"Ah!" screamed the shaman when the blade planted besides his head. Then, he opened his eyes, noticing where it had landed. "Oh. Thank you, kid. From the bottom of my heart, thank-ahck!"

  Kurt's foot flew to the bastar's jaw, snapping his head to the side and drawing blood from his teeth. Then, that same foot landed atop the man's left collarbone. A grind of his heel was enough to make it snap, making his left arm fall limply to his side. Kurt then repeated this action on the right side, leaving the shaman withoutthe use of his arms and highly impaired breathing.

  "You are going to tell me everything you know about the masked guy, you hear me?" Kurt spat. "Where and how you met him. What did he do for this sick project of yours. Everything. After that, you're the DSP's problem."

  The shaman's wizened face twisted with panic. "No!" he screamed. "My boy, they will kill me! Don't you see that they are not interested on magic users that don't obey them or their rules? They are murderous tyrants, trying to quell our freed-" Crack "-aauuugh!"

  Kurt rose his foot from the man's shattered hand, the one that had been missing two fingers, then waited for him to stop screaming.

  "Don't you dare talk about murderous tyrants, you asshole," Kurt said hatefully when this moment came. "You really have no shame at all? How can you do that to a little boy and then talk about freedom and the sanctity of your life?!"

  "Please," the man begged, straining to look at Kurt. "I'm begging you, please..."

  A red light engulfed them both, too dark and triggering to his aetheric sense to be the Aura of Red. Jedidiah looked at something above Kurt's head, his eyes nearly popping out in fear. Letting instinct guide him and od-flares cover him, Kurt jumped back and away from the shaman. His back hit one of the still-standing poles, with enough force to snap the shaft in half and send the whole tumbling down.

  Whatever sound this would have made was, however, swallowed by the roaring and hissing coming from the red bar of chaotic flame that fell atop the shaman's body. The attack wasn't a real flame, not even one created through evocation, but something much darker and dangerous. Something Kurt had only heard about before this moment, and that he would have not recognized the feel of if not for his experience with Melalo.

  A pillar of low-intensity hellfire crashed down on the shaman's body, undoing it in a blast of released inter-molecular energy. The explosion was rather mighty, though Kurt knew that, just like the increased glow from the Red Aura just minutes before, it was just a sign of its inneficiency. Hellfire from levels yellow and above didn't let go of any of its energy, imploding rather than exploding.

  When the cloud of soot and dust cleared, no sign remained from Jedidiah Musser save for the vitried crater that was now his grave.

  "And that is that," came a playful voice from...

  ...from Mila's hill.

  Terrified, Kurt's head snapped in the voice's direction.

  "Oh, hello!" exclaimed Trismegistus when he saw Kurt looking at him, waving his hand at the boy. Walking besides him, with his eyes set on the Aura's container, was Conrad. And above him, carried and tied and gagged by black tendrils that sprouted from twin cannisters at the man's hips, was Mila.

  Before the fear could paralize Kurt, his brain took notice of a fact: both Conrad and Trismegistus looked battered and scratched all over, with their clothes riddled with holes. Mila, on the other hand and despite her predicament, looked intact and defiant.

  "You two fuckers got the drop on a little girl, ganged up on her, and still ended up like this?" Kurt gave one quick check to Mila before his eyes snapped to Conrad, who at least had the decency of looking ashamed. "Why, you are even more pathetic than I had thought."

  "Oh! Ouch," Trismegistus exclaimed, taking both hands to his chest. "A bit harsh on us, don't you think? You, more than anyone else, should know how tough this 'little girl' actually is. Why, you're even the one that trained some of that toughness into her!"

  A joke, containing yet another reminder of how much the bronze-masked bastard knw about Kurt thanks to Conrad. Even the existance of Pneuma and its learnability seemed to have been compromised.

  "You are here for the Aura, uh?" Kurt asked.

  Conrad nodded heavily, and spoke for the first time. "Yes, we are. And if we can just get it and be done with this, then we can all just go our merry ways, no fighting or..." His eyes purposely went to Mila, before sinking back in that useless shame. "Or killing required. This can end just now."

  Kurt scoffed, making his best to put a brave face as his mind raced. They were pretty far away, the two bastards and Mila. Far enough that he could not feasibly reach them physically before they had time to just kill Mila. A spell, then? Maybe a quick Wind Blade to sever those tendrils could...

  No, no it couldn't. Not for sure, at least. With Mila's life on the line, any chance below the 100% might as well be zero.

  Which left Kurt stuck with the 'negotiation'.

  "So what, I let you two take the Aura's power, and then what? What keeps you from keeping Mila hostage, or us to just kick your asses when you release her?"

  "Excellent question!" Trismegistus excitedly exclaimed. "As for the answer..."

