The Regression Of A Grand Mercenary

I don’t get it…

A night has already passed yet I’m still here…

Is this really just a dream?

Is this really just a flash of my memories?

If that is the case…

Why does it all feel so real?

Just as my memories served me right, my sisters went to bed crying…

My brothers stayed quiet all through the process of our grieving…

And Theresa, she remained strong despite our lost today.

Its happening just as I remembered.

I thought that once this day ended, I would lose everything and fall deep asleep, never to wake up again.

But out of sheer stubbornness of this dream, I woke up to find myself awake next to the sight of my sleeping brothers.

‘I don’t understand…why am I still here?’

Dreams never last this long…

Or so does a flash of my own memories at the moment of my death…

If anything, this entire situation makes it seem like I returned to the past.

I could feel the pain of the lost I had towards my parents…

I could breath the air as if it was a fresh feeling…

And I could feel my heart beat…

Is this it? Is this the truth?

If so, why?

Why did I go back to the past?

***

Thill wanted to know the answers to his question…

Yet to all the memories he tried digging deep in his mind, not a single answer came to mind…

All except for one.

“…The Glacial Dragon…was he the one who caused this?”

“Was it his curse that brought me here?”

Despite it all and despite all his questions, not a single look of despair was put on his face…if anything he was smiling.

“If this is real…this is not a curse but a second chance!”

He gripped his chest tight…and the realization came flowing like a fresh drop of dew…

He was given a second chance at life.

***

Just as what my sister has told me, we were running low on food.

There was barely enough rice to feed all of us, nor did we had any savings left to buy food on the market.

And more than that, the plague was still active.

Since the plague was still active, the chances of us getting access to an open market was low. Most of the shops in our village right now were closed and the merchants travelling from cities to villages were showing less and less because of the plague. And those who do come sell their products at a high price. We could never afford it with the money we had left.

We can’t get food while the plague was still active. So I had to do something about it.

Although the only victims to this slaughter was our parents and a few others from the village, the plague will still last three more months before help will finally arrive and fix the plague.

And the help I’m referring to was the church. They were the ones who were the only people capable of healing the sick and getting rid of the plague. By using their magic blessed by the gods, they were able to purify the plague without even reaching for the source of it.

And that source was from the Lich who placed a curse on this village. They never did kill the lich but they did erase it’s curse on the village.

To what I know, Liches were capable of placing a curse on a village by using a medium. And by medium, I meant a host. It could be anything as long as it has the right properties to serve as a right host. And the church was able to find the source of the plague by the sign’s left by the lich.

From all the experience I made with fighting curses, Liches were always intrigue with using dark magic as the base for their curse.

And dark magic was always the easiest form of magic to track. Once they inflected their curse unto the village, their power only ever grows because of the despair brought upon by the villagers. Despair and any negative emotion was what fueled their powers and life as cursed mages.

Dark magic was putrid, it reeked of evil…and most of all, it attracted the senses of some animals, especially dogs.

If I could get rid of the curse of the plague placed on this village, it could help with not only the people, but my siblings most of all.

we don’t really have that much of an option left…

By tomorrow, my brothers and sisters might start to starve.

I need to do something before that happens.

***

Because my father was a blacksmith, we always had access to swords and armor. But rarely do we ever get a customer because of where we were placed. Our village was small small enough to not attract a lot of adventurers and warriors alike.

So to gain some sort of way to provide for the family, my father would lean in to working on all sorts of metal works.

From making utensils and all others sorts of items under request, we got by just enough to never go hungry the next day.

Being the oldest of the family, I was given the right to inherit the skills of a blacksmith by my father, but I never did completed the training set up for me by my father. Since he died, all I ever accomplished by then was a failure of a product one after the other…

My work was sloppy compared to my father’s.

Because of my father’s passing, I never had the chance to grow well as a blacksmith.

But once I lost everything and started travelling the world as a mercenary, I encountered many people along the way.

Some of them was a blacksmith…and one of my closest friends.

He helped me understood the truth behind the powers of crafting weapons and armors…

And through our journeys together, I finally learned to use the smith and become a proper blacksmith.

Once I did, I was responsible for creating my own weapons. From my swords to my armor…I did it all.

But even to this accomplishments, I never once showed it to my father on his grave…

I never stopped by the village to show him that I’ve become a blacksmith through and through…

Instead, my hands only ever became redder and more bloodied by the lives I took, with the swords I made.

I could never face my father for what I became…

I could never forgive myself for what I was…

A murderer…

***

Rarely does my father ever work on a sword…but if he did, he would be considered a master blacksmith, creating lasterful works.

He’s only ever made a few works that were considered a work of art.

But for some reason, my father never gained the attention from his skill nor did we ever become rich from his works despite selling them.

We maintained our life as it was even when he made great masterpieces.

I never knew why it was like that even to the end…

But even still, I still considered him one of the best at crafting swords.

He once crafted a sword that he considered one his best work…

It shined even at the lowest of nights, and it was sharp enough to even cut a tree in half with a single swing.

But in the past, because of our circumstances, we had to sell it to feed ourselves and survive.

My father always told me that it’s okay to sell your creations, your swords, as long as it feeds your brothers and sisters, it all okay…

But it wasn’t for me…

To this day, I still regretted selling the sword for food that could only last us a month…

I could have worked more…

I could have been a better son.

To lose the last sword that my father considered was one of his best creations, I felt guilty as a son and as a blacksmith…

I had no pride back then…

But now, with this chance, I’ll use the sword right more than anything.

I’ll use it as he intended.

‘A sword was a blade used to protect your life and the ones you loved.’

That was what my father once said…

And now, I’ll use this sword to save the village.

***

Placed by the side of my parent’s bed like a decoration, the sword was shining even to this day…even to my father’s passing.

It was beautiful…

Back then, I could never understand why my father considered this sword as one of his perfect creations. I was only a child back then and his words as a blacksmith never made much sense to me…

But now in my perspective as an experienced blacksmith, I know now that his words were true.

The sword, even as it was placed like a crown for decoration, it shined with such sharpness. Like a star in the darkest deeps of space.

“Father, you never told me what you wanted to use this sword for. Maybe you intended on selling it…maybe you wanted to pass it on as an heirloom…but just like any sword here in the shop, I will use it to save our family.”

As I pulled the sword off of the wall, I held it flat against my forehead and I could feel the cold starkness of its touch…

“Please let me make amends of myself from my past actions…let me be a better son.”

I could feel it well…

The emotions brought upon by my father’s creation.

It was tempered…strong…willful.

The sword spoke like a beast…

Today, I will wipe off the curse that is ruining this village and I will avenge my parents.

***

As I left my parent’s room… I came by downstairs to find that my sister was cooking a meal.

“Theresa, I’ll be out for a bit.” I said.

“W-where are you going? The town is still filled with the plague. It’s too dangerous to walk around th village right now.” she said as she sounded worried.

“I know…but I need to know what’s going on around the village. If there’s any form of news or trouble, I’ll come back as soon as I can.” I said this in a firm tone. In a way that sounded strong and reliable.

“O-okay…but what’s that you’re carrying on your waist? Is that a sword?” she asked as she noticed the sword that was hanging by my side.

“…I’m only bringing it with me for protection.” I said.

“I see… be careful.” she said, but the way she looked, it was as if she had not slept at all last night. I couldn’t help but feel sorry for her.

Despite the fact that we lost our parents yesterday, she remained strong for her siblings.

Seeing her like this…

Afraid…

Confused…

Helpless…

I couldn’t help but worry for her as well…

Since our parents passed away, a weight around her shoulder was placed. A weight of responsibility, the same as mine.

In the past, I was too weak to even noticed that she was just as terrified as I was about this change…but now, I can see that she was afraid…more afraid than I was, but she remained strong then.

Right now, I have to act as a strong figure in this family…

In the sight of her weary expression, I could tell that she was barely hanging by…So now, as she was alone, I have to be one of her supports.

So I approached her.

In the sight of her tearful figure, I can see that she could not look me in the eye…she was simply afraid…afraid and confused. So without any form of remorse, but a show of affection to my own dear sister, I embraced her…and I assured her. “…It’s okay. It’s going to be okay…we’ll get through this together.” I said as my hand patter her head.

…slowly but surely, I could feel her shake as her tears dripped down on my shirt.

“I’m here…I’ll be here for you and the others.”

And in reciprocation, she showed her weakness to me. “Mother’s gone…and so is Father. We’re all that’s left…I…I don’t know what to do.” she said as her voice was shaking.

“Don’t worry…no matter what’s going to happen in the future, I’ll be here to protect you and the others. I won’t be going anywhere Theresa. I won’t leave you, this I promise.” I know for a fact that if It was the past, I would not have the consciousness to say these words, but being given the second chance, I now could tell her what I’ve always wanted to tell her.

“Promise me you wont leave us like they did.” she said as her tears simply feel like rain.

“I promise.”

It has been a long time since I embraced her like this…

The last time this happened was when I found her… near on death’s door…

Her body was defiled by the street and her left eye was gouged by a knife…

It was horrific scene…something I could never forget from my mind…

And on her last dying breath, she simply smiled and made me promised myself to keep on living…

That promise was a selfish one…but I kept it tell my death.

That memory alone made me feel fear once again.

I don’t want to lose my family…never again.

***

As I roamed around the village, I could see many things that were affected by the plague.

Rats were more active on the streets.

Crows were flying above the streets, scavenging on the tissues of a few burnt corpses .

And the absence of the people was clear.

“…Damn Lich.”

Our village was small. From what I remembered, it only had about five hundred in population, but once the plague took over for the last six months, it was able to end three hundred lives…

This was the third month of the plague…and already, the plague had took fifty of the villagers. Including my parents.

I have to stop this…I have to do it now!