“I don't think I’ve ever seen this tight of security for a farm.” Kanashi said with a whistle, he was looking at the massive chain link fence with loads of barbed wire on top in front of him and Jin.
The wall was probably about a dozen and a half feet tall and the barbed wire was not the cheap kind. No this was the real deal. The stuff that could kill someone if they fell onto it.
“Sometimes Megalania find their way here from further up by the Tigeros river, not to mention big cats like Cougars who can easily scale a normal sized fence. So it's better safe than sorry.” Jin said, grabbing Kanashis hand.
“?!” Kanashi grimaced at the jester, his first time holding a hand was taken by Jinen just like that, what a beast! Should I say please be gentle with me? Is he the kind of guy to take responsibility afterwards or leave me with a tatined hand and lost innocence? No, I need to report this to HR as soon as possible!
“Oh calm down, For this to work I need to have physical contact with you so come on.” Jin said, rolling his eyes. He pulled Kanashi after him as he phased through the chain link fence.
Kanashi felt his body begin to vibrate softly and he too passed through. It was a weird feeling, like being in a rocking chair mixed with one of those spinning machines at the fair that make you stick to the wall. You know the “Rippin.” ones?
“How’d you do that?!” Kanashi asked, smiling in amazement as he stood on the other side of the fence.. “You were doing it before so I figured it’s something to do with Spatial Manipulation but if you can do it to others… and the vibrations too…”
“I vibrate my body at high speeds and different frequencies quickly until my “strings” are liquidated and I can transfer through solid objects. If I’m touching someone I can do the same to them by extending it beyond me.” Jin answered while showing his vibrating hand.
“String theory huh? I wish I could do more with my magic” Kanashi muttered looking at his own hands. He now understood what Jin had meant before about Elementalist magic being diverse while also restrictive. There were many combinations of elements you could create and apply to spell making but you can't do much besides that. How frustrating…
Well for those of you who don't know, string theory is the concept of all things in the universe being composed of waves of energy called “strings.” These strings vibrate at different frequencies and if you are able to vibrate at the same wavelength as another set of strings you could physically pass through them. Of course this is something only the God Of Magic Jinen could possibly perform but lets let Kanashi dream about one day being able to do it too.
After passing through the gate the two of them walked up the farm's steep hill and by the previously mentioned blue barn until meeting the Mayor's house. The house was almost like a colonial era farmstead with three stories and many small tinted glass windows spread across each story. There was a wrap-around porch with a fence that surrounded the first floor and then the third floor had a wrap around balcony as well.
“Which room is the daughter in?” Kanashi asked, trying to peek through one of the windows from afar.
“Probably around the corner by the small tree, there’s a sick person there.” Jin said, starting to walk along the house.
Can he sense that they’re sick somehow? Is that something I’ll be able to do eventually? Kanashi wondered as he followed Jin closely behind. He looked over the Mayor's house which was absolutely stunning in his eyes. Houses in Azhar were mostly small and tall, Kanashi came from a higher up middle class family himself so he had a nice 4 bedroom 3 bathroom house with a study and garden on the border of the Fuega’tera and Buta’Asil districts right by the Red Mountains. Of course Azhar was a large desert city right on the border of an oasis so things like wood weren’t common at all and instead adobe was the most commonly used material for homes. With that in mind this wooden mansion was a real treat to see. Of course wood wasn't an impossible thing to get in Saharis but when needed on a large scale like building a mansion the import costs wouldn't be worth the trouble. A pure wooden house was only something he’d seen in books and movies but never in person. He wanted to kiss it, lick it, smell it and feel it, actually he’d yet to see snow in person either which he made sure to mentally note as his next thing to see.
“We’re here.” Jin said, tapping the distracted Kanashi on the shoulder who turned around with a bit of drool hanging from his mouth.
“Oh right…" Kanashi looked up at the small peach-like tree in front of them as well as the girl's bedroom window right next to it. “I’d feel bad peeking into a girls bedroom especially at night.”
“What it’s better to do during the day?” Jin asked with a teasing smile.
“Well I mean, it’d be less weird for sure right?”
“Ha, I guess if you really wanted to say that you could. But don't worry what we want is right there.” Jin said, pointing up into the trees many thick branches.
Kanashi looked intensely into the tree branches for a few moments and saw that on one of them there was a small object hanging from a thin old braided rope . “What’s that? It has a really nasty aura to it.” He asked, feeling the ominous energy it emitted. It was like sitting on the toilet in the middle of the night and a cockroach walks out from under your towel rack. That kind of instant dread and fear.