  The masked man rose a finger to the air. The tendril gagging Mila loosened away and coiled around the man's arm, stretching beyond the hand by a couple dozen feet. The power within it seemed to transform slightly, and jagged symbols covered its surface. The entire thing unraveled, then formed back into a gyroscope with the jagged symbols floating between its rings. Two sharp tendril extended from the construct's spherical core: one hooked to Trismegistu's finger, and the other within Kurt's reach.

  "These tendrils are animated by Abyssal energy," the man explained. "And so they can take the properties of demons freely, like emitting hellfire or, with some extra work, forming Soul Contracts."

  Kurt tensed at the shoulders. Trismegistus noticed.

  "Oh, you know what those are, uh?" asked the man, tilting his head. "That's good. It makes the next part easier." With a pained grunt, Trismegistus stuck his finger forward, stabbing the tendril onto his flesh. The entire gyroscope trembled, and an ink-like burst of gray light bled from Trismegistus's tendril to the main body, twisting into a spiral in the core. "Let's make a deal then: I unhand Mila safely, and bow not to harm either her nor you, as well as keeping Conrad from doing so should he try, in the next 24 hours. In exchange, you are to let us take the Red Aura freely and without conflict, and to let us go unharmed for the next 24 hours." The masked man locked eyes with Kurt. The unhooked tendril reached for the boy. "Is it going to be a deal?"

  "Hell no!" Mila screamed between breaths, twisting and struggling against her bonds with Pneuma-boosted strength. Her head snapped at Kurt. "They can't beat you! That's why he's doing this in the first place! Don't take the deal, Kurt! I'll be-"

  "Fine?" Trismegistus chuckled. "I sincerely doubt it, my little fae friend. Here, let me show you what happens if he does not take the deal."

  With his free hand, Trismegistus pinched at one of the tendrils holding Mila, taking a cough-drop sized portion of it. He flicked the thing into the ground between him and Kurt, and it immediately exploded in a head-sized blast of hellfire. Trismegistus chuckled yet again, and tapped at the tendril he had pinched, before looking up at Mila.

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  "Can you take that and be 'fine', my fae friend?"

  Mila stared at the crystalized crater between Kurt and Trismegistus. Then at the larger one that had once been Jedidiah. She began to tremble, and her jaw clenched shut. Her eyes seemed to be watering a little.

  "Screw you, you masked psycho," she said tensely. A sniff escaped her, but she kept going. "Don't you even dare to think I'm that much of a coward, you hear me?!" She looked at Kurt with eyes that were barely being kept from tearing up through raw determination. "Kurt, please! Think what this guy would use it for! Think about all the damage these cultists have done with it already! My..." Her lower jaw trembled, and she interrupted her speech. When she continued, she sounded a lot less secure. "My life isn't worth that happening. Please... just beat them up."

  Kurt took in her words far more calmly than he thought possible. He didn't panic, or rage, or tremble. He merely looked at a silent Conrad, and spoke.

  "You are only walking around now because of this girl," he said. "You know that, right? We got the amber thanks to her, and she saved your ass from the mother direwolf. And you are letting this bastard use her as colateral?"

  "You just have to take the deal, Kurt," Conrad said, scowling. "Her life's on your hands, not mine."

  "Ain't that convenient, you bastard? You really only care about yourself. Look at you, dragging your feet to work with this sociopath, spitting on the face of everyone who trusted you, and for what? So you could have another Aura? Get even stronger? Or are you so scared of this guy that you wont even dare going back on whatever deal you've made? Does he have you in a Soul Contract too? Uh? Or why are you doing this?"

  Rage twisted Conrad's face. His scowl deepened, his teeth bared, and he looked at Kurt with widened eyes. "What the hell do you care, uh? Just take the fucking deal already so your little girlfriend doesn't die, you asshole!"

  "I'm going to take the deal, you bastard, so don't worry about it. I just want to now why are you doing this in the first place. This is the third time I ask you, and the second you dodge the second instead of giving me some bullshit 'I want more power' excuse. So let me ask you yet fucking again, Conrad: Why. Are you. Doing this?!"

  "So he doesn't die, of course."

  All eyes turned to the masked man.

  "You bastard," seethed Conrad. "Don't you dare-!"

