Chp.24: Carrion's secret (part 2)

Haku had to admit that he had become quite interested in Carrion's story. When he had called him there his intent was only to remove him from his army and buy time, but he had certainly not expected that his enemy was a beastman. And the more Carrion spoke, the more Haku wanted to keep listening. He didn't know why, but for the first time in his life he was really interested in learning about his opponent's past, even if it didn't bring him any gain. He didn't know why, but he felt that story was strangely familiar.

For the moment he was sure that Carrion hadn't invented anything: not only had the man shown no sign of a lie, but he would hardly have invented such a complex story. Also, everything he said matched what Haku already knew about beastmen society, or at least those who inhabited the Baudonia City Alliance. Each beastmen people used to keep their blood pure; each population felt that they should retain their lineage as best they could. Therefore, interracial relationships were very frowned upon, and hybrids were treated more like beasts than people. Furthermore, among the beastmen it was normal to sell their children: since many peoples often made too many (such as the rabbitmen, who made over twenty at a time) it had become normal to sell some of them, at least to be able to earn something. The conflicts between the various peoples of the Baudonia City Alliance was also something Haku was familiar with. Amd in the end, as for abandoning their own savior... Haku thought it was a horrendous move, but still understandable. The beastmen already hated the hybrids, but if one of them, a child, was able to perform a massacre, then that hatred would turn to fear. Unfortunately, hatred hardly transformed into gratitude even after that person had saved their life. Haku couldn't call himself an expert on emotions, but this one was so simple that even he understood it.

In short, Haku believed that Carrion wasn't lying, and therefore that he had really lived everything he was telling. Which gave Haku an annoying sense of familiarity that made no logical sense, and therefore the dragon couldn't explain. He decided that perhaps he would understand better if he continued to listen. "So, you crossed the human nations. And then?"

For the first time on Carrion's face was a smile that wasn't mocking or sad, but genuine. "And then... there I found something amazing. As I walked through the streets of the human cities, no one cared what I was. There were some drunks in the taverns, and some children curious about my appearance, but nothing more. At first I paid no attention to it, but as I continued I saw how much better humans were than the beastmen. They didn't fight for trivial reasons, they lived together. Their villages and cities helped each other, and they had created huge roads to connect one another. There were laws that protected the weak from the abuses of the strong. No one could sell their children. If a child was tormented, the adults intervened, and if no one did then the guards did. Humans do not they worshiped strength, selfishness or overpowering like the corrupt beastmen people... they lived by the rules of friendship, love, forgiveness. They had created an orderly society with laws that apply to everyone, and they kept improving it every day building new buildings and helping each other. Humans weren't flawless, but they were so... better"

Haku couldn't help but agree with him. Even if it wasn't possible to give a correct classification of civilizations, the human one was surely better than the beastmen one, at least in that small corner of the world (Haku was sure that, with all the human and beastmen nations that existed elsewhere, there would be many different civilizations). Humans made wars, but they were rare and they often preferred to resolve their conflicts with methods other than weapons; the alliance between nations was a prime example of this. Very often before a war humans spent months at the negotiating table hoping to find a solution, unlike the beastmen who instead rushed headlong against the enemy. Also, humans living in the same nation didn't fight each other. There was no hierarchy among the strongest villages or towns, but they all followed the same rules. They competed in money, art and prosperity, but not in arms. Civil wars were also quite rare, at least from a human point of view (due to their short lifespan, a human could easily have not seen even a civil war; for a dragon it was more frequent). Consequently, even on the pacifism front alone, humans could be considered better than beastmen.

But then there were other factors. In human society, interracial crossbreeding was much less penalised. This was due to the fact that humans had a very mercantile culture, and therefore it was easy for children to be born as a result of crossbreeding with other races, and since they were children of merchants they were often treated with respect. Therefore, even in the earliest times, when the Jurao Kingdom and other northern human nations were more inclusive, hybrids weren't penalized too much, even if they weren't initially viewed too well. But after the Jurao Kingdom had passed new laws, followed by the other neighboring nations who had seen the potential, the situation had improved even more. By now, although this varied between the various races, it had become commonplace to see an elf or faun or orc in a human city, resulting in an increased likelihood of interbreeding. Even though there were still some people who didn't appreciate this, especially among the very snobbish upper class, the majority of the population now considered this a normal thing. Compared to the Baudonia City Alliance, the Jurao Kingdom and the other human nations were ahead by a hundred kilometers or more.

And then there was the social issue. It, too, had become better rather recently, and many parts of human society were still strongly classist, such as the treatment of slaves or noble superiority. But even in the most ancient times, however, there were laws that applied to everyone. Rape and murder, for example, had always been punished regardless of whether the perpetrators were nobles or peasants (although nobles had far more legal and neat loopholes at their disposal to get rid of the evidence). In recent times, many other laws had extended to all classes, placing people on a very similar level to one another. Unlike the beastmen, where the leaders of the various cities had every privilege, among the humans there were higher moral precepts. While there was still much work to be done, it was natural for Carrion to see human society as superior in its every aspect.

