Chapitre 357: Ghost [#4]
Clint ran towards the source of the screams, Azur floating right behind him: "So, you wanna be a hero?" Clint wanted to answer that question, but he had already arrived at his destination. Before him stood three men and a single woman, the men were clearly holding the woman down while the lady herself was desperately trying to free herself. "Stop -" Clint screamed because this scene looked really bad, almost like they were going to rape her. That momentary moment of a second was enough for her because she looked at Clint with hope in her eyes as they glowed a bright red color: "You'll fight these men to the death." Her voice echoed inside Clint's mind, and Azur, who just understood what was happening, immediately tried to stop Clint with his [Telekinesis].
But Azur clearly didn't want to hurt Clint, which resulted in his grip not being enough to hold him back and his husband ended up running at full speed towards the men while his eyes glowed completely red. "Shit." He was being mind controlled! Azur panicked. He didn't know exactly what to do, but he had ideas. The woman freed herself when Clint punched one of the men that was holding her. His fist was enough to break the concentration of the Hunter that held back the vampire lady who had been feeding upon the innocent.
You see, although Clint had the good intentions of saving someone's life (and he would've been able to, if this was a normal situation) he had the unluck of running into a situation out of the ordinary. Three hunters trying to apprehend a vampire.
They were members of the world beneath the world, a world hidden by few to protect the many. Commonly known as the Otherworld, it isn't actually in another world, but rather part of the world. It was only unseen by the many or outright completely ignored! This is because of the simple fact that humanity was made to ignore the supernatural around them, or rather, forced to. Throughout generations, the natural ability to perceive the supernatural was slowly lost to many, which changed the supernatural from "normal" to "abnormal". How? No one truly knows, they just know that although humans might notice if you outright do something not normal before their eyes, they won't notice if you do something subtle to their senses, or they might instinctively rationalize the event.
Like how no one truly believes ghosts exist, they might believe something exists that they can't see, but if given the outright reason of "ghost", that triggers something within their very subconscious mind that denies it fervently. To break such a bind, it is necessary exposure to the supernatural, training, or just being born naturally able to notice the supernatural around you. That skill is called 'Perception', which is only natural to the supernatural world around Clint! Talking about him, he has gone through what many determine to be the "baptism".
A "Baptism" is when a normal human with this mental "lock" goes through a sudden exposure, instead of being eased into it they are just outright shown what lies behind the veil of normalcy, which has three results!
It either breaks the "lock", freeing the mind from the bind.
It reinforces the "lock", making it almost spiritual in nature, being practically impossible to convince said person of the hidden supernatural world.
Or the "lock" snaps, doing heavy mental and spiritual damage to the victim, sending them into a… mania. It makes them develop some sort of mental illness or spiritual illness, which is commonly referred as "catching the Lovecraft" because H.P Lovecraft is a very famous man that had this happen to him. In fact, Clint was going to have his "lock" reinforced to the point of being impossible to break if it wasn't for the fact that Azur is spiritually connected to him, which naturally had that "lock" broken. Now all his five senses are attuned to the supernatural, although it is weak and he needs time to develop them, and develop his newly acquired sixth sense - Magic Sense.
Don't get me wrong, he isn't capable of using magic (yet), but he can feel it now when it is used. Every member of the supernatural community can feel it, albeit in varying degrees! A super powerful spell that uses a lot of energy? Everyone will feel it. A subtle manipulation of magic? Only those who truly trained their sensitivity to magic can feel that. Which brings back to the fact that humanity as a whole lost the naturality of that skill, becoming a skill you need to train instead of one you were born with.
"Oh no you won't." One of the hunters, as they are commonly known, quickly went to restrain Clint, seeing how he was being manipulated mentally to attack them. Also the fact that the bitch said it out loud too helps. "I fucking hate when this happens!" The Wardens, this was the name of the world wide organization that keeps the supernatural in check, protecting the population against raging psychopaths, mad wizards, and the occasional (not really occasional, more like constant) misbehaving supernatural. "Keep him in check, we gotta get that bitch." Clint tried to break free from the clutches of man, but Azur was having none of that! He rushed and pushed his way into Clint's body, breaking away the mental manipulation while using his skill [Possession]. The red glow on Clint's eyes faded as a pale silvery color took over it, making the Warden let go of Clint while swearing: "Shit, we gotta a Spirit Possession now?"
"I apologize." Clint's voice had now completely changed, for it was not Clint speaking anymore, but rather Azur. "He is… a good but foolish man, don't worry, we'll leave you now and not cause any trouble to you, Wardens." Being polite with the cops of the supernatural world was necessary, seeing as although Azur hated cops of all nature (he has a very complicated relationship with the law) he did have a little bit of respect for the organization itself. He didn't know much about them, only that they kept the world safe, and that the Sorcerers worked alongside them to keep outside and inside forces from destroying the earth or exposing the supernatural.
