Perhaps an hour later, I finally emerged from the smothering trees. Crimson fields spread out before me, rolling up-and-down with the hilly contours of the land, not too unlike the waves in a sea of blood. I found the thought of these fields being contaminated with murder-spree-inducing Mushi to be quite upsetting, but I needed to eat from the land’s harvest and the animals of the multi-coloured forests if I didn’t want to starve. Hopefully, I’d be able to curb any homicidal urges until I made it out of here. A critic would say that I’d already fully embraced my homicidal urges, but up until now I hadn’t killed anyone on accident or by impulse, and I was hoping to keep it that way.
Scarlet reeds swayed back-and-forth in the gentle breeze, and there was something mesmerising about watching the wind crawl across the fields in wave-after-wave. While taking in the view, I followed a dirt road that split the farmland in two. On this side of the Nijigahara forest, the signs of the war were few, and the farmers who tended the crops didn’t seem too alarmed by my passing. In fact, several of them bowed in respect, as though I was a Samurai of some distinction. No doubt they were just playing it safe, considering how some Samurai had an unfortunate habit of ‘testing’ their blades on any who offended their honour, regardless of any actual wrongdoing towards them…
A melody slowly unfolded itself as I made my way across the seemingly-endless fields. It was a wandering melody played on a piano, with bells accenting its various notes throughout. Part of it had an eerie, almost foreboding feeling to it, other parts were mysterious or questioning.
Ahead of me, a farmer came into view over the crest of a hill and started making his way towards where I’d come from. I noticed a few of the nearby farmers tracking my progress, which wasn’t unusual, but something about it triggered my suspicion, though I didn’t stop.
When the incoming farmer was perhaps fifteen metres from me, my attention caught on the way he was walking and how he held one arm behind his back, as though reaching for something. His face was shielded by the rim of his conical rice-straw hat, and yet I could feel the intensity of his focus on me.
“Now entering Emergent Stage ‘The Red Fields’.”
Not good.
As soon as the banner evaporated, the approaching ‘farmer’ moved with unexpected suddenness, flinging something small at me from across the road. I didn’t see what it was, but still managed to roll my body out of the way before it could hit me. My hand didn’t make it to the hilt at my side before I was struck in my upper arm by something sharp. I turned and saw one of the farmers in the field to my right reaching for another projectile hidden behind his back, perhaps in some unseen pouch. I pulled out the dart-like Shuriken[1], which had only partially pierced the arm of my leather tunic and nicked the skin beneath. It barely even hurt, though that might have been caused by the remnants of Ginko’s tea still in my system.
As if I could predict its trajectory, I turned and flung my blade from its scabbard, slapping another shuriken from the air in one continuous motion. In the same moment, the guy behind started running towards me, wielding a short sickle in his hand. It was almost like fighting someone wielding a shovel, granted, the sickle was quite a bit sharper, but it was still kind of terrifying that a farmer’s tool could easily turn into a weapon, depending on whose hands it was in.
Putting my newfound skill to use, I neatly deflected the incoming chop, setting the Shinobi off-balance and leaving him open, allowing me to follow up the deflect with a slash down along his torso. My blade sheared through his clothes, parting the flesh beneath without any resistance. Before the Shinobi’s body had landed on the ground, another jumped at me, wielding the shorter, straight Uchigatana I’d come to associate with their kind. It was clearly a useful weapon, as its size and form made it easy to conceal beneath baggy peasant clothes.
I went for another deflect as our blades met, but he quickly adapted, not allowing me to exploit the momentary opening and disengaging so that his friend behind me could attack. I sidestepped the downward slash of his Tekkō-kagi[2] claws, but as I moved away from his follow-up, my foot slipped, as though my legs couldn’t bear my weight, and I ended up with my ass planted on the ground. My body suddenly felt numb, and, as I swiped my sword at his legs to push him back, I could barely feel my fingers gripping the handle.
The sword-wielding Shinobi seized on the opportunity and drove straight for me, but I was able to lock his blade with my own, keeping it an uneasy few centimetres from my head. As I rose to my feet, pushing him with me, my whole body teetered on the brink of collapse.
Though I managed to avoid the sword’s killing edge, holding my blade above my head completely exposed my flank, which the clawed Shinobi exploited, managing to drive the four claws on his right hand into my unprotected side, all the way up to his knuckles. My whole body shuddered with the impact and a scream left my lips. The other man was still trying to force his own blade down on me, but I used my remaining strength to push his blade up, then I pulled my edge away from his for just a second, before driving it down on his straw hat with a Helm-Splitter to devastating effect. The clawed man had already pulled free from my side and was trying for another stab, but I moved away from his clawed punch and chopped my blade upwards in the same movement, cleaving his hand at the wrist.
