The creature growled under the surface of the lake, piercing Friture and Trellia with a malevolent intent that betrayed his murderous habit. His eyes shined with a barbarous desire to crush the ones that entered his territory. No, trampling on them wasn’t enough, his mouth spilt a slimy substance that would erode the flesh of its prey. He needed to satiate his hunger.

“Get back Friture! Don’t get caught by the demon!”

Trellia knew the danger that represented a demon to mortals, and as each demon were different from each other, it was difficult to group them in categories to learn from previous fights and mistakes. One could accumulate experience in combat through years of training and practice and become a veteran warrior, however it didn’t mean anyone could become a demon hunter that easily. Of course it was only a title in mind and reputation, because hunting demons was the job of gods.

“Is it what she meant?” thought Friture while hiding himself behind a tree “But why would it appear in front of someone that could kill it?

Am I… Am I at fault?”

“Watch out!”

The demon coughed a rapid ball of water toward Trellia. However, it wasn’t fast enough to catch her unguarded.

“[Left Hand of Kindness]!”

Suddenly, a huge circle appeared in front of her, acting as a shield that blocked the projectile. It split itself in all directions, leaving a strange watery texture on everything it touched… Followed by bubbles, and the sound of oil burning on a pan. It was acid, and a very corrosive one.

“Ahhh! Acid! It’s stomach acid!”

While Friture panicked on his side, Trellia revoked the divine energy-based shield… But had to recast it immediately to protect herself from the second volley.

“Oy, oy. Can this thing shoot without delay? What a pain…”

Keeping her complains in her head, Trellia added more fuel to the barrier in order to prevent it from disappearing due to the amount of damage it will take, then gathered her power in her right hand to chant a long-ranged spell. That was when her instinct ordered her to dodge.

Following the command, she made a long side-jump, and took a look to comprehend what it was about. Something crashed itself in a tree, fracturing the bark in proof of the velocity of the strange attack. Then, it came again from the lake. Dozens of those new projectiles flew off from the water, damaging the area or even penetrating the rocks and the trees around. As they came from everywhere, she couldn’t use her barrier to block them while shielding herself from the acid at the same time. Having no other choice, she nimbly dodged everything that came her way.

When one of those things hit her barrier and got stuck, she understood where it came from, but not how it was possible.

“A fish?”

The scaly animal squirmed for a short while, his flesh torn apart and… It dissolved itself, leaving a trail of nauseous liquid where it stood with fish bones, eyes and small organs sliding to the ground.

“The bastard! It’s ruining the ecosystem! It’s ruining my work!”

She couldn’t stay on the defensive any longer if she wanted to protect the peaceful lives of the fishes now corrupted by the demon. In one swift movement, she jumped above the lake. Then, just when she stood over the demon, she chanted another spell.

“[Left Hand of Scolding]!”

The shield she held casted a blinding light, then shouted a large laser that stamped or perforated the demon. It produced a long and grave sound, but the most important part was the impact it gave to the lake. The surface elevated itself at once, then created a tsunami that engulfed everything in the surrounding.

She kind of forgot about it, but… Friture was still around, and would get submerged by a wave twice as big as him.

“Oh shit! FRITURE!”

It was too late. All she could do was wait for gravity to let her land on her two feet, while she could watch the small figure get swept by the disaster she provoked. At last, she sprinted as fast as she could to look after him.

He was there, lying unconscious on the ground. His face got some bruises due to the incident, but more seriously, on both his skin and his clothes, he got burned marks. Amidst the water which swept him, there probably was a little bit of the demon’s acid

This time, it was Trellia’s turn to panic.

“Friture! Wake up! Are you alright?! Talk to me! Friture!!”

She stood next to him, not daring to shake him nor to touch him. He wasn’t moving at all. What if he was…

“Ah… Ah…”

She heard him trying to breathe or to cough. She couldn’t tell, but she knew he was in pain.

“Don’t worry! I’m with you, so stay with me! Friture, do you hear me?!”

She took his hand, gently squeezing it between her fingers. He was cold, he was so cold. She gulped, wishing everything wasn’t too late.

“Don’t worry, I’ll take care of you!”

She carried him as carefully as she could, leaving behind the scene of a devastated lake that would not welcome life before a century or two.

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Trellia was holding a basin of water in her hands, holding still without moving. Her hand were a little bright, a sign that she was using divine energy for a small but meaningful purpose. Now that the water was warmed, she drenched a towel and used it to wipe the wounds on Friture, making sure to cleanse the impurities that was mixed with his blood.

The house didn’t offer much to help an injured person to feel at ease, the bed was poor, the drape was cheap and barely thick enough to chase away the chill of the night. The only source of heat was the chimney that was on duty to warm up the room, Trellia made sure the fire was well fed to not let the temperature go down before going back to take care of the little man.

She felt terribly remorseful for what happened to him. Sure, she could blame all she wanted the demon for its appearance and everything, but it was her who blasted the lake and provoked a large wave. It was her fault if Friture was hurt.

“Why does it always go wrong?” She asked herself, completely detached to any sort of lead that could help her understand this chronic tragedy of her. “Why do I always make mistakes? Can’t I be right for once?”

A growl emanated from Friture’s mouth. His eyelids slowly opened up, then grew largely to reveal a tired expression on his face. He was still nervous, still terrified, still traumatised by what he saw at the lake. He was slowly waking up from his nightmare, only to find out that it wasn’t a dream. That was why Trellia stood next to him, kindly applying her hand on his forehead to calm his agitation.

“It’s ok, Friture. The demon is gone, it’s over.”