"It took me over five years to find my father. That bastard knew how to hide his tracks well" Carrion continued. "I finally found him and killed him good. This time I didn't get much satisfaction... when I killed him, it was like killing any animal. I didn't even bother to torture him or let him know who I was, showing how little he meant to me. But that trip was not in vain anyway, because it allowed me to see the superiority of human society. The more I walked those streets, the more I loathed the horrible body in which I had had the misfortune to be born. I was not blind, of course: I could see that not all humans were good... but what was the exception among humans, among beastmen was the norm. It was then that I realized that it was humans who were worthy to rule this world. The beastmen, those who most objected to it were to be obliterated. While traveling I spent my time especially training, and since I had some talent, by the time I finally found my father I had already reached the level diamond. But there was one more thing I did in that time... and it was to visit the temples of human deities. They were so…perfect. Good, just, professing love and togetherness, not like the violent and evil beastmen deities. And among them, the one I most admired was the goddess Heloisa, the protector of the Jurao Kingdom and some other nations, who through her priests taught the ways of peace, justice, forgiveness and joint work. I fell in love with her, literally. I visited her temples every chance I got, and when I did, I begged her to shed the hideous skin I was born with and turn me into a human. And she answered my prayers. He granted my wish with a chance encounter. As I was traveling through the Esperandia Kingdom, I met an elf mage who taught me something very special. He gave me a special rune, with which I could create illusions"

From what Haku had learned, the Esperandia Kingdom was the only elven nation in the north of the continent, the last bastion of the ancient elven society that once dominated all that territory. It was an extremely isolationist nation and were said to even practice eugenics, and closely guard their secrets. However, there were rotten people in all races who would do anything to get a little profit. Carrion hadn't specified who that elf mage was, but Haku suspected he was a bad guy, or at least a rather greedy person. He wondered what Carrion had offered him to teach him about the rune. Haku wasn't surprised that elves knew runes: from what he understood they were a product of light magic, quite unknown to humans since they had different gods, but which instead was known by other races such as fairies or, indeed, elves because given by their gods or handed down from their predecessors who worshiped such gods. He was pretty sure the rune in question was the invisibility rune, the same one Haku and his siblings used.

"That rune was a double-edged sword anyway" Carrion said. "It's etched into my heart, and every day it drains an enormous amount of energy. Normally it would have killed me no sooner than I was thirty, but I was willing to make that sacrifice if it meant living like a human being"

Okay, that was the invisibility rune. Now Haku had confirmation.

"Unfortunately it took me a long time to learn how to use it. It took me a very long training to gain the necessary concentration, and even so the illusions I was able to create would have been evident to a careful eye"

That was another confirmation: Haku and his siblings could use the invisibility rune easily, but they all possessed a level of concentration impossible to find in newcomers. For dragons, creating realistic illusions was easy. This was not the case for the newcomers: as Gerard had pointed out, even the best disguises had flaws visible to a careful eye, unlike those of the dragons which were perfect.

"Anyway, with that rune I was finally able to blend into human society. It cost me enormous mental effort, but I was willing to bear it. Moved by my love for the goddess Heloisa, I returned to the Jurao Kingdom and joined the army to defend the nation that adored her to repay at least some of her gift. Very quickly my talent was visible to everyone and I reached the level adamantium, and soon I began to occupy higher and higher positions in the military hierarchy. I thought that was the highest I could aspire to, but the goddess had other plans for me. My devotion to her grew day by day, until I got to visit her temple every chance I got... and one day, unexpectedly, I heard it". Carrion seemed to shiver. "Her voice. I heard it. It was so melodious, delicate as a butterfly, and at the same time powerful as the loudest of thunder. She told me that she recognized my faith and that she entrusted me with the task of protecting the Jurao Kingdom and helping it to grow. And then, her power flowed through me. It was an indescribable feeling… it was as if a part of the goddess entered my body and filled my veins instead of blood. I was enveloped in a warmth that I cannot describe; it wasn't about temperature, it was something else... mystical. When I got up from the kneeling position I was in, my strength had grown enormously. I had become a legendary level. From then on I used my divine power and my new stronger mind to make the rune work, and this allowed me to live as long as a normal person and to make my illusion perfect, even for the other legendary levels"

Haku was very interested in that passage, not only for the story but because he finally had the chance to better understand how the legendary levels worked. During those four months he had in fact tried to find out how to create one, but unfortunately neither Zamor nor anyone else had been able to provide him with the answer. However, they had given him some rather interesting information, which had allowed Haku to set some criteria. First of all, the person in question had to have a high level of strength. Secondly, he must have been an extremely devout person. In all the newcomer stories, heroes and saints were strong people devoted to their god, who were then rewarded by them with power. Furthermore, it was said that the gods, once they had chosen their champion, spoke to him at least once to be able to tell him what they wanted, even though they often remained quite ambiguous. Almost always in the case of heroes and saints their mission was to protect their nation, without changing the already existing society, but in rare cases the god ordered them to defeat a powerful enemy (usually a dragon, an overlord or a demon king) and to sometimes even to wage civil war against a corrupt monarch. In the case of demon kings and overlords, however, the order was almost always to seize power, conquer and subdue everything in their path. Haku had never had the opportunity to prove the veracity of this information, but now that he could compare it with Carrion's story it seemed to be true. The mystery remained of how the gods created the legendary levels... but for that Haku would have to understand the power of the gods themselves, and he currently has no clue. "Let me guess: after this you decided that the best way to protect the kingdom was to exterminate the beastmen" he said.

The smile on Carrion's face widened. "Yes... but not immediately. First they had to be punished"