Suta POV

Suta remained seated in silence for a few moment, unsure whether he was feeling shock, sadness, indignation, or simply indifference towards it all. The bombardment of information he had swallowed left his mind muddled again, but one thing he was certain of, the story about the Shinjin and Queen Lunara was perhaps the most tragic tale he had ever heard.

'And here I was thinking I had it bad with Ringo. Queen Lunara's children were forced into a war amongst one another, a war over greed and deception,' Suta thought to himself, recalling similar situations between historical empires of old he had read about, where vying for supremacy had caused siblings to spill each other's blood.

What troubled him the most was the uncertainty surrounding the demi god called Lysann.

"He left Candy to save his sister? Someone who was considered deaf and crippled...but what happened to him afterward I wonder.'

Suta couldn't shake off the uneasiness he felt towards that part of the story. Lysann, a deaf and mute prince said to be graced with infectious golden wisdom, had reinvented the entire landscape of Candy. That in itself sounded crazy to him, but none more so than the idea that there

Piecing the fragments of together order allowed him to begin to gain insight into a piece of this incredibly dark history.

'Lysann is the runaway groom then I take it? And I'm guessing he's also the one in those pictures. Did he obscure his face from those portraits purposely? ' Suta asked himself in deep thought, his gaze still aimlessly watching the dancing fires between both him and the vampire. Finding no direct answers to his host of questions right now, he could only release a depressing sigh, massaging the bridge of his nose as he pondered how all of this fit in with himself and Demoria. There was an obvious connection, but he felt he was still missing the vital pieces of the puzzle.

After a short while, he raised his chin and placed an inquisitive glare toward Anak, not foolish enough to believe this fellow wasn't concealing secrets.

"Beforehand, you mentioned someone taught you about these things concerning multiple worlds, humans, and the history of the Shinjin. I'm right in thinking this person... this was Lysann, wasn't it?"

Anak's expressionless mask wilted a little, but he eventually exhaled a deep breath, casting his bright red eyes toward the starry twilight again.

"He was my only friend... no... I was his steward. Because of that oath, sworn between a relic of my kind and the Goddess of Dawn herself. I became his shadow, his confidant, and he was my tutor. A brother I never had."

Suta couldn't help grimacing at the thought of those demi gods being charged with vampires.

'So being these all-powerful demi-gods wasn't enough. They needed personal vampire bodyguards as well. Talk about overkill,' he chided to himself before tuning back into reality.

"I was sworn to protect and follow him wherever he went, and yet... at the most crucial moment, where he needed me the most, I... I failed." Suta studied Anak in silence, noticing a real look of sadness muddled with guilt drawn across his glittering blood soaked gaze. It was all starting to make sense now, 'the stoic vampire, bound to this realm. He's probably torn between a whole muddle of things. You can't help but feel sorry for him.'

"Then... what happened between you two? Why didn't you follow him?" Suta asked, half expecting what the answer would be.

Anak's expression changed into a mask of cold anger. "I couldn't... he made it so that I was cursed beneath this false golden moon."

Suta tilted his head, casting an empty stare into the blanket of nightingale covered in stars, focusing mainly on that golden half-shaped moon glittering in the distant expanse. He narrowed his gaze, peering deeper into the golden moon, he could faintly see glittering golden particles dancing like fireflies. He remembered seeing the similar particles a few times beforehand, one, when he was reading through Granny Baba's old notes, and the other against those stone slabs she held beneath the farm.

'Incantations were constructed in hundreds of energy particles, brought to life by the caster's mana and words of power.' A sudden realization hit Suta at that very moment.

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"Oh... I get it, the curse, the golden moon... it was Lysann's doing." He remembered what Anak had said to him concerning the first incantation Lysann cast. He imagined it wasn't as simple as changing Candy.

A pained look flashed across Anak's gaze in response, but he refused to respond and merely rose to his towering height, his red and frightening glare fixed upon Suta with a dangerous light behind it. Suta felt scared out of his wits.

'Shit, did I say something wrong?'

"Rise," Anak demanded sternly.

Suta hesitated but ultimately found himself unable to disobey the imposing fellow. As he staggered upright, he noticed a change in his mobility.

'Huh? The pain has gone?'

By some miracle, he was no longer anchored down by that terrible wound to his side. He could hardly believe it and took a brave look at his ribs. Those dark claw marks were still present, and the wound hadn't changed much, still a blackish sewer-green tint which made him feel a little sickly staring at it.

"The tonic you drank would begin the healing process, but the curse itself can only be handled using the Arcane. Unfortunately, we, the undead race, hold no talent within that field," Anak said, walking casually around the fire until his slender form towered beside Suta.

"But I do have this..."

Suta watched inquisitively while Anak placed a single hand against his wound.

{Siphon}

A dark reddish glow formed over the vampires palms, and Suta felt a weird surge of warmth gathered against his side. It felt slightly painful at first, but the pain was closely followed by relief. He watched with intrigue laced with subtle uncertainty, unsure where this was heading.

'Wait a minute... Siphon—isn't that... an incantation?' As though he could almost read his thoughts, Anak spoke again.

"How much do you know about Skillsets and Abilities?"

Suta smoothed his chin in deep thought. Trying to remember the bits and pieces he recalled from that hairy-armed rough-talking man from the carriage a great while back.

'Not a lot' was the truth to that question.

"Skillsets or skills commonly known, are widely accessible, and are achieved through practice or receiving a skill book. Most of the strongest skills take longer to hone complete mastery over. Unlike abilities that are specifically tailored to your own 'self,' an ability is somewhat almost a unique attribute, one not easily obtained like a skill. And an ability's measured power goes by the level of intent one holds. Intent is the basis of all techniques.

Anak removed his palm, and the glowing reddish glow ceased, but he wasn't finished there. He presented the same hand to Suta and slowly opened his palm.

"My ability allows me to drain, alleviate, suck away, or dispel all traces of Mana. Rule number one human, curses, at the core of their disastrous intent, in the end, they are just volatile mana, with the intent to harm"

Against his open palm was an inky black liquid, almost rousing volatile like a flame. Staring at the bubbling black agent, Suta sensed nothing but terrible feelings from it. Slowly, he placed a questioning gaze upon Anak again.

"Rotted Lion Skin's poison. An old curse, one which was born from the terrible amalgamation of the Black-skinned Lion and a nightmare creature. A beast that sparred on the level with the Shinjin Heh-eh. It is most curious, to say the least, seeing you bearing scars of meeting one."

Suta felt a slight air of distrust surrounding Anak's look, but he thought it was somewhat understandable.

'Even I have no idea about most of the things I end up going through.' He thought to himself, all the mysteries and changes around him felt like one terrible coincidence. Only he wasn't foolish enough to think that was the truth of it all. Staring aimlessly into nowhere while he went through that incident again, he remembered the sudden appearance of those creatures, before that terrible feeling of powerlessness and fear threatened to sour his mood again.

"There were two of them, strange creatures with g-grey skin a-and... n-no eyes," he struggled to explain, those memories still freshly clinging to his mind.

Anak eventually closed his open palm, the bubbling sounds from that poisonous ooze subsiding, and the vampire finally lowered his hand.

"Rest for the night. In the morning, we set out," he announced in his usual cold and placid tone.

"Hm? Set out? Where are we going?" Suta asked him,

"Where else? Back to the Blue Castle, of course."