Adrian remembered the black plague back in Europe in the mid-1300s. His name was Hadrianus at the time and he was working as a small town apothecarist back then. In that small town, a little boy got adopted by his aunt and uncle.
The little boy thought that he would have a great childhood, but he was only adopted due to the inheritance that the aunt and uncle will receive. In the end, the little boy's only friend was a small mouse that it helped in the forest outside his home. Then one day, the little boy's uncle that was abusive returned home severely drunk.
He hit the little boy until he lost consciousness and is at death's door. The little boy arrived at Hadrianus' apothecary shop far too late. The little boy passed away, but the little mouse companion did not want to believe that the savior of its life died of injustice.
The little mouse that the little boy actually saved is a mouse king and that their souls have been intertwined since that faithful encounter. The mouse king became miserable at the loss of its other half commanded all the rodents in the continent to ravage the lands.
It was just a coincidence back then that rodents onboard of certain merchant ships carried a plague. As a result of the neglect of an innocent child, the whole continent became doomed. The plague did not distinguish between mortal or Deviant as all suffered from the sickness.
The sun also shied away during that time as if answering the cry of injustice of the mouse king. The sun that should have helped them cast away the plague abandoned the cries of the people. In the end, the Deviants of that time needed to move but they could not exterminate all rodents in the continent as that will upset the balance of nature.
What Deviants fear more are the nature gods that linger in their ancient groves or forests. As result, the Deviants pleaded for the mercy of the nature gods to help the people. It took years but the plea for help is accepted and the druids at the time asked Hadrianus to solve the problem.
They did not know that it was actually him that sheltered the mouse king. It was the very first animal enigma that Hadrianus encountered. He also pitied the boy, but the continent back then has suffered enough which is why he asked the mouse king to rest.
Even the mouse king back then is just a husk of its former chubby self. To satisfy the longing of the mouse king, he reunited him with the little boy being happy in heaven. The plague did not immediately end as it was refurbished as a curse to strike those that do not show kindness upon children.
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Adrian looked at the girl looking dead in the eyes as he already arrived deep inside her subconscious. Enigmas might seem uncaring or lacking emotion but that does not mean they do not have the fundamental function of life. They have emotions but they become more dangerous when they decide to throw it away or lock.
Showing lack of emotions is just one phase but that does not mean they will be like that forever. If one thing is permanent in this world, then that would be change. What Adrian needs to do right now is to re-ignite the emotions cast away by the girl.
A small spark is all what he needs to save this girl from being swallowed up by her ability like all other enigmas that are forsaken. In her subconscious, Seo-yeon is staring blankly at her memories being projected in the background. All the memories of being bullied and all the unfair things that she has experienced in the world.
Adrian could see that she is slowly descending to madness while slowly giving up on the world. If that happens then her ability might bring forth or birth a catastrophe class evil spirit. All the resentment and injustice that she experienced will manifest into the being that will be born if she were to truly give up on living.
"Seo-yeon!" Adrian shouted at her right ear, but she was still staring blankly at the horrible memories that she bottled up.
Upon seeing that she had no reaction despite his loud voice, he needed to be more in depth. A green glow covered Adrian's right hand as he placed it on top of Seo-yeon's head. He tried to peak onto memories of happiness inside her mind, but he is met with a repulsive force.
The repulsive force came from the very depths of the subconscious of the poor girl, but Adrian knew the source of that putrid power. Soon, an evil laugh echoed in the depths of the subconscious of the little girl. The laugh is that of a female tone but there is also a dark undertone mixed with it.
"This girl is mine!" the female voice stated as she continued her giggle.
Seo-yeon's body is soon covered with a dark mist and from it manifested an evil spirit in the form of a deranged woman. What surprised Adrian is that the evil spirit is not low class but high class. High class evil spirits usually live for thousands of years or have fed on thousands of human souls to attain that much power.
"Who attached you to her!?" Adrian questioned the evil spirit as it is not easy to attach evil spirits onto Deviants as they have greater wills compared to other people.
"Leave!" The evil spirit shouted as a powerful force tried to expel Adrian from the subconscious.
The evil spirit thought that Adrian would be forced out as Seo-yeon's subconscious is already her territory. It will only take her a few more hours before she could consume the soul of the Shadowmancer. If she were to obtain this body coupled with her powers as a high class evil spirit then she is certain that she will obtain power equivalent to that of a demigod.