Asura was astonished by his clothes, which were self-repairing and had a fire-repellant nature. They were woven with an enchantment placed upon them, allowing mana to be stored within the cloth itself. The enchantment must imprint the structural integrity of the clothing within some sort of memory bank and, upon damage, repair itself accordingly. "It's the only possibility..." Asura thought to himself.
Ogres were known for creating, building, and crafting, but the humans were innovative with their designs. "When Judex Divinum said he made them in his image... He wasn't kidding." Asura couldn't think of an ogre, orc, goblin, or cyclops that would've created a similar design.
"That should be it for the report. Time to get to work."
Asura broke free from the captivating design of his shirt and looked up as the old man walked towards the door.
"Gmmgmgmhmm."
Wain's face shifted as dread washed through his body.
"Oh, please don't tell me..."
Asura turned to see Wain staring at him with a dreadful expression on his face. Wain's heart sank, and fear plagued his eyes. The unique sound of an animal's death cry mixed with a slushing low grumble was only ever created by one thing... It was the worst sound he could hear after meeting this monster.
"I'm hungry."
Asura jumped up from his seat, eager to head to the kitchen, but Mel had her eyes trained on him. Mel asked,
"Where do you think you're going?"
Asura threw a thumb in the direction of the kitchen as if her question were stupid. He felt as if his intentions were clear with his earlier statement,
"Food? Duh."
"Nope. We start now. There is no time for messing around. You can have lunch when we get back."
Asura crossed his arms and prepared to start pouting. The three watched as Asura abruptly sat down with a loud thump. A deep scowl on his face took hold of his features, signifying that the battle had begun. His face remained still, unwilling to move or yield just as he was.
Mel groaned in frustration. "It's getting really old having to babysit this overgrown tantrum-throwing ogre... I thought ogres were respectable warriors who never yielded in battle. Nope, just cry babies who throw a fit every time you tell them no..." Mel thought to herself as she grabbed hold of the large child. She had to refrain herself from punching the back of his head with the butt of her gun.
Gripping onto his shirt, Mel pulled with all her might, dragging him along as she headed out towards the main doors of the cathedral. Asura remained in the position the entire way while Wain and Ash followed behind. Wain shook his head at the pathetic sight, but Asura wouldn't budge, no matter the reasoning Wain tried to implore.
Finally reaching the front door, Mel energetically kicked the large, heavy wooden doors open. With happiness swelling in her heart, she tossed the ogre forward, knowing the stairs were on the other side. As if finally removing unwanted burdensome luggage, a smile sprung on her face as she watched Asura flail through the air.
Asura's eyes went wide, realizing what was to come.
"Wait-Ogh"
"Omph"
"Agh"
"Gah"
Upon reaching the final step, his back slammed against the concrete, sending all the air from his lungs into the world. Asura wheezed as he tried to refill his lungs with deep breaths.
"That hurt..."
Mel rolled her eyes, finding that statement to be ridiculous.
"You can fight Minotaurs, take bullets to the head, be hit with a sword and a holy fist from someone the ArchKnights don't like to deal with, but you can't take a hit from falling down the stairs?"
"Well... it hurt my feelings."
"You deserved every one of those feelings being hurt. Quit throwing tantrums like a child, and maybe you will be treated like an adult."
Before Asura could respond, he realized a blinding light lingered above. There it was... finally, before his eyes, in all of its glory, sat a flaming ball in the sky. Throwing his arms up as if he were praising it, Asura opened his four arms wide,
"BEHOLD! THE SUN!"
The sun shone just above their tops in the beautiful blue sky filled with white puffy clouds. Its rays illuminated the sky, casting a golden hue over the clouds. Not even a painting from the Succubi could capture the beauty that was before him.
In his realm, his people mostly lived underground in caves or caverns. Asura vaguely remembered a time when the sun shone over his home, but the memory was distant and blurry. When the sun disappeared, they naturally became nocturnal creatures, but Asura always remembered the time when the sun shone across the land—a memory he was rather fond of.
Opening his eyes wide, Asura stared directly at the blazing ball of fire floating in the sky. Then he screamed,
"AAaaaahhhhhhh! That shit bright!"
