*Aaron POV*

The excitement was building up in me as Vezhan and I approached the city, but it was soon replaced with confusion as I saw the old and destroyed walls.

“Welcome to my city, Evestio.”, Vezhan says.

I stood there, confusion filling me. I don’t know, I expected something a little more… maintained.

Vezhan sees my confusion and explains the whole situation. “It’s been in this state for a while now.”

I look at him. A while? He just gives me a shrug. “Come, let’s walk inside.”

I can hear a hint of sadness in his tone. I kinda feel bad for him. I wonder what could’ve happened for it to be this way?

Vezhan and I begin walking towards the gate. For some reason, there doesn’t seem to be any guards.

Well, I’m not sure how guards would work if the entire wall is compromised like this. I pause near the entrance.

“Hey, what if people see me?”, I whisper worriedly.

“There are no people.”, Vezhan explained. “Not anymore.”

I stand there, still apprehensive about what people would think of my monster form. I mean, monsters are supposed to be the enemy of these sentient beings according to those void beings. Vezhan walks up to me and grabs my wrist, dragging me into the front of the gate.

“Hey, w-wait.” Please, I don’t like to be the target of stares.

I am pushed in front of the gate, and then I can really see how bleak and empty the town is. The street in front of me is lit only by strange, red lights that glow dimly. It reveals enough to show broken down buildings, some being completely demolished. The road, too, is in a state of disrepair. If not for the area of surrounding bone, there would probably be ecological succession, and plants would grow all over the place.

“See?”, Vezhan says in a low voice, tinged with a hint of sadness. “No people.”

I look at Vezhan, and he looks away, his hand seeming to be clutching something around his neck. I feel bad for him, but I can’t help but wonder why he stays.

Finally, Vezhan recollects himself and faces back towards me. “Let’s keep going.”, he says.

And we keep walking past all of the decay. It’s so abandoned and empty, dusty and dirty. I recognize some of what the establishments were supposed to be.

A sign hangs above one of the buildings, with what looks like a mug and bed on it. Through the cracks and fallen walls, I can see an open place with lots of chairs and tables. An Inn?

I see other things too. Clothing, gardens, big builds for what looks like administrations.

This was a whole town once, and now it’s like this. What happened?

I look at Vezhan next to me, and his face remains gloomy, but I can tell he’s trying to hide it. I tap his back, trying to comfort him. “I’m sorry.”

Vezhan looks at me, a faint smile appearing on his face. What is he thinking right now?

“Thanks. Never thought I’d see the day where I get comforted by a monster.”

He lets out a chuckle. “Don’t worry about me though. I can deal with it.”

I let out a smile, on the outside. On the inside though, I don’t think that sentence sounded very confident.

We continue to walk ahead at a leisurely pace. The atmosphere around here is bleak and dark. At least it feels a little safer here than the outside. I haven’t spotted one of those so-called “souls” as Vezhan calls them.

After a minute, I get curious and ask Vezhan about what happened in this town to have it become this way. He stops for a moment and ponders for a moment in response.

“Well,” he says while resuming walking. “as you probably have guessed already, this town wasn’t always like this.”

He grips his hands tightly.

“The Demon King’s army…”

I look up at Vezhan in surprise. Demon king? This world has those tropes?

“A king of demons? Like flying people with horns and a tail?”

Vezhan looks at me in surprise. “You don’t know what demons are?”

“Well, not really I guess.”

“They’re corrupted people. A demon is either someone who was born corrupted with demon blood or is turned into a demon through a ritual. They turn bloodthirsty and obey their king’s every command, without free will. They have monstrous and evil powers, and they spread across the land in conquest.”

“Aren’t those just monsters?”

“Monsters? No, although monsters can be demons, not all demons are monsters. Demons are marked by the distinctive magical aura they give off, and they’re sentient unlike monsters. Oh, well I guess you’re an exception to that though.”

“How do you turn into a demon then? And does that mean it’s not a separate race?”

“It is counted as a separate race, according to the system. They’re… a special bunch. In regards to how to turn into a demon… I don’t know, ask them.” Vezhan pauses, staring at me. “Don’t ask them.”

“I’m not. I was just curious.”

“You’re a curious one aren’t you? Anyways, we’re here. In this town, besides me, there is only one other person alive. Let me introduce you to the village elder: Hacian. He’s the one who handles all of the political and economic affairs of the town before the Demon King’s army attacked.”

