10 minutes later, I noticed that Ahu was missing at their shrines. That was clearly not good. I asked Droa if he noticed something. He took mortal form. "I was trying to tell you about it this whole time! Our connection was weak because you've been rejecting our bonds. He was lost as soon as you bumped into that man at the gate." I knew that could only mean one thing. Ahu had been stolen by a local bandit. It was clever. They could not be seen by a human unless in weapon form. Reaching 25 kills meant they evolved, so they were even more visible to the human eye. That bandit probably had intel on me. Really, there was no way that he would know to rob a weapon from me unless he knew that the dagger was valuable. People clearly wanted the weapons for themselves. It was even better now that they were holy weapons. I needed to find Ahu and fast. Ahu might have evolved, but things were not favorable for a single spirit in this town. I looked at Droa. "You stay here and keep a look out for Ahu if he comes back. He is a holy weapon. Ahu could just walk back home." I said.
2 days after that, I found that thief in a tavern. He was clenching onto Ahu tight. It looked like he was in a bit of pain. "What the fuck is the matter with you?" I demanded. I wanted to get Ahu back, but things looked complicated at the moment. He did not look up. All that he did was groan. When he could answer, he said "The voices. It won't fucking stop!" he spat bitterly. "Really now? What's the voice saying?" I asked him. I already knew that it was Ahu he was hearing. Ahu did not accept the thief as a chosen champion. Why the man refused to let go was a mystery. "He's a massive bitch. Throwing all my worst moments in my face. Calling me a coward for running. It's not like I could just turn into a super sword and kill everything in my way back then." he muttered. "If you hate their voice so much, why don't you just let go of the dagger now? I promise the voices will stop." I said. He slowly looked up at me. I could tell from the lack of focus that he was too drunk to even see me. "For the first time in my life, I actually have something valuable." he whispered. "Ahu, come home."
Looking at the state of affairs, it might be coming close to the time where I could leave the valley. If I was the leader, I could take my family and my servant's families. The amount of saints moving together would be amazing to see. Darrien could come along with his family, or he could use one of the unawaken kusarigama. Maybe one of the 4 weapons would take him as a champion when they all woke up as clones of me. It was fun playing in this area, but it was small and there really was nowhere to go for advancement. The valley was all that there was. Enemies on both sides would come and whittle down the defenses. Eventually, one nation from the mountains would win the wars. With the demon infestation, they would not be able to spread out across the river and become cities. There was an Adventurer's Guild here, but there was nothing to do until now. Exterminating red oni would only be done by the most hardcore members. Being worshipped was cool but, once again, there was no real way to spread it. Someone would need to go out and tell some others about me.