Asura recoiled, pulling his arms down to cover his eyes. Rubbing frantically with his hands, he tried to fix them, but black splotches filled his vision. The sun's rays burned his retinas. Asura desperately held his face as a massive headache coursed through his brain.
"Man, that freaking hurts!"
Mel burst into laughter as she watched the moronic ogre writhing in pain. Tears began to fall at the edge of her eyes as she belted out a healthy laugh.
"You are such... an idiot."
Even Ash cracked a smile at the sight of Asura rolling on the floor. Wain shook his head in disbelief that Asura would be dumb enough to do such a thing.
"Dude, you can't look at it like that. It's the sun, you know?"
"How the hell was I supposed to know that man? We ain't got no sun in my realm."
As his vision returned, Asura couldn't help but look back up at the blue sky above. Usually, his realm's sky was black or gray, depending on the volcanic activity that illuminated the surface, so seeing a blue one was rather startling. The clouds were vividly white and cast shadows onto the town.
"Even shadows are weird here. So distinct... Sharp."
"Yeah, they-...."
Wain stopped as Asura pat himself off after he rose off the steps. The mention of shadows drew his attention to one that was missing. Wain frantically looked up at the sun as if he were concerned about it being missing.
As he looked up, he found the sun sitting in the sky, traveling on its usual path to the west. "I'm losing it... I thought the sun was missing for a moment... But that makes this even more weird... Where is Asura's shadow?" Wain thought as he contemplated his entire life.
Wain studied the concrete underneath each member's shoes, counting the shadows beneath them. One for Mel, one for Ash, his was certainly there... Wain lifted his foot to look down at the black splotch stretched along the earth. But as he arrived at Asura's feet... he found nothing. As if the sun ignored his existence, no shadow was cast onto the concrete. "How is that possible?" As Wain opened his mouth to ask, Mel interrupted,
"You heard the old man. Wain and Asura will take downtown, and Ash and I will take the north. Call me if you find anything, Wain."
"O-okay."
Asura frowned, dissatisfied by the mention of a phone. Patting his pockets, Asura checked to see if a phone magically appeared within them. He found his pockets were only filled with lint. He scooped throughout like it would magically appear. The emptiness of his pockets haunted Asura as if he were missing a phone that never existed.
"How come I don't have a phone..."
"You haven't earned one."
Asura began to open his mouth but stopped as Mel shot him a glare.
"Cause any more trouble, and I will make sure you never get one either."
She pointed at Asura and held it for a moment that felt like it would never end. The long pause made him uncomfortable. Shifting and squirming, he decided to respond to end this uncomfortable confrontation,
"Fine..."
The groups parted ways and split off to their designated area.
"What a beautiful day. Beautiful sky, beautiful sun... not so beautiful buildings."
With boards nailed up over the entrances and windows, it was obvious people had left the residence long ago. Although it was not surprising that they left, with the rotting wood plaguing the exterior and deep gashes from monster attacks, Asura doubted anyone would reside here for long. For every building that seemed to be occupied, the next would resemble garbage barely holding itself together.
"I thought you guys fixed the place up? That whole insurance thing you got going on isn't a scam, is it?"
"We don't scam people."
"Woah, don't need to be so defensive there, bud. Just asking why this place is still a shithole."
Wain sighed. Asura's comments had validity, but it wasn't their fault. The old man did the best he could, but with the orders and restrictions put on them by the higher-ups.
"We aren't given enough materials to put those pillars up in everyone's houses or businesses. We have to pick and choose... unfortunately, people are left out...'
"... That nun said you guys were in exile... That have something to do with it?"
Wain paused momentarily, debating whether to reveal any more information to the monster that walked by his side.
"Yeah..."
Asura raised an eyebrow.
"What the hell did you guys do to be exiled?"
"We aren't all exiled... Just the Captain and Sarah were."
"Well, what did that old fart do? Is he a serial killer in disguise?! A lunatic priest that rebelled? A tyrannical dictator that forced upon others his will to destroy-'
"No! No! Quit with your ridiculous fantasies, dude. To be honest... I don't know either, but it ain't something that bad, or he wouldn't have been allowed to be a Paladin still."
"You don't know that. The Temple could be in on it! Hiding away their twisted mistakes and old ways by locking him here! If they killed him... maybe his old followers would rise up!"
"Dude, seriously... You know that's ridiculous."
Asura rolled his eyes at Wain's insistence.
"I know, but it's fun to think about... But you never know who someone truly is and whether they will flip on you. One day, the old man could be someone completely different than what you believed he was."
Wain knitted his eyebrows together. He studied the ogre's blank face as he stared off into the distance.
"You-"
"Doubt it would be the old man, though. He's too stuck up to drop his justice. If I had to guess, it's that The Temple doesn't like his justice."
As Wain and Asura walked together, Asura split off down another road. Wain couldn't help but stop and watch.
"Do you even know where you're going?"
"Nope"
"Well, it isn't that way. Quit wandering, dude."
Wain pulled out a small brown book and a silver coin from his pocket. He flipped through the pages and stopped when he found the page he was looking for.
"What's that?"
"How we find what we are looking for."
"All evil is revealed before Judex Divinum. Through Uriel are the wicked hunted and purged."
Suddenly, the coin began to vibrate at a rate that made Asura anxious. The rapid movement was unsettling and unnatural.
"What's happening?"
Then, in the blink of an eye, the coin dissolved between Wain's fingers as if it were never there. Wain opened his palm and stared. Asura spun to observe any changes, but everything was the same as before... He waited... Nothing. "Was that a new magic trick Wain wanted to try out?" Asura thought to himself as he returned his gaze to his friend.
"What the hell was that?"
"A tracking incantation."
"What's up with the coin?"
"Since I don't have any mana, I use coins infused with holy mana. Silver conducts and holds holy mana pretty well, so we made coins out of it so I could easily use incantations."
"How does it work..."
A hovering orb now hung in the air before Asura. Its golden radiance shone brightly as it flickered. Upon poking it, Asura found that the weird floating orb jiggled.
"Dude, quit poking it."
"How does it work?"
"We just follow it around. It normally wouldn't flicker, but apparently, there's not enough... quotidian mana? Is that what you called it?"
"Yeah, good job."
"There is not enough quotidian mana around for it to track down. Usually, it will take us directly towards the mana, but it's kind of like a dog right now. It'll sniff around for the mana."
"Huh... weird."
As they continued walking down the road, the two followed the orb. Occasionally, it stopped at intersections like a confused dog trying to locate the lost scent.
"It's like a wisp!"
"A wisp? Like the fairy tale creature?"
"Oh... guess they are only native to the shadow realm."
"So they exist?"
"Definitely. They aren't aggressive, so I guess humans will never see them. No reason for the cultists to bring in a harmless floating ball of light that tickles you... Wait, there are people out!"
Asura found people were finally walking down the streets. Well, if you could call running down the streets terrified by the presence of a monster, walking. It was exciting for the ogre to watch the daily lives of human residents.
"Do normal people live like the people in the reality shows? Like those weird plastic people who complain about their hard lives even though they are filthy rich?"
"Are you talking about the Daily Life Of A Celebrity?"
"YEAH, I LOVE THAT SHOW!
Wain laughed.
"No, it's nothing like that show."
Asura frowned at Wain's response.
"Really?"
"Really. It's nothing like it at all, dude."
Wain thought the revelation would crush Asura, but it appeared not to bother him as he proudly strutted through the streets like a celebrity.
"Do they live like those bush people then?"
"Sorry, we don't live like them either."
"What about Dragon Like Hoarders?"
"Television isn't real, dude. Sure, some people are hoarders, but that is the one percent they show. Most people are normal, and television shows exaggerate or make up a lot."
"What about Redneck Stunts?"
"Honestly... I'll give you that one. There are a ton of fails on the internet."
Asura smiled.
"Wicked!"
He turned back to Wain, hoping to talk about one of his favorite shows more, but Wain's eyes were fixed upon the orb. Wain intently watched for any sudden movements or shifts in its behavior. The situation becomes more troublesome if it loses its tracked target due to mana disappearing.
"Is that thing searching for fragments of quotidian mana left behind? Like the lingering residue or scent left behind from monsters?"
"Yeah, but it's hard to track because quotidian mana doesn't linger for long unless you've been overly exposed to it. Most Cultists know it's on their clothes and skin, so they bathe in griffin oil to remove it."
"That makes sense."
"It does?"
"I mean, griffin oil is used by every hunter to mask their scent. The coating on their fur has some weird property that makes them undetectable. Ultimate predator in the skies. How come rituals produce mana as well?"
"Because of the blood of humans. We don't know exactly how it works, but blood has a ton of power within it for some reason. Many theorize that it's linked to the soul. When humans sacrifice others, it converts the soul/blood or whatever into mana to open a portal for a monster to enter through. Same with monsters eating humans or other monsters, right? They consume the mana or blood their prey produce and convert it into their own. "
Upon hearing the word consume, Asura's stomach rumbled, reminding him that he hadn't eaten anything yet. "There it was again." Wain thought. The most dreadful noise he could think of. His face went flush as he watched Asura turn to him. As he opened his mouth to request food, the ogre paused. An older woman stood defiantly with her arms crossed before the two of them.
"Oh boy... This should be fun." Asura knew what this woman was about to do. Her short hair, red leather jacket, and mom jeans gave it all away. "A Karen in its natural habitat..." Asura thought as he remembered the thousands of videos about women like her that had been published online.
Wain and Asura waited for her to speak first. However, they quickly regretted this decision the moment her mouth opened. Her deep, raspy, smoker voice filled with disgust, self-imposed authority, and arrogance made the two of them shiver as she uttered each word.
"What are your kind doing here?"
Wain did not respond to the question. He expected Asura to make a dumb remark before he had the chance to respond. However, the ogre was visibly confused by the whole ordeal. The woman's eye seemed to have a will of its own and drifted away from the two of them while the other remained focused. Wain knew engaging in any conversation with the woman would only lead to misery, but he had no choice.
"Ma'am, the ogre is under our control. Do not fear-"
"I'm not talking about him."
"What?"
Wain turned his attention to the woman, finding her one eye staring directly at him. She seemed unbothered by the four armed monsters' presence beside him.
"Me?"
She grumpily replied as if his response was idiotic,
"Yeah, you. We don't like your people around here."
Wain was appalled by this statement. He glanced in disbelief at Asura to see if he had heard what was just said. Asura's mouth gaped as he stood dumbfounded by her racist remark.
"What do you mean by your people?"
She looked at him and huffed.
"You know what I mean."
Without another word, she stormed off past the two.
"Filthy priests. You all need to get out of this town and leave. You kill more than you save. Nothing more than a nuisance that taxes us and imposes laws no one likes."
Wain couldn't help but watch as she walked away.
"What the hell did she mean by that? I don't think it's because I'm a priest..."
He knew their reputation wasn't great in this small town. It was hard to deal with the amount of cultists lurking around. For an unknown reason, a large amount of cultists liked to gather in this specific town like it was a convention.
The captain could never figure out why, but it made their lives a living hell. Day after day, a group of them just showed up, and like moths drawn to a flame, they would kill a few cultists, and then five more would emerge from the shadows. Something about this town attracted them.
Shaking his head in disbelief, Wain decided it was best to forget about it for now. He needed to focus on the mission at hand. To find these cultists that would hopefully lead them to Malachi.
After walking down the road for what felt like an eternity, Asura began to kick a can to cure his boredom.
"THIS IS TAKING FOREVERRRRRRR.... UGHHHH. I NEED FOOOOOOODDDD."
"Dude... it's been like five minutes..."
Asura prepared to groan again but stopped after seeing something interesting in the corner of his eye. An ice cream shop! Bouncing joyfully, he couldn't help but become infatuated with the small store. He's only seen them on television! Unlike the ones he had seen in the films, this one looked rough. It was a stained yellow color like mustard, with broken glass at the front, as if it were recently robbed. For a second, he thought it was not open after taking note of its current state, but someone walked behind the counter. Then, a customer walked in right after. It was open!
