章節 37: C37: A Snake's Whisper
Days passed by since my outburst of Ord.
A contract was essentially like asking to borrow money from a loan shark to place a risky gamble. Since I was young and had a lot of lifespan, my 'loan shark' was rich.
I bet against myself. I would be able to turn a fish into a dragon. It's an impossible task by most metrics, so the 'loan' was big. Unlike Bets who used his lifespan to create a special ability with many effects, I only asked for something simple, a shit ton of Ord. In return, my life after two years was as collateral.
"From now on. I too will become one of those monstrous exorcists of this era!" I talked to my fish as I ate lunch in my room.
It was delicious food. Where did they even get the crab meat? Do crabs live on rivers? The sea is far away, and in this world with no commercial quick transportation…
You know what. I'm overthinking this.
Maybe the boats carry crabs up the river? Or in this world rivers have crabs? I don't know enough about crabs in my last life either. Do crabs live in rivers too?
I tapped on the fish bowl. "What about you little guy? Do you like crabs?"
The fish didn't respond. Even if it had enough of my Ord to evolve, this isn't a Pokemon where it can evolve immediately. It will take weeks, maybe even months for complete evolution to a higher class.
Though I'm not sure if my little fish friend was even a full lingering spirit yet. Sensing Ord was more down the alley of a Blaster. Beast Masters were better with Ord Control and erasing their presences like the wild beasts they tame.
I tried meditating when I noticed my fish friend staring at me. Was it sentient?
There was something creepy about a dead-eyed fish looking at me. But that didn't worry me too much. He was my comrade.
We were probably going to have a lot of shounen moments together. Either that or die.
I opened a book on talismans and certain ritual rites. The book about hypnosis was left by the side. It was a scam, and no wonder Exorcists no longer bothered with it.
Hypnosis could hypnotize. But it couldn't make people do something they hated or didn't want to do. Anyone who had Ord was immune to it unless they were mentally tired. Even to increase the success the user needed to confuse or scare the target. Also, there were circumstances where the target could have strong willpower.
Even after all that, there was a chance of failure. No wonder people would instead create a special ability.
Damn. It was either this or dealing with some political bullshit.
***
There was a monster hidden in the shadows of his mind. Agon was sure of that. It was like the devil whispering sweet temptations into his ear. The voice was like the whisper of a snake. Enchanting. Sometimes he swore that there was a shadow in the corner talking to him.
Agon clenched his teeth and sat through another general class taught by Professor Chain. The teacher might be weary in body, but his drive to teach and torture students were stronger than ever.
"Ignoring me, I see. But we both know you're too afraid to tell others that you hear my voice. They will kill you!" Something whispered in his ear.
Agon didn't answer the voice. He had barely gotten any sleep this week. Ever since the training camp, he had nightmares of death and destruction. Even in the dreams, the devil with a snake's voice kept whispering at him.
He had told the headmaster that he didn't remember anything when the dark energy had engulfed him. That was a lie. He did remember.
He did everything consciously, that feeling of elevation and power!
"You okay?" Suddenly someone put a hand on his shoulder.
Agon turned and saw it was Kon. He couldn't see his classmates' eyes as the glasses reflected the sunlight. The only thing that could be seen was his friendly smile and the fishbowl in his hands. He had been taking that everywhere with him. "You're sweating all over. Do you need help going to the doctor's office? Doctor Aki is older than time itself. But he's a good doctor."
He never thought about it before. But Agon couldn't help but recognize how weird Kon was. His memories were a little blurry, but he still remembered when he was in that raging state—fighting against Kon and Sei. Among those two, only Kon was calm. "Classes are still-"
"Nope, classes ended about five minutes ago," he points at the almost empty classroom. "Must have been lost in your head there."
"O -Oh, yeah…"
"Let me help you to the doctor's office. Just to be safe. I insist." Kon offered his hand, and pulled Agon up with ease.
He was stronger than one would assume from his body type. 'His hands are calloused. He must train hard.'
