Experiments

A lot of powerful mages were born as legends, striving and living up to the titles they earned in history, some became wizard saints, a few became the kings of Ishugal, and heroes became miracles while others became calamity but one has to ask have they fully realized their origin? Does one even know what origin truly means? Origin is simply stillness, the center and the core that creates a foundation for evolution in humanity.

The world’s most brilliant of minds used the “origin of a thing” in order to invent new ways to make it better. Without a basis, evolution can never be accomplished, humanity wouldn’t survive without it.  In ancient times man invented the Stonehenge which became the symbol of humanity’s growth; their creativity expands with each and every accomplishment they made, from a simple landmark, the idea of man-made homes was born, the idea of territory was also born from this as well.We must not forget that without the origin, human civilization cannot develop and will remain stagnant.

A manifestation: Neanderthals used to swing wooden clubs and throw stones as weapons, now such method evolved into pikes, later axes and now swords, bows and arrows. The origin of swords and bows are not entirely from the idea of wooden clubs and stone, rather the origin is identified as the purpose of wooden clubs and stone or rather what goes beyond the purpose and the intent of it. If a sword identifies their origin as that, their purpose is to swing, to cut but the real question is, what for? For what reason does the sword swing left and right? If there is no such meaning to that, then one has not found the origin completely, rather they only just saw the symbol but never the concept of it. The real origin of the sword is simply not to cleave and to swing at enemies, rather it can mean many things, to either kill the enemies of its wielder, to kill and fight to protect whoever wields it, to become the servant that brings victory, to defend the value of life by taking another, to cut through a hardship for the sake of freedom and many more. Thus it can be said that it reflects the heart of the soul.

Therefore there can never be such thing as true originality as everything that one has now, came from something, any idea they thought of now was based from another or based on knowledge founded by one who discovered it.

This is origin. It is a concept that can never be erased no matter how much evolution occurs.

Should one realize and follow their origin, they be more as powerful as they ever been because the soul has finally found who they are, what they are and the meaning on why it exists, such bond can never be broken and can live on to another lifetime. Should one fail to discover their origin, the cycle of power would end. This theory was proposed to be the reason why a number of humans cannot conjure magic of their own and one of the prime reasons why war still exists, because they could not find the right origin, therefore failing to evolve and prone to repeat mistakes time and time again.



The Boundary Field is a magic much similar to Territory magic but falls in the concept of “What exists between the Internal and External Worlds” and utilizes reality marbles or the idea of territory creation. Every time a Mage remains in their territory, they would gain the advantage, depending on what concept their territories take on or manifest. Though most territory users would be on par when it comes to their magic, the Final Lines overrides territory, it doesn’t actually bend space rather it breaks the reality of that space, creating a “world” or a small “reality” that cannot be controlled by natural forces or can be come in contact with natural forces that’s outside it but this doesn’t mean such force can be generated from the inside. Possession, illusion, mental suggestion, analysis, repercussions and curses are examples of these forces that can never penetrate through “realities” and anyone who resides in these realities can never be affected from such elements because they are cut off from the external world, including death itself.
The very magic itself is actually a crime and may generate unusually states of phenomena afterwards which are the side effect of its use. It doesn’t manipulate space, it disturbs it, it doesn’t displace objects from one place to another, it only seals them in a place that separates them from the outside world and into the space where the inner world can be reached. The capture of targets in a territory of course requires one to completely seal them off from the world; the Final Lines however seal its targets off from reality and cannot be retrieved by natural means even at the death or defeat of the magus.

They are counted as things that aren’t real and at the same time they aren’t considered fiction. While residing between the Internal and External worlds, they are frozen in a small reality that’s shaped out from the target’s own inner world. The Inner world of the target is described to be something from the unconscious, they could experience flashbacks or come to experience a landscape which little do they know is the shape and reflection of their soul. The only way out of this reality is to simply wake up from it and waking up involves finding the very center of themselves, that goes without saying if the targets were captured and sent to the boundary.

Spell attacks are usually ranged in nature or are supposed to be fired off from the “realities” the caster makes.  These realities have the ability to mimic the natural elements however they don’t count as elements from the External World. For an example, a water attack from the external world comes in contact with a fire attack from the boundary between, shall not affect such fire because the element is ruled out from reality. However if a water attack from between the boundaries comes in contact with a fire attack from the External world, it would serve as normal water that will extinguish the fire.

Because the rule in reality is: Water extinguishes Fire. The Boundary Between worlds is a reality that does not have such rule but the external world does. However interactions with the internal world are different, instead of having to ignore rules, the internal world may bend the said rules. An water attack from between the boundaries may easily be ruptured by electrical attacks from the Internal World.

The external world is the positive, the boundary in between is the negative and the Internal world is another negative. Positive and negative cannot bring positivity in space, it only brings more negativity than it should, however if a Negative and another negative were to collide, it brings a positive one and erases the lawless reality.




Aether’s ultimate plot is to reach the spiral root of origin, Akasha. It is believed among most mages that when the world ends, only then will the path of the root be open. Of course that’s the common belief among the philosophical mages; he believed that there was another way.

Aether’s ancestors were able to come up with a spell that opened up a rift to the root itself. The spell’s name is known as the “Paradox Spiral” which requires a total of twelve powerful Mages (regardless of rank but must have powerful magical potential) or a powerful energy source, the mages that operate Etherion is an example.

Knowing that performing such methods required for his plan to work maybe discovered by an unknown party, he must create events much bigger than will divert attention from it and at the same time would give him enough time to realize it.

You're curious of this rumor going on about a cult of professional Assassins who's activity soon became malignant information for all citizens of the underworld. You only heard about these assassins from the rumors, so you decided to go to the agency that has information about them... Garan no Dou.

You are then redirected to the third floor, surprisingly you only traveled two floors but you're already at the third floor for some reason. You decided to be ignorant of that fact anyways.

