Dokeshi March ~ 18!

The deepening shadows were a great place for more than just Grant and Suki to blend in. Considering the proximity to the casino, far more people were milling around than in other areas of the District they had been through recently. They had to run past several beggars that looked on the edge of starvation, and Grant slowed to hand a fresh tomato from his pack to a particularly skinny little girl.

“I have to change things in this District, one way or another.” Grant’s determined tone brought a buzz of approval from his uchigatana. “I can’t let anything stop me.”

<That’s the spirit!> the Sword Spirit enthusiastically agreed. The fact that he was a sword didn’t mean he wanted to see children starving. <You get closer to the proper mindset for growth every day. Only one who devotes himself to a cause with his whole strength and soul can be a true master. For this reason alone, mastery demands everything of a person.>

“We need to go right up here.” Suki cut in on their conversation, and Grant refocused his rising anger on the thought of people standing in his way. They would regret trying to keep him from bringing this District out of the darkness. Up ahead, the twisty alleyways and curvy roads started to straighten out.

The two Wielders located the bridge in the dwindling evening light. Standing on it were several distinct figures, a fair number more than the five House Friday guards that had left the casino. A gust of wind ruffled the shreds of the lead figure’s outfit, and Grant recognized the tattered clothing. This was Dokeshi’s Vassal. “Good. He’s about to find out what happens to hostile Vassals when they cross a Lord of the Month.”

When they reached the edge of the bridge, Suki stayed on his immediate left since he didn’t pause. Arrayed against them were the five guards, along with ten of the soldiers that had accompanied Tatters on the patrol they had spotted earlier. The only person Grant was truly concerned about wasn’t present: the House Saturday assassin must have continued with the other patrol elsewhere.

“I just knew you would have to pass through here eventually.” The frowning clown propped his hands on his hips, trying to look dramatic. “When these House Friday sweethearts arrived, imagine my joy when they described who was on their way here! This is far more exciting than toying with the trash inhabiting this region. To be able to bring the head of the man that killed Lord January and defeated Lady February to the Dokeshi? This will bring me more pleasure than watching the light leave the eyes of tenants as they read their eviction notices!”

“First off, Lord January is still alive and… he’s alive. I need you to answer a question for me before we get started.” Grant completely ignored the other fighters flanking the Vassal. “Are you the only Vassal from Dokeshi in the area?”

“I’m all that’s needed.” Tatters seemed confused by the question, his narcissism taking a hit when he realized that this wasn’t the response he had been expecting. “Why would that matter? Once each of us gets a blow in, you won’t be alive to care anyway.”

“I challenge you to a duel. If you win, I will go with you quietly. If I win, your weapon is destroyed.” Grant placed his hand on his uchigatana in preparation of the system approving the duel. Instead, the clown started laughing.

“Hahah! Accept a duel from you? I don’t think so!” Tatters waved his hands expressively at the men waiting behind him. “There are enough of us to guarantee my victory without bothering to make silly deals.”

“That works too.” Grant crouched, his legs tensing. “I was going to go easy on you, but I don’t think that’s an option anymore.”

Before he could leap into their midst, an arrow flashed out from the rear of the enemy formation. Iaijutsu knocked it out of the air before it could strike him.

Combat initiated

Action: Defend With Weapon

Result: Attack deflected

Opponents remaining: 26

Actions: Please select one option from the following list

Attack: Lethal, Non-lethal, Spell

Defend: With Weapon, Without Weapon

Run: Attempt Escape

Grant selected ‘Spell’ and jumped forward. He landed in their midst, and Sarge shaped the lightning coursing through his body. The spell activated fully, and lightning jumped from enemy to enemy, disabling and injuring over half of his opponents.

Thundering Step is increased by Lightning attunement! Damage per second is currently: 83.6 per second

Lightning Strikes Twice: your spell damaged at least ten enemies within a single second! Mental cultivation is increased by 10% for one hour!

Suki was right behind Grant, and she landed a huge uppercut on the House Friday guard that was doing his best imitation of a muscled outhouse. The man teetered backwards, teeth and blood spraying out of his mouth as the combat system caught him and made him wait for his own turn to fall over. She dropped back, unable to capitalize on the devastating hit until her turn came around again.

The soldiers and House Friday guards were wearing armor that carried varying degrees of spell mitigation, so they weren’t uniformly affected by the lightning sparking through them. Tatters, who had been on the edge of the spell range, appeared to only be a little twitchy from the continuous shock. He raised a scepter in one hand and a potion bottle in the other.

Grant selected ‘Defend: With Weapon’ and suffered through the attacks of three soldiers in rapid succession. They were regular cultivators, so he couldn’t afford to accept their hits directly. He managed to knock the blow of a naginata into the path of a fourth attacker, when a brief pause interrupted the battle as Suki leapt off the railing of the bridge right on top of another House Friday guard who was using a crossbow. Everyone watched in amazement as her flying punch caught the man straight in the top of his head. The unfortunate guard seemed to shrink a few inches, and he tottered around for a moment before falling forward onto his face. There was a collective wince before everyone jumped back into the fight.

Grant was continually selecting ‘Defend: With Weapon,’ biding his time for the perfect moment to strike. Tatters finally tossed the potion bottle at Grant, who surprised the clown when he used the flat of his blade to redirect it toward the archer that had first fired at him. The man was just getting back to his feet from the spell when the glass vial shattered in front of his face, and the pained screams that quickly followed made Grant very happy that he hadn’t broken the glass while it was still near him.

“Well, that didn’t go like I thought it would.” Tatters shoved the soldier closest to him at Grant. “Get in there! We can wear him down eventually!”

The entire party targeted Grant, except for the jumbo-sized guard. He was focused on Suki, blood still leaking from his ruined mouth. She was landing punishing blows to his midsection, but this man was clearly able to weather the damage. His retaliatory strikes were nearly as fast, and just as dangerous. Her gauntlets were doing a good job of deflecting the punishing blows from the giant’s club, but every time she knocked aside his thundering swings, Grant detected a sharp wince of pain.

Everyone present could clearly see that the clown’s assertion had been correct. No matter how skilled or strong the two of them were, a constant stream of cultivators and Vassals would eventually wear them down, and the fight would be over.

Deciding it was time to shift the dynamic, Grant dove forward in a roll right at Tatters the moment his turn to attack came up. He sprang to his feet only a sword-length away and immediately selected ‘Attack: With Weapon.’ Tatters must have selected ‘Defend: With Weapon’, because he lifted his scepter to block. It was exactly the response Grant was hoping for.

Kenjutsu (2/10) Skill tier 1: All damage dealt when wielding a sword is increased by 10%.

Skill tier 2: Your sword will never betray you. When a sword is wielded by you, the blade will always land exactly where you intend.

The spot Grant intended to hit was the neck of the scepter, where the crystal head joined with the wooden shaft. A Vassal’s weapon was only a copy of the Wielder’s weapon it was based on, and unlike a Wielder’s weapon, Grant had learned it could be destroyed. He put every bit of power he could muster into the swing, and it struck like a hammerblow straight from the heavens.

A tinkling sound of shattered crystal rang out over the bridge, immediately followed by an explosion that threw everyone on their backs. The stone and mortar bridge shook from the detonation, raining down dust and grit into the filthy polluted water running under the supports.

“Ow.” Grant sat up and scanned his limbs to check the damage. He was sore, but didn’t feel any broken bones or see any major bleeding. He looked over to see what happened to Tatters, and realized his lack of serious injury wasn’t the norm. Grant’s opponents had been on the side of the explosion where the crystal shards had been scattered by his sword strike, and all of them were in bad shape. He felt a spike of worry that Suki had been hit, but her shockingly pink hair poking out from under the unconscious form of the human mountain indicated exactly where she was. It looked like the big guy had taken the hit on his back, so she was probably okay, if slightly squashed.

The people that had been on Grant’s side of the explosion were already starting to rouse, so he jumped to his feet. As he moved to strike the naginata-wielding soldier on the base of the skull with the hilt of his sword, a screen popped up.

Warning: System failure. Agreement, Deal, and Oath enforcement has been halted. Please remain calm. A Vassal will be dispatched to your location to reinstate deals. Remember, events around a temporary breach will be dealt with-th-thh…

<System is down! Strike now, while they are still disoriented!> Sarge projected his merciless attitude, and Grant was quick to comply.

He laid about with his sword, sometimes knocking his enemies unconscious, and other times ruthlessly chopping into arms and legs if they continued attempting to rise and fight. He did his best not to cut through bone, but he wasn’t willing to let them get to their feet. They hadn’t been interested in a fair fight, so neither was he. No one would stop him from fixing this District, especially the kind of people that followed a person like Tatters.

“Speaking of the evil clown…” Grant finished with the cultivators still able to get to their feet, and walked to the side of the bridge where the other half were still laying prostrate. The Vassal was laying on his side against the waist-high railing, his body torn and bleeding. “Wow. It looks like you got torn up pretty bad there, Tatters. I’d be flattered to say you’re looking a little battered, if what I said mattered.”

<Don’t. Don’t taunt people.> Sarge cut him off before he could continue. <Not because it’s ignoble. It’s just that you aren’t very good at it. We can add this to the schedule for practice.>

“You think… this matters?” Tatters sounded off, smiling hungrily with blood dripping out of the corner of his mouth. “Dokeshi March… will still have… your head… as an ashtray!”

<That seems oddly specific. Do you think he already has a head for a hookah? You know, now that I’m thinking about it, I feel like your head would be the perfect size for a footrest.> Grant sheathed his sword and glanced at it with a raised eyebrow. <What? Now that I’ve mentioned it, the next time you see your reflection, I bet you’ll see it too. Really, it’s something you can’t unsee.>

“When… you die… you will be screaming.” Tatters was trying to sit up straight, but his arm wasn’t willing to hold his weight; probably because most of it wasn’t there. “I-”

February Twenty Nine jumped out of the sheath like it had a mind of its own, smoothly removing Tatters’ head from his body. With an extra flick of his sword, the head took a trip over the bridge to explore what lay at the bottom of the stream.

<Behind you!> Sarge’s shout was a split second too late, but it meant the crossbow bolt that would have impacted the middle of his back instead embedded itself in the back of his left arm. <Finish him!>

Grant spun around in time to see the crossbow-wielding House Friday guard scrambling to reload. He forced his sore, battered body to sprint at the man, managing to slam into him just as the twang of another bolt sounded in his ears. His uchigatana had punctured the man’s abdomen, but it had deflected far enough to the side that the wound wasn’t immediately fatal. Neither was the additional crossbow bolt that now resided in the front side of Grant’s left arm. The limb hung uselessly at his side with what looked like a solid wooden stick poking all the way through.

“Abyss! Again?” Grant rolled off the man he had stabbed, not exactly being gentle when removing his sword from the man’s abdomen one-handed. As he raised his sword over his enemy’s head to give him the same treatment that Tatters had received, the guard raised a hand in defeat, the other pressed against his wound.

“I yield! Please, don’t kill me.” The man sounded too tired to be as scared as he should have been. “This is just a job for me. I swore to do it to the best of my ability, but I didn’t swear to die for that stupid casino. Plus, agreements seem to be broken right now? Please?”

Sighing, Grant returned February Twenty Nine to its sheath as a screen he hadn’t seen in a long time popped into his vision.

Do you, Grant Monday, wish to absorb the power of March 30: Double Tap? Accepting ‘Double Tap’ will override any previous Wielded Weapon power absorbed in the current monthly series. If not overridden by another weapon of the same month, this ability will return to its current Wielded Weapon at the end of the year, unless the quest ‘Heal The World’ has been successfully completed.

Accept / Decline.

The guard was a Wielder, not a Vassal? Grant accepted. Taking the power was an easy decision. If he survived his grave injuries, the young Lord of the Month would be long gone before the bleeding Wielder was capable of coming after him. He would worry about what the ability actually did later. First, he had a much bigger concern.

How was he supposed to get the unconscious big guy off of Suki with one useless arm?