Chapter 20
Sahara followed the War Chief to a rather ordinary wooden barrack that looked to be used for a routine office space. They went inside and were greeted with salutes from the orderlies. They pass through a doorway that was adjacent to the entry. Sahara could immediately notice the increase in security. The doorway felt like a portal from a rustic office to the emperor's war shelter. Thick metal walls surrounded the staircase which led to a sealed heavy metal door. The War Chief removed his gauntlet and placed it inside square marking on the wall. It flashed a series of hieroglyphs which Sahara recognized it as a barrier seal. The door's long lock slid out from the door frame and the door creaked open from the weight. The War Chief entered and beckoned Sahara inside. They stepped into another more technologically advanced office space, where they were greeted by a beautiful mage. She wore an elegant plain cuirass and a red and black robe. These robes were for war mages, which is a subset of mage who worked in the warrior ranks. She had the right pointed polygon for the rank of Captain on the shoulders of her robe. She wore a steel helmet that had a visor that covered to the brows. She had almost unnaturally tan skin like those gyaro girls in the cities, but it was very clearly natural. Her hair was also naturally a deep dark purple. She wore a serious expression. "She must clearly be an effective officer to be such a high rank at such a young age," Sahara thought as he subtly admired her looks. Sahara did not have many weaknesses, but beautiful women could cripple him. "Something does seem off about her though," his thoughts continued. Inzai walked over to a thick see-through barrier and spoke, "Over the last several months, children from all over Saga have gone missing and the reports lead to a single individual, simply identified as Bogey a relatively young mage from the Tachibana district. He was placed on the most wanted list and his profile was sent around to all the towns to keep people on their toes. We began to receive a lot of tip-offs leading from South Tachibana to the northern Divine Barrier. Captain Hana was placed in charge of retrieval with my unit as support. This was due to the lack of information about Bogey and the crossing of the Divine Barrier. The Captain was able to retrieve the person of interest and we locked him in this magic chamber."
The Chief finished by knocking on the clear barrier. Sahara could make out a heavily bound figure in the corner of the chamber from where he stood near the entry. He felt a bit uneasy when he saw the being.
"I'll tell you what I've never seen such a mutated or pure evil looking person before." The Chief announced as the Captain behind him fidgeted a little.
"Hmm," Sahara hummed with concern,
"Since you are the Demon Cleaner I figured you might know what we are dealing with here."
Sahara walked over to the see through barrier and looked carefully. Much of the prisoner's body was bound by a magic strap spell. He noticed the head was wrapped tightly with a large metal eye locked on the forehead.
"Is this the magic binding 'Eye of Horus?'" Sahara asked as he noticed the visible neck of the prisoner was grey and purplish.
"Yes Major!" Replied the War Mage.
"Very nicely done looks like there is skill behind your beauty," Sahara replied casually.
Hana blushed with embarrassment and slightly abused pride.
"Hmph if you say so." She replied indignantly.
"Remove the head wrap," Sahara said suddenly.
Catching the Captain off guard she hesitated then did as she was commanded. Without bringing down the barrier she snapped her fingers. The eye on the prisoner's forehead evaporated and the wraps fell to the floor and disappeared. It revealed a horrid sight. The man's face was mostly grey with green and purple blotched, his eyes were void of color, his teeth had changed into sharp triangles like that of a shark, his mouth hung open extremely wide even wider than a dislocated jaw. His hair was patchy and thin. He looked like a zombie.
An air of darkness reached Sahara who realized that something was awry long before he entered the room. That's when he saw the thing he needed to see a dark symbol emerged on the white voids of his eyes. It was the outline of a black diamond.
"What do you think?" The War Chief asked.
"We need to kill him immediately " Sahara said without emotion and the War Chief nodded.
"NO!" Yelled the Captain surprising the Chief. "Um killing a prisoner is unjust and against the Saga Convention…" she stammered nervously fidgeting.
"We need to kill it," Sahara repeated
"Nooo!!!" The captain shrieked again.
"Chief restraint her!" Sahara shouted as he pulled out his enchanted dagger.
The War Chief, who was a veteran of combat, launched himself into the Captain whose eyes had gone white. He put her into a rear neck choke but did not actually choke her. While this happened Sahara smashed through the barrier which blasted evil energy out. Sahara took the dagger a smashed it through the left eye of the prisoner named Bogey.
