AMBROSIAAs Victoria held Nevras transfixed for a fair amount of time, I broke the silence. I explained that our quest involved visiting out of the way shrines. She rolled her eyes at Nevras, “You needn''t be so afraid of me, my child.” I suspected that much of his fear was remembered far worse than it actually was, yet I said nothing. Somehow or other, Nevras finally had the nerve to speak, “It is as she says, Your Majesty. For long I have traveled this one, although six months were lost to amnesia due to the workings of her power. She... she is dear to me, and I would see that her mission is completed.” Vicky smiled, setting everyone at ease. Although from his reaction to her, I was sure she certainly could be intimidating, I imagine she also had the skill of charm and kindness, and probably organized trips where she did nothing but that odd style of waving common for those of nobility. “I know of one,” she said, “but you will need to head south of the palace through dangerous territory for that shrine.”

    She wasn''t kidding. Although we stopped for a brief period to have a look at Nevras''s room (huge bed, loads of princess books, and a closet filled with men''s clothes poorly shoved in front of gowns in a vain attempt to hide them were the highlights), the trip to the temple managed to be annoyingly difficult. There were the lesser ghouls, who Rejuvenated again and again and again, finally forcing us to flee, since we had no way of putting them down for good. To say nothing of the high fail chance for spells with the rain stopping and starting. After this, we had a group of mutant alligators, flying jack o''lanterns, and a carbuncle challenged us. Carbuncles are not to be confused with the horrific welt on the human body, these were cute furry critters that only had a red sore in common, and had an ability to redirect runes back at their source. The alligators had sharp teeth and tough skin, making them difficult to cut with most weapons. The jack o''lanterns were pumpkins surrounding a spirit of fire within, making them impossible to attack physically, and they could use nature magic of flame and wood. They were an annoyingly synchronized team, since they covered each other''s weaknesses. We basically had to pick apart their defenses on by one: Nevras and Aqorm slashed at the carbuncle until it was gone, Zoe used Ice on the jack o''lanterns and Lightning on the alligators. We couldn''t exactly train against them thanks to this weather though. We had some nice pumpkin and some alligator skin and meat. I didn''t get much of a chance to use my cool powers, but it didn''t matter. We had a good team. While crows ripped the flesh from the cute little carbuncle, we continued on until finally reaching the temple.

    The temple cut into the nearby forest of what looked to be mostly evergreens, even though this was probably too warm an area for them to do well. They must have been planted by the temple''s owner. The temple was... stupid-looking. I mean, really stupid-looking. It roughly resembled a step-pyramid on the outside, but only extended about three levels. It also was made not of limestone, as was typically ideal for that sort of thing, but the sort of rough ugly granite that was favored in functional architecture of the modern and postmodern eras of Earth. It had an opening in the bottom floor, but it seemed clear that this building was designed to keep people out.

    Inside the “temple” was a small room with a man standing in front of a large mirror. There was a bookcase off to the side, and the typical statues that one might expect for a temple, but aside from an excess of candelabras resting on the stone floor, it was slightly underwhelming. I was looking at the man in the mirror and asking him to change his ways. He asked us to immediately stop singing.

    “I am the Oracle of Apollo. You are those who seek to understand the power of the Oracle,” he said. I was struck at how imposing this mirror was in regards to the rest of the room, as I almost paid more attention to it than him. “You should know that the power of the Oracle is not for dealing death, but to preserve life. As it is said,

    I have heard that those who are expert in handling life,

    Can travel the land without meeting tigers and rhinos,

    Can enter battle without being wounded.

    The rhino has no place to plant its horn,

    The tiger has no place to place its claws,

    Weapons find no place to rest their edges.

    Why? Because he has no death ground.

    He continued, “I will summon my nothingness to do battle with you. If you are really for nonviolence, you must fight it and prove it to me!” Anyone else see a contradiction here?

    Nevras and the others pulled out their weapons ready to fight whatever came. The man, meanwhile summoned something I guess as he made a whole fuss about “Nothing, I summon thee!” then did some sort of creepy trick, and stepped inside the surface of the mirror causing it to steadily glow a golden hue. Granted they couldn''t see the nothing that was summoned, but they were all ready to blast whatever it wasn''t to nothing with their magic. In one of my prouder moments, I realized that maybe it was better not to rush into battle. “Hold on! Hold on!!! There''s something not right here,” I interrupted.

