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“Go!” I turned the horse and kicked him, moving quickly to a gallop.
A twenty-foot-tall creature made of shadows was not something I was familiar with in any of my memories.
Thump! Thump!
The creature was chasing after me, and countless memories told me that he was gaining quickly. Even a horse quick like this guy couldn’t outperform such a long stride.
“Steady!” I ordered, navigating him to run close by a dead tree.
As we passed, I reached out and grabbed a weak-looking branch. It cracked under our speed, and I pulled it free in mid-gallop. The feel of the wood in my palm felt familiar. I swirled it in my hands twice, glancing over my shoulder. The shadow creature was right on top of us. It was crouching forward, its hand outstretched as if it wanted to grab the horse and me together.
“Run back to the stable!” I gave the horse an order.
They said that when animals and humans worked together, they could understand each other. The horse gave a snort of breath that told me that he understood. He was much faster than me. Between the two of us, he could make it back to the stable, and if he returned without his rider, the stable master would realize something was wrong and go looking for me. I just had to survive and keep the creature busy.
With a roar, I kicked up onto the horse’s back, turned, and then pushed off. I flew into the air toward the shadow creature with an outstretched hand. I held the stick like it was a weapon, putting all of the skill I had from countless scrambled memories into a single strike. Many of my memories included lessons with the sword, and many of those included the idea that any item could be a weapon with the right skill. Of course, that was usually said as a joke. The powerful swordsman who was defeated by the boy with the stick was a common tale given as a cautionary to anyone who would underestimate their opponent.
I wasn’t underestimating my opponent. How could I underestimate a twenty-foot monster? All I could do was try to strike it enough that it reeled back for a moment, and then try to escape on foot. I didn’t have the speed of the horse, but I was counting on the horse not having the agility I did. This monster seemed rather sluggish with its reactions, so I hoped to be able to avoid it as long as I moved unpredictably enough.
As I came down on the creature’s wrist, I felt a surge of strength in me. It started as a burning desire within my gut, but it erupted out to my extremities. A moment before the stick struck, I felt a power surge through my hands and into it, and the stick started to glow. In a single slice, the stick hit the creature’s wrist and kept going. I did as well, completely caught off guard.
Still in full motion of a horse galloping, I hit the ground hard. I immediately did a rough tumble across the dirt. I caught myself through skills hidden deep within my memories and skidded to a stop twenty feet away from the creature. It was grasping its wrist, the hand it had once had was on the ground, dissolving into the air as it had never been. The creature let out a furious roar, glaring at me. Reaching out with its free hand, it started to charge me again.
I didn’t run this time. I wasn’t sure what had happened, but I had somehow damaged the creature with the stick. If I attacked again, I might be able to take its other hand. Getting into a drawing stance with the sword pressed against my side, I waited to strike. Just as its hand was about close enough, I heard a shout.
“Stop that! Leave him alone!”
The voice came from a young woman of marriageable age who was running toward us. I felt a moment of panic. I had sent the horse away to keep it safe. Although I had a few tricks from those memories, I neither had the body nor the endurance to keep her safe. I had only managed to get this far on luck. I had no delusions that I was some kind of sword genius just because I had a couple of memories. I had just as many memories of people who were bad at the sword or died against their better as I did of accomplished swordsmen.
“Arrooo…” The creature turned to the woman and winced, letting out an aggrieved noise.
“Don’t you fib to me! I saw what happened. Just because you see something run, doesn’t mean you chase it!” She admonished, her hands on her hips.
She was a pretty girl with an apron and a handkerchief holding her hair back. She looked finely dressed, so I assumed she had to be someone who worked under the Augustus family. However, I couldn’t seem to remember ever seeing anyone like her before. She was quite a few years older than my current form, and I might have once thought of her as one of the adults who were there to ruin my fun, but my memories came from all ages, making it difficult for me to see her as anything but a young girl in my current mindset.
“This creature is yours?” I asked.
“Who are you calling creature?” She gave me a sharp look. “Mr. Shadow is my familiar.”
“Mr. Shadow?” I looked up at the massive creature that towered over everything except the trees.
Her face turned slightly red. “I was younger when I named him, and he won’t agree to change it now that I’m old enough to have some sense.”
“I see…” I looked at the monster hesitantly, my eyes specifically wondering at his missing hand.
Even my memories from this world never imagined a familiar such as this.
“You don’t need to worry about that, it’ll grow back.” She returned her gaze to me with an unhappy expression. “Besides, I’m the one asking questions here. Why are you in my orchard cutting up my precious familiar? If you’ve come here to steal or have other negative attention, you can excuse me if I’m no longer polite!”
As she spoke, Mr. Shadow next to her shifted his weight, looking down at me menacingly like he had no other desire than to crush me into a pulp.
“Your orchard? I asked, dropping the stick and holding my hands up defensively. “I apologize, I thought we were on the Augustus estate.”
She grew flustered for the second time. “Ah, it is the Augustus estate, but for various reasons they allow me to have this orchard. Do you work for them?”
