Monster Quest: Cursed Sword Chapter 1 (Patreon)

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Monster Quest: Cursed Sword

Ichigo is a swordsman seeking to find the master sword to slay the demon king. He built up a party and they’ve been fighting monsters for a long time, but as it turns out all their tips in finding the master sword was a trap by the demon king. Ichigo draws the cursed sword, the sword corrupts him, and he corrupts his party. No one is a match for his mighty “sword” not even the demon king, he was looking for his perfect bride now he has become one. Cock Growth Corruption Body Mod Ichigo/Harem

Chapter 1

The land was divided, monsters and magic ruled. Humans and monsters lived side by side. The demon king was causing an imbalance, humans who lusted for power fell under his sway, monsters were corrupted and were drawn into his dark army.

According to the ancient prophecies the demon king took nine years to build his army, he would have nine demon generals to lead his armies, and in nine days humanity will fall. So the goal was to put an end to him before that time.

The Royal Capitol Seireitei had reached out to the surrounding towns, villages, and cities. They were seeking adventurers to form parties and quest for ways of defeating the Demon King and bring him down before the prophecy could come to pass. The kingdom was offering training, resources, and funding to help people grow and reach their potential.

From Karakura Town came a young swordsman. Ichigo Kurosaki, his father trained him in the sword and helped him hone his skills. When the signs of the Demon King’s appearance began, the king sent out word calling for all the able bodied to join the fight. His father wasn’t too old, but someone had to stay and protect the family.

Ichigo signed up and soon was traveling to the Capitol for training. His sisters didn’t want him to go, he’d be gone for a long time, plus if the Demon King came to power he’d be fighting on the front lines. Karin and Yuzu would rather Ichigo stay with them, they loved their big brother very much.

“It’s better this way, I can get stronger and protect you both!” That seemed to make them happy, or at least content. Their mother was an adventurer and she was a skilled one, she lost her life on a job but saved the kingdom in the process. He saw his mom as a hero, and wanted to live up to her legacy.

After moving to the capitol he began his training, for three years, he went through hellish training under General Kisuke Urahara. The man was insane, but he was possibly less nuts that the Grand High Mage Tessai. If one showed magical ability he put them through the paces. His training sessions often ended in explosions. Ichigo was never happier to be a swordsman.

Skills and Magic were different, one used one’s aura while the other used mana.

In Kisuke’s boot camp from hell he met two friends. Sado Yasutora a Brawler, he was as tough as a mountain and hit harder than a beastman. The two were hazed by other adventurers so they got into scraps together, and soon had each other’s back. Sado’s grandfather battled the previous demon king many years ago, so he wished to honor his family’s legacy.

The other friend was Uryu Ishida, a priest and an archer, which allowed him to become a Divine Archer. He didn’t care for most adventurers, but he wished to help fight against the demon king. Ichigo and him shared a weird personality, they both didn’t like taking orders, but weirdly listened to each other even if they didn’t “like” it. His grandfather was a high class archer in the last demon king war, but his father had since given up on archery and adventuring to become a healer.

They graduated and ended up forming a party, lot of other adventurers thought they were crazy or too young to trust. The trio went on quests and explored dungeons, earning gold and finding treasures. As official capitol adventurers 5% of their dungeon exploring went to the kingdom, but they could keep any magical items they found. That money went to paying and training new adventurers and warriors to face the Demon King and his army.

Some adventurers took issue with that, some not believing the Demon King was truly returning.

-x-

On one of their quests the party encountered a Barbarian named Renji Abarai. He was trying to build a band of his own, he had entered a dungeon by himself and managed to obtain a magical weapon. A strange sword that could strike out like a whip.

He challenged Ichigo and his party to a duel. “If I win, you men swear you allegiance to me!”

“And if we win?” Ichigo asked, much to Ishida’s annoyance.

“You can take my treasure or even my life!” Renji was serious.

“Very well!” Ichigo agreed, again ignoring protests from Ishida. Sado patted his shoulder.

“Trust in Ichigo!” The orangette and the red head began their duel, and it was intense. Renji fought as Barbarian’s do with raw strength and power, charging at his opponent.

He tried to overwhelm Ichigo with raw power but while he didn’t get away unscathed he also didn’t give up. He fought back with technique and skill, surprising the Barbarian with his Swordsman feats. The two crossed swords neither one giving in, neither one relenting. “They are idiots the both of them.” Uryu said and Sado nodded.