    “Look guys, I think he summoned nothing,” I explained. Aqorm shrugged, “Well, yeah, he told us that he''d summoned Nothing to attack.” I explained with difficulty, “No, I mean, I think he summoned nothing. If we attack now, it won''t hit. That glowing mirror has some sort of power, and we don''t want to find out what happens if you hit it with your attacks.” Aqorm nodded. “So we should just sit here and not attack,” I said.

    He reappeared after awhile of this, and awarded me his Crest. My hand again began to tingle and another trigram started to glow. He explained, “The power I give you is not an offensive one, but for protection against harm. Your adversaries will destroy themselves if they should try to attack someone who does not fight back.” I tried it out. It was the Cross Hands position, making an X near my chest area. I couldn''t figure out the whole stepping inside of mirrors thing, but as long as I held my hands in a guarded position, a golden aura maintained itself around me. It blocked physical attacks, and turned techniques and magic back at their source. I could move freely, but if I tried to fight back or tried to use my other trigram abilities, this aura would go away. I could still dodge though. Among my trigram abilities, it was much faster to activate than the others.

    After healing their wounds (from testing it out on me), we continued back to the nearest port. It was a very hard journey between mudslides, attacking creatures, and endless obstruction from rain and old vegetation. Thanks to my new powers, I wound up relatively unmolested walking about with a golden glow all around me, and the others figured out that they could reap the benefits of my defensive barrier simply by touching me. We were a team now, so those things that presented such a challenge before didn''t seem so harsh. Except for ghouls. Even when I used Alexander''s trigram, the ghouls kept coming back. “At some point, we need a decent exorcist,” I said. We made it to the port. Although I would love to have this 50 million right now to spend, it was tied up in an account that we couldn''t easily access. Anyway, this money was for big expenses only, as a sort of insurance. The port had two destinations, the town of Goji or Gruumi (it rhymed with “crummy”). Zoe offered, “If you''re looking for an exorcist, I know there''s one in Goji.” I didn''t ask how she knew this, though looking back, maybe I should have.

    During the boat trip, more memories gradually came. I had a firmer grasp now of generally what happened during the six months I had lost, roughly enough that I felt now like I had actually lived it. I remembered the conversations we had. I remembered the day he had given me the sweater, and I remembered the almost-kiss we had shared before getting interrupted. I remembered something else too. I saw myself as a young child with my mother. I remember the temple, and the road leading up to it. But first and foremost, I remember Mama. I used to love it spending time in the temple with my mother. I liked my adopted parents too, but now that I remember my mother, all the experiences there

    were so much better. But one day, without explanation, we left. It was a cold winter

    day when I arrived at their doorstep in Galaxia... I remember being handed off to my new

    parents. But I don''t know why it was that I was adopted in the first place... Did my mom not want me? I remember my words back then, as she told me, “Ambrosia, this will be

    your new mom and dad.” I begged, “But I wanna stay with you, Mommy!” Tears streamed down her face as she said, “I can''t be your mother anymore, Ambrosia!” I saw her running away as the door was answered.

    The boat rocked. I said nothing to the others about what I had remembered. Instead, I searched for a spot on the boat where I could safely cry myself to sleep. Nevras would never understand... As the boat drifted along, I caught a glimpse of the land we were headed to. It was a massive octopus-shaped island filled mostly with desert. To the east, I saw a gigantic building. To our direct south there were two “eyes” of fertile land where an oasis formed. There were towns built on each, but the right one was the town of Goji.

    The town of Goji was a narrow port. A bridge docked the ship, and water nourished the area just enough that crops could grow, as the salt water and freshwater mixed. The buildings had distinctive curved arch roofs, and the people wore very traditional Japanese-style clothing. There were men and women in kimono, samurai in topknot, and traditional gardening styles from east Asia. I decided to stop asking questions about how such a place could exist, surrounded by desert. The air had a strange heavy feel to it, almost like it was clogged with energy. “Aura,” Elias explained, “runes have been used to such an extent that the area resonates on its own. That''s what all of you are feeling. This town is thick with leftovers. Remember, human beings can change their surroundings, just by being there. The land is so moist because humans reside in this area, not the other way around.” He explained that magic came from two major sources, ambient energy (aura) and inscribed energy (runes). Aura was more difficult to get rid of, even in antimagic areas.

