Chapter 10: Human’s Greatest Relatives, Demons

Noah could feel the energy buzzing inside of him. The first wave had served as his warm up, but the main fight was taking too long to come. He paced, growling as he did. He had a lot of frustration to work out. Cillian and Sir Enzo spoke together in hushed voices, and even as they were a bit far from where he was, he could hear their indistinct voices but couldn’t make out the actual words. All his senses had improved. Sight, touch, smell, taste and hearing. Along with his Origin Memory, his dragon physique had manifested. He knew he could shatter boulders with a punch. But that meant nothing. He’d also seen what the other chimeras could do. Every chimera received a boost in physicality. And while he could assume that his was a cut above the rest, he’d long learned while doing business that assumptions could kill just as fast as anything else. "Hey, chill out." Arlo grinned from where he laid on the dusty floor, his hands behind his head. "You’re making the knights nervous." Noah glanced at the knights to see that he had in fact been making them nervous. They’d been glancing at him, and his pacing had been making them restless. He stopped, putting his hands in his pockets. "When will the second wave be here? Let’s get this over with." "Hoho! Eager, I see." Arlo turned his head as if to look at Noah, even with his blindfold in the way. His silver hair glinted under the bright sun. "Well, the second wave should’ve been here." "So, what’s keeping them?" Noah frowned. "Simple. They’ve been commandeered." "Commandeered?" "Inside the Abyss, the beasts are quite intelligent. But when they enter this world, they tend to lose most of their intelligence. Something about this world locks away a part of their soul from them. We think it’s part of the natural defenses of this world." "When the beasts arrive here, they can be taken control of. A rare few chimeras can gain a Memory that allows them to control abyssal beasts. An example would be you, a dragon chimera. You can eventually gain a memory like that." "And before you ask, no." Arlo sighed dramatically. "I don’t have any memory that allows me to directly control abbysal beasts. My only weakness, of course." "I didn’t ask." Noah shook his head at Arlo’s antics. "But if the beasts have been commandeered, is that a good thing or a bad thing?" "In this case, bad. Definitely bad." Arlo yawned. "Because there is one special kind of abyssal beast that is kind of an exception to the rules I just mentioned." Noah could take a guess. "Demons." "Exactly." Arlo snapped his fingers, pointing at Noah. "Unlike other beasts, Demons are so similar to the natives of the world that the protections don’t register them." "They’re terrifying because they’re like us. Intelligent, strategic... and completely unbound by morality. And that makes them incredibly dangerous." "All demons have the ability to control other abyssal beasts. So, if the other beasts are not here by now, it means that they’ve been commandeered by a demon. And with an army of beasts at the demon’s beck and call, we’re in for a fight." Noah didn’t know how to feel about all this. He’d rather be back at the pool party, sipping a martini. This was on him for wanting a challenge. "Look." Arlo gained Noah’s attention, nodding in the direction of the knights. One of the knights was using his Memory to erect walls of stone around the gorge. "We’re fighting an abyssal beast that actually uses its brain. That means we have to use ours too. Funnel them in paths that favor us. If we control the battlefield, we have a higher chance of defeating them." "But don’t worry. As long as Cillian and I are here, you can’t die." Arlo grinned. Noah stared as the stone liquified, before moving up and solidifying into a wall. The soldier was building a maze around them. As exciting as all these sounded, if he wanted a thrill, he’d rather be skydiving or bungee jumping back on earth. This was even more reason for him to go back home. He prefered reading about heroes defeating beasts to actually fighting them himself. But the dragon part of him relished the challenge. And there was one thing both parts of himself agreed on. He was not to be summoned and controlled at anyone’s whim. "This, Noah, will be your first taste of the creatures you’ve been summoned to fight." Arlo suddenly sat up with a grin, turning to face Noah. "Are you ready?" A growl erupted from Noah’s lips. The feeling of supreme arrogance rose up in him again at the thought of a challenge, but he quickly squashed it. He was human, not a dragon. All he had was a single Memory of a dragon. He could still be overwhelmed. His time would be better spent learning what he can do. Then, when he had defeated the demon and its beasts, his arrogance would be justified. "Tell me all I need to know about being a chimera." He finally said. Arlo hopped to his feet energetically, like he had been told all his heart desires were being fulfilled. "I thought you’d never asked." "There are two types of magic that are still alive till today." He said enthusiastically, raising up two fingers. "Ritual magic, which brought you here and made you a chimera." He dropped a finger. "And abyssal magic, which we chimeras use." "With abyssal magic, we’re borrowing from the power of another soul that has been broken down and integrated with ours. The original beasts no longer exist, and all that’s left is their Memories." "By putting ourselves in dangerous situations that can lead to death, we enter a state called overdrive, and can awaken those Memories, which copies the ability in our own soul, and gives us the ability to use them." "So, if you want more than one Memory, you’ll need to continually put yourself in danger." Arlo grinned widely, his expression a little crazy. "And from what I’ve come to learn, it’s worth it. Three Memories are better than two, and four are definitely better than three." "And with each Memory you unlock, whatever physical benefits you get from your beast increases. If its strength, you get stronger. If it’s speed, you get faster." "So, being a chimera is incredibly simple. All you need to do is amass Memories to grow stronger." Noah nodded to himself. If putting himself in situations that could kill him could give him the power to not be controlled by anyone, he’ll gladly take it. Arlo opened his mouth to speak before pausing and looking up to the top of the gorge. A second later, a howl erupted over the gorge. A big smile spread on his face and he turned to Noah. "Looks like our guest has finally arrived."