Emmet raised an eyebrow. "Accidents?"
"Well, I can show you that, and you’ll understand," Jasper replied.
Emmet found Jasper surprisingly different from when they first met during their fight. "One can never truly tell a person's real character, especially when you don’t know a thing or two about them," Emmet thought, which made him see Jasper as a gentle, caring guy despite the scary aura he had before.
Emmet then asked, "Where exactly is this place?"
"This is a secret hideout," Jasper explained. "It's locked down by some kind of spell set by Jeniah herself to avoid outside detection. It's actually underground. The truth is, we haven't really explored it; it was already like this when we first arrived. Jeniah once said this is an abandoned place even the group you call the 'demon cult' is afraid of. It's the best place to hide from them."
Emmet was curious but chose not to ask further about the underground place, though he secretly wished he could explore it.
"This place is a bit confusing at first," Jasper admitted, "but I've posted a map for each floor at the entrance, so you can check that out later. This is the fourth underground floor level, where Jeniah does her research, so feel free to use it."
"Did you purposely lead me here?" Emmet asked.
"Well, sort of," Jasper said, shrugging. "You offered to help cure us, and this place is where Jeniah researched a lot of things. None of us have the ability to understand any of it. Maybe you can check it and see what you come up with?"
"Uhh, you seem to be really pushing me on that cure, huh?" Emmet replied, a trace of amusement in his tone. "Not that I'm unwilling, but yes, I'm very interested in her research. You don’t mind if I start on it?"
"Oh, not at all, feel free," Jasper said. "The others can wait; I'm sure they’re not eager to meet anyone. I've already told them about you. I'll be with you for now and will provide anything you need. Don’t worry, you are free to go anytime you like, so don’t feel like I'm forcing you to do this."
Emmet nodded and said, "Okay."
If he wanted to, Emmet thought, even if they are up to no good, I can easily defend myself and maybe just force my way out using the earth totem. Then, he realized, Oh no, my earth totem... it no longer has its previous ability.
He sat down and summoned his earth totem. An obsidian crystal totem appeared, which greatly surprised Jasper.
"Whoa, what is that?" Jasper exclaimed, his eyes widening.
Emmet didn’t seem to hear Jasper and proceeded to inspect the totem. So, I can no longer summon the earth totem; instead, I summon its corrupted form. It no longer has the ability to alter the earth around it. That's too bad, he lamented.
He then tested it out, acting as if he already knew what it could do. The smooth stone floor groaned, fracturing as spikes of dark obsidian crystals shot out randomly from the ground, one almost puncturing Jasper.
"Whoa, what are you doing, Emmet?" Jasper demanded.
Still engrossed in observing the crystal and not paying attention to Jasper, Emmet said, "I see, I can feel it. Jasper," he added, "please go over there and defend yourself."
"What?" Jasper demanded, his bone sword shimmering into existence. "What exactly do you plan on doing?"
Emmet replied, "I plan on testing the effect of my new totem."
"Like readying for a mock battle," Jasper said, the bone sword locking into his grip. The process looked painful. "Don’t blame me if I break them," he warned.
Emmet picked up one of the crystal shards and formed it into a sharp, long throwing spear. He held it, planning to throw it at Jasper, but decided not to aim directly at him, instead aiming at the wall beside him.
As Emmet threw it, Jasper was going to intercept, but noticed it wasn't aimed at him. However, when the crystal projectile almost came close, he felt a sudden, sharp pulse of magnetic energy—an invisible fist—that violently slammed him backward. Emmet threw another, but this time, the crystal projectile seemed to have a bit of a gravity pull, which tugged Jasper towards it. Jasper smashed it using his bone sword.
"Okay, that's it, thanks, Jasper," Emmet said.
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"What was that? Did you lose your earth control and gain a new one?" Jasper asked.
"Well, yes," Emmet confirmed. "It seems like this is my totem’s real ability now that I've embraced the demonic energy as my power source. Interesting," he continued. "So, it has this gravity effect that can pull and push, which I can use to increase its velocity or impact damage. This is good for throwing. What if I create a wall out of it? With its pushing, pulsating vibration, I can increase defense."
"Jasper, try breaking this," Emmet said, creating a wall made of the dark crystal in front of him.
Jasper excitedly hit it, wanting to show off, and infused his sword with his corrupted warrior divinity, which glowed hotly. As soon as he hit it, he felt a layer of energy preventing him from hitting the crystal. He increased his strength and upgraded his technique, his body straining visibly, to finally break the crystals.
"Amazing," Emmet said.
"Well, it's nothing; I can do more damage than that," Jasper boasted.
Emmet continued, "It’s amazing that this crystal wall has a vibration effect which could reflect physical damage back to its attacker."
"Well, yes, I felt it too," Jasper said. "Before I hit the crystal, it felt like there was some kind of force repelling my hit."