    As we milled around town talking to random people, Zoe''s eyes locked on someone. They seemed to be in a staring contest, as neither one blinked or turned away. Then the girl approached us. Her hair was in a partial ponytail with the sides remaining untied. She wore what looked like a miko outfit, only rather than the red and white classic colors, it was instead more of a cute pink tone. She wore sandals, which strapped loosely between her big toe and her second. She had a belt across her shoulder where a sword and a bell were strung. The bell flowed with runes of all sorts but it was clearly kept from ringing on its own. She had an ordinary face, not particularly attractive but not exactly plain either. It was more the face one would expect to see of a priest or scholar than a supermodel though. Despite this, it appeared as though Zoe was already fascinated with her. I wonder why.

    AQORM

    I had hoped that we would instead take a boat ride to Gruumi. I was anxious to see where Elias had been raised and started his training. Well, we''d have to cross a mountain to see it, but anyway. The Great Library was said to be devoted entirely to books. I wanted to know more about my man, but instead we were in this place. Anyway, this woman standing here took a long while to speak. She seemed to be debating something with herself before finally making her way towards us.

    ZOE

    I knew this woman from the moment I saw her. As discussed in the Eternity Epic, I was fated to meet her again and again. I was reincarnated from Zhanshi Xianzhe, the sage warrior. I was the one that when other warriors refused to surrender, I stopped them simply by turning their weapons into flowers. The love of my life at the time had been Reqing Mei, a beautiful woman with herbalist abilities. We had repeated life together, always falling in love again, yet never ending up together. Something would always intervene. I knew this life of hers, she was called Azrael, and was a talented exorcist. But I knew that our proximity to each other would likely hurt both of us, unless we managed to resolve our issues.

    AZRAEL

    All that lives is divided into four parts: body, spirit, soul, and name. Body gives things solid form and perception of the physical world. Spirit allows living things to... well, live. These two are so strongly connected that many materialists and even some religions believe that there is no separation. This means many religions are obsessed with the physical world, with following rules like washing hands or saying the right words, while rejecting things that are beyond this world. But the spirit can be separated into an astral body; it can do things like thaumaturgy, and it gives them a complicated chakra system.

    Soul gives access to the Afterlife, and a ball-shaped soul evolves after death into a new etheric body. It is important to know that neither death, nor anything you wear, nor anything you touch, nor anything you eat, nothing that enters your body can affect your soul, and thus you should fear nobody who attempts to harm you. You should instead only concern yourself with preventing yourself from being overcome by negative energies such as greed, fear, rage, depression, and despair. The soul is immortal, but negative emotions like fear can make a pleasant world into a source of torment.

    Lastly, names are part of the magic of True Names, they make a soul distinct from another, and they give a sense of long term presence to living things. Angels often do not have names, so fade in and out of existence. This is the anatomy of the spirit, and it is key to understanding Exorcism.

    It is not my wish to create problems for other living things. My quarrel is with the undead. Those who violate the sacred trust ordained by God shall ever meet my wrath and indignation. They shall find no rest, until I put them forcibly to rest with my sacred mantra, the Kuji-In, “Rin Pyou Tou Sha Kai Chin Retsu Zai Zen!” Using my Exorcism chant, I could not only get rid of spirits and even corporeal undead, but I was learning how to use it to sweep away auras and dismiss Rival Powers or Monsters.

    I had grown up in this town. These townsfolk were good people, but they always relied on me when there''s something strange in the neighborhood. They were always calling on me, for this zombie or that ghost. I loved them. But this was wearisome. I longed to have my own life, to fall in love with a woman, especially that woman. Yes, I was a lesbian... I just hadn''t found any men who saw me besides my face and my body.

