From what we know, magic was first given to the beasts. The beasts that gained magic, those we now know today as Fants, gained the ability to utilise magic permanently were these beasts and would, forevermore, be born with the ability to utilise magic.
Excerpt: A History of Magic – Galen Cletus
Ashe leant back against the wall, his pillow tucked behind the small of his back, and rested his head on the rough wood behind him. Ashe could tell that he was wearing some new clothing, both from the look of his t-shirt and the lack of grime that he could feel on the clothes, and that he’d been cleaned. Erin leant against the wall again, her arms folded, and Sammath sat on the floor, leaning against the wall like Ashe was doing.
Ashe closed his eyes as he thought about the best way to phrase what he wanted to say. Eventually, Erin butted in, “We know you’re possessed, Ashe. We may not have seen it in person before but both of us know the signs.”
Ashe sighed, “If you know then why’d you let me sit here for so long? Shouldn’t you be trying to kill me, or something? Everyone else that found out has tried.”
Cab’s laugh echoed in Ashe’s head, ‘And failed, boy. You forgot to mention that. Oh, how delicious are the lives of those who realise they’ve encountered a demon. Really adds a great, spicy kick to their life.’
“There’s no point in trying,” Sammath said, “People far stronger than us have probably tried and failed-”
‘Oh, how right he is.’ Cab interjected.
“-so, there’s no point in just getting ourselves killed. Plus, well, you don’t exactly seem very… murderously inclined, shall we say.”
Ashe sighed, looking down at his sheets, “You have that right. All of it. I know that people up to the strength of a Duke have tried to kill me, though I’ve never actually been conscious during the fights. All I know is that, when I wake up, I have blood on hands and a satisfied demon complimenting the taste of his latest meal.”
“So, you can actually talk to it?” Erin entered the conversation.
Ashe’s eyes flicked to her feet, but he didn’t look up, “Yeah.”
‘Him, boy. Tell her I’m a him.’ Cab then proceeded to ramble on about the intricacies of self-perception in celestial magic and the dangers of losing your well-defined perception of yourself, a lecture that Ashe had heard many times before and one he tuned out. Cab’s focus, this time, was gender and sex, which was enough of a struggle for many demons – with the extremely varied possibilities of demonic gender and sex – that they didn’t need others defining themselves as something else. That was the gist of the lecture, at least, though Ashe didn’t really understand much beyond that. He didn’t know enough about celestials, especially the nature of their magic to understand anything else.
“He says he’s male and would like you to refer to him that way.”
“My apologies,” Erin bowed her head slightly towards Ashe, though he knew it was directed at Cab, “I know that perception can be a powerful thing, especially to demons and angels. I will admit that I’m ignorant as to the reason, though.”
Cab’s lecture stopped, ‘Hmmm. Tell her she’s forgiven just this once, boy. She’s interesting, though. I’ve never had a human actually apologise to me before.’
“He says he forgives you this time but warns you not to make the mistake again.”
“Thank you.” Ashe didn’t know if Erin was thanking him or Cab, so he didn’t respond.
Sammath butted in, then, “So you said that you don’t remember any of the fights. How does that work?”
“Cab,” Before Erin or Sammath could ask who that was, Ashe interrupted himself, “That’s what I call him, at least, takes over my body, about once every three or four weeks and has to consume the lives of about three or four people to sustain his power – an average of one every week – before going back to wherever he goes when I’m in control.”
“Speaking of control, how do you manage to remain in control? Erin told me about one case, the Hellsong Archmage, where someone was able to remain in control of their faculties because the demon that tried to possess them was too weak to control them. Erin also said that… Cab was likely far stronger and probably has the same strength as a King or Queen. If that’s the case, how did you, someone who was at the Dawn Stage until only a few days ago, manage to remain in control.”
“I could tell you, but… I think it’s better to start at the beginning and then answer any questions you still have at the end.”
“Good idea, it’ll be quicker that way.” Erin added and Ashe took that as permission to go ahead.
“Well, to begin with, I was first possessed when I was less than a year old. I don’t know exactly how old I was and I don’t know the day I was born, mainly because anyone who would know is now dead. Keep in mind that much of what I’m about to tell you, at least the first few years, are all recounts of Cab’s as I wasn’t old enough to remember it.
