at 80% market prices. He had thought about selling directly, but he wasn't formally signed up with alchemy guild, and he didn't have the connections to sell potions en mass. Overall, he had happy memories of the hero despite never meeting them.

"Money-bitch has an overpowered ability that gets stronger based on how rich she is. Crazy bitch broke my ribs and nearly killed me that day." Fenri said indignantly as Verdi whistled in appreciation.

"Neat skill. Is the value based on mass of the wealth she's accumulated, is it based on the market value of goods, is there an equation, or-"

"How the fuck should I know?" Fenri asked as Verdi stopped asking questions, noticing just how angry she looked. "It's fucking unfair. I watched her fight in previous events and was a pushover compared to me. Then she went out during one of the intermissions, did ONE fucking deal, and she got strong enough to beat the shit out of me." She complained as Verdi frowned at her statement. He'd done nothing but produce potions in Kolderia and selling them to commerce. According to Citrinas, potions weren't cheap, so making several hundred even at a discount would damage any wallet.

"What did she sell?" Verdi asked, curious as to what the hero of commerce was dealing in. Textiles, precious metals, luxury goods, there was a bunch of goods one could use.

"Potions." Fenri spat angrily as Verdi stiffened.

"... Potions? She's an alchemist?" He asked, sweat beading on his neck as a premonition of doom crept on his shoulder.

"No. Some dumbass alchemist sold her potions at stupidly low prices and she signed a contract with some mercs to supply them at 110% market price. Her fortune practically doubled in an hour and she kicked my ass as a result." She answered as Verdi began shivering, doing his best to seem calm as he realized what happened. "Fucking idiot alchemist was practically giving... Them out... For free..." Fenri's voice trailed off as she looked down at Verdi, who was now drenched in sweat. One look at the guilty expression he had was all it took for her to piece everything together. "SO IT WAS YOU!" She exclaimed as Verdi coughed into his hand.

"To be fair, I was the one scamming her." He said as Fenri glared at him.

"You were making potions 20% below market price!" Fenri said indignantly.

"And they costed a tenth of what a normal potion would cost. I made a hefty 60% profit." Verdi countered as she glared at him.

"You made her so much money that she actually broke most of my ribs that day!" She said indignantly.

"That's it? Broken ribs heal." Verdi said.

"My pride doesn't!" Fenri spat indignantly. "New hero party rule! No more selling stuff to money-bitch!"

"No promises." Verdi said while taking another form out. He snapped his fingers as he realized something. "By the way, about the doubles event, two things."

"Yeah?" Fenri asked.

"First of all, first prize is a magic shotgun that was owned by the previous Hero of the Hunt and a darkness pill." Verdi said, going over the information regarding the magic shotgun. It seemed it was a pump action shotgun enchanted to resist corrosion. The tube where ammo was stored was enchanted with a pocket dimension to store the ammo, giving it a near endless storage space for ammo. It was a fun toy that just required ammo and regular infusions of either spirit or magic power to maintain the effects.

"Is a shotgun a type of knife?" Fenri asked, unfamiliar with the local term for a shotgun.

"No, but it comes with a magic bayonet." Verdi answered.

"That a type of knife?" She asked.

"Yup. It says the blade is stored in a pocket dimension when not in use and can extend from 2 inches to 17 inches when you put spirit power into the handle." Verdi answered as Fenri licked her lips at the description.

"I want it." She declared firmly.

"Second thing. Who is your partner gonna be? Citrinas or Varrick?" He asked, gesturing to the empty spot on the form.

"You." Fenri answered without hesitation, surprising Verdi as he thought he had misheard her.

"Seriously? You trust me to back you up?" He asked with a puzzled voice at the hero's choice in partners. Varrick was a veteran paladin with a lifetime of experience while Citrinas was a better mage, having access to all elements. Both of them were long time hero companions and both of them had combat experience. Verdi's abilities were restricted to ice magic and he had roughly two years of memories to work with. Of those two years, 1/8th of that time was spent fucking Citrinas. Objectively speaking, they were better choices.

"I need someone who can back me up. Your girlfriend can't take a hit while Varrick is a whiny bastard who will surrender the second I get cut. You can take a hit, I know you've got great battle sense, and you give fewer fucks about me than Varrick." Fenri explained, giving her opinion on him. "You're the best choice for a closed environment." She said as Verdi glanced away from her, slightly embarrassed by the compliment. He hated how happy he felt hearing her stroke his ego, since he knew damn well she was taking him for a ride.

"I'll sign up, but I wanna keep the darkness pill and the night after the event I'm modding your body and defiling you in ways no human has been defiled." He demanded as Fenri smirked at him.

"All that whining and in the end you had fun." She said, unfazed by the threat of severe body modification and violation by a monster.

"It was alright." Verdi said as Fenri just smirked arrogantly at him. "Okay, fine, I had fun last night." He conceded after a moment of silence.