"Death Purity!" Sahara shouted as the undead snarled and flailed from the stab wound.
A yellow-white glow appeared around the dagger and an explosion of light radiated through the room. The prisoner slowly transformed into the corpse it was before the evil energy entered and laid motionless. Nothing happened for a minute. Sahara scanned his surroundings and saw the room had to be absolved of the dark energy. He noticed the Chief was trying to wake the Captain who passed out from the evil energy draining from her body. He looked at her body, and sighed as he noticed the wet stain coming through her uniform pants which felt like a reoccurring scene to him now. He also noticed her skin was returning to a much healthier and natural brown tan. He looked carefully through her hair and checked her arms. He needed to do a full body exam, but felt it was inappropriate to do in front of the Chief and without consent. "She is not an immediate threat," Sahara said as he decided to instead pinch both cheeks and pull them. Her face was pulled in a distorted way but it was hilariously cute. The War Chief began to boom with laughter. The uncomfortable position and the laughter caused the Captain to slowly wake up.
"Eeeeeh," she cried pathetically when she realized what was going on. In Saga, it was a running prank to wake someone up by making them have a funny face.
"Maaajor pease…." she groaned embarrassed.
"Hey welcome back!" The War Chief laughed.
Sahara let go of her cheeks which immediately puff up into a pout. Sahara smiled politely. The Captain's pout turned into a face of bright red panic as she realized that her nether regions were saturated.
"I um what er I um…" she stammered completely flustered as she tried to cover her accident with her hands.
"Ah yes, that's a common problem when dealing with nonliving magic," Sahara stated seeming like this was unfortunate knowledge.
"Can I um c can I go wash?" The sad Captain asked.
The War Chief nodded to Sahara to give the answer.
"Yes, but um I am going to need to examine your whole body when you are finished."
"Eh?" The Captain responded with wide eyes
"It's a precautionary task that has to be done. I will explain it all when the exam is over."
"Uh, Chief?" The Captain pleaded for an ally, but he had slowly backed away and sprinted out.
"It's your call major!" Was heard from the stairwell
"Chief???" She moaned and turned slowly to Sahara who was still smiling.
Chapter 21.
"I feel violated…" the Captain sat at a conference table across from the Chief and Sahara. The Chief was smiling sheepishly rubbing the back of his head which contrasted Sahara serious dispassionate demeanor. In the corner of the room sat a very visible young boy of about twelve in a gi. He was bored and was trying to keep himself entertained by kicking his feet.
Sahara cleared his throat. "Let me start by informing you that the person you captured was a reanimated corpse."
The War Chief who was not experienced in the non-living arts was taken aback. The War Mage Hana looked down in disbelief.
"I assume you know that means the person you call Bogey was already dead prior to possession. Judging by the corpse's decay he had died about three days prior to his possession. There were large amounts of toxins in his body more than necessary for suicide or murder. The toxins appear to be from poison, not venom so that rules out plant or animal attack. Judging by the teeth and frailty of the body he experienced a severe lack of nutrients. So accidentally ingesting a poison seems the most likely. An autopsy should be requested. Additionally, the logs indicate that he was most likely, Yu Toshi, who went to the north forest to locate a specific herb for potent medicine about six months ago. His visit to the forest occurred about three months prior to his first recorded abduction. This is a likely indicator that prior to coming to the north forest he was not a trafficker."
The Chief nodded at the explanation it was not uncommon for people to starve when they left the Divine Barrier. This was usually the result of getting lost in an unfamiliar territory. Hana sat quietly thinking about how she did not even consider that. As a mage one should always consider that the enemy is potentially dead.
"My next point is the return of Lemuria, the Devil Witch of the Northern Forest."
It almost went past the two other adults in the room due to them being lost in thought. When it finally registered in their heads the both let out an, "ehhhhhh??"
"Is that not just a legend?" Grunted the War Chief and the captain nodded furiously in agreement.