It stopped being a battle of skill, and became a test to see who can take the most punishment. Renji unleashed his final trump card, he had done a few favors to learn some magic but he was bad at it. “Explosion!”

“That idiot!” Uryu gasped as Sado grabbed him and hauled ass away. Renji had fired the spell at close range, which means he got caught up in his own explosion. Ichigo pulled out his own final trump card, Dual Wield, using two swords he defeated Renji who collapsed.

“I lose…” They needed a healer fast, but turns out Ishida didn’t know a single healing spell.

“What kind of healer doesn’t know at least 1 healing spell!?” Thankfully Sado found herbs for them to use and got treated.

“Shut up, I was opposed to this from the start!” Uryu huffed.

After Renji’s wounds healed he honored his promise. He stripped off his clothing and prostrated himself before Ichigo and the others. The Barbarian swore his life and loyalty to Ichigo for winning their duel. They saw everything, including his strange tribal markings. As Abarai claimed they appeared on his body as if by magic and as he got older and stronger more showed up.

So they gained a strange party member. “We really do need a healer though since SOMEONE doesn’t know any healing magic.” Ishida twitched in annoyance.

“Stop being so reckless and maybe you wouldn’t need healing!” He crossed his arms in defiance.

“Having a Chemist, a Healer, or a Shaman wouldn’t be a bad idea. Maybe even a monk?” Sado said.

Finding a healer would be a difficult task, as even the jerkiest of adventurers respected their healers. It was a high demand job, cause a good healer made sure the party got home safely. Even a party of three consisting of a Tank, Healer, and a Ranger can do a lot with an experienced healer.

The hunt for a healer went on for two years, with less than stellar results. While they hadn’t found one yet, they were making names for themselves taking on quest after quest. Ichigo noticed that the job board was getting quite full despite how busy everyone was. “It’s a sign of the demon king’s return.” Uryu said.

Things were getting bad in the world, more signs of the Demon King’s return were appearing.

Beast and Human settlements were becoming war zones as more and more demi humans and beastmen were turning to the darkness. Even if it wasn’t by choice, the latent fear in people’s hearts began to emerge and things began to take a nasty turn. Mistrust of demi-humans caused parties to break apart, parties of demi-humans and beastmen were treated with caution and suspicion.

The worst part was, no one understood how or why it was happening. Sometimes the nicest of beastmen and the kindest of demi-humans were turning into blood thirsty psychopaths over night. It was reaching the point that that even in Beast only settlements there was a heavy air of distrust. It was hard to trust one another when they couldn’t trust themselves.

Monsters also began acting more aggressively, some monsters that only appeared at night began attacking during the day, creatures that were usually lone wolves were now forming packs. Quests started flooding the boards to deal with these increased attacks and sightings. Rumors that some monsters were evolving, Des Boars suddenly breathing fire, Des Wolves suddenly growing spikes out of their backs, Des Bears with poison claws.

-x-

As the dangers increased the need for a healer grew. Ichigo would find them a healer in a bar of all places. A couple of drunks tried messing with Ichigo, resulting in a bar fight. A mysterious masked monk lent aid. He smacked and tossed around the drunks with great ease. “Thanks!”

One of the drunks attacked with a heavy martial arts, it struck the monk’s mask/helmet and shattered it. The monk turned and it was revealed he was a wolf beastman. “A Beastman!” The drunk cried out and ran.

Komamura’s ear flattened. He was used to this kind of reaction as of late, but he still didn’t like it. Carnivorous beastmen were seen as more likely to turn wicked. “Hey…” Sajin turned his attention back to Ichigo. “Thanks for helping me out back there, sorry about your helmet.”

“You aren’t scared of me?” Komamura asked.

“Am I supposed to be?” Ichigo responded with a question of his own. The words surprised Sajin. Since becoming an adventurer he always had issues with parties, they respected his skills, but he had to hide his appearance to make people more comfortable around him. Even other Beastman were nervous since he was a wolf breed.

When he looked into people’s eyes they often tried not to look at him directly. Herbivore Beastmen didn’t remain alone with him. With things with the demon lord’s return things have been harder on him. It reached the point he didn’t take his helmet off on quests, out of concern of startling his party. He hasn’t been able to join a party in months. To hear Ichigo say something so innocent and kind, warmed him up.