    I did not remember much at all about past lives but I did have one strong memory. I had a recurring dream. I saw a woman who would wield the Sword of Sorrow, and she was asking me to come with her; she was asking to be with her for life. I was just a girl then, but the dream continued up until yesterday. I had trained hard, learning many prayers and rituals, strengthening my Exorcism ability.

    Exorcism, it is said, is a difficult ability to improve. It requires not knowledge of magic, but an understanding of life and death. It requires a sense of purpose, that one is doing the correct thing. Many of those who attempt to learn it never get better because they fixate on trying to use more mystic power as though one could blow up ghosts with unfinished business into bits. That attempt only drives them away. Rather, Exorcism is about gentleness, and is intended to persuade a creature to pass on. It didn''t always work, though. There was also Purification, which cleansed the spirit so it didn''t come back, and redeemed its karma so that it could be reborn into something better. There were certain times where Purification was necessary, but Exorcism was far easier to do.

    Exorcism meant that even the most corrupt spirits could convinced not to trouble the living anymore, but would follow their own ambitions and dreams. A skillful exorcist was kind yet firm, because, as my old master explained to me, nothing in this world was actually evil nor was anything truly good, because evil came from self-hatred. An exorcist therefore was required to tell an undead thing that (1) it could not remain here, (2) it had to complete its unresolved goals and pass on, and (3) it had nothing to be ashamed of. The last one was important, as many undead were twisted into ugly things by their shame. A man who mourned his cat dying, might for instance have a strong leonine aspect when they became a zombie. I had, in fact, defeated such a creature, not by any special power, but by understanding its feelings. All of this was not said by words at all, but through the emotions I put forth in the Exorcism. The cat split off as it exorcised, and I saw the man as he really was. A Monster was not much different. They were hard for me to exorcise right now, but I was getting better. They were nothing more than stray feelings of fear or guilt or remorse, which had been allowed to consume living things.

    I had just happened upon a theory for better dealing with such Monsters today, when I saw a girl and her entourage entering town. They all were obviously together, but I noticed only one of them. It was her. You know, the one that I had been looking for.

    I lied, “I''ve had my eye on you people for quite some time...” And then I guessed, based on their general appearance and numerous legends I had heard about the Oracle, “You guys are on the quest to collect the Oracle''s Crests, correct?” Part of my training as a spiritualist was to give cold reads based on hunches and minor information. I could tell from their faces that I had made a decent guess.

    As I could tell that I had a captive audience, I requested, “I shall help you, if you will let me defeat a certain demon called Belial. You heard about what happened to Earth''s religions, right?” Everyone knew this story. The blue-haired one nodded, “Yea, I heard... One day most of the people vanished.” I said, “I know the reason why all of the people disappeared that day.” The girl that I would later know as Ambrosia gasped, “What?!? Why?” I honestly do not know next if I lied or not, for this is a legend of my people. I explained, “The demon named Belial sought to free itself from the Void. To do this, much of the Earth got absorbed into the fabric of the Void. Entire towns were lost, sometimes even entire countries. And all this energy went to breaking the divide between this world and the Realm of Void. Of course, the angels wouldn''t take this lying down. Michael and another angel named Estheriel came and sealed the demon Belial in a magic urn.” She asked, “Then your job should be done, right?” Well, no.

    GOD

    As I explained earlier with regard to Earth''s history, nothing like that remotely happened. I caused the split, not Belial. Belial did have a hand in polluting the Earth, and did manage to create a great deal of death. But Belial destroyed no religious people except those immediately near him, and his main role had been to aid the one known as Ungorr. The disappearance of those on Earth had been to the fulfillment of their respective end-times prophecies. For that matter, the chronology was completely wrong. Not that I blame her, much of this was at the end of recorded human history for the original Earth. About the only thing that was right was that Michael and Estheriel helped me, although I also don''t know how she would have known this, since I didn''t reveal it to her, and neither did any normal humans know the name of the angel Estheriel. Only I and my Reapers, and mortals who had visited Heaven should have been privy to that information. Who was this girl? As she aroused my interest, I listened closely to the conversation.

