Chapter 2: I Know Everything
Lilith sat down on the bench while Soul chose to keep standing still, not moving an inch like an opossum playing dead.
Arcane Grovel Academy was nestled within the heart of a dense forest, located on the outskirts of the bustling city of Redhaven. He planned to run there if Lilith did anything remotely dangerous since she couldn't be trusted. He knew the city like the back of his hand; giving her the slip wouldn't have been a problem for him.
'What to do, what to do,' he pondered, 'if I say one single thing that ticks her in the wrong way, I'm a goner. She is 'the' Demon Queen Lilith after all. The one that killed Hero-God Take in the second era.'
"Which era are we in?" Lilith asked.
"7th," Soul replied. "7th era, 203."
"Wow…" She smiled. "Boy, I'm old, huh?"
Soul didn't answer that obvious trap question.
"Hero-God Take, he's still dead, right?" Lilith inquired.
"Yes, he's dead."
In the 2nd era, Hero-God Take and Demon Queen Lilith battled in this very city, Redhaven. Take was able to lock Lilith's soul in an artifact that was crafted by dwarves. Then after that, he succumbed to his injuries on the battlefield and died along with the Demon Queen.
"Good riddance," Lilith said as she took the artifact and crushed it with one hand, "how did you find this thing?"
"Stole it from Take's sarcophagus."
"You? A sixteen-year-old boy?" She sounded surprised.
"I know my stuff. Wait, how did you guess my age correctly?"
"Know your stuff? Which is…?"
"I can… I can use forbidden blood magic."
Legend has it that in the first era, a powerful sorcerer named Eldrin stumbled upon blood magic during his relentless pursuit of dark powers. Intrigued by its potential, he uncovered rituals and techniques that allowed him to manipulate the very essence of life itself.
As whispers of Eldrin's deeds spread throughout the land, the Council grew fearful of the consequences of his unchecked power. In a desperate attempt to stop him, they banished Eldrin from Gum'n, sealing away all knowledge of blood magic in the hopes of preventing its misuse. And as for his wife – she was sent to the Void. A place without time, a place that's even beyond hells and heavens.
Centuries passed, and the memory of blood magic faded into myth. But the echoes of its power remained, buried deep within the annals of history.
"But how are you able to use blood magic?" Lilith asked. She had a hard time believing him.
"Ma'am – I've…"
"Drop the formalities. You can call me Lilith."
"That won't get my head split open?"
"It won't." Lilith assured, crossing her legs and smirking. "No promises, though."
"Okay, Li… Lilith," he gulped nervously. "My mothe…"
Soul heard bushes moving near the dormitory. He could sense something dangerous was lurking in the shadows, waiting for an opportunity to make its move.
"Crap… A Nethrax."
Standing tall on sinewy eight legs that end in razor-sharp claws, a Nethrax was next to the boys' dormitory, looking at them in the shadows. Its ebony skin, etched with pulsating veins, seemed to writhe and shift with each movement. Its lower body was of a spider, and the upper body of a dead, probably a 10-year-old, child.
These spirit-like creatures are known to take control of unblessed bodies and evolve them into deadly monsters.
As the spider drew closer, Lilith laughed. She's beaten Take before; this spider was merely a toy for her. Had she wanted, she'd have just killed it with one single kick.
"Let's see your power, my 'champion'!"
Ran Hyun-Ki jumped out of the second-floor window with a smile on his face and stabbed the Nethrax in one of his legs. As the creature screamed in pain, Nia, Ayame, and Professor Yuu came running.
Ran skillfully swung his sword and severed the child's arm from his body. From the wound, swarms of dead flies and bees started to leak along with some dark red blood.
"Oh, man. What is that! Egh!"
He yelped and managed to dodge the spider's clawy legs at the last possible second. When his back touched the dormitory's wall, he had no choice but to charge at the creature head-on.
"Anyone, help?" He slid under the Nethrax and managed to scratch the creature's lower body.
"We gotta go," Soul muttered, "it'll get more crowded here. No one should see you, Demon Qu… Lilith."
"Fine, fine. Whatever. Let's hide behind that tree. I wanna watch the fight."
Professor Yuu cast a fireball spell. But this time, the Nethrax was able to dodge the oncoming attack and fight back; he spitted a poisonous web at Ran Hyun-Ki. Sensing that it was dangerous, Nia quickly cast an air spell and pulled back Ran. The poisonous web melted the snow on the ground, and then the ground itself.
"Phew! Thanks, blue-haired girl!"
"It's Nia!"
"So I sensed it right… O' Void. O' Void!" Professor Yuu chanted. "With words of power, let it ignite, A blaze so fierce, a radiant light."
Ran blocked the Nethrax's attack with his sword then jumped on top of him. His longsword was about to break, Nethrax's ebony skin could degrade any human-made item at a faster rate.
Just like Soul thought, as soon as his sword made contact with the creature, it shattered into pieces.
