It was agreed for me to help Gram on a favor. However the favor was beyond simple. I was looked like a large pile of stone and concrete rubble. But to my surprise it turned out to be a golem. Golems are artificial beings that were once brought to life by stone statues. But over time they started to multiply and walk the earth.
But to my surprise it didn't even look like a golem at all, just a large pile of rubble. Me and Gram found it in a crater as we hid behind some boulder. He readied a heavy crossbow and some large bolts as big as my arms. "So this is a golem...why doesn't it look like one?" I asked as I looked at the pile of rubble. "It's sleeping. You might as well get ready, Terran." He told me.
"So what's the story of this thing?" I asked.
Gram goes on to explain the situation. There was a girl who was an alchemist and decided to make a bust that can talk. She figured a talking bust would keep her boyfriend company while she was out on missions outside Cletus. But eventually she found out that he was cheating on her on multiple women. For the girl to get back on the boyfriend, she lured him outside Cletus to give the bust. But to his surprise the bust started to absorb all the stones and rust from the ruins and formed into a golem. Then the golem grew so big that it was two stories high. The girl then cuts the guy's Achilles tendon and falls to the floor. She then embraces and holds her boyfriend to the ground and commands the golem to stomp on them to death. The couple dies together into a pulp and that was the end of the story.
It was a horrible and terrifying story. One that can make anybody's skin crawl. "So what brings us here then?" I asked reluctantly to Gram. "Since the golem's master is dead, it has been wandering across Laputa aimlessly." He says, "But nobody can speculate why it's been killing recklessly."
"What has it been killing?" I asked.
"Mostly men and couples. To precise...humans, both Terran and Arian." He replied.
My eyes became wide open out of shock. Basically when this thing wakes up and sees me, it's gonna stomp on my ass until I become mush. To make matters worse I only noticed the dried blood stains just now on the stones and gravel. My skin started to crawl even more as again as the image just made things worse. Gram then patted me at the back. "Relax, there's a wooden core inside the bust." He says, "The statue is made out of plaster of Paris. All we have to do is destroy the core and we'll be fine."
That was reassuring. I guess that's why he had the freakishly large crossbow with him. That looked strong enough to even pierce thought a car door. Soon everything was in place. Gram was outside of the crater with his heavy crossbow while I was down there in front of the pile. The plan was that I wake up the golem and distract it while Gram goes for the bust. Honestly I felt more relaxed as the plan sounded simple. "Whenever you're ready." Gram confirmed.
I started to shout for the thing to wake up. But the more I say something, the more it slept. I look at Gram. "Try something else." He told me. I shot an arrow at the pile. Again it didn't work. "You got something else?" He asked. I started to think but it was a very stupid idea. "You're not gonna like it." I told him. "Anything is better than what you just did there." He told me sarcastically. I took out a paper sheet and wrote an explosive charm. There I tied it to an arrow and shot it at the middle of the pile. I then used the tinder spell to light the charm on fire. An explosion occurred in the middle of the pile and tossed some of it to the air. The gravel started to move. It slowly formed upwards and a sentient bipedal man made out of stone and metal. It stood fifteen feet tall and on the top comes out the bust. The bust gave a giant inhuman roar. "What now?" I asked out of fear. "I'll go for the head! You distract it!" Gram Shouted.
I started to run for my life as I was being chased by a product of pure magic. As I ran across the crater, the golem followed. But as it followed me, the golem grew larger. It started to absorb stone wreckage and gravel wherever I ran and grew fifty feet tall. "How about not making it run and keep it where it is!" Gram shouted. "Easier said than done!" I shouted at him. I started to run towards the golem and started to dodge through the hits. It was enough to keep it where it was and keep it busy. Soon Gram got his large crossbow ready and took the shot. It was a direct hit and the head shattered into pieces. But there was one problem. The golem was still moving. It was still taking hits at me and trying to stomp me. "Why is it still moving?!" I questioned frantically. "I don't know! The core must have been hidden somewhere deeper!" He shouted.
"What now?!"
"Just keep it occupied!"
"Are you serious?!"
"You wanna live or die?!"
