His entire life he had been ordered by his mother to find and slay demons.

From the very first day he gained any sense of awareness he was forced to endure her end her weird obsession with the idea of killing anything that was fuelled by cursed energy.

He wasn't entirely sure why this was so important for her. At first, he just a.s.sumed that his mother some kind of n.o.ble soul that felt joy by helping humanity and was trying to free them from the menace of demons.

But that didn't felt right.

His mother didn't seem to show any signs of honestly caring about the people around her. Not even Marcus himself.

She always looked at him as if he was just some tool that she was using to finish up her goal.

Marcus probably would never have noticed her weird behavior and start acting suspicious of her if it wasn't for his father.

Marcus didn't get to spend a lot of time with Marceus, but the moments he did share with him were some of the fondest memories he ever had.

Marceus made him feel calm, comfortable, relaxed, safe. He made Marcus feel like he was someone you could trust, someone you could talk to, someone you wanted to talk to.

His mother felt like the complete opposite. Marcus never had any desire to engage in conversations with his mom since most of her talks could be resumed with either "Kill demons" or "Do your job".

He wanted to run away sometimes and stop trying to listen to his mother's command, but anytime he tried to, she would just show up and start hurting him.

He wasn't sure how, but anytime Marcus even considered the idea of leaving his mother behind, she would appear out of nowhere and start releasing some kind of energy blast that would electrocute him.

Marcus tried to escape from her seventy-four times, and his mother found him and punished him every single time to remind him that he could not oppose her.

Even though he wanted to keep his promise to his father, the promise that he would continue his work without fail, Marcus was still just a kid.

He was scared, alone, and confused.

Why did he have to kill demons? Why did his mother keep torturing him? Why did his father abandon him? Why did the kids around him get to play and have fun while he was stuck in this nightmare? Why was no one showing up to save him?

Marcus wanted answers. He didn't want a solution, he just wanted to know why. Why did he have to receive such a life? What did he do deserve this? Why him and not anyone else?

If only someone could give him a reason, maybe he could endure it properly. But n.o.body did.

Marcus had no one he could rely on.

He was a tool, and tools don't need an explanation, they just need to continue to work without breaking. If they did break, the owner would have to find another one, and his mother really didn't want to find another tool.

One day, maybe out of piety, his mother saw how much the boy was suffering and decided to give him a present.

"Marcus... How would you like to have a partner?"

"...? Partner...?"

"Yes! You see... You are a sword, my boy. Swords are made to be held by warriors. If you could find someone to use you, maybe you wouldn't feel so depressed all the time, and you would be able to unleash your full power!"

"... My full... Power...?"

Marcus was intrigued by the idea. Not because he wanted to become stronger, but because he just wanted someone besides his mother to talk to.

Apparently there was some kind of compet.i.tion going on around the world where people were trying to find out where Marcus was so they could use his power.

Marcus got excited. He a.s.sumed that many people would start coming looking for him wanting to be his friend. Maybe even save him from his mother.

So he waited, and waited, and kept waiting. But as time went on, he realized, n.o.body was coming.

Marcus didn't know why. He was the strongest sword in the world, and yet, not one soul was in sight to try and become his partner.

He tried to ask permission to his mother to investigate the situation and started to ask around a few citizens.

Apparently, there was some girl who had discovered the secret location of Marcus, and because of that, everyone was looking for her instead of him.

Marcus had no idea what they were talking about. He never even talked to a girl. He never even talked to another kid! His friends.h.i.+p circle extended to his dead father and his terrifying mother.

Who was this girl? How did she know about him? What did she want with him? And why hadn't she arrived to save him yet?

The weapon-kid started to lose hope again. This mysterious girl was not coming no matter how much he waited. Marcus a.s.sumed that it was his fate to simply kill demons forever by himself.

However, this changed one day when he saw someone watching him alone.

He was just finis.h.i.+ng slaying another demon in half and drenching the ground with its blood when he heard the voice of someone who was observing him.

"Beautiful!!"

"...?"

Marcus turned around and noticed a small girl with black skin, black hair, and a black dress. She was looking at him as if he was some kind of painting with wide eyes full of sparkles.

"Huh... Hi...?"

"You just killed that demon in two seconds!!"

"... Yes...?"

"That was amazing!!"

"Oh...! Thanks...?"

"How did you do that??"

"Ah, that's something I inherited from my father... I can turn my body into blades that can cut anything."

"Oh!! You're the living weapon!!"

"Almost... I'm his son... My father was the living weapon."

"Oh! I see... I see... So where is your partner?"

"Don't have one..."

"Eh...? Why not??"

"..."

Marcus made a face as if he himself wanted to know that answer as well.

"Don't know... It's just that... No one came for me..."

"Oh..."

"..."

"Would you... Would it be ok if I became your partner?"

"You...??"

"Me!!"

"..."

Marcus wasn't sure about that idea. His mother wanted his partner to be some kind of warrior that would help him unleash his full potential. What could a little girl with twin ponytails like her possibly unleash?

"I don't know... My job is kinda dangerous..."

"Please!!!!! Just give me a chance!!"

"Ok... But my mother needs to approve you too... She is the one that gets the final word."

"Yes!! Thank you!! I won't disappoint you!!"

Marcus brought the girl to a den of monsters and tried to test if she had what it took to be his partner.

"Are you scared?"

"Are we... Are we going to jump in there and kill all these monsters??"

"That's the job."

"!!!!"

"If you want to give up..."

"Let's do it!!!!"

"Eh...?"

"I wanna go now! Now! Now! Now! Now!"

"Are you sure...? You wanna fight all of these things? You're not afraid?"

"No way!! I always wanted to kill monsters!!"

"... Ok... If you say so..."

Marcus began to transform his body so he would become a weapon for the girl, and as soon as she realized, she was holding a pair of silver katanas.

"Sooooo cooool!!!!"

[...]

"I can kill demons now!!!"

[I'm glad you're enjoying it...]

"Ah!!! Marcus?? How did you speak in my head??"

[We are partners remember? Partners can do things that normal people cant!]

"..."

[... What...?]

"I think I'm in love with you!!!"

[... Huh...]

"Come!!! Let's slay all these demons and use their deaths as an ignition to our lives as lovers!!!!"

[... Huh...]

"Wraaaaaaghhhh!!!"

The little girl jumped inside the den of monsters, and much to Marcus's surprise, she cleaned the whole place in a matter of minutes with her blades. The girl was a natural.

[Unbeliavable...]

"That felt great!!! I want to do this every day for the rest of my life!!!"

Marcus never met anyone like this little girl before. He lived his whole life as if it was some kind of struggle he could never stop fighting. He spent every second asking why was it even worth it being alive? But this girl? She acted as if every second she spent with Marcus was like a moment in heaven.

He tried his chances and asked his mother if the girl could be his partner. She looked rather intrigued with the idea.

"Another champion... What's your name dear?"

"It's Mia, my lady!"

"Mia... Won't your... "Father" be upset when he finds out you're working with me?"

"My "father" gave me permission to pretty much do whatever I wanted. He probably wouldn't even mind."

"I see..."

His mother looked at him and released a wide grin.

"She's perfect!"

And from that day on, Marcus's life wasn't filled with a never-ending sadness anymore. Mia was by his side now, and she made sure to never let him forget about that fact.

She was a little too much to take in at first, but he still finally had someone to keep him company after all this time. His first true friend after his father. He couldn't let this chance pa.s.s.

Even his mother wasn't scaring him so much anymore. Now that he had Mia, he was much more motivated to complete his mission since she appeared to adore killing demons, and he wanted to repay her for being his friend, which in turn made his mother very pleased.

Things finally seemed to be going well on the life of this little boy. But this all changed when he got some worrying news.

"Someone is trying to kill me..."

His mother came to him with this message to deliver.

It looked like someone was going around trying to steal the weapons left behind by his father, and was planning to use it to somehow go after his mother.

The boy didn't know who or why would anyone want to kill his mother. She was a little scary but at the end of the day, her mission was a n.o.ble one. If anyone wanted to harm her, it was his duty to protect her. He had no choice but to do so since he was following on the mission left for him by Marceus.

Marcus was finally happy for the first time in his life. He couldn't let anyone take that away from him now. He deserved to be happy.

Once he got clues about the topic from Mia, he decided to investigate and found out that the ones stealing metal were the old partners from his father.

Marcus was in shock. Why were these people trying to kill his mother? Kill the one that created the living weapon, the one that brought them all together in the first place.

Marcus was confused again, but he couldn't let his heart be filled with indecision. He trusted his mother, he trusted his father, and he trusted himself. If these people wanted to become his enemies, he would just keep fighting like he always had.

But something about these people triggered Marcus.

They kept acting like their relations.h.i.+p with Marceus was real while his was fake. He started to feel like these people wanted to take away something from him. Take away his trust in his parents, take away everything he was fighting for, everything he believed. They were acting like his life was a lie and that their lives was the life he should be living.

Marcus was becoming enraged. These people were trying to convince him that his entire life was a joke. A waste of time. That listening to his mother all this time was a mistake and that she was just tricking him. He couldn't accept that. Marcus already barely even had anything. If he couldn't even believe in the life he had lived, then what was even the meaning of his existence?

He decided to reject that idea. His life would not be denied by a group of strangers. Marcus concluded that they were his enemies and that if he didn't want to lose himself, they needed to disappear.

And so, he declared war against their leader, the crossbow girl, Evlin.

Marcus decided to announce that he would cut her head off the next time they met. He needed to if he wanted to stop this group from ruining the life he had built for himself.

He started to gather allies to chase her and ended up following her tracks all the way to the demon kingdom.

Once he finally entered the place, he realized he had reached a point of no return.

He either needed to kill this girl and her group or completely reject everything he believed in. Everything his father left behind for him, and every moment his mother made him go through.

Marcus refused to let his existence be denied like this.

While he was being held by Mia's warm hands after they had just finished cutting the entrance gates of the kingdom and were about to be attacked by a barrage of monsters and demons, his partner tried to check on him and rea.s.sure if everything was ok.

"How do you feel, darling?"

[I feel like the moment of truth has finally come...]

"Oowww... You're so romantic!!"

And so, the two stared at the h.o.a.rd of enemies approaching and began their counterattack.

The son of the living weapon was once again doing what he believed was his destiny, being a tool to fight against demons.