"Only In Death, Can One Realize Their True Purpose Of Life… Then Their Soul Awakens And Their True Essence Is Revealed"
Back In The Southern Tribe, Hotoke Plans His Next Move On Kaida!
In The North Sector Of The Southern Tribe, There Stands A Massive Temple With Hundreds Of Adult And Child Sorcerers Alike Standing Outside Training…
Adult Sorcerers On The Left Side, Weaving Intricate Hand Signs And Performing Ancient Spells…
Child Sorcerers On The Right Side, Struggling To Perform Even The Most Basic Spells.
Inside Of The Temple On The Third Floor, Hotoke Stands In Front Of An Open Window…
Looking Down At The Sorcerers While Lost In Thought, His Expression Filled With Frustration.
Then Enters Azreal… Hotoke's Attention Still Out Of The Window.
Hotoke(Grim, Eyes Sharp): You Failed To Kill Malum's Vessel… Why Is That?
Azreal(Voice Dripping With Malice): He Appears To Have Gotten Significantly Stronger In The Past Two Years… Also His Mother, Aaliyah Was It…?
Azreal(Edgy, Eyes Focused At The Ground): She Appears To Be More Of A Threat To Us Than He Is… Should We Do Something About Her?
Hotoke Then Turns Around, His Eyes Locked Onto Azreal's Eyes Unfocused.
Hotoke(Sighing): Naturally I Would Probably Think To Just Kill Her… But That Wouldn't Be A Wise Idea To Kill The Only One Keeping Malum's Vessel Sane…
Hotoke(Hand Stroking Chin, Looking Up): She Belongs To The Yamikei Clan… You Should Send Message To The Grand Elder About Having That Clan Reassemble To Find A Way To Strip Her Of "That" Power… And Also The Boy's Sister, Selene…
Hotoke(Right Arm In Shirt, Sitting Down): She Is A Mix Between Angel And Demon… Honestly, I Dunno What We Can Do About Her…
Azreal(Serious): For Her… I Can Arrange The Two Top Sorcerers Of The City, Melantha And Jay To Kill Her.
Hotoke(Confused, Face Still Blank): Didn't You Hear What I Said Earlier? We Kill Any Of His "Loved One's" That'll Cause More Unnecessary Problems And Make Killing "It" Harder Than It Already Is.
Azreal(Serious, Walking Closer To Hotoke's Desk): I Will Wage Psychological Warfare On Malum's Vessel… Break His Spirit And Will To Live, Once His Two Reason's For Living Are Dead. Then His Mind Will Shatter, He'll Be Nothing But An Empty Shell.
Hotoke(Face Cold, Tone Firm): Don't Underestimate That "Thing"… "It's" A Product Of Curses, Rage And Sorrow. He Clings To His Purpose With Desperation, Even Broken He May Surprise Us. Be Precise.
Azreal(Scoffing, Eyes Narrowed): I Have No Intention Of Letting My Guard Down. But With His Support Torn Away, He'll Be Most Vulnerable. I'll Drain Him Of Every Ounce Of Resolve Until He's Too Broken To Fight Back, His Spirit Broken Beyond Repair.
Hotoke(After A Pause, Eyes Closed): Very Well. But Do Remember, Azreal, If You Fail Again, It Won't Just Be Malum's Vessel You'll Have To Answer For. The Grand Elder Has No Tolerance For Those Who Make Mistakes… Especially Three Times.
Azreal Leaves, While Hotoke Stands Up And Gazes Outside The Window… At The Child Male Sorcerers Crying While Struggling To Perform Basic Techniques… As Hotoke Grunts.
Meanwhile In Another District Of The Southern Tribe… The Pleasure/Entertainment District… Many Male Sorcerers Walk Through The Lit Up Streets… Drunk.
Inside One Of The Pleasure Quarters, Three Male Sorcerers Sit On The Floor At A Mini Table, Drinking Alcohol.
Their Cheek's Red, While Three Women Sit Next To Them With A Fourth Woman Sits In Front Of All Of Them, Playing A Flute.
Drunken Sorcerer #1(Chuckling, Voice Slurred, Rubbing The Shoulder Of The Woman Next To Him): You're Too Stiff… C'mon Loosen Up A Little. We're Here To Enjoy Ourselves, Aren't We?
Woman(Disgusted, Barely Hiding Her Discomfort): Of Course… I'm Here To Please, After All.
She Forces A Slight Smile, But Her Eyes Betray Her Discomfort As She Subtly Shifts Away From His Grasp, Glancing Nervously At The Woman Playing The Flute.
Drunken Sorcerer #2 (Laughing Boisterously, Raising His Cup): Ya Know Out There It's All Blood And Sweat, But In Here… (He Raises His Cup Higher) We're The Kings Of This Tribe! This Is A Celebration To Our Power!
The Other Two Sorcerers Laugh, Clinking Their Cups Together, Spilling Alcohol As They Sway Unsteadily.
Drunken Sorcerer #3 (Grinning, Looking At The Woman Playing The Flute): Hey… Enough With The Music… Come Closer. We Didn't Come Here To Listen To Flutes… Besides, If Ya Wanna Use That Pretty Mouth Of Yer's…
The Woman Puts Down The Flute, As She Stands Up… Her Wary Eyes Glancing At The Other Women, Who Give Her Silent Looks Of Sympathy. She Hesitates, And A Flicker Of Defiance Crosses Her Face As She Hesitates To Move Closer.
Woman(Voice Steady, But Her Hands Tremble): I'm Here To Do My Job, Nothing More. Please Do Not Take Offense.
Drunken Sorcerer #1 (Eyes Narrowing, Voice Dripping With Malice): What's With Look? You Too Good To Come Spend Some Time With Us?!
Woman With Flute (Hands Slightly Trembling, Eyes Subtly Showing Fear): Not At All.
Suddenly, The Door To The Quarters Slides Open, Cutting Through The Tense Atmosphere… The Sorcerers And Women Look Up, Startled.
A Shadowed Female Figure Stands In The Doorway, Cloaked In Darkness, Her Aura Radiating A Calm Yet Intimidating Presence.
Unknown Woman (Voice Soft, Yet Slightly Commanding): Lord Masayoshi Has Summoned You Men… Ladies, It's Now Time For Closing.
Women(Nodding, Bowing): Yes Ma'am.
The Women All Stand Up And Enter A Room Down The Hall, As The Drunken Men All Stand Up And Reluctantly Leave…
Meanwhile, In The Room Down The Hall… The Women All Sit Down.
Woman #1 (Tear Falling Down Her Eye, Hands Trembling): I Can't Take This Anymore… I Can't Continue On Living In This Hell. I Would Rather Die, Than Live As A Woman That Sells Her Body To These Disgusting Men.
Woman #2 (Softly): I Understand… But, You Have A Son And A Daughter Correct? Lord Masayoshi Is Forcing The Male Children To Train And Risk Their Lives At Their Age To Become Sorcerers And Are Separating Children From Their Mother's…
Woman #2 (Sympathetic, Softly): You're Daughter As Well… You Have To Live On For Them… There Will Come A Day Where Lord Masayoshi's Corrupted Leadership And Laws Will Be Dismantled. I'm Not Saying You Shouldn't Be Upset But… For You're Children, Have Faith… Please.
** Meanwhile, At The Flame Faction**
Jason, Kaida And Everyone Else Sit Inside Of An Inn… And Eat Ramen Noodles.
Selene And Jason Sit At A Separate Table From Everyone Else.
Jason(Curious): Whad'ja Wanna Talk About Earlier?
Selene(Eyes Glancing At Aaliyah, Voice Below A Whisper): Ma Told Me About What Happened In Her Fight Against Asami…
Selene(Voice Below A Whisper, Eyes Focused On Jason's): She Said Something About, Her Fear Of Losing Both Of Us Manifesting Into Some Sort Of Dormant Power Or Somethin Of That Sort.
Jason(Nodding, Eyes Glancing At Aaliyah): Yeah… When She Was In That State, It Was Like That Wasn't Even Her.
Selene(Softly): Have You Ever Heard Of Something Called, The "True Essence" Of The Soul?
Jason(Confused, Eyes Slightly Squinted): True Essence Of The Soul?
Selene(Serious, Nodding): Yeah… It's Where A Sorcerer Realizes Their True Purpose, Or Reason For Existing And Their Role In Life… A Role Or Purpose That One Has Dedicated Themselves To Fulfilling… Sometimes One Can Truly Realize Their Purpose In Life Til The Moments Of Their Last Breath, Right On Their Deathbed…
Selene(Serious, Mouth Full With Ramen): And When A Sorcerer Realizes The "True Essence" Of Their Soul, They Awaken Their True Power That's Been Hidden Inside Of Them Ever Since Their Birth… I Believe That's Kinda What Happened To Ma, Only Thing Is That She Wasn't Close To Death Or Anything Like That… It's Probably Because Of Our Clan's Curse That Was Placed On Me And Ma When We Were Born.
Selene(Serious): Since She Has Demon Power That Has "Tainted" Her Soul, It's Probably Stopping Her From Unlocking Her True Power, And Put Her In A Berserker State Due To The Distress She Was In At The Moment… The True Essence Of The Soul Was Just A Myth, But… If My Guess Is Right, Ma Just Awakened Half Of Her True Power… But If She Somehow Lost The Curse Of Our Clan That Puts Demon Power In Her, Then She Could Awaken Her Missing Half Of Her True Power.
Jason Pauses For A Moment, To Process The Overload Of Information… As He Takes Another Glance Over To Aaliyah, And Then Looks At Selene.
Jason(Confused, Sighing): That Kinda Makes Sense… But If That's What Happened, Then Doesn't That Mean You're True Power Hasn't Yet Been Awakened?
Selene(Nodding, Drinking Water): Yeah That's Right.
Jason(Hand On His Forehead, Voice Below A Whisper): So, Since I Don't Have A Soul… What Does That Mean For Me?
Selene(Serious): That's Also What I Wanted To Talk To You About… When You're Soul Was Sacrificed In That Ritual To Bring You Back To Life, You Retained Human Emotions Despite Having You're Human DNA Being Overwritten By Demon DNA, Making You A Full Blooded Demon…
Selene(Eyes Locked Onto Jason's, Tone Firm): But, Even Now I Can Still Sense Small Fragmentation's Of You're Soul, Mixing In With You're Chaos Energy… It's Just A Guess, But There Might Be A Way To Reconstruct You're Soul.
Jason's Eyes Widen.
Jason(Hopeful, Eyes Still Wide): Do You Know How?
Selene(Shrugging, Nodding): No I Don't… But, Remember That That's Just A Guess So I Might Be Wrong, But The Chances Aren't Completely Zero.
Kaida Then Approaches Jason And Selene, Alongside Aria And Aaliyah.
Kaida(Smiling): You Both Ready, To Continue The Training?
Selene(Nodding): Yep.
Kaida(Grinning, Playful): It's Time For You're Training To Master "That" Technique Jason… I'm Sure You're Happy About That.
Jason(Chuckling, Standing Up): Yeah.
To Be Continued In Chapter 70…