Humanity, due to its very nature, has always strived forward. To conquer new lands, to study the behavior and habits of predators, to clear their habitats of these very predators.
From humanity's first steps to its last, it is ready to make any sacrifice and commit any crime if it means the ability to move forward.
Stas had always found speeches about the possible goodness and innocence of children amusing.
For Ordyntsev, it was clear that concepts such as "goodness and morality" were nothing more than constructs created by people themselves, of which children, logically, had no notion whatsoever.
This leads to the conclusion that people are not inherently good at birth. Moreover, if compared to animals, they are among the most senselessly cruel species.
The closest analogy would be primates. Like a caricature of humans, they too enjoy killing their own kind, wage "tribal" wars, capture females, and most importantly, love to show off and mock.
But why did Stas recall these all-too-familiar human flaws?
The answer is simple, and its name is the forbidden art of the Deathbringers.
Ironically, it was originally called something else and was not considered forbidden. In those distant years, when the spirits passed on the secrets of spiritual techniques to the Kuchisagine, it was known as the Art of Thirst.
However, after centuries of persecution and defeats, the Deathbringers remained only a shadow of their former selves.
That's why, at some point, they, too, started calling their art forbidden.
Nevertheless, judging by everything, the degradation did not greatly affect their combat skills. They may have forgotten much, but even so, they clearly did not stand still, developing their techniques and inventing new ones.
In any case, Minoru still could not recall any technique of the "Black Sun" used by Koruga. This meant that it appeared after her capture.
The Art of Thirst, by nature, was a mix of two absolutely different energies - spiritual and physical, the latter being prana.
Let's call this mixture ether, for simplicity's sake.
Ether, as one might guess, was a remarkable energy. The term "thirst" in the art's name was not used without a reason, as ether was a surprisingly greedy force.
For some reason, it strove to absorb and devour as much surrounding energy as possible. Like a black hole trying to suck in stars, ether hungered for everything around it.
Ether was omnivorous – it could devour spiritual techniques, prana, or even the elements with equal gusto. Moreover, at high concentrations, it reached a critical point where it began to absorb and process material objects.
From all of the above, it's easy to understand the danger of this type of energy. But what could go wrong if you mix two opposing types of energy in your own body and end up with an artificial force that literally craves to devour everything around it without a trace?
"I take it the first steps weren't particularly successful?" Stas chuckled, guessing the price paid by "Those who seek knowledge for the good of the world" to master a new element.
"Yes," Minoru nodded tersely. "Ether, absorbing natural energy, quickly dissipated into the surrounding space. The only way out was to use it inside the bodies of warmasters. Only those who couldn't subdue it to their will quickly died, being consumed by their own power."
"But they didn't just die?" Ordyntsev looked intently at his interlocutor.
"I see you've learned something about the Deathbringers," Minoru smiled grimly. "Yes, sometimes the warmasters weren't lucky enough to just die. Ether's passion for absorption is so strong that it inevitably transfers to those who use the Art of Thirst. Only if someone loses control, ether can completely take over the body and mind of that unfortunate, turning them into a monster that desires only one thing – to devour."
"Vampires," Stas nodded. "I've heard a bit about them. Can you tell me more?"
"I can, since that's our agreement," Minoru shrugged unhappily. "A vampire is a twisted, absolutely insane parody of a person whose sole purpose is to consume any energy it can find. I didn't think I'd say this, but though I dislike you humans, what you can become is even more abhorrent. Their entire existence depends on energy. And the more they drink, the stronger they become."
'Energy vampires who go off the deep end when they lose control.'
"Vampires cannot be controlled. Some of them can talk and even make deals, controlling their thirst for a short time, but the outcome is always the same - senseless and endless carnage. Vampires were one of the reasons for the prevailing attitude towards the Deathbringers. If a Kuchisagine lost control, he risked becoming a huge problem."
Minoru was lost in memories. This was already their second meeting.
Kaede had to run off for a new batch of lamia scales to maintain the connection. Meanwhile, Leviathan carefully swallowed tablets sealed in the walls, then carried them away from the Citadel and simply discarded them.
No one knew how they might react if broken.
The process was slow and cautious, to avoid attracting any attention, but some progress had already been made. It was much easier for Minoru to create her projection for communication.
Moreover, by her own admission, she could now send her consciousness much further. That's how the ancient yokai kept up with world affairs and monitored the news from her dungeon.
