Chapter 3: Chapter 2. To be human

Chapter 2: To be human

In the royal castle in the neutral Roman Kingdom, a "Council of Kings" was put in motion.

The name was not so apt anymore since he certainly wasn't a king. He wasn't even of noble birth, but it was tradition, and so it stuck.

"Babel fell a week ago," a wizened old man said curtly. It had been five minutes since the meeting began, and the geezer opened up with the most shameful topic possible.

The old coot didn't seem bothered by the heavy atmosphere, sitting regally on his chair, his wild mane of grey hair sat like a crown on his head, and a long grey beard adorned his face. His appearance was striking, and was the first thing people of the human lands pictured when magic users were mentioned.

Indeed, he had lived long enough, and had been to so many parts of the world that the populace couldn't help but remember and idolise him. He himself grew up with his grandfather barding the ancient wizard's exploits. Seeing him up close caused a sudden pride for humanity to swell in his chest.

It reminded him that he, too, could reach the top if he wanted to.

"That's the second one in less than ten years," a similarly old woman replied. Her blue shaded skin seemed to ripple with her voice. Her eyes were deep, blue, and unnerving; you never knew what thoughts she could be having. He never got along too well with her.

Among those brave enough to risk going through an Awakening and fully merge with their soul, there were a rare few that were so out of the norm that their power manifested physically. He glanced over the room, almost all of them here were part of that bunch.

"We became divided," a muscular man said with a grimace as he gently tapped on the table. His skin had the colour and shine of polished steel. It didn't have the texture nor any other attributes of the metal, however. Just its strength and sturdiness.

A powerful merger with strong abilities and no apparent weaknesses.

"When Eden went up in flames nine years ago, we should have stood strong together. Instead-" the wizard said mournfully.

[We panicked, blamed each other, and focused on only protecting our own pillars,] a living, burning sun transmitted.

He was the oldest among them all. And the most powerful. His extreme mutation was the result of having had his Awakening in the middle of the thing that caused the Eternal Wound. An explosion that made land the size of a big country into a place where Chaos and death ruled.

Needless to say, an event impossible to imitate. Though, that didn't stop some from trying.

The ball of white fire was encased in a transparent box, allowing only a pleasant heat to escape and warm the surroundings.

"Medicine and alchemy are irreversibly stunted," a woman with sharp spikes of ice for hair lamented. Her hair, which should have been a rigid and dry thing, danced and flowed like she was perpetually facing the wind.

A moment of silent agreement followed.

"Enough of this," a man, the most youthful of them all in voice, announced. He was a drifting cloud that looked vaguely humanoid.

This was the result of one of those attempts at recreating The Explosion. Compared to others, he was quite a success. It was this creature that was chosen to sit at the head of the table. "This situation is untenable. We need a plan, or a miracle."

"We already have both." The one at the other end of the table stood. He was the day's mediator, and the day's host. He was the king of the Roman Kingdom. "Champions should start to appear at this time. This is one of humanity's greatest hours, I tell you."

Those words caused a wave of emotions to spill into the room.

The last person in the room remained silent as he observed the effects the Caesar's words had on everyone. He couldn't believe how naïve(?) they were that the mere mention of Champions would confuse them like this.

Maybe it was indoctrination. He was born a commoner, and only sat here with them because his Merging gave him a strong ability. As such, he wasn't taught by tutors or even been to a country funded school; he grew up normally in a normal family.

Was that why their reactions were so different from his?

Champions tended to come from well-off families. He didn't know why, nobody did, but it was a fact. No doubt, these people were hoping that the Chosen Ones would come from their families, or at least from their faction.

Was he the only one thinking straight in here? Was what he asked himself, looking around.

Around a great and imposing table sat eight figures, their faces grim in the bright room. As the table was not round, a clear hierarchy had to be established; he was far down that ladder, but he was still in. And as a representative himself, he knew how desperate the situation was.

All of them in that room, regardless if they represented humanity's last greatest countries, kingdoms, and empires, were well aware that they were supposed to be fodder. To only be figureheads for their people.

But even if they had forged and hardened their hearts about their place in the greater picture, these rulers still had their pride. That was because they still had hope. And greed. And what represented those two things better than true, real world Heroes?

The world gave them monsters. Humanity had Champions.

