“Let me out!” I scream at Black Snout as he passes by my cell.
“Only an idiot would release a deadly scum like you from our magic seal! Haha!” Black Snout gives a loud belch and walks away with his two fat boar legs, imprinting his feet onto the dark brown soil; the sharp tips on the right shoulder of his bulging rock armor ceaselessly scratches the outer walls of the cells.
No, I’m not using “boar” as some metaphor. He is actually half boar, serving the Garith faction in the Ethios Empire, East of Beremia. I, on the other hand, am a mythical hybrid who serves and obeys no one. I have travelled across the continent to find Egron, defeating many foes including the Feros soldiers, Harke sorcerers, and monsters of Yoldin, but losing my comrades along the way, dead or alive. While asleep in their territory, the Great Forrest, I was captured by the Garith beasts. I’ve been trapped here ever since, patiently seeking a way out.
“Oh! And all you dirt bags aren’t getting any food tonight because I’m feeling extra hungry! Bahaha!” Once again, air exits from Black Snout, but this time from his bottom. Oof! Half-boars are notorious for having the deadliest farts. Why don’t they just focus on the art of fart manipulation instead. Great, this is the fifth time that I will be missing dinner. It doesn’t matter I suppose; I can’t stand the all-green dishes that these Gariths cook up anyway. To be fair, though, they still have great tastes in some other areas. The Garith architecture is one of a kind and they did not slack even for an underground prison. Dark grey stones stack on one another, forming walls as high as a half-giraffe. Each one is inscribed with white Garith symbols and patterns. Even the ceiling is filled with vines, forming illustrations of their ancient history. Frankly, I have never seen stones as smooth and beautiful as these. Gariths are the masters of the Earth element after all. Constructing with earth, trees, and rocks should be anything but difficult.
Enough with this pathetic admiration, I need to get out of here, for the sake of my quest as well as my diet! It’s been two weeks since I’ve had a taste of fresh red meat. The guards put an Earth protection seal on each stone cell gate, reinforcing the walls’ resistance to elemental blasts. But my cell was an exception; they put five of those seals on my gate. So for now I should just channel all my energy and focus into elemental manipulation. Master Yazen had already taught me all the mandatory meditation techniques that can strengthen my mana powers. Look, I understand that you are probably overwhelmed with my blabbers. So in the meantime, I will tell you the stories of my childhood, the reason why I need to seek answers from Egron, one of the two only living half-griffin hybrids in Beremia.
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Born and raised in a small village in the Kohard Empire, country ruled by the Feros, I was considered an outcast, suffering undeserved contempt and hatred from local villagers. I am a bastard son of a Feros warrior, who raped my mother, a human commoner, during one of the Feros semiannual raids. The blood-thirsty fire-affiliated Feros soldiers are granted the privilege to raid and demand water, food, and women from villages that are “protected” by the faction. When it comes to preferences, they choose mainly virgins and ensure that their acts of “dominance” and “masculinity” are out in the open; they even force family and friends to watch. Most of the faction members belong to the cat family, in forms of half-lion, half-tiger, and half-leopard hybrids. Their army base is located within the walls of the capital city, Lios Citadel.
For months, my mother, Maria Griffith, endured grief and shame but was not willing to give up the life inside of her. However, as I grew larger inside her womb, Mother was not able to continue her work as a merchant in the capital city. Her body could not handle the stress and frequent traveling that the job required. She used to make daily travels between the village and the city to sell farmers’ fresh produce. From then on she struggled to find food. She had no friends nor family that she could turn to as they all lived far away in the Skye Mountains where the Azarr clans occupied. Weeks gone by, she eventually found a lonely farmer named Jimi who would support her but only if she promised marriage after my birth. Desperate to survive, she accepted and faked her love for this hideous man. A few months later, I was born. Mother swore to never step foot into the capital city again; she thought that she could live happily with her new family in this tiny village.
But the village people had no sympathy. Every time they saw me, it reminded them of the horrendous trauma that the Feros soldiers had brought to the villagers. “Feros filth! Go back to Lios Citadel, bastard child! Dirty cats are not welcome here!” The villagers despised my existence. Jimi also shared the same belief as the rest. In the beginning, his love for Mother made him willing to accept and treat me like his own son. However, as I turned eight, the suppression of his growing hatred against me made him a mad man. One night in our barn, while the family was stacking up hay, Jimi demanded Mother to murder her own child. As soon as she refused, he beat Mother furiously with a leather belt. He then turned his back and stared at me, his eyes burning with anger. I felt the ground trembling as he slowly approached me; his breathe was heavy. Shocked and afraid, I could not move myself.
“Stay away from my son!” Mother yelled from the top of her lungs. A pitchfork pierced through my step father’s chest, blood flowing along the three spikes and slowly dropping from the tips. Both Mother and Jimi fell down to the ground, but only one was still breathing. Realizing what she had done, Mother took my hand and pulled me out of the barn, “There is nothing left for us in this village, Berion, we must leave.”
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For the sake of giving me a better life, Mother decided that we would move to the hottest city in Beremia, Lios Citadel, putting aside all her hatred towards the Feros. Perhaps it was the only place where I could be accepted. After all, the capital city was a familiar sight to her and she had several connections in the trade district. Mother planned on seeking her acquaintances in hope of getting paid to do some kind of work.
In an early sunny morning, the red gate was opened, allowing merchants and visitors from all around Beremia to enter. The enormous black walls surrounding the capital were decorated with grand crimson Feros banners, endlessly burning on top. In all directions, I could see tall dark iron buildings with circular entrances. I was in awe yet intimidated by the various red patterns on each steel wall or fence. Some were actual patterns; others were just blood randomly splattered. Also, aside from the constant chattering from city dwellers, there were these undying flaming and clanking noises from the giant Hephes factories, which were topped with lion-inspired chimneys.
We began wandering around, looking for a man named Marvik, a local butcher. Strolling through the bustling Hurran market, I could hear all sorts of animal sounds. It was the first time I witnessed hybrids that were not part of the Feros faction. From large hybrids like half-elephant to small ones like half-chimp, I learnt that not all hybrids are cruel and evil. In fact, they all belong to different factions, which follow different values, beliefs, and purposes. We all start as humans but each family carries different animal genes. Once we have reached the age of twelve, our animal genes begin to change our bodies. The genetic modification grants us unique animal traits as well as powerful elemental abilities. However, not all of us can become hybrids. Those whose animal genes remain dormant through the age fifteen are considered as weak and useless commoners. This is because for most cases, pure humans would never become a hybrid after the age of fifteen. The unjust social treatment between hybrids and pure humans is due to their difference in elemental power. In comparison, the strongest human elemental wielder possesses powers equivalent to a hybrid elemental student, with the exception of Light and Mind magic in which pure humans are actually the superiors. This is why although most live their lives as plain farmers, villagers, merchants, or slaves, many pure humans refused to be powerless and formed a holy union known as the Harke in a remote island between the Kohard Continent and the Ethios Continent.
All of this learning happened while I was waiting for Mother outside the butcher store, hiding under the shade. A young half-parrot man, dressed in a white robe with yellow linings and an oversized monocle on his left eye, could not stop repeating what sounded like lecture scripts that were meant for an elementary class. “The Azarrs are the most intelligent beings! Teaching kids should be a piece of cake…” The man attempted to cheer himself; his face painted with anxiety. A hot cup of Black Tigress Milk, a local specialty, was served to the nervous teacher by a half-leopard waitress. He was sitting alone outside a pub called the House of Cats next to the meat shop. After listening to the half-parrot for a while, I looked up towards the sky and caught a glimpse of the infamous Hell Tower, the center of the capital. No matter where you stand in Lios, you would be able to see the bloody red flame burning on top of the tower. As I gazed at this fire, I felt a slight nudge on my shoulder.
“They call it the Burning Eye of Leonide Maximus. He is watching everything that everyone is doing in this city,” a young beautiful girl said while also staring at the flame, “we will not fall until our Burning Eye is vanquished!” The girl confidently recited the Feros slogan. At the age of eight, I was already having a crush at first sight. Even my tan skin could not hide how red my cheeks were. She was wearing a plain white dress, with her red long wavy hair extending down to her lower back. She stepped out of the shade; her light brown skin bathes in the bright sunlight. I was as tall as the height of her shoulders. After stuttering a few times, I finally managed to say, “Hello! My name is Berion. Berion Griffith. It’s my first day here at Lios.”
“Oh, no wonder I don’t recognize your face! I’m Thena. I live right here just down the street,” she pointed at the alley across from the pub, “well Beri, I hope that you are coming here for school. I’m on my 5th year at Lios Elementary! Anywho, I gotta head home before Mom roars at me. I’ll see you around!” Thena smiled and skipped towards her home.
“... School?...” Puzzled by what she had said. I never went to school before. But I was excited to go to one. No, I was only excited to go to Lios Elementary. Still in my deep thoughts about Thena, I heard Mother and a half-tiger man talking and stepping out of the butcher shop. “I can definitely do that, Marvik, as long as there is enough food for my son,” Mother spoke to the man with much excitement. Marvik nodded his head and gave her a pat on the back, “don’t worry Maria, I can take care of both of you as long as you help me sell meat.”
Mother turned to me, “Berion, my son! We finally have a chance for a better life! I promise you that you will become a great man! Oh come here!” She embraced me so tightly that I could hardly breath. Although I was very happy to see the joy on Mother’s face, I only had one thing on my mind. “Does that mean I can go to school tomorrow?” I asked her. Not bothered by this oddly specific question, she quickly answered, “Yes! Yes, of course you can! I was going to ask you about school tonight but you beat me to it. Oh my sweet little Berion, tomorrow I’ll take you to Lios Elementary!”