(Mejai Kaijura, female form)

"I see... you wanted to know about the Assassins they are talking about huh? 380,000 jewels please..." You wondered why its so expensive (Or cheap) but probably because getting this information isn't easy work. You take a seat as you are given a portfolio that contains photographs and reports. Listen and read closely.

The HASSASSIN, were the followers of Hassan I Sabbah who founded the very cult in the first place. Hassan was idolized as a powerful and influential figure. His teachings and philosophies revolved around having courage to take life, to have life taken and to have taken life. Unfortunately for Hassan I Sabbah, he had already long died but in order to ensure that nobody learns of his death, the cult decided to nominate someone to become Hassan's successor. This tradition has been carried out over the years.

HASSASSIN are an elite group of specialists in the arts of assassination. They are not thugs, rather powerful and cunning turncoats, said to have eliminated some of the most powerful figures in every nation around Earthland. Assassination isn't limited to murder, there are multiple arts of assassination, these were known ones:



Their choice of weapons depends on the personality of "Hassan" however it was because of this that people find it difficult to locate the real Hassan as Hassan has many names. The higher ups found use of them to eliminate key targets and by far their assassinations were the best... but are extremely expensive.

Their belief about Hassan simply goes like this:

"I am Hassan, you are Hassan, we are Hassan."

"Hassan is not one person but many, but all are one and one are all. We are the many faces of Hassan..."

Hassassins don't actually boast about their efforts and services but more on their cult that the teachings of Hassan is absolute, which made every single member one professional and a deadly assassin. They are more than enough to put all four Kings of Ishugal in a corner given how organized they move.

"Right sir this is all the information you need.. huh? How to find one of them? I suggest going to the Land of Sin but their "Scout" isn't there right now. For some reason the Hassassins are declining offers from the highest bidder and their movements were almost made known by the underworld. This is the first time the Hassassins acted this way, whereas they are supposed to be a mercenary group, killing in the name of their relgion and cult.... but they are just too organized.

Something.. or someone stirred them up.... somehow..

"Greetings and welcome to CLASS TIME with your host, Merlin Ambrosisus! Today I shall discuss about the mechanics of my plot proposal!"

All the NPCs I generate are mostly Magi who strive more in intelligence rather than magical potential (Although there are some who falls having strong points on two fields). In my plot proposal the term "Magecraft" is introduced, along with the Laplace Demon's Theory and the Inversion Impulse.

What is Magecraft? What makes Magecraft different from one's use of magic? Well first, allow me to define Magecraft itself!


Magecraft is an artificial reenactment of a mystery, a miracle.

It is the ability to reproduce what can be scientifically realized regardless of time and funds. Magecraft doesn't fall under the category that can easily be achieved through natural means but rather its only something that defies the common logic.

Take it as trying to lift a girder in midair with no material to actually hold it.

In common logic, the only way to lift a girder in midair is to simulate two powerful magnets on it, whereas the powerful magnets would eventually allow it to float in midair.

In terms of Magecraft, the only way to lift a girder is to completely weaken the level of gravity in its area, causing the girder to float.

What makes this different from magic?

Magic itself is the miracle, the ability to create miracles and a power that is almost infinite in mystery. Magic is something that can't be interpreted through scientific means rather most would say sorcery is closely attuned to phenomena itself. It cannot be completely explained or rather the very cause itself cannot be defined through simple analysis and interpretation rather defined in "theories" according to philosophers. Its a driving and unpredictable force and the very nature of magic can vary according to how it was brought up.

Magecraft can only replicate the internal works of Magic itself, we can mimic magic, harness its energy and use to perform chores in an uncommon way, which classifies Magi as threats commonality.

Magic in terms of the example shown earlier is pretty much like commanding the force of nature to lift the girder without completely hindering any of the physical laws in order to perform it, in the mordern world, should such feat be achieved, the ignorant would just think of it as an illusion.

What are the Advantages and Disadvantages of Magecraft, some properties Magecraft has and that Magic doesn't have?

Advantages and Disadvantages

• Magecraft has become a bit more common preference and usage among magi, since unlike other types of magic, it can easily be learned, the mechanics of such can be completely explained and comprehended as well as its usage. Majority would prefer Magecraft over actual magic because it can come in many application and varieties of such can be produced accordingly to one's concept of it.
  
• Magical Items are a result of Magecraft,no matter what one says. There is no such thing as an item produced purely on the methods of Magic as magic cannot be bounded to create objects but can only perform a mystery, a miracle. In terms of how the Celestial Spirit keys were made, whether the one who crafted it was a pure magical entity or not, there must always be an explanation to how they were crafted and well made for humans to use and to make a contract with but this doesn't mean celestial spirit magic itself is Magecraft. While the summoning process is Magecraft itself, the being summoned is the result of Magic itself. The use of Lacrima in order to obtain Magic is considered Magecraft as well or rather the process of acquiring a speciality of magic is magecraft.
  
• Magecraft can allow one to harness power into an object and can also allow such power to be released, same principle applies to living beings, the process of regenerating mana is an integral part of Magecraft. Gods or planetary entities such as Primordials, demons or angels, elementals are magic entities because their existence is a complete mystery in itself. In recent times, Modern Magi formulated ways to rival the power of the Gods through the process of generativity. According to historians most Magi during the Age of the Gods were quite powerful than the ones living today because most of them had already contracted themselves to the Gods or were blessed and cursed with those powers. The possibility of descendants inheriting this power would decrease overtime as some would procreate with others who may not hold such power or may have a different one. Even committing incest wouldn't suffice as it wanes over the course of time to the point that it can no longer be classified as magic but simply Magecraft as purity can completely be robbed despite the circumstances.
  
