The Weeping Swordsman

The journey to Pyrovile has been going peacefully so far. We have encountered no bandits or monsters, and thankfully, no sign of Pasta either. Mr. Swordsman sat on top of the carriage, hat resting on his knee, enjoying the beautiful clear blue sky. They got a free ride with little effort. A win-win situation for everyone, except for poor Pasta, who’s fast asleep on the carriage floor. No point in wasting a seat on a sleeping, muddy, and unclothed boy!

In the vast expanse of fields, lush green plants surrounded them, with majestic mountains visible in the distance. A nearby volcano indicated the proximity of Pyrovile. Mr Swordsman leaned down. He didn’t bother holding a part of the carriage for support. Even if he fell, that doesn’t mean he’s going to die, right? He peeked into the window to check how Pasta’s been faring. Pasta has been out cold for over three hours. Luckily, the old man Andy had some ointments on him and he’s pretty good with his medicine, and his massages which are not that appealing to look at.

His daughter, Tori, is a strange one. She appears to be around Emilia’s age, potentially older. Tori wields no weapon and is more of an outgoing type. Unlike Pasta, she’s more mature. She and Emilia are currently playing buddies inside the carriage while Hudson is still feeling bad about the killing of future generations thing. These kids are a pain. Even after hearing Hudson’s story, they still act like we’re heading there for a good time.

Old man, Andy searched for a perfect spot to set camp for the night. His eyes sparkled as he directed the horses towards a spot next to some boulders in the open field.

“Here looks like a good spot, yeah?” the old man said, stopping his rickety and aged carriage.

“Agreed. I’ll go scout the premises. Keep an eye on the kids”

“You can count on me. I feel sorry for the lad on the floor. There should be a stream nearby. I’ll clean him up and lend him some of my spare clothes”

“I appreciate that,” Mr Swordsman sighed in relief.

“The other one, Hudson, the quiet one, right? He seemed a bit down.”

“Don’t worry about him, he’ll get over it”

Mr Swordsman took his leave. Monsters usually roamed at night. Lately, they have become more of a nuisance. The kingdom has been going through some changes, but I just don’t know what. As he moved, a munching sound reached his ears from behind the rock. The air was cool, a storm was coming.

“Aura, the life force of every living creature, clung to birth, departed by death,” he said to himself, approaching the rock. “But this aura is an unusual one”

The air became heavy, affecting his breathing. He arrived on a pathway, paying no mind to it. The possessor of the aura he once felt had already escaped, and there were no other aura points in the forests, well, except for the gang back at camp.

“The monster seems like it’s been feasting on these parts.”

He continued his walk, humming to himself, as his aura covered one-fourth of the forest, including the location of the camp.

“A girl, no tail, no more to play,” he said, repeating that one verse followed by a soothing hum. Abruptly, he stopped and smiled a bit.

“No time for fooling around. I should get back to camp. The Forest is secured.”

*

“Oh, shit!” Pasta woke up, panting endlessly, “What happened, am I dead?” he saw himself wearing an oversized jacket that actually looked good on him. He looked around and saw Emilia and a pink-haired girl sitting beside a campfire. Also, an old man who snored loudly in the corner.

“Hey, you’re awake” Emila smiled, “I’m glad, here have something to eat brother”. She rummaged around and saw a chunk of meat stuck on a bone, tossing it to him.

Tori turned away, gripping Emilia’s hand, “Let’s go somewhere else”. Pasta glared at her, eyebrows raised. “Oh meat. Thanks for the meal” he clapped his hands and began digging in. I wonder what happened, he thought. The last thing he could remember was fighting that bug, whatever it is. He stood up but was brought back to the ground.

*Arrgh*

“What the?,” he said, touching his crotch, which only excited the pain, “What’s wrong with me”. Hudson came rushing over, helping Pasta lay down.

“You shouldn’t be walking yet,” Hudson said, covering him up with a blanket.

“Damm it hurts so bad. How did I get hurt, anyway?”

“Well... Oh yeah you were hallucinating and you hurt yourself, yeah that happened”

“Hallucinating? I’m the great Pasta, I don’t hallucinate. Whatever I do is a reality crafted in the very fibre of time”

Hudson laughed nervously, scratching his cheek. What is he talking about? Or is it a side effect of the ointment? He wondered.

Mr Swordsman walked in, “I have an injured boy, a carefree old man, and two girls doing who knows what.” he turned to Pasta, “I see. You’re alive good job that makes it two injured boys”

“I’m not injured,” he tried getting up. “Shit!” falling back down, panting.