“Not sure yet.” Jin replied with a shrug, He floated up into the air and grabbed the small object which appeared to be like that of a poorly crafted doll.
“Creepy.” Kanashi shuddered, seeing its humanoid shape as Jin dropped down to the ground beside him.
Jin looked over it for a few moments and then turned to Kanashi, “Here catch.” He said tossing it over.
“I don’t wanna touch that!” Kanashi cried out, fumbling it around in his hands.
“Don't worry it won't be able to do anything to you. It only works on the person it's been commanded to curse.”
Kanashi still creeped out, held it in his hand and inspected it delicately. It was truly a crude doll made of what seemed to be tree roots and dried mud with random human hairs here and there as well as Rotting meat wrapped around the middle. “What is this?”
“It’s a poppet, ancient magic from up north in Vulracious probably the more eastern countries. Overall it’s similar to a voodoo doll in practice and as such you can’t be hurt by it. Now try to destroy it in your hand.”
Kanashi obeying Jin tried to crush it by closing his hand tightly, first he wanted to see if he could do so with just his physical strength but couldn't seem to do it, activating his enhancement he still found it impossible to break no matter how much he strained. “Is it indestructible?” He asked while trying to snap it over his knee.
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“Shouldn't be, Hand it over here.” Jin ordered and Kanashi happily tossed it over. Firmly grasping it in his hand Jin flexed his arm muscles which rippled with veins and many defined shapes. He didn't even need to use enhancement to break it which Kanashi frowned at. Jin opened his hand up and it saw the doll broken into little chunks of wood and other unsavory materials. “This might be a bit more exciting than I thought.” he said with a smile, turning to Kanashi. “No amateur could make something like this. I can't find any leftover mana to indicate who the identity of its creator is so whoever did this knows their stuff. It’s probably an old witch from somewhere up by Turchink.” He showed the rotting meat covered in maggots and other small insects in his hand to Kanashi. This meat must be a medium which acts as the body. As the meat rots the person cursed will get more and more sick until their death. The conditions for this to be so powerful must be that it had to be very obvious to anyone looking for it, like being right by the target's living area. The hair is probably from the mayor's daughter directly linking her to it, the same could be said with the wood. Maybe they’re from this tree or a chair that she sits in often furthering its connection to her…
“You said it’s like a voodoo doll but how does it work exactly?” Kanashi asked, breaking Jin's chain of thought.
“It’s an object used to curse someone, curses are exactly what they sound like. A spell that applies negative long lasting effects unless exercised by someone. For this one it seems like all I had to do was destroy the poppet itself so its effects should be canceled out.”
“Well what should we do next?”
“We need to find out what kind of plant this wood is from and then see if that’s around here. If it is, then we just go there and look for any signs of magic users.” Of course if it is from this tree here then that’d make things harder and I might have to actually put in some work to find this Witch before she keeps this up. But for now I’ll just do it the proper way to teach him. Jin thought while flicking the piece of meat and maggots onto the ground and tucking the wood in his pocket.
I wish you’d just use your magic to find the witch yourself. Kanashi thought with a sigh. “Alright then where do we go to see where this wood is from?”
“I know a place not too far from here we can go to.”
# # #
“Is this the place?” Kanashi asked, peering into the building's black tinted windows.
“Yup, I bought some furniture for my parlor from this guy before, If anyone knows wood It would be him.” Jin said with a thumbs up.
“Then why didn't you place a waypoint here?!
“I ordered everything over the phone and through a furniture catalog, I just happened to remember his address from the package's shipping tags.”
“Gotcha.”
The two entered the building and were greeted by an old pale man at a glass counter full of small trinkets. He seemed to be in a state of bliss while looking at them with his tired wrinkled eyes.
“Ahem.” Jin said, clearing his throat loudly.
“Welcome in- Oh… it's just you Jinen. Did you come to kill me this time?” The old man asked with a snicker.
Wow nasty vibes! Kanashi thought, looking back and forward between the pair of men.
“Nah.” Jin said with a shrug, “Your furniture isn't worth the money!” he laughed.
“Har har.” The old man laughed dryly in response.
Jin lifted his hand to the glass counter and softly dropped the poppet's remains with a light thud.
“What’s this for?” The man asked, raising an eyebrow.
“We need to know what plant it’s from.” Kanashi answered with a nervous smile.