“I do… I’m one of the stable hands. I was just taking one of the horses out for a ride. I didn’t realize that there were parts of the estate that were private access.”
She narrowed her eyes. “Are you speaking the truth? Their estate is large and full of many dangerous areas. When you were hired, Madame Augustus should have walked you through the areas you couldn’t enter.”
I couldn’t help but make an awkward laugh. It was even worse than she had managed. I had spent my life living just a short ride from here, but my memories were practically clueless when it came to anything too far outside the sight of the mansion. I only could find a single memory, a vague impression of the kids sneaking out to this orchard to steal fruit.
Margaretta and Nile had convinced Catelyn to go, and the only reason I went was because I was afraid Catelyn would get hurt. I had never trusted the other two to have her best interests at heart or to keep her safe. They had sneaked around like they were doing something bad and afraid of getting caught. I even remember Nile vividly warning us that we should stay in the moonlight, or else the shadows would get us. I thought he was just trying to scare the girls, but perhaps there was more truth to it than I thought.
Either way, it was clear that my former self wasn’t just lazy and uncultured, but lacked even a little bit of curiosity for adventure. Half of my memories seemed to come from the adventurous sort, and I found myself interested in seeing a map of the Augustus estate and what it held. The young woman was still waiting for an answer, so I gave a helpless shrug.
“I just started today. I haven’t had a chance to read the employee handbook.” I made up.
Thuddump. Tuddump. Thuddump!
A black horse was racing toward us. He was growing harder and harder to see as the sun began to set, as was Mr. Shadow. Although he approached, the horse stopped a good distance away from the monster and then snorted, giving me a look as if to say this was as close as he was willing to get. Given the time that had passed, he hadn’t run to the stable and must have just doubled back when he stopped hearing the sound of fighting.
“That horse…” The woman’s look turned contemplative.
“Were you worried about me?” I asked, giving the horse a look of disbelief. “Or just curious if I was dead yet.”
The horse whinnied again, although it was hard to say which part he was agreeing to.
The woman giggled slightly, and when I turned back I jumped back in surprise. The giant Mr. Shadow had shrunk significantly. He was now about my height. In some ways, he looked more ominous in the darkening sky, just a pair of red eyes, but I couldn’t help but feel slightly relieved as well.
“I apologize for giving you a fright.” The girl let out a little sigh. “Mr. Shadow is largest at dusk and morning when the shadows are longest. At night, he’s barely larger than my knees, and during the day, he all but disappears. This is why he’s only a C-class familiar.”
“C-class… um… sorry, I don’t have a familiar.” I laughed awkwardly.
“At your age?” her eyes widened. “The way you interact with that horse, I would have thought you had some kind of familiar that could talk with animals!”
I couldn’t help but feel a bit of the bitterness that my former self felt. He had been mocked relentlessly for his inability to summon a familiar. It was a source of shame. She seemed to notice the unpleasant look in my eyes.
“It’s okay! Everyone eventually gets something, even if it’s only an F-class. Ah, familiars are ranked in two ways. First, by their apparent strength, intelligence, and ability, and second, by their use as a conduit for mana. This ranks them from F-S class based on their abilities. Wait… if you don’t have a familiar, then how did you use sword qi?”
“Sword qi?” I asked. “What’s that?”
“It’s how you cut Mr. Shadow.” She explained patiently. “Knights with a great deal of experience can generate sword qi. It can cut through mana and ethereal beings like Mr. Shadow. I thought that’s why you used it. Your… stick would have gone right through him otherwise.”
“Sword qi is like mana?”
“Not exactly…” She tilted her head. “You’d have to ask my uncle if you wanted to know more. He’s part of the King’s guard. He might be interested in meeting you. I’ve never heard of anyone so young being able to use sword qi without a familiar! Then again, I suppose there is nothing about it that makes you need a familiar, it’s just I’ve never heard of someone who didn’t.”
“I see…” I responded, not sure what else to say.
I had used it instinctively when I was being threatened. It had culminated from the collective thoughts of hundreds of memories that had found their way into my head. There were any number of breathing tips, medications, and sword art. I had merely taken the ones that seemed most useful and combined them, and the result was this sword qi.
She looked up at the starry sky. “It’s getting dark. I need to head back.”
“Ah!” I recalled I had run off with the horse and probably needed to get back as well. “I do too.”
“Mr. Shadow is harmless. He can’t touch you just as much as you can’t touch him. I was just having him pick some fruit, which is about the best he can do. Had he grabbed you, his hands would have gone through you like a ghost. Also, he only chased you because you ran.” She explained, looking somewhat shy. “Don’t get me wrong! I just don’t want you misrepresenting Mr. Shadow.”
“I understand.” I smiled, which seemed to make her blush more.
We won’t be here after tomorrow. If you want to come back to pick fruit from the orchard while I’m away, I won’t care.”
I didn’t want to agree to anything, but I didn’t want to turn her answer down either, so I gave a noncommittal answer. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
That was spoken to her back. She was already walking away. Mr. Shadow, who had continued to shrink and was now only half my size, scurried after her. The creature I had thought might kill me turned out to be smoke and mirrors.