"It is not JUST a legend," Sahara replied. "I have over the course of my life as a Demon Cleaner fought to protect the Empire from the assorted nonliving. After several years of doing such work you begin to trace familiar patterns. I have had the privilege of defeating many witches in my time. The most common evil witches are bone witches. The process to create one is through necromancy. It is the fusion of bones to an individual's soul. I have had to fight bone witches who were created by casting this magic on themselves and I've fought witches that were created by others. Bone witches are not very strong they possess about the same level of magic as a goblin mage. When there are large concentrations of bone witches in a single area they begin to develop more and more advanced magic. They learn to horde bones and do it usually by robbing graves. They learn freshly buried bodies are more potent for their magic. They eventually run into humans who they either kill and harvest or in turn get killed themselves. The latter being the best option for us. The former being the worse. Killing humans and harvesting there body is the biggest secret to powerful witches. When fresh blood is added to there spells they can create high level undead monsters and even worse than that…. blood witches."
Everyone in the room was horrified by this knowledge. The War Chief was gritting his teeth, the Captain was clasping her skirt with hands shaking, Kiba was thinking about those red eyes that killed his mother.
Sahara coughed slightly and continued with a grave tone, "When blood witches are able to gather and practice cult magic they can create the ultimate necromancer, a Devil Witch. The most common way to tell if this is occurring is if children begin to go missing, demons begin appearing within the Divine Barrier, and sudden increases in violent crimes, unexplained and human on human."
The War Chief gulped. He was a fearless warrior who could fight with tremendous power against his foes and could even defeat nonliving creatures, but he had no clue nonliving creatures like blood witches existed. He thought Lemuria was just a kids story…
"H-how do you know… it's Lemuria?" The Chief asked masking his concerns.
Sahara looked at his hands, "There are two devil witches in the Grimoire Nuit. One is the Devil King's bride and the other is just his daughter. It is impossible to summon the devil king or his bride, therefore it can only be Lemuria."
The War Chief and mage looked bewildered naturally for people who did not study nonliving it was to be expected. "What's the Grimoire Nuit?"
"The grimoire is a sacred treasure bestowed upon the Tenshi in the corner of the room." Sahara said with a grin.
Chapter 22
Kiba felt a sense of dread since crossing the Divine Barrier. It felt like a blanket of evil was pressing down on him. The sky was grey and the army of evergreens in front of him sat like an imposing army.
"Ara Ara, kowai desu ne?" A voice mused from behind him. A beautiful war mage with dark tan skin and purple hair grinned a the young Kiba.
Kiba had never seen a woman besides his mother and a few female stranger at a distance. It made him wonder if all women were as beautiful as his mother and this Mage.
She was laughing at him because of his confused expression. "It's scary isn't it?" She rephrased it.
Kiba nodded quietly and looked at her ears which looked normal except they went to a sharp point at the top. Her nose was small but had a slight swoop to it causing her nose to point up slightly.
He remembered after Sensei finished talking about the Grimoire Nuit in that conference he asked about her mage abilities.
Sahara asked Hana about the "Eye of Horus" spell, and what she thought of it.
"I love that spell it is one of the most reliable spells especially when dealing with capture missions!" She had said enthusiastically and with pride.
"Are there any down sides to that spell you can think of?" Sensei asked.
Hana thought for a while but said she couldn't.
Sensei replied, "As far as that spell goes it is a fantastic high tier spell great for mages, with no downsides…."
Sensei paused then continued, "If you are human."
Kiba remembered looking at Sensei who looked stern and confident in his statement but both the big War Chief and the mage were extremely puzzled. To Kiba who had not seen many women she looked fairly like his mother who was a woman.
"I know this may come as a shock to you all but Hana is half elf!" The Sensei's expression of seriousness made it seem doubtful that he was lying.
"What?" Shout the Chief in astonishment
"Oh," Hana murmured quietly as if many puzzles in her life suddenly clicked together.
The War Chief stared at his subordinate who was in a submissive concerned state, and with a slight anger commanded Sensei to explain.
Sensei cleared his throat and said, "When I first saw War Mage Hana, she appeared to be fairly normal looking though her skin seemed very flushed. This caused me to examine her more thoroughly and I spotted a few elfin traits." He pointed to his ears, then his eyes, then his nose in reference to her. "You have slight points to your ears, your pupils are not circular but more raptor like, and your nose curves upward. It is extremely subtle and not a guarantee, but enough to keep it in mind. The one downside for "Eye of Horus" is when casted by non-humans the evil can spread to the caster. This is why you became possessed in the prison chamber. If exposed for a long period the possession can become permanent. So for two reasons I needed to examine your naked body." Sensei held up two fingers.
"One was to search for demon possession brandings or evil residue. Almost all forms of possession begin with those traits. Fortunately when I killed the witch familiar "Bogey" you had not been exposed long enough. The second reason I did was to officially determine that you were part elf."
This made perfect sense once Sensei explained it.
"H-how were you able to tell from that?" Hana asked bashfully.
Kiba wondered too, but Sensei's explanation was too advanced for Kiba. All he knew was that it had something to do with a body part called a vulva being shaped differently than humans.
Kiba giggled as he thought about how scarlet she turned.
Sahara glanced over the pair walking behind him, and sighed. "What have you done to me, Inzai?"
Sahara recalled after they dismissed the War Mage the War Chief and himself had a conversation about how she would need to be retrained because elves could be affected by thing humans could not and vise versa. This conversation lead to the pair discussing the crossing of the Divine Barrier with Kiba. That's when the War Chief decided that he would approve it if the demon expert himself, Sahara, would retrain Hana the War Mage. Out ranked Sahara gave in to the command. Now he had a party of three to take care of. He sighed again.
"Major if you sigh like that then all your happiness will disappear!" Hana smiled cutely revealing her child like nature. Sahara sighed again almost immediately after she said that. It was not so much that he was annoyed by them but he was feeling a slight fatigue from using a strength spell on the north portion of the barrier. This task was immensely taxing considering that the barrier completely surrounds the whole nation of Saga. In reality, he only really strengthened about 200 km of the barrier if he had gone all out he could have probably done about 1000 km. This was due to his overwhelming magical power.
"It was really amazing how you were able to strengthen the barrier so much, Major!" Hana said cheerfully.
"Thanks," grunted Sahara as he picked up the pace.
Hana's cheeks puffed up in a pout as her complement was dismissed. Sahara realized something then about her immaturity… "hmmm the average lifespan of an elf is twice as long as a human's. I think she said she is twenty-four so theoretically if she was an elf she would be the equivalent of a twelve-year-old. He looked over his shoulder at the War Mage who had a very full figure of a woman even more than most. Maybe since she is only half-elf her age is half of the difference between elves and humans. So if humans age twice as fast as elves do then she would only age a quarter as fast as a full elf! That would make her eighteenish!" Sahara nodded his head at this thought.
"Well, at least I won't feel as bad about examining her body. Now that I think about it she is definitely still a virgin. No way a human would be able to ignore a vagina so puffy it looked like a peony flower plus that elfin heart-shaped marking was barely visible above it."
Sahara blushed at the thought and tried to clear the dirty thoughts that were arising. He was a strict professional. He coughed and spoke, "It will take one week to reach the training grounds. We are outside the barrier so we may encounter a numerous variety of Demi-humans, monsters, and non-living. I will be escorting you through the safest path, but there is the possibility of dangerous encounters. Unfortunately Kiba acts like a beacon for the non-living so be on full alert and do not wander off."
Kiba and Hana answered in the affirmative
"Um Sensei?" Kiba asked nervously
"Aye?" Responded Sahara
"Do humans live out here pass the barrier?"
Sahara smiled and Hana giggled at the boy's ignorance.
"Of course, not all humans live in Saga." Hana laughed with mild condescension.
"Really? Isn't it dangerous ?" Kiba asked in surprise.
Sahara spoke next, "The people who live out of Saga enjoy the benefits of smaller more localized communities and independence versus the larger and more centralized empire. The safety is a concern but the risk is worth it to them. Plus many of the places where the humans live out here are allied to the empire so they can higher mages and warriors to protect the townships."
"Aye that's a lot of what my old unit did!" Hana said. "When I aided in the defeat of a troll attack in a village outside Minamoto I was promoted and assigned to the War Chief!"
Hana had a pride-filled and smug look on her face as Kiba was awed by her tale."
Sahara marched on leading the group toward a division in the forest tree line. It suddenly dawned on him he only had a vague clue to Hana's magical affinity.