• Continuation from the part of Generativity, the method Magi managed to develop was the creation of Magical Circuits and Magical Crests in themselves. Magic Circuits are components of a mage's body that is somewhat similar to an ogan but they aren't materialistic. Magic Circuits generate mana, some may even generate mana for a specific spell. These Magic Circuits are produced and made to generate mana and to unleash powerful spells and such. A Magic Crest is a pile of Magic circuits clumped together and is usually a result of generativity, whereas a bloodline of mages would contribute magic circuits and add them to the crest. To transfer a crest to descendant of the bloodline would require a surgical process to which there's a 50-50 percent chance the successor may die from such operation, which is the bad side of it and its expected to be painful. Through this process, the older the magic crest, the more powerful the bearer be and it is possible that one can rival the power of the Gods this way but never in a lifetime can the mages of old wield such great power as the Modern magi of today.
  
• To compare the implantation of a Magic Crest and a Lacrima, both gives off special perks and abilities, including the knowledge of magic. To differentiate, a Lacrima can give one the ability to use magic automatically and is nurtured through experience and practice and can be given to almost anyone. A Magic Crest is different, it cannot be implanted to just anyone as one sees fit. It can only be implanted on  the next generation of a bloodline, the heir, the successor. Just as how a Magic Crest would be, the older it gets, the more powerful the wielder of the Crest and unlike mages that don't have magic circuits, those who have them can regenerate more mana than they could. (Of course once they are out of mana, the same conditions apply, regardless)
  

During the early periods whereas Magic was to become a common sight among the populace, scientists and researchers developed a new kind of method that allowed them to predict future events without the aid of the Oracles. They followed the principles of Laplace’s demon to which then, it is actually possible to predict the future by means of possessing a highly developed and advanced cognitive process.  The name of the group that follows this principle was known to be called Atlas.

Majority of the members of Atlas are usually alchemists or rather holder type magus, it is rare to find a caster type mage within the group. All members of Atlas were to learn and apply the principles of the Laplace Theory through their magic (An advance and deeper understand of cause and effects, source and repercussions and anticipation). More or less Holder type Magus would have it as a secondary magic or ability other than their primary.

This was known as Memory Partition.

Memory Partition is a specialty to which only the members of Atlas know of. it is the ability to partition their thoughts to form multiple independent thought processes. While normal people can only have a single "room" in their brain and focus on one thought, partitioning adds partitions to the one room to create multiple rooms. The prerequisite for the superior alchemists of Atlas is at least three rooms, while five is on the level of a genius. The more partitions one has, the smarter the mage and the more powerful and superior their tactics are. It is different than having multiple independent machines in their heads because, while there are multiple processes, they work toward one goal. They manage different problem sets, but work together to generate one overall solution. While machines can calculate on the same level, nothing else compares when used for problem solving. The limit of an average member is one thought into multiple rooms, but superior alchemists can perform first−order tetration of their thought into rooms. The rooms are synergistic, so four partitions allows for 256 thought processes. As they work towards one goal, it does not allow for 256 separate calculations.


Throughout mythology, stories of humans breeding with Gods and monsters exist. These stories may serve to empower a ruler or perhaps cause terror as part of a moral story. Whether it would be from love or for unpleasant motives, the offspring is born from their union. These are people that have received the essence of Inhumanity through their bizarre heritage, they are commonly known as Mixed Bloods. And many of these people will sooner or later tap into its hidden power under certain circumstances. It is possible to never ever try to attempt unlocking the psychological limiters in place, but with the uncertainty of life, it is also deemed impossible at the same time.

When one taps into their Inhuman heritage, they can never turn back. You can never go back to normal. People who have stepped into this realm can only hope they won't be able to experience anymore "triggers"that will cause them to lose more and more of their human side. Some maybe lucky enough that their lineage is too weak for any further advancement. The luckiest ones will have blood that have been diluted enough that they will never have fo experience this in the first place.

The "Inversion Impulse" is a term describing the Inhuman side of the Mixed Bloods. It is a state where humans can tap into their monstrous heritage hidden deep inside of their genetics. This also describes how this heritage threatens to take over a Mixed Blood's humanity. In every word, humans are weak individually to begin with. As a consequence, their Inhuman side will start to gain control over their mind, body, and soul. The end result is a new creation of a full-blooded monster. It's always nearly a given that an Inhuman is generally weaker than a full-blooded Inhuman.

Besides those born as one, you have some that are made into one. These may be people that have somehow made a part of a monster into themselves. This can be as simple as consuming their flesh, drinking blood, or even attaching their arm in place of a lost one. Through doing so, they are making themselves vulnerable for the "invader" to enter their body. Even cutting off the newly attached limb may not be possible to stop this advance. As such, it would be fool-hardy to commit to this practice without considering the consequences.
Mixed Bloods are categorized into these separate classes below.

• Oni-Kind: An inhuman species under the category of the Transcendent Kind. Known for being "demons", the Oni-Kind seem to be a fiery species related to flame and heat along with brute force. In today's times, the Oni-Kind are extinct. But they have some descendents through humans that may have only a bit of their blood. Mixed Bloods of the Oni-Kind generally do not have happy and long lives as they tend to risk insanity that is dangerous to themselves and to others around them.
  
• Demi-Humans: A general term of mystical creatures with human characteristics. Each possess their own unique abilities related to their own legends and lore. Their weaknesses are also stated in such sources. Giants, fairies, and dwarves are under this category. Even werewolves and succubi/incubi seem to be included. That is to say they are living creatures that have "mystery", unlike the mystical spirits of old.

Since the dawn of time, God had given Adam the right to live in the Holy Land of Eden, the Garden of Beginnings. All living things, including man were all children of the Earth, children of God. Adam was assigned to become one of the guardians of the Holy Eden itself, within this land, paradise for all living things in the darkest of storms.  One day God had decided that Adam’s efforts were to be rewarded not through materialistic means but through the experience which will give meaning to the life of man that had served God. So He took Adam and through sheer light, he split him in two entities, Adam the man and Eve the woman. He granted them eternal life and peace within the garden so as long as they not eat the fruit from the forbidden tree, the foundation that carries all knowledge of the world.

