Cursed texts or forbidden knowledge, there were many names for it but there was one thing that never changed. The cost of soul. The more you learn the more you give up parts of yourself and to retain the knowledge, one needs to give up parts of their soul non-stop as a payment.
It was for this reason that the knowledge about these texts is so hidden and rarely do people ever come across them. But it was not just the test that was forbidden.
Certain existences at a higher life level would have similar effects when witnessed by a mortal.
There are times when one witnesses things they shouldn't. So the subconscious mind of an individual forgets the knowledge in an attempt to save one's soul consumption.
And it was for this reason that Farhad kept forgetting the dream he saw. He never gave much importance to the dream, to begin with. But the moment when he saw the building in which that woman died, memories keep flooding in, overworking his mind and sending him into a coma.
"This shouldn't have happened, I was sure that he didn't retain any memories of the book. So why did this happen?"
Back in the library, in the living quarters, Maxim checked the state of Farhad by holding his nerves and finding nothing wrong with it. Well besides the corruption on the chest.
While the librarian that went by name Pierta Glenneth was bandaging Farhad's eyes after applying for some medicine.
"You are blind, old man. Mistakes like this can happen, next time be sure that it doesn't happen again. It was already hard to make them ignore my existence."
Officially, the Radiance might have come to Durum just now, but in truth, they have been lurking in Durum for a long while and Pierta was their agent.
In Radiance, she was part of the intelligence called Radiant Eye. A group composed of weaker members of Radiance Society whose sole job was to find dangerous elements that would later be reported to Radiance, who then send a Magistar to learn about the problem along with a hunter whose job is to deal with this problem.
Sadly for the two, the hunter that came with Maxim was not here currently.
"I might be old. But I don't make mistakes as big as this… Let's just wait for him to wake up." At this moment, the only way they can learn what happened would be to ask the victim himself.
Though with things like these, memories are often blurry, making it harder to depend on an individual's retelling of their memories.
This is why a majority of organizations and governments are incompetent while dealing with curses.
Same reason why an organization like Radiance has so much reach all over the world.
"In the meantime, call off all the blue eyes. There is no meaning to keep them active anymore."
In the Radiance society, there were a total of three active sects on the surface.
Among them, the Radiant Eye was the sect with the highest population. And to manage that, the society had divided its workforce into multiple small eyes.
And Blue eyes were the weakest, but the heart of the whole operation.
"It will be done." Pierta nodded her head and then left, leaving the blind Maxim with Farhad.
Maxim, who still remained ignorant of the bomb that was my little Farhad.
*****
When Farhad woke up, he could see nothing. There was darkness everywhere.
In a panic, before you could even say anything, his hand flew to his eyes, to find a cloth covering his eyes.
"Don't panic, the cloth covering your eyes is for your own safety. It is absorbing the corrupted miasma, let it be." Maxim said, holding Farhad's down.
"Mis… Mister Hailey?" Farhad was surprised to hear the voice of Maxim once again. But then he recalled the scene he witnessed before. So, without holding back. He spoke out his thoughts. "I… I saw something."
Hearing this, Maxim's brows quivered.
This was not something he expected, generally, people usually forget traumatizing events or memories relating to forbidden knowledge, but from Farhad's words, this doesn't seem to be the case.
The boy was so shaken, that he didn't even question the miasma and the blindfold. His mind seemed to be focused on something much more impactful on Farhad.
'The boy is in shock.'
"What did you see?" Maxim, who still hasn't briefed Farhad on what his job may entail, started to ask questions.
"I… can't can't define it. Images are blurry." Farhad said it till this point, before holding his head and suppressing the pain. "And it hur…hurts if I try to recall them."
This is unlike what maxim expected. He considered it a miracle that Farhad can even remember anything related to the things he might have seen.
"Just define it as plainly as you can. Don't try to go deeper."
Hearing these words, the pressure on Farhad's head decreased a bit. He was not pushing deeper into memories, so he just recalled the surface details of the image.
"A woman… jumped! And there were moons." The moment Farhad said these words, he lost consciousness once again. As the blindfold wrapped around his head started to turn darker at a higher rate.
But Maxim didn't move, he became still.
"Moons?" Memories from the past assaulted his mind, he recalled the day he lost his eyes.
He can think the same future awaits the child in front of him.
"PIETRA!" he shouted, calling the librarian back to the room. And then pointed at Farhad. "He is marked, help him." Leaving these words, Maxim left the room lost in his thoughts.
As he had thought before, the boy in front of him was too weird.
He should have noticed that something was wrong with the boy the moment he showed his ability to read seven pages on his first try.
"Informing the boy's father should be appropriate, his identity is a bit sensitive." Thinking this, Maxim left the room, leaving Pierta along with Farhad.
Though in the end, he stopped. This might turn into a serious matter if word got out and Radiance might get blamed for this. This is how usually things go.
*****
It's been a day since Farhad woke up in the library, but he just lay on his bed, thinking about his luck.
It's always him for some reason. He doesn't understand why fate hates him so much.
"You are marked by a higher entity, it would be better if you inform your family about it."
Recalling Maxim explaining to him what happened to him, Farhad can't help but curse his fate.
There was no way he could tell his father. He can't afford any more disappointing eyes from his father. So all he could do at the moment is stay with Radiant Society and find a way to fix this mark or whatever it was.
"But don't worry, it's not as serious as you might think. I was cursed once as well. And I still live." Maxim really tried to console Farhad, he really did.
But with his old and broken body, along with his hollow eyes. It doesn't help Farhad at all. Instead, he got more worried about it.
He wondered what his future had in mind for him. Would he even survive?
"Nothing goes right with me." Farhad didn't even know what was wrong with him or what this 'Mark' meant. All he knew from his classes was that it's never a good thing to attract the attention of the unknown to oneself.
'Was it the book?' Farhad even wondered this, thinking of blaming Maxim for this predicament. But after a while, he shook his head. For he knew that he might have been marked way before.
Though, not too long ago as well.
So he thought harder, his mind actively ignoring the memories and wondering when he might have been marked.
And soon, he reached a conclusion after paying a certain price.
*****
"What have you done?" Pierta was horrified to find the bed of Farhad stained with blood. So much blood that it seemed inhumanely impossible.
But instead of panic and fear, there was a smile on the blindfolded face of Farhad. A smile filled with the satisfaction of achieving something.
"I know where I was… marked."
"My… bed… room." Saying these words, Farhad died.
A simple death with no meaning.
He died of the corruption that was eating him up slowly.
A corruption lethal enough to take his life.
He was a boy that was fearful of his father and suffered a lot from his life in his college.
All Farhad wished for in his life was one thing and that was for people to leave him alone with his books. But his responsibilities and Identity always held him back from his true freedom.
Farhad was a lot better than I had anticipated, he performed well and there was even a chance for evolution if he had survived for longer.
I was even looking forward to it.
Sadly, the boy was not talented enough and cannot utilize the opportunity I gave him. The most I could do for him was give him freedom.
And with him being free, there is a vacancy open for a core character.
So I wonder who would come and take his place.
"He died?" Looking at the note handed to her by a blue eye, my new favorite character just sighed and left the bar where she had been wasting her time all this time.
"Maxim, what have you done?"
The Hunter of Radiant, Remira Wyrmwood has joined the play. And she was not alone, with the death of such a special child. Certain figures were turning their heads toward the little city of Durum.
And as you know, the more characters in the play, the more interesting it would be.