Noticing Asura suddenly becoming excited, Wain turned to the ogre, who was pointing with his other three hands toward the ice cream shop. His arms outstretched as far as they could, eagerly wiggled in the air as if to encourage Wain to give in.
"Gimme that shit."
Wain glared at Asura, annoyed by his sudden request.
"No."
Asura angrily looked at the ice cream shop and then back at Wain. Then back at the shop, and then back at Wain, and like a kid who just got rejected by his father, the ogre grumpily crossed his arms. Realizing what must be done to get the treat he desired, Asura sat down immediately on the sidewalk.
Wain watched as the big bad ogre that fought everything in sight began to throw a tantrum in the middle of the street.
"What are you doing?"
Asura, looking at him dead in the eyes, replied,
"I ain't moving till I get it."
Wain was speechless upon witnessing this. "Is he really doing this right now? Really?" The orb they were following began to flicker, causing Wain to panic. He was ready to leave him sitting there, but he could hear Mel's voice complaining in his ear that he should have been with Asura.
Wain groaned internally, knowing he could not win this battle with Asura. Opening his wallet, Wain pulled out the last remaining twenty. His wallet was now barren. The sight of handing over all the money he had left depressed him. He needed to get paid...
Asura snatched the bill from Wain's hand like a gremlin, jumping up in joy in victory. Scurrying to the store, he darted off like a child who acquired money for a toy. The sight of Asura running towards the ice cream shop made Wain put his face in his hands. How was he supposed to get anything done with a grown toddler running around with him... "Why God? Why me?" After saying a quiet prayer, Wain waited for the monster to return.
Emerging from the store with a bucket of chocolate ice cream and a cone of mint chocolate chip, Asura's face beamed with happiness, finally sating his hunger. Wain stood horrified as Asura returned... "How much money was used to buy that amount of ice cream?..."
"Uhhh, um, how much change did you get?"
With a mouth full of mint chocolate chip ice cream, Asura froze upon hearing the question. With a blank face, he asked,
"Change?"
Wain's shoulders slumped in depression. All his money was gone again... Oblivious to his sullen state, Asura walked off proudly as he devoured the newly acquired ice cream. "What a great day today is." Asura thought. Wain followed behind, drooping as he slowly walked after the thief.
"You good? Do you wanna wrestle?"
Wain cried out,
"Why would I want to wrestle?"
Asura shrugged and then proceeded to devour the ice cream cone in the blink of an eye. Without concern in the world, he opened the tub of chocolate ice cream and tossed the lid to the side. Three spoons in hand, he began to consume it within seconds as all his arms worked in unison. Wain watched as Asura devoured the ice cream like a prisoner would.
"Chocolate was the best thing ever invented!"
Asura frowned as he reached the bottom of the tub. It was all gone... All his joy was gone. Well, at least the ice cream in the tub was. The remaining ice cream was now plastered all over his face. Licking it clean, he became overjoyed once again as he cleaned himself up. However, the enjoyment didn't last long as he quickly finished the ice cream on his face as well.
"Damn it... now it's gone again."
Now, all that remained was the empty tub, which served no purpose to him any longer.
"Now, what to do with the tub..."
"What to do... what to do..." Asura tossed the tub to the side, watching it roll off into the grass of someone's lawn. Wain shook his head in disbelief, ready to scold the littering monster, but stopped as Asura dropped to the floor without warning. Asura grabbed his head, gripping it with all four hands as he rolled around in pain on the floor.
"AHHHH! What poison is this? Man it hurrrrtttssss. HEELLPPPP MEEEE!!!!!"
The sight of the monster rolling around on the ground broke Wain. Wheezing and laughing, tears filled his eyes as he watched the monster roll around in agony. Gripping his hurting stomach, Wain managed to let out a few words.
"It's a brain freeze. It's what you deserve."
Still in pain, Asura held a middle finger up with two hands as he gripped his head.
After a few minutes, the cold began to subside, allowing him to rise to his feet slowly. Asura shook his head, trying to shake off the miserable cold pain. "How awful... how could such a delicious substance be so easily consumed but have such wicked consequences?!"
"You evil brown sticky, delicious treat!"