Adam and Eve never aged, not once there was a moment of grief but endless joy till one day the serpent came to them, one of the members of the family that lived in Eden, approached Eve out on a whim, its eyes riddled Eve with ever so curiosity and temptation influencing the motherly guardian of the Holy Garden and involving the fatherly guardian, Adam. Hence the moment Adam and Eve took a bite from the forbidden truth, their immortality was lost and gained by the serpent, deprived if not so but stolen the right to live and dwell in the heavenly gardens.

On that day God had banished his guardians from the Holy Land, hence founding the human race, On that day, God had cursed the serpent depriving the freedom to walk but crawl and slither with its body for an eternity. Since that day, the snake is thought to be the symbol and downfall of the human race, though there are some cults that had worshipped the serpent they were considered heretic by the church. Here ends the story for today in the Bible of Genesis, now then any questions young pupils?



“A question dear father” Echoed a voice throughout the entire class of young church agents and exorcists, a voice that belongs to a young 20 year old man named Stein. Father Rikei  extended his hand motioning the student to stand up.

“And what is your inquiry, youg one?” He asked as the entire class eyes and anticipates for his question.

“Could the Serpent of Akasha be the same one from the time our ancestors was in Eden?” He asked, causing half the class the giggle and chuckle. Instead of chuckling, Father Rikei smiled at the young one and gave him his answer.

“The Serpent of Akasha is a different case; rather they are not entirely the serpent but pursued the path of the serpent itself, burdened with a kind of imperfect immortality. They aren’t truly the serpent and if they are, the angels of God would have already descended before us to start their hunt for it but such never did happen and if it did, not caught by the human eyes.” By the end of Father Rikei’s answer, rings the church bell, signifying the end of their bible study.

“That is all for today dear children, now stand up and pray for thanks as the Lord granted me to give you knowledge of our world if not a reminder.”

Prayers of gratitude were made and as soon as Father Rikei exits the class of the 5th bead of the third mystery, the students that were studying to become devoted followers of God gained a momentary freedom to be themselves, some would litter around the classroom, standing by the window while others rest their heads on their arms sleeping and thinking of today’s lesson, others had discussed about the previous lecture, however other social topics were involved in the conversation.


Young Stein is a student of the 5th bead, the third mystery. He has fair and passable ratings of every test given to him by the doctrines of the church, aiming to become one of the secret organizations of the church. Stein unlike some of his fellow brothers and sisters who share the same class as he, has a very special gift, powers of mental capability, a psychic ability that would allow him to levitate objects and read the minds of the people around him if he willed it. Because of this, majority of his age group consider him as one of the heretics that wished to partake in God’s work to repent.

What to for repent? Existence? Indifference? Blasphemy and  cursed with Dark and Evil Powers?

It was indeed common to hear this discriminatory remark amongst the members of the church but such remarks wouldn’t matter as they were compensated with pure and honest work in the name of the Lord the Almighty Father himself, however when it comes to social relationships among kin, it proved to be a bit difficult. Church agents possessing unique abilities are indeed a rarity but more or less looked down upon.

Stein’s powers were kept in check every day in order to make sure that he didn’t use them for the wrong reasons by the priests and the church inquisitors who volunteered to teach the young church agents.  Course because of this issue, Stein would sometimes get discriminated from time to time not directly but in a more expressive way of discrimination such as implications on a test by claiming they have studied hard that cheating wouldn’t happen or perhaps claiming that they aren’t manipulative people.

Of course there was one who he can consider as a friend.

“Hey Stein!” Her name was Ciel, she waved her hands up to get Stein’s attention. Ciel is a young church agent who befriended Stein upon their first meeting. She’s from a different class, namely the 7th bead of the fifth mystery.

“Oh hey Ciel, I heard that you are eligible to join and become part of the Shura’s den!” Stein said as he and Ciel both approached each other, walking towards the canteen. “Well yeah, I guess that means I get to do the Lord’s dirty work and become part of the necessary evil. Not that it’s a bad thing but it’s really an honor, I must have been blessed by Mother Mary herself!”

Stein exhaled as both he and Ciel were to wait in line. “Gosh, I wish I was with the Shura with you though, unfortunately I don’t think that I’ve earned the favor of the assigned inquisitors.” Ciel pats his back in comfort.

“Now, now Stein, don’t let that get to you and besides if you prove it on your next assigned mission, you might just be able to qualify and if not then the Lord may have some other plans for you.”

Whenever Stein would feel down, his friend Ciel would always bring him back up again, her words always filled Stein with hope. He’s used to this kind of treatment and it’s this treatment he needs every day. Now as for the organization Stein wanted to get in, the Shura’s Den is one of the secret organizations of the church, its members were given authority to execute whoever the church deems as  heretics, sometimes the church would hunt creatures like the undead, demons and mages who they deem to be heretical in nature such as those who consort themselves to the powers of demons. Each and every member of the Shura’s den is a professional killer not one of them is unskilled in their own art, members who failed to meet expectations are automatically expelled from the organization and are reassigned to becoming exorcists or part of the templars. Their line of work is discrete and carries out executions out of public eye.  

In order to become part of the Shura’s Den, you must past the selection’s test whereas its usually held during missions.  

A priestess in training whose close at age with ciel came by and greeted them both, her name is Lapis. “Ciel our class has been given a mission, we are to be briefed about it after the break.” Lapis gazed over at Stein. Lapis’s expression changed from a calm expression to an expression of disgust.

“Stein, though as there’s no problem in talking to Ciel, may I remind you that I have not grown to like you, regardless I’d appreciate it at the very least that you don’t turn Ciel into a heretic.” What Lapis is trying to say is that Stein shouldn’t manipulate Ciel because Lapis is aware of his psychic abilities. Like most people Lapis isn’t so trusting of Stein, having doubts and suspicions that Stein might have used his abilities to cheat on his written tests.

“I’ll say this as many time as necessary Lapis, I’m neither sinner nor do I abuse my powers to get what I want but if you don’t want me talking to Ciel, you could have been more direct with your words” Stein said as he walked away. Ciel pouted and put both of her hands on her waists and turned to Lapis. “Lapis that was rude of you to do so, I’ve come to him of my own accord not because I’m being manipulated!” Ciel scolded Lapis for her rude behavior.

