Chapter 4 : A Tale Of Naivety And Experience
Day 8
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Daedulus stood behind the house of the village elder, but he sighed.
He didnt get any sleep last night.
Fortunately, he didnt feels tired, as it seems sleep was optional.
Knocking on the door, a young boy opened it, before he welcomed the demon in.
"Grandpa told me to let you know not to let you touch the book with the red cover."
Daedulus nodded his head, as he continued into the room which had the books in it.
His eyes locked onto the book that had red on it, and he looked at the title.
Scrambled symbols were on, as the boy shrugged.
"We don't know the title, but grandfather knows more than I do. Anyway, just don't touch it."
The boy sat on the bed, before pulling his wooden spear and a cloth.
Daedulus looked at it.
And he blinked.
The symbols become scrambled once again, but in an orderly manner, he could recognize.
It was his native tongue, and he could read each one with crystal clear accuracy.
"Xeroc."
A simple book cover, and something that didnt ring any bells in his mind.
Shifting his expression away from the book, he looked at the other ones.
It was time to do some reading.
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Countless hours later.
He finally found a date of the history he was currently in.
97 MU
Mu?
Not YR?
yharim rule is when yharim took over the world practically, and being the arrogant dickhead that he was, changed the date from MU
to YR
he never knew what MU means, and since Yharim burned down all the records, it was never clear.
After pointing at MU for a while to the boy, he finally understood what the demon meant.
"Ah, you're asking what MU asks for, right? it stands for "mage unification" when the mage families in the capital banded together against the army of otherworldly invaders. They were nicknamed... the.. .uh... Old Man's Army I believe."
The boy went back to overpolishing his spear, which caused Daedulus to sigh.
He went back to reading the old sheepskin scrolls which described nothing but history.
Then he opened a book.
"Mana...." The "book" was well kept, obviously showing that this was the favourite child out of the books.
The book described mana as being an embodiment of spirit, body and nature all combined into one, and something that only mages and terraria have.
It went deeper into the territory of mages, describing how they achieve more mana.
They don't.
They condense the mana.
Turn it into a thicker source, which means less of it will be consumed in spells.
A loophole they exploit in the mana program.
Terrarians, are different, however, as they can't condense their mana till the late stage, but they can grow their main reserve of mana.
That was the case for mages, and he was a crafter, so it didn't matter.
Two classes can link into eachover, like a magic swordsman, but that was dependent on the choices of the skill tree you made.
Terrarians grow stronger by absorbing the power of the souls of the people they kill, which includes all lifeforms, but the energy of the soul depends on the power of the creature.
Kill a monster, get levels.
Doesnt that sound easy?
while it wasn't.
Rubbing his neck, he sighed.
The child's voice broke the room.
"Grandpa said that you could build me a weapon a lot more powerful than my wooden spear, is that true?"
The demon laughed, before turning around to the boy and nodding his head.
"I heard you could become an alchemist as well?"
Daedulus frowned.
Technically, he chose wood manipulation, but he could dabble into the alchemy side with his wooden parts if he wanted.
Poisoned wood rooms, wouldn't that be nice?
He nodded his head.
"Please... if you care even a little bit about the human race, please become an alchemist."
Daedulus frowned.
"The plague is back.... the alchemist guild is already stretched with dealing with the plague, but it's too bad." He gulped, showing fear in his eyes. Even though he was Naive, the boy knew his things. "First hour, a small rash, light itching and irritation. 2nd hour the rash spreads up your arm, causing an increase of symptoms, it spreads and spreads, until you die, your body morphing into a horrible and despicable being."
Daedulus raised his eyebrow.
"And....then you die." His face turned bitter. "But the plague wouldn't be that kind to release you with an excruciating pain, it comes back for more." Daedulus saw a small tear forming at his corner of the eye. "Your body becomes a plague bearer, incredibly violent and stronger if your death. Your family is reduced to dinner, your bonds broken like their decomposing corpses."
Peculiar...Peculiar.
He didn't feel sad, nor did he sympathize with the boy.
He was just a spectator watching someone's story.
The old him would be sure to lend a helping hand to the boy, but now, he just sees the boy as a defenceless figure he could use.
The old him was gone.
"Oh, I nearly forgot to give you this!"
"Eurasia language."
a book describing how to learn the language he knew already, although it was a different name.
He of course knew how to write, as he wanted to be a great scholar, so he took the book.
"He also wants me to teach you how to speak." Axel said, before finally putting the spear down, "Said it would help with interrogation or something like that."
What a joker.
But the boy was a fool.
A demon helping humans that very well may hold a spear to his throat, as Axel did?
An alternative identity was an appropriate measure, but he had no way to hide his wings yet, as he didn't have full control over them yet.
Walking out of the house, he walked over to the forest behind the woods.
Picking up some roots and collecting them, he slowly gathered them around him and started sharing them with his claws.
He could only pick up one currently, so he was going to do some accuracy training.
Terrarian wasn't just a cheat code for becoming overpowered, and the level's didnt discount hard work.
"A transmuter, huh? haven't seen those in a hot minute." Ashen walked over from one of the trees, before sitting down on a rock and watching him repeatedly throwing wood against a tree.
"My wife's brother was a merchant, and he got attacked by bandits one day." He muttered, laughing. "He loved to tell this story, a human man came over with nothing but a rock."
Daedulus focused on the man's story, before turning around.
Although it may be incoherent ramblings, they may achieve some purpose.
"A single small rock, a size of a clenched fist, against 8 or so bandits. The man weaved the rocks, making perfect holes in each of their heads, as the bandits watched one by one as their comrades fell. The man saved his life, but got the bounty of the bandits, which my brother-in-law was more than happy to turn over."
Something spun in Daedulus head, something that ticked, something that told him "Dont trust the dangerous man! he's telling a lie!"
Daedulus expression didnt change, but the man's smile disappeared.
"Anyway, make sure to you will be able to bend those rocks like that Gillian guy one day, or maybe you will be the one with the rock in the forehead."
Daedulus blinked, and the man was gone.
That was certainly a threat.
And so his attention went to the tree again.