Blood, sweat, and tears.
It was what man would use to describe their struggles, to stress how much time and effort they had put into obtaining or preserving something for perhaps days, months, or years.
It was no different. Although it may not have been a human in any typical sense the Guiltylawe had worked tirelessly to protect what it considered to be its domain from all that would do harm to its forest and subjects.
It was an understanding between all demon beasts that the right to rule was reserved only for the strongest and who was stronger than it? The Jet Black King of the Forest.
However, that no longer seemed to be the case.
Something else had come. A new foe, a contender, one that threatened to usurp its position if it did not act swiftly.
But it didn't seem like this adversary wished to rule. No, it came to hunt.
It happened slowly, as if out of the blue. One by one its brethren would vanish without leaving a single trace.
This in of itself wasn't cause for too much concern. After all its kind regularly came and went, driven by their incessant need to satisfy their hunger by venturing outside the forest to hunt larger game.
That was until the bodies started to appear. Shriveled up corpses that looked as if they were sucked dry. From the wolf-like Ulgarms to the ape like Snow Blights, all were killed and all in the same manner.
Its people became uneased, yet the king couldn't help be impressed by the level of slaughter or its pace.
Within just a few months dozens had been killed and the killer had yet to be identified.
Even more enticing was that this hunter didn't seem to kill for the flesh its prey provided, but rather for the thrill of it. A worthy foe indeed.
Nevertheless despite its admiration, the Guiltylawe had a duty to fulfill. One that it would carry out without fail less its people think him weak and cowardly.
He would hunt down this trespasser and prove itself worthy of its position.
By any means necessary.
Splat!
The scene was one she had grown used to.
Squish!
Well partially, the act was all well and good, but the aftermath and stench were still mildly upsetting
Squash!
She sighed, her eyes blank, but observant, taking in the pile of mabeast carcasses that had piled around her, many of them becoming perverse sculptures skewed on top pillars of ice with only a select few being kept alive long enough to be her latest test subjects.
"Bellatrix. Sigma." She spoke, two quasi spirits appearing before her in a dazzling flash of light. Both of them Yang respectfully. She pointed at the dying ulgrams and gave a single command "Feed."
The spirits eagerly complied. Swarming the struggling children of gluttony and boring their way through the beasts battered bodies. A painful process to be sure, but a necessary one.
If she had learned anything from her time with the spirits it was their consistent usefulness. Spirits could do just about anything and were practical in any facet of any good spirt user's arsenal. Despite this they faced one crucial flaw and that was their intake of mana. One she hoped to rectify today.
So she watched. Entranced and somewhat pleased as slowly, but surely her sprits began to absorb the mana from the ever waning ulgarms who writhed in agony as they were eaten from the inside out.
It was a regrettable display, lasting far longer than she would have liked, but was well worth it, with the beasts being reduced to hollowed, shriveled up husks, once the spirits had had their fill.
It was a nauseating sight to behold.
Regardless, the results were satisfactory. The spirits returned to her brighter and much bulkier then when she had first summoned them. No doubt from the hefty meal they had just consumed.
Well children do need a balanced diet. She pondered, taking them both into her hands.
"You both did great. Take a long rest." She said kindly.
"T-Thank – you – m-my – l-lady…" Bellatrix murmured.
"Tasty! Tasty! Tasty!" Sigma repeated excitedly.
The two vanished and she was left momentarily stunned.
Huh? Their beginning to speak more fluently. Perhaps, feeding on those mabeasts had the added perk of progressing their evolution. She thought.
She wouldn't discount the idea. Especially if there was a chance that such method would help her spirits further develop.
"Magnificent." A feminine voice drew her from her musings. "You're progressing further then I could have imagined Emilia."
The half-elf turned, practically glowing at the compliment. "Well it's all thanks to you Pandora. If it wasn't for your lessons I'd still think spirits were make-believe characters from a picture book."
The woman shook her head. "Nonsense. It was due to your hard work and months of diligence that you were able to achieve the level you are today. You are truly a gifted child."
Emilia flashed a cocky grin. "Gifted enough for you to clean up my little mess." Nudging her head to the massacre around them.
Pandora smiled and before Emilia had a chance to blink the remnants of the beasts had vanished. With her previously stained dress returning to its kempt state.
"Hmm, are you ever going to tell me how you do that?" Emilia asked curiously.
"Whatever do you mean? This area was already desolate when I arrived." Pandora said simply.
"So that's a no huh?" Emilia deadpanned.
Pandora never lost her smile.
In the nearly six months since she'd found her, Pandora had become a constant staple in Emilia's life. Gone were the days of perpetual loneliness that plagued the young girl whenever her mother was either too busy or physically drained to spend adequate time with her. Instead she found a mentor and a friend in the woman she had come to see as an older sister figure. Although she wasn't without her odd quirks. Her alleged magic being one of them.
Emilia wasn't an idiot. She hadn't missed the strange series of events that occurred whenever the young woman was involved. Mother Fortuna's lack of awareness when she would sneak out for hours on end, sometimes returning late into the evening none the wiser was hard to miss. Not to mention her ability to seemingly whisk away anything without lifting a finger.
Infuriatingly, whenever she would bring up this point of discussion, Pandora would dismiss it as a trick of the eye, coincidence or feign outright ignorance. It was so frustrating!
"You'll get wrinkles if you scrunch up your face like that."
Emilia glared, but it looked far more cute then menacing. "Stop teasing me."
"My apologies." Pandora said with an unmistakable mirth. "Come let's have some tea and talk over what you've learned."
A table and two identical chairs were summoned from thin air along with an entire tea set. A comfortable pastime between them or as Pandora put it, a meeting of two magic users, a witch's tea party. Whatever that meant.
"I see that you've gone ahead with what we'd discussed."
"Mana absorption." Emilia nodded, adding five lumps of sugar to her increasingly sweetened beverage. It was an addiction she was in no rush to break. "It was…messier then I thought."
"An unfortunate sacrifice." Pandora elegantly sipped from her cup. "But the results were well worth them I take it?"
"Yes." Emilia said. "Bellatrix. Sigma had no trouble in taking the excessive mana from the ulgrams nor did they suffer any hazardous side effects from the process.
"Those two were the first quasi spirts you contracted as well as your strongest." Pandora noted. "I'm surprised you'd used them when the risk of failure was so great?"
"It was because they were the strongest that I took the gamble. Any other sprit would have overloaded from the intake and died. I took the least costly steps."
"What a kind hearted child." Pandora said. Emilia looked embarrassed. "So I take it was successful?"
"Well mostly, but… "
"But? "Pandora raised a brow.
"But the timing they took to drain one mabeast never mind multiple ones was insufficient." Emilia said sagely raising both of her index fingers. "Two minutes. One hundred and twenty strenuous seconds is how long it took for each spirit to effectively sap the needed nutrients from an individual foe."
"There were always going to be drawbacks. A sprit can only consume so much. You need not be concerned for such limitations. Over time their forms will adapt and as they progress they will be able to take in mana at a far greater rate."
"I guess."
Pandora titled her. "There is an alternative method you haven't considered."
Emilia looked hesitant. "I don't feel comfortable with that."
"There is nothing wrong with using the resources provided for you."
"B-But were talking about people! Humans! I don't want to feed my spirts that!"
Pandora sighed, setting her cup down. "Those very people wouldn't hesitate to kill you if the need called for it"
Emilia looked conflicted. When asked of the outside world Pandora was quite blunt in her explanation of how the people beyond Elior Forest viewed Elves and Demi-humans. Seeing them as little more than devils resulting in many being driven from their homes, enslaved, murdered or used for other unsavory means. It was a hard pill to swallow.
"Foliage can also provide mana." Emilia tried.
"It is not as potent. Just as individual mabeast will provide you with varying degrees of mana, humans are far more valuable, and richer. Even the most deficient gate can be of great use."
Emilia glanced away, shaking her head. "I'll think about it."
She wouldn't of course. It wasn't something she could picture herself doing. Mabeasts were easy, they were mindless animals controlled by the desire to feed their hunger. Killing them was an act of mercy. But people, humans, that was different
Seeing her obvious discomfort Pandora tactfully changed her approach.
"I'm only telling you the truth Emilia." Pandora said gently. "If you wish to walk the path of a mage certain methods no matter how grave must be undertaken."
"I-I." Emilia wavered. Pandora saw an opportunity.
"Think it over. It would be a shame if someone of your talent wasted it over something so trivial."
Emilia tensed. As if straddled by an invisible force, the girl who wore an expression of worry and confusion suddenly found herself becoming very, very still.
She felt a shiver run down her spine, her eyes dulling slightly as her body became ridged.
"I…understand." She said, her voice devoid of any emotion.
Pandora looked pleased. "Excellent. With that matter settled why we don't begin today's lessons with a light warmup exercise. I'll even let you use your magic today."
"Y-Yeah sure." Emilia blinked as if she had woken from a daze, all of the tension seemingly being drained from her as she downed the last of her drink in one gulp. "Don't try to go easy on me!" She boasted.
"But of course." Pandora said, sounding not at all threatened.
Emilia took her stance. It was a descent form, one that took months of getting her butt kicked to get a handle of.
Hopefully she'd be able to put up a descent fight this time.
"Okay! Hit me with your best shot!" She let out her best war cry. .
As you could imagine, she didn't fare well.
Order and Justice.
Chaos and tyranny
Good and evil. The faithful and the blasphemous.
It was he and he alone who could bring solace to this torn world. A world blighted by the sins of an evil that continuous to remain unvanquished.
He seethed on his throne, surrounded by his most loyal followers who had come to hear his teachings within the sanctuary of his church.
"M-Master." A hooded figured, kneeled before him.
"Speak."
"T-That woman has returned."
Anger and annoyance threatened to consume him.
BURN! BURN! BURN!
"I see. All of you. Leave us."
The servants bowed, one by one they departed just as she entered.
"My, it's been awhile hasn't it?"
Such insolence!
His temper soared.
"Why come? Leave now! Or face judgement!"
"Now, now, is that anyway to talk to an old friend and after I came all this way."
"Friendship not desired. Leave now and live. Stay and face death,"
She sighed parting a strain of hair away from her face. "We've been through this before. It is a fruitless endeavor. You simply can't kill me."
"Evil can always be reduce to ashes. Will need to try harder!
"Must you be so difficult? All the same I am not here to fight you, I've actually come to share information that you might just be interested in learning."
Schemer! Heretic! Liar!
KILL! KILL! KILLKILLLKILL!
"What falsehood! Deceiver! Spawn of sin!"
"Even if such information could lead to the eradication of that woman's accursed lineage."
He froze.
"You lie! Witch! Destroyer of world! Gone she is! Sealed away! Long ago."
"What if I was to tell you that her bloodline has not only survived, but has fostered a child, one who bears a striking similarity to the witch of old."
BURNBURNBURNBURNBURNBURNBURNBURNBURN!
"Where hide! Must find! Erase evil! Destroy devil! Judgement! Judgement! Judgement!
"In due time. But first let us discuss my terms." The woman said, her tone and appearance giving off a certain vibe of arrogance.
He hated her. She was one of them. A demon, a trickster, an enchantress who tempted the hearts of the faithful with honeyed words and promises, damning their souls to his cleansing fire.
UNFORGIVABLE! UNFORGIVABLE! IT WAS UNFORGIVALBE!
He would kill her. Pandora, that vexing woman would taste the fires of hell. But for now he had a new purpose, one that was long overdue.
He was the Great Spirit of fire.
Harbinger of peace.
Virtue born true.
He was Melakuera.
And by his vow, the Witch's daughter would burn.
It seems like everyone wants a piece of smol Emilia