"And did I crush anything?" Fenri continued in her smug voice.

"Fine, I'm sorry I insulted your sex skills. Do we have a deal?" Verdi asked while extending his hand.

"Deal, but don't go too deep in me for the next few months, and don't make the mods too weird." Fenri said as Verdi shook her hand.

"Not a fan of **** stuff?" Verdi asked.

"Nah, I had a blast having you suck milk out of me and I'm kinda jealous you did that thing to Citrinas' clit. Plus, last night was the first time I passed out from cumming." Fenri said without a lick of shame as she admitted her preference for Verdi's more **** plays.

"So what's the problem?" Verdi asked as she rolled her eyes at him, grabbing his hand and placing it on your stomach.

"Because I'm pretty sure you bred both of us last night, dumbass." Fenri complained before punching Verdi on the shoulder. "Would it have killed you to at least pull out?" She asked as Verdi chuckled, finally happy to have one of his blessings.

"Oh, don't worry about getting pregnant. I've got the Warmth blessing, so you're all good." He said cheerily. Unlike Humanity, he had physical proof he had it since Citrinas wasn't on kid number 300 from their constant trysts.

"Warmth? The hell's that do?" Fenri asked.

"Gives me the ability to control my fertility and gives me a slightly holy aura so people don't kill me on sight." He answered as realization washed over Fenri's face, as though he'd answered some long unasked question. "What?"

"I always thought it was weird you don't give me the aura of a monster or a particularly strong person. Your warmth ability's probably been suppressing it." She noted as Verdi squinted his eyes.

"... Fenri, be honest. How do you perceive me?" He asked cautiously.

"Honestly, you give off the aura of a rabbit or a puppy when I look at you. When I look away, I usually just lose track of you completely." Fenri answered as he mulled over his entire journey, her answer finally answering a long held mystery of himself. Nobody seemed register him as a threat and viewed him as a harmless puppy. While it meant nobody would kill him, it also meant nobody would respect him. Anyone who felt the slightest fear or caution towards him was relaxed by his Warmth ability.

"You're telling me the reason nobody respects me is because of this stupid Warmth Blessing!?" Verdi asked in exasperation, realizing the crippling drawback of his skill.

"I respect you now since you beat me in a fight. I just didn't get the same "don't fuck with this guy" vibes that Mathias, Harvin, Varrick, or even Citrinas give me." Fenri answered.

"How do I turn it off?" He asked, wanting to remove the accursed skill and be viewed with the awe and respect he deserved.

"How should I know? It's your skill." Fenri answered as he sighed.

"Why is it the more I learn about my body, the more pissed off I am at the guy who did this to me?" Verdi asked while grinding his teeth.

"Look on the bright side. Everyone, including enemies, will underestimate you and it's REALLY hard to detect you since your skill makes you seem harmless to everyone." Fenri said, doing her best to reassure Verdi as he slouched, her reassurances doing nothing to alleviate his misery. Considering she knew how terrible it was to lack respect, she could only pat him on the back. "So what's the darkness pill do?" Fenri asked suddenly, hoping to change topics.

"Apparently, if a monster eats it, they instantly get a dark elemental infusion." Verdi answered gleefully, intent on expanding his effective magic powers in his human form.

"Great, so we'll feed that to you. What do we do with the shotgun?" Fenri asked, pointing out one thing they neglected to mention as Verdi mulled over the question.

"I dunno, sell it? I haven't seen any ammo stores around, and making ammo ourselves is gonna be too much of a hassle." He answered as Fenri made a confused face.

"Ammo?" She asked.

"Bullets. You know, the stuff the gun fires." Verdi explained before repeating the word ammo in several different languages. Seeing Fenri's puzzled expression, he sighed, realizing she didn't know the word for gun or ammo was. "A shotgun is a firearm that uses small shot or slugs with no rifling on its barrel." He said, reaching to his belt and taking out his canteen. Pouring the canteen on his hand, he reshaped the water into a basic pump action shotgun and showed it to Fenri.

"What is that?" Fenri asked, studying the sculpture as Verdi realized her problem. She genuinely had no idea what a gun was.

"This is a firearm. Namely, a shotgun." Verdi explained, gaining no further signs of realization on Fenri's face when she inspected the imitation. "It's essentially a magic wand that, when you point it at people you dislike, turns them into meat confetti with the power of ****, explosives, and lead." Verdi explained as Fenri snapped her fingers.

"Oh, like a musket or a blunderbuss." She said before scoffing at the weapon. "What a useless toy."

"Don't like guns?" Verdi asked.

"A water mage could ruin an entire platoon of gunners with a simple mist spell, accuracy is terrible, and the guns have terrible range. Might as well as get a bow." Fenri said as Verdi chuckled at her description. He had seen bows in action, and they were sorely beneath guns in sheer destructive power or range.

