Task:

Snow was coming down from the gray clouds at moderate speeds at the abandoned bridge of Tequila Wolf. A lone person was walking through this large, barren bridge, riddled with abandoned tents and supplies. This lone person was, Marcel Law who had on a cloak over his clothing to protect himself from the cold. His sheathed katana, Master's Will was safely attached to his left hip and his iron chest plate was hidden underneath his clothing. His breathe can be visibly seen due to the dropping temperatures.

He blinked his eyes slowly a few times before having a brief flashback of his departure from Foosha Village. All of the villagers waving him goodbye, Leeann giving him a hug and a soft smile. Rebecca coming up to Marcel with tears in her eyes complaining that she doesn't want him to leave. She would then give him a bento box before hugging him as tight as she could. Marcel blinked his eyes once more, breaking out of his flashback trance. He sighed and placed a hand by his pocket where the bento box was kept.

The samurai looked to the snowy skies and began to realize it was getting dark, so he had to find a place to get some rest. Marcel inspected each tent he came across, but only found ripped up ones that would be incapable of keeping the snow out. Marcel continued to look and almost ended up tripping over an abandoned thermos cup. He glanced back at the cup with a bit of annoyance on his face but also caught something else in his vision.

A tent that he overlooked. He walked over to it to see that it was completely intact. Marcel smirked a little and crawled into the tent. There was barely any light coming from the tent however as Marcel began to look around the clutter of things for something that could light it up. Luckily he found a lamp that was broken a little on the side. He flipped the switch which caused the light to flicker a little before turning on, causing the samurai to sigh in relief. He then rested the lamp on the ground and took out the bento box to eat what was inside.

It was the next morning. The snow has finally stopped but left behind a slushy mess with some ice patches around. Marcel unzipped the tent and crawled out. He stood up and brushed the snow that got on his hands and body from crawling off. He then stretched a little before he continued his walk. Why was he all the way out here? To continue the process of clearing his head from all that transpired. Something that he learned from his real father, that problems should be ignored, cleared from your mind as they would only hinder you in battle.

But his step father told him something completely different. That one is to hold on to these burdens, that it would make them stronger, never forget about those you care for. Marcel despises his real father for what he did to him and his mother, but he may have a point. On the other hand, cherishing those you have come to care for also has it's good qualities like his step father said. It was being torn about these two different ideals that is hindering Marcel the most. The samurai paused and looked at the ground.

There were fresh footprints on the ground. This place wasn't as abandoned as it was led to be after all. Marcel carefully followed these prints, attempting to be stealthy, but due to the constant slushing sound the snow on the ground made from Marcel's walking, it wasn't going so well. Suddenly, some more slushing sounds could be heard quickly coming from the left and right sides of the bridge. Marcel paused and gripped the hilt of his sheathed blade, ready for an attack.

Marcel's eyes slowly shifted left and right. He crouched a little so that he could be ready for anything. It was completely calm for a few minutes, no sounds, no slushing. Marcel slowly stood back up tall and was about to take a step until someone wearing a white snow coat with white jeans, white boots, white gloves, white snow hat and white skiing like goggles jumped from the left side wielding a gray pipe. Marcel turned towards the attacker and quickly unsheathed his katana. As soon as the blade made contact with the pipe, it sliced right through the pipe with ease.

As the attacker gasped at the sudden attack, Marcel quickly impaled the attacker through the heart before sliding him off. Another person in a similar attire attempted to sneak up on Marcel and attack him, but as soon as he tried to throw a punch, Marcel side stepped it and caused the second attacker to fall on his fallen comrade. Marcel stepped on the second attacker's back and was about to impale him with his blade until he saw something that caused the samurai to pause with his eyes widened. On the attacker's back was a tiger like symbol colored in black, similar to Marcel's tattoo.

"Why do you have that symbol?" Marcel asked his attacker only for him to just keep squirming to get away from the samurai. Marcel then quickly kicked the attacker over and sat on his chest, pulling him up by the collar. "Why do you have that symbol?" he repeated with curiosity and anger in his eyes. The attacker didn't answer and continued to squirm before spitting on the Samurai's face. Marcel let out another sigh and raised his katana up before quickly diving it down to the attacker's chest, killing him instantly.