  "Silence now," Trismegistud coolly demanded, taking the wind off Conrad's sails. The blond swordsman bit his tongue, and did as ordered. Seeing this, Trismegistus returned his attention to Kurt. He even leaned his tendrils forward and to the right so he could also look at Mila. "I think it is just right you guys learn what the Auras really are. You see, since these are powers that only a handful of people have at a time, and that reincarnate randomly, there's little study on them beyond basic effects and their origin. This made important questions such as 'how do they actually work?' or 'why would the power of a divine beast incarnate only in humans?' "

  "I asked myself those questions, and worked to answer them. While I'm still working on the how of the Auras, I'm pretty proud to say I have a working theory on the why. That little story you were told about Gilgamesh cowering the Humbaba so much that its Auras dared only incarnate in humans? That, my dear childreen, is a steaming pile of bullshit. The Auras aren't the incarnation of the Humbaba's fear. No. They are its hatred. A curse disgised as blessing, feed to mankind like the sweetest of poisons."

  "A curse?" Mila asked. She and Kurt looked at each other.

  Then, Kurt asked. "A curse how, exactly?"

  "That's a very good question, indeed. A curse how? How can such incredible powers be a curse?" Trismegistus shook his head, chuckling. "That's the gist of it, really. The Auras are Humbaba's way, to my understanding, of mocking mankind's greed. He was killed so that its forest, the environment he had been born to protect, could be logged down. He saw the pettiness of it, the arrogance of its murderer, and the curse was born."

  " The beast decided that, if humans wanted power and glory above all else, then he would give it to them, and exact a price for it. A step, step price that-"

  "What the hell is the curse, you verbose bastard?!" Kurt screamed.

  "What is gonna happen to Conrad?!" Mila continued.

  "Woah! Okay, okay," Trismegistus exclaimed, raising his palm defensively. "Jeez, have some patience. Anyway, the curse is that, when used, the Auras taint the user's life force. Change it, until the flesh begin to transform into something else."

  Transforming the flesh...

  The realization hit Kurt like a brick to the head, and a shocked gasp slithered between his teeth.

  "Wood," he said. "The curse turns them into trees."

  From her hanging spot, Mila tensed, and Kurt could almost see the memory flashing behind her eyes. An operating room. Conrad's back healing. That spot between his shoulder blades.

  "How do you know that?" Conrad asked, is shock matching Kurt's. "Kurt, how the hell do you know that?!"

  Trismegistus hummed curiously. "Well, it could be because he has probably seen the Red Aura's vessel, whose transformation is realatively advanced..." At this comment, Conrad scowled in bewilderment. "...Or it could be because he's seen it somewhere else. Maybe both."

  Conrad's frown deepened. Then, the shock forced his eyebrows nearly to the back of his head, and cold sweat poured from his face. He turned to Kurt, and asked. "It's just that vessel-thing, right?" He forced a smile, and laughed nervously. "C'mon, man, just say you saw the vessel." Kurt looked Conrad in the eye, expression pained. "Please..."

  "It happened in the hospital," Mila said, softly, drawing Conrad's attention. "When the amber healed you, there was a spot between your shoulder blades that..." She trailed off, face twisted with guilt. "We thought it was because of the amber! That's why I was checking Kurt's back when you awakened."

  All emotion flushed from Conrad's face. Slowly, his hand went to his back, snaking in the space between his neck and shirt until his fingers found it. His hand recoiled as though burned, and his breath grew ragged.

  "No," he said, shaking his head. Tears had begun to pool in the corners of his eyes. "Not to soon..."

  "Now now," said Trismegistus. "There's no need to worry, my child. Our plan to cure you is going to work either way. By next week, that little scab on your back will be history."

  "Plan?" Mila asked, scowling at the man. "What plan?"

  Trismegistus chuckled again. "Why, the plan to break the Humbaba's curse, of course! What do you kids think this has been all about?"

  Kurt spared a worried look to Conrad, who seemed to be putting his all into calming down, then gave a much less charitable one to the masked man. "Explain. Now."

  "The curse is powered by Humbaba's hatred," Trismegistus began. "And a good chunk of that hatred comes from the spiritual pain of having his soul split into pieces, which is what the Auras are. If we can quell this pain, the hatred will go away, and with it the curse."

  "So," Kurt said evenly. "The Aura's power is killing Conrad, and your plan is to put more of them in his body?" He looked at the young man in question. "This guy is fucking crazy, man. He's trying to get you killed."

  Conrad shook his head, looking at Kurt. "He is sincere. We made a Soul Contract like the one he's offering you, and he promised he sincerely believed his plan would work. It is my best shot, man. I-I don't want to die."

  "Conrad..." Mila sadly said. Her gaze went to Trismegistus. "What if he stopped using his Aura. Would the curse keep advancing then?"

  "Nope," Trismegistus said, popping the last part. "The Auras only poison you when you use them. You forsake them, they leave you alone. Sadly enough, this alternative appeals very little to Conrad. There are fates worse than death, and all that jazz."

  "Shut up," Conrad said between gritted teeth, looking down in shame.

  "Is that so, uh?" Kurt said, pensive. "Conrad. That story you told us the day after the Ruth Incident, was it real? Or were you making it up so we would keep going?"