That was so ingrained in them all that even jaded old people like them dared to dream. Even he wasn't totally unaffected, so he could imagine how a common man would react to those words. After all, what kid didn't want to be a Champion at one point?

"Seer type mergers are predicting very good odds of multiple Champions for this era," the Caesar continued, further spreading an infection of hope. "Our gods haven't abandoned us yet."

That sparked another bout of idiotic murmuring. The silent man guarded himself from gritting his teeth.

Since he was a child, the man had always wondered why the people around him were so different. Why the kid living in the next house over couldn't run like he could. Why the teammates he found over the years couldn't keep up while he thrived.

He thought these people were like him, but couldn't they see how dangerous it was to count only on others to survive? Why were they being so happy when they had to be saved by the gods once again? What if that support disappeared one day?

Humanity as a whole may be fodder, but there were always exceptions. They weren't totally helpless.

There were even tales of normal people rivaling Champions in power, but most only ignored them. Someone had to change things, to prove to everyone that with enough determination and hard work, they too could touch the peaks the Chosen Ones could reach.

He would have to show them, he would show them how high humans could rise. Starting with reclaiming Babel.

The man turned back to the meeting, already planning how best to cut through the the Eternal Wound without losing too many resources to Chaos corruption.

__&__

It was a week after the boar incident, and Aria was preparing to visit the human lands.

Rhea squeezed her fur robes closer, and finished putting away the last of their dried meat in a sack. She looked at her mother, and waited for some surge of emotions that would never come. The familiar disgust and apathy towards humans somehow never manifested itself in all these years together.

Instead, all Rhea felt was a bubbly heat that only warmed, and didn't burn. She knew it was unnatural. That it was caused by her failed body-snatching nine years ago, but it wasn't like she cared about that anymore. She had left her omnicidal ways behind when she decided to wear this meatsuit of hers.

Plus, she was sure all the species living on Earth right now would go extinct sooner or later anyway, she just wouldn't be there to see it.

"You done?" Aria asked, back facing her. The woman closed the treehouse's door and shouldered her own fur sack. Vines covered the door, sealing their home shut.

"Yep, all done. And good going Ms. Greenvine."

Of course, Rhea would also come along to the human lands. The Deadlands were already dangerous enough for the both of them, leaving one of them behind while the other went on alone would be the stupidest thing they could do. And since they couldn't stay anyway, the both of them had to leave.

"We only need a single water seed," Aria said slowly, as if she hadn't already explained it for a hundred times. She approached Rhea with a frown on her face. "We could only scrounge a few week's worth of water before the draught truly set in. We should last three to four days with what we can bring along. It'll be tight."

Rhea nodded. Their situation was nothing to laugh at. For a week now—seven days straight—the spring where they got all their drinking water from had started to dry out. They quickly sensed the danger and gathered as much from it as they could, but they didn't get much stored away before the spring was completely used up.

The problem became obvious as soon as the well was free of water and they could see the bottom: the blue seed supporting the spring was cracked. It was now useless.

Aria had wondered why the spring seed had broken then of all times when it had worked fine for years now, but thinking about things they would never get an answer to was useless. All they could agree on was that it was old, and just randomly cracked at that time.

Well, that's what anyone in their situation—without outside information—would think. Rhea was not anyone.

She had examined the seed, and it absolutely shouldn't have cracked yet. Not before a hundred years. It hadn't been damaged from the outside. It still leaked some energy, meaning it should have been able to fend off the corruption and mend itself back together.

That it didn't do so painted a very ugly picture. Rhea dearly hoped that what was truly happening wasn't as horrific as what she suspected. Well, horrific for humanity, that is. The pillars disappearing could only mean good things for her.

"Let's go, then." Aria started walking off. Rhea followed a step behind as they steadily accelerated until the scenery blurred past them. They were counting on Aria's pills to keep the both of them on their feet, so they didn't stop to hunt or even sleep on the way. Only four days of water to ration until they reached the edge of the Deadlands.

The first day was almost like a vacation; they were still feeling full from the boar, and they made sure to gorge themselves on water before the trip.

That feeling didn't last.

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Rhea swallowed another recovery pill, and jumped across a hidden hole disguised with a patch of red grass. They began to see them a day ago. It had been four days since they left on this journey, and it seemed they were close to the human lands if the trapping predators in this region could find grass. Grass that wasn't completely blackened, at least.

"The air here feels lighter," Aria commented, and slowed to a stop. She reached down to touch the ground. It had gradually brightened and the surroundings didn't look so much dead anymore. "We've arrived," she said, sighing heavily. And Rhea understood her relief.

Four days of water, they had never thought that that much would've been enough. With the huge amount of energy their enhancements required, coupled with the constant weight of the corruption, it was a miracle that they came this far.

The last day was particularly stressing, as their supply was already near empty, but hope appeared again not five hours after their water ran out.

Why, it almost seemed like Fate or something was into play. Rhea chuckled. Well, it surely would have intervened—that was, if that Being had still existed in this dimension. After all, Rhea would've been a fool if murdering that Thing wasn't the first step of her masterplan.

"Wait here, mom," Rhea said simply. She shrugged off her fur sack and clothes, leaving only her habitual chest wrappings and loincloth. "I'm gonna scout ahead a bit," she continued.

This was their hunting ritual. Aria pursed her lips, but nodded gravely; she knew Rhea could feel Heat sources better than she could. She had a detection range so wide that it outclassed sight even in an open field. It was this way that they caught the boar so early a while ago. "Alright, be prepared."

She went ahead with silent steps, and tried to smother the trickle of Heat that continuously flowed out of her. She wasn't particularly successful with that, she hoped sensing energy was not a skill that was too common.

When she could no longer see her starting point, she began to shape her perception from a sphere into a cone in front of her. This allowed her to feel further in one direction while ignoring all others.

It wasn't long before she found something. Many Heat sources gathered in one place.

She was hundreds of meters away, and out of sight, but she still backtracked and stood behind a not-so-gnarled tree. The Heat sources were moving strangely, frantic. She thought for a second that they noticed her before she calmed herself and focused more on their movements.

It was a fight.

From what she could see, ten sources seemed to be attacking a bigger group of fifteen, and losing miserably. It wasn't a matter of quantity, the fifteen sources were just better in every big way. The smaller group of ten were whittled down until only six of them remained. It was already over, she thought, until a wave of pressure reached even her.

Suddenly, around a half of the twenty or so sources disappeared in one fell swoop. Rhea blinked, her heart suddenly hammered with discomfort.

Ten sources just died. And while she couldn't care less about parasitic parasites, that people so strong died so fast without warning surprised even her. There was no energy usage that she could see; one moment they were alive, the next, they were dead. What did this mean?

She could feel the fight intensifying. In her Heat sight—her "Side Sight" really—she saw the sources surging with power and suddenly moving around much more rapidly, she saw energetic blasts flying everywhere, and more strange stuff. For a long while, she could no longer track which group was winning, they were too fast.

She was bewildered. What in Earth's name was happening?

However, it seemed their power surge was temporary, since they were all starting to move sluggishly now.

"Where did all that energy come from," she wondered. And how could they maintain it for so long? Her body started to consume itself if she kept her enhancement for five minutes, but they could fling Heat bolts around? "Did they find a better way to get energy from their food? The environment?"

No, that couldn't be it. Her current body was the same species as those people. Differences were a given, but not this pronounced. They were humans, right?

She forced more Heat into her eyes, and managed to recognise one of the sources. It was one belonging to the bigger group, it had just finished off an opponent. Its Heat signature was so weak it was only a few degrees away from the body it just killed.

They were all over their limits. Rhea looked on the ground, and gathered some stones. She took care in only picking up the sturdier looking ones, since those guys were tough.

Something unexpectedly burst in her chest, tickling and warming her insides. Laughter threatened to jump out of her, and her lips twisted into a smile. She sighed.

She almost missed the casual indifference and feeling of superiority when she thought of humans. She felt relieved, she hadn't changed that much after all.

Oh, how wonderful. True monstrous desire welled up inside her again, and greed overtook her eyes. She observed the sources. How could this be? Should she thank someone for this opportunity?

While she knew very well that a benevolent overseeing god didn't exist, she wasn't above pettiness and hypocrisy. And so, she prayed her thanks: how fortunate! Rhea went about the ground like an excited child eager to receive a gift. The laughter she had restrained so far was let free.

"Let's teach them the wonders of the Deadlands."

