Eric's body floated back down, the forest seemed to still at his presence. Creatures looming in the darkness backed away as his body burst into something different.
Unlike his snake and monkey hybrid for the Mountain Cloud Guardian and his hellish figure in the Underworld Vulcan form, his figure seemed ghostly. As though about to phase out from existence, he used his spider appendages, growing from his back to stand higher.
His skin a ghostly white as a purple soul energy formed silk like clothing that fit on him loosely. Turning to the city, Eric moved. Driven by an instinct, Eric returned to the city. By the time he arrived at the gates, his ghostly form was back to human.
Flashing his badge, he went to a cheap but filling eatery and gorged on food. His scrawny figure drawing glances.
"Did you hear, the army is ramping up selections and it's to start in a month."
"Ohhhhh, I heard. I also heard that the inquisitors have been moving around lately."
"Shush, don't talk about them too loud. I'm more concerned with the flood-dragons introducing new drugs. I also heard Yulo got a new girlfriend, if you can call her that."
Eric registered the first three pieces of news, sighing at the third. However, a bubble of optimism came as he heard about military selections taking place sooner.
'Good, something to focus on.' Eric went back to the Iron Dragon Shop and was immediately pulled by Rudolph. With a wave of a hand he was yanked across the shop into the back.
"Boy!!!! Where have you been and why---" Stopping, Rudolph did a double take as he tapped around Eric's body.
"Boy, who have you been around?" Eric didn't answer Rudolph, merely shifting into his newly gained bloodline.
" It's called the [Eight Legged Ghost] bloodline. It's from the Hades Spider that was inside of me." Telling the old man about his chance encounter, Rudolph's face tightened.
"Listen carefully boy. For everything that grants power, something must be given in exchange. That girl was a Teller. They're oracles that try and read and tap into fate. DO NOT MEESS AROUND WITH SUCH THINGS. That is God's domain, they're kind have gone extinct because of this."
Eric nodded slowly.
"Kid, don't use that bloodline transformation. The damage to your soul is still there, it's gonna take time and a myriad of items to heal your soul. Keep your head down and focus on trying to get into the army."
Rolling his eyes, Eric asked something that had been stewing on his brain since coming back.
"Hey old man.... why do people lie about history?" Rudolph was silent, Eric could see a tsunami of emotion and information flashing in the man's eyes.
"That isn't an easy question, nor do I have the sole answer to."
Eric's eye narrowed, "Will the Keepers have the answer to my question?" Rudolph was silent, just silent. It made Eric feel as though he were fighting to dredge up any morsel of truth from the old thing.
"You won't know how bitter the world is until it burns you completely." Eric watched him walk away, the old man seemed weighed down by the very world itself.
'I'll become a Keeper one day, and I''ll discover the truth about the races. No one will be able to pervert the truth, no one will be scarred the way you are.' The thought was outlandish, childish, and extreme.
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Amare paced back and forth, his irritation growing as things started to spiral. Looking at the five corpses in front of himself, he could only let out a low growl.
"Amateurs, the fucking lot of em. One job, one simple fucking job. All you need to do is keep sacrificing and you still can't do that right." His body ached, having gone without dual cultivation, calling upon a wicked purple flame, the ball of fire devoured the five corpses.
A small seed of power was imbued into him before the fire faded out of existence. Walking from the spacious stone area towards a room with painting, artifacts, and weapons, he went to a specific painting and pressed on it.
A passage way opened up as he made his way up the stairs. Coming to his residence, he exited and closed the passageway behind himself. Massaging his neck, he poured an expensive bottle of whiskey.
'A small army's worth of demons has been summoned to the Ormanu Forest. It shouldn't take that long before master Reichman sets off the plan. However...' Using his uncoocupied hand he rang a bell.
Before long a girl was brought in by a two burly men with strange helmets on their heads. The young girl tossed and turned as she tried to free herself, only to be roughly thrown to the floor.
Pressing his hand on the girl's forehead a sickening green light seeped into her mind as her eyes went dull. Smiling, Amare lied back as the girls started to perform oral on him.
'Ahhhh, this isn't so bad. The army isn't moving fast enough. Slow fucks, too bloated to react properly. Shouldn't be long before they provide me with .....ahhhhh. With what I need and then I cna leave these backwater places behind.'
The girl's face and body became less and less youthful as the minutes passed. the girl could feel the both the pain as well as the very act she was doing. The eternal chaos causing Amare to relish the moment.
As she reached the point of being gaunt, he used one hand and gripped her throat. Inhaling, his pupils changed to pitch black as he sucked out the very essence within the girl.
Her body went slack as her emaciated corpse fell to the ground like an old husk. Satisfied, he rolled his shoulders before going to an elegant desk and wrote a quick letter. Having a messenger bird take it, he sat back and laughed.
"Oh how I hope you'll speed up the process, Jiao Long. Who's fucking idea was it to use such an imposing name for you. Tch! Nonetheless, everything will go on seamlessly."
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Lesha toyed with the book of necromancy in front of her. Her eyes devoid of warmth as she looked at the man begging for his life. Her serpentine pupils staring deep into him.
"P-P-Please my lords, I-I was just curious." The man shivered on his knees, looking at the three before him. His fear was almost palpable.
The man with the crab helmet said nothing but continued to search around, Lesha watched the man grow in his desperation.
'He is still hiding something.' Turning to the man with the helmet she made a hand sign and he nodded. His helmet glowed, through the mouth slit a large amount of air was inhaled. He stopped for a few seconds as though frozen.
Releasing his breathe he walked over to one particular area of the man's home. A small book shelf only a few feet in height. With herculean strength, he ripped the shelf from the wall, exposing a passageway.
Hithral finally looked up from the documents he was scanning over.
"Took you two long enough to find it, sheesh, you won't make it far if you continue to lollygag. Next time extract the information quicker."
Both of his proteges nodded, Lesha turned to the man who had gone completely pale.
"Please my lords, don't do this." Curious as to what she was to find, Lesha unsheathed her sword and closed her eyes. An invisible force yanked out two people from the small hiding spot.
Upon seeing the two her fury ignited, "BLASHPHEMOY!"
The woman was deathly, pale, so much so that she knew it was a corpse maiden. Yet what truly infuriated her was the little boy holding onto his mother.
"A damned demon spawn. You revived the woman and sired this abomination?"
The wife's expression seemed forever locked in a bland stare but she protectively held her boy.
"Yes, that is my son. I turned to necromancy in order to save my wife. She can be considered half undead, however, she soon gave birth after rival. My son is part living and part dead. He is blameless, just born into unfortunate circumstances."
The woman's sword ignited a pure yellow, "By the order and power of his majesty, Talion Nightbloom, I Lesha Hithrall, sentence you and your spawns to death. Necromancy and the creation of a halfling zombie."
The man grit his teeth as he opened his mouth, a ghoulish spirit burst out of his mouth, attacking her with a shadowy sword. Sneering she merely waved her sword and the apparition was slayed.
With one clean movement, the man stilled. His head slid from his body, no blood leaking at all from the now cauterized area. The woman for the first time stood, trying to run with her child in hand, only for the helmet man to catch her.
Lifting her up in the air with one hand, he squeezed, crushing her skull into watermelon pieces. The boy started to hyperventilate but his breathing was forever torn from him as Lesha drove a sword through his heart and burned his insides.
Unable to scream, his eyes went dull before he dropped to the ground, completely lifeless. Taking the book of necromancy and sealing it in a special box, she put it in her bag of holding.
The two kneeled as they waited for Hithrall's orders. The man sighed, "Subpar responses from the two of you. Lesha, you should have been more aggressive and asked where he had gotten that book of necromancy. Second, always have a collar in addition to cuffs. Piso, you ought to refine your Blessed Senses Technique more, you should have been able to tell where the hiding space was not only based on environmental ques, but also by sound."
"Yes master."
"Un."
Satisfied, Hithrall had tendrils of darkness rap up the corpses as he stored them.
"Master? Do you believe that boy from the Iron Dragon Store was clean." Hithrall didn't stop as they walked out of the house.
"He may, that boy does smell odd, however, he is under that old thing's protection. We will soon deal with the dwarf uncompliant with the Bureau's needs. You have a good sense for finding demons Lesha, but be warned, slaying them takes more than just sword but also a sharp tongue and a sharper mind."
"Yes master." Eric didn't know it, but he had already been marked by one of the most dangerous organizations of the empire.