"With that the mesurements should be done."
Inside the oni settlemet Erisha and the oni with a ponytail had finished the ground work for her disguise.
They were inside the oni's personal office.
It was little compared to the grand hall where they first appeared in, but was not lessly equiped.
Almost every device that was present in the hall was here aswell with some exceptions.
"You can put your armor back on now."
For the measurements to be as precise as possible, Erisha with some persuding from Sharktear removed her leather attire and was in her underwear.
The fact that she had to show herself to a man like this was unaccaptable, so for the measurments the oni called in one of the women from outside.
She quickly turned to get dressed, but not before Sharktear could catch a glimps as the oni woman was leaving.
He was quite surprised to say the least.
Erisha's body was covered in well defined muscles.
Her dark skin and long black hair only added to her beauty.
He could see her well built back which was unlike any he has ever seen from a women of another race.
Not to mention her godly rear and thighs as she was putting on her leather pants.
Sharktear thanked the gods that he was allowed to see such a beatiful sight.
Once Erisha got dressed she sat on a nearby chair.
She was quite annoyed and could only keep her cool while thinking about the future.
That this was neccesery.
"Alright, now we just put all the data this trusty magic crystal gathered and wait for about half an hour."
The mesurments were taken with the help of a portable magical crystal called mesurment stone.
Once someone touched it and put the right amount of mana inside it the crystal began to glow.
After that, it took the mesurements of whatever was put infront of it.
"Come on Drell! Half an hour?"
Drell turned towards the complaining Sharktear who entered the room with an annoyed face.
"Why are you here again?"
Sharktear puffed up his chest and proudly announced the reason.
"The matriarch gave me the order to protect her!"
Drell held his forehead while he sighed.
Having enough of Sharktear's presence he got up and with a lightning fast motion kicked him in the guts.
Sharktear stepped back a little while holding his stomach.
"What was that for you daft cunt!?"
"I am getting sick and tired of your ugly face! This fine woman can defend herself just fine! So get the fuck out!"
"But-"
"No buts! Out! Now!"
With reluctance Sharktear exited the room with an agitated expression while murmuring insults under his breath.
"Haaah, sorry about that."
"You do not need to apologize for if you had not done it then I would have."
"Glad to hear it."
With that Drell placed the mesurment stone inside a hole on the wall.
There were carvings connecting it to a large machine.
It was a large tube filled with some kind of green liquid.
Drell then walked up the the machine and pressed several buttons on a panel, making the large glass tube open.
"Now, for the last step you need to get inside this."
Erisha's face was an answear on its own.
She was glaring knifes at Drell.
"Why did you make me wear my clothes?"
"The clothes do not get in the way of the process, but if you prefer to enter in your underwear then be my guest."
Erisha growled at the onis remark, but nonetheless jumped inside.
"You can also breath in there!"
Drells voice was muffled by the liquid, but Erisha understood it.
Carefully she took several small breaths to make sure he was not lying.
He told the truth.
Drell then went over to the mesurement stone and placed his hand on it.
Immidietly the crystal reacted and began to glow with a green light.
The light was then sucked in to the carvings on the wall.
The light flowed through the carvings towards the machine where the liquid began to take the color of the green light.
Drell walked infront of the machine and observed the starting process.
Once he made sure everything worked as it should he pressed a button combination on the machines panel once again.
Erisha then noticed light from the corner of her eyes and looked down.
Her arm was glowing with a lime colored slime.
"Don't panic! It is part of the process!"
Heeding his advice Erisha did not struggle and relaxed her body.
With that Drell sighed in relif, then shrunk in to his chair.
"As I said before if everything goes right then the process will take around half an hour. Try not to move much, but talking is fine."
Erisha nodded in response.
As they waited the slime began spreadin and covering her body.
Strangly her dark skin remained even after the slime went over it.
"This is changing the color of my skin?" She asked
One could tell from her voice that she was becoming doubtful of the process.
"While it may look the same its really not. That slime is creating a layer of mana on your skin, since you are a cursed being you emit corrupted mana without your knowlage. You cannot control this, but with this machines help we can contain it. Without it any priest would feel that something was wrong with you."
"What about my eyes?"
"The same thing will happen to it like the rest of your body. But the mana there will be highly concentrated thus its appereance can be changed. I can give you whatever eyes you want, but the most optimal would be for them to be brown since it matches the rest of your look."
"Then it shall be brown."
Drell nodded in agreement.
Minutes passed in silance.
The oni before Erisha was even taking a nap.
Erisha's mind wondered to what the future might hold.
She tried to stay positive, but she could not forget the sight on that chilly night.
How she was not strong enough, not fast enough to protect her brother.
The feeling of helplessness and lost hope still lingered, and because of her weakness Cain was still in danger of slowly dying.
Then she thought about Dawn.
How they knew next to nothing about him.
What he is running from or what he will do once they go home.
All possible futures she could think of were filled with hardships and struggle.
There were many unknown variables that could disturbe her plans aswell.
In the elfs arrogance they thought that they knew everything there is to know about Gaia based on observation.
They ignored the humans for too long and for them not to notice a war with another realm was simply unaccaptable.
The word "war" stuck in her mind.
Perhaps this was the time to ask for details.
"Drell, can you hear me?"
Drell opened one of his eyes as a response.
"Being forced to wait made me realise that I knew next to nothing about this world. I have questions that need to be answeared to fill the gaps in my knowlage."
Erisha now had the onis full attention.
With an amused smile he bent forward and put on his glasses.
"What would you like to know?"
Erisha answeared without delay as she wanted to know something more then any else.
"What can you tell me about Kazamir?"
Hearing her question Drell's smile grew wider.
"You mean the berserker?"
"Yes."
Hearing this the oni jumped up from his chair with pure joy.
It seems he was waiting for this very moment.
"Well then! What would you like to know?"
Erisha began to think about her first question.
Most of her questions about Dawn were personal.
Even if the oni tried to answear he could not give a satesfying or correct one.
Thus there was one thing she could ask.
"What could a man like him run from?"
Hearing her first question the smile on Drell's face dissappeared.
His face became stern as he sat back down in to his chair.
"Before I answear I want you to promise me that whatever you hear from me, you will not bring up in front of him. And you must also acknowlage that I will only give a possible reason and not a fact."
The air between the oni and the vat became cold and dark.
Even Erisha felt the onis change in mood was rather drastic.
"You have my vow."
Drell sighed.
He then laid back in his wooden chair and rested his arm on the table beside him as he began his tale.
"The offical story behind the fall of the 7th legion can be found inside the holy book of the solar church and many other records."
Erisha's eyes narrowed when hearing about the church.
Tough Dawn did not tell them much about human factions, he went in to great detail about what would happen if they found out about Erisha.
Each faction from the legions to the church would treat her differantly, but she would be killed by all nonetheless.
In her mind the church was the biggest obsticale on a road filled with dangers since they specalised in dealing with anything relatedforigne to Gaia.
"The story goes like this, the 7th general fell victim to the temptations of Hell. Using his influence he gathered an immense number of offerings as a sacrefice to gain immense power from the Hell. He then launched a dark crusade against Gaia. Through countless battles the rest of the generals pushed the demons back and using a newfound way to close the gateways, they forced the demons to flee. The battle was hard fought, but the 7th wouldn't go down without a fight. Through great struggle the rest of the generals put their old friend out of his misery and allowed his soul to rest. The survivors from the 7th legion were given amnesty for the actions of their leader, but the damage to their name and reputation was already done. Their previous good deeds and sacrefices were overshadowed by this incident, thus after a few short years they disbanded."
Erisha processed the information like a child learning their first words.
She stayed silent, with her gaze focused on Drell.
Her gaze alone made Drell uneasy.
Those voidlike eyes were by far the strangest things he has ever seen.
"Continue, I can see it that you are not done."
Her voice was like a sirens song.
It was mesmerizing and beautiful.
Drell took a moment to bask in her beuty as she floated inside the tube.
If not for her eyes he would have already made a move on her.
Suddenly Drell coughed a few times to clear his throat and calm himself.
It was unlike him to think about stuff like that.
"As I was saying. The legion disbanded, but the stigma remained. Unlike the other legions the 7th was mostly made up of none-humans such as orks, beastmen and even onis."
Erisha's suspicions turned out to be correct.
She suspected this was the case ever since she opened her eyes in the balcony of the arena.
The way Ryuran moved was very similar to Dawn's.
There were key differances ofcourse, but the foundations were likely the same.
Drell's mouth curled in to a smile when he saw Erisha's face movements.
"You suspected it right?"
Erisha nodded.
"Good, good you are not like the other elfs."
Hearing the mention of her kind Erisha looked up with a surprised face.
"You encountered elfs? Where are they!? What happened to them!?"
"Calm down! The disguise is only half complete!"
"Then tell me!"
"I don't know okay! You elfs are all over the world with no way of knowing where each one of you are! Some passed by here, completed the matriarch's trial and requested a disguise. That is all I know."
Erisha sighed.
She did not know wether to feel relif that some of her kind is still alive or concern about what might happen to them.
She was reminded of the book she and Cain read inside the nekromancer's lair.
The pages were still vivid in her memory.
Seeing her pained expression Drell scratched the back of his head.
It was a mistake on his part to mention other elfs to her.
But suddenly he had an idea that could perheps change her mood.
"You know, there is something the holy book overlooks in that particular story."
Erisha looked back up at him.
"And those are the details. As I said the onis were once part of the 7th legion, naturally we have our own records about the events that unfolded. There is a key differance in our records and the bullshit the church has, which is how the 7th fell to the ruinous powers."
Erisha's gaze cleared and returned to that of a curious listener, temporarily forgetting her concerns about her kind.
"In our records it states that he didn't fall just because he failed to resist temptation, but because he was abandoned."
"Abandoned? The generals are supposed to be the originators of your magic. If that is true then they have been alive for more then a hundred years, ever snce the war started."
"Precisly!" Drell pointed out.
"All of the generals see each others as brothers and sisters, but the 7th was differant! He never felt kinship to them or relate to their experiences! He did not have the same values or motivations as them!"
"How was he differant?"
Hearing Erisha's question the oni stopped his little rant and began to think.
"Thats a tricky question. You see the records containing information about the 7th are scarce and rare. We only have solid information about his deeds, but not his personality."
"Then how can you know that he was that differant from the rest? Perhaps he was the weakest of them all."
Drell's eyebrows furrowed as he stood up and walked outside the room.
After a few short minutes he returned with a large book.
The book's cover was made of red leather and it was heavy enough for the oni to carry it with two hands.
With a large thud Drell placed the book on to the table infront of Erisha.
Erisha looked at the the hard cover for the title, but it was written in a language she could not understand.
"What is this?"
"This my friend, is one of the many codexes containing this tribes and the onis history. The title has more meaning in our ancient tone, but you can simply call it a history book."
Drell then opened the book and slipped through its many pages.
Its papers were old and were torn at several places but considering its age it would be a surprise that it was not damaged to some extent.
Finally Drell stopped at the page he was looking for.
He then placed one of his red fingers on a sentance.
"The Forever Rageful was differant from his siblings for he did not wish to be worshipped. Time and time again he beraded and punished any who did so otherwise. Even his siblings were no exceptions to this."
Erisha looked at Drell with a confused face.
"The generals are worshipped? I belived only the suns were."
"To be precise the people belive the generals are demi-gods. And honestly I too find myself thinking that might be the case."
"If that is the case then why did the 7th refuse-"
Suddenly a memory from not too lon ago entered Erisha's mind.
But before she could voice her thoughts the door to Drell's office opened.
Drell did not even look at who entered, but nonetheless he pointed at them aggressively.
"Get out! I am in the middle of something."
He then looked back up at Erisha to continue their talk.
"You have no command over me."
Drell's eyes widened and a chill ran over his entier body.
Strangely he felt cold all of a sudden, and his body began to slightly shake.
He did not recognise this cold and deep voice.
He immidietly turned his entier body to see who it was and to his shock he was met with a man as tall as him.
The man wore a torn and bloody attire, his body a stronghold of muscle.
"Yo- you are the berserker?" Drell's voice was a mix between excitement and fear.