I had no choice. I was constantly dodging it for my life and trying to keep it in place. But soon my foot got caught and I barely recovered. But with the lose footing, the golem's arm got longer and it had a wider reach. Seeing that made Gram think of a plan. "Try making the arms bigger!" He shouted. "How?!" I asked already half pissed.
"Circle around it and back away little by little. Make sure to extend the radius near each other by a few inches!" He shouted. I did as I was instructed. I ran in a circular motion around the stone giant. As I increased the radius of my running, the arms started to get longer. Soon the golem's arms started to get as long as his body and as thin as a snake. Gram called the attention of the of the golem by launching a giant crossbow bolt. He ran inside the ring with his spear and shouted, "Bet your stone ass can't squish me!" The lizardman insulted the stone giant. Down comes a dropping hammer-fist from it's long arms. Gram dodges it by rolling to the side and goes on top of the arm. The Lizardman then runs up the golem's arm and soon was on top of him. He then gets a hold of his spear and tries to pry something out. Out the object launches up in the air and it turns out to be the lower part of bust. The golem suddenly falls into pieces. As the remaining bust starts to form another humanoid body, out comes a spear from the dust clouds. The spear sticks straight at the middle and breaks the bust in two. On the tip of the spear was a wooden doll. The wooden doll floated on the air then collapsed at the floor along with the gravel it managed to get a hold of. The stone golem was down.
Gram then gets out of the pile and gets a hold of the spear. The doll had a round head but a spiky body much like star fruit. The lizardman then gets a small scope from his pocket and uses it to observe the detail of the wooden doll. "This golem core has been done in fine detail. Just look at the detail out of these runes." Gram told me as he handed me the scope. I took a look at it myself and I found it quite interesting. The runes on doll were carved in millimeters. Barely even seen by the human eye, I wondered what means did it take to write these letters. "Nothing more terrifying than a woman's scorn, I'd say." Gram said as I handed him back the core. He took a good look at it a bit more and his eyes grew surprised. "It looks like the thing can still be repaired." Gram mentioned. My eyes grew two sizes. "Are you serious?!" I exclaimed. "Yeah… if it sells, maybe for the highest bidder...around five gold at least."
That destructive force of nature can sell for five hundred shillings. It was rather surprising to the point I was flabbergasted. "Yet the girl was such a waste of talent." Gram says, "Sure...my wife may have beat me but double suicide would sound ludicrous for her." Gram puts the core in a pouch in his bag. After that he looked rather normal and didn't think a wink about it. All of it looked normal for him. Yet the amount of skill was far beyond what I can think of. He then started to walk and look at the sun. "Sun sets at three hours. There's a satellite colony near here." Gram tells me, "We might as well stop there for the night. I'll lead you to the bears tomorrow."
It was there that we decided to cross the bridge to get to the satellite colony. While crossing the bridge we were lucky to not stumble upon any kobolds along the way. I wasn't ready for any more encounters after the deal with the golem. After a few miles and a bit of walking, Gram and I found ourselves walking at the empty streets. This kinda made me curious due to the fact that not a single encounter happened. "I don't mean to jinx it but...where are the monsters?" I asked. The lizardman raised an eyebrow at me. But he walked it up, considered the fact that I was still new to this. "Many of the monsters with higher intelligence stop hunting at least two or three hours near sunset and head to their dwellings underground or at their high nests. The reason being, to avoid bigger monsters that hunt at night." He told me. I then look up at the sky as something was in the middle of the sun. I then pointed at the horizon and asked, "You mean something like that?"
Gram looks up where I'm pointing. His pupils open wide as his jaw dropped. He then dragged me inside a building and puts me down. The lizardfolk then told me to be quiet by shushing me. "Whatever you do, don't make a sound." Gram told me. While we were under a building we saw a group of four survivors walk at the middle of the street. Something soars down and grabs one of the survivors and soars up in the air. The group screams and runs inside a building. Me and Gram nudged our heads out and saw what it was. It was a griffin. While the rest of the survivor was screaming the griffin silenced the man by ripping his head off and throwing it at the ground. The head went splat at the pavement like a water balloon. The both of us cringed the matter of gore we saw. "Griffins...majestic as they are disturbing." The lizardman mumbled. "You think they're more of these?" I asked.
