Rising of the Caped Baldy

Chapter 7: Only sand will tell the time

"Wow! I barely recognize you!" Erhard said. He referred to Raphtalia's sudden physical growth. Raphtalia became a little red, the same type of red when someone points something out about you.

"You've turned into a real pretty lady." Saitama glanced at Raphtalia as Erhard finished. Now that Saitama really looked at her, he could see that she was rather different from what was about a week ago. He tried to find a reason as to why she aged so quickly. He shrugged it off a second later figuring that magic was the answer.

Erhard saw the way Saitama was blankly looking at Raphtalia. "Hey kid, you do know how demi-humans work, right?" Saitama didn't even seem to hear Erhard as he began staring into the ceiling. 

"Mister, let's leave that aside for now..." The two watched Saitama slowly lose his grasp of reality. She turned to Erhard, "We're here for master's armor!" Her shout snapped Saitama back to reality, taking much longer to process her words than he should.

Erhard blinked at Raphtalia, soon so did Saitama. "Armor? For this guy?" Erhard remembered how one of his finest works shattered against the baldy's skin. He began laughing. As if something that could withstand a foot of sharpened steel hitting it with the speed of a bull would need armor. What would it even protect him from? Himself? Erhard stifled his laughter as the image of Saitama stretching in the armor and shattering entered his mind. "I don't think he needs any armor."

Saitama cut in, "Yeah, we came so you could get better equipment, remember?" Saitama reminded Raphtalia. She only puffed her cheeks.

"But you look like a glorified miner! There's nothing really protecting you!" Raphtalia gestured to Saitama's jumpsuit and the cloak he still wore. While an odd analogy, she was right when Saitama's clothing offered little to no protection against the... the anything really. Despite that, both Saitama and Erhard were sure that he needed no armor.

Raphtalia relented when she accepted that neither of them agreed. Instead, she grabbed a short sword off the wall and examined it. Determining the blade to be adequate, presented it to Erhard.

As Raphtalia and Erhard discussed the blade she had grabbed, Saitama thought about the armor. Specifically, the last times' armor had been relevant. 

He recalled once imagining that he'd be a hero in a knight's armor, the helmet being an armet. He imagined being a shining ray of hope to humanity and a blinding light of penance to villains. While that didn't happen, he was still a blinding light, as long as the sun reflected off his dome at the right angle. 

He thinks that the last time he thought of that was when he was 11. Look at him now, he's still a hero, and he still punishes monsters and villains, but it was so different from what he imagined. A lot emptier than he imagined.

But he can't argue. He's had some pretty interesting days. Met some rather interesting people. Images of Genos and Sonic flashed through his mind. And he's done some pretty interesting things. Who else can say they've played fisticuffs against an alien conqueror? Saitama glanced at Raphtalia and Erhard. And who can say they've traveled to another world? Not anyone he knows.

He might not be exactly what he wanted to be, but it turned out alright. Saitama was snapped out of his thoughts when Raphtalia walked up to him. She looked rather grim, or even a little concerned. 

"The calamity will be here soon." She announced. Saitama blinked at her before remembering why heroes were summoned here in the first place. 'Oh yeah, the Spades of Clam Soup! I nearly forgot.' Saitama incorrectly remembered the name of the coming event that may spell devastation.

"Oh yeah... when exactly is it?" Saitama pondered out loud. Erhard looked at him in mildly dumbfounded at the Shield Hero's lack of knowledge. Erhard tried not to vocalize any of his feelings, instead, shoving those feelings aside with a question.