I immediately pause in my steps. We are at the front of a big building. I know what building it is, I’ve seen it many times before.

I’m not so sure about this anymore. I tentatively take another step forward, and Vezhan notices my discomfort.

“What’s wrong?”

I hesitate before speaking, unsure about this whole ordeal all of a sudden. “I don’t want to meet this ‘Hacian’.”

Vezhan steps forward, to me. “Hacian’s a nice guy, I promise. If you let me explain, I’m sure that you and him both would get along. And you seem like a nice monster at least so-”

“Don’t. Please don’t call me a monster.”

“I’m… sorry?”

I look down, trying to calm myself a bit. “Call me Aaron, not monster. I…”

Had enough people call me that in my life.

“…just don’t like to be called that.”

Vezhan looks shocked, then sorry. He really is a good person. “O-oh… Sorry, Aaron, I didn’t mean it like that.”, Vezhan apologizes.

“It’s all fine. I know that you mean well at least.”

I look up at Vezhan. “And politicians are not to be trusted. They’re vile, liars.”

Another voice appears in front of me, behind Vezhan. It sounds like it belongs to an old person, filled with ages of wisdom. It chuckles out loud. “He’s not wrong, that one is.”

Vezhan turns around. “Elder Hacian!”, he says in surprise.

“Hunter Vezhan.”, Hacian responds. He turns his head towards me.

“And Aaron.”

I tilt my head. “You were listening to us the entire time?”

Hacian scoffs. “You were in my front yard the entire time. I have every right to hear what the two of you children were talking about.”

"Children?", I look at Vezhan, who appears flustered.

“Wha- I’m 22. Don’t look at me like that. Elder Hacian calls every resident a child.”

“Because you children are still too young. I’ll call you normally if you turn at least as old as me.”, Hacian says with a grin, which he then breaks with a sigh.

They both stand there, an atmosphere of longing and depression falling over the three of us. It makes me a bit uncomfortable. And by a bit, I mean by a considerable amount.

Hacian breaks the small silence first. He looks at me, studying my appearance. “And you, little one, who are you?”

“I am Aaron, and I am what the system calls me, a ‘Mana Monster’.”

I leave out the juvenile part of it though.

“Ah, and may I ask how old you are?”

“14.”

“Young indeed.” Hacian shifts from his place.

“Come, follow me into my home.” And he walks away. Vezhan follows, and, after a moment of apprehension, so do I.

We are led into a small shack, not into the mansion as I have suspected. It makes me wonder, why someone like him chooses to stay in this small place rather than the big building.

It’s, although comparatively small compared to the mansion, big enough to comfortably fit about five people. It’s just one room with a majority of the stuff taken out and is very clean compared to the other areas of this city. There’s a rug in the middle, as well as a single emergency light.

It feels kinda cozy in here, or it would be if it weren’t for the feel the abandoned town gave. Hacian sits down on the rug while Vezhan sits down on the side. I take the opposite side of Vezhan, and we surround the light in the middle of the room.

“This is going to be quite a long while.” Hacian says, breaking the silence.

I agree with him on that. “Indeed.”

Vezhan looks at me and Hacian. “May I?”

We both nod, and he asks his question. “Why do you know how to speak?”

“I have no idea, honestly. What language are we speaking now anyways?”

It’s weird how we understand each other. Maybe this soul-transporting thing has some extra properties I don’t really know about. Hmm. I guess there was one time where I spoke to another person who understood what I was saying. That girl who I met in my dream that one time at the beginning of all of this mess. That was pretty strange, wasn’t it?

“We are speaking in the Common language. You really have no idea how you can speak?”

“I don’t.” I suppose I could tell them that I learned how to speak while I was a human in my past life, even if that doesn’t explain how there’s a common language between two different universes. However, I don’t think opening up about everything would be a very good idea.

“The demon king. Who is he? And Why did he invade this town?”, I ask.

Hacian answers this time. “The demon king is an ancient existence. His origins are surrounded in mystery, but it is commonly believed that the demon king is an especially powerful monster with a close relation to the divine. His mission is to spread destruction across the world, and challenges the divine directly.”

Oh? I thought the veiled weren’t allowed to do that?

“Is he not a void entity then?”

Hacian looks surprised, while Vezhan looks at the both of us confused.

“What’s a void ent-”

“Hush, child. Do not make the mistake of invoking their name.”, the old drake says. He then looks at me, scrutinizing me even further.