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We both fell back, blood dripping from his dismembered arm and my punctured side. I put my right hand against the wound, trying to stop the bleeding, but it simply oozed between my fingers. The warm blood trickling down my hand felt kind of nice, but then the pain flowered from my wound, as the numbness began to fade. I suddenly realised that the shuriken that’d hit me had been coated in some kind of paralysing poison, though it’d been too weak to put me out of commission completely.
With his good hand, the remaining Shinobi reached into a pouch hidden on his lower back and quickly tossed four thin needles at me, which I didn’t manage to swat from the air in time, and they settled in my left shoulder with barely a prick.
Realising that these were likely poisoned as well, I charged towards him, letting go of my side to grab my sword in both hands as I drove it down on him in another Helm-Splitter. He tried pointlessly to block with his one good arm, but it was no match for my flawless edge, which tore through him, splitting his entire body along its length. I took a step back, marvelling at the result as he fell into two separate pieces, his insides spilling out between them, but then my body rocked violently, and I fell down onto my back, my body coated in a viscous numbness once again.
I didn’t pass out, but I also couldn’t move, so I just lay there for a moment as I waited for the effect to dissipate. The melody in the air also calmed and disappeared, and was replaced by the usual Shakuhachi flute song, as more-and-more of my blood slowly dripped down onto the earth beneath me.
Thirty minutes later, I could finally control my fingers and toes again, then as the minutes passed, the feeling crept back up along my arms and legs, until I eventually felt the pain from my broken ribs and nose, my ruined side, and the million-and-one bruises covering seemingly every inch of my body. The healing tea that Ginko had served me had stopped working and even though I was able to move, I didn’t. With every breath, it felt as though flames coursed down through my veins and muscles, setting fire to my limbs.
I finally reached up and pulled the four needles from my shoulder, and then carefully eased myself to a sitting position.
Of the three dead Shinobi scattered around me, two of them had glowing wisps above their bodies, and, after a few more minutes, I got to my feet uneasily and went to inspect the loot.
The messy remains of the clawed Shinobi held ‘Shinobi’s Tekkō-kagi’, which didn’t weight much, so I stored it in my inventory.
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‘Shinobi’s Tekkō-kagi’
-Melee Weapon-
Gauntlet > Claw
“A simple-but-effective weapon utilised by the Shinobi, who always strike when they are close enough to their target that they cannot miss.”
Equip
Discard
Weight: 0.6 kilos
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The weapon was of the ‘Claw’ category, but I dismissed it as a possible back-up to my sword, due to its obvious range disadvantage and what seemed like a very vulnerable moveset.
The other wisp floated above the sickle-wielding Shinobi, and offered me a ‘Rice-Straw Hat’.
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‘Rice-Straw Hat’
-Armour-
Armour > Hat
Armour Type: Light
“A rice-straw hat worn by the farmers of the Red Fields. Offers decent protection against the elements.”
Equip
Discard
Weight: 0.4 kilos
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I ended up equipping it, as I figured it would help against the rain on the way back, though the sky seemed clear for the moment. I liked the way it looked, though I’d probably get rid of it as soon as I found a merchant to buy the various stuff I’d collected, such as the Menpō that I’d found the day before.
Besides the hat, I also picked up an ‘Assassination Contract’, the tooltip of which read:
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‘Assassination Contract’
-Quest Item-
“The Azure Dragon have recently employed a Rōnin of undoubtable strength. Whoever brings us their head first, will be paid well. When you succeed, bring your proof to Sakuyama in Kakon-shi.”
Weight: N/A
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It seemed that someone had it out for me, but, unfortunately for them, I’d track them down and repay their kindness in full.
When there was nothing else left to loot, I continued on my way to the Lady’s Village, though my body ached with a thousand pains. The steady drip of blood from my side left a trail in my wake, but, just as soon as the crimson hit the ground, it became indistinguishable from the puddles of rain.
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[1] A throwable weapon that comes in many shapes. The one currently residing in my arm was known as a Bō-Shuriken, i.e. a “stick-shaped throwable blade”.
[2] A light Shinobi weapon consisting of claws attached to brass knuckles, which can do a lot of quick damage at close range.