Dokeshi March ~ 7!

The replay of the events with the rats ran through Grant’s mind. His choice to not use his lightning spell when Suki had come into the room was his biggest mistake. She had been uninjured at the time, and it would have ended with her less injured than the end result of directly fighting the swarm. As always, there were wasted movements and missed blocks his memory told him were glaring mistakes. After the necessary minute of concentration—which felt more like an hour of watching his errors over and over again—he reviewed his health.

Health: 112/352 -> 216/352. Critical areas focused. Soft tissue repaired to 70%. Organs repaired. Infection removed.

Suki wordlessly passed him a healing potion, and both of them laid down on the hard roof to let the mixture work. Without realizing it, they had collapsed close enough to one another that their shoulders touched. It might have been his imagination, but he could practically feel her body heat through the metal of his armor. Fighting the rush of blood to his cheeks, he tilted his head sideways to look at her.

“If we don’t put an end to this system, we’re going to get killed.” His grave tone gave her the energy to turn her head and meet his eyes. Grant watched the healing potion visibly closing a small scratch on her jaw as he traced her face with his eyes. “This time, we were lucky. All it would have taken was one or two more turns, and we would be rat food right now.”

“He must be tapping into the power of the barriers. Maybe that’s why the barrier between February and March was failing.” Suki took a moment to think over that possibility, and her features turned sharply into a frown. “If that’s the case, Dokeshi is responsible for all the deaths along the border in February over the past few weeks.”

“Not only that, but the barrier turned regular creatures into monsters when it interacted with them. It could be his fault that all the rats are monsters… the system designed to save people might instead be raising creatures too strong for the citizens to fight.” They lay in silence for a few minutes, each of them lost in thought. Grant eased himself to a sitting position and rummaged through their bags, pulling free a few of the brick-like granola bars. He passed half over to Suki, and both quickly scarfed them down. The bars may have been little better than enriched sawdust, but healing took a lot of energy from the body.

“I know you’re tired, but we really should get out of here.” He peered over the edge of the roof in time to spot a pair of guards marching past, clearly searching for something. “We can take a break at the next town.”

“I’m fine to leave now. The healing potion is just about done.” She glanced over the two of them. “We might want to clean up some first. It looks like we were both rolling on the floor of a slaughterhouse.”

After washing up the best they could with some rags and the water from a canteen, the two of them climbed down and headed east, making their way deeper into the District. They had been walking for over half an hour when Grant stopped them; he had a terrible realization. “Just how big is this town?”

They had yet to leave the cobbled streets and closely-built buildings. The houses and businesses just seemed to go through alternating phases of nice and dilapidated, but there was no discernible end to them. “Does this just go on forever?”

“I had heard of this, but I didn’t think it could be true.” Suki began peering into the darkened alleyways as they walked. “Almost the entire District is built up and paved over. There are still pockets of wilderness and a few fields here and there, but they’re made that way.” She gestured in front of them, where another market square was located. “The towns here just bleed over into one another. They say you know when you get to the next one by the clusters of casinos and gambling houses.”

“But… how do they grow food?” An entirely urban District was so far outside Grant’s experience that he thought it couldn’t possibly be real. “Where do they go for walks, or to travel through nature?”

“They get their food from January, and the people here don't take walks through nature.” Suki led Grant around the market, avoiding the few people ‘shopping’ at such an early hour. “They get their entertainment from gambling, shows, and plays. It's completely different from what both January and February find important.”

“That sounds horrible!” He took a moment to inspect the dirty streets and worn buildings. “A District focused on nothing but entertainment and spending money seems like a draining place to live.”

They fell back into silence as they moved past the next square. Grant found more posters with his heavier face on them, and he made sure not to make eye contact with anyone near one of them. It took over an hour before they eventually reached another region that was largely abandoned. The sun had risen over the peaks of the roofs and was casting long shadows across the streets. Their tired feet dragged along the ground as they stumbled into what seemed to be an abandoned warehouse.

“You get some sleep first.” Suki pulled out a sleeping mat and laid it on the ground. “I’ll take the first watch. Ugh… I can’t wait to break into the Autumn physical cultivation ranks. Sleep becomes completely optional.”

“That sounds nice.” Grant didn’t bother arguing. The past few hours had been exhausting, and the healing potion had sapped whatever reserves he’d had remaining. He waited to fall asleep until Suki got in a comfortable position, then passed out. His dreams were filled with flashing images of rat teeth, claws glinting in the moonlight, and moldering bodies being devoured with reckless abandon.

When a light touch brushed his shoulder, it was a relief to be brought out of the nightmares. Body protesting, he sat up and took stock of their small abandoned shelter. Suki had silently laid down with a finger across her lips to indicate that he should be quiet. Peeking outside the nearest empty window frame revealed the occasional listless person making their way down the main road, but no House Tuesday guards or Vassals of Dokeshi March.

<Great news! You need to stay silent, and you can practice fighting in an enclosed space again.> Grant held in the groan that tried to escape his lips, instead preparing himself for an attacker from any direction. <Since you have to be quiet so Suki can sleep, we should try to get your Iaijutsu to rank up to Beginner. I feel like you’re close.>

An orange-tinted rock the size of his fist flew straight at his face, forcing him to dodge while simultaneously unsheathing his sword and deflecting the projectile off to the side. <Good. Again. Faster this time!>

They spent the next hour with Grant getting pelted by rocks and slowly increasing his mastery of Iaijutsu. It was already a skill he thought he understood, but the more he practiced, the more he realized he was far from perfecting it. When Sarge threw more than one rock at a time, he found that he had problems timing the strikes to ward off both at once. Three were entirely too many for him to handle. He did his best, but sheathing and unsheathing the sword without a break was making his shoulder shake with the repeated exertions, and both his aim and form were starting to suffer.

<By the time we reach Dokeshi March, I want you to be able to hit five targets in one swing. With this turn-based combat, you could put down way more enemies at once.> He waited a slight moment for Grant to catch his breath; luckily, recovery came much faster than it used to with his Summer-ranked physical cultivation. <We can take a break. If District February showed us anything, it’s that too much training can hurt you just as much as not enough.>

“That’s for sure. Some of those people could have been blown away by a stiff breeze. Heh… actually, going against the wind was the reason I won that downhill race.” Rotating his sore shoulder, he pulled up his status to check if he had made any progress on his skills.

Skill: Iaijutsu (1/5). This skill is designed for instant strikes, a way to take an opponent off-guard or defend against sudden attacks.

Tier one effect: When prepared to attack, a sword instantly leaves a sheath and slashes or penetrates the target, increasing on-hit damage by 10%.

“Still no change, but I think I’m getting close.” Placing his hand on the hilt of February Twenty Nine, he could feel a sense of agreement from it. “Just a little better understanding, and I will get there.”

<Since Iaijutsu is a five-rank skill, the highest it can go is Journeyman. Your level two skill in Kenjutsu, which is a ten-rank that can reach Deity, should make it easier to gain mastery in any subskills.> Grant could feel the sword inspecting him with what he could only call a spiritual sense. <You need to eat something, and then the two of you should be on your way. It’s only a matter of time until those creepy clowns catch up to you.>

“Not clowns. Jesters, right?” Grant’s words made Sarge harrumph, but the spirit didn’t countermand him. Pulling out a depressingly small chunk of dry jerky and even drier granola, Grant sat and did exactly what Sarge suggested. His physique might have drastically improved, but it hadn’t taken away his memory of the delicious foods and treats he had eaten in District January. Fantasies of smashing the rhyming food vendor with the hilt of his sword and taking the steaks he’d paid for but hadn’t gotten danced through his imagination as he crunched on the parchment-flavored food.

He went through some stretches after eating, purposefully making some noise to allow Suki to wake up on her own. The sun was past its peak, so if they left soon, the next town square would be at a busy time, making it easier for them to slip through the crowds of hungry people looking for an evening meal. Suki bolted up as soon as her eyes cracked open. “What time is it? Anything happen while I was asleep?”

She didn’t wait for Grant to reply, instead clambering to her feet and packing her few items in her pack. “Let’s get moving. We can eat while we walk.”

A little amazed at how quickly she had gone from completely asleep to ready to go, Grant quickly prepared his own pack, and in moments, they were sneaking out the back alley. They eventually came to an intersection that forced them back out on the main road, but it was crowded enough that they were able to easily blend in with the people headed toward the casinos and food stalls in the distance.

“What do all of these people do when they aren’t gambling?” Grant studied the people around them, most of whom looked exhausted and downtrodden. “How would an economy focused on nothing but gambling even work?”

Suki didn’t get a chance to answer as another voice shattered the air and caused the crowd to scatter.

“They serve the Houses and the Dokeshi, whatever he might ask of them.” As the crowd in front of them vanished like morning fog, a polka-dot-bedecked clown brandishing a scepter gestured in their direction. A name tag with a ridiculous font informed them that his name… was Fluffy Fingers. “Much like you will, soon enough! Honk if you’re happy!”

He reached up and grabbed his oversized red nose, squeezing it twice.

*Honk Honk*!