Unfortunately, only the smallest sealing tables could be removed. Everything important was stored in the clan quarters inside the Citadel.
But even so, Minoru acknowledged that Shiro was honestly fulfilling his part of the deal.
And here was an interesting point. Initially, the lamia wanted to provide Stanislav with some kind of credit, which would have included a series of Deathbringer techniques.
In her opinion, it would have been a sufficient down payment for what he had already done.
But Ordyntsev himself was resolutely opposed. The earthling understood the value of knowledge and the danger of the art offered to him.
And he had no intention of even touching it until he figured out how it worked. Moreover, given the practical approach of warmasters, Stas greatly missed communication with someone who understood how everything worked.
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"If you want knowledge, I can give it to you," Minoru responded disdainfully, hearing her interlocutor's wishes. "But then I will reduce the number of techniques I give you. Do you agree to this?"
"Of course," the earthling smiled: "After all, if I know how everything works, I might try to come up with these techniques myself."
Thus, the lecture turned out to be much more extensive than originally planned. It also became clear that the history of Kuchisagine was not limited to failures alone.
"... And although the first steps were hard and unsuccessful, gradually, thanks to our advice, the Deathbringers achieved their first successes," Minoru picked up the tip of her tail and ran her fingertips over it.
"Every day, ether showed us new and new possibilities. It seemed this discovery would change everything. Warmasters who let ether into themselves learned to use its thirst for absorption to draw energy from their enemies. This energy was able to nourish their bodies. It made them stronger, faster, and even reversed aging! The elderly rejuvenated and returned to their prime."
"But there was a price for all this."
"Yes," the concurrence fell with the weight of a granite slab. "The Art of Thirst and ether made their wielders dependent on them. The stronger the warmasters became, and the more ether was in their bodies, the greater the thirst grew. Have you heard how the Kuchisagine
perished?" Painful notes sounded in Minoru's voice.
Stas just shook his head silently.
"In those years, the Knowledge Seekers declared war on several powerful clans at once. And you probably think they were destroyed by their own greed, or that the united army of their enemies defeated them? Not at all."
The lamia's tail angrily slashed the air.
"They won. The Kuchisagine vanquished all the armies. Their troops made the other clans flee in horror, saving their lives. But the flow of energy from victims they drained during the war ceased. The war ended, which meant there was no one left to feed their mighty bodies saturated with ether from top to bottom. They were strong people. Even as their bodies withered and they became more deformed under the raging ether, they held on."
"But it couldn't last long."
"I don't know who started the slaughter first. But very soon, all the cities captured by the Kuchisagine and the places where their settlements were located turned into bloody dumps, where only powerful vampires roamed, killing each other and everyone around. Only those who were at the beginning of the warmaster's path and hadn't delved too deeply into the ether survived. When the surviving vampires devoured the remaining residents, they moved to neighboring countries. And when their armies were defeated, the vengeful warmasters, onmyoji, and even other spirits came to us."
A heavy silence fell on the room. Minoru remembered how she almost didn't resist when she was captured. The weight of her misdeeds pressed down on her like a multi-ton load. That's when she made a promise to herself never to get involved in the affairs of mortals and to try not to kill. She had plenty of time to reconsider this stance.
Meanwhile, Stas noted another piece of local history in his memory.
"Still haven't changed your mind, healer?" Minoru raised an eyebrow, looking at Stas. "This art rightfully bears the name of cursed. Are you ready to pay the price?"
"No," Stas's response made her freeze in surprise.
"So you refuse?"
"No," Ordyntsev smirked mockingly.
"Then what do your words mean?!" The ancient yokai began to get irritated again. "I don't want to waste time on your stupid jokes."
"I'm not ready to pay YOUR price. But I'll take everything you give me and make sure MY price is much lower."
"Overconfident pup," Minoru snorted disdainfully. "People and spirits far smarter than you have already tried to do this. They all failed. Do you think you're smarter than all of us?"
"Yes." Stas simply said.
"You know," Minoru finally said after a long silence. "I wasn't particularly keen on entrusting anyone with the secrets of the Art of Thirst. But I'll gladly give them to you, just to see you squirm."
"We'll see about that," Stas "gratefully" agreed. "But let's not get sidetracked and get back to the lesson."
"Of course," Minoru waved her hand kindly. "Let's continue. What else are you interested in?"