    She explained, “ I wish it were that simple. We''ve heard reports that someone is

    collecting the keys to unlocking the urn Belial was sealed in. I need your help to stop it,

    before it''s too late.” Wow, someone has a flair for the dramatic. Everyone did introductions, and then she took the group down a deep well to finish a task for the town. The ghost was fearsome and angry but her authority and her kind and gentle voice released it from its earthly bonds. And so it was that she had no further duties to the town. She was given her paycheck, and elected to keep company with Zoe.

    AMBROSIA

    We thought about exploring the surrounding area, but seeing as how it was desert, we got in our tent until night fell, before doing exploring of any kind. But of course, at night we had to watch out for snakes and scorpions. Azrael assured us that she knew this area quite well, as another life ago she had traveled the world before. She said that it didn''t matter where a person went if they were with people they cared about, so she had returned to Goji to stay there until the love of her life came. I wonder why she was suddenly leaving now, then?

    She guided us through the desert. “Is this the right way to the nearest Oracle''s shrine?” I asked her. She shook her head, “That? No, we''re headed in the opposite direction.” I kinda lost my temper here, “What?!?” I was ready to kill her.

    AZRAEL

    She was ready to kill me. Right now, in fact, since we were now wandering in the dark through a desert filled with scorpions and other things best left unmentioned, including actual afārīt (those fire spirits, just one is called an ifrīt). I had just met her, and already I feared her worse than some of the things in the desert. I tried to speak up, but part of what makes me a good exorcist is my soft heart. I can speak firmly against ghosts, but against real people, I was still a little shy. Oh sure, I had been around plenty of people. But I not formed many close ties besides family. I mumbled, “The temple won''t open because...” She started slapping me, “What was that? Speak up!” Finally, Nevras pulled her off me. She''s crazy. How did she expect me to speak while I was being slapped? “The temple won''t open because... I know where it is, but nobody has been able to enter. There''s some sort of barrier. The words at the entrance mention something, but the only thing that is legible mentions this town. ?Seikai? is what it reads.” And then I pointed to some writings that I copied from the temple.

    Upon entering Seikai, the first thing we noticed were stone pillars marking the entrance. There were some houses and an inn with some trees surrounding them, and at the edge of the forest was a misty outline. The houses were designed in a gazebo style, providing shade yet allowing air flow. This was obviously to adapt to desert weather, but oddly looked out of place here in this misty forest. The brick foundation protected against sand and wind, retracting shades screened out the hot sun, and runes were placed in any open spaces to be non-permeable to matter other than fresh air, behaving as screens. All of these buildings had a distinct lack of privacy. And all of them showed a picture of a town frozen in time when this was a desert town, where a forest had grown up or one with a pervasive mist.

    I sighed. Seikai had a reputation among our townspeople. They said it was more haunted even than Goji. Something had gone horribly wrong. “Let''s talk to the townspeople,” Zoe suggested, “maybe we can figure out their troubles if we ask around.”

    I didn''t do that. Instead I started casting any effect I could think of. “Antimagic Zone!” The area became saturated with a sort of viscous grey residue that screened out runes. Light and sound seemed muted, as did other natural and human magic. Unfortunately, nothing happened to the area itself. After roughly fifteen minutes of feeling very uncomfortable (magic was natural, so reality without it felt wrong), I dismissed my own effect. Let''s try something else. “Dispel!” The effect brushed away any runes, but as I should have noticed before, this wasn''t a result of runes. “Uncurse!” If this had been a straightforward curse, this might have worked, but it did nothing at all. “Negation!” This was among the top two disenchantment effects, it covered the area with a big zone of darkness which sucked away any runes and aura from there, as well as from permanent enchantments. The mist was unaffected. “Break Enchantment!” If anything was going to break this effect, this would do so, it was the top tier of disenchants. It could break even unravel effects that were not typically considered magic, such as a petrifaction from a creature''s eye beams or enchanted items. Nothing. Sear?h the N?vel(F)ire.ηet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

    Someone tapped my shoulder. “So are you ready to talk to people yet or are you gonna keep casting magic until you pass out?” Zoe asked me. I sulked, “I don''t want to talk to anyone...” She closed her eyes as she smiled, “Suck it up!” I started mumbling and grumbling, until she gave me a light hug. “Relax,” she said, “I''ll be there with you. If anyone seems creepy, I''ll do my best to help out.” The others spoke up, led by Ambrosia, “Don''t forget about us. We''re there for ya.” I suppose...

    We started with the creepiest person of all. This guy must be the mayor. He was dressed almost like one of those counts in an old black and white horror film, cape and all. His slicked-back hair moved not at all in the misty air as he welcomed us, “Welcome to Seikai! Take the opportunity to talk to everyone in town, to get to know them first, then I''ll speak to you.” We took his advice. We talked to the little boy with brown hair first. He was scampering around trees and stuff saying, “Girls? Nah, I wanna climb trees first. Girls are really gross!” Apparently his name was Tommy and the girl with orange hair who had pigtails and a similar lack of interest in boys was named Rose. Next we talked to a man with disheveled black hair who appeared to be the town''s shopkeeper. He greeted us, “We have the best prices around. Because you know, there isn''t anything around.” Once we bought some gear, he whispered in confidence, “The Mayor is keeping us here. We neither age nor die, but we can never leave. Get out while you can!” Nah, it was easy to leave, I could do it any time I wanted. Lastly I talked to the ''innkeeper'', this was a lady who guarded the one gazebo that contained a bed. “Yea, I know, we''re out in the open,” she said, “but the bed is soft!” After sleeping, she also warned us, “You shouldn''t be sleeping out here, it''s not safe! You''ll become part of this land!” These warnings would be more effective if they gave them beforehand.

    We returned to the count/mayor to find him laughing hysterically. “So, you met everyone?” Ambrosia confronted him, “Yes, and we found out your little secret... you''ve been keeping the town trapped in here forever!” The man bellowed in laughter all the more, “Too bad, you might have done something before, but now you''re a part of this town too! Enjoy your stay!” Nothing to do now but accept eternity within this town.

    AMBROSIA

    Oh, c''mon. We haven''t given up that quickly. The mayor alternatively refused to respond to us and mocked us, from that point onward, so we devoted our efforts on talking to the rest of this small town. Wandering around, we noticed that after we slept apparently the little girl with pigtails was gone, and in her place was a grown woman whose orange hair had softened to a strawberry blond, and pigtails had given way to a long braid. This was strange enough that it was definitely a place to start. It seemed like Zoe and Azrael were having some kind of moment here, so I let them do most of the talking to these people.

    “Over the years, I''ve grown to like Thomas, but he''s still so childish,” Rose explained. As we looked at little Tommy, I could understand why. He was still in the body of a child. Azrael asked, “You want us to help tell him how you feel?” She nodded. Azrael carefully explained what Rose said. She had to do this several times because the child was not very attentive, but she was patient, and repeated until finally the child understood. “Really? But I''m just a kid. I can''t accept those feelings,” he said. I reassured him, “C''mon, give it time. When you get older, you might change your mind.” It was like some freeze-frame trick in a film where they switched a character without even bothering with gradual transitions. Suddenly he stopped being a kid, and there was this guy in his place. He told us, “I guess you''re right.”

    The man named Thomas told us of his desire to get her a gift. After searching under the innkeeper''s bed, we had noticed was a hidden cache of money, so we borrowed some for various gifts. Azrael glared at us, but I reasoned we were only borrowing, and these people might be ghosts anyway. Stealing from ghosts is totally ethical! I bought roses for Rose, as they were her namesake. “Ah, thank you,” she said as she held the gift like a treasured item, “I guess that means he does feel the same about me.” I watched these two thank us as they faded away into spirits. After talking more with the innkeeper and the shopkeep, we realized they too had some sort of past. They never had acted on it, seeing this as unprofessional. He decided to play matchmaker again, so we tried buying other things. Something about this woman seemed like she wasn''t the type to really care about flowers, so we searched around for a novelty item. I saw something in the shop along with the common potions (like the Phoenix Meat rumored to be so good it could raise the dead). It was something called a Frog Tonic. Unlike other medicines that were designed to be drunk, this was splashed externally on wounded people. The foul-smelling mixture was well suited to dosing multiple targets and would begin to act against any cuts or bruises, closing them and mending breaks. It was extremely disgusting to watch as it made a sort of gel that caused blood to change from water, salt, and protein to a substance that closed wounds and immediately started rebuilding everything. I couldn''t imagine anyone liking this, but as we bought about six bottles for ourselves, she noticed one and called out, “My favorite medicine! Did he get that for me? Hold on, I''ve got something for you!” Reaching her hands inside her dress (and embarrassing all of us while she pulled out random objects from her clothing) she finally managed to grab a hold of a small object, appearing substantially thinner afterward. Giving us a wedding ring, she said, “Hand this to him, will you? Tell him my answer.” Azrael said to him, “Here... this... ummmmmm, yea.” After that eloquent display, his face brightened, “Really? She asked you to give this to me? Tell her I accept.” Azrael spoke up, “He ummm, said yes.” Those two townspeople turned into spirits. There weren''t many people in this town, but we continued helping until none were left but the mayor.

    He began to scream in agony, “NO!!! You solved all of their problems? It cannot be! They''re free! Don''t you see? You''ve ruined me! Now who will come to this doomed little village? Tourism is ruined!” Unlike the others, he did not fade away into a simple spirit. Instead, his body began to horribly deform, folding into space, crunching and turning inside itself until nothing remained of him but a spirit of a skeletal head floating in midair. We did not want to touch this thing. All of us got behind Azrael.

    AZRAEL

    I carry a sword and a bell with me at all times. These are not fashion accessories. They are weapons that mean the difference between life and death against all manner of creatures of the night.

    The Exorcist Bell is a culmination of my training. An exorcist learns many magical runes as a result of having to dispense with different types of creatures. They learn how to make unique symbols as well. There are exorcists from all walks of life, but their group came about as a result of relearning the art of casting out demons and evil spirits. I probably know more about runes than Elias over there, who tells me that he has been studying for years. When an exorcist learns to focus their power, they eventually complete a ritual known as the Forging of Heart. An Exorcist extracts a portion of their soul (oh, don''t worry, the soul regrows itself), and molds it into an artifact. So long as the exorcist lives, the Bell remains. Each Bell has a unique power chosen by the exorcist, some stop time, others grow plants, or nullify magical items or enchantments. If they want to be outright generic, many exorcists just had their bell do Exorcism. The advantage of the bell was that it used its own mystic power, and with something like Exorcism, it would do it more than they might actually use in a day. Stopping time, on the other hand, was something that the Bell could probably ring only once a day, but that was still more mystic power than most exorcists could muster together. The Bells were not any more powerful than normal humans who made them, but they typically developed the ability to hold more mystic power than a human could in a single day. My Bell could never be used. It could destroy anything (living, undead, robots, Monsters, or even Elder Formless) that did not cover its ears. This included me, and no, earplugs would not work . If I used this Bell, I and everyone else would die. At least, within range, but having never used it, I had no idea what this range was, as it had never been allowed to ring.

    My sword was a standard issue Exorcist Sword. There are many types. The most basic is what we call a blank sword. It is forged with the special metal that only our blacksmiths know about, which makes it not only strong and durable, but able to take thousands of runes without breaking. These were made from a variant of elven, so they were effective against certain creatures, but these couldn''t touch incorporeal creatures like ghosts. Next was the bound sword. It had bandages around the sword with runes written in ink, meaning it was effectively a cushioned sword with no sharpness. Because the runes were not carved into the sword itself and instead written on the bandages, these swords lasted very long. Then there were seal swords which had some runes on the blade, followed by twice-blessed swords which destroyed both good and evil and slightly sturdier than seal swords, and finally the named swords. Named swords were extremely rare, they were sentient, they resisted decay with a high number of well-placed healing and protection runes, and they had unique abilities that varied from sword to sword. I had no real skill at inscribing runes on metal, so I wielded a bound sword. It was slow, it was blunt, but until I found a better sword, it would have to do.

    The floating ghost head flew toward us, looking to possess someone. But the sword''s written runes slammed against it, shattering the skull apart. The spirit was no more. As we watched, the houses turned to ruins, and the forest returned to nature. The town faded away, though contrary to our expectations, it did not become a desert. We were standing in a ruins where people used to live. It was morning, so we put up a tent to sleep.