The two sat and drank a bit. Ichigo didn’t treat him with any concern, fear, or caution. When he said he was a Monk Ichigo asked him to join his party. It had been so long since someone ASKED HIM to join a party. “You know I’m a beastman right?”

“And?” Sajin didn’t know if Ichigo was crazy or desperate, but he agreed to meet the party at least. His helmet was busted so he wore a strange bag mask when he met them.

“This is Sajin Komamura, he’s a monk and he’s joining our party.” Sajin nodded.

Uryu was suspicious and asked the obvious question. “What’s with the mask?”

‘It was nice while it lasted.’ Sajin showed his face.

“Oh, you are a beastman, fair enough.” Uryu said, and that was it, he was in. Komamura was shocked.

“We finally got a healer!” Renji cheered. “This is a call for drinks!” Sado didn’t say much but smiled at him none the less.

Ichigo patted his back. “Welcome to the Team!” Komamura was a blessing for the party, his healing magic was top notch and his strength was incredible. Anyone who didn’t want him on their team because he was big and fluffy were fools.

The quest for a healer was complete, but the number of jobs increased to overflow. The guilds were running non stop. With six years into the prophecy the church began getting involved. It would be now when the Demon King began founding his generals.

His influence even reaching humans with weak wills or twisted hearts. Despite more adventurers being found, trained, and dispatched the jobs just kept rolling in. Those that once didn’t believe now were turning sides, the evidence was clear and hard to ignore. Sadly there were still people who refused to believe the demon king was coming back despite the red flags popping up left and right.

“Why should we wait, why can’t we stop the Demon King and his Generals before he’s revived.” Ichigo didn’t like the waiting.

“If it was that easy anyone would do it. Don’t get too rash just because you beat a few dungeons.” The Kingdom was doing everything they could to prepare but problems were popping up. When the demon king returned there would be war, so it was quite scary. “It’s most likely he’s revived and seeking to recover his strength, even if we wanted to beat him before he regained his full power he has his generals, and beating them won’t be easy.”

“There has got to be a way, the previous demon king was beaten before right?” Ichigo poked at his food.

“You want to prevent the war so no one gets hurt.” Sado said and Ichigo blushed.

“While noble, it’s reckless, let’s just keep preparing I’m sure the kingdom has a plan.” Uryu said.

“Indeed it does…” The group turned and saw a priest with a white clothe over his eyes. “When the time comes the Kingdom shall choose it’s strongest adventures to go on a holy quest to find the Sacred Weapons, treasures left behind by those who defeated the previous Demon King.”

“Arch Bishop Tossen!” Uryu gasped and bowed. “Forgive me I didn’t know you were here!”

Tossen chuckled. “It is fine, I just came for a meal. I couldn’t help but overhear your friend talking.” Uryu grabbed Ichigo and made him bow his head.

“Forgive him he’s touched in the head!” Ichigo shoved him off. “He’s got more muscle than brains!”

“Shut up!” He elbowed Uryu in the side.

“May I?” Komamura and Renji moved allowing Tossen to sit. “I’ll be honest I also do not care for war, and fear things in this world will get worse before the nine years are up. If the Demon King is slain before the time of prophecy it is possible the dark influence he permeates will fade from this world and we could avoid needless bloodshed.” Komamura was touched by Tossen’s words, sensing a great love of life and peace coming from him.

“How would we find the Demon King anyway?” Renji asked.

“His castle does move each year, and it is always guarded by at least one of his generals. However, I do not believe all his generals reside at the castle. If there was a preemptive strike they would not be expecting it.” The plan was kicked around but there were concerns and potential risks. Just as the demon king’s revival was felt through the world reviving the sacred weapons would also put out a lot of divine energy.

“See!” Ichigo said smugly.

“It’s still a crazy plan, we don’t even have one of the sacred weapons.” Tossen smiled.

“I happen to know where one is.” Tossen told them that reviving one of the divine weapons wouldn’t cause too much of a stir, that way one of them could prepare and have time to train with it. “What do you think? Would you take a risk to save your family and friends, maybe even the world?”

Ichigo looked to his friends. “I would!” Uryu face palmed. It sounded crazy, but at least with a sacred weapon it was...possible...right? Tossen gave them this quest in secret and they left to prepare. Ichigo left some gold on the table telling Tossen his meal was on them.

A waitress came over to him. “What can I get for you?”

“Oh nothing, I got what I wanted.” He said and left.

To be continued...Quest for the Sword