Heureusement que le marchand s'était occupé d'essayer de vendre ses marchandises à d'autres gens qui fraisaient, Mamoru a laissé un soupir de soulagement alors qu'il commençait à lire l'avis dans un peu plus de détails. Il semblait assez simple - tuer des ours, ramener les cadavres, obtenir de l'argent. Cela voulait dire, cependant, que s'il allait prendre le travail, il aurait besoin d'engager quelqu'un pour les ramener tous. Logiquement, ça pourrait être réglé après, mais pour l'instant...
C'est vrai, prendre un ours seul était une condamnation à mort. Bien qu'ils soient souvent des créatures solitaires, un ours est encore un ours. Et puis il y avait les cas franges où les ours pouvaient contrôler qi...
Ce n'était pas comme si ce n'était pas arrivé avant, pour être juste; il y avait quelques cas dans le passé où les animaux avaient une réaction instinctive à qi ou quelque chose, et les désordres qui en ont résulté n'étaient jamais jolis. Mais au moins, ils sont allés chercher beaucoup d'argent.
- C'est quoi, ça?
Bien sûr, cet argent allait généralement aux familles de ceux qui mouraient, mais c'était mieux que les familles et les hommes qui mouraient, n'est-ce pas?
Avant de pouvoir se rendre aux chasseurs habituels, Mamoru s'arrêta un instant alors que deux femmes (dont l'une était le marchand qui tentait de lui faire acheter ses biens) offraient leurs services. Le sabreur leur a donné une fois de plus un rapide avant d'écraser et de hurler sa tête.
"Je ne pense pas qu'il y ait de problème avec ça, vous deux. Les scouts sont toujours un peu plus embarrassants à venir dans cette région parce que tout le monde est tellement concentré sur le renforcement de leur corps pour leur travail, donc votre aide serait appréciée ; quant à vous, miss marchand... Rappelez-vous que les ours sont un peu plus dangereux à cette période de l'année. Je vous recommanderais de rester vigilants si vous voulez venir; plus vous serez heureux, c'est exact? »
Cela dit, Mamoru s'est déplacé sur le côté avant de commencer à converser avec quelques-uns des habitués. Après tout, s'il y avait quelqu'un avec l'expérience de ce genre de chose, c'était eux. Même s'ils décidaient qu'ils avaient mieux à faire pour la journée, leurs conseils pourraient encore aider à long terme.
Name: Kagimura Mamoru
Age: 20
Appearance: With short-cut and slightly messy black hair, what stands out about Mamoru is his rather... Unique eye color; after all, purple pupils aren't exactly what you'd call normal by any means. He stands at about 5'10" tall (~178cm) and is about average in terms of build: not too stocky and not too lean, though with enough muscle to wield his sword without breaking stance. He often wears rather plain brown tunic and pants, the latter of which is bound at his waist by a sash. Said sash also holds his sword in its sheath firmly at his side, so as to be easily accessible should the need arise.
Abilities: Mamoru is a semi-proficient swordsman, though he prefers to only fight with a sword rather than both a sword and a shield as his grandfather did or a spear like his father used. Having had no formal training, his style is unorthodox and improvised at times, having only watched more experienced swordfighters from a distance as they fought on their own. Mamoru is also capable of cloaking his blade with qi, either heating it up or cooling it down as he needs. Because he understands the importance of not making the weapon itself change temperature drastically (thanks to more than enough lectures from the local blacksmiths), this is the more preferred method as compared to heating the blade itself. Furthermore, said qi also reinforced the weapon, allowing it to be used for blocking, parrying, and deflecting incoming attacks.
Affinity: Fire/Water
Personality: Having lost his father at a young age, Mamoru has a deeply-ingrained ideal that he must try and carry on what his father could not. While creativity is not his strong suit, if pressured, he can be made to come up with something that... To be honest, may or may not always work out. While he understands the dangers of combat and the impact that fighting has on people, there is still a part of him that seeks that glory and heroism that is so often spoken of. At the same time, though, due to the aforementioned incident, Mamoru also has a drive to protect those close to him. That being said, though, he's not an idiot and knows when to let others protect him instead. A green swordsman with half a penchant for using qi can only do so much, after all...
History: Mamoru is the son of an old soldier who retired from the line of duty following the battle between the city-state of Xingfu and a powerful necromancer known only as Taoming. As one would expect from any conflict with the undead, the clash lasted for what felt like an eternity, even if the battle was over after a single night. By sheer luck, a group of Xingfu's top warriors were sent around to assassinate the necromancer before he could do any harm.
Mamoru's father was not one of these men. Rather, he was one of the unlucky ones to be left to defend the city-state: and the first line of defense, no less. As fate would decree it, the man died during that one-night siege, leaving Mamoru and his mother behind. Mamoru's grandfather had long since retired to the town of Kizun, where the two moved to soon after so as not to be constantly reminded of the sacrifice made then.
Mamoru has since grown up comparatively well off in the town, with his grandfather's guidance in using qi and watching the guardsmen from afar as he helped work odd jobs around the town. Most of his spare time is spent training and, occasionally, tagging along with passing adventurers to hunt boars or other game for the town to feast on.
Equipment: Other than the aforementioned clothes, Mamoru's weapon is also almost always at his side while he's out and about... Unless the situation calls for it not to be, of course. The weapon can be categorized in the broadest sense as a katana (albeit with a higher durability and rust resistance compared to those in ancient Japan), but he doesn't always treat it like one.
Other: The blacksmiths in Kizun hate him, if it wasn't already clear enough. Likes to eat seafood, but that's far too uncommon in the town to be eaten with any sort of frequency.