By the time she finished her preparations, the fight had largely ended. She unfastened her chest wrappings and put her rocks inside. Then she leisurely walked towards the sources—only four now, which sounded like much, but unlike before, they looked weak.

In her mind, countless courses of action were playing out in parallel, but her choice was already made. The decision was made solely on how cost-effective it was, Rhea would argue. She was also aware she could leave well enough alone and those four would go on without any further problems.

Really, how callous would someone have to be to burst these brave warriors' victory bubbles? But this was life.

Morality? She left that to the rich. Justice? She was a hypocrite, but not to the bone. Honour? She was not the devil and didn't have anything to prove, she wasn't bound by any contract or social rules.

From a pig's perspective, humans should look like immoral murderers, but did humans care? Why, then, shouldn't she follow universal laws and harvest whatever she wanted from those weaker than her? It was only natural.

She jumped on a visually-more-healthy tree's branch, and grabbed a rock from her stock. She aimed, put Heat into her arm and swung. The palm sized stone flew true, immediately finding itself into one of the sources' head. Her Side Sight confirmed that the one she hit died properly.

She grabbed another stone while noting how the three remaining sources scrambled to up their defences.

"Ah~" She breathed out a pleasured whimper. Her words, that she spoke like she had rehearsed them, were tinged with strange, fanatical pride. "Witness the wonders of the earth and rejoice. For it will be the unassuming elegance of this stone that will return you to dust!"

Their energy spiked again, and this close, she saw that the sources were indeed humans. And that the thing they used was not Heat at all.

They stood back to back, alert, and Rhea sighed. She still threw her stone, faster and stronger than before. Predictably, they managed to notice it, but only the ones vaguely facing her moved away in time. Two remaining. She jumped down from the tree, and walked on again.

The two were both looking her way now, not caring—or too tired to care—if there were more enemies hiding behind them. Rhea allowed them to see her as she walked.

She saw the one on the right immediately moulding energy into his eyes, and threw two stones into his face. He evaded, of course, but whatever he tried to do was interrupted.

The other ran forward, his gauntlets shining dully. But it was slow. His body, riddled with injuries as it was, didn't seem to want to move.

She mentally complimented him on his resilience, and it was also kind of him to facilitate her work. He launched a pathetic punch that was more stubbornness than anything, only for Rhea to easily enter his guard and kill him.

Out of appreciation, she crushed his heart with a focused strike so that he wouldn't feel any pain.

The last man was only then beginning to distance himself, the fight with the stubborn one lasted a few seconds. He waved his hand at her while singing something, and a circle of white sparks erupted at his feet.

Rhea paused, carefully analysing the situation with her Side Sight, then approached nonchalantly, not caring even when the sparks rose up to fully cover the man.

"(Song~))"

The man's hand movements became more intricate, causing the sparks to get brighter and brighter. The man's singing voice got louder and louder as well, but Rhea looked on as though the man hadn't done anything.

"Ah, that looks dangerous," Rhea said in a curious tone, watching the man's face twitch, then she sat down in front of him to wait. The man was sweating and trembling, but his voice and his song were unaffected. She ignored him while re-wrapping her chest-bindings; in the end, she still had two stones left. "I see you're experienced. Your voice didn't waver once this entire time."

He continued his song, his eyes never leaving her form. She finally looked up at him, saying, "That's a neat trick. If I didn't know that you have practically no energy left right now, I'd be concerned."

That was it. In her Side Sight, his energy levels were obviously near nil. He was using the scraps that managed to regenerate to produce this illusion; in truth, there was nothing stopping her from ending him at this point.

"How do you, meatbags, do this?" Rhea asked, looking the man in the eyes. "We get Heat from the things we eat. To use it, we have to force our bodies to extract more energy from our food. But you're different. You can somehow directly use your Soulheat."

The man's glare intensified, the curse in his furious gaze was scathing. To so blatantly insult his jailer, and withholding the secret to creating energy from nothing, he really was courting death.

If the circumstances were different, the stakes higher…

However! This much determination to live. This much stupidity. It was so terribly human that she unconsciously sat down to watch it, burning with curiosity to see how it would end. Of course, her eyes had spoiled her fun from the beginning—he was already dead—but still. 

Time passed, and the man fell to the ground, his life force gone. He had glared at her until the very end, right until the light went out of him.

Ah! Humans, it truly would be a shame if all of them disappeared.

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