“I apologize Ciel but you never know, that boy could have succeeded into convincing you or some people of the church but I’ll be honest with you, nothing good can come out of him and the moment the church decides that he’d be nothing more than an heretic, he’ll be sealed and imprisoned or better yet executed for the good of all” Lapis said as she walked away.

“You better not be late for our class meeting Ciel.”


Stein cringed his hands, a face scorned as he walked away, hearing the entire conversation they had. He was always treated differently to the point that the very presence of him here would make him a heretic and the others more holy and righteous than him. The church never did discriminate Stein for his abilities however they have their doubts, the capability of mental strength, to read and synchronize minds is something the church considers a form of healing under the darkest of circumstances. When put to good use, it may reveal the dirtiest secrets the heretics would keep from the church, the worse would be that it be used to go against the church as well.

Ciel watched as both Stein and Lapis gone their separate ways.
“Oh dear, I pray that the Lord isn’t too harsh on his trials with Stein.”

---

The Church Organization, apart from the fact that they are considered “God’s messengers” or perhaps those who spread the faith and Word of the Lord, the church has its own kind of branches

The Chilvaric Order isn’t exactly a faction rather it’s the main military body for each branch of the church. There are different classes of church agents, namely the Exorcists, the Inquisitors, the Knights and the Paladins (Whereas the class of Executor is only reserved for the Shura’s Den).


The Shura’s Den is one of the darkest agencies of the church and was founded by Sir Claus von Schatz, who is also the inventor of the "Black Key" a church agent's basic weapon. Its founder was considered the Death God, appointed by the church the task of demon killing and the complete destruction of other heretical beings. Claus founded the Shura’s Den in order to train a strong group of assassins capable of such feat and if one doesn’t meet the standards, one cannot join the Shura’s Den. The doctrine follow the idea that God is the one absolute, that which is supreme and that which is all, and that as The Holy Spirit, He is the creator of a perfect world.


“It is impossible for Him to allow the existence of demons to defile the world He created by violating His own children. Even with that ideal, it is a fact that they do exist, corrupting man and defiling the world, playing out miserable tragedies and comedies beyond the reasoning of man. That which ought not to be taints the world of God, and so, they reasoned that even these demons, the corruptors of man, are a vital part of the world the Lord constructed and one of His precious creations.” They simply follow that if it is the work of the holy to strengthen the goodness of man, then what strengthens the evil of man is the demonic.

---

The Temple of the Nazarene, a place where the archbishops and the head of each church would come to attend the meeting, discussing about matters of importance, these maybe events organized by the church, progress of new and old church agents alike, assigned hunts by the church or even the sudden activities of relics.

Today’s topic wasn’t like any of those matters.

“I’m sure you’re all aware why we are here today.” Father Rikei said as he stands at the center of the room.

“Today is the day we’ve all waited, feared and prayed for. I’ll get straight to the point with this as it involves the Serpent of Akasha, the reincarnating demon.” The Courtroom falls into silence.

Indeed, the serpent has shed its skin and is now ready to manifest itself into another body of a person that’s already been born, according to the Far Seer, the transformation can happen in anytime of this year, therefore I’m here to suggest a protocol which requires every head of every church to come in attendance. I would propose seeking out and searching for individuals blessed with powers and talents and put them under watchful eyes until we are certain they may or may not be the incarnation of the Serpent.  If the said incarnation were to be too powerful, the Executors from the Shura’s Den will have to be dispatched not to kill but to capture.

“Capture? Preposterous, heretical beings like that Serpent should have its head cut off over and over again as many times as necessary so we can remind that serpent who  we are and the duty assigned to us by our Lord” Says one of the church heads.

Rikei chuckled. “Lady Eleisia, care to explain?” From one of the seats stood Lady Eleisia, one of high authorities of the church, she descends down to the center of the courtroom and speaks for Father Rikei.

“Cut the head of the snake? That’s easier said than done for what all we’ve been doing so far is help shed its skin. So instead of killing it over and over, we are to permanently seal it instead. If we do kill the Serpent then we will have more trouble encountering it in the future, which of course is no problem for us. We must think about why it needed this imperfect immortality, we must also think about preventing innocent lives from being affected by this curse.”

“Why should we trust this idea from a woman whose husband has consorted with that heretical serpent?” asked one of the attendants of the court. Lady Eleisia remained silent and thus Father Rikei stepped forward to speak for her.

“This order comes from the Archbishop, young vicar. Before you judge Eleisia, you must understand the reason for giving out these statements.” The Vicar was silenced and Eleisia continued.

“Demons like the Serpent are supposed to be exorcised, slain  and eradicated from God’s kingdom but how can we do so if we don’t have the knowledge for it, if I’m not mistaken we are not created and blessed to act so recklessly without thinking. IF we do capture the Serpent and seal him, we can prevent any loss of innocent lives, killing him over and over will only produce the same results; he manifests, transforms and then proceeds with his mass killings.”

“Now if anyone has any questions, speak.” Said Rikei as hands were raised.

“I speak for the Chilvaric Orders of Mattheian, if I am not mistaken the Magic Council had already caught drift of the church’s activities, supposedly they knew the existence of the Serpent and had captured it before we did, what do you propose we do?”

“If that comes to case we are to send a representative of the church at once, preferably one of the Bishops or the Executors, if they are to try and take the Serpent for themselves, we’ll reason out with them but if they persist, then the Magic Council is an enemy of the Church for housing a heretic.”

“I speak for the Chilvaric Orders of Magdalena, I bring about a question of concern, you haven’t mentioned the specific place, specific date or specific person the Serpent will choose the manifest so I can safely assume that the Far Seer can’t pinpoint the whereabouts of the Serpent, of course what was stated is the old protocol is but a little change in the rule, instead of killing we are to capture the Serpent instead, how do you propose we seal him exactly?”