  "Real," the blond one answered. "I promise it was real."

  "Okay then," With that, Kurt stabbed his index on the tendril. A line of amber light creeped up the construct, darkening the fluid around it. When it reached the core and looped around Trismegistus's gray one, the jagged symbols glitched briefly before settling back into smoother forms. "I take the deal, you masked bastard."

  Status effect "Soul Contract" has been applied.

  "Okily dokily!" Trismegistus exclaimed. A moment later, both the gyroscope and Mila's holds dissolved and retracted into their cannisters. Mila landed on her feet, her knees barely buckling. "Now then, let us go, children."

  Mila looked at the man with disgust, and immediately bolted for Kurt. They crashed into a hug and, for a second, allowed themselves to feel relieved.

  "Sorry I ignored you," Kurt whispered to her ear. "I just couldn't do it."

  Nuzzling his neck, Mila said. "It's ok. I'm not sure if I even meant it."

  The sound of footsteps came from their right. The couple separated to look at a defeated-looking Conrad. He stopped for a moment, nodding at them. "I'm sorry, guys. I really am."

  "It's ok," Mila reasured him. "We understand."

  Kurt nodded in silent agreement, then spoke. "Just… be sure you make it painless, ok?"

  Conrad gave Kurt a quizzical look before Trismegistus, who now stood besides Eric's casket, beckoned him. Grimmacing, the blond swordsman complied. When he reached the container and looked inside, he screamed, and had to cover his mouth to muffle his retching.

  "Regrettable, isn't it?" Trismegistus said simply. Then, he procured a silvery tube-shaped object from his shawl, like a small epipen, and handed it to Conrad. With trembling hands, the Blue Aura's wielder took the object, and stabbed himself in the arm with it.

  Like blood dropping on water, the energy contained within the object exploded within Conrad's forearm, suffusing its veins with Red Aura. Gritting his teeth, Conra coated his arm with Blue Aura, letting both powers meet and resonate through his flesh. Immediately, as though magnetically attracted, a surplus of Red Aura jumped from within the casket, entering Conrad's body.

  The swordsman screamed, and the pain made him fall to his knees. Trismegistus approached him and patted him on the shoulder twice, the bent over the young man and grabbed his sword. He raised the blade above head, and stabbed into the box with it in a single, lethal blow. A ball of darker, duller energy rose from the river of Red Aura, looking almost like a blood-clot. The 'clot' entered Conrad's arm, sending ripples throughout his frame.

  Quest Failed: Released Might

  Kurt dismised the screen with a though.

  The lightshow died, and Conrad slumped. A few seconds after, he rose and took his sword from Trismegistus's offering hands, putting it back in its sheath.

  Kurt approached the two silently, just three steps, until a screen appeared above Conrad's head.

  Humbaba's Heir

  Conrad Walker

  LV:63

  "Well then!" Trismegistus chirped. "That seems to be it. You two are free to inform Mr. Calum Anderson and the DSP about this. As for us two, we are going." With that, he spun on his heels and made his way to one of the parked cars. "Let's go, Conrad."

  The boy didn't move. He looked at Kurt and Mila, who could do nothing but look back.

  "Is there something keeping you from just killing this guy now?" Kurt asked. "I can't now but, if you and Mila worked together…"

  Conrad shook his head. "We made a deal. I have to meet my end of it."

  "Well," Mila said, walking up to Kurt. "Do it then. Then you can come back to the order. We'll make sure everyone knows your reasons for this. Nobody will hate you."

  Kurt chuckled. "Yeah, and then we can see how strong you are with a good ol' sword spar. No chin shots though."

  The three laughed for a moment. When they stopped, the group fell on a silence that none wanted to break. Despite himself, however, Kurt did just that, offering Conrad his hand and a sincere. "You are a great guy, Conrad. I'm glad I get to be your friend."

  Watering at the eyes, Conrad took the offered hand. They shook twice, and then Kurt, lacking any violent intent, pulled Conrad into a hug that Mila joined immediately. Again, they fell in a silence that was sacred in their reverence to not break it.

  It lasted nearly ten seconds before the blasting of a car's horn pierced.

  Knowing it was time, they let go of Conrad, who gave them a last sad nod before going and boarding the car.

  Then, Trismegistus drove them away as Kurt and Mila watched.

  Kurt's eyes kept glued to the small dirt road they took. He felt his hearbeat spike, his ears ringing, and his breathing tremble. But then he felt Mila's hand hold his, and it went away as quickly as it came. She leaned against him, resting her head on his shoulder.

  "What now?" he asked.

  Letting out a sigh, Mila looked around the area. "We should probably tie these guys up or something. Then call Mr. Anderson."

  "Sounds like a plan."