Gram then took his stuff and cocked his heavy ballista-like crossbow. "Not likely." He says, "That's a male griffin. Griffins work like lions. If a griffin comes in a pack then all of them would be females." He starts sneaking around along the sidewalk as he keeps his eyes on the skies and on the ground. I guess even that said the guy was still unsure of what he said. I decided to draw out my bow just in case of another attack. But after a few yards, we managed to reach another bridge. Gram uncocked his crossbow and started walking. "Where are we going?" I asked. "Belle Island. I suggest you retract that bow, if I were you." He replied.
I put away my bow in my quiver and started to walk with the lizardman. But as we went on our way the two of us reached a large gate. It was sandbagged and full of large metal spike barricades. In front of us were a couple of men with a few carbines and rifles at the other side. "State your business!" One of them shouted. "We're from Cletus we're here to stay for the night!" Gram told them with his hands raised up. He then slapped me at the back to get my attention. "Raise your hands if you don't wanna get shot, Terran." He whispered in my ear. The sudden response got my nervous. So I slowly raised my hands, not making the situation worse. Five men then made us kneel and put our hands behind our back. "Where's your guild card?" One of them asked. "Left compartment on my vest." I replied. He then took out my wallet and checked it out. "State your names." One of them demanded. "Gram Blackfoot. Hunter class, tier two: Stalker. Oak Cinder's guild." Gram calmly replied. "Rin Kamiyama. Freelancer Class, trainee. Currently under Hanami." I stated.
They checked our guild cards and gave them back once they were able to confirm. Once they were done they lead us behind the gate with firearms behind our backs. We were then lead to a quarantine area for safety measures. Mostly it was composed of a medical check up and some others. They found nothing wrong with us so they let us in. It was actually considered kinda practical under this situation. But while on quarantine, I decided to ask Gram what was a Satellite colony. Satellite colonies according to Gram were locations were off the grid and were made safe havens for survivors of HAPs. They operate like their own little country. They have governments, security, and private militias. Some of these Satellite colonies even formed after people weren't able to live in cities like Cletus. The reason being not being able to afford the expenses living there. The rule goes that refugees and survivors are allowed to enter these colonies if they surrender their weapons once entering. However the exception are guild members. Since they have the most experience they will be allowed to bring their weapons as long as they are at the list of recommended guilds. Guilds such as the Oak Cinders and Hanami were well known. Guild cards impossible to forge due to their magic properties. Having one from the exclusive guilds with top notch members. I ended up being the luck of the draw on this one. Others guilds on quarantine however needed to surrender when needed but in the end all are required to pay a tax before entering. All Satellite Colonies follow this rule but it depends on the colonies themselves on how they follow this rule. Often times these are the colonies that push request to take care of things in Laputa. Eventually these are to be approved by the higher ups at Unum then later on to be given to the guild association and sometimes be personally requested to certain guilds as well. Most of jobs vary but most of them imply taking care of any threats happening in Laputa. This includes hunting and bounty hunting quests.
Eventually were given the green light to get out of the quarantine zone with both of our weapons and belongings intact. Honestly I was rather insecure about this. This kinda made me think something wrong about this. "What's at your mind?" Gram asked. "Isn't this a bit too easy?" I asked. He then tells me to bring out my temporary guild card. The lizardman then took a wand from his belt and tapped it. Out came a pink icon of a cherry blossom. "Guild emblems and colors appear once mana is flowed through guild cards. It's impossible to forge them ." He told me.
"Then how do they know which guilds to accept?" I asked. Gram pointed me at one of the security boxes from afar from outside the gate. "The guild association gives these notices on guild cards privately on registered guilds at Cletus." He told me.