“Hudson, take care of him. I’ll go check on the girls. It’s getting late”

“Yes, Sir”

Mr Swordsman walked towards the boulders at the close sides of the field. He could hear the voices of two girls behind them.

“So, how about the weird swordsman?” Tori asked.

“Well, he can be weird sometimes, but he’s a nice guy”

“So you’ve known him for long, yes?”

“Not actually, we’ve been travelling together for a day now and-”

Tori held Emilia’s shoulders, “Girl don’t tell me you are travelling with a complete stranger”

Emilia giggled softly. “He’s no stranger,” she paused, “Well, maybe he is, but it’s not like that. A family friend recommended him for our escort. Even if I haven’t seen him fight for real, I trust Bloodborne’s decision to let him guide us”

Tori sighed, letting go of her shoulders, “You should be careful now, for my time here I’ve heard some nasty rumours about a swordsman”

“Rumors?”

“Yes, turns out there’s a malicious swordsman on the loose. He kills anyone on sight. I heard he murdered a whole band of adventurers the other day.” She leaned closer to Emilia. “I also heard that if you stare at him for too long, his aura won’t immobilize you like others, but would kill you, plucking out your eyes and engulfing your skull in flames. They call him the weeping swordsman, crazy right?”

Emilia’s hands shook uncontrollably. “W-What a-are you talk-”

“Don’t fret. You said Mr Swordsman is strong, right? He’ll show that Weeping Swordsman his place,” she said, throwing her fist, “He’s cool, unlike your worthless brother”

Emilia held her shaking hand, taking a deep breath. “He’s not worthless, and I would love it if we didn’t speak about my brother that way,” she said with a smile.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that”

“Don’t worry, it’s all good”

Mr Swordsman came and patted both girls on the shoulder.

*Arrgh*

“How did you get here?!” Emilia said. While Tori stared.

“You didn’t notice? He’s been here the whole time,” Tori stated with a furrowed brow.

“Huh? I-I didn’t know a thing. Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I thought you knew and I’m not a fan of interruptions and he’s your friend, right? So why can’t he watch”

Mr Swordsman sighed, “You’re a perspective one, aren’t you? You don’t seem to be from around here. May I ask where you’re from?”

Tori stood on her feet. “Sorry, but that’s a secret.” She ran towards the camp but came to a halt, turning back, “But I’ll tell you this, I’m not an ordinary one, but I guess you can already tell, right?” she bent her head. “Mr S-w-o-r-d-s-m-a-n”.

I was right all along. She’s no ordinary girl. I should be more cautious around her. He turned to Emilia. “You should be more aware of your surroundings, as you are now you’ll get killed easily,” he said, his tone strict.

“Hey, what you guys talking about?” Pasta said while being carried like a bride by Hudson.

“My arm hurts, it hurts!”

“Quit whining, ok. Hey Mr Swordsman, what’s wrong?”

Mr. Swordsman gave him a once-over and replied, “Another time,” he said, returning to the camp. Emilia bowed her head, gripping her sword tightly. The night went by.

*

Mr Swordsman frowned. He sat on the floor and leaned behind a log. He’s been keeping watch all night. As expected, no monsters or bandits attacked. Everyone was asleep well except for one person. He could hear someone at the stream nearby. It was light out and he could finally take a break. Why not go see what’s going on, he thought. There he saw a young shirtless man wielding a long black blade, standing in the center of the flowing stream. His muscles were toned and tensed, along with the ghastly whip scars on his back. Mr Swordsman stared at him as he took a sit by the stream.

“Good Morning, Mr Swordsman”

“Same, Pasta,” he said, dropping his sword and washing his face.

“I heard what happened”

“Don’t beat yourself over it. Emilia said it happens to all novices. Something like a fumigob lures you in to kill it and it kills you with its poison”

He turned his blade to the side, striking it in the stream. “Pathetic!, defeated by a mere bug,” he whispered to himself.

“Oh? What’s this?” Swordsman smirked, wearing back his hat.

“Mr Swordsman?”

“What is it you want”

“Teach me how to become a better swordsman,” he glared at him, full of determination.

“Aren’t you hurt?”

“A good night’s sleep did the trick apparently, now would you?”

“Very well, but I should tell you this. I’m not a lenient fella when it comes to these things”

“Good”, Pasta said, smiling.

*

Mr. Swordsman is right, everyone is. Why did I ever pick up the sword? Emilia wondered, sleeping on the floor next to Tori. She reached into her pocket, bringing out a locket in it, a picture of her, Pasta, and their parents all wearing pyjamas. Her father held her in his arms while her mother held Pasta’s hands, all of their faces calm. She chuckled and brought it to her chest.

“I’m not going to let them down, I promise”

“Let who down?” Hudson asked.

Eek!

“Oh, it’s you, Hudson. What are you doing there?” her cheeks were a little red.

Hudson lay behind her, “I saw you were mumbling something, so I came to check if anything was wrong.” he noticed the pendant, which she quickly closed. “Your parents?”

“Yeah,” she said, sitting up.

“They look familiar, I don’t mean to pry, but who are they?” she turned away slightly. “Oh, I see, I won’t speak more on the matter”

“Thank you,” she said, her voice low

“Pasta looks like a little troublemaker there. Are you both twins?” he asked, coming to a pause. “Oh, I’m sorry, no questions, right?”

“No, we’re not, he’s my older brother,” she looked down on the closed locket.

“Must be hard having an older brother like him,” Hudson laughed.

“Yeah, sometimes, he is Pasta after all.” She smiled at him, returning her locket to her bag.

Hudson lay back on the grass, adjusting his cast to feel more comfortable.

“That’s nice. I never really got a family. My parents sold me off while I was little, and that’s how I met Lord Tony. He took me in as a butler and brought me into a new family. They are everything to me, so I had to learn a lot so they would find working and living in the manor fractionally easy.”

“It must be stressful, doing all that”

“It’s worth it. I can’t imagine what’ll be like without them,” he said, “I wonder how Mary is faring”

“Ohh, Mary, huh? That’s a girl’s name.” She covered her mouth, hiding her smug smile.

“Uh-No-No It’s huh … Nothing like that. We’re only partners”

“I was only joking Hudson, so cool your mushkins”

He laughed nervously, rubbing his head with his only good arm. He stared at the clouds. “Are we really going to save them?”

Emilia lay on the grass, close to Hudson, “Yes we are, or don’t you trust us?”

He smiled, still faced up, “You guys are amazing. Mr Swordsman, Pasta, and you,” he turned to her, “While, I’m pathetic”

“You’re not,” she gave him a brief knock on the head, “You’re also amazing, Hudson. You told us how all the workers respected you, they wouldn’t if you are some loser”

Hudson stared at her, “You mean it?-”

“Yeah, yeah, will you two lovebirds keep it down? It’s so early in the morning,” Tori said.

“No, no, it’s not like that,” Hudson got up and frantically moved his good hand to the sides.

“Yeah, Tori is not like that. He already likes someone”

“As I’ve said, we’re just friends”

“Whatever you say, Hudson”

He lay back down and saw Mr Swordsman wasn’t at the tree, and Pasta was also missing.

“Hey, where are the others”

Emilia covered back up with her blanket, “It’s so chilly, Oh you mean Pasta. He should be training. I don’t know where Mr Swordsman is though”

“I see. I wonder what they are up to”

*

“Aura, the life force that courses through all living things, clung to birth, departed by death,” Mr. Swordsman said as he unsheathed his gleaming sword. “A power bestowed upon all, but its use requires great skill. It can be unleashed for various purposes. Let’s start with the basics - coating. This allows one to protect oneself from attacks by enveloping oneself in an aura. It is the basics of the basics. I presume you already have a grasp on this. So I want you to focus and coat your body, channelling every ounce of your aura for protection.”

“Got it,” Pasta screamed. His body appeared normal at first glance, but green fireflies-like elements flowed around him. His body began to heat up and his breathing was uneven. He’s using a lot of aura just for coating, which is deadly, but he stood unfazed, staring at Mr Swordsman as he waited for the next instruction.

“Stay there and don’t move an inch,” he picked a small knife from his pocket, he threw the knife at Pasta weakly.

Is he trying to bring down my whole coating with just a knife, he wondered, “Come on, bring it on!”

The knife hit him, breaking his aura like glass. He fell on the floor, groaning in pain.

“Using too much of your aura on coating leads to disruptions, making up weak spots on your coating. When these weak spots come in contact with a coated weapon, it disables the enemy’s coating. Which also means using all your aura as a coating, even as a defensive strategy, is not worth it.” Mr Swordsman walked towards Pasta, lending him a hand. “But we won’t dive more into that,”

*Grunts*

“We won’t? “Pasta looked up to him, receiving his hand, “So what do you have in store then?”

“Firstly, Pasta, do you believe in God?”