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// Lets Get Down To Business 
// Story: Cursed Reliquary 
// by Khanathara 
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I woke with a groan, surprisingly more comfortable than I probably should be in a bed. Bringing my hand to my face to rub the sleep out of my eyes I froze at what I felt.

From what I could tell my hand seemed to be mostly the same with some small differences. My face, however, was fuzzy and I could feel a muzzle. I pulled my hand from my face and slowly opened my eyes to see that it looked like a cross between a hand and a cat paw. Turning my hand I saw it was covered in a deep black fur, and apon closer inspection had shades of grey and violet just barely lighter than the black.

I sat up in the bed scratching the back of my head and accidentally discovering why cats loved being scratched behind the ear. Looking around the room I saw a vanity and two doors, one likely how one would enter or leave and the other probably a closet. Deciding to get a closer look at my self in the vanity mirror I stood and immediately stopped at an odd feeling. Looking down I saw that aside from some bandages wrapped around my chest and shoulders I was completely naked but covered in fur so I guess it's not to bad, I considered raiding the closet for clothes but that seemed like it would be rude to whoever bandaged me up.

Making my way over to the vanity I looked at myself and was almost entirely captivated by my eyes. They were green and cat like, but were also glowing and kept bringing my attention to them. 

My attention was then stolen away by a muffled shouting that got louder until the door on the opposite side of the room opened. "...eah I hear ya ma. I'm checkin' on 'm now!" And through the door came what looked like an anthro bird. "Oh, yer awake. Ma the Abyssinian's awake!" 'Abyssinian?'

" 'ight, I'll be t'ere when 'm done!" Someone said from out the door somewhere

"See somthin' ya like?" The bird asked as I had been taking in her(I think it's a her) appearance. I would guess that she's around my height and was wearing what looked like old fashion farming clothes, like those that the Amish wear only without the head wear. My confusion, however, came from the fact that the clothes were the type you would normally see a male wear but the voice was more feminine.

"Uh, my apologies. I was simply confused as to where I am and how I got here." I said with fading hope that everything since I had woke up last time had been a dream.

"Well we c'n tell ya w'ere ya are, but we was hoppin' ya would tell us 'ow ya got 'ere." The owner of the voice that was previously out of the room said as she walked in, wearing similar garb only it was the traditional female style still without any headdress and wiping her hands down with a hand towel. "Yer on tah Tri-Kingdom Border as it's known locally. Otherwise known as tah borders of the Griffin Empire, the Abyssinrian Kingdom, an' the Auran Federation. Yer turn ta tell how an' why ya was fallin' out the sky when ya got no wings. Ah' know some ya Abyssinrian's can do magic but Ah' don' see tah benefit of fallin' from the sky like that."

'Okay, a half truth should get me through this just fine... hopefully.' "I am a merchant, one of my customers didn't seem to like the product I sold him. Or he liked it a little to much, I couldn't really tell."

"Well, considerin' how far ya fell ya should consider yerself lucky that those bandages are all ya need." The first to enter and younger of the two said, having slightly less of an accent compared to her mother.

"Yes, it was most likely my cloak that saved me. Where is it, if you don't mind me asking." I didn't mean to say that, why did I say that?

"Its hangin' out in the Livin' Room." The mother said. "Come on, ya look well 'nough tah eat."

I followed them out to a dining area and saw what I'm going to assume is the father of the family walking into the house. "E'eryone hunker down, bandits 're raidin' teh town" After he had spoke we could hear the beginnings of conflict outside.

I saw my cloak next to the door and ran to grab it before I joined them in the back rooms of the house. CRACK! "AH SAW SOME'NE ENTER 'ERE! SEARCH TEH 'OUSE!"

In the corner of the room I saw the father grab two arming sword's and then tossed one to me. " 'elp me defend mah family an' teh debt fer savin' yer hide's repaid."

I took the blade from him and instinctively reached into the back of my cloak, grabbed something, and handed it to him. "Here, use this." As I said that I saw that I had pulled out a sword that I immediately recognized, The Murasame from Akame Ga Kill. "It is a powerful weapon of my own creation, use it carefully."

He cautiously took it from me and handed the other arming sword to his wife. "Tis nice Abyssinian blade, bu' what makes it so 'owerful?"

My answer was simple as the bandits smashed through the door. "Magic." 

The three of us unsheathed our respective blades and the fight started. The father charged immediately and got two of them with a slash that would have divided the two to four if they hadn't stepped back. But I knew that they were already out of the fight because there was a trial of blood on the front of both there abdomens. The father was getting ready to attack again when the bandits had markings wrap around the exposed parts of their body's and they fell over dead.

The bandits behind those two took a confused and terrified step back while the father stared at the now black blade with wonder. I decided to take advantage of the pause to speak and hopefully scare them off. "That blade he wields is one of my best creations." Everyone's attention is on me, good. "The single tiniest cut from it will kill any being with a heart, but will kill any that it deems unworthy of its power. Unless you are really good at dodging I suggest running."

Several of the bandits took off like a bat out of hell while others stood there as if weighing there odds in surviving. The father looked at me with an expression of shock but swiftly shook it off and readied himself for more conflict. 

I on the other hand decided to take the chance to see if I could use any magic from the game and was pleasantly surprised when a chakram made of electricity formed in my hand, or more precisely, a Volt Disc appered in my hand and got everyone's attention once more.

"Fok this." A bandit who looked like he was incharge said before he turned and ran, the others following with him.

"Alrigh' t'eir gone fer now, what was t'at ya said 'bout t'is t'ing killing its wielders." He questioned me pointing the blade in my direction.

"Simple, I lied. If I had merely stated that it could kill with the tiniest cut they would have continued to fight us for it, but by adding the 'it kills those it deems unworthy' part it made them question if they even could use it without dying anyway. It made the fight seem pointless if they couldn't even use it themselves."

"Now, you can choose to help the rest of the town or hunker down here til the raid passes. I will be doing the latter myself." I added as I went and sat down on the bed.

" 'ine. Grenda, Gabby, stay 'ere an 'eep a eye on t'is one. Ah'm gonna 'elp teh town." And with that he left.



It was nearly a full hour before the sounds of conflict ended and someone I didn't recognize walk in and gathered us.

"T'ere 'e is." The voice of the still unnamed father said, drawing my attention to see that he seemed to be talking to two of the town officials. From appearance I would guess the mayor and guard/militia captain. The one that had come to grab us directed me to them.

"So, the stranger you saved is the one that gave you that blade." The Mayor looking guy said, unlike the father he had no wings but still looked like a humanoid bird. "Do you have anything else like this."

"Yes, I do. It would not be free however, as I only gave him the blade for free as thanks." I responded once more saying something I didn't mean to.

"None of the countries claim this land as their's so they don't interfere when bandits raid. We will pay for what we can, we need it to survive." The guard guy said, or more precisely the cat guard girl said.

"Very well then. Would you like weapons, armor, clothes, tools, or simple every day items." I asked. "Though I will warn you, I don't make normal magic items."

"What do you mean?"

"I suffer from a curse, anything I make is cursed in some way. Whatever benefit they provide is countered by an equally powerful draw back. The Murasame, for example, kills any it cuts long as they have a heart. That includes if the wielder accidentally cuts themself when cleaning it or is careless while practicing with it." I explained to them.

"So there will always be a draw back? Fine, we can deal overcome that for the advantage they give. What do we need to pay with?" The mayor asked.

"If you say so, I accept any form of payment. Money of any kind, tools and ingredients to make more items, an arm, leg, soul, or if necessary your first born."

"What can Nox The Unfortunate get for you?"