Harem King's Collection: Turning Beastkins Into Desperate Wives!-Chapter 75: Enemy Or Ally..?!?

The rabbit paused, making sure Aster had a thorough understanding. She needed to know whether he knew why blood magic was bad, even if he could use it as a man.

Aster nodded, repeating what his brother had taught him, having no idea what blood magic was supposed to be.

"Anima magic is often known as the god’s magic. This is something you must be born with an understanding of. Talent comes after luck when it comes to an anima mage’s ability. All beasts have select words they can and can not conprehend in the ancient tongue from birth.

"The more words your soul can recognize, the more powerful of spells you can learn to speak, often even stringing together new phrases and magic to create a new result altogether. On the other hand, if you can only comprehend a few words, your magic ability is nearly nonexistent."

Aster paused for a bit before continuing.

"Of course, how much energy the user’s body can supply their magic factors in as well, further separating what makes the top mages the top mages...

"Cortist is revered as a prodigal anima mage for both boasting a vast magical presence, and an impressive understanding of the language of the gods...

"As for me... I can’t understand a damn word any of you say when you speak that tongue... It sounds like there are three of you whispering at once, but I can’t make out any of them... It’s kind of unnerving, if I’m being entirely honest."

The rabbit only nodded, coaxing the human to continue. Aster took a deep breath, feeling a bit annoyed at the quizzing when there were more pressing concerns on the table.

Still, he humored the rabbit and picked back up.

"Then there’s rune magic, known also as the patience magic. By learning the ancient symbols needed and adorning them into magic circles, you create what is called a rune. Runes have to be charged with various amounts of energy, depending on their desired functions, but with enough patience, anyone can slowly charge up nearly any spell."

He continued, repeating what he had learned in his studies.

"The main issue with rune magic is that it can be turned against the caster. If someone breaks the rune, it will explode, releasing whatever it had stored up, so a shabbily strewn together one can be deadly.

"Furthermore, an age old tactic is just letting your enemy charge it up, and simply activating it yourself, using it against them, as any mage with enough magical ability and understanding of how the rune works can access the trigger. As such, this magic is rarely seen used in combat these days, but is still quite useful for smaller tasks."

Mollis patiently waited for him to finish. Aster continued on, finally approaching the end of his lecture.

"And the final type, the most rare type to manifest in a beastman, is Prayer magic. Many prefer to call it gift magic, as it’s the only one that seems to work on focus and willpower alone. It is a gift that suddenly reveals itself when a user comes of age, much like bloodskills do, only bearing no concept of inheritance. While anima magical ability can influence the ability of one’s offspring, just as bloodskills do, prayer magic follows no such pedigree. The users are seemingly chosen at random."

"There’s no requirement to chant anything, but the effects are only ever beneficial. There has never been a negative or malicious use, or effect from this magic recorded, aside, of course, from its scarcity.

"You mainly see this used to heal wounds and sickness, but it can also do things like purify water and toxins, stave off fiends, and even things like enriching soil and promoting life in desolate land. The most skilled users of this magic can even bring a calm to the most bloodthirsty opponent with enough focus."

Aster trailed off, reaching the end of his knowledge on the subject. Mollis remained silent for a bit longer. The human was correct on everything so far, but there was a fourth type. The rabbit finally elaborated for the young man.

"Blood magic is the final kind known to our world. This magic was discovered and developed mainly by humans, but beastmen can learn to wield it as well with enough skill... Although, nobody ever should. There’s a reason you didn’t find this in your brother’s textbooks, Aster.

"Humans can not use any of the three beast magic types, but they can barter with life and death themselves. This is what eventually led to King Alocer’s crusade against your people. This is what killed his queen."

The rabbit paused. She needed to know that Aster understood what terrible things blood magic had caused. The human only listened intently as Mollis continued.

"Blood magic requires sacrifice. It steals life from the user, and sometimes even those around it. It can be used for curses, rituals, and even talking to the dead. HOWEVER, the price is always unknown. The simplest request can cost the lives of fifty, and the greatest miracle can cost the life of a single insect nearby. The potential is unlimited, but so is the destruction. This is chaos magic. It should never be attempted to wield... And yet, somebody used it on you."

Mollis couldn’t look Aster in the eye while she revealed this, but she still told him nonetheless.

There was too much at stake.

"Those flames came from something sealed inside of you, Aster. I don’t know what it is, but only blood magic could’ve put it there... I suspect I’m one of two people to ever realize it was there, and that was only because of what I saw with my own eyes...

"Your brother’s reputation proceeds him. How long has he known? When did you use the guidance stone with him? That "Smokey reaction," you told me he discovered, isn’t a thing that normally happens... Is your brother, Cortist Venatus, the one that put this curse on you, Aster? Are you two planning to do something bad?

"Don’t you dare think to lie to me to protect him. I need the truth! As a mage of Alora and one tasked to protect my prince, I need to know if your brother is a threat to our country. I need to know if you are a threat to our country... I can not afford to let my own feelings stand before my duty to the crown any longer. I can not pretend I am ignorant..."

Aster could only take a step back in shock. Sure, he understood the rabbit’s fear, especially after that explanation on what blood magic was, but Mollis was finally looking at him then, yet in an entirely different way.

She was looking at him like an enemy. Aster felt a part of his heart sink at the realization, and the darkness that had stirred when he read his father’s letter earlier crawled beneath his skin once more.

Aster had chills.

Aster was getting angry.

He felt betrayed by the rabbit’s accusation... He felt like an outsider, like he was just a plotting human to these beasts after all...

At that moment, Stahl slammed the door open, panting heavily. The she-wolf had to gather the warriors as quickly as possible. Her father had finally contacted her. Her father was alive. Her father brought news of their home.

Surprisingly enough to the wolf, neither the human nor the rabbit, seemed to be very thrilled by the good news for some reason.

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