"Hana what are your magic classes?"
"Fufufu," she snickered. "Did I get your attention Sensei?"
Sahara glared at her with such intensity Hana coward behind Kiba.
"Kiba protect me," she whispered
Kiba smiled, "Sensei is strong you should listen to him."
Hana pouted. "My magic abilities are fire warrior and undead magic. Impressed?"
"Hmm elemental mixed with warrior class is impressive especially with undead magic ability." Sahara grinned as he thought about it.
"Hana you are right I am impressed.."
Hana smiled proudly
"At how weak you are."
Hana's face sunk in devastation.
Without skipping a beat Sahara continued his verbal onslaught. "You have yet to prove any worth at all. You can impress the War Chief who is not a mage but not me. It took you twenty four years to figure out that you are half dark elf. Kiba!"
"Yes sir!?" Kiba responded
"You are the second in command that means you are in charge of Hana if she give you any trouble let me know."
Kiba was confused but agreed anyway
Hana's mouth hung open, "W-what? Why?"
"Kiba slew a Witch's wolf with a piece of obsidian tied to a stick, you got possessed by your own spell."
Hana gave up as Kiba grinned sheepishly.
Chapter 23
Three days had passed since the group left Saga and the protection of the Divine Barrier. Not much had occurred other than the trio had to fight off a thieving goblin squad. Primarily fought by Hana and Kiba while Sahara watched. They had been walking through the forest which seemed to gradually dip in elevation. The air was getting warmer and more humid. The trail they were following was lined with mud and peat. It was midday when Sahara stopped the two apprentices.
"The last couple of days have been nice, but now we will be entering the first stage of training. This will primarily affect Kiba who has an advanced sense of the nonliving. This will be extremely intense even for you Hana since you can use undead magic and have elfin senses. Do not worry you will only experience intense fear and dread. This will not be physically dangerous. Are you ready?"
"Yes sir," the subordinates responded.
"If you pee yourself you fail." Sahara said to Kiba.
Hana laughed but immediately regretted as Sahara reminded her of her "accident."
"You peed yourself too?" Kiba asked innocently
Hana nodded slightly with a sigh.
This made Kiba smile. "It's ok I will hold your hand if you get scared."
Hana blushed and smiled at the young boy, "Thank you, I'll be in your care."
Kiba grinned even though he had felt an increase in the oppressive energy for a long time before this proclamation by his Sensei.
Kiba's resolve to become stronger had harden and his will increased. He felt new and refreshed since joining Sensei.
After a quick bathroom break the small pack continued on.
For what felt like hours nothing changed but as the sun started to set Hana began growing uncomfortable. She looked over at Kiba who looked extremely nauseous. "I wonder what we are in for?" Hana thought as she looked over toward the Major. The Major carried on with his normal stern expression that was impossible to read.
More time passed and the sky grew red and ominous. Kiba felt his body quaking and he heard something besides the crunch and platter of walking. It started off very quiet. "What is that sound? Why is it so scary?" Kiba said in his head he blinked and noticed they were passing a boggy lake to his right. He looked over to the lake and froze what he saw paralyzed him. He began shuddering what he saw was a mass of floating corpses petrified and decayed. They moaned and groaned. The sound of bones cracking and the smell of rot washes over him. He felt something warm touch his hand. He flinched and shook. The warm thing slowly wrapped around his hand and squeezed tightly. He mustered the courage to look down. To his relief it was Hana! He looked at her face and could tell she was horrified.
"W-what is this?"
Her face was frozen except for her teeth that were involuntarily rattling.
Kiba gulped
"S-Sensei said they are not dangerous." He stated after gathering his courage. The pendent around his neck slowly began to flash like a beacon. As the groaning grew closer he dropped to his knees which splattered in the mud. He felt an intense ringing and his vision went white. Silence
Silence
Kiba opened his eyes the zombie like beings stopped moving the groaning and agony turned into clear and happy laughter. They were staring at a white orb above the bog lake. There faces and bodies began to un-rot in a sense. Kiba got to his feet with a mild struggle to maintain balance. He was awe stuck.
"This radiance is your doing, boy!" Sahara smiled "Now hold your hands out and connect with the orb."
Kiba was uncertain of what he was wanting him to do, but he stuck his hands out.