It has been theorized that if the supernatural were to be exposed to the world, many people would have their "locks" snapped, making them all catch the "cosmic madness of Lovecraft". Which also attributes to the fact that the man had both his "lock" snapped by the thing he saw, an Outer Being, which naturally makes people go temporarily mad seeing them… The problem was that it became permanent on him, due to his "lock" snapping.
"Shit, my bad man, didn't know you were a Spiritual." Spirituals… To explain what they are, I first need to explain how magic is controlled (to an extent) in this world. First of all, there are many ways to learn magic, but the way Wardens are taught magic is by their signature [Symbol] magic, which uses symbols and runes to cast protective spells in places, clothing, and much more. There are offensive spells too, but those are normally attached to weapons, such as the one one of the Wardens was using to capture the running vampire murderous lady! This group of Wardens were the "elite" group known as Hunters (coincidence that Wardens are also commonly called hunters? No, they just liked the name) and they are the bloodhounds of the Warden Organization, capturing and bringing to justice various criminals of the supernatural world.
Back to the magic thing!
Besides the standard [Symbol] magic of the Wardens, there is the [Eldritch] magic of Kamar-Taj for the Sorcerers, the [Witchcraft] magic for the members of the Council of Witches (one of the branches of the Wardens, specializing in taking care of magical threats alongside the Sorcerers), and a few others such as the [Circles] of magic from the Druids (magic casters that draw their magic from nature), the [Constellations] of the Zodiacs (An independent group of protectors), and the [Cultivators] of the Chinese government. These organizations have all come together to categorize magic with a system of:
Academic Magic: Magic you study and work hard to learn. Although varying in how hard it is to learn and master, it is commonly regarded as magic that can be learned by either anyone who trains hard enough, or the majority of people. In this category falls the magics:
[Witchcraft], [Eldritch], [Symbols], [Circles], and others.
Borrowed Magic: Magic you borrow from a place or entity. This type of magic comes from either deals or simply spells from the system of magic you're learning! Falls under this category the magics:
[Eldritch], [Order], [Chaos], [Circles], [Warlock Studies], and others.
Born Magic: Magic you are born with, or magic you unlock later in life. This type of magic is very powerful in terms that the user can grow stronger by simply getting older. They may also be able to share this magic with their bloodline too. The majority of the ones in this category are families of magic users or even a whole species of supernatural beings. This is the most common magic in this world.
Falls under this category the magics (and even species):
[Spark], [Divine Magic], [Shifters (Werewolves, Werelions, Werecreatures in general)], [Fey], and others.
And at last but not least, the Special Magic: Magic that is special in some way! Maybe it falls under all categories, more than one, or in none. It is generally known that those with this type of magic are either very powerful, or very lucky. It is also known that this type of magic changes the user in a fundamental way. Falls under this category:
[Spirituals], [Logons], [Wizards], and others.
So, what is a Spiritual?
Well, a Spiritual is those who manage to make a contract with a powerful spirit. Although ghosts and spirits are known to be common across the globe, powerful spirits are more unique, seeing as to be considered a powerful spirit you need to have a high degree of consciousness. Let me briefly explain: The majority of spirits (elemental or otherwise) aren't very conscious, they follow their instincts more than their mind, which makes them dangerous creatures. The difference between a powerful spirit and a regular spirit is that a powerful spirit has a consciousness, which makes them 10000 times more dangerous. It is known that a spirit can use magic, sometimes multiple magics, now imagine a spirit with the intellect of a human or even above it, using magic? That is terrifying!
Spirituals are humans (or other races) who have managed to make a contract that binds their souls together, making it so the mortal can have access to the spirit's power, knowledge, wisdom, and support. They make such contracts either by sheer luck or by sheer power, both things that are deeply respected in the supernatural world. Power because, well, power! Luck? Because those with good luck are believed to have a destiny. Not everyone has one, but those who do? They are going to become important people in the future.
"Not so fast." The man who hasn't said anything till now spoke: "You are coming with us. I don't recognize your face, so you haven't registered." It is required that every time someone has become aware of the supernatural, that they are to be registered with or without their knowledge. The Archive (a branch of the Warden World Wide) keeps a registry of those who are in the "know" and those who are part of the supernatural world, just to be safe!
"Hum… okay?" Clint, who received control back from Azur, spoke. He was watching it too, how Azur stopped him, and decided to get more knowledge about this new world he found himself in. "Well, this is going to be fun!" Azur grinned upside-down as he floated before Clint's eyes, making him sigh: "Yeah… I bet." He did get a weird side eye from the guy closest to him, before the guy seemed to remember: He is a Spiritual, so he must be talking to his spirit.
Clint's eyes widened slightly when they felt itchy, almost like a door that was previously closed inside his mind was kicked open, and he could now SEE.
Everywhere he looked - The sky, the ground, the darkness of the metro around them - there was life. Translucent beings that floated everywhere. "What…" Azur just said a soft "oh" before he spread out his arms: "Welcome, to Jurassic- Nope, sorry, I meant to say: Welcome, you can now see!"
Ah, seeing.
He wished he was blind.
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone