Dokeshi March: Chapter 33 (Patreon)

Chapter 33

The tree monsters had somehow followed their trail, but they hadn’t found exactly where the two Wielders were hiding.  Both of them held still as the sounds of tree-trunk-sized legs shuffled and stomped all around their hiding place.  Since they were hiding in a newly-fashioned hiding place, the Mangrove Thugs didn’t know where to check.

Grant silently collected their things, packing them away in preparation for a hasty escape.  Suki was peeking through a small gap in the leaves, but he had no idea what she would even be able to see in the heavy darkness.  After what felt like an hour - but was probably no more than fifteen minutes - the animated evergreens finally moved on.  Suki was about to step out of the hedge when Sarge shouted into Grant’s mind.

<Hold!  I only counted three sets of footsteps!>  Grant reached out and caught Suki by the wrist, yanking her back against him.  She turned sharply, a fist raised to belt him across the jaw, but luckily there was just enough light from the stars to let her see him holding a finger against his lips.  <Just wait a moment.  The one that was injured might be trailing behind the others.>

Suki still had her fist raised to punch him in the mouth, so Grant squeezed the wrist he was still holding three times, then a fourth after a short pause.  After repeating it a second time, Suki’s arm finally relaxed, and Grant let her go.  He wasn’t sure if she actually understood the message or not, but at least she picked up on the seriousness of the situation.

After another subjective eternity of waiting in the dark - that was probably less than five minutes - the shuffling plod of the last Mangrove Thug started to shake the leaves of the hedge surrounding them.  Suki’s eyes widened in surprise, and she gave Grant a sharp nod of thanks for stopping her from endangering them.  He tapped the hilt of February Twenty Nine, telling her that it had been Sarge that saved them from becoming fertilizer.

Instead of exiting a hiding place that had worked so well, Grant took out Suki’s bedroll and motioned for her to get some rest.  He wasn’t sure how long he had slept, but she certainly hadn’t gotten any at all.  Suki didn’t even try to argue, meaning she had to be truly exhausted.  Healing potions really took it out of you.

<You slept for a little over three hours.  It should be sunrise in three more, giving you both the same amount of rest.>  Grant tapped the sword hilt in thanks, and positioned himself so he could get more comfortable.  <Now that you have some time, I think you should work on your mental cultivation.>

“Work on my mental cultivation?  How do I do that?”  Grant was confused.  There wasn’t some book he could read, or any puzzles to figure out.  “Wait, are you going to make a puzzle I have to solve?”

<That is a fine idea!>  A snarled mass of twisted metal appeared in front of his crossed legs, its orange tint signifying that it was a construct only Grant could see.  <While you work on this, I want you to answer the equational problems I give you.>

“But, I don’t know how to solve Equational’s problems.  I don’t even know Equational!  I can’t even solve my own problems!  Are they one of your friends or something?”  Sarge sighed in Grant’s mind.  Since he didn’t actually need to breathe, it meant Grant had said something dumb.  “Okay, tell me.  What did I get wrong?”

<Now, that’s the right attitude to have.>  Sarge seemed genuinely happy with Grant, making him feel better about the upcoming task.  <First, I know you understand addition and subtraction. That’s as simple as understanding how to count.  Now, we are going to go over multiplication and division.  Hey, don’t forget to solve that blacksmith puzzle while we go over this.  There should be seven different pieces to separate.>  Grant snatched up the puzzle, trying to unsuccessfully pull it apart.  <Now, where was I?  Oh yeah, multiplication.  So, imagine leading an army of twelve Dragon Knight cavalry units, and they have to fight against seven units of Troll Shieldbearers.  As I’m sure you know, you can’t count them as just a one-for-one exchange on the battlefield.  Their force multiplier when working together as a whole is better on flat terrain, so you have to account for that too, and… >

The next three hours were a blur in Grant’s mind.  He was pretty sure Sarge was actually trying to test his pain tolerance by seeing how bad of a headache Grant could survive.  So far, the answer was excruciating, divided by throbbing, with exhaustion squared.  Whatever that meant.  Today wasn’t a fun day.

<Okay, we can take a break.  It’s time to wake up Suki anyway.>  Grant exhaled in relief, and gently shook her awake as the first rays of light started to brighten the morning sky.

“What’s the plan for today?”  Suki was slicing up a melon from the remaining produce for breakfast, while Grant was busily repacking everything.  “I vote for finding the Vassal that keeps the system running, and destroying his scepter.  That’s the only way we are going to be able to survive with just the two of us.”