“The Demon King isn’t one of those. Now, tell me how a monster like you know about the beings from nothing?”

“The beings from nothing?”, Vezhan asks.

“Void entities? I’ve met one. They seem reasonable, if not for their proclivity for ending the world. Void entities, by the way, are beings who are basically the enemies of gods, I think. Gods create sentient beings; you all. The ‘beings from nothing’ as you call them create monsters.”

Hacian opens his mouth. “You’ve met one? Of all the people in the world, a monster meets them?”

I feel a bit irked at the attitude of the elder. I guess people still think of me as some sort of monster?

I let out a sigh. They could actually be right, honestly. Compared to others, I don’t even fit properly into this world. Made by both a god and a veiled, not even seen as existing by the system. What a confusing and awkward state of being.

It’s my existence though, and I’ll live it to the best of my abilities.

“Is there a world above all of us?”, I say, trying to distract myself from thinking too far.

Vezhan answers up first. “Oh, the above world? Yeah, that’s actually where we came from. You see, this city actually started as a military base, but after years of being without use, it kinda developed from there. The government on the outside was busy dealing with some sort of internal dispute, I heard, and they kinda left us to do our own thing. Now, we’re our own town, but even though this place is… was great, I still think that there are even better sights to see on the outside.” Vezhan lets out a sigh. “If only we could leave.”

Leave? Can these people not leave?

Hacian notices my confusion and explains. “When the Demon King’s army came, we… well, we fell in battle. They walked into our town, one of the 4 generals did, and made gave us an ultimatum. It was to either be converted into one of them or be cursed to a fate of suffering. About half of us chose to be converted, and the other half…” Hacian grimaces and Vezhan looks at the floor, a pained expression on his face.

He continues on his explanation. “The general, he planted a curse on this entire town. Unholy magic that we do not know anything about, working in different and evil ways. We cannot leave this place, no matter what, no matter the method.”

Hacian pauses to collect himself. I continue to listen intently.

“He trapped us in here. Nothing can leave, not even our souls. The general raised a field of white dust where our souls are reanimated into abominations that hunt and seek to kill others while also suffering at the same time. The souls die and are reanimated, then the cycle repeats until this curse finally gives out.”

“…How can something like that even be possible?”

“The Demon King’s origins are shrouded in mystery, but his existence is less so. His power rivals the divine, and, naturally, the four generals underneath him have unparalleled power. To trap a soul from entering the afterlife, a cruel fate that has fallen on us. And I can’t say that the blame isn’t completely mine.”

Vezhan starts, “Hacian y-”

“No.”, Hacian interrupts, his voice grim. “I have led this city into a fate worse than death. Every soul here will die a thousand times and even more until the wretched curse will wear off.”

I see now. Hacian was probably one of the ones who led the city against the siege of the demons. His guilt and his failure, eating away at him.

Still, it’s difficult for me not to sympathize with him. He actually cares for his people, something that seems to be rare in most with a position like his.

I reach out to pat Hacian’s shoulder.

“How low have I fallen,” Hacian says, laughing at the mockery he makes himself out to be, “to receive the pity of a monster.”

My hand freezes, unsure of what to do next. I eventually sigh and return to my normal position.

“…How long?”

Vezhan looks from Hacian to me and responds solemnly. “About 6 months. The rest have already died from starvation or the like. We are the only ones who can sustain ourselves with solely magic. I don’t think that this situation… I don’t think that we can lose out on hope yet though.”

“For the Almighty’s sake child, she’s gone! Never coming back!”, Hacian responds, tired of Vezhan’s talk of salvation.

“She’s not dead!”, Vezhan stands up, shouting. “Someone like her can make her promises and is strong enough to keep them. I refuse to allow myself to lose hope in her. Avelia will come back, she’s… probably just running into difficulties or something, I don’t know!”

“Oh for…”, Hacian mutters.

And it continues on like that, with me on the sidelines, like some sort of broken family arguing with each other. I let out a sigh.

Ever since I came here, I was always wondering what those patches of mana my mana sight has detected were, and now I feel like I have an idea what they were.

I get up from where I was sitting, the duo not really paying any attention to me.

“Please excuse me.”

They look at me for a moment and then glare at each other. It seems that they’re no longer yelling at each other at least. Then, I walk out of the shack, heading for the outside of the city.

I breathe in. I am simply an amateur magician who's trying to figure out some ancient, complex spell, but I understand that I still have to at least make an attempt at it.