"I think it is some kind of magnetic force that can repel or attract," Emmet concluded. "Truly amazing."
"Well, yes, if you could use it in an actual battle, it is actually powerful," Jasper agreed.
"I know," Emmet affirmed, a dark, satisfied glint entering his eyes.
I haven't really tested it properly before, Emmet thought, but now that it is my new ability, I guess I have to improve my understanding of it. And the fire totem... I can test that one later, when I'm outside. This isn't a good place to test fire.
He then unsummoned the obsidian totem. The crystal started disappearing slowly.
"Ah, so they also disappear," Emmet said.
He sat down again, deep in thought. So, I need to focus and think of my new purpose now. Should I go back with Raze and the others? No, I promised Jasper I’d help them. I’m sure Raze and the others are worried about me. Emmet’s mind snagged on Eanne. Eanne is gone now... The thought was a raw, cold edge pushing him forward. Right, my purpose now is to become stronger.
I need to explore my ability, and this place seems most suited for me to expand my knowledge about it. And with Jasper, who is also like me, I think I can also learn from helping them, and he did say there are others like him in this place. Perhaps I can decipher their abilities too. This is the truth of it. The 'dark energy' felt less like corruption and more like a missing piece clicking into place, a deep, resonant harmony with his very bones. Embracing it is the true path that I should take. This is why I can no longer go back to Raze and the others; this is the path that I must take.
His face grew serious. On the other side, that being who took Eanne... I will master every facet of this dark gift until I possess the strength to find you.
"Hello," Jasper said. "You seemed in deep thought. Are you okay?"
"Yes, I’m okay, Jasper," Emmet replied. "Sorry about that. I'm thinking of the future ahead of me."
"So, what about it?" Jasper asked.
"Well, I’ll stay here with you, and I will learn more about this dark energy," Emmet affirmed.
"Oh, glad to hear it," Jasper said. "Well, I have to go for now; I need to do some errands and find us food. I'll be back. Say, do you have any requests for food?"
"Meat. I only like meat," Emmet said.
"Oh, good choice; all of us here only eat meat," Jasper responded. "I guess that’s another thing we have in common as vessels." He added, "Feel free to roam around, but do not go beyond the fifth underground level."
"Why not?" Emmet asked.
"Well, we haven't gone there before," Jasper explained. "Jeniah said the reason the cult wouldn't come here is because of that thing below. Only Lenka has seen what's beneath, and she can confirm it's dangerous. It's a place where the air itself thins with primal malice."
"Hmm, this Lenka, I would like to meet her later," Emmet said. His curiosity was piqued; he knew he would have to find out about that so-called danger later.
But for now, in front of him were the research materials that Jeniah, an ex-cult member, had on this floor. Well, maybe I can dig into it and learn more about this dark energy, and even the other side.
Emmet then locked himself into isolation, focusing on the research materials. He browsed through the books and tools. The floor he was on was a wide place that seemed bright enough for an underground room, with a unique lighting made from faintly pulsing azure crystal lanterns that cast the wide research floor in a perpetual, eerie twilight. He found tools that were too foreign for him, along with books, documentation, diaries, some torn paper, and some already damaged parchments. The air smelled of stale parchment and metallic residue.
He first started arranging everything according to his preference: "All the books belong here, those there." He then began reading, starting with:
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Anatomy of the human body
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Books about medicine, herbs, healing
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Books about machines, relics, seals, altars, rituals, and Demons.
He locked onto those things related to demons and began reading. He found that the cult uses demons as a power source. The demons in this realm are powerless and will slowly die while inside Elarith. The reason why demons couldn’t enter Elarith is because of the magical force that is pushing them out—the holy veil truly protects them. So, in order to capture the demons, they need a vessel to contain it.
Vessels seemed unstable and some were uncontrollable, so they changed their focus to creating altars and containing the demonic essence there or in other artifacts. The cult studied demonic energy for many years, but it killed many of their researchers since too much exposure to it destroys the mind and body of anyone close to it. This is the reason why further studies of this got slow or halted.
Based on Jeniah’s diary, the cult managed to create other beings from it, corrupting humans and changing them into bloodbounds. They also tried to create weapons out of it, but no ordinary humans could wield them. So, they started to infuse humans with corruption and successfully created some beings that could be controlled.
Ah, that is the limit to what Jeniah has, Emmet thought. He doesn't have much more info beyond that. The cult may have evolved further than that. After Jeniah defected from that group, the cult must have continued to advance their research.
He flipped through a stack of loose, scorched pages—Jeniah’s true ledger—and the cold, immediate facts hit him. He realized with a sick lurch that Jeniah didn’t rescue them. They were never her allies; they were only her most successful test subjects. The corruption she sought to wield had ultimately become her executioner.