"Is that a problem?"
"No, no, no of course not! Its quite the opposite sir!"
Dawn turned his gaze from the stuttering oni and looked at the tube containing Erisha.
The process was almost finished with only her head area still being worked on.
"How long until the disguise is finished?" Dawn asked with a ster voice.
"Uh- uh- about uh- 10 minutes!"
Dawn simply nodded then went in to one of the corners of the office and sat down on to the floor with his back against the walls.
Drell became nervous at seeing his actions, but could not find the courage to speak to him directly.
Erisha found this strange since she saw Drell as a particularly cold-headed and organised oni.
Erisha then had a sudden revelation.
Up until now, what was clear about this oni was that he appriciated the history of his people.
He seemed rather fond of the 7th legion in particular.
For a man that grew up on the tales of his ancestors who were likely part of the 7th legion to meet someone who was actually there and knew them was a dream come true.
Using his advanced senses Dawn scanned his surroundings.
Thankfully he found nothing, but the oni's stare from the other side of the room unnerved Dawn.
It has been decades since someone looked at him with nothing more then pure admiration.
With a deep sigh Dawn decided to ignore him.
He then turned to Erisha and began telling what has happened during his visit to Wolf's Bane Fortress.
Hearing the absurd story Erisha wanted to hold her head and sigh, but due to the disguise still not being done she could not do so, on the other hand Drell's eyes became filled with stars at the epic story.
"Are you sure that person can help cure my brother?"
"No, but it is all we have. And we need to leave Geiza soon, my actions may cause the guards to ban me from the city or the church to investigate me."
"Remind me again, why did you do what you did?"
"Out of personal feelings."
"And who gave me a lecture while bashing my head against the wall about controlling my emotions?"
Dawn looked up and stared in to Erisha's eyes.
Surprisingly he was met with two brown eyes instead of the black 'things' from before.
But her outer appearance did not concern Dawn.
His eyes were hostile, but Erisha did not give in.
Perhaps it was pride that pushed her so far as to insult Dawn, but this clear hostility began to annoy him.
"Do you have something you want to say?" Said Dawn as he stood up.
Suddenly the green liquid inside the vat brgan to clear out, signaling the end of the process.
In no time Erisha was standing on her own two feet, outside the tube.
Erisha looked at her hands.
With her special eyes she could see the thin layer of mana above her skin.
Even by elven standerds this was impressive.
Dawn then walked up to her and handed her a mirror.
She took it without hesitation and proceeded to observe her eyes.
Although her sight did not change she could see the outline of her eyes were differant.
She could not see their color, but she could see the outline of her iris.
She then faced Dawn with a determind face.
"When are we leaving?"
"Tomorrow night. Until then rest and say your goodbyes to your brother."
With that Dawn turned to leave the room.
Erisha looked back at Drell who wore a disappointed face.
"Kazamir." Erisha called out.
Dawn glanced back.
"What is it?"
"This oni called Drell has been greatly helpful and he has answeared many of my questions."
Dawn now fully turned around and faced Erisha and Drell.
"I belive he deserves a reward. One that only you can give him."
Dawn's eyes narrowed and suspicion grew inside of him.
"What would that be?"
Suddenly Drell stepped forward with a hopeful expression.
"Knowlage, sir. You see I am a historian first and resercher seacond."
He then pointed to the codex on the table.
"Altough my predecessior recorded many things, there are gaps in our knowlage of the tribes beginning. If it is alright I would like to request that you answear some of my questions."
Silance befell the room.
Sweat dripped down Drell's as he awaited his answear.
He was thankful for Erisha's help, in his book she was standing amongst the very top.
"What is it that you want to know? I was not close to the oni's in my time, but if it is something I can answear then I will do so."
Drell sighed in relif.
"Yes! Thank you, sir!" Said Drell while bowing his head.
"You two can stay here. I will go back to the matriarchs's residance with Sharktear."
Dawn nodded then turned towards Drell.
"Ask your questions."
Hearing his words Drell snapped out of his trance and quickly prepeared a seat for Dawn at the table while Erisha left them to have their talk that continued long in to the night.