“We’ll have to recite the 19 verses of Eternal rest, from Psalms 1:6 all the way to Revelation 21:8, this by far is one of the few strongest of seals we have against demons, including Legion. If we fail to seal him then we shall revert back to our traditional ways until we find an alternative.”

“What if it incarnates into a mage?” Asked another.

“Then they can be dealt with accordingly, hopefully it doesn’t come to that but if it does, then I’ll take the luxury of performing the task myself” replied Father Rikei.

“I speak not only for the Church of Viena but for all of us church agents here, Father Rikei, Lady Eleisia what if the Serpent manages to manifests as one of us?”  Once again silence ruled the Courtroom only for it to be broken by Eleisia’s answer.

“Which is why it is important for every church to come, we’re issuing an order to all Church Agents that possess rare talents be drawn to the main church immediately and will stay in the Abbey of the Main church until further notice, they will then be replaced by Church Inquisitors and Church Executors. We all know pretty well the Serpent favors to incarnate himself with those of special talents. If by chance we are wrong about this and it incarnated into a regular, then it would be easy to do our job.”

“Are there no objections to Lady Eleisia’s proposal?” Father Rikei asked. All he received is the acknowledgement of all the church heads, not a single hand was raised so far.  

“Then let us proceed with our mission reports.”

---

Walking down the hallway were two friends for almost 20 years, one dressed in his Executor’s attire, father Rikei Mckinley the 9th head of the Shura’s Den, walking besides him was Eleisia Falk, one of the High priestess of the church organization. They both go way back, during the time they served as mere church exorcists and inquisitors, Rikei succeeded to becoming part of the Shura’s Den at the age of 10 while Eleisia became a high priestess at the same age that succeeded performing the baptismal rite, a powerful exorcism spell. They were a team along with Faust Falk, Eleisia’s husband and Lady Hydrangea, Rikei’s wife.

They were called the Cardinal, the Gates of the Four. Faust and Rikei were on par with each other, while Rikei possesses a high quality of skill, Faust possesses a unique ability that allows him to regenerate and imbued his strikes with holy flames. Eleisia was a powerful priestess who can master a lot of powerful exorcism spells while Lady Hydrangea’s work consists of granting miracles to those that are beyond salvation, may it be healing or complete separation of the human soul from demon control.

“I heard your daughter met expectations to become one of the Shura, I had looked at her records and I’m just simply amazed. She might even surpass her father given her pace.” Said Rikei.

“I never did expect her to be so well versed in combat but I guess it’s because she looks up to you as a Father figure. Shame that she doesn’t have any interest in becoming a powerful exorcist but as her mother I’ll respect her wishes.”

“Aren’t you worried Milady?”

“You don’t need to be formal Rikei, you can address me by my name only.” She remarked as she would listen what Rikei has to say.

“Your daughter, she might become a potential host, to the Serpent. If we are indeed right about this, he’d choose the most talented.” Rikei stated, perhaps words Eleisia expected to hear from him.


“I pray to the Holy Trinity that she doesn’t but if it was all set in stone then I will just have to accept it as my duty to discipline her and the Serpent.” Rikei chuckled upon hearing those words.  Eleisia was inclined to ask.

“Rikei, I’d like to apologize on behalf of my husband about Hydrangea….”
“It was her time Eleisia, she was frail from the very beginning, and she expected this would happen, I was prepared for the worse outcome.”

“Your daughter misses you Rikei, perhaps its time you’d like to see her.”
“That reminds me, it’s almost her birthday, perhaps I should but of course not empty handed.”
“Its your presence is all that she needs Rikei, nothing else it’s a bit cruel to leave her at my hands for too long, she must meet her father.”

“I understand, then I shall make plans .” Rikei and Eleisia go their separate ways, while Eleisia heads towards the chambers of the Archbishop, Rikei would return to the Shura’s Den in order to brief its members of their new objective.

“Till then.”

---

Both Eleisia and Rikei lost their loved ones during the pursuit of the Serpent. Faust Falk, Eleisia’s husband seeks out the artifact that is said to completely nullify the reincarnation process of the Serpent of Akasha, thus robbing it of its own immortality. However there was a price and that was the cost of his life. Faust made it his noble mission to accomplish this despite the consequences; Eleisia was against the idea not because that her husband’s life may be cut short but doubts the power of the artifact itself.

It wasn’t a holy item but an artifact coveted by the demon world to completely robs one of immortality. It was said to have been a case similar to the Longinus, the weapon that pierced God, however a deathly curse awaits the user.  Faust defeated the Serpent Akasha with the relic, as the curse would imply about his life, it actually meant his humanity and turned rabid and feral as weeks go by. Now he resembles a mix blood of a half human and demon and was deemed by the church as a heretic.

In an attempt to separate him from the curse, Hydrangea made the attempt to separate his soul from the curse. Faust attacked Falk and mortally wounded Hydrangea to the point of death. Fortuantely Rikei was able to intervene and stop Faust in time, in the end Faust’s life was taken by the hands of his wife, Eleisia.

Because of what Falk had inflicted on Lady Hydrangea, her life span was cut short and her body resistance crumbled, making her prone to illness and disease.  Unfortuantely Hydrangea’s daughter inherited the accursed frailty of her mother’s but not in the case that it was just as severe. Hydrangea succumbed to her injury on that day and died peacefully, hence the complete destruction of the Cardinal Gates of the Four.  Of all the priestess in the world, Hydrangea was the only woman capable to separating the soul from a deathly and godly curse, if things were to have proceeded safely, the downfall of the Cardinal should have not happened and Lady Hydrangea would have saved more lives.

Eleisia blamed herself  as she did not kept her husband in check, Rikei blamed himself for that he was not aware of Faust’s curse and the secrecy of the attempt to exorcise the curse without his presence.

Things would have been different for all of them and the glory of Cardinal would have continued on.
And all their efforts were in vain, the Serpent continues its reincarnation.

