Animal growls could be heard inside an isolated cave. The atmosphere was damp and unpleasant, yet still better than the cold outside, as curiously the tunnels neatly preserved the ambient heat, even with a small fire or simple torches.
And in that place, Ducanor was suffering. The dharmic rune on his body shone with a sinister light as its original form was momentarily deformed to return to normal, and then deformed and corrupted again compared to its previous appearance.
Feysir were not normally born with a dharmic rune; they required connecting the meridians with their three Dantians.
The meridians regulated the circulation of spiritual energy through the physical body, while the Dantian was a spiritual organ that stored the soul of mortals. Lower Dantian, middle Dantian, and upper Dantian, located respectively in the lower abdomen, chest, and glabella.
At this precise moment, Ducanor was receiving an overdose of an unknown energy that flooded his meridians to the point that they almost broke, heading toward his lower Dantian.
Feysir could create three dharmic runes, each consistent with opening one of the Dantians. Ducanor had only formed one dharmic rune, so only the lower Dantian was open. But the middle Dantian seemed about to be forcibly opened by the irruption of the mysterious liquid.
"Let yourself go, my son," said the unknown man with an indifferent expression. "Join us, the Tempest. We are the children abandoned by the Creator; the gods have died, the world no longer has protectors. Why not accelerate the cycle of creation and destruction?"
Gritting his teeth, Ducanor's vague consciousness circulated his energy to the rune and screamed. "Griffin Rune!" Ducanor growled as he felt his body swell with physical strength and his senses agitated.
His scream resonated in the room as he tried to get up, but then he collapsed again.
But this time it wasn't due to a restriction, but an instinct of submission toward the figure in front of him. He felt that hitting or harming him would be as bestial as harming his own father.
"Good, good, my son. Welcome to the family," said his father hugging him, making Ducanor's expression fill with adoration and loyalty as he almost burst into tears feeling the warm touch of his new progenitor.
"Father..." he growled confused, as if that word were strange; after all, he had never had a father.
"Good, my son, you have become one of us, one of the Children of the Tempest. Although we are only servants of something higher. Come, my son, let me tell you our story."
Dazed, Ducanor stood up straight this time and with more strength than before. His naked body had been covered in a light black fur, while his fingers had been covered in claws similar to a feline's. His body swelled with power, but still, feeling the gaze of the rest of his brothers and sisters, he couldn't help but feel a certain resentment that was replaced by a murderous impulse as he growled slightly in the direction of one of them. The women, on the other hand, looked at him with desire; a desire he shared, but now he had to follow Father.
"My son," Father murmured, "now I will tell you the story of our family. We are the Children of the Tempest, some of the few true descendants of the true teachings of the Lupercals."
"Lupercal?" Ducanor growled confused as he observed himself closely.
"Yes, but our blood is weak compared to that of our ancestors," Father replied sadly as he guided him through the caverns.
Different scenes unfolded along the way, from men and women engaging in group relations to brutally attacking for a piece of meat from prey.
As well as other scenes where his brothers, now, drank and took pills which they devoured desperately while the veins on their bodies stood out excessively.
And then they arrived at their destination. It was a huge room where, on the wall, Ducanor was able to see primitive images of what appeared to be divine figures.
"Those are the Primordials, the ancestors of the divine," Father murmured with a tone full of respect, but also certain contempt. "They are the monsters that created order, our enemy, the celestial bureaucracy that created all this farce."
"But weren't they dead, Father?" asked Ducanor as he felt his mouth fill with saliva, while his abnormally pointed fangs desired to devour.
A merciless blow fell on his jaw, sending one of his fangs flying as he was thrown to the ground.
"Did I tell you to speak, my son?" he said with an expression indifferent to all anger and emotion, while his hand grabbed Ducanor's shoulder who was still on the ground, without the ability to defend himself, because he couldn't and didn't want to.
His grip was so strong that it shattered the tendons of his shoulder; despite his ordinary appearance, his strength was enough to tear Ducanor himself in two. And then, with a casual movement, he threw him violently against the wall, totally shattering the bone of his left shoulder. Ducanor took a few moments to react. He had slightly lost consciousness due to the pain, but despite that, he crawled as he stood up with difficulty and knelt behind his father.
In silence.
"Excellent, my son. You learn better than your brothers and sisters, so compliant but at the same time so treacherous. Now look at your arm, son, look at the gift I offered."
Dazed, Ducanor looked away and realized that his shattered shoulder had disappeared for an intact arm, with powerful muscles and a metallic shine, making him feel invincible.
"Your dharmic rune continues to fight against your nature, your true nature. Soon you will become one of us, a Lycaon," his smile widened as he continued speaking. "Where was I? Right, the useless Primordials. They erected this system, you know? Reincarnation, Samsara, all that garbage... They erected it to enslave our souls, to condemn us to live again and again, die and live, live and die; an eternal condemnation imposed by them, by him: Anatol, the last great Primordial ruler."
"But then the counterpart arose, the opposite of the order forcibly imposed by the Primordials: Gnosis." His gaze, when he said those words, was charged with madness, as if that were enough to fill his mind with fanaticism. "But Gnosis is not a single consciousness, it is a force of nature. It is not something that governs, it is a reactive force: the more you try to create, the more Gnosis will destroy it; and if you try to destroy, it will seek to corrupt and create something new from it."
Ducanor didn't speak, but that didn't banish the confusion in his mind as he understood nothing of his father's words, apart from one thing: he sought to reach Gnosis.
Whatever that meant.
"My son, now you will receive your new name and also, as a reward, I will tell you mine," said Father with a smile.
Ducanor advanced in silence with a guttural growl; it wasn't necessary to speak in the family, only obey. And in an instant, suddenly, a figure emerged from nowhere.
That figure was none other than Raptora, who was covered in blood and filth, as well as multiple wounds. Tears covered her eyes as she knelt before Ducanor.
"Ducanor, I'm sorry, forgive me, I... didn't know, didn't know that those monsters would..." But before the words could finish leaving her mouth, her jaw was shattered by a blow in an instant by his father, causing the remains of it to hang broken by her neck while threads of blood and muscle hung like strips on her face.
Her beautiful face had been destroyed.
Ducanor trembled suddenly. He tried to do something, maybe save her, maybe help her; but a part of him wanted revenge, felt satisfaction at her death.
She had brought this upon herself. But the fate of the girl's life and death was not in his hands, not anymore. In that instant, Ducanor had two paths before him: fall into the most absolute corruption or flee from the battle, flee like a coward. There were no other options.
Well, yes there was.
The third was death.
Anyone would be afraid of that option; after all, who wasn't afraid of death, of the eternity of death. Even if he were to reincarnate, the existence he was now would disappear.
"Ah, I forgot, my son, my name is..." But before he could say it, Ducanor had moved.
In an instant, his body exploded in a bestial force, superior to most mortals due to the drugs and unknown infusion Ducanor had received.
And then the Griffin Rune, which had been shining sinisterly while being reformed into a deformed version of itself, shone with a golden light as if it were a true griffin.
"Oh, my son, you don't know how you surprise me," said Father with a wide smile full of madness.
"You know, Father, life is overrated," he growled fiercely as he felt his tongue swollen by the increase of his nature, feeling strangely faster and stronger.
His perception sharpened in every sense: the sight of an eagle and the hearing of a feline. He felt his nails lengthening supernaturally, slightly sharpening like claws, as he narrowed his eyes filling with murderous intent.
The Griffin Rune that Ducanor possessed gave him different abilities, three of them being the main ones: Griffin Spirit, Griffin Vision, and Great Vitality. Unfortunately, they weren't too useful in combat beyond an initial boost, although they were useful for tracking.
But Ducanor had no weapon, he could only depend on his fists, and in an instant, he realized he was at a disadvantage. A hand like a claw approached slowly aiming toward his heart with murderous intent, but he detected it and dodged; in an instant, his body flickered to disappear.
Frowning, the father seemed confused as he sniffed the air in search of Ducanor, thinking he had fled instantly, filling his senses with the smell of blood from the dying Raptora, who only emitted a weak heartbeat as her pulses slowly disappeared.
And then, a hand stabbed in the direction of his neck. As if they were blades, the claws on Ducanor's hands pierced directly into the side of his neck, leaving a trail of red blood while the monster in front of him tried to dodge.
The wound was superficial, but in a vital area. If he didn't control the wound, an ordinary mortal could faint and die if not treated well and quickly. In that sense, Ducanor was an expert at attacking vital points; every living being had them, no matter how protected they were.
"Oh, my son, you don't know how proud I am of you," said the beast now before Ducanor with a distorted smile, which made his mind tremble as he observed the complete deformation of any mortal aspect in him.
It wasn't a beast, didn't even share a meager part of the appearance of a wolf or man; its form was the most unholy thing nature could give him. Pitch-black skin covered in deformed and swollen muscles, absurdly large teeth that seemed to cover most of its elongated snout, as if it were a mix between a horse and a hyena. Its eyes looked like two glowing crimson slits watching him fiercely; at the same time, its ears, totally moving away from a wolf-like appearance, seemed enormous compared to its body, as if they were a bat's.
Its body grew to a much taller and larger aspect, and while the bones of its body protruded abnormally over its skin, threatening to break through it, any wound regenerated almost instantly, making it swell even more. He couldn't appreciate its size fully, but it almost doubled him even when it was half-kneeling on its heels, while drooling a red liquid from its mouth like foam.
And then a voice sounded, a voice very different from the person he had once considered Father.
"Oh, my son, you are slowly becoming my favorite. You don't know how glad I am that you surprised me, and to congratulate you I will show you what a true Lycaon is."
In an instant, it arrived before Ducanor and simply tore the earth beneath, making the ground shake, while from the very shards of the attack, Ducanor suddenly found himself thrown backward. Being pierced multiple times by the stone shards resulting from the attack, which exploded due to the great speed upon reaching him.
"Shit," he growled dazed as he felt his blood boil. He felt a change, an unknown change in him; if he didn't stop, he would probably become a monster similar to the creature in front of him.
But then, like a shadow, the enormous beast simply made its way behind him despite its absurd size and closed its jaws directly over his body, lifting him.
Blood gushed and flesh was torn. Then to be dropped and left on the ground with intestines protruding over his belly.
"Ha, ha, ha, ha!" laughed the monster. "Excellent, my son, it was a good fight."
"Although short," he finished with a mockery.
And as he said that, his body twisted. In an instant, he had transformed into the middle-aged man with a disheveled appearance from before, and who looked at him with shining eyes.
"I forgot, puppy," said the man who had killed Ducanor Kal Arreus with a smile. "My name is Intermezzo Omeya."
...
The forest was deserted of signs of life, both animal and mortal, although not for long, when a group of people crossed the frozen tundra among the jade larches.
"Detoxifying herbs, ethereal grass, earth essence fruit..." murmured Uisuk as he recited with difficulty the names of the herbs he managed to recognize, but none were similar to the one he was looking for.
"Stop looking at plants, we have to search," said Masha worriedly as she pushed Uisuk forward to keep walking.
"But we don't know where he is. From what one of the men at the bar said, he left with one of the wenches; he's probably still with her, as you said before," said Uisuk somewhat annoyed realizing that Ducanor was probably enjoying the warmth of a woman.
While he was enduring the cold of two. And while he stealthily began to collect the herbs, thinking he had heard that some served for some alchemical strengthening and even recovery pills.
"No matter how promiscuous Ducanor is, he is still our friend," said Hebith. "And if he is in trouble, we must help him."
Despite that, Uisuk didn't feel any better at all as he cursed Ducanor wishing his manhood would fall off.
But suddenly, as if it were an object flickering on the side of your line of sight, he detected something. And that something wasn't small and friendly at all.
"Masha, look out!" he roared quickly as he took his weapon from his back, two blades, which he grabbed firmly as he ran in the direction of the giant woman.
"Huh?" she said confused.
Suddenly, from the shadows of one of the trees emerged the terrifying figure of a huge deformed beast.
This figure had a humanoid appearance, as if it were a mix of a man and an animal, and although Masha bordered on three meters in height, this creature surpassed her slightly, besides its body being swollen with bestial power.
"Grraaaah!" the creature growled as if it were laughing sinisterly.
Its head was totally twisted and its jaw looked like the horizontal beak of a bird, which was in turn covered with a long row of elongated teeth like blades; but what stood out the most were its eyes. They were deformed and totally independent of each other, moving chaotically from one direction to another, while both were positioned asymmetrically.
"What is that damn thing?" Uisuk almost shrieked as he felt sweat starting to run down every inch of his skin.
Suddenly, an explosion of blinding light flooded Uisuk's senses, preventing him from knowing what the hell was happening as he was incapacitated. Only then did he hear the thunder. And then he managed to see: as if she were a goddess of the storm, Masha had manifested two huge lightning claws that clashed against the creature's own claws in a bloody confrontation.
The creature's claws were charred with electricity and its body paralyzed, but despite that, like a beast, it kept attacking, while its fingers charred and shattered by Masha's attacks regenerated at an absurd speed, to the point that it over-regenerated several claws at once.
As he watched the scene, half-kneeling on the ground and trembling due to the shockwaves and pressure emanating from the confrontation, Uisuk tried to analyze the situation.
That thing wasn't a Sidhe. These were creatures similar to beasts or animals, but also different: they were conceptual agglomerations of the spirits of living beings without consciousness. Uisuk had heard several times how the Sidhe were a manifestation of fragments of the spirits of not only beasts and animals, even mortals, although he didn't understand how they were born; their own existence was ethereal.
That thing wasn't ethereal at all.
An ordinary Sidhe was already dangerous enough to kill any ordinary Feysir warrior. And a Ferocious Sidhe, which differed from its counterpart by its strength to manipulate even spiritual energy on a medium scale, was enough to decimate a group of Feysir warriors with ease. But this creature had dexterity superior to any Ferocious Sidhe he had seen before.
Thunder resonated as the beast was hit directly by a condensed mass of lightning that struck its chest full on.
The beast's body impacted against a multitude of trees, leaving a trail of blood and dirt where it had been thrown a little over ten meters away by Masha's great impact force.
At that moment it twisted slightly as it jumped up. Its body was covered in bloody wounds and broken bones, plus its two arms were mutilated as it pumped red blood from its wounds.
"Auuuuu!" it roared with anger as it looked furiously at the duo, when suddenly it stood on its hind legs in a threatening pose while violently destroying one of the surrounding trees, throwing it toward them.
"Careful, it's a distraction!" Uisuk shouted hurriedly, worried about an ambush, but...
Before Masha or even he could react, it had simply turned around and, after a blurred image and a cloud of dust, disappeared.
A relieved sigh escaped Masha's mouth before she suddenly collapsed on the ground.
"Masha!" Hebith ran quickly toward her holding her tightly, just as Uisuk hurriedly approached to check her situation.
Her body was frozen. To his surprise, there were several bloody cuts on her skin, but the blood didn't coagulate, but kept gushing like a fountain preventing any regeneration, while her skin slowly lost color.
"Calm down, you'll be fine, I'll take you home," he said as he supported her together with Hebith and tried to lift her.
But then he saw it. A short distance away, exactly in the place where the creature had disappeared, there was an herb. With the same appearance it had in the description of the request that had been on the notice board.
The Changeling Herb.