The man looked at Jin who nodded.
“Alright.” he groaned and reluctantly reached under the glass counter from which he pulled out an old style gold microscope. “Hope you know this isn't free.” He muttered while beginning to inspect the wood. “.....Looks like something from a Mahogany tree based on the straight grain running down the wood vertically. The color, although burned, looks to match as well.” He said lifting, poking the wood with his fingertips and flipping it over.
“Are Mahogany native to here?” Jin asked.
“Not around these parts no, That’d be much farther south east on the continent but they’re a few shops around here that sell Mahogany trees. Though they're only saplings right now… But in the past they were used more commonly as decorative woods. I think out in the eastern hills there's still some cabins made of the stuff that this could be scrapped from but it’s sorta creep out there so many people avoid it.”
“What’s creepy about it?”
“Back in the 2380s there were reports of a young woman who would kidnap kids and eat them up. At one point a whole party of men from across the village went over there to find the women after so many kids had gone missing but they didn't find anything. After that there was a plague which hit everyone who went out there and their families. Lotta people kicked the bucket and after that no one went into those woods anymore. But that's just a story my daddy told me when I was a little boy.”
“Would you mind leading us there?” Jin asked, pulling out a coin.
“Hohoho, I’m not stepping’ foot in those woods hell were not even supposed to talk about it because it brings bad luck.”
“How about 3 of these coins?”
“Are you tryna say my life's worth $300?”
“Alright alright.” Jin signed and tossed one of the coins onto the man's counter.
“Feel free to not come again!” The old man laughed as Jin turned around to leave.
Jin and Kanashi left the shop and walked out in the fresh sunrise which threw a tint of orange across the strip mall they were standing in.
I’m kinda tired… Kanashi thought, staring at his slightly shaking hand. It’d been a while since he slept probably 36 or so hours and he felt the exhaustion beginning to take effect.
“You think we found our lady?” Jin asked, patting Kanashi on the head.
“I don't know, it seems like 120 or so years ago is a long time for someone to live, especially if they were an old lady at the time.” Kanashi replied while smacking Jin's hand away with a scowl. I’m not your kid!
“For a human, yeah you're right. There’s the chance she could be a ghost but I dont think a ghost would be able to perfectly perform such a curse without leaving some traces behind. I mean it's possible but that would have to be a top tier ghost, one which I’d have taken care of a while ago. Although there is another way she could live that long...” Jin said looking to Kanashi as if saying “Go one ask me more.”
“Care to explain?”
“You remember El-Saber right?”
“Of course.”
“He is something called a [Holy], a special race of humans who are capable of living up to around 300 years old give or take.”
“I thought the oldest person to ever live was 140 which is already way too long but 300?! That’s insane!”
“Well it’s not a common thing at all there are only four alive at this moment and probably under twenty to ever live.”
“Who are the other Holy then?”
“There’s El-Saber of course. He’s currently around 290 years old or so, Then there’s The Oracle Delphi ' she's 276 give or take. Randolph the Emperor Of The Vulracious Empire is 259 years old and last is the Orochi Emperor who’s 140.”
“How does no one know about this? You’d think people would notice somone living that long.”
“Same way Magic exists. It’s just legends and myths to the average person. Think about life 250 years ago, Cameras were grainy without color, Tvs had just come out and looked like complete shit. Things like digital record keeping we take for granted weren't around so it was a lot easier for things to get lost or undocumented. Not to mention that like blessings [Holy] are randomly born without reason. They just pop up.”
“I guess if you put it that way…” Kanashi muttered I always wondered if the second dark age never happened how technology would look but would magic also be more widespread in that scenario? The Forgotten War itself seems to be magical based on what I’ve been hearing around here so did that have some kind of role in why magic isn't considered something the general public shouldn't be aware of? But that just sounds like writing a holy book in an old language or code so you can say whatever you want is in there and no one else can correct you. Maybe in the past there was a massive conflict that happened because of everyone being able to use magic? Gun control can be a real problem now but imagining people capable of destroying entire city blocks because of an argument sounds… like it’d be a big issue.
“Well anyways it’s possible that she’s a Holy, in which case I’ll need to fight her instead of you.” Jin said, interrupting Kanashis deep thinking.
“I’m supposed to be the one to fight her!?”
“This wouldn't be training if you didn't.”
Kanashi clapped his hands in prayer looking into the sky “Oh lord, please let her be a Holy.” he cried as Jin cackled.
“Well let’s go find her first.”