"Feel it! It will feel like the sun casting light through a window. Feel it and pull it in."
Kiba felt a tingling sensation on his fingers a sort of warmth. The air seemed to coagulate around his hands into a thread of light. The thread then shot from his hands into the orb. All this happened with astonishing ease. Kiba was bewildered but amazed. Out of the sound of the gentle laughter he heard the Sensei give one final command.
"Send them home by repeating this incantation…. 'absolvo!'"
Kiba repeated the phrase twice in his head then shouted, "abs-solvo!"
The orb let off a brilliant white light that illuminated the forest and sky. The bodies of the purified undead began to evaporate in the orb in a mysterious display of translucent beauty. When they had all been absorbed the orb swelled up and imploded into a light mist that filled the bog.
Gradually the mucky lake and peat surrounding it vanished leaving a large field of rolling grass. The temperature and atmosphere seemed to be far less oppressive than early.
"A-amazing," Hana mumbled as she witnessed this indescribable moment.
"Great job kid! You did great, that charm you have is an incredible tool, and makes your skills more effective."
Kiba blushed he felt like they were giving him too much credit.
"Um Sensei what was that?"
Sahara looked around the night was approaching quickly and the moon would not rise until early morning. He felt that it was necessary to set up the wards for a camp before they had to rely on artificial light.
"Let's make camp first then I will tell you. Captain set the stakes out like we did last night and I will activate the talismans. Kiba follow behind us and spread the iron and salt mixture to create an addition to our barrier."
They brought the paca to the center of were they wanted to set Camp. Hana grabbed the stake bag and counted out eleven stakes. She stuck the first one in the ground in front of the paca. She tied a piece of twine around the large eye portion of the stake. She then walked about ten meters out pulling the twine taunght. She set the next stake there and then walked about five paces. As she walked the keeping the line tight it caused her path to curve. She placed the next stakes by repeated the process until the ward circle was complete. Sahara grabbed a stack of vertically cut rectangular white sheets of paper. He held one of the pieces up to each stake and say "engage." Black glyphs would appear on the paper and would adhere to the stakes. Kiba picked up the heavy bag of salt and iron filings. Scooping it generously out he made a circle out of the stake outline with the mixture. After the ward circle was set up they set up a tent and built their first camp fire since leaving. With the heat, Sahara prepared a meal out of salted pork, spices and broth. A crusty bread was the split three ways as a carb load.
As they ate the topic previously discarded was addressed. Sahara started, "This grassy land which they are now camping was a small farm village a hundred years ago. A famous witch named Bandi the Frightening came through this town and turned it into a bog to harvest the bodies. She had to use a lot of magical power which drew the attention of Koga Yami, the legendary beastman of the North. He rushed to the scene, but was too late the villager had all been eaten by the bog. Bandi the Frightening was a blood witch but was felled with one blow from Koga Yami.
"Who is Koga Yami? What's a beast man? Kiba asked enthusiastically.
"He was nothing more than a filthy orc who oppressed people!" Snapped Hana who had jumped up.
Kiba was confused, "w-what?"
"You don't know? Orcs are beastmen they are pig people. They are filthy cannibals and murderers the lot of them." Hana fussed.
"Why would he try to help the villagers?" Kiba asked
Hana scoffed, "He probably just wanted to eat them."
Sahara laughed, "Ah you really are an elf. No, Koga Yami was a nice orc who never killed anyone. There are such orcs. Orcs eat their deceased because it is a way for them to become stronger. Koga Yami was fiercely opposed to the practice of eating anything but animals."
"Wow orcs sound neat," Kiba laughed
"You are just embellishing that story. All orcs are rape monsters!" Hana screamed and stormed off toward the tent.
"I can't believe you agree, Kiba!" She said with a pout and entered the tent.
"Eh?" Kiba had a puzzled look on his face.
"Don't worry about it, you did an excellent job today." Sahara smiled as he patted the boy's head.
"What's a rape monster?"
Sahara's head fell he wanted to avoid the "Talk" as long as possible.
"Ahhhh well since you did well today, I will inform you of the ways of adulthood."
Sahara spent a long time explaining the nuances of the reproductive process for Kiba. Just when he thought he was done Kiba asked,
"What about Demi-humans and humans like Hana? Is this something about the vulva thing you mentioned the other day?"
Sahara's face contorted at the boy's curious question.
"Uhh yes in a sense demi-humans can reproduce with humans and other Demi-humans. The mortality rate is much higher and genetic diseases can be common. The more closely related the being is however the less risk there is. This is awkward so avoid talking about it in public. Elves are the closest Demi-humans to humans so the only distinguishing characteristics are the ears, the nose, and their reproductive organs. Elves however are much different than humans beyond what the eye can see especially in weaknesses, behavior, strengths, and all around comprehension. So It would honestly be better to view elves as just a different race of human rather than a Demi-human."
Kiba nodded trying to process all this new information, and it seemed straightforward.
"Wait, how did Orcs first appear? Does that mean?" Kiba made a disgusted face.
Sahara was sort of perplexed by this question at first and then realized that he was referring to…
"How did a human become pig like right?"
"Yes did they do that sex stuff to make an orc?"
Astonished and disgusted beyond belief Sahara and his fundamental understanding of magic creations had lead him to ignoring an important evolutionary step in the creation of Demi-humans. Without the magic transformation step by mad mages and witches one would naturally assume animal and human mating caused the creation of orcs.
"Nooooo, um the original beast men were created by witches and mages. They then reproduced with either other Demi-human creations or humans to cause their populations to increase." Sahara said thinking it was a better explanation even though it was equally detestable in his opinion for the vast majority of cross mating pairs.
Kiba nodded.
Sahara who wanted to get off this topic told him he needed to rest and apologize to Hana.
"Why? I did nothing wrong?"
"I know boy but she will appreciate it. It isn't like we will run into any good orcs they are extremely rare." Kiba nodded and went to the tent.
After the fire died down and the food was secured Sahara decided to go to bed. He opened the tent and took his shoes off. He peered over at the young half elf captain hugging Kiba from behind much like a mother to a child. She dried tear streaks on her cheeks. She breathed slowly as she was asleep and Kiba was calmly sleeping as well. He had been sleeping more steady since Hana joined. He smiled, plopped down on wool blanket, and fell into a deep slumber.
Chapter 24 -
A few more days passed and the trio was traveling through a meadow when they saw a surprisingly large town.
"That's Dororo it is a mercenary town. It is a friendly and hospitable town we will stop in. Our destination is about ten kilometers north of this town. If we are productive we can reach it before supper."
Hana sighed and murmured, "Finally."
She wondered what kind of home the Empire's leading demon specialist would have. "Well if it is out of Saga's barrier the land and building cost must be pretty cheap." She thought as she imagined a luxurious mansion with majestic and royal interior design. She imagined a large lawn with purebred pets and fountains. She wiggled in excitement, then glanced over at the young boy who she told her secret to. "It was probably too much for him I could not stop myself. He had to understand..." She thought with an aching heart. "I only got one embrace. They would have been the same age after all..."
Kiba was off in his own thoughts. Hana had been right He was thinking about what she told him. How when he apologized to Hana she starting crying explaining how her village was attacked by orcs when she was a young girl.
Chapter 25
Hana lived with only her mother in a run-down wooden house on the edge of Momo Village near Minamoto at the time. It was a peaceful town under the watchful eye of the warrior squads that would do exercises outside the Divine Barrier. It was such a calm place to live that it behaved like any other town in Minamoto. There were shops, markets, schools, and farms. It all change one fateful evening fourteen years ago. An alarm bell rang out through the evening mist. The older beautifully tanned woman with purple hair jumped up. She shoved Hana in small broom closet and covered her in garbage. She then cast a spell of smell masking and shut the door. A minute later there was a large crash and the door exploded inward. Hana, who was pressed against the wall, could just make out what happened through a hole in the door. Three orcs staggered in reeking of blood. They were all naked and covered in gore. Their axes and clubs had chucks of meat and brain on them. Hana's mother casted the Eye of Horus spell and captured one of the beastmen, but other orc slammed his club into her pinning her arm to her side with a sickening pop her arm snapped in multiple places as well as heavily bruising her ribs. The mother collapsed to the floor screaming in agony as she gasped for air. The largest orc grabbed the poor made clothing and tore it off the woman. Hana began to cry as she watched her mother and the horrid things the orcs began doing to her. By the time the screaming and grunting stopped the mother's convulsing body was lying face down in a pool of every body fluid imaginable. She turned her head to try and breath. As she struggled to push herself up and an axe fell separating her head from her shoulders. The body then collapsed into a puddle on the floor which splattered everywhere. Hana let out a short scream which drew the gaze of the orcs. The biggest of the orcs walked heavily over toward the closet each step send booming vibrations through the floor. Hana tried to calm her breathing which was becoming erratic. She tried to be as quiet as possible as the monster sniffed the door.
