Dokeshi March ~ 13!

The two eventually made their way deeper into the District, allowing Grant to spend some time rethinking the events that had led him to this point in his life. The gaudy desolation of the region only drove home the importance of continuing his quest. The world needed to change, and he knew that was what February Twenty Nine represented: a way to remake everything. The fear of failure was the thing pushing down on him.

That, and the stupidly heavy monster hearts in his pack.

<I don’t understand why you are complaining about the extra weight. It’s free training! With your levels of extreme exhaustion, it only helps advance your physical and mental cultivation toward the cusp of the next level!> Sarge interrupted his downward-spiral thinking, causing Grant to realize his ruminations weren’t helping, which was probably Sarge’s goal. While the sword’s spirit was strict, Grant recognized that Sarge was certainly the help he needed right now. <Aw, thanks kid. Now lift your legs while you walk. It’s called ‘high knees’, and you are about to do them for the next hour. Every day is leg day! Ask Suki; she knows!>

“What are you doing?” Suki glanced over at Grant, doing a double take as he marched down the center of the pothole-ridden road. “Fisticuffing fiends, you’re getting ahead of me in training!”

Grant shook his head in astonishment as she started lunging between sets of high knees. For a moment, he had almost forgotten that he was traveling with a cultivation maniac. He didn’t feel much strain at present, but he knew his legs would feel like jelly soon enough. “I have to get stronger, otherwise I won’t be able to… do what I really want in the future! Gotta beat all the Lords and Ladies of the Month!”

“You have lofty goals, Grant.” Suki picked up the pace a bit, weaving artfully through the ruined streets and never-ending dilapidated buildings. There were subtle signs of life here and there, but most areas seemed abandoned, and all of them looked like they had seen better days. “It’s one of the reasons why I thought a match between you and I was such a good idea. Tell me, what is it you see for the future?”

“It’s all about this.” Grant used his Iaijutsu to unsheathe his sword and whip it through a passing fly. The buzzing pests had been more prevalent ever since he’d started carrying around the hearts of the yokai. “Ever since I picked it up, everything has changed for me.”

“Your Wielded Weapon? I know they are important, but why would being lifted into the Nobility make you want to become the Calendar King?” Suki activated her gauntlets, allowing the dim light of the sinking sun to play over the gleaming metal. “I am—was—Lady February, one of the twelve most powerful people in the world, and I never thought about trying to break past the barriers to go challenge Regent December. It sounds like an incredible amount of work to me.”

“If I don’t defeat all the Lords and Ladies of the Month by the end of the year… I die.” Grant killed a few more flies before resheathing his sword. “It’s a quest. A Legendary Quest, and I think its true purpose is to just torture the Wielder to death.” Grant pulled up the short version of his quest so he could read it to Suki.

Quest: Heal the World (Lvl 100. Legendary.)

Important Information: The Wielder of February Twenty Nine, Grant Monday, has one year to gather the power of the Lords of the Month and return February Twenty Nine to the status of a completed Wielded Weapon. (Current Progress: 2/12)

Rewards: Completion of the quest, Heal the World, will result in the reward of the title ‘Calendar King’ and all wealth and responsibilities associated with that position, along with the ability to wield the most powerful weapon in the world.

Failure Conditions: Failure to complete the mandatory quest ‘Heal the World’ within one year will result in the loss of all cultivation levels gained since the acquisition of February Twenty Nine, plus the loss of an additional one level.

Suki was speechless at first, silently trekking forward, while her sharp gaze continuously roved to ensure they weren’t walking into an ambush. Grant belatedly realized he should be doing the same and started doing a better job of paying attention to his surroundings. It was hard, given the level of exhaustion he was feeling. That, and his legs were starting to get tired from the high-knees. They walked without further conversation until the sun disappeared over the rooftops that crowded the edges of the street.

“I can’t believe you’re only doing this because you’re being forced. I… there.” Suki broke the silence somewhat judgmentally, cutting herself off and pointing at a building with a half-collapsed front before he could speak to defend himself. “This was probably an inn. We might get lucky and find a few beds still in one piece. Kitchens are usually built into the back, so we might also be able to use their stove.”

Grant gave her a sharp nod in agreement, and they picked their way through the rubble to the relatively undamaged section in the rear. He was wracking his brain to find an answer to her accusatory statement, but eventually gave up. Win or die: why was winning so he didn’t have to die something that he needed to justify to anyone?

“It looks like you were right.” Grant pointed at the arched stone oven and brick chimney lining the back of the first room they entered. He lifted some rotting boards out of the way and felt relief to discover the fixtures were still intact. “I can break up some of the wood that used to be tables and chairs in the common room.”

“I’ll get the ingredients for some stew ready.” Suki pulled off her much smaller pack and rifled through the items inside. “Since we didn’t find anything fresh, it is going to be trail stew. I hope that’s okay. When you get back, we are talking more about your quest.”

Grant’s stomach growled at the thought of any food; answer enough for her. He lowered his pack to the floor with a sigh of relief and left to gather the wood. He didn’t make it five steps before Sarge started chatting into his head.

<You need to be careful. Suki might not like all the answers to the questions she is about to ask,> Sarge warned as Grant picked through the remains of the common room. <I think you can trust her, but a leader is always thinking of the future. If she says the wrong thing about you in front of the wrong person, it could lead to big problems for you. Perhaps even for her, if someone wants to keep her quiet.>

“I can trust her. Suki was a Lady of the Month. She knows when to keep secrets to herself.” Grant had a good pile of fuel in short order, so he went back into the kitchen and got a fire going with flint and steel. Suki exited into the yard as he tended the flames and let him know she was going to search for a well. “Besides, you have to trust people… or life becomes very lonely.”

She soon returned with a leaking bucket of water, and the smells of rehydrated meat and vegetables filled the damaged space in short order. She handed him a steaming bowl, and they stood across from each other, leaning on the stone preparation counter in the center of the kitchen. “Okay. It’s time for you to start talking. Don’t leave out anything.”

Grant started haltingly, explaining about being raised as one of the Leapkind in District January. He described finding February Twenty Nine, and how it had changed him from a lowly commoner to a Wielder in an instant. Finding his first real friends, how he killed a Noble—hard for him to get through at first. Suki turned out to be a companionable listener, and describing everything quickly became easier. Eventually, he told her about meeting Auld Leap, and the prophecy that had foretold his coming.

Grant didn’t mention the pain of seeing how his fellow Leaps were treated, but Suki could hear it in his voice, and see it through the reflected firelight flickering in his eyes. She was so wrapped up in his retelling that she almost shouted in relief when he told her about saving his friends from execution, and his subsequent defeat of the tricky Lord January.

When he recounted his trials in District February, Suki winced more than once at how the people of her District must have seen him at first. She laughed when he described trying the food, and gained a better understanding of why he had fought so hard to save his friend that was fighting along the border. When he finally finished, their food was long gone, and the fire had burned down to a few glowing embers.

“So, your sword can steal powers, talks to you, and hits you with things only you can see.” She leaned over and patted the sheathed uchigatana. “It’s nice to finally be introduced to you, Sarge.”

<See? I told you that she could be trusted. It’s a good thing you listened to me.> Grant eyed his sword with a raised eyebrow, then casually swung it into a rock. <Ow! What?>

“You’ll die if you don’t defeat the leader of each District and bring down the barriers?” Grant brought his gaze back up at Suki’s inquiry and nodded. “Okay then, we have a lot of work to do.”

“That’s it?” Grant was shocked at her reaction. He had expected more… something. Surprise, maybe? Disbelief? “I told you I am trying to change the world, and all you have to say is that we have work to do?”

“No; we have a lot of work to do. Unless you have some other ridiculous quest I don’t know about, what else am I supposed to say?” Grant coughed and pulled up another quest screen. It was Suki’s turn to raise an eyebrow and level a pointed stare. “Don’t tell me, you have another Legendary quest?”

“Ha! No, it’s just… Epic.” He pulled up the quest screen and read it off to her. He was pretty sure he’d failed it anyway, since he wasn’t in the city of Valentine anymore.

Quest: Ties that Bind (Epic Level)

Information: You have discovered that the onyx idol is an ancient relic from the Wielder Wars. Proceed to Valentine to learn more.

Reward: Unknown.

“What is this relic?” Suki was already heading over to Grant’s pack to start digging through it. “There are more than a few relics from the Wielder Wars in the palace. Maybe I can help you figure it out?”

“Really?” Grant rushed over and groped for the item, surprised to find that the rare mushroom he’d previously stored in his pack had somehow stuck itself to the burnt monster heart. Shrugging it off, he pulled free the onyx figurine and carefully handed it over to her. Suki took it with reverence, brushing off some lint that had collected in the crevasses.

“I recognize this.” She took the carving closer to the glowing embers of the fire to get a better look. “My father used to have one very similar, but he sold it to House Thursday. They were used to mark troop positions on a living map during the wars. When a unit would move in real life, the map would move the figure to match.”

She passed it back to him and brushed her hands off on her shirt. “I think they were originally meant to be a part of some fancy game set, but the wars turned them to a… darker purpose: helping leaders position troops like pawns to be slaughtered. Some historians even claim that it was items like those that made the wars worse. It enabled the Lords and Ladies to see their subjects as pieces on a game board, and not people.”

Before Grant could say anything, his vision was filled with the purple screen of an epic quest.

Quest Update: Ties that Bind (Epic Level)

Information: You have discovered that the onyx idol is an ancient relic from the Wielder Wars, used by the leaders of the time to track troop movements during combat, and as a piece to play the noble game of chess. Find and collect the remaining pieces of the black set. (1/16)

Reward: Half of a full chess set. Unknown.

“I guess I didn’t fail the quest after all.” Grant shrugged and stowed it back in his pack. “But what am I supposed to do with half of a chess set? How am I supposed to find the other pieces?”

<It’s still an Epic quest. No time limit on it, right? All you can do is keep your eyes open and hope you can find the rest.> Sarge paused as Grant wavered when he rose up from putting his quest item away. <Okay, I think that’s enough. You can sleep.>

Grant almost shouted with joy, but he stopped when Sarge finished his sentence. <For three hours. Then, we get back to training.>

The young man let out a sigh and immediately laid down on the floor. Three hours was better than nothing.

Suki had observed Grant almost falling over. She was deeply relieved: all of the instances of talking to himself and spontaneous jumping around at weird times made sense now. “We can talk more later. I’ll take first watch.”

Grant didn’t even hear her.