"Maybe your primitive guns, but these guns can hit further than a bow, can be shot even underwater, and their accuracy is better than a bow if you practice. Plus, they're easier to use than bows." Verdi said before rubbing his chin to think. "Only reason everyone isn't using guns is probably from logistics." He theorized as Fenri stared at him.

"Logistics?" She asked as Verdi gave his theory on the lack of guns in the world.

"You'd need craftsmen to forge the cartridges since automation isn't a thing in this world. You'd then need to produce shot en mass if we're using a shotgun, but that's easily done by dripping molten lead into a pool of water. Issue's that primers are going to be tricky to make. If the hero of the hunt used a pump action shotgun instead of a semi-automatic, then it means even they couldn't produce primers that would detonate 100% of the time and used weapons that easily ejected spent cartridges. As for gunpowder, we could harness it from the air by mimicking the Haber-Bosch process, but that would take absurd amounts of magic power. Maybe if we could revise the process to reduce the amount of energy and pressure, it could-"

"Stop. Brain hurts. Stop using brain magic on me." Fenri said while rubbing her head, unable to keep up with Verdi's murmurings. He stopped thinking and looked to Fenri, slightly curious as to her home world's tech level.

"Hey Fenri, in your home world, have you heard of someone using steam to move something at all?" He asked as Fenri stopped and looked up at the sky, searching her memories for any such things.

"I... Think I heard about some noble from my home world having a funny door that did that. Then one day the metal tubes popped from the pressure." Fenri answered after a moment of deliberation.

"Hm. I'm betting your world's metallurgy was somewhat behind if it couldn't withstand the pressures of a steam engine." Verdi noted as Fenri crossed her arms at his words, taking it as an insult rather than a mere deduction.

"Or your old world was just really advanced." Fenri said casually as Verdi froze in place and looked to her. He muttered some stuff under his breath, his mind moving at a frantic pace. Suddenly, he grabbed her shoulders and looked up at him, his eyes sparkling as he spoke to her.

"Fenri, you glorious genius! My world was really advanced!" He exclaimed as she looked at his face, his current expression unrecognizable. She'd seen him pissed off, smirking from his usual pranks, or plotting something in secret. This, however, was different. She'd never seen him this genuinely happy before, literally beaming with joy as he looked at her. Instantly, her olive skin turned beet red as her face burned at the sight of his face, her instincts demanding she pat him on the head like a puppy.

"G-get off me!" She said, shoving him back as Verdi happily waited in line. As she looked down at him, she almost mistook him for a different person. The fact that Warmth was causing him to have a faint holy aura only worsened her impression of seeing him as a small rabbit. "Fuck's wrong with you?" She said, looking away from him and fighting the urge to pat him on the head.

"I just got a hint to my past Fenri! The technology was more advanced this world or your world!" He said cheerily as she frowned.

"Why is this a revelation? You literally said so to me." She asked, unable to keep up with Verdi's train of thought.

"I knew it, I just didn't realize it until you pointed it out to me!" Verdi said, grinning ear to ear as he got to work mentally compiling the technology he innately knew. He took to magic quickly since he knew the scientific principles underlying them like the palm of his hand! It was why in the span of a single day, he was able to hit a 3 minute cast time while Tomoko was slower than him! He was scientifically inclined in his home world and while he was alive! A moment of silence passed over the two as he stopped to look up at Fenri, finished compiling the technical knowledge he knew.

"... Hey Fenri." He said, grabbing her attention. His previous overjoyed voice was now sheepish, as though he were embarrassed by the whole affair.

"Hm?" She asked, still trying to avoid looking directly at his face.

"Thanks for helping me." He said as Fenri felt knots form in her stomach. She wasn't used to having people talk to her like this, and it made her feel strange.

"I'm chasing fox-bitch. You're just a side job." She said, unwilling to just accept the thanks and move on.

"Still, I just want you to know that I appreciate you helping a complete stranger like me out. When this is all over I'll pay you back for everything." Verdi said, his voice devoid of the slightest amount of deception or sarcasm. It was a simple gesture of gratitude devoid of the slightest amount of lust or ulterior motive, being nothing more than an offer of thanks from the depths of his heart. Despite that, Fenri felt her cheeks burn even harder, avoiding his gaze while crossing her arms to hide just how flustered she was.

"Pay me back now and win the doubles event with me." She said as Verdi nodded, his usual goblin-like smirk returning with a vengeance.

"That fucking shotgun is ours next month." He said cheerily, the duo continuing to wait in line.

Author's note:

Apologies for the wait. I finally got Elden Ring. It's very fun. Also had to spemd a few days also ironing out the plot for the story too. Also, for those of you who want to guess which hero Verdi was, here's a list of the heroes. Note that I may or may not retcon out the last four weapon heroes if anyone has any fun ideas for a hero.