I had so many questions swirling in my mind. But before I can ask them the guards told us to go up ahead and away from the quarantine zone. After a few metal cages, we managed to enter the interior of Belle isle. Again I wasn't restrained in awe. It was the same usual flora such as trees and bushes bale to grow twice their size but with an extra. There turned out to be settlements being built up. Almost everything was made out anything that can be salvage from the city. There was a rundown van that made into a solar dehydrator and a few shipping containers made into houses. Some even made small huts from driftwood and scrap that appeared from the beach. Most of this location was home to refugees and survivors who wanted to find shelter after the HAP in Detroit. Most of the residences even happen to be human, almost everyone being Terran. It was actually pretty calm compared on what most people would think of a wasteland should look like. I never thought that there would be actually a lot of farmland here either. Whatever harvest that was collected was actually being put in stores and rationed to the residences. Some even put some stalls along the way to sell some wares that they managed to salvage in the city. Of course the currency was in shillings but every coin counts. These wares could have been limited to clothing, kitchenware, scrap, and many others. Weapons were also on the table. However the most costly of weapons happen to be bullet and other ammunition. A box of .22LR bullets cost fifty silver and a box of assault rifle bullets can cost as much as two gold depending on the caliber. Some stalls were picky as well with the type of coins to give. Some even only accepted copper or silver exclusively because of the availability of change.
It was only after a few minutes we decided to buy some dinner. We ended up eating in an outdoor BBQ restaurant that only serves the meat that has been caught. Oddly enough...on the menu had to be griffin. Who would have thought that the one thing that we had to eat happened to be the one that almost got us killed. There was only one thing I could do from there….blatantly stare at the thigh part of the griffin while Gram eats the dark meat. But that disturbed look at my face made was soon noticed by my reptilian friend. "Griffin is only good when it's hot. Eat it." He insisted. I took a bite and it wasn't bad. Oddly enough, it had a consistency of chicken and lamb. But as the both of us ate, I caught a few people staring at us. It turned out to be everybody. It made my skin crawl as I felt their eyes piercing through my soul. Gram then does a loud thud on the table with a metal cup and poured me some water. "Ignore them kid." He tells me, "They're not staring at you."
I decided to brush it off from there. After a meal we decided to rent a room. It wasn't much. The room was a box that was enough to fit a futon for one. There was a small window with a handmade window curtain. The size of the room was roughly three yards in length and two yards in width. It was kinda crammed with our stuff in it but it was enough for us to sit. As I was polishing my gun, Gram just sat still as he closed his eyes. I could tell that he wasn't sleeping. It was more of waiting. Before I can even say anything, Gram took his hand and signaled me to be quiet. He slowly snuck through the window and popped his arm out of the opening. He dragged whatever was outside and into the room. It turned out one of the people was staring in the restaurant. "Tell your Terran friends if they try this stunt again, I'M GONNA SHOVE MY SPEAR IN ALL YOUR ASSES!" He shouted at the guy. Gram then grabbed the guy at the face and threw him out of the door. He gave a loud growl from the top of his lungs. It sounded much like a dinosaur from those Jurassic Park movies. The three hiding on the other side of the wall started running for their lives. One of them even left their pack while another one left their gun.
Gram managed to calm down a little after a drink from his flask. He tossed me the gun to me and the bullets. "You gotta be wary when out here. It doesn't mean it's safe here, means you can leave your guard down." He told me. The lizardman then continues to look into his new loot as he can no longer sense any danger. As for me I felt discouraged to sleep but only passed out as the cold breeze came.
It was the next day I woke up shouting again. But in the process the lizardman screamed as well. But before he can cuss out on me, Gram noticed my heavy breathing. He didn't know whether it was his place to get in but the lizardman handed me my canteen and made me drink. It calmed down my nerves but he was kinda creeped out by me. Gram hands me some baby wipes. "Try to clean yourself up a bit. It's not much but it's good enough to call it a bath." Gram insisted. I then took off my shirt and started to wipe off the sweat off my body. Grab gets a pack of his own from the pack and wipes himself as well. I came out with a pair of new clothes and with my armor intact. While out, I put my goggles on and my mask. "Why bother wearing that? That mask?" He asked me. I gave it a bit of thought and gave an answer. "I figured that it may have been good armor or something. Like a dust shield." I replied as I put on my cap. I put my arm over my swords and walked my way.
Our hunt decided to begin as we decided to walk within the city. It was the same as usual, we kept our distance and kept hidden. There we many raiders from afar. All we could do was to keep hidden. Stealth was often taught amongst hunters and was practiced overtime to keep up with prey. But as we walked in deeper, the thickets of trees and grass started to become thicker. We went through various buildings as vegetation started to grow from the inside. I never noticed how different it was outside. From the area at this side it looked so barren. Now I'm inside a forest of oak and cedar whether it be in or out in the open. The streets were still visible enough to tell where we were going. Judging by the map we were going northeast. "Where are we going?" I asked. "Around this direction we should be around Fox Creek." He told me.