Agon, not wanting to make Kon notice anything strange, or grow suspicious, decided to follow him.
As they walked down a hallway. Agon looked around and didn't notice anything familiar about it. "Where are we going?"
"The doctor's office."
"This isn't the way to the doctor's office." Though Agon hadn't been long enough in here to know every hallway. He was pretty sure this wasn't the way to the doctor's office. It was too empty.
Kon suddenly stopped and turned toward Agon. The friendly smile on Kon's face hadn't wavered. "It's a shortcut."
"What's going on?" Agon stopped. He could sense that something wasn't right.
This time Kon didn't turn. Instead, the fish turned toward him, and Kon held the bowl with one arm. "Tell me, Agon. Are you a butt or boobs guy?"
"What? What's with the out-of-nowhere question?" Agon narrowed his eyes.
"Just answer it."
Agon didn't answer. He wasn't a dog you could just ask something of, and he would do it! There was something wrong here. He was nervous about fighting against Kon. But if it came to it, he wouldn't hesitate.
At least, that's what Agon told himself as his hands shook. With the whispers recently he had been paranoid, and it felt like he would snap at any minute. He hadn't even gotten a good night's sleep in days.
"You know, I was a boob guy for the longest of times. Then I saw this girl. Who would have thought that at my age I would change tastes? The butt wasn't necessarily big, but-"
"Just tell me what this is leading to?!" Agon exerted his Ord, forming a protective misty aura around him.
"Wow, that's some monstrous Ord. For someone with your talent, that's heavy as hell," he cracked his neck and did some stretches. "A Warrior will get multiplied physical abilities. Do you know what a Master is best at?"
He cracked his knuckles and continued talking. "Well, for one we have Ord control, and we can erase our presence by suppressing our inner energy to the extreme. Makes for some good assassins, though no one uses techniques like that anymore. Some can even control their bodily functions. Do you ever wonder how we tame a beast? It's been over a week since the training camp incident. Let me show you."
Kon tightened the grip around the fish jar. Then he walked toward him.
Agon took a fighting stance. As soon as Kon got within arm's length, he didn't hesitate to punch him. The latter crouched and dodged the attack.
"That was too telegraphed," after saying that Kon touched Agon's forehead with two fingers.
In an instant, everything went dark.
The next time Agon awoke, he was standing on a dark watery surface. But he strangely didn't sink. He immediately knew where he was. It was inside the mind where the Demon who spoke to him was sealed.
"Wow, this is how it feels to be inside someone else's mind. It feels weird. Also why the hell is your mind so depressing? Have some flowers around or something."
Kon's voice came from behind him. Turning around, Agon saw a blurry, tall, and lanky form. Its body shape wasn't like Kon at all.
The strange figure wasn't looking at him.
"So that's the famous snake monster. I know what we classify as Ultimate Demons are usually mythical creatures or the Gods of some religions. But damn… it looks scary."
Ultimate Demons were any creatures classified that humanity couldn't handle. Even Agon knew that. "You can see it?"
"Of course I can. If you have a clear mind, you will see this demon's soul too."
Agon followed his instructions and tried to concentrate. The darkness around his mind immediately cleared up, and a blue sky showed above. Lighting everything.
There was only the water and the sky. But floating in his consciousness was a large moon. A monster with eight heads and eight tails, a body large enough to span eight valleys, and a surface of such size that moss and cedar trees grew upon it.
Each of them was pierced by a wooden stake through tails and heads, and a large stake ran through its body. Pinning the ginormous beast on the moon.
"Yamata No Orochi, the monster of monsters, the God of Serpents. Legends say that he used to eat the daughters of Gods." Kon stated nonchalantly.
Boom!... An aura of absolute doom reigned down on them. Agon's mind felt like it was about to shatter.
"This thing sealed? His body is destroyed, and he is still this strong?" Kon whistled. But even though he acted brave, his whole body was shaking under the pressure. It was as if he was going to shatter.
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