*SMASH*
The orc had punched through the closet door and proceeded to tear it out. The child looked at the monster with terror stricken eye as the monster grunted, "...Guuuu ugh em gurl heh heh make Gumpa excited heh…" The creature lifted the girl up by her hair. Rotten food and litter clung to her as she was suspended in the air. Hana felt a flood of energy surge into her body and a bright flame began to swirl around in her right hand. It kept swirling and she launched into the orc's snout causing it to squeal in pain and it's nose fried. The girl was dropped and she landed on the ground. The orc recovered and brandished his club. Hana prepared another fireball and flung it in desperation. The orc was swallowed in an intense fire that burned his body to a crisp in a matter of seconds.
"W-what?" Hana asked in disbelief as she stared at her hand. She looked back up and saw a large man in a suit of crimson armor carrying a trident that radiated flames. He had a full beard and numerous scars. His eyes were calm yet contained considerable sadness. His teeth were clenched in an attempt to suppress his rage. Behind him the other two orcs bodies laid on the ground smoldering. Hana collapsed on the ground she began to sob uncontrollably. She crawled over the mess on the floor to where her mother's body laid and immediately threw up. The warrior walked over and looked at the scene, and gripped his trident angrily. At first glance underneath the woman a piece of what look like intestine coiled on the floor. After another look he saw the coiling organ was connected to a figure on the floor. He choked back a cry and fell to his knees as he saw the little girl pick up the mother's head and hold it in an embrace. The girl, her home stitched clothing now dyed with blood, walked gingerly over to the figure on the floor. As long as the War Chief Shu Inzai lived he will never forget this moment. Hana set the head in front of the form and picked up the figure. She then kneeled down holding the purple body to show her mother. "He was a beautiful little brother, Mother," she whispered as she hugged the dead infant tightly.
Chapter 26
Hana and Kiba wandered through the town market. Hana was holding the young Kiba's hand. She was not sure why but since she told him about her tragedy she felt closer to him like he could be the little brother she never had. She remembered how similar their histories were and felt a bond with him stronger than she ever felt with her fellow warriors or her friends at the Academy.
Kiba did not mind this treatment it felt nice having someone show him the way towns worked since he had never been to one before. He was lead into a clothing store where the owner was laughing at how poorly dress the young boy was. Hana smiled at the owner of the shop and said "He would love to get an outfit from your shop but his Sensei says that he must not for it is crucial for his training." She then tilted her head coyly as he muttered to himself. Hana walked over to a black dress covered in a beautiful flower design the blossoms were pink peonies. Her eyes sparkled at the outfit and rushed to try it on. When she got out of the dressing room everyone in the shop stopped to look at this world class beauty. The dress fit perfectly. Her tanned arms and legs showed how slow elfin hair grew almost none of her hair had grown since she last shave a month ago. Her bust was exceptionally large and the cleavage looked like the most comfortable place on the planet. Her slender waist and wide hips accentuated the frills of the dress. The shop owner was crying because he had never seen someone so beautiful if one of his dresses. "Young man your sister is beautiful!" He exclaimed.
Hana snickered and made a pose, "Kiba how does Onee-San look in this?"
Kiba blushed a little and replied, "You look very pretty Hana-san."
Hana had been trying to tease him but the complement took her by surprise. She relaxed and smiled at the shop owner.
"I will buy it!"
The shop owner took her by the hand and cried, "Wonderful! Nobody but you should own this dress!"
Hana laughed nervously.
Kiba and Hana continued exploring until they saw Sahara waiting for them at the edge of town.
"Well, kids you ready for the next step?"
End of Part 1