Chapter 17: Chapter 17: The Carriers
"Kae..Kaede," Xiao tapped Kaede's shoulder to get his attention.
The kid has been staring blank for some time after mentioning Setsuwi.
Kaede gasped when he felt the director's hand on his shoulder and his reminiscing of the past ended. Kaede remembered what happened, but he couldn't remember the face of the last man talking about him being a carrier before he passed out when he was just a kid.
"Are you okay?" Xiao asked him worriedly.
"Y-yeah. I'm sorry, director. I was distracted by the past," he said, scratching his head. "Please let us proceed.
Xiao secretly studied Kaede. He notices that the kid's eyes display strong sadness. He heard the gruesome death of Setsuwi and his wife and was told that Kaede was also involved in that murder night. And that he was the only one who survived. But thanks to his Minami, the kid received extraordinary love from a woman who took his heart.
"Do you want to have a break?"
"No. Please continue," Kaede said before looking back at the book.
Although Xiao is hesitant, he continues the lesson.
"To become an Exorcist, one must be ready body and mind. Since an exorcist mostly does the fighting, they need to be skillful on the battlefield because shamans rely on them. One must have the ability to use weapons in close combat and should master them like the weapon is part of their body. Exorcists are bestowed with power by Keirais. They are given the power to defeat a Yurei of any class. The higher your class you are, the higher the grade of Yurei you can kill. But on some rare occasions, in which almost zero percent of students in Ryōshi high, few are born to be both," Xiao told him before opening a huge book in front of Kaede.
"This is Takao Smith from the Exorcist family. He was the first one to become an exorcist and shaman simultaneously. He mastered all the techniques of Shamans until he perfected them. He did a mission alone and was good at it until he was face to face with a Diablo named Beelzebul, the seventh of the unsealed Diablos. His body was never retrieved, and it was assumed that the Diablo consumed him," Xiao said before turning the page.
"The diablos," Kaede said, looking at Xiao. "What do they look like?"
Xiao skipped ten pages of the book and let Kaede meet the lesser Diablo that had been sealed by Setsuwi himself when he was still a student.
"This is Azazel; she was a lesser diablo that your father sealed. She was a woman who liked to feed on children and disguise herself as a kinder teacher. As you can see, she was almost human except when she fed. She was sealed twenty years in a cave for eternity," he explained to Kaede, who was staring at the photo.
"Director, why do they eat humans? Aren't they only feeding on souls?"
"Because they are evolving. They need to eat more to become stronger and fit to eat what they called a carrier," he said.
"Carriers? I heard it a long time ago. The one who killed my father mentioned it to me. He said that I am a carrier," Kaede told Xiao.
Xiao skipped a few pages and showed Kaede the definition of Carrier.
"This is a Carrier," Xiao said.
Kaede started with a baby inside a woman's womb, but the baby was wrapped with black plastic-like sheets instead of red.
"A baby can only become a carrier if the mother has been possessed or was possessed during her pregnancy. Instead of the blood surrounding and feeding the unborn baby, the black sheet serves as the cultivator or the nest of the developing baby and the energy that inhabits within. There are two types of carriers, one is called normal, and the other is the special one called Fruit. Both are consumable but different in the energy that they house. Normals are a group of energy made by ziels who wanted to be born again," he said.
"Born again? Aren't they doomed to roam on earth for eternity?" Kaede asked him.
"Yes, they are. But some ziels who don't want to become Yurei, who have developed intelligence, will find an empty developing human such as a dead baby, to house them. And will be born again," he said.
"When the normal carrier is born, what will happen to them?"
"They will be hunted down by dybbuk of any grade. Normal carriers will last approximately during their pre-teens age before their Carrier's body starts to break down, and that is the stage they are called "ripen" or ready to be harvested, by dybbuks."
"How about the carriers that are called Fruit? Why are they special?" Kaede asked him again.
Kaede wanted to know why he was called a fruit by that faceless person.
"Fruit carriers are carriers that are born with the energy itself. Ziels that are gathered as one, no matter how many of them are locked in a sudden place, create one, and yet ziel. This will only happen if one soul agrees to take them all and the responsibilities and lock up to avoid creating havoc on the world of the living. This kind of energy is highly intelligent. Over the time that being locked up, that ziel will become mentally unstable due to the amount of ziel that was with it. And when it sees a potential human with the ability to house it, it will possess them just like a Dybbuk."
Kaede listened to Xiao attentively.
"Fruit Carriers are accidentally created, especially if the possessed human is a woman mated with a potential Keirei carrier. With the unison, a baby will be developed along with the ball of immense energy with the help of Keirei's ability to seal, and the now unstable ziel will become officially one. This kind of Carrier will attract Diablos, the most powerful form of Yureis. There are no age limits in Fruit Carriers. They will produce an intoxicating scent when they ripen. An example of a fruit carrier was Takao," Xiao told him.
Kaede was speechless.
"Do the elders here know about it, Director?"
"Yes, they do. They were the ones who ordered the execution of the fruit carriers, especially when they saw dangers to them. But most of the time, they become special students trained to become a ryōshi. Unfortunately, none survive as diablos are too strong for them, and they end up being eaten, adding more power to the enemies," Xiao said.
"Sounds like the added fuel to the now raging fire," Kaede said.
"Yes, and with that being said, Kaede, you are a potential Fruit Carrier, and the reason you are here is to train you under Shoma to become a ryōshi rather than executing you. You need to learn how to control the energy within you. And help us eliminate diablos. I have this strong feeling that the one Minami and I faced was a diablo. Help us defeat them and seal them for eternity," Xiao said.
Kaede looked into Xiao's eyes and smiled at him.
"Okay. Director, teach me all about exorcism. I will find this Diablo, and if it is possible, I will kill it."
Xiao cheered him.
"That's it! That's the spirit!"
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