---

The order was issued and thus all Church Agents with special capabilities were forced to draw back to the Main Church without giving much knowledge as to why. The special church agents were assigned to do menial chores such as cleaning and prep work for the donations. Of course some of those that weren’t as talented as they are intermingled with them as by means to ensure that none of them would become the next incarnation of the Serpent.

They were looked down upon despite the meaningful efforts they did and from there, acts of discrimination. It was assumed that this was a test of patience and temptation but Stein didn’t have as much tolerance as the others would. He wanted to partake in an active mission so that he can be part of the Shura like his friend Ciel, surprisingly he saw Ciel working with him in the main church, handing out donations.

“Ciel? Why are you here?” He asked.
“Well there aren’t any missions for me to take so I just thought I’d help you guys out a little, no?” Ciel said it with vigor as she carries a box of donations and walks off with it, Stein followed behind carrying his own.

“I-I see, well anyways don’t you find it ridiculous that us, the “gifted ones” are to be kept under the main church?”

“Well I beats me, mother never tells me anything about it but hopefully there’s a good reason for it to, she maybe cold but I know she has heart.” Ciel said so cheerfully.

“I’m kinda jealous of your relationship with your mother, despite the fact that she treats you unfairly, you seem to see through her intentions.”

“Well call it a daughterly instinct I guess?”

“Yeah… too bad I never get to meet my parents” Stein and Ciel handed down the boxes, towards the nun in charge of donations. They both head out and return to the room where more donations are needed to be transferred; Stein tripped and lost his footing and falls down on his knees. His vision blurs a bit.  

“H-hey! You ok Stein?” Ciel pulled him back up.
“Y-yeah, I was just not having enough sleep lately that’s all.”

“Wanna rest? I’ll call the—“ Ciel’s sentence was cut short by a pat to the shoulder.
“Ciel, I’m fine its nothing, carrying these donations are more important.” Ciel nodded but can’t shrug off the feeling that something could be wrong with Stein.  In fact he looked a little pale.

“Big sister Eleisia!” A voice cried out, it was Claudia, Eleisia’s little sister as she hugged her leg.
“Heeeey!” Ciel pulled up Claudia and twirled around.

“Oh is this your little sister?” Stein asked, it was the first time she’s seen Claudia as he recalled, Ciel doesn’t have a sister.
“Yeah she is, Claudia why don’t you go say hello to brother Stein?” As Ciel introduces her to Stein, Claudia’s nose starts dripping with blood.

“There you are little one, come Claudia.” Dieval, Eleisia’s pupil, called out to her. Dieval was assigned to accompany Claudia to the donations center in order to find Ciel, however when they both arrived, it took only 10 seconds for Claudia to escape from his sight.

“Oh my, Claudia you’re nosebleeding!” Dieval cried as he draws on his handkerchief. Claudia remains, clinging to Ciel just by her shoulders, it seems that she’s looking away from Stein, her eyes were welling up in tears.  Ciel gave Claudia to Dieval as he tended to the little white haired girl.

“Is she ok?” Stein asked.
“Well more or less, this is the first time in years that this happened to her though, dunno why her nose chose to bleed now.”  

“I’ll take Claudia to the clinic Ciel.” Dieval bowed as he left Ciel and Stein alone carrying Claudia towards the nearby clinic. Passing by was Lapis, Ciel’s classmate.  “You, did you do something to that young girl Stein?” Lapis sounded like she was interrogating a criminal.

“I did nothing of the sort Lapis, you know that.” Stein replied as he turned away from the sight of Lapis and carries another box to the donation center, avoiding any confrontation with Lapis. Ciel exhaled in disappointment as she proceeded with her work, coming after Stein.

---

In the clinic there was a nurse and two twins, a brother and a sister. The name of the Nurse is Lady Odesa, a nun who holds authority over the entire donations center.


In the clinic there was a nurse and two twins, a brother and a sister. The name of the Nurse is Lady Odesa, one of the higher authorities in charge of the donations center, the brother was named Koshirou and the other Shoko, they are twins were born from Midi after losing both their parents from Naraku’s recent activities. The clinic door opens, revealing Dieval and the nosebleeding Claudia.

“Claudia?” Shoko raised her eyebrow.
“Right, I’ll get the icebag.” Koshirou  drops down from his seat and searches the cabinet for an icebag.  
“Hello brother Koshi, hello Shoko.” Claudia replied.

Dieval and Lady Odesa greeted each other as both Koshirou and Shoko tend to Claudia’s nosebleed. Soon the clinic has another visitor, a fellow church agent who came to look for dieval?

“What is it?” Dieval asked.
“There’s trouble a mile outside of town, we’re going to need you Dieval.” Said the church agent, Lady Odesa permitted Dieval to go as she and the twins will take responsibility for Claudia for now.

“Go, you’re needed elsewhere.” She said as Dieval ran off, not turning back.

---

Dieval and the church agent started running out of the village, from the rooftops, fellow inquisitors follow closely behind.  They were ten of them.

“They’ve sent a distress signal, a small trainee squad along with one of our Executors.”
“The nature of the threat?”
“We aren’t exactly sure, the familiar sent to us was only used as a protocol for help.”
“Are you sure the familiar sent wasn’t for training purpo---“

And soon they came across a ruined landscape, bodies of their blood-soaked fellowmen were littered across the battlefield and a woman stands at the center, killing off the Executor by crushing his skull. Dieval and his squad prepared their Black Keys and Conceptual Weapons.

“She’s a demon…” Dieval stated to his fellow Shuran but this wasn’t no ordinary demon, in fact she’s made it to the Church’s Black List, The Disaster Zone, Naraku.

“In the name of the Holy Church, by decree of the Cardinal and the Will of Sir Claus, Demon you shall be exorcised from the world” declared Dieval.

Naraku laughed in giggled as she covered her face with her hand in thrill and utter disgust. “Claus? I see, you’re his students that old fool isn’t here anymore to protect you from me. As you know, your predecessor cannot escape death but how are you so certain you can prevent yours from coming?”

---

Black Keys and Conceptual weapons.

