I have become Legion - 10 - Break

Creaking wood squeaked under my feet as I stepped into the room.

A beautiful woman was lying in a daze. Her mouth was slightly open, her eyes were staring at the ceiling, confused. At least that’s what I assumed that emotion was. She had long black hair and pretty blue eyes. Her body was thin, but not unhealthily so. She had the palest of skins, like winter’s snow. Her head slowly turned towards me. Dreamy. That’s how I’d describe her gaze.

Harul Winter was a pitiful person. When I played Quest, I had read through her journal many times. She had not wanted much. Only one thing. But she was given none of it. She was scorned, feared, and neglected. While the one thing she wants is warmth.

So since you were never given any, I shall give it all to you.

“Hi.”

Friendliness.

It is the first step towards that warmth. I must be like the sun, so that you will never feel pain again. You who have been stuck in winter for all your life, I shall give you summer. To be all accepting and giving everything like the sun. To radiantly glow towards you.

“Hello.”

Her voice was quiet. Almost like a whisper. But that didn’t dishearten me. Rather, it just emboldened my desire to help her. What kind of monsters would hate someone so cute?

“Are you feeling alright?”

Compassion.

I smiled the warmest smile I could come up with. Since nobody else would care for her, I would be the entire world. Greater in existence than all humanity. I would exemplify all things and be everyone she would want. My compassion is true. For your happiness, I cast myself into flame, and I’d do it again.

“Yes.”

Her voice was also pretty. Is that the word to describe it? It was pleasant to the ears. I’m guessing she was quiet because she was shy. It could be. She hadn’t dealt with a lot of people.

“It will be alright.”

Comfort.

I would let you feel no more of that pain. I would be your shield and guardian. To bring you into a future under the light of the sun. The warmth of the sun will envelop you. You will need no more tears. For I will be your happy future.

To this, she didn’t give an answer. But I didn’t need one. My will was resolute.

“I will help you.”

Heroism.

From her writings, I knew that she liked the fairytale idea of a hero. So I would be more heroic than any hero. I would save her from eternal dark by being bright enough to cast it all aside. To be everything she wishes for, and more. That is a duty, only I can achieve.

For I will never lose.

“You know.”

Yeah, buddy?

“You’re actually really good at manipulating when you want to.”

What are you talking about? I’m not manipulating anyone right now? Like what? I’m just giving her everything she wants, everything she never had. How’s that manipulation?

“And you don’t even know it.”

Fuck you, you’re just trying to make me look like the bad guy again, even though I’m not doing anything wrong. But well…

I think I created a really heavy atmosphere. And that’s probably not good.

So uhh…

I need to deal with that.

But how do I lighten the atmosphere? I don’t know that much about her. Only what she wrote in her journal, and the lies told by those NPCs. Which isn’t a lot. I don’t know what she likes. I don’t know what kind of jokes I should make. Only that I need to be warm. But that’s really a conceptual thingy. I barely managed to stay serious for that long. Like what is a recluse supposed to do, talking to a pretty girl?

“There you are.”

If I ask about her future plans, that would keep the atmosphere really heavy. Like she probably doesn’t have anywhere to go. She almost got burned alive, just living as she does. My humor relies on being blunt in the face of formality, to irreverate the serious with casuality. Since that’s funny. Well, at least I’ve got a good poker face, just keeping my warm smile, so she won’t notice how I have no clue what to do.

“I was worried for a second that you had become serious. But you’re finally back.”

Shut up dude, I’m having a crisis here.

Oh shit.

Where did I mess it up?

Oh fuck.

What’s happening?

Why is she crying suddenly?

Shouldn’t you be happy? Somebody’s finally giving you warmth. But just because I think that, she’s still crying. They’re strong tears even. Like a waterfall. And she has these big hiccups with it.

Oh!

It’s warm, and uhh… Soft.

I have no clue what’s happening now. Why is she suddenly hugging me? But, uhh. Since she’s hugging me, I should hug back. Right? Yeah, right. So I do that. My hands wrap around her. And well. My brain is kind of overloaded. I’m not made for this. Still she burrows further into my embrace, and well I feel a lot of softness touch me. Well I can’t not notice that. Though I can’t really focus on it, since she’s still crying. I can tell from the way she slightly shakes.

