Chương 18: Demon Blade

'The Rising...'

"Cath... Is that you?"

Davi's eyes went wide for a second as he turned to look at the old man. "Wait you know Jakey? You called him Cath?"

"So Cath was the pet you said you found..." Mer asked raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah? I found him in a lake."

"I see... 'She' must have been trying to find you..."

"She? Jakey's a girl!" Davi asked with wide eyes. He picked up the Oddity Beast and looked it over with wide eyes.

"I had thought as much when I saw the aura around you..." Mer nodded. "So... Orion... This is the boy you told me about isn't it... The son of 'that' woman..."

"Did you say something?" Davi asked turning back.

"Indeed... Just an old man rumbling." Mer let out a small hum as he stared at the Oddity Beast. "Davi... I must ask you. Please allow me to have Cath. I have some unfinished business and I require her to do it."

"What unfinished business are you talking about? What was with that group? What's going on?" Davi asked backing up slightly. "I'm getting so confused!"

"Tell me Davi... How much of the History of our world do you know..."

"Only a bit about the stuff my sister tells me?" She can't leave the island so she wants to know everything she can about the outside world and has told me loads of weird facts about it."

"I see... Have you ever heard of the Black Beast?"

"Sorry no... Never heard of that... I've heard the stories of the Great Dragons, who all went extinct in the Dragon Hunts, when King Arthur slayed the last one, but I've never heard of a Black Beast?"

Mer nodded his head. "I figured as much..." He let out a small hum as he seemed to think for a second. "You're already going to be targeted for attacking a member of Dragon Dwellers so I suppose I can tell you the story of King Arthur... It's an old tale. Goes back nearly four hundred years ago before the Four Great Kingdoms, or the Guilds, even existed. Back then a terrible and evil dragon roamed the land. The Black Beast, a foul evil beast that brought death and Sin with it. He had seven dark warriors each holding a Sin. The Seven Sins along with the beast nearly ended the world... But a Hero rose up... A Hero known as Arthur Pendragon. Using the blade Excalibur he split the mighty beast in two and banished its upper half... But humans are greedy as they say... Lancelot, the loyal knight of Artur grew greedy... He didn't like one man wielding such a mighty weapon so a new sword was formed out of the remains of the Black Beast. This blade was known as the Devil Sword, or Joyeaux as some people call it. A powerful sword that rivaled Excalibur itself, wielded by the Knight of darkness, Lancelot, forged from the lower half of the Black Beast, along with nine other rare parts and enchanted with the magic of the Five Dragons... This blade was truly mighty. However in the final battle even as he had been run through by the Joyeaux blade, King Arthur used all of his might and split the Sword into ten separate swords of darkness... The Ten Demon Blades... The Enforcer Stones!"

"The Enforcer Stones... Ten swords..." Davi reached into his pocket and pulled out a small purple rock. "Would they happen to be like one of these things?"

"You have a Enforcer Stone!" Mer said in an excited voice. "Amazing! It's been so long since I've seen more than one of them!" He showed Davi his necklace which also had a stone in it this one having a black 'Two' painted on it. "These stones are strong, but together they are Godly. The Organization known as Dragons Dwellers, is a massive group that exist within the Kingdom of Avalon, and Alnwick. They seek to revive the Black Beast and we believe that the only way to stop this from happening is to find all ten stones. For the past four hundred and thirty two years, I have walked these lands collecting stones. I am a Finder, someone able to wield the power of the ten Demon Blades. I must gather all ten stones together and find a way to forge the Devil Blade and get my wish granted."

"Wish granted?"

"Yes. It is said that when a Finder finds all ten stones and crafts the Devil Sword their wish shall be granted."

"Any... Wish..." Davi asked his eyes lighting up.