"By ancient forces, let it be," continued Professor, "fire, heed my call, and set them free!"
Ran Hyun-Ki's body started glowing as if he was on fire. Soul could sense immense power flowing within him. It was Professor Yuu's doing, no doubt.
"Ur's beard!" Ran said as he jumped down on the ground. "I feel awesome!"
"It's a magic armor spell, Ran!" exclaimed Professor Yuu. "Nethraxes are fully immune to spells. We will support you from here."
"Okay, that's – that's cool! Hey, can you conjure me a sword, Professor?"
"I can," answered Ayame, concentrating on him with determined eyes. "Come on…"
A burning sword with blue fires appeared in the hands of Ran.
"Hey, Soul," said Lilith, "show me your power."
They were hiding behind a large tree, surrounded by tall bushes. There was no way anyone could see them.
"What?"
"Show me how your power works. Why are we even hiding here?"
"You – this Nethrax… you summoned it." Soul kept staring at her with a dull face. "Why?"
She snapped her fingers and another Nethrax appeared out of dead flies and bees behind Ran.
"Because I want so." she snapped her fingers again. Another Nethrax spawned next to the boys' dormitory from the insects. "Don't you forget who you are talking to."
"I won't use blood magic, others might see it. If you don't stop right now, these students will die."
"Then I won't help your sister. Maybe I'll go and kill her myse…"
Soul quickly took out his pocket knife and opened a cut on Lilith's leg.
After he backed away from her, he raised his hand. Lilith's blood started to leak from her small cut and formed a viscous ball in the air. She must've felt weak because once he drained half of her blood, she started to pant heavily.
"You," Soul said with a dull expression, "you can die if you are of no help to me."
"Okay, okay. Stop." Lilith coughed. "Joke. Was a joke."
"You will cure her." Soul drained more blood from her. "No more fucking questions. No more snarky remarks. No more jokes."
"You really do love her, huh?"
"She," Soul got closer to her, "she is my sanity. If something happens to her – I'll destroy this country. I'll destroy you."
"Okay. Fair enough… Now, please, can I have my blood back? If I die, who's gonna cure your little sister?"
In a flash, Lilith appeared in front of Soul, holding his face with her right hand. She had a serious expression; he could sense her eyes burning holes into his both corneas. Everything happened so fast that he didn't even see her move.
"Hey," she let go of his face, "Come on. I even said 'please'."
He had no choice.
Her blood entered through her small wound. Lilith's pale skin turned to normal, and she stopped panting. As for the Nethraxes, they were still standing, fighting Ran Hyun-Ki with all their powers. The student was bleeding from his nose, and his right shoulder had been badly wounded by the creatures.
"We have to retreat!" Professor yelled. "There's too many! Run everyone! I'll hold them with earth magic!"
"I can still fight!" Ran swung his sword, but the one behind him countered it. "Crap."
"Run! Do what I say, young man!"
Thanks to Ran Hyun-Ki, the three of the monsters all had cuts on their bodies. If Soul wanted it, he could've easily drained their blood and left their bone-dry corpses to rot. But in doing so, Professor Yuu and the others would've seen there's someone using forbidden blood magic. That was risky.
He couldn't allow them to die either; his conscience wouldn't bear it. The creatures' attack was somewhat his fault, after all. If he didn't resurrect Lilith, this wouldn't have happened.
"Hey," Soul spoke flat, "may I borrow your blood?"
"Huh?" She shrugged. "Sure, just left some for me. Or I'll really kill you this time."
Her blood leaked from her cut once again and formed a real-looking bow in his hands. When he pulled the bowstring and released it after aiming at the creatures, three invisible arrows flew and hit each of the three monsters. That alone was enough to kill them; as they had a giant hole in their bodies.
"Shit, your blood was too strong. I overdid it." the bow in his hands disappeared into thin air. "Let's go, Demon Queen."
"Killing three replica Nethraxes in one hit. I'm impressed, Soul."
"Yeah yeah. Let's go!" He held her hand and started running into the forest. "We can't let them see us. We gotta reach Redhaven."
"Fiery one, aren't you?"
Redhaven. It was just like any other city – just snowier and more crowded.
The streets of Redhaven stretched out before them, lined with frosted pine trees casting long shadows in the fading light.
Houses were made of Embelwood, a grayish wood that was slightly weaker than stone but stronger than any normal tree. In Gum'n, Embelwood wasn't hard to come by; since it grew fast and didn't require watering or any other type of work.
"Oh…" Soul was tired and sweating from all the running. "That was close."
"Wow… so this is Redhaven, huh?"
She spun around in a full circle, taking in the surroundings, then closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Her expression shifted, showing a mix of joy, pride, and a hint of melancholy.
"Different than you remember?"
"Yeah… It is. Of course it is."