Did I not give her enough warmth? Maybe. So I just need to give her more. How do I make myself warmer? I can’t really do that with magic power since I’d just blow myself up. Or can I? Just increase the heat right? Is that possible? Maybe. Well here goes nothing.

“Idiot, stop it.”

Huh, why buddy? I can do this. I’m probably the best magic genius ever. There’s no way I’ll fail.

“You don’t need to do anything. Just stay like that.”

But she’s crying?

“That’s fine.”

Hey, I’m the human here, what do you know about human emotions?

“I might be a demon, but even I understand what she’s feeling.”

Then what the hell is it? I don’t understand why she’s crying. She should be happy right?

“She is happy. It’s just too much happiness.”

Uhh, so I need to reduce it?

“No, just let her be like that.”

Okay. Okay. I’ll trust you this one time.

And so I just waited there. She was just crying on my chest. And I wasn’t exactly sure what I was supposed to do. I still had my arms around her. It would be warmer that way. Or was I not supposed to do that? Well I didn’t really know. This was a situation which I had no clue how to handle. I had never been in anything similar. Well that’s obvious. I was living as a recluse just a couple weeks ago. My only experience with this kind of stuff is with video game plots. Which obviously isn’t the same thing.

“Thank you.”

Oh has she calmed down? Yeah, it seems she stopped crying. She’s now looking up at me. Still that’s really close. I’m not really comfortable with this distance. But well… I’ve faced death enough times to keep my composure. I think.

“…”

Wait, how am I supposed to respond to that again? It’s no worries? No, maybe not. That doesn’t feel right. You’re welcome. Maybe? It’s fine. Well yeah I guess that will work.

“You’re really hopeless.”

Fuck you dude. What am I supposed to tell her here? Whatever. I’ll just open my mouth and say whatever.

“It will be alright now.”

Well yeah I guess that works. Since I’ll make sure it will be alright.

“Ahem.”

A deep voice breaks the moment. Oh right, I forgot that Aaron followed me. Well this is kinda embarrassing. We had this proper emotional moment, and well Aaron was just there. Watching it happen. I probably look kinda stupid. I said all these grand things to a person I barely know. Yeah this is really embarrassing, Harul would agree with me. Her face is completely red. That’s a sign of embarrassment, right?

“Do you two know each other?”

Did it look like that? Maybe from the outside. I’m good at hiding things after all. Just always smile, it’s easy cus it’s just something to do. But no, we don’t really know each other… Oh right you aren’t the Shadow Demon.

“No we don’t.”

But it seems I didn’t have to answer. Since Harul answered for me.

Well after that little hiccup, the rest of the conversation went smoothly. Aaron just asked Harul a bunch of questions, while I absentmindedly stared at the wall. Like what was I supposed to do? I already got everything that I needed to say out. So yeah I just stayed quiet…

“I can see what you can see. Why are you trying to lie to me?”

Ok yeah fine. I wasn’t staring at the wall. Harul was too beautiful to not look at her. And I didn’t do that for you, I did it for the readers. What’re they gonna think about me? They’re gonna say that I’m a creep that stares at people. Well that’s the truth isn’t it. I don’t know what else to do.

But after all that. We left Harul alone so she could calm down, or maybe plan her future actions? Honestly I wasn’t quite sure. I was kinda out of it at the end.

And now?

Well, I was uhh…

“Death.”

Aaron’s longsword was to my neck.

“Minor cut.”

And my gladius was ready to cause a minor cut to his leg.

“It’s your loss.”

The hell was this guy talking about? Death isn’t a losing condition.

“Death is not the end.”

I’m Legion after all. I already told this guy, didn’t I? I’m an immortal. Obviously I’m going to fight like an immortal. Take a death to cause a cut. That’s my strategy. Then this guy acts like my death is a loss for me. Nah, this is just a single bout. A Slash and Parry in normal terms.

Yeah we were sparring. We had some time to spare, so why not test blades.

“Fine, ‘to satisfaction’ then.”

Though even though I said all that, Aaron just pulled his blade back. We could’ve continued the fight. But instead he wanted to begin again. To satisfaction, he says. I think that means it’s till one of us gives up. So until he loses I guess.

“This stance is called Wrath.”

He held his longsword with both hands and had it behind his head.

“It’s very dangerous to approach since it can lead into a powerful attack.”

Instantly my brain went to work. If I approached him, then I’d get cut. Yeah and it’d be a strong cut. One that could go through my entire body. So I’d have to take at least one death. Don’t attack with his attack. Take the attack and counter after revival. I could also try to stab I guess? But that probably wouldn’t work. He has the advantage in reach.

“What are you supposed to do against this stance?”

I don’t answer his question. I’ve already decided on my counter. That counter is to run right at death, and fuck it up.

So when I close in I see the sword come down at me. And oh god is it fast. Strong as well. My senses were enhanced by Limit Break as well. So while I felt like every part of my body was being given tiny electric shocks. I also saw the longsword approach me. Then it cut me. Oh yeah, I guess it does hurt. A lot. The pain never goes away. I just can take more of it. Thankfully the pain of being cut doesn’t last for long. Since soon he slashed through my entire body.

And my body is restored. Now that his attack is over. I can go for mine. My gladius tip is already pointed at his neck. So I just have to get closer. It was nice that instead of stepping towards him, I just jumped at him. So even though he slashed me, my momentum was still going. And my gladius approached his neck.

Then I stopped my move when it was about to stab through his neck. Well he’s a mortal after all. I can’t actually draw blood there.

“Is it my win then?”

I ask. Yeah, you might’ve killed me once, but I’m threatening death.

“Horrifying.”

Aaron’s eyes are shaking. Or is it his entire body? It’s like he’s seeing something that rejects everything he believes in.

“What’s horrifying?”

I don’t get it. I think I did pretty well. There’s no way I was going to beat a holy knight when it comes to skill. That’s obvious. But I’m pretty sure my level six [Death Seeking Swordsmanship] should be enough to not make me seem hopeless. Was I really that bad? That it’d look horrible to an actual expert.

“I think I did decent.”

Like come on. I’ve only been using a sword for less than a month. I even got myself a unique swordsmanship trait, but is that not really enough to be seen as proficient according to Aaron.

“It’s not a matter of skill. It’s your mentality.”

My mentality, what the hell are you talking about?

“What’s that?”

Aaron takes a real deep breath before continuing. Oh no, my senses are tingling. This reminds me of when my mom used to scold me.

“You ran directly at death. No sane human would do that.”

Huh? Like what?

“But immortality is my strongest weapon.”

Yeah, what the hell are you talking about? Immortality is my strongest weapon. Obviously I should abuse it the most. How else could I defeat a demon.

“Do you not feel pain?”

What? I’m just immortal.

“I do, but what does that have to do with it?”

Is that sympathy? He’s making a weird expression.

“You shouldn’t put yourself into so much pain just to win.”

But why not? It’s the shortest route to victory. And well, I don’t know if I can save the world without it. That was just a single cut. I’ve thrown myself into fire, fought enemies that are impossible to defeat, eaten alive, thrown myself into trap after trap, squished my body into a mush to train my magic, blown myself up with overwhelming power, and broke through all my limits. This slight pain is just that, slight. Minor, very minor. It might’ve hurt for a bit. But that bit was very short. So why not accept that pain, I’ve survived worse.

“I don’t really get it.”

Yeah I don’t really get it. This is the best way. Most optimal. Of course I know that it’s something unique to me, but still. We should all use our specialties isn’t that right? That’s why humans specialize after all.

“You are the opposite of everything swordsmanship stands for. What the hell kind of swordsmanship do you even practice?”

Oh damn, I managed to make a Holy Knight curse. Nice. That’s fun.

“It’s called Death Seeking Swordsmanship. I made it.”

Yeah, it’s the swordsmanship most suited for me. It seeks out the shortest route to victory. No matter the cost to myself or the enemy. Well, for me the cost is always none.

So I just take some steps back from Aaron. He again had a weird looking expression.

“Well, next spar.”

I have no clue about stances. If that ‘Wrath’ is a common one, I should try to figure out a faster way to deal with it.

“No.”

That’s a very resolute way of saying that. Honestly, I’m so envious of that guy’s voice. Why does everything he says have to sound so grand? Like come on. Just give me a little of that grandiosity.

“We’re done for today. Learn to be human again.”

And then he turns away.

Really?

You’re just gonna leave me hanging like that.

“I have been given retribution.”

What’s that buddy?

“I knew it. You are the weird one.”

Fuck you too.

“Hahahahahahaha.”

Shut it.