Silent Monsters

"Help! Help! Silent monsters are here!" someone screamed.

Olive turned pale. "Silent monsters never got this far" she said with anxiety.

Natsuo glanced at her and saw that she was trembling. There must have been something that he could do.

He opened the Rockstar System menu. He needed a skill that could make him attack. Maybe if his guitar could transform into a weapon, he could use it to slay monsters… What about a huge scythe? It sounded cool.

A banner appeared in front of his eyes.

New skill unlocked: SCYTHE.

What? Did it really take that little?

Natsuo smirked. "Let’s go, Olive" he said.

"Where?" she asked in panic.

"To beat those monsters’ asses" Natsuo replied.

She was a bit reluctant, but she trusted Natsuo and followed him.

The monsters were still on the outskirts of Wisteria Town. Their bodies were human-like and had long stings as limbs; they were completely covered in white mucosa and, instead of eyes, there were two dark holes.

It was a horrific vision, luckily there were only three.

When the two arrived, Natsuo rubbed his guitar’s strings, making a loud noise. The monsters trembled and stopped moving.

"Music is like poison to these monsters" Natsuo laughed. "They’re called silent monsters for a good reason."

The people that were hiding behind plants or houses immediately felt reassured to hear Natsuo’s guitar.

"Please, Natsuo, save us!" they begged him.

Natsuo cracked his neck.

"Yeah, don’t worry. I’ll take care of it."

With a thought, he used the new skill and his guitar transformed into a scythe that was tall like him, just as he had imagined.

Olive’s eyes widened. "What? Since when are you capable of doing that?"

"Well, from now, I guess" Natsuo replied.

Without any further ado, he leapt forward in the direction of the three monsters. He twirled his scythe and cut the first monster in a half.

When the scythe left the monster’s body, the sound of the electric guitar’s G string was released. The other two monsters got stunned for a millisecond by the instrument’s sound.

"Wow, this is so cool!" commented Natsuo excitedly.

"Natsuo, be careful not to let their mucosa touch you! It’s poisonous!" exclaimed Olive.

"Good to know."

Natsuo positioned the scythe’s blade behind the second monster’s neck and put his foot on its body to keep it still, then pulled the weapon and beheaded the monster. The sound of the E cord was released.

"The last one!" exclaimed Natsuo.

He slashed with the scythe and cut the last monster in a half, releasing again the G string sound.

Olive let out a sigh of relief and ran towards Natsuo.

"Natsuo, are you okay? Did you get hurt?" she asked, a bit worried.

"I’m fine. This scythe is amazing!" replied Natsuo.

Olive smiled. She was glad that he made it unharmed: silent monsters were dangerous. Their blades were sharp and they infected you with their mucosa.

Olive approached one of the monsters’ corpses.

"The situation is not good. This is the first time in history that silent monsters got to Wisteria Town" she said.

"I heard that the Anti-Silence Unit made an expedition near here, maybe these three monsters escaped from them" replied someone.

"Yes, it’s a possibility…" Olive was thoughtful.

Natsuo came closer to her and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Whatever it is, I’ll take care of it" he reassured her.

He wasn’t familiar with his new weapon, he couldn’t handle a lot of monsters for now; but with some practice he was sure that he would become stronger.

"No" Olive shook her head. "You won’t take care of it alone." She looked straight into Natsuo’s eyes. "We will take care of it together. We’re a band, right?"

Natsuo was taken aback. He was used to taking care of everything himself, but she was right. They were a band, they could do things together: he wasn’t alone.

"Yes, you’re right." Natsuo smiled slightly. "We need to find at least two other members before we can consider us a true band, though" he added.

Olive laughed at his reply. Her laugh was contagious, in fact even Natsuo burst out laughing, without knowing the reason.

***

The next morning, Natsuo was practicing with the scythe in the lawn near the small lake and Olive was with him, when a horse stopped near the inn.

A man dismounted from the horse and went to Natsuo’s direction.

"I’m sorry, are you Himura Natsuo by chance?" the man asked.

Natsuo raised an eyebrow. He had never seen him in Wisteria Town. He was dressed in a forest green tunic tightened at the waist by a belt, brown trousers and leather boots. Olive held her breath: she had recognized that uniform.

"Yes, it’s me. Why?" replied Natsuo.

"Delighted to make your acquaintance, I’m a messenger of the Anti-Silence Unit, my name is Thomas. I’m here to deliver this missive from the Anti-Silence Unit to you."

Thomas handed him a letter, then got back on his horse.

"See you, Himura Natsuo."

Thomas spurred the horse and rode away.

Natsuo stared blankly at the envelope that he was holding in his hands. It had all been so sudden. What did the Anti-Silence Unit want from him?

Olive glanced at him with excitement.

"A missive from the Anti-Silence Unit! Let’s read it!" she exclaimed.

Natsuo chuckled. He opened the envelope and read aloud what was written:

Dear Mr. Himura,

The Anti-Silence Unit heard about your prodigious deeds and wants to offer you their most sincere gratitude.

You’re summoned to the Unit’s headquarters in the capital Blossomhyl for a talk. Please, come here as soon as possible.

Yours sincerely, Richard More

"Richard More is the head of the Unit! This is amazing, Natsuo!" Olive was revved up.

"Well, I don’t know, this letter is a bit vague…"

Natsuo read the letter again. In the capital there were surely a lot more people than in Wisteria Town and the other small villages nearby. If they wanted new fans, going there was mandatory.

"You know what, Olive? Tomorrow we leave for the capital." Natsuo smirked. "It’s time to get some fans."