"Indeed... That was what led to my apprentice tricking me... You see several years ago, likely when you were a baby I came back to this island as I heard rumor's of a powerful Finder... I took that person under my wing making them my apprentice, I'm getting older so I need someone to take over my job and find the ten stones. I had six Devil Stones at the time, and Cath... Cath is a magical Oddity Beast, said to have served King Lancelot. She somehow has a knack for smelling the stones out... During this time though I had been in possession of her, however my apprentice stole her, as well as five of my Devil Stones. Using all my magic, I managed to send three of the five they stole, across the world once more... Sadly though they managed to get two of the strongest stones..."

"You called them a Finder? A find to what?" Davi asked.

"A Finder to Destiny. You see normally a person can't use a Devil Stone. It requires a tremendous will... One of our saving graces, as that rule has stopped Dragon Dwellers from simply collecting them all and wielding the power themselves... So no one can even wield a Demon Blade as it will simply turn into a rock, hence why you're holding just a rock and not a sword. But a Finder is something else. A Finder is a strong soul, able to wield the stones. We are chosen by Destiny, itself to seek them out and save the world... We as Finder's seek all ten stones so that we may recreate the Devil Blade and use its mighty power to forever seal the Black Dragon... There can only be three Finders ever in the world. I am one, my apprentice is one. I don't know who the third one is but they exist out there somewhere in this world. I beg of you Davi! Please allow me to have Cath back, as well as that stone."

"Wait is all of this even real? You sure you aren't just some crazy old man?" Davi asked raising an eyebrow. "You came to get Cath and this stone?"

"I'm certain it's real... I was there after all... And for your second question... No. I came to look for clues as to the whereabouts of a man... A man known as... Well his name doesn't matter. What does matter... He used to live on this Island... I was hoping I could find out where he would have gone as I had a question for him."

Davi gave a large grin. "Well alright then. You can have my cool rock, and Jakey. Or err... Cath I guess. What an odd name..."

"Really?"

"Truth is my big sister doesn't really like Jakey- Err... Cath, and also I don't know how to use a sword anyways. I have no intention of leaving the island and fighting. Honestly I was trying to sell this rock before I bumped into you!" Davi laughed sheepishly. "And you seem like a nice enough guy. At least that guy who was after you was a jerk, so compared to him you seem good. So sure. I'll help out a friend."

"A... Friend... I haven't heard those words in so long..." Mer said allowing a sigh to escape his lips. "Thank you Davi... That means-" Mer fired forward wrapping his arms around Davi and jumping into the air as the ground underneath them exploded in a hail of rocks as a blast hit it. Mer crashed back down a serious look on his face as Davi stared with wide eyes.

"What was that!" Davi asked.

"Damn it! I forgot about him..." Mer cursed. Standing in the forest the wind still twisting around him, the man who attacked them earlier stood. He had a large grin on his face as he stared down at them both. "Curse my fading mind!"

"That jerk again..."

The man gave another smirk as he held his gun up. "You can call me Eind. Vice Reserve Member of Dragon Dwellers, Third Squad." He said his smirk growing. "I was asked by Kuro to ask you to hand over the cat, and for you to throw those stones you have into the water as well as telling us where 'he' is. You came to this island to find him to right? So you must have an idea of where 'he' is?"

Mer bowed his head for a second. "Watch closely Davi... I'm going to show you that in the end, Dragon Dwellers are nothing but a bunch of school kid bullies trying to have their way." He raised his stone up as it glowed. "Blast Calibur!" He announced as the stone morphed into a large curved great sword a wave of explosions coming out of it. "This is the second Devil Stone. The Demon Blade Blast Calibur. This sword was forged from the throat of the black beast and sends out a destructive wave of explosions with every strike."

"Whoa... Far out..." Davi said with wide eyes.

Mer flipped his sunglasses off as he fired forward towards the man shocking Eind, and Davi, by how fast he was able to move. Mer slammed the blunt end of his sword into Eind sending the man through a tree. "Even in my old body, I can enhance it even further through the use of my own bodies energy, your gun has nothing on pure hard work, and training! Now get ready to face the full power of my blade! Explosive Barrage!" He sliced the sword out sending out a huge explosion through the forest.

Eind's eyes went wide as he reached into his robes pulling out a scroll, an item which would have a spell built into it, but was a one time use. He opened it up slamming it down. "Gale Force Magic. Wind Barrier." A massive tornado rose up just in time forming some kind of wind shield as the blast slammed into it. The force of the explosion was huge rocking the forest and sending Davi flying back, as he and Cath let out identical cries of panic. Davi managed to catch himself on a tree as he looked up with wide eyes.

"Whoa... They're both really strong... But Mer... He's something else. It's like he isn't even trying!"

Mer jumped through the air his blasts, which all exploded out of his sword, sending him flying, as he jumped from tree to tree. He came crashing down in front of Eind slamming his sword into the mans head and sending him crashing back. Eind came to a rolling stop and looked up just into time to see the blunt end of Mer's sword slamming into the face and cracking his nose and jaw making him howl in pain as he collapsed back.

"Give up Dragons Dweller." Mer announced pointing his sword at Eind. "You small fries don't compare to me."

Eind's twisted jaw formed a dark grin for a moment as he raised his gun up once more.

"Don't try it." Mer said shaking his head. "I can dodge anything you throw at me."

"But can he?"

"What-"

Eind's arm came out as he send the powerful blast out, straight at Davi who watched it fly towards him. 'Oh...' Davi thought as he watched it spin at him. 'I'm dead-'

Mer threw himself in front of Davi appearing between them in a flash only having enough time to push Davi down as the beam slammed into his back ripping its way through him and blasting a hole through his chest as his eyes went wide. Davi stared in shock as the blood flowed down his chest and his curved sword once again reverted into a marble. He collapsed face first on the ground not moving...

"M... Mer..." Davi asked. Cath let out a small whimper as Eind stood up laughing.

Eind's foot came out as he slammed it into Mer's side over and over again, kicking him while he was down. "Hero's are always so easy to trick like that. I barley even have to try. And what luck! We came to this island to find the Heir, and we not only found that damn cat, and I even got rid of Mer! This old bastard has been a pain in our sides for so long! Kuro is gonna reward me so well for this!" He laughed. "So well-"

"You..." Eind stopped as he felt an intense aura for a moment and he looked up seeing Davi. "You bastard! My sister, taught me to protect the elderly! The only time it's okay to hit them is when you're sparing with them!"

"Oh right you're here." Eind smirked. "I guess I should take you out and-"

A Purple glow suddenly exploded out of Davi's pocket for a second stopping Davi's rage for a moment as he stared down at the stone with wide eyes. The glowing got brighter and brighter as he reached out to it, and the entire stone exploded into a massive glowing sword. A large claymore that Davi held in his hands staring at it with wide eyes. He felt his body burn for a second as the mana from the sword coursed through Davi's body making him yell out in pain as it coursed through his veins and muscles which seemed to almost light up for a second. His arms shook as he gripped the blade tightly and gritted his teeth. He could feel the mana coursing through him, and burning through his body and mind as the blade seemed to connect to him on another level.

"Your name is... Long Calibur?" Davi shook his head as a large shark tooth smile came across his face.

"What!" Einds stepped back with wide eyes. "You're a Finder as well? But that doesn't make any sense? The third one should be Orion! Don't tell me... Orion was tricking us and leading us away from the real third Finder to keep you safe-"

Davi stepped forward letting out a loud yell as he slammed the sword down, the blade somehow growing in size as it seemed to morph making Eind's eyes go wide. "Batter Up!" Davi pressed down with all his might as the sword slammed into the top of Eind's skull so hard all the teeth in the mans jaws shattered when they slammed together. Eind's slowly fell back hitting the ground blood trickling down his head.

Davi breathed heavily for a second staring at his sword and his shaking hands. Finally he shook his head as the blade glowed and morphed back into a simple purple stone. He turned his body and stared at the downed Mer. The old man was breathing heavily as he slowly looked up at Davi with a weak look.

"Davi Hawker huh... I guess you would be strong..."