Reality's Blade

Chapter 11: Homeward Bound

I turned to find the old mage gazing out to the unnatural blood tinted world. Behind him were many frightened faces that stared at me wide eyed. There had to be easily a hundred villagers in this cave, which reached far back and was much wider than the entrance suggested, flickering torches on the walls illuminated the grave expressions. I realised the opening must have been camouflaged with magic, the people taking refuge inside should have been visible from the outside. I felt relieved as I spotted the girl from earlier who was being treated by another of the mages, her unconscious small form looking at peace.

"What's happening out there?" I asked the mage. I had never seen anything even remotely similar in the game before.

"It's the wrath of the Dark Samurai." He stated simply. "All enemies found beneath the light receive punishment. This shelter was specially designed to shield us from his divine gaze."

"Does the Dark Samurai unleash his wrath every year?" I wondered, my mind thrown into confusion. I thought I was convinced by now that Hikage was indeed a real person playing Legerdemain, but too often he acted as only an in-game character could. Even with a level at maximum I'd never heard of player able to completely annihilate everything in a space the size of a village.

"No, I haven't seen this in 30 years. Once upon a time adventurers would slay the trolls as they came out of hibernation, then one day, the adventurers just disappeared and the trolls started to make their way down to the villages, which was when the Dark Samurai stepped in. He would reduce their numbers, sway their path and kill any that insisted on threatening the village." The mage smiled as he remembered the peaceful years the village had thanks to the Dark Samurai.

I could feel the cogs falling into place as he explained the history to me, finally the last piece clunked into place. The north-western server had been taken down and a new world-wide update had been installed. It was the first major change to Legerdemain after it's release to improve the gameplay, this area must have come under the north-western adventurers jurisdiction. While it could still be explored it meant no quests or missions would be issued in the region, so players had no incentive to come here.

Why the trolls had come out of hibernation early though was still unknown. Guilt constricted my chest as I wondered whether it was my fault Hikage hadn't been here sooner to protect these people. If he hadn't been busy trying to train me would he have kept a better watch over the troll's activity? There was no way to know, so I tried not to dwell on it.

"I've never seen the Dark Samurai with a companion before." The mage noted. "You must be quite special to him, I can see where his magic has transformed your body and you have a few protective spells placed on you."

I inspected my body in alarm, 'transformed my body'? Was it possible all the times I had been healed had left a magical residue? My white shirt was no longer white, it was riddled in singed holes from sparks landing on my clothes. Through the larger burnt holes I noticed my skin had no trace of damage, I had the feeling one of the spells Hikage had secretly imparted on me was a healing one. Even my singed arm was regenerating it's hair. I sighed, suddenly feeling slightly less trusted and more mollycoddled. Speaking of magical protection...

"Thank you for saving me from the troll. All of you." I thanked the mage sincerely. Just remembering the glorious sight uplifted my soul, I got a small glimpse of what the community here must feel like.

"Thank you adventurer for saving my life and many others too, it was the least we could do. I was willing to stand my ground to the last, expecting to die on the battlefield for my people. I guess I was being too hasty, for it proved to not be my time just yet." He chuckled softly, causing a cough to rise in his throat.