“I couldn’t agree more.”  Grant slung his pack across his back and accepted a large melon slice from Suki.  “My bet is they are waiting in the center of the maze.  It’s the only way to make sure it can reach the whole circumference of this section.”

<Sound thinking.>  Sarge paused, and Grant thought he felt his Uchigatana vibrate in its sheath for a second.  <I think I can help with finding him.  All I need you to do is find an enemy to fight, and I can triangulate the strength of the system’s hold on the region.  That should at least tell us what direction to go.>

“Sarge thinks he has a way to use triangles to help us find the Vassal.”  Suki looked at Grant like he was crazy, but all he could do was shrug.  “All we need to do is find something to fight.  Preferably something we can beat, this time.”

“Ah, I see.  He wants to triangulate where the system is strongest.  Makes sense.”  Suki turned to leave, even holding apart the branches of the hedge so Grant could squeeze through with the bulky pack on his back.  “Let’s go.”

“Isn’t that what I just said?”  All Grant could do was shake his head.  These people just didn’t make sense sometimes.  He couldn’t be sure, but it seemed to him like they were just too smart for their own good.  “I think we should go straight.  Those tree monsters went left, so going somewhere else seems like a good idea.”

“Can’t argue with that logic.”  Suki started walking, and Grant hurried to catch up.  “No one will ever accuse you of being the smartest monkey in the barrel, but you do have that commoner sense of survival.  It makes you clever.”

“Are we still doing this?”  Grant was getting really tired of her underhanded compliments.  “Or is being two-faced so ingrained in your noble brain that you can’t help but be insulting?”

The two of them spend the next hour sniping back and forth at one another, with long pauses in between to listen for any possible enemies they could fight.  There was a large group of the gorilla creatures like the ones Suki had fought before they avoided, but otherwise their journey was uneventful.

Finally, they came across a ruined campsite in the middle of the path, with clear signs of a battle being fought recently.  The two of them silently separated, one to either side of the wide path.  Both Grant and Suki paid close attention to the hedges they were hugging, to make sure there wasn’t something waiting to pop out and attack.

“Psst!”  Suki made a noise to catch Grant’s attention, and pointed to an almost indistinguishable gap between the hedge and stone corner they were approaching.  “I think this corner section is hollow, like the other one we saw.”  Grant moved over to take a look, making sure to step over the bloodstains still marking the area.

“I’ll go first, since I have better armor.”  Suki gave him a silent nod as her gauntlets flickered into existence.  As he unsheathed his sword and moved to push aside the few branches blocking him, she made one last jab at him.

“Just try not to kill every human as soon as you see them.  It sends the wrong message.”  Grant just shook his head, deciding to stay focused on what was hiding in the wall section.

As he rounded the corner, it was immediately clear what had happened to whoever had been camping in the middle of the path.  The myriad of gnawed-on bones and shredded clothing was a dead giveaway.  Rats.

“Back.”  Grant didn’t turn around, and he made sure to keep his voice low.  “We don’t want this fight.”  Suki peeked around his shoulder to see what had him so concerned, and she blanched as soon as she saw what was waiting for them.  Their last fight with the vile creatures was still fresh in her mind, and the thought of facing them again made all the blood drain from her features.

Just as they made it back into the pathway, the sound of a twig snapping behind them forced the two to spin, ready for a fight.  Instead of a swarming flood of the disgusting furry creatures, six humans in the uniform of Dokeshi March were just as surprised to see them as they were to find a patrol.

“Ah!  The gods of fortune smile on us today, Paulson!”  The man wearing the nicest armor of the bunch let a wicked grin cross his face as he shouted to the spear wielder standing right next to him.  “The pair we are hunting for in this accursed place just pop out right in front of us!  What are the odds?”

“Shhhh!”  The dual shushing from the two Wielders wasn’t what they were expecting, and they actually quieted down in confusion.  The sound of chattering squeals and gnashing teeth came from behind the pair, and the fear on their faces wasn’t feigned.  “Run!”  As Grant and Suki sprinted around the corner, the patrol was right on their tails.

“Hey!  Get back here!”  The man in nice armor was the slowest of the bunch, so when he was swarmed by the wave of fur and teeth that appeared from the gap in the hedge, the rest of the patrol didn’t notice right away.  His scream of pain was their only warning as the rats pounced.  Grant and Suki didn’t wait around to see how the fight between their two enemies turned out.  Sometimes, the enemy of your enemy… is still your enemy.