He gazed at the person that tried to reassure him. There, he saw a beautiful woman, staring at him with worry, sadness, and a form of determination that glued those emotions together. A wave of confusion clouded his eyes.

“Who are you?”

Trellia smiled hopelessly when she heard him asking.

“Come on. I’m Trellia. Don’t forget such important details.”

“Oh… Right… Sorry I… Kind of forgot, on the spur of the moment…”

His mind was still busy reorganizing his memory, but it didn’t took long before he remembered what happened.

“The… The demon! The demon is-“

“Shhhh… Calm down, Friture. There is no more demon now, I took care of it. I swear”

She petted his head, trying to give him a feeling of security, one that only a mother could give to its child to stop it from crying. She looked at him with a face that proved the serenity of the place, spoke to him with a voice that untied the tangled rope around his heart. He was still greatly perturbed, but now he felt… Safe. He felt like he was at home. He felt like he was at his laboratory, sleeping in the middle of papers, documents and mathematics that he understood and was familiar with.

Even now, he was still thinking about his work, about his research, about his project. However, a single picture was enough to blow away all of his thoughts. The face of a goddess who was watching over him with such delicate attention. How did he earn such an honour? Why… Did she look so frightened?

“What happened Trellia? I’m… Not sure I remember well everything…”

How could she answer that with a serious face? How could she even explain what happened while facing him with a serious face? It was her fault after all. It was her to blame for his injuries.

“Is this… Is this the demon’s doing?”

…

“Yes. That’s right.”

It’s wrong.

“The demon got you without me noticing.”

It’s wrong!

“I tried to block it, but it just slipped past me.”

That’s wrong too!

“Seriously! I told you to hide, so why did you show up?”

Why am I blaming him now?!

Friture couldn’t help but smile helplessly.

“Sorry, I thought I was outside his field of view…”

“It’s alright. It’s alright! You’re safe and sound now, thanks to me!”

…

…

… I’m the worst, am I not?

Silence took place in the room. The air became heavy for Trellia, but Friture noticed nothing of it. He was just glad that they went through this, and emerged victorious without any serious injury. Besides, he was a mortal, it was normal for mortals to return from a fight with one or two trophies like that to show off, even if one was a scientist and not a fighter.

By the way, speaking of his scientist mindset, he remembered another thing that bothered him more than his burned skin.

“Come now, it’s time for you to sleep. You’ll need a good night after this rough day.”

“Hey, Trellia…”

Just before she was about to leave the room, Friture called for her.

“You said you learnt two things about divine energy… What was the second thing?”

The question surprised Trellia who did not expect it at all. She smiled, amused by the insatiable curiosity of someone who decided to dedicate his life to understand the intricacies of life.

“Can’t this wait for tomorrow? Don’t you feel tired?”

“I’m fine. I’m more curious to hear what you learnt than anything else.”

What he said was almost stupid. No, it was stupid, which was why she laughed a bit at this hopeless person. But well, could she not grant him this simple wish before leaving him alone?

“Alright, then listen well.”

She came back at his side and began to quietly explain the second and last knowledge her long and ancient lifespan was able to gift her.

“… The second thing I learnt about divine energy… It’s actually about the demon’s origin.”

Hearing this, Friture was stunned. The demon’s origin? Like their genealogic ancestors or their lair?

“Well. Sort of. I said divine energy was like a river, however that’s merely a metaphor to explain the first point.

For the second point, it’s easier to understand if you imagine divine energy like an immense stack of threads that are intertwined together.

It keeps moving due to some interferences, because of accidents. It’s perpetually moving in every direction because of all kind of factors.

And sometimes, those threads get stuck together. They get stuck, but they keep trying to move around, but that doesn’t work, it even makes it worse.

After some time, it finally becomes a knot… The knot is a metaphor for the demon.”

Friture listened carefully to Trellia’s lesson without battling an eye. What she just said was a discovery which could not have been made before centuries of research! To put it simply, if someone know where the problem lies, then it can try and find a solution to erase it. It would be like the difference between mowing his lawn and directly eliminating the roots of the undesired weeds.

For now, he couldn’t find any solution to resolve the demon’s random invasion. But one day, maybe…

“Luckily it’s possible to untie the knot with brute force. We just have to smash it hard enough with a big attack charged with divine energy, and the problem is solved. No more demon, and the knot is undone! Well, until the next one makes it appearance, and even if I say it’s easy, it’s not possible to know where the threads are getting stuck together…

So we just decide to take care of one place or another, and frequently brush the threads to avoid any problem… When it works, of course.

And when it does… It leaves behind a sparkle of this thing you call divine energy. It’s really just a speck, that’s why we don’t mind gifting it to you mortals so you can also fight back the demons.”

Satisfied with her speech, Trellia puffed her chest out of pride… Then remembered that it was late, and mortals required sleep more than gods did.

“So then! It’s late, you should sleep as much as you need. See you tomorrow!”

This time, she finally left the room, leaving Friture alone in his thoughts.

Divine energy is a river, and gods are the spoon that collect its water.

Divine energy is also threads sharing the same space, and knots between results in the birth of a demon.

With those two pieces of knowledge added and combined with what he already know of, Friture was certain now.

His project could be accomplished. It had to be, but he first had to satisfy two conditions.

First, he needed the help of gods. Only they could manipulate divine energy without the strenuous engineering of complex machines.

Second, he needed a lot of this divine energy. Enough to touch as many person as possible. Enough to cover as much land as possible.

And Trellia satisfied those two conditions at once.