The existence of stars and constellations l horoscopes had a deep effect on the whole world.
When a marriage happened, one would check the horoscopes of the groom and the bride-to-be.
Divination always used mystical aspects.
And in a world where Demons could crawl out of hell to possess living things, this was no different.
The only thing being more clear are the results.
Unless they were fabricated, the problems and solutions found in divination always worked.
Even if those 'solutions' were difficult to decide on.
One such choice was thrusted upon a man named Graid. Someone who escaped to the countryside.
Throwing away all his prior attachments to raise a child on his own. The only treasure left by his lover.
He was filled with joy after arriving at a nameless village far from civilisation. Finding a place to live.
A place where he and his son could live out the rest of their lives without ever having to suffer anymore.
Because he'd protect them.
Graid wouldn't let anyone touch a hair on his son's head, even if it was the dominant Holy God himself.
Except perhaps the heavens had found him unjust.
With his punishment being his son's tragic fate.
This being no clever joke or metaphor, but what really gave Graid no hope in finding happiness.
"The only way to save your son… is to kill him." A man who had followed the Holy Doctrine spoke.
When he refused this order, he was chased out of the Holy City and left without any way to return.
Graid was told that his son, Miliv, had been born under the Killing Star, which would guarantee the child would be born a psychopath from birth. An evil child that would later slaughter many people.
And especially susceptible to Demons.
It was a rare to be connected to, but at least one example of such a person was born in every era.
All of them having proved their destinies right.
Which was why such 'creatures' were deemed to be without salvation. Having no hope of changing.
This was not a disease, after all.
One couldn't really 'cure' being spiritually attuned to evil and massacre. This was just the way of life.
However, Graid wouldn't give up.
He was a man of a modern civilisation. Regardless of what others believed, it was just an opinion.
And it was up to him if he'd find another way.
He went door to door. Finding many researchers that had been investigating Killing Stars personally.
It was then he found his lifeline.
Although he couldn't do anything about Miliv being spiritually attuned to evil, he could affect the body.
Find a way to make his son's 'normal' mentally.
This lead him to the findings about how Killing Stars affected the body rather than the soul itself.
He had no time to go in-depth into his analysis.
Anything and everything that could twist his son's mind was to sealed away. So he used his Mana.
Doing something much more than writing a 'Seal'.
Sealing Formulas existed in this world, and he had a certain level of proficiency in them himself.
But what he needed to do was something else.
Mana, the power of spirituality, was considered the best kind of Base Quality. Being born from the soul.
Able to manifest itself and manipulate the world…
What more could a person want in their life?
But what was even more important to learn in Faustus City about Mana was the power of 'rules'.
And the inherent technique known as 'Rule Fixture'.
"My child… I'm sorry." A guilty look appeared in Graid's eyes before washing his son with Mana.
Affixing a 'Rule' on a child did not affect the mind whatsoever, but it could cause them great pains.
'Rule Fixture' permanently limited something in exchange for greater power when a condition was met. Once met, any technique or ability under that condition would be amplified by multiple folds.
The only problem with it was that 'Rules' were absolute. They could not be changed or altered.
And if that condition was never met, then the ability would stay dormant until the day it could be met.
To save his son, Graid affixed a 'Rule' not on the spirit of the vessel, but on the infant's DNA itself.
He targeted what was known as the 'Warrior Gene'.
Studies had shown that those born under the Killing Star were similar to natural psychopaths in body. Although those born under the star couldn't avoid their tragic fate, Mana could restrict genes.
Allowing them to at least function like a person.
Think just like a normal human being.
"I now bestow on you a 'Rule'… Unless you're hurt and are on the brink of death, you cannot access your Warrior Gene." Graid spoke the incantations while affixing the rule deeply. That's right. A 'rule'.
Not a restraint or erasing the gene itself, but a spiritually affixed condition that awaited fulfilment.
Once that was done, he wasn't sure what would happen. Would his child simply become a Demon?
He had no way of knowing what would happen.
The only thing he could do was keep the child at this peaceful village forever. Protect the little boy.
And make sure Demons never got close to him.
…..
….
…
..
.
Many years had passed since that day, the elvish-looking man's child had grown up well from infancy.
Showing no signs of wickedness.
"Dad, I'm going to play with Max!" The child who now lacked his physical mutation waved at him.
Graid smiled and waved back.
His hands covered in soap bubbles from having to do the dishes. It was one of his responsibilities.
Raising a young kid independently wasn't easy.
Initially, he was going through sleepless nights having to take care of his child's every need.
All while juggling guard work and the community.
There were no cellphones out here in the sticks. A bit if influence from the nobles crippled networks.
Too much mingling between commoners might give them way more information than they needed.
It wasn't like cellphones themselves were uncommon in certain places, but those areas were heavily observed by nobility via having full ownership of comm towers. They checked it all.
Messages, phone calls, videos, pictures, etc.
They also used much more marketable propaganda on the ideal lifestyle and the joys of patriot labour.
As if it gave some spiritual enlightenment they were too high class and rich to ever fathom.
It gave Graid no choice… but to go house to house in order to meet people and order their schedules.
Such a difference in environment.
Even though he was in the position to hate the Holy God for certain matters, one thing was for sure…
…that the expansion of plumbing really helped.
So long as you weren't in an area cut off from the human world, there was a workable toilet to use.
For a modern man, this was so 'relieving'.
In more ways than one…
Graid had been worried about adapting to the country life, but he managed to do it effortlessly.
As if he was born in this place.
Did that have to do with his elven appearance?
He had heard that the heavy concentration of Wood Mana they injected him with had elf traits.
But that could also just be a random mutation.
The more he thought about it all, the more he found his son's lack of elf ears to be fortunate.
Even now, villagers were having a hard time getting used to him. His weird ears confused them a lot.
Graid managed to prove he had no connection to Demons and this was just some natural mutation from birth, but they weren't trusting. Demons lying and impersonating people wasn't that uncommon.
There were so many hardships…
…but what did he think?
"Worth it!" Graid was proud of everything he had achieved here. Much more than his former life.
Being a soldier under an obsessed demon hunting cult. One that threw themselves at all Demons.
Ferocious and scary to behold…
'Good thing I left.' Graid finished up the dishes and believed he'd done a great job at his parenting.
At least, these were his thoughts before 'the event'.
He'd lived naively until that critical point.
Completely unaware that in the near future, just because he took his eyes off of his son for a moment, he'd end up being injured by the very child he raised. The ribs on his right being broken.
In front of him would stand a child covered in a black metallic substance. Eyes were glowing red.
The ears of his lineage had awakened, and the rule affixed onto Miliv had completely shattered apart.
Maybe he was careless, but it also seemed like he wouldn't be able to subdue his 'son' without killing.
Would their destiny really turn out this horribly?