"Raising the dead," Stas licked his parched lips involuntarily. He had been waiting a long time to ask this question. "How did they manage it?"
"Ether, by its nature, very easily accepts everything. At some point, we learned to transmit our feelings and commands to it, explaining what it needed to do. That's how various long-range techniques appeared. However, ether was capable of absorbing not only our feelings. Remember, vampires are people consumed by ether. They are neither alive nor dead."
"Curious, how many warmasters were sacrificed to figure all this out?"
"Somebody got the idea to start the process of forced vampirification, but to kill the subject before they finished the transformation. If done correctly and tuned properly, most of the would-be vampire's mind dies, but the remaining part is enough to control the body and even use their old skills to a limited extent. The latter is true only for the strongest zombies."
"And is it necessary to perform the ritual on living warmasters?" the man raised a controversial question.
"No, it's not necessary," the yokai confirmed. "You can use fresh corpses, but they will be even dumber than the first type. And there will be no question of any skills."
"Does one always need to maintain control over the dead?" Stas clarified the point of interest to him in a businesslike manner. "Or can they go into some kind of hibernation if not needed?"
"Yes, they can," Minoru nodded with interest, trying to understand what the man sitting in front of her was thinking.
"And how long can they exist without an ether recharge? Do I understand correctly that they don't produce it themselves?"
"Correct. The stronger the warmaster was in life, the larger the charge they can store. An advanced warmaster can easily lie dormant for a couple of years. Ether won't let the body rot. But what are you asking for?"
"I've got a couple of curious thoughts." Stas smiled slyly, closing his eyes.
*****
Having received a couple of forbidden techniques, Stas was not eager to use them near the Sumada.
That's why he had to go deep into the forest and then check several times to make sure no one was following him.
However, it might be unclear why Stas even risked experimenting with ether if he had not succeeded in reducing the techniques' harmful effects.
The thing is, ether had a cumulative effect. Simply put, its limited use was relatively safe, as ether would eventually "wash out" of the body.
On the other hand, if you use ether a lot and often, the effect begins to accumulate, and at some point, it stops leaving altogether, beginning its terrible influence on both the carrier's body and mind.
Ironically, the first Deathbringers deliberately brought ether to extremes, thereby cutting off their way back. In such a case, ether became much more concentrated and, therefore, more dangerous.
However, the cost they paid wasn't small.
And although Minoru didn't give him many techniques, she explained in general terms what ether could do. To sum up, it turned out that ether was ideal as a means of cursing and weakening the enemy.
Draining life energy, prana, blood, elements, and anything else, all of this was the domain of this fearsome force.
But besides that, the warmasters also adapted ether as a horrifying method of "reanimation."
The first technique, which was logical, considering Ordyntsev's interest, was the procedure for creating living dead.
The active mind of the earthling had already imagined a couple of ideas on where and how to use this somewhat terrifying argument.
Of course, there were difficulties.
For example, the use of forbidden techniques could put an end to Stas in the eyes of the entire warmaster community. And in that case, these warmasters could very quickly put an end to Stas himself.
But who said that it was he who would have to use zombies?
For such dubious deeds, Stas was actively creating his own small private army right now.
And then, who would try to figure out whether the Deathbringers did it or not?
The second issue was too much ether. According to Ordyntsev's calculations, even after converting a single ordinary warmaster, he would have to spend two or three days to allow his own body to eliminate the excess deadly energy.
The "shelf life" of such dummies without a recharge was no more than half a year.
The second technique given by Minoru was "Dark Weakness."
The action of this technique was not something very complex. The owner formed a charge of ether in their body, then released it like gas into space, hoping that the opponent would foolishly enter the "cloud."
The technique was not fully transparent. Floating in the air, ether created small optical distortions. Nevertheless, in battle, they were not so easy to notice.
Ether, sensing a living being, instantly activated and began to absorb any energy within reach.
This technique was the younger brother of the "Black Sun," which could even drain advanced warmasters.
The owner themself had nothing to fear, as Dark Weakness knew how to recognize the creator's energy.
Thus, by the time the next month of respite was over, and it was time to return to dirty and bloody work, Stas Ordyntsev had acquired unique knowledge in his collection, powerful and dangerous.
However, these crumbs only made him more eager.
It was also necessary to resolve the issue with Kaede. For although she wanted "to travel too, like Shiro," it was not that simple.