Dokeshi March: Chapter 7 (Patreon)

Chapter 7

The replay of the events with the rats ran through Grant’s mind.  His choice to not use his lightning spell when Suki came 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 just 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 - that felt more like an hour of watching his errors over and over again - he reviewed his health status.

Health: 112/347 -> 216/347. Critical areas focused. Soft tissue repaired to 70%. Organs repaired. Infection healed.

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 feel her body heat through the metal of his armor.  Fighting the rush of blood to his cheeks, he turned to look at her.

“If we don’t put an end to this system, we are going to get killed.”  She turned to meet his eye, and Grant could see the healing potion visibly closing a small scratch on her jawline.  “This time we were lucky.  All it would have taken was one or two more turns, and we would be rat foot right now.”

Suki took a moment to think about what he said.  “He must be tapping into the power of the barriers.  Maybe that’s why the barrier between February and March was failing.”  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.”

They sat in silence for a few minutes, each of them lost in thought.  Grant rummaged through their bags and pulled 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 are tired, but we really should get out of here.”  He peered over the edge of the roof to see a pair of guards march 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 cleaning up the best they could using some rags and the water from a canteen, the two of them climbed down and headed east, deeper into the district.  They had been walking for over half an hour when Grant stopped them.

“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 phases of nice and dilapidated, but there was no end to them.  “Does this just go on forever?”

“I had heard of this, but I didn’t think it could be true.”  Suki was peering into the darkened alleyways as they walked past.  “Almost the entire district is built up and paved over.  There are still pockets of wilderness and a few fields here and there.”  She gestured in front of them, where another market square was located.  “The towns here just bleed over into one another.  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 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 January and February find important.”

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

They fell back into silence as they moved past the next square.  Grant saw more posters with his face on them, and made sure not to make eye contact with anyone.  It was over an hour before they eventually made it to another region that was largely abandoned.  The sun had risen over the peaks of the roofs, and cast long shadows across the streets.  Their tired feet were dragging on 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, since you didn’t get any sleep.”

Grant didn’t bother arguing.  The past few hours had been exhausting, and the healing potion sapped whatever reserves he had remaining.  He waited to fall asleep until Suki got in a comfortable position, and soon passed out.

His dreams were filled with the flashing images of rat teeth, claws glinting in the moonlight, and moldering bodies 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 house.  Suki had silently laid down with a finger across her lips to show he should be quiet.  Peeking outside the nearest empty window frame showed 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 fight 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 level up to two.>  An orange-tinted rock the size of his fist flew straight at his face, making him dodge while simultaneously unsheathing his sword and deflecting the projectile off to the side.  <Good.  Again.>

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 was having problems timing the strikes to hit 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 he was starting to get worse.

<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 for Grant to catch his breath.  <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.”  Still rotating his sore shoulder, he pulled up the screen that showed his skills to check if he had made any progress.

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, sword instantly leaves a sheath and slashes or penetrates 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 29, he could feel a sense of agreement from it.  “Just a little better understanding, and I will get there.”

<Since Iaijutsu is a level five skill, the highest it can go is Journeyman.  Your level two skill in Kenjutsu, which is a level ten that can reach Deity, should make it easier to gain mastery.>  Grant could feel the sword inspecting him.  <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.>

Pulling out a depressingly small chunk of dry jerky and even dryer granola, he sat and did exactly what Sarge suggested.  His physique might have drastically improved, but it didn’t take away his memory of the delicious foods and treats he ate in District January.  Fantasies of smashing the rhyming food vendor with the hilt of his sword and taking the steaks he paid for but didn’t get danced through his imagination while 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.

“What time is it?”  She sat up, rubbing her eyes.  “Anything happen while I was asleep?”  Suki didn’t wait for Grant to reply, instead getting up and packing her few items in her pack.  “We should get a move on.  We can eat while we walk.”

He was a little amazed at how quickly she had gone from completely asleep to ready to go in the same minute.  Grant quickly got his own pack ready, and they were sneaking out the back alley in moments.  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 was looking at the people around them, most of whom looked exhausted and downtrodden.  “How would an economy focused on nothing but gambling even work?”

“They serve the Houses, and the Dokeshi, whatever he might ask of them.”  The crowd in front of them parted, showing the figure of a polka-dotted clown holding a scepter pointed in their direction.  It was one of the Dokeshi’s vassals, with a name tag that told them his name was Fluffy Fingers.  “Much like you will, soon enough.”