"I don't get it. How can there be bears in in the middle of Detroit?"
"Most people don't know that the incidents you Terrans call HAPs actually occur even outside cities. Overtime it took some plots of land in your world and put them here. Eventually the animals part of the HAP just happen to migrate at other locations that are richer in resources."
But after miles of walking in the thick forest trail we managed to stumble upon an old park. The tall grass had already grown around our knees and the trees soon grew as tall as fifty feet. The both of us then started to crawl into a couple of bushes and hid there for the remainder while we were here. I look around my binoculars and there wasn't a single animal in sight. "Where are they?" I asked. "They must be upstream. We follow the river from here." Gram instructed me.
The two of us then follow the stream as it lead us further to the residential areas. All that was there were abandoned houses and vehicles. Overtime fences and gates were wrecked by nature taking its place or animals breaking through them But as we kept on following the river, I kept on finding locks of brown fur either stuck on a broken fence or hidden in the grass. "You're in luck kid. Looks like it's molting season." Gram pointed out. We followed the trail a bit further and it lead to a large house. Judging the wreckage, it looked like the bear went through the furniture and broke through the sliding door window. I took out my bow and slowly crept inside the home. Luckily there was no bear inside but it went out the back door and broke through another fence. After a few more houses, we entered into a small boat garage and hid behind a boat. We were looking at the river and saw bear at the other side of the river.
I slowly started to sneak a little bit and got closer to the animal. There I started to draw my arrow and shoot. But soon the bear's cubs came out of the tall grass. My arms hesitated as I saw two small cubs play with their mother. I then snapped out of my sense of guilt and tried to go for a shot. But as I got my bow ready, Gram prevented me from aiming by putting my hand down. "Those cubs won't last a month if you kill their mother." He tells me. "Let's find another one."
The two of us went to the door. I was honestly kinda disappointed either way. Killing that bear was my ticket to heading back to Cletus. But as the lizardman went for the door, I heard heavy footsteps on the other side with a musky roar. I then threw Gram with me sideways and shouted, "Get down!" Through the door sticks out a bear claw the size of my head. The both of us leaped out of the window as the door was being torn down.
From outside we saw a monstrous twelve foot black bear. It had a blind eye with scars all over its body. What sent chills down my spine wasn't the massive size of the animal but the various weapons stuck on its back. From the arrows to spears, it gave an impression that this thing was unbeatable. What made it worse was the glowing purple symbols and lines glowing all over its body. I started to shoot a volleyball of arrows. But whether it was a scatter shot or a curved shot there was no effect at all. It slowly was getting closer and was about to pounce. Gram grabs me by the arm and drags me away. "Run Rin! That thing's been hexed!" He shouted.
As that thing gave a loud roar, the both of us started to bolt. We ran as fast as we could and leap over obstacles to slow it down. But no matter what we did, the bear just kept breaking through them as if they were paper mache. "Shit! This thing is indestructible!" Gram shouted. "It's like Yogi Bear and the Terminator made a gay love child!" I blurted out loud in terror. The bear then caught at a clothes line and tripped over. "Stubby little fella." He commented. The bear then started to tear through the clotheslines. "Run! It won't last long!" I shouted. We vaulted over the wooden fence. I then wrote an explosive charm and stuck it behind the fencing. I then dragged Gram away and ignited the charm with a tinder spell. A soon as the bear broke free from the binds and was about to tear through the fence, the charm exploded. However when the dust cleared, all it did was push back the bear to the ground. The bear's eyes started to flurry in rage. "Into the house!" Gram shouted as he dragged me away.
The house was made out of brick. With brute force, the bear tried to break through the walls. It proved to no effect. But it circled to the front door and tried to wreck it. I then took a whole piece of bond paper and wrote a barrier seal charm with my blood. But it proved to no effect. The bear broke through the door. Once it gave a swing at my barrier, it started to crack and fracture. "Anti-magic?!" I exclaimed. I drew out a charm to enhance it but it was too late, the bear managed to break through the barrier. It created a shockwave that forced me back. Gram then took our his spear and attempted to stab it at the heart. But the bear retaliated by grabbing the spear with its jaw and tossing him at the other side of the room. It then bit me at the arm and tossed me at the opposite side.
The bear was slowly pouncing towards me. But as the bear started to stand on its hind legs and raise its paw, a blinding light shines from my chest. Soon I was brought there again, the bright white room. But there was a little odd thing out of place. It was a gray wolf barking at me. It was trying to say something to me. But then I was picked up at the collar by a man with a ponytail and a kimono. This guy was wearing the old sky blue uniform if the Shinsengumi. The man grabbed me by the collar and slaps me down to the floor. "Get up you bloody bastard!" He said in Japanese. I struggled to even try to stand. But the man then kicks me up and slaps me to the floor once more. He for a final time gets me by the shirt and pushes me at the floor. "I can't believe this pussy is my current reincarnation!" He mocks me in Japanese, "Get up devil or I'll drag you back into hell myself!"
The man then throws me at the floor and I stumble at the floor. A man in a Imperial Japanese Army uniform stands in front of me. "Calm down Hijikata. You know well he's new to this." He told him. "What are you talking about? It's not his first time getting into these situations." Hijikata told the military man. The fox mask guy then comes in. "Not now Furukizu." Hijikata told the guy.
"You're going to see a lot of him Hijikata... That's why I'm here." The military man told him.
The military man squats in front of me. "I know you can stand. I didn't raise you to be a ragdoll." He told me. One by one I sand up at my feet and draw my katana. The man's face then started to clear up. There I fully recognized him. Brief memories come as I mumbled their names, "Hijikata, Kenshin... Who's Furukizu?" The man then puts his hand on my back. The military man then puts his arm around me. "You know... it's going to be a pain and for you to remember me...I did most of the raising but you sealed those memories real good." He tells me, "You'll be seeing more of me and Furukizu-kun a lot... However Hijikata can visit you whenever he doesn't feel like shitting on you."
"Quit making me the villain!" He exclaimed.
"Isn't that why you're called the Demonic Vice-commander?"
"Quit putting that up!"
The military soldier then hands me to Hijikata. "Now go! Like hell I'm gonna reincarnated again in an age worse than this!" He commanded. Hijikata then pushes me forward and I found myself holding my sword at real time. "Your going to see me soon kid." Kenshin told me. The bear was temporarily blinded by the light. I then took it as an opportunity to take an arrow out of my quiver and throw it at the bear. It was a direct hit on the bear's eye. The animal reacted by swinging its arm at me. I then went into my demonic form and quickdraw my sword. The bear roared in pain as his arm was sent flying, cut clean with my sword. To follow up I then cut the bear's leg. The animal knelt as his leg was damaged. There I then I threw Gram's spear at the chest. I then grabbed it then pinned the bear to the wall. With that I started stomp the beast repeatedly. The harder I kicked him, the more the spearheads and arrows at its back plunged deeper into his body. Soon the bear died as the impaled weapons at his pierced his organs and started sticking out of his chest. The only problem was that I kept stomping on the bear even when it was already dead.
Gram then pulled me away from the bear and put me to the ground. "Rin stop! It's down!" He told me. I looked at the bear and it was definitely down as the markings on its body no longer glowed.. It was bloodied and pierced from in and out. There was a footprint deep at the central of the bear's rib cage. Knowing that the thing was dead made me relieved. But soon I fainted as my horns retracted, slowly turning human again. The lizardman tried to slap me awake but I was too tired. I passed out after that. Most of my strength was used during the encounter. All I could hear was Gram's voice echoing in my head.
It was only a few moments later that I woke up under a dusty blanket. Next to me was Gram sitting next to a bonfire. He was smoking some meat until the lizardman noticed that I woke up. He gave me a plate with some roasted meat shishkabab. Gram couldn't look at me as he looked down at the flames. "I'm sorry if I kept on calling you Terran during our stay together." He told me. "It's not that. I should have said something about being a demonfolk." I told him.
He started to look around the house and finds a liquor cabinet. Gram takes a whiff of one of the alcohol bottles and gives it a try. The lizardman then shrugs it off and gives it a pass as he pours some at an iron skillet. "Yet who would have thought I would meet a demonfolk here, and a Terran to boot." He muttered. I took a kebab and started to eat. The bear meat was smelly and made my stomach turn. However it wasn't bad at all. Gram started to crack up. "Never have I saw a person try to keep a straight face over bear meat!" He laughed. Soon another dish was set in front of me. It was the sautéed bear meat with alcohol. Eating it was better than the bear kebabs but it wasn't an A. "So what's your story? One of your parents human or something?" He asked.
I couldn't talk with food down my mouth but I managed to wolf it down. After a sip of some alcohol, I started to talk. "I don't really know. I was just 'given' this before coming to Laputa." I replied. "Why? You did something bad to a god or something?" He asked out of curiosity. Honestly this was where I was confused. I didn't know what to say, other than Tsukuyomi. Instead I started to play dumb. "I don't really know." I tell him. "Some god came up to me and gives me power then the next thing I know I'm told by some other god that I'm some kind of Tasogare."
I then changed to my first stage of my demonic form . The lizardman scratched his head as he didn't know what to make of it. It looked new to him as he felt my horns and looked at my eyes. "You must be some rare variant of some kind. Why change forms?" He asked. "I use a lot of energy just by changing. I kinda treat it like a trump card." I told him. Gram then watches in awe as I changed back to my human form. "Your god is rather thoughtful then. Giving you the ability to change forms." He told me.
"Why is that?" I asked.
"Not only this is an unique power but it gives you a chance to live normally." He tells me, "Demonfolk aren't the most looked upon of individuals."
The lizardman then goes on to explain what the demonfolk are. As he tells me, demonfolk aren't actually demons. The demonfolk are a race of individuals that are the offsprings of demons. The most common variety happen to be those of human genes. Once born, they are given the traits that of demons. However when a demonfolk reproduces with another species, there is still a fifty percent chance that the offsprings won't obtain the abilities of the demon.
That did being a few good points however I became a demonfolk by different means. Gram then goes to say that it is also possible for beings to also become a demonfolk. This process would be called demonification. However most of these techniques and magics have been lost overtime. It has also been considered illegal to use magic to convert or overwrite an individual's genetic code for it is also considered illegal genetic mutation. But even with this information alone it still kinda baffled Gram. He scratched his chin, rather confused if the situation.
Gram then gives me a flask. I denied the offer but he still gave it to me. "Trust me, you're gonna need. After the lack of sleep you've been having...maybe go for the unorthodox choice." He told me. Head then brings a bear paw in front of me. It was from the one I slain. "Remember when I said when the beast that was after is was hexed?" He asked.
"What about it?" I questioned the lizardman. Gram then gets a razor and shaves the paw until hairless. Markings and tattoos start to show as Gram looks at me. "The bear has not only been hexed by some magic but also been enhanced." He tells me. "I might wanna meet with your guildmaster with this...it looks like someone's out to get you."
It was only after the ordeal that we decided to head to the satellite colony at Belle Isle. We still had a lot of ground to catch up on. It was still noon so we had enough time for the trip. Honestly it was better than sleeping outside. We were all set and ready for travel. Gram was about to get ready until he got his map. The only problem was that the map was already damaged. It must have gotten destroyed during the battle with the bear. With torn paper in front of him, the lizardman sat on the ground and sighed. It looked like the guy was stressed as he was.
Gram then tried to keep his cool and think of a solution. At that moment I decided to summon my scribe. But the lizardman tried to stop me before I can finish casting the spell. "Should you be casting magic now? You barely recovered from the last ordeal." Gram asked me. "It's better off than going blind." I told him.
"Then let's just follow river downstream to the park. You can summon your scribe there."
"Alright, thanks."
I was thankful enough now that I was even able to even summon a scribe. Even if the book was getting big and bulky, it was pretty much a good tool. Reading a map from the scribe was a lot like looking at a GPS. The map was already tracking my distance. As long as I've have a record of the location on a map, I'll be able to go where I please.
