Saints and Scourges: The Half-Demon of Stassi

I open my eyes, seeing the clear blue sky staring right back. It's daytime and the clouds seem to dance as the occasional flock of birds soar by. I also feel a little... sick, I guess? There's this ringing in my head that I can't explain. It feels like a slight hangover. I slowly stood up and looked at my surroundings. Trees. A lot of them. Am I inside a forest? I guess now is not the time to ask questions. There's a small opening to my right. Maybe I should go there.

Wow.

This looks amazing.

I am greeted by the sight of towering citadels and small buildings. People can be seen moving like ants in the distance. The city is also surrounded by dirt roads and weird vehicles were coming and going from it. It was a sight to behold . Maybe it was because I was seeing all of this from above. I took a few steps forward and sat on a lone rock that was near the slope. There's a sack here for some reason. I decide to ignore it and rationalize as to what is going on.

Why am I here? I don't remember.

What did I do before I got here? Same answer . Who am I ? Hmm. This is weird... I even forgot my own name. How am I even going to react to this? Let's see … How will normal people handle this? Should they scream 'NO!' at the top of their lungs? No, no, no. That's highly impossible. And stupid. Why should you pity yourself if you don't know what you've lost? Ah, shit. Now I'm even more curious. I wonder who I was before I got here, wherever this is. That cloud over there is shaped like a chicken leg. It makes me hungry.

Oh, which reminds me...

That sack from earlier.

"I'm sure they'll understand." I tell myself as I slowly reach for it. Its contents feel rather hard and defined. It's also a little heavy, despite being relatively small. Does this carry metal or something? I loosened the twines closing the sack and rummaged through. Here we go. This is the first haul!

Hmm. This is circular, yellow and shiny. Probably a gemstone of some sort. I should put this back.

What's this? Oh, it has water. Must be a water container. Then that means...

Found it. Fried meat. It's warm too. Whoever left it must be somewhere nearby. I guess I should--

Huh?

I instantly felt a stinging sensation in my chest. Would you look at that. There's a sword protruding from it... Wait... THERE'S A FUCKING SWORD PROTRUDING FROM IT! SOMEONE JUST STABBED ME!! WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS ?!

"What kind of shit is this?!"

Trying my best to turn my head, I try to get a good look at the culprit. Clad in shining black armor, the rogue tightened his grip and thrusts even further. The sword felt cold, and my body started to feel senseless. Am I going to die? Should I just accept it? Oh, well. I guess I had a good run. Goodbye, cruel world.

...

That's weird.

"You sure are taking your time there."

"What?" He instinctively pushes me off, and I fall face-first into the grass.

"Didn't it hurt?" His voice sounded a little high, like a young man. I can also see amethyst pattern all over his armor.

"Oh, no. I kind of felt numb for a second, but other than that, I'm fine." I replied while trying to get up.

"Thank goodness, then."

"Thank goodness? You just tried to kill me!"

"Oh, sorry about that."

"You can't just casually apologize to someone after stabbing them in the back! That's not how the world works. You gotta pay me."

"Why should I pay you? This wouldn't have happened if I didn't caught you trying to steal my stuff." he casually says.

"...That was yours?" I asked.

"Y-Yeah."

".… Still. You should not go around stabbing people like that. It's dangerous."

"Yes. I'm very sorry about that."

...

"Truce? "

" You tried to kill me."

"Hold on." he rummages and takes an old-looking amulet from the sack.

"Okay, then. I'll give you this. How's that sound?" he then raises and shakes it, to which it rattles lightly. I was about to lash out because my life is being compared to a small sack of random items, but my stomach growled and the answer was made.

...

"How should I put this?"

I daydream as I help myself with the fried meat from earlier. I'm obviously immortal, but the natural instincts are still there. I still feel hunger, thirst, the need to pee and headaches. And why is he still here? Is he waiting for me to finish? No. I should be thinking more into getting my memories back. I still don't know who I am, where I'm from, why I'm here and why I can't die. I still have a lot of questions to ask. All questions aside, though. This food is phenomenal. The meat and cheese just melts in the mouth. The box it came from looks fancy, too.

"So..." I asked as I drank from the water container.

"So…What?" he replied.

"Why are you still here? Don't you have something better to do?"

"I'm actually waiting for you. You're coming with me."

The nerve of this guy. I don't know if he's dumb or pretending to be one. He's impulsive, direct and energetic. I don't want someone like that near me. They attract people. And most of them are either ruthless, ignorant or very manipulative.... Huh. Have I been always this condescending?

"And what makes you think I will?" I laughed.

"I can cook food like the one you just ate. I'm a travelling merchant looking for people to recruit. And what's a better way than to hire a guard who casually shrugs the danger of death? Do you have any idea how cool that was?"

"Sorry, but I don't even know you."

"There, there. I'm willing to make the first move, of course. I'll pay you and provide you with everything. Look, I'll even give you something just for listening." he enthusiastically suggested.

Okay. That offer doesn't sound half-bad. But it's too good to be true. This sounds fishy. In fact, this sounds so fishy that I can actually hear alarm bells going off in my head. And what's that? He'll give me magic? This definitely sounds a scam. Okay, then. I'm going to reject the offer.

"Sorry, but..." I was about to stand up and leave when I notice him holding a jet-black orb of some sort.

"See this? This is a very rare type of gemstone. You can sell it for a huge amount of Cings . More than enough to buy your own piece of land."

"Cings?" I can't help but get my curiosity piqued.

"That's what you use to buy things. Here." I catch the orb as he throws it towards my direction.

"I'll give you two options. You can either reject my offer and walk away with that thing over there and I'll just try it with someone else," he paused, as if he's trying to let me soak it in.

"OR you can work for me for a few days as we travel the world and fulfill our mutual desires. I can promise you wealth, glory and I'll help you get your memories back. You can also leave whenever you feel like it. How's that sound?"

The rogue sat there and waited as I thought about it. And waited. He's a rather patient fellow, I'll give him that. He just continued to stare at the beautiful kingdom as I considered the merits of joining. In the back of my head, however, I can already guess what the right answer would be.

...

"So… What's your story? Surely you must have one." he casually said.

"I'm afraid I don't."

"And why is that?"

"I can't remember everything. I don't know where this is, and why I'm here. Heck, I can't even remember my own name."

"Do you want me to give you one?" he randomly asked as we entered back into the woods. Everything went back to green as the air smelled earthy and the occasional hum of birds filled the silence. Come to think of it, I've never considered it before. What would a good name be?

"No. I'll decide that for myself." I dismissed as I answered back with a question.

"By the way, back there when you told me you'd give me magic. What exactly did you mean by that?"

"Oh! Wrong choice of words." he clicked his tongue before starting.

"What I meant was this: I'll help you unlock your magic. This is a world filled with untamed archaic energy. In the air you breathe, the food you eat, the clothes you wear ; There's magic everywhere and the type of magic you'll have will largely depend on the environment you grow up in. " he explained as he hacked the way with his sword. "All you need is to learn how to use it. Luckily, I ---"

A roar echoes throughout the whole woodlands. Flocks of birds begin to fly, which was followed by the sound of trees falling down. I look at my new companion and see his head slightly turn to where I was standing. I surmised he also got surprised, although I'm not so sure because his face was covered with his patterned black helmet.

"Speaking of which, " he turns his head forward, " I'll try to explain some more later. Get ready for your first task."

He then suddenly runs away.

...

"C-Can we stop for a s-second?"

I panted as I barely managed to catch up to him. How can he be so resilient? He's even wearing armor, yet it doesn't seem to bother him. We arrived at a large glade, where I see what appears to be a wolf with two heads. The beast stood on its hind legs at about eight feet tall and was armed with two huge silver gauntlets, both emitting a crimson aura. It also wielded a huge battle-axe and is getting attacked by shady-looking individuals with crooked-shaped weapons, but it seems to be fighting back. I can see some of them already down, but a large number of them don't seem to give way.

"Here." he somehow got his hands on a replica of the sword he's using. " Bear with it for a while. You'll get to choose your weapon later. "

"W-Where did you get this?" I wheezed.

"That's not important. Let's focus on the task at hand. We'll charge and help at the count of three, okay?"

"Okay.... W-Wait, what?"

"One..."

"Wait."

"Two..."

"I'm sorry but that thing looks scary . Can't you see the size of that thing?"

"Three!"

"Ah, whatever. Let's just go."

I don't know if it is because of the sword, but I suddenly start to feel a surge of energy. My shortness of breath instantly vanished, and I somehow feel a lot stronger than before. I'm guessing the duplicate he gave me is imbued with magic. I also feel a lot more confident. In fact, I think I might be able to take that beast down. The wind felt cold as I rush towards the fray and struck a mighty blow against the creature.

"No! You've got it all wrong! Stop!" he screams. I turn my head to my left and see the same patterned helmet looking at me impassively while blocking one of the raider's attempted swipe. Judging from his voice, I can sense he was discontented.

"You're barking on the wrong tree!"

...

I look at him. Then back at the wolf. Then back at him. Then back at the wolf. With one of the heads still growling at me, it swings its also twin-headed axe to the right and swats a handful of the goons foolish enough to be in its vicinity. The strike was so strong that it basically cleaved the unfortunate ones in half. Remind me not to mess with that thing ever again.

"Hey!" he shouted.

"What?"

"We're in a fight. Focus."

"I know we are, but why though?"

"In case you didn't get the hint ; We're getting robbed."

"We aren't. I followed you and you just went around and started hitting people all of the sudden."

"It's.. uhh..You don't get the point. I have my...uhh, products stored in that thing."

"…. What?"

"Just shut up and fight. Remember. Two head doggie. Good. Everyone else. Bad. Got it?"

"R-Right." I was about to turn around when I suddenly felt a yank from behind, but I easily got free by squirming my way through. The robed men stood there with a hunched stance and their curved blades drawn like predators, waiting for the perfect time to strike. Judging from their eyes, I can already tell that this isn't going to end well.