“My parents weren’t poor, but they weren’t particularly wealthy either. They were slightly above-average enchanters, or at least that’s what Cab thinks. Somehow, they managed to get their hands on a ritual to summon a demon. Wanting more power, they conducted the ritual with the idea that they would contract themselves to the demon. Somewhere along the way, however, they made a mistake. Not even Cab knows exactly whether the ritual went wrong, they messed up a Rune, or they intentionally altered the ritual to try and summon a more powerful demon, but they ended up summoning Cab, a Demon King. One more thing went wrong that day when I, as a baby, managed to crawl out of my crib and into the ritual circle. Using me as a conduit, Cab was summoned by the ritual circle, into me.
“With Cab’s strength, the defensive Runes that they’d carved to trap Cab effectively acted like thin, paper walls. Even in the body of a baby, the walls gave way as Cab – apparently floating in the air and laughing maniacally, though I think that’s just what he says to maintain an image – moved through them. No Viscount level enchanting would be able to hold a Demon King, no matter how restricted their form was.
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“Ravenous and pissed about being summoned by ‘mere Viscount Stage Enchanters’, Cab killed my parents and ate their lives, which he still says tasted mediocre at best. According to him, they tasted boring and bland, like oatmeal or plain toast.”
“That’s, uhh… certainly an interesting way to describe someone’s life.” Sammath glanced at Erin, who nodded her agreement.
“Yeah, well, that’s what Cab seems to focus on. Taste above all else. Anyway, after killing my parents, Cab was still hungry and massacred my entire village – other than the children – before wiping the minds of the children old enough to remember and then going into hibernation, deep in my subconscious. I was found by some passing traders, one of only survivors of what has become known as the Ji Nan Massacre.” For a few years, as I was raised in an orphanage with the rest of the survivors, Cab remained dormant. He’d eaten the lives of about 200 people and, after using some of them to bring his power the very short distance he had remaining to be at the peak of the Demon King realm, he still had just under three years before he had to eat again to sustain his level.
“That day, I was at a nursery in the small town, Shi Lan, which is where I was living. I was staying in the orphanage, yes, but there weren’t enough hands to help take care of me or some of the younger orphans so we were sent to the nursery with the rest of the towns small children. Coming out of his hibernation, Cab was hungry and massacred every adult in a few blocks and, once again, wiped the minds of the children too young to kill but old enough to remember the event.
“The Shi Lan Slaughter was the last of Cabs’ large-scale killings as, once the next four years passed, I was old enough for Cab to start communicating with me in proper…”
Ashe cast his mind back to the first time he’d heard Cab’s voice. He’d been in school, gazing out the window as they’d studied basic Runes, which also happened to be the writing system of Shinia because, when Runes weren’t written in Ink, they didn’t have magical power. Ashe had been trying to spot shapes in the clouds when Cab’s voice echoed in his head, ‘I’m hungry, boy.’ He’d said, and promptly demanded food. Ashe had been so shocked that he jumped and hit his knees on the bottom of the desk. When the rest of the class looked over, he’d flushed in embarrassment and apologised for interrupting the class.
When Cab had spoken up again at the end of the day, demanding that Ashe fetch him food, Ashe had been far less surprised. “I don’t know who you are, so no.” He’d whispered and, well, that had been a mistake.
“Initially he started by asking for food and, when I refused, he’d threatened to take over my body and hunt for food himself. Two days later, I woke up in an alley, covered in blood and entrails and with an extremely mutilated corpse lying next to me. I quickly fled the scene but, when the guards started to catch up, I had to flee the city. According to Cab, the man had been about to… do some extremely unsavoury things, so… I don’t regret it, but I would have liked to not be chased out of the city for killing the scion of a noble house.
“From there, I began moving west across the country, surviving off the land and teaching myself how to survive in the wilds. The first few months were… rough, to say the least. For every week that Cab hadn’t fed, or hadn’t pre-fed, I woke up with my hands drenched in blood and typically with a corpse lying next to me. The first few times, including the one in the city, I was… revolted, to say the least. I threw up a lot and I despised Cab for what he was doing but, with each kill, it got easier to bear. I grew numb to the death and, at some point, I realised that I could at least turn it into a good thing. I made Cab swear to only kill either in self-defence, or more accurately defence of me, or kill bad people when he grew hungry. To be honest, that wasn’t that hard to do as Cab claims to prefer the flavours of sin better, whatever that means.
“Either way, I slowly learnt what plants were safe to eat and which ones weren’t, simply by being forced to try them myself. It led to a lot of days where I felt like I was dying and days when I wanted to die, but Cab kept me alive through it, healing me just enough with his magic that I’d live, but not so much that I’d stop suffering. He claimed it was just to keep his food source alive, but I think now that it may have been his way of teaching me a lesson: pain and suffering.
“Eventually, I also realised that I could loot items off of the corpses that I’d periodically wake up next to. Often it wasn’t much; some coins that could feed me for a few days or some new clothes, a knife I could use in the wilderness or a waterskin; but it did help out a lot. As I grew older, I was pushed further and further west. I wasn’t ever able to stay in one place too long, I think the longest was maybe four months, before the guards or the people caught onto me, and I was driven out. I ended up killing a lot of guards that way, but it did mean that Cab stayed satiated for a while, so I sort of grew to… anticipate it. Maybe not look forward to it, but be thankful for the respites from Cab’s incessant need to feed every couple of weeks.
“Eventually, I think, Cab grew bored of watching me wander around, doing nothing, and began to pick up where my education had left off. He began to teach me Runes; how to speak, read, and write more advanced levels of Shinian. Cab also taught me as much arithmetic as he could and as much about enchanting as I could use at my level, allowing me to begin progressing down the path of Enchanting, opening up my Inkwell to move to the Key Stage and, after quite a while because of how much time I spent just focussed on survival, moving to the Dawn Stage.
“After about two years, I reached the far western edge of the Shinian kingdom and, well, realising I had nowhere left to go in Shinia, having been driven out of everywhere else, I reached out to the smugglers here and that’s pretty much where you met me. Of course, there have been a lot more misadventures along the way than I just said, like the murder of multiple nobles, but that’s my life story.”
Erin was the first to respond, “You must be about 13, then? My condolences. For someone so young, you’ve had a… difficult life.”
“I am, yes, and it doesn’t matter. I can’t change it so I accepted it long ago.”
Sammath nudged Ashe, “Well then, old soul, when’s this… Cab… next coming out? I’d like to have a word with him.”
Ashe grimaced, “I don’t know exactly. After he ate the lives of those guards, I say we have about a week and a bit before he next takes over and I’d like to be long gone from here before he comes out.”
‘Oh, come now, Boy. Don’t be like that. It’ll make getting food so much harder.’
‘Serves you right, Cab. You nearly got me killed.’
‘Both of us know that’s not true. I would’ve saved you before you died but these two did it for me.’
‘Before I died, maybe. Before I was injured, highly unlikely.’
Sammath interrupted Ashe’s conversation with Cab before it could go any further, “So how safe are we, then. From Cab, I mean. I’d prefer not to be eaten by a demon. Being digested would really do a number on my hair.” Sammath ran his hand along his bald head, as though running his fingers through his hair.
Ashe snorted, “I don’t think you’re in any danger. Cab’s proven to stick to his word so far. He hasn’t eaten anyone other than criminals or people that try attacking me first so, as long as we find some people in the next few weeks and neither of you attack me, we should be fine. Cab also claims that he likes you, or Erin at least because of how she fought and how mercilessly she killed when we were escaping the camp, so I think she should be safe. That being said, I wouldn’t like to push it too far because I haven’t actually had to try and suppress the will of a ravenous Demon King before.”
Cab’s rumbling chuckle bounced around Ashe’s head, ‘Good idea, Boy. Good idea, indeed.’
“Oh, come on!” Sammath exclaimed, seemingly indignant, “He likes Erin better?” Sammath turned to Erin with his hand held out placatingly, “No offense, Erin.” Before turning back to Ashe, “Erin’s kind of boring, all ‘mind on the mission’ and no fun. I’m the charismatic one. Why doesn’t he like me better?” Sammath whined.
Ashe laughed and even Erin cracked a small smile, “I don’t know about that.” Sammath turned to Erin, his eyebrows scrunched together in confusion. Erin stood up straight, pushing off the wall with her back, “I’d say that beating you up is pretty fun.”
Cab’s laughter was like the echoes of boulders tumbling down cliffs, though not so loud that it was actually unpleasant, and when Ashe looked at Sammath’s helpless, offended face, he couldn’t help himself. Ashe laughed heartily and found a warmth growing inside, something he hadn’t felt for a long time, and thought that, perhaps, he might have found some good friends.