Staying for an hour, I kept them company. After spending that long, it was time to go back home. They smiled and waved goodbye. Rook, Knight, Uri and Ras got to see all over the valley on this trip. Walking over to the shrine to the Osna river god, I said hello to the hermit living there. He was standing in the river. "Hello! Come to hear more about the valley?" I shrugged. A new question then popped into my head. I pointed to the other side of the river bank. "Why are there no villages on the other side of the river? All of them are on this side of the river." I asked. He frowned at me. "There are demons on the other side of the river. They can't pass the running water. Our gods keep us safe over here." he said. I walked over to the river bank and looked across. I did not see anything. I just stepped in the river and my feet started to burn. I hopped back in pain. My health went down as well. "Ow! What the hell was that shit!?" I said in disbelief. "Looks like you have a bit of demon in you too." the hermit said nonchalantly. "I am a Blade Spirit." I said. "I like you. You want to cross?"
The ability to cross over could be useful to us. Getting access to new enemies would be great. Blade Spirits get stronger with each kill. He came over to me and said "All rivers are meant to be crossed, boy." Leading me to his hut, he showed my a small canoe. "It's a way to cross. I am the one who answer the call of the god of the river. If he should tell me to cross, I will cross. If I am told to bring those demons here as a punishment, I will." he said in a deathly serious voice. That was concerning. It would be best not to antagonize the river god or try to stop people from worshipping him. He put the boat in the water. It was attached to a rope. He held it as I rowed over to the other side. It really was not that deep seeing as he was up to his knees in the dead center of the river. It was still pretty wide. It took 5 minutes of rowing to get to the other side. He was in the center of the river. I got out. I waved and he pulled the boat towards him. Walking around, I heard something coming in towards me. I ducked and a spear passed where my head had been. I looked to where it came.
Usually, I would have jumped into action. These were enemies. It appeared that they were red oni. They had a big aggro range and they were instantly hostile to me. We were in for a fight. I was not going to back down from this challenge. It would be cowardly. "Looks like it's time to kill. Rook, Knight, Uri, Ras." I said. They appeared besides me and the servants ran over to kill the oni. I looked around for others. Several more were coming for us. I brought my Kusarigama to my hands and got ready. I saw the loved to launch the spears. It was something that packed a punch if it hit. We spent hours killing the enemies. Rook, Knight and I were doing well, but it looked like it was a bit too high of a bar to set for Uri and Ras's first encounters in the field. Their durability was not on the same level as the others. I rushed over and told them to let me wield them. They agreed and appeared in my hands. I ran at the nearest red oni and combat rolled into his guard. He was not prepared for a flurry of stabs. The oni did not stop coming. It was an infestation. With 25 kills, they evolved.
