[Book II Chapter 29] Nephrite: Curses and Demonic Beasts

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The air shook with the tension of two paragons channeling at max power. Nephrite could feel the subtle tremors echoing through the ground. What a disaster…

Gladiator and Jayden had been discussing their next steps in the Hearth Lord’s office when Selina Gladesong had entered. The Unerring Arrow was securing air routes for the Adventurer’s Guild and was interested in the details of their expedition. Not ten minutes later, her sister, Stella Gladesong also joined them, arriving as Aery’s representative to coordinate evacuation efforts. The two did not get along. What a hilariously bad bit of luck… Nephrite sighed.

Gladiator had been immediately kicked out and were now scattered on nearby rooftops, awaiting the outcome. Nephrite looked over at Light Skyfell who was reading. As leader, I should know my subordinates.

She approached the young man, “What’s that about?”

Light clutched his book close, “Curses.”

Eyes narrowing, Nephrite glimpsed ‘By Salazar Rook’ on the cover. “Who gave you that?”

“Jayden.” Light declared defensively.

Really… Nephrite shook her head. A guiding philosophy of shinobis was to employ every tool at one’s disposal. All manner of subterfuge and underhanded tricks were fair game. Salazar Rook embodied this approach and took it to the extreme. In many corners of Harakoune there was a sense of admiration for the man. It was no surprise his works could be found in forbidden corners of libraries.

“Is it interesting?” Nephrite asked. She’d never read Salazar’s study of curse, so she was genuinely curious.

Realizing she’d no intention of confiscating the text, Light opened up, “It thoroughly covers every malediction imaginable, from simple jinxes to eternal damnations. The methodologies to inflict them, the advantage and disadvantage of each one, how to defend against them… It’s all spelled out in easy fashion. I’ve just reached the chapter about the merits of empowering curses, which offer strength for a price. It’s fascinating.”

“You didn’t find anything objectionable?” Nephrite couldn’t believe Salazar’s writing could be so single handily helpful.

Here Light paused, his jubilation subdued, “Some of the example were horrific. What’s worse is knowing they aren’t hypothetical, but most likely actual accounts. Despite his awe-inspiring intellect, Salazar deserves to rot in hell.”

Sounds about right. “Why did Jayden give you this book?” Nephrite pressed. It wasn’t something a sixteen year old should hold.

“Because I ceaselessly begged him.” Light admitted. “I love the mystery and danger surrounding curses. Even after nearly being killed by one, I can’t help it. I wanted to educate myself to avoid the danger next time.”

All saints have their quirks, Nephrite reminded herself, “Just make sure you don’t incapacitate yourself during a mission.”

“Of course.” Light affirmed, before adding. “By the way, the blades I wield were taken from the Field of Graves.”

“Really?” Nephrite sat besides him. “Mind telling me about them?”

Light enthusiastically describe his four weapons and their abilities. He then launched into the lives of their former wielders, describing their heroic deaths.

Listening to him, Nephrite smiled. When was the last time I felt such excitement? It’d been decades at least. Perhaps the first time her father had let her borrow his Glistening Cloak.

Eventually, the boy ran out of things to say and sheathed his cherished prizes. His attention returned to the book. “Is it true Salazar wrote this when he was in Harakoune?”

“Yes, it’s one of the two he published.” Nephrite confirmed. “Sixteen hundred years ago, the Fang Lord called him. It was one of his relatively less destructive incarnations. Didn’t Jayden tell about it? He met the man.”

“Could you tell me everything?” Light gushed. “I could tell there was something but never felt comfortable asking him.”

Nephrite considered. It was a tale most in Hearth already knew, and it’d be wise to bring Light up to speed. “Sure.”

“The Hidden village of Fang has always specialized in summoning and controlling demonic beasts. The Fang Lord wanted to take this the next level, infusing summons into the bodies of children. Those who survived the process would instantly inherit new magical affinities, becoming valuable assets. He recruited Salazar’s aid to increase his odds of success.”

“Together they developed a curse that did exactly what the Fang Lord desired. The success rate was low, with the majority taken over by the demonic beast and growing feral. This didn’t dissuade the Fang Lord, as even these failures could be trained into military assets.”

“With time and refinement, many successful fusions were produced. Jayden was one of them, and his experiences during the program led him to defect to Hearth.”

“How did it end?” Light asked.

“The world eventually discovered Salazar’s presence and demanded his head.” Nephrite answered. “The Fang Lord resisted at first, but relented before threats of destruction. The hidden village has been isolated and bitter ever since.”

“While on the subject…” Light took out an amber orb, one they’d recovered from the demonic frogs. “Why do demonic beasts exists? And why are these left when they’re defeated?”

“Creatures born of the Ether don’t inherently have souls. They’re ephemeral, like fleeting dreams. When they perish, their essence is reabsorbed into the space that spawned them.”

“Those with intelligence feel this intangibility the longer they live. They come to crave distinction, to become entities not formed of recycled common knowledge, sovereigns able to mold the reality around them.”

“To achieve this, they must replace everything they borrowed, and the simplest way to do so is gathering fragments. You see, the memories of fallen summons don’t completely vanish. The strongest, most potent ones drift in the Ether. Sadly, they’re overwhelming negative. Summons are commonly treated as disposable pawns and instruments of war. The only fragments such short lived existences produce is the regret and bitterness at the moment of their death. Entities which collect these inherit a burning hatred for humanity. We call them demonic beasts.”

Nephrite pointed, “The orb in your hand is a valuable material called a core. Any demonic beast who gains strength from consuming a human heart has one. It’s karma, a way of restoring balance. We can profit from killing them, just as they profit from killing us.”

“But what exactly is it?” Light held up the transparent globe.

“A nascent, unformed soul given form.” Nephrite said. “As proof, when a demonic beast becomes a sovereign, it no longer drop one.”

There was a boom, and a shockwave hit them. All the windows in the lord’s manor had just shattered. The paragon-level channeling was back with vengeance.

“Should we be doing something?” Light asked, concerned.

“Nope, we stay out of that one.” Jayden declared, appearing besides them. Nephrite shot him a questioning glance to which Jayden smiled coyly. “I ran away.”

Once Haron and Arika joined them, he continued, “I was somehow able to deliver my report on Basdrum. We even had a short productive discussion before Stella interrupted Selina and…” He looked back. “That’s a problem for our lord to resolve.”

“So what now?” Arika asked. “We wait for him to calm those two?”

Jayden shook his head. “Lord Ozaki assigned our next mission before I bailed. We are to head to hidden village of Fang and uncover what they know about Kaygren and Mount Gull. We leave in an hour.”