Marcel slowly slid the blood covered blade out of his attacker. The samurai wiped the spit off of his face and got off his victim, turning him over on his stomach to stare at the symbol on the attacker's coat. He then turned the other one he killed over, seeing that he also had the same symbol, much to his amazement. These symbols didn't look similar with some differences, they were exactly on point with Marcel's tattoo.

How would they know about this symbol? Marcel stared off into the direction where he was walking to, and most likely where these two attackers came from. Marcel began to clean the blade of his weapon with a cloth before sheathing it. He then made his way in that direction, hoping to find some answers. He shook his head a little. Marcel came out here to help clear his mind, but it seems he always ends up getting into something. Could this be a sign of something? Should he cherish his burdens and not abandon them?

He was stopped by someone suddenly saying "HALT" from someone behind him. Marcel turned around to see a woman who was wearing a similar attire to the attackers, except the symbol was on the left side of her chest. "This bridge is now under the control of the Saber Society." she said boldly as she took out a fighting pole made of iron, spinning it around a little. "Saber Society?" Marcel repeated in confusion.

"Tell me, why do you have that sym-" before he could finish, he was interrupted by the girl charging towards Marcel with her fighting pole. The samurai quickly sidestepped the attack while spinning in a full circle to add momentum and centrifugal force to the strength of the sword swing, slamming the side of his blade at the back of the woman's neck so it wouldn't kill her but instead knock her down.

Skill used:

255/270

Marcel walked over to the girl who was trying to get up and sat down on her rear, causing her to blush a little in embarrassment. "Personally, I'm not a fan of harming a woman." he said plainly as he dove his katana hard into the ground just inches from the woman's face before leaning in close to her ear. "But it doesn't mean I won't do it." the samurai whispered in her ear, causing her to widen her eyes.

"Now tell me, why do you have that symbol?" he asked in whisper. The woman hesitated a little before saying, "I-It's the symbol of the Saber Society, a group that us former slaves adopted. I don't know much else, I'm only the second in command." she confessed. Marcel glared at the woman for a little before slowly raising his katana off the ground. The woman closed her eyes shut as she believed that he was about to silence her forever.

He instead sheathed his blade and got up off of her, causing her to open her eyes. "Take me to the one who's in charge." Marcel demanded as the girl got back up. She stared at the samurai who gave her a glare in return. She was thinking that she should just take him down right here, but after the strength and intimidation he showed, she came to the realization that she couldn't take him on alone. She sighed and began to walk, gesturing for Marcel to come along.

She then glanced back at the two dead bodies before looking back to the front with pure anger in her eyes.

Marcel watched the woman in front of him carefully just in case she would try something. They have been walking for a while. The woman kept looking forward the whole time with no dialogue. Snow has begun to fall again slowly but would become more moderate after a little while. After a little while, they approached tents that were all intact. This area seemed clean compared to the ruins that the samurai has passed. But what really caught Marcel's attention was the tiger like symbols found on the tents.

An entire group with the same exact symbol? Some people began to peek their heads from out of their tents to find out what's going on. The two continued on towards a larger tent with multiple symbols around the front. "Master!" the woman yelled, causing a muscular man to come out of that tent. He was of course the leader of this small group and had the tiger like symbol branded on his forehead. "Why did you bring an outsider here?" he asked the second in command with an annoyed tone.

She quickly bowed to him as a form of apology. The leader then looked at Marcel as eight other people came out from some of the tents scattered around. "These symbols, where did you find them?" Marcel asked the leader without any fear. The leader laughed before asking, "Why would I tell an outsider about the sacred symbol?" Marcel took off his cloak and showed the leader his sleeveless shoulder. It was the same exact symbol, printed on the samurai's body in ink.

Everyone looked to Marcel in amazement. They all begun to whisper to each other. The woman stood back and glared, furiously instead. "I don't know what this "Saber Society" is, but I do know that this symbol is sacred and has nothing to do with some small group of slaves." Marcel said in his usual soft tone. "SHUT YOUR MOUTH!" the woman yelled, finally snapping. "You know nothing of what the Saber Society truly is!" the woman yelled as she picked up an axe that was lying around and charged at Marcel who quickly retaliated by unsheathing his katana to deflect the axe.

The leader simply looked on, watching the battle closely as the other former slaves cheered on for the girl. As their weapons clashed, Marcel quickly pushed the girl off of him and took the sheathe from his hip and began to dual wield the two. He quickly slid around the girl and bashed her on the back of the head with his sheathe, causing her to stagger a little but amazingly she didn't fall. She turned around and attempted to cut him with the axe but was out speeded by the samurai who quickly sliced her neck, causing blood to come out.

She slowly fell to her knees then face first to the ground, turning the part of the snow that her neck fell over red. The crowd of grunts went silent after seeing this. All of a sudden they charged at Marcel with various items to use as weapons as he placed his sheathe back on his hip. The master of these grunts looked on with his facial expression not changing. Marcel quickly sheathed his blade then quickly unsheathed it, causing a burst of wind in the shape of a crescent moon to be sent towards the group, only getting five of these grunts, killing them while the remaining three were luckily pushed out of the way by their fallen comrades.

They continued the charge with one of them in the lead, attempting to stab the samurai with a rusty knife. Marcel dodged the attempted stabs with ease and quickly kicked the knife out of his hand before stabbing that grunt in the eye then slicing his head off. The remaining two tried to double team the samurai with each of them throwing punches only for Marcel to duck one of the punches then slide behind the two to avoid the other punches. Marcel then leg swept the two and quickly stomped his foot on each one of them, stabbing the two in the back of their heads to kill them.

Suddenly, Marcel was tackled off of the two dead grunts by the leader, who was finally done spectating.

Skill used:

230/270

Marcel was face first on the ground with the leader sitting on top of him. The samurai tried to raise his head up but was slammed back into the snow by the leader's hand. Marcel gritted his teeth as he looked at his katana which was laying on the ground next to his face. "Amazing. You truly are from the Wano Country aren't you?" the leader asked, causing Marcel's eyes to widen.

"One of the revolutionaries that liberated this place was from the same country, had a tattoo just like yours." the leader explained with a grin on his face. "He told me some interesting things before he parted off and now here I am! Leading a small group of former slaves. Or, at least I was." the leader said as he took a look around at the bodies. "What was it he told you?" Marcel grunted while glancing up at the leader.

The leader laughed for a little while before slamming the samurai's face into the snow some more. "Why would I tell you?" the leader asked in a taunting expression. Marcel sighed. He didn't expect he would get anymore info from this guy. "Any last words?" the leader said which caused Marcel to sigh once more. "Are we really doing this?" Marcel asked in an annoyed tone. He then grabbed his sheathe which was still on his side and managed to throw the leader off of him with a quick smack from the sheathe.

Marcel then turned over his body and grabbed his katana before putting his sheathe back on his hip. The leader charged towards the samurai. Marcel attempted a vertical slash but it was caught by one of the leader's hands. It was revealed that the leader was wearing a special kind of glove that can hold blades. The leader then kneed Marcel in the face, causing blood to drip down his nose. Marcel barred his teeth and charged at the leader, attempting to slash at him only for his foe to dodge every hit. The leader then tried to punch Marcel but was quickly evaded by the samurai jumping back a few feet.

Marcel then sheathed his sword and holds the sheathed weapon out towards the leader. He then begins to spin rapidly which confused his foe a little. Marcel then stopped, facing his sheathed blade towards the enemy. The force of the spinning caused the sheathe to shoot out at the leader with amazing speed towards his stomach, knocking the wind out of him. Marcel then used this opportunity to charge at the leader and slice his head off, killing him instantly.

Marcel went over to where his sheathe fell and picked it up and placed it back to his hip. He then cleaned the blade with a cloth while looking down at the leader's head, staring at the tiger like brand. This small journey has left him with more questions than answers.

-Exit-

Skill used:

205/270