Eventually the sun started to set and we barely managed to reach Belle Isle. The lizardman developed a rather serious expression. It as the nick of time we managed to reach the quarantine zone before the gates were to lock. After that we managed to sell the leftover bear meat at our hunt. Since it was considered my kill, I got most of the of the earnings. I managed to get a total of twenty silver while Gram got ten. However the bear pelt was considered unsellable due to the damage at the back. All we could get from it was five silver. But I kept the bear arm for my exam. But the markings were still haunting me as I looked at it. I ended up putting it in a leather sack that cost me a silver coin just for safekeeping. I could have just kept it in a plastic bag but I would be able to see through it. All that was left was the various spearheads and arrows that were at the back of the bear. We decided to polish them and see if we were able to use them. We looked around the marketplace for anything we can use. We found were a few rubber gloves, vinegar, some sandpaper, and some canola oil. It was all that we can find but it was good enough.
The both of us decided to check into a room and polish the remaining spearheads and arrow tips outside. But I eventually took a break and read my scribe. I looked through my floating tome for any information about the bear but there turned out to be two new entries that appeared out of my scribe. The first one was a basic description of a black bear. It was basically on what you can read out of an encyclopedia from diagrams to full descriptions and diet. On the other was another one all together. The bear that I killed was also labeled as Animalia Puppet: Ursa Type. Amalia Puppets are animals that are controlled by magic. They are forced to comply in the demands of their masters till death. However due the different body structure and biology of different animals, each were given their own type of spell in order to control them. Ursa was Latin for 'Bear' so it made sense by it being an Ursa type. "Gram, what do you know about the Animalia Puppet Spells? It looks like you were right about it being controlled." I asked. "The spell was used in many times in various magic wars in Aria." He tells me, "However it was outlawed due to the the abuse it does to the animal. Even when the magic is dispelled, the animal would die as it connects to all the magic circuits of the beast. Stripping it would damage the whole magic circuit system."
I was then again lost in magi-bable. These were other terms that were new to me again. But the lizardman notices my confusion. "I forgot you were Terran." He says, "Magic circuits are invisible veins that connects to the nervous system of living organisms. It's the reason why we manage to control the mana flowing around us and to let the chi flow out and materialize. Basically meaning, a part of the body that makes us use magic." I was rather amazed on the discussion of the whole topic. It sounded very professional and new to me. "How do you know all this stuff?" I asked. There the lizardman started to become bashful. He then gave a light cough and tried to explain himself. "Back when I was in Aria I used to be a Biology professor in my high school. This is pretty much basic knowledge for me." He told me. It was there my scribe glowed and another page formed. A new section of information was added about Magic Circuits and a diagram of magic circuits in the human body. Another one appeared about information about Animalia Puppet. Gram then moves next to me and sees what happens. "So this is the famous 'Overwrite effect'." He mentioned.
"The what?" I asked.
"The scribe was a spell made by some mysterious god. The freelancer class was made to discover its secrets. The Overwrite Effect is when the scribe reveals information to the freelancer on what the user of the scribe wishes to know. It is merely the reflection of the wants and needs of the individual." He explained.
Gram looked rather invigorated seeing such a thing. But the more he looked at it the more he was suspicious. I then retracted my Scribe. "I think that's enough knowledge for one day." I insisted. Embarrassed, Gram stepped back and continued to polish the spearheads and arrowtips. "Anyhow...you should be careful about that scribe. Lots of people would want a freelancer in their party. Sometimes for the worst reasons." He warned me. That wary warning got me thinking. It got the feeling that there was something ominous. "So why are you helping me?" I asked. There a surprised look at Gram. He looked at me oddly and stared at me rather oddly. "Do I really need a reason to help someone?" He asked me. The answer caught me off guard. But then again he did have a point and he wasn't wrong either. The lizardman then started to stretch his arms and sighed. "Besides, my wife won't forgive me if I treat others like objects. All the more I wouldn't be a decent individual she married." Gram pointed out.
Soon all the arrowtips and the spearheads were cleaned and polished. Gram took a good look at them. He puts the arrowheads and a few spearheads in a bag. "You're gonna need these if you're gonna survive." Gram tells me, " Be ready to hunt the monsters that are hiding under your bed, kid. They just got tired staying there."