Black Keys are a church agent’s most valuable weapon against heretical and unholy beings, what makes them so special is that it strikes the target’s shadow, impairing their movement and leaving them at the mercy of the church agent. Black keys may come in a form of a blade, an arrow, bullets, bayonets or simply anything that’s used to impale these shadows. However they are not considered holy weapons rather they impale the “Proof of existence under the light”.

Anything that casts a shadow exists on the material plane, anything that blocks out the light exists, hence the concept of black keys.

A Conceptual weapon on the other hand is similar to holder items but they are the holder versions of those whose magic lies under a conceptual level. Most of the Church’s weapons underlie the concepts of saints, exorcism or anything that goes according to the doctrine; they are first blessed by the Archibishop before they can be of use. They deal heavy damage to demons, most demons would mistake conceptual weapons as mere magical toys or primitive weapons but when a conceptual weapon is involved, it puts demons to the point that they are “Mortal” before these weapons no matter how high the class of demon.

---

The village was burning, church agents scatter to evacuate citizens, to rescue whoever God had spared from the fire and some were met with an adversary, one of the most dangerous demons hunted by the church, Naraku. Yes indeed, Naraku has something against the church and that is to burn everything that they stand for and to prove Demons are superior to these mortals and their true masters.

Claus defeated Naraku years ago but now that Claus is gone, Naraku took it upon herself to challenge the church once again but only this time she finds difficulty in dealing with the church agents that had possessed Conceptual weapons, as a matter of fact they actually managed to force her to bring about her true powers. It angered Naraku that simpletons were able to wound her and by the looks of it, this was just but a mere division of church agents guarding around town.  

Stein was helping evacuate the townsfolk but couldn’t help but watch some of his fellowman die. Ciel was guarding the caravan and was looking for Stein, once that Claudia was in a safe place, she looked around the burning town for Stein and if she recalls about his condition and fatigue, his own life was in danger.

“STEIN!? STEIN!?” She cried out as she entered burnt doors, crashed through walls, entered and exited burnt and burning buildings.

Stein was on the other side of town, alone with his mind riddled with thoughts that were not his, a conscience that was not his and images that he never seen before. Naraku’s presence triggered something in Stein that changed him forever. When Ciel saw Stein he was running towards Naraku.

Naraku then was about to finish off a few more church agents till Stein called her out, stein had bloodshot eyes and the pure intent to kill.

[i]“Oh? Who’s this one then? No matter, I hope you can offer as much fun as these men had though I find their weapons despicable, it seems you’re not even armed, how brave, have you come to offer yourself to me?”

Upon closer look, Naraku recognizes who he is.

“Voltaire, I hardly recognized you from your get up, cheating death again I see? How many bodies have you used for your sorry excuse of immortality? I see you’re not yet in full control of yourself but it seems the will of that young man out paces your ability to control him, such a shame… he’s a handsome one too.”

Before Naraku can do anything, she was trapped in a powerful mental illusion receiving malefic visions of Claus, the church agent who had defeated her long ago. A mocking nightmare for Naraku which is easily broken the second she came to her senses.

“H-how dare you remind me of that insignificant insect!” Naraku exclaimed as the battle between a demon and a Psychic went on.

Somewhere in the burning village, Father Rikei was accompanied by a group of Shurans.
“Are you certain the Serpent has manifested!?" Father Rikei asked.
“There’s no doubt about it, our priestess sensed his presences half an hour ago.”
“Eleisia was right to draw the special ones back, we only have one opportunity to capture him, I will deal with Naraku, focus on capturing Stein.” With acknowledgement the group scatters around the burning village in hopes to locate their targets.

Of course unlike most of the Shuran, Rikei would be on par with Naraku in terms of engagement, if Rikei and Naraku would have fought in the first place, either side would probably collapse. Fortunately Naraku has significantly weakened as it was reported that she was hit by various conceptual weapons.

The moment Rikei comes into the fight, Naraku would be hard pressed.

Fortunately their targets are fighting each other, the moment both Stein and Naraku gained distance from each other, was the point the Shuran had intercepted as Rikei began his skirmish, pushing Naraku back while the others restrain Stein. At that point Naraku was forced to retreat, as the village burns down, Stein was out of control as Shurans began to suffer horrific malefic illusions that may break and destroy their mental being only for Ciel to stab him in the back to his heart and twisted the blade to make sure it doesn’t heal.

No tears were shed since that day, she knew her friend was long gone before the fight, only a memory of stein remains.

“Stein… I pray that someday the world would repent what it had wronged of you.”  However at that point a child from a wealthy family was born in Ministrel containing a fragment of the Serpent of Akasha and will be the next manifestation.

---

11 years later

Since then the Church evaluated Ciel for her action, though it went against their objective, there were claims that Stein was going to die anyways as his mind was on the brink of mental collapse to the point the Serpent wouldn’t manifest properly so even if she didn’t do it, they wouldn’t succeed anyway.






We did however believed that the Serpent had already manifested again, the Church set out on his capture primarily to interrogate Voltaire of his pursuit for immortality as the reason remained anonymous to this point, so far we are unsuccessful in tracking him down and had gone completely silent like he never existed.

But I guess it was better this way…

“Lady Claudia, what happened to Ciel now?”
“She’s been reassigned to hunting vampires instead but if I’m not mistaken, she would have never forgotten Stein, he was a good friend to her a friend that was rejected by majority of the church because of his gift.”

[/color]

---

Credits

[i]

Spoiler:

List of Chars for the Fanfic

1. Lord Frederick ( FORCED)
2. Heero Reyold
3. Mura Kensho
4. Mashyuu
5. Ageha Mohra
6. Alyia
7. Venir Rulush
8. Janneline Ariel
9. Corliss Aelle
10. Kyoden Numata
11. Anna Starr
12. Aioai Nightstray
13. Tenchi
14. Marcel
15. Aiyana
16. Ardere Kasai

Priority for the 1st Chapter

Corliss
Anna
Venir
Mash

Issue 2: