2 The Bladeless Hilt

~ About 12 hours earlier~

Inside a diner, Meg put a map on the table where Shin and Legend were sitting. After pointing at a location on the map with his beak, he said:

Meg: This used to be the fortress of a powerful warlord called Gowzer. He was a Beastmaster, meaning he could control monsters. He hoarded a tremendous amount of riches and all sorts of treasures. Among that treasure is our mark... The ruby-black hilt. It's just a hilt with no blade, but immensely valuable. As payment, you can take any other thing of value you find in the castle. It will be dangerous though. It's been abandoned for decades, so naturally, there are many monsters nesting there. But it'll definitely be worth your while. So... what do you think? Will you take the job?

Shin: Do you mind explaining to me a few things? First: how is it you can talk? I thought you were just a pigeon… Second: Why in the universe would a bird or whatever it is you are, need with a bladeless hilt?

Meg started looking really irritated with Shin's questions…

Meg: Careful with what comes out of that mouth of yours if you don't want me to shut it permanently, bub…

Shin was a little surprised at his extremely aggressive response. He didn't want to keep on antagonizing the peculiar bird.

Shin: Forget that I asked… I'm bored. So yeah... I'll go. What do you think, runt?

Legend: Sounds to me like a good chance for more training! After completing my martial arts studies, I need to fine-tune them fast, so I can be a full-time bounty hunter!

Legend just seemed to be really excited for the chance to do something with his skills. It was a little odd that a pigeon would be relying on a shady-looking ninja and a child for such a dangerous mission, though.

Meg: Then we have an agreement. Get ready. We raid the castle at dawn.

~ Now ~

Jonas (now Legend) came to. Upon waking up, there was a really strange feeling in him. He knew who Legend was... Not just knew... He remembered. He knew he had learned martial arts techniques with Zarbin, the greatest martial artist in the world. He remembered why he went to the castle. But he also knew that something was different... A strange type of adjustment seemed to have occurred while he was out cold.

Legend: Guys... What happened? My head hurts... Were we attacked? - he said holding his head and wincing in pain.

Shin: Welcome back to the world of the living, runt! Are you OK? You were acting pretty weird a moment ago... Saying some pretty outlandish stuff!

As Shin was talking, Meg was thinking to himself {So... Integration is not complete... It seems there's a high dominance of the host dimension... With me was the opposite... My jump worked pretty well back then, except for a bit of memory loss in the process...}.

While Meg was thinking about these things, a few quadruped monsters tried to sneak up on them.

Meg: We have company!

Shin: Welcome to the party!

Shin dodged the monster's attack and dispatched it with one blow. He expertly used his kodachi to pierce it in its vital point. Legend, on the other hand, managed to dodge the monster's onslaught (though less gracefully), and used a quick counter move that concentrated his focus to make a few punches amplify their number and thus their damage. The name of this technique was...

Legend: One thousand punch barrage!

The monster couldn't withstand the force of the blows and was K. O'ed.

Meg then flew and landed on Legend's head, but slipped onto his shoulder by accident. He tried acting naturally... (Meg had one good leg. The other one was missing all his toes. No one knows how it happened, but it just made walking always an awkward exercise for him).

Meg: Hurry... If we stay too long, we could be cornered by more monsters than we could handle.

Shin: Funny how you say we when you actually mean Legend and me. Could you even survive if we weren't here?

Meg: I did ask for your assistance, didn't I?

Meg flew onward (as if he knew where he was going) and the others followed. They later arrived at a chamber filled with statues in strange poses. Men... Beastmen... Even a few monsters. The statues were laid out randomly in such a way that it seemed as if they were all holding something in one of their hands, which was a strange detail that Shin happened to notice. But all of their hands were empty.

Shin: I found something. Over here. Isn't this the—

Meg: DON'T TOUCH IT!!!!

Meg's almost desperate warning was rather unexpected and startling. Upon connecting the dots, Shin believed he knew what the object he found casually lying on the floor was.

Shin: You knew it was in this exact chamber, didn't you? Care to explain how?

Legend was a little behind. He didn't run as quickly as Shin did, so he didn't catch Meg's warning about the object lying on the floor. He entered the chamber while Meg and Shin were still talking and saw an object that had a strange pull… it had his attention in such a way that you could almost say was magical.

Legend: Is this it?

Legend picked up the bladeless hilt off the ground. It looked different, but nothing too special. There was a nice-looking ruby at the base of the handle. Legend tried to detach it for a moment, but it was put together really well.

When he saw that Legend had picked it up, Shin was shocked; expecting something awful to happen. But after waiting for a while, nothing out of the ordinary seemed to occur.

Legend: So this is what all the fuss was about, huh?

Shin: What happened to DON'T TOUCH IT? - Shin quipped at Meg trying to mimic the way how he spoke.

Meg: It doesn't matter now. We have what we came for. Let's make a hasty retreat! Legend! I trust you will keep the hilt safe!

Legend: Sure thing!

As Legend was heading for the exit of the chamber with the hilt in his hand, Shin quickly stood in his way to block the exit.

Shin: I'm afraid I'm not quite ready to leave yet, feathered chum. You promised us treasure... But so far all we've gotten's been a bad deal. So let me hold on to this h—

While Shin was speaking, he took the hilt from Legend's hand. About two seconds later, he became a stone statue... just like the ones the area was filled with.

Legend: Shin!!! Meg! We're being attacked! I don't see the enemy!

The hilt fell on the ground after Shin had turned to stone. But Legend thought this was the work of an unseen monster. Sure, there were monsters capable of petrifying their victims, but they were quite rare.

Legend rushed to the hilt, picked it up with his right hand, grabbed Meg in his other hand, and quickly ran away to safety.

Meg: That idiot! I warned him!

Legend: What are you talking about? Hey... I think the coast is clear. Is there anything we can do for him, Meg? There has to be a way to heal him, right?

Meg: I'm afraid not... Anti-petrification potions won't work in this case. What Shin has suffered is a type of curse that cannot be broken. He's gone now. 

Legend: But... - Legend was with tears in his eyes - ... but I can't just leave him! I've been on like three adventures with him... this was the fourth one... when I was in danger he always saved me! He never left me behind... What kind of a friend would I be if I didn't even try to help him?

Meg: I'm sorry, Legend... but there's nothing either of us can do for him. We must leave now before nightfall arrives and we end up pinned down by an army of monsters. Do you think he would want you to die here? He would have at least wanted you to survive!

Despite being reluctant to leave at first, Meg managed to convince him that it was their only option.

On their way out, an even bigger quadruped monster was in their way. Because Legend was so distracted thinking about his friend Shin, he wasn't alert enough to realize that this monster was faster than the ones they faced before. When the monster dodged one of Legend's attacks, it countered by slamming him to the ground. Meg was watching everything flying high up in the air scraping the ceiling. Meg thought that Legend had been crushed since he was under that monster's massive paw and there were cracks all around it on the floor. 

But after a tense-filled moment, Legend pushed the monster's paw away making it lose balance. While it was attempting to regain its footing, Legend used a really formidable skill...

Legend: Secret fist of the dragon! 

Legend burst a hole through the monster's chest as he rose through the air with his fist lifted up. Meg was completely speechless.

Meg: I... I can't believe it... You're only a child... how are you so strong?

Legend: How is it you can talk? See? There are tons of mysteries in the world... We just have to live with them.

The way how Legend answered was filled with bitterness and grief. But despite the heavy hit he suffered, he seemed to be with no serious injury.

They found their way out of the fortress after that with what Legend thought was only a pricey hilt missing a blade. He hadn't realized that Meg had willfully omitted several key details of the story.