They were standing in the middle of a road, drawing too much unwanted attention to themselves. They needed to go inside, find a place to stay.
"I know an inn." Soul pointed at the end of the street. "It's close. We can stay there until tomorrow."
"Okay, let's go."
They began to walk, Lilith following behind Soul.
"Are you good?" he asked, without turning his back. "You seem off."
"I'm okay. It's just… weird to see Redhaven like this."
"Hmm."
"You won't ask why?"
"I won't. You just tried to kill me, don't act like that was a normal thing to do."
"Soul… You're as dull as you look." she replied, looking directly at his dull eyes.
After a short walk, they reached Icy Hearts, the only decent inn in this district.
Soul pushed the heavy wooden doors and stepped inside.
Entering the inn, a comforting warmth greeted them, emanating from the crackling fireplace at its center. Weathered tapestries from the old days were hanging on the walls, along with some flickering, dimly lit lanterns. There were fifteen tables, and at least ten of them were occupied.
The floors were worn smooth by countless footsteps, each plank bearing the scars of time and history. This inn was standing still even before Hero-God Take and Lilith's battle. That makes this building one of the oldest pieces of history in all of Gum'n.
Creaks from the floor echoed through the room as they made their way to a table near the fireplace.
Instead of sitting across from him, Lilith chose to sit right next to Soul.
"Finally… a warm place," she sighed, rubbing her hands together. "You drink?"
"Welcome to Icy Hearts," said the waitress with a friendly smile, "what would you like to order?"
'Wait – do demons eat like normal humans?' Soul wondered.
"Hmm... I'll take a stew," Lilith ordered without hesitation.
"Oh –" Soul cleared his throat. "A glass of water will be enough for me."
"Okay, a glass of water and a stew coming right up." The waitress nodded, before she walked away.
In the corner of the room, there were four high elves, eating their breads and stews while staring at them. They didn't look friendly, though, as all of them had their swords on their person. Soul was almost certain that those bunch weren't normal guards; because In Gum'n, guards had curved, dwarven-made axes, not swords.
He leaned back and averted his gaze from them. He didn't want trouble – not while the Demon Queen was near him.
"Those low-lifes staring at us," she said while gesturing toward them with her head, "They're bad news?"
"High elves… Don't make any eye contact with them. We're under their reign."
"What? How did the empire fall?"
"It's a… long story, I'll tell you later. But for the being, know that even our king is like a puppet to them. They control certain things in this country. Gum'n is in a weird place right now."
"Huh… control certain things?"
"Mm-hmm," he nodded, "for example; they don't like humans practicing magic. By law, we still can learn and teach magic within Gum'n. But their own 'law' says otherwise."
The high elves stood up and began walking toward Soul and Lilith, their hands resting on their weapons as if ready to draw their swords at any moment. The slow, deliberate steps and their intense stares made everyone uneasy.
However, when they reached Soul and Lilith's table, one of the high elves stopped, paid some gold to the waiter, and then continued walking. It turned out they weren't looking to cause any trouble after all. Soul released a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding, and the atmosphere around them seemed to ease a bit.
After all four of them exited Icy Hearts, even the orange cat that was on an empty chair sighed in relief.
"Hey, I was meaning to ask – are there any gods other than those six?" he questioned.
"Hmm… There are other divine beings, yes. But I wouldn't call them gods. They – what's the right word… They are lesser beings. Think of the gods as kings. And lesser ones as nobles."
"Ah, right, okay."
"Why did you ask?" She asked, intrigued by his question.
"I was blessed by a lesser god. I don't know who he is."
"You can use blood magic – and only a lesser god blessed you, huh? How did that lustful sex maniac Nierman miss you?"
"Don't like her?"
"I don't like any of them." She moved closer to him. Their shoulders were touching. "I hate them, I abhor them."
"Hmm."
A wistful smile appeared on her face.
'How old is she? Sixteen? Maybe seventeen? Definitely not older than eighteen.'
"I missed this," she said while looking at the ground, "getting angry, being happy... Wow, I'm getting too soft."
He crossed his arms and leaned back.
"Ugh – you really are such a dull fart, Soul." She wearily rested her chin on the table.
"Yeah, and the rain is wet."
"Come on… tell me a joke, do something funny. Anything to alleviate the boredom."
"What am I, a jester?"
"Boo…" she leaned back. "So boring. Let me get back in that artifact."
The door swung open as if it was about to break. It was Nia, the blue-haired girl from the Academy. She was livid; her eyes were stabbing hundreds of daggers into Soul's body.
She approached them and slammed her hand down on the table. Some of the patrons turned and started to watch them with curiosity. There was not much going on in this city; so even the slightest excitement was enough to get people's attention.
"Soul," she snarled, "you and I will have a talk."
He didn't say anything.
"I know what you did when Nethraxes attacked. I know everything."
'Well… crap' he thought.
"You," she whispered into his ear, "you can use blood magic."
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone