Reincarnated into a Snow Griffin-Chapter 79

I am not one to discard the other’s fears so lightly, but even I was a little skeptical about calling such place as a cursed land, how bad it had to be to have such a title after all, but as I ask Ethan about the place in hopes he knew more than I, I’m surprised to see the smirk I gave him disappear once more as memories seem to play behind his eyes, and all this seriousness about him because of this mission and this place unsettles me more than any other circumstance, for so strange it is to see such expressions on his ever so playful face.

"It is a place where the red flames sparkle without a once of light, bloody and crimson, where bodies do not rot, forever to be imprisoned on such place, where the land is alive and it is hunting its next prey... or so they say."

I wait for him to dismiss the common tales of the place, but when he does not do it I start to get partially worried yet curious about such an eerie island.

Plus I figure Ethan knew about it by the way he calmly reacted to the news that our mission would be there, and also because it is common for the Stunning Golden Tiger martial artist sect to come here on missions to gather unique resources and to gain fighting experience too.

And yet he exceeds my expectations with the details he intel next:

"Well, I do not know every nook and cranny, but one thing you must know for sure is the rich and old history the island land has for it reflects on its culture until this day."

"For once let me start with the story of the Bringers of Magic, and as much as we know about these ancient beings that are venerated until this day. The first Bringer of Magic is considered a Goodness by many humans, and, as the name intel’s, she was the first to use and teach magic to the humans of this realm."

"However not only she came to teach her way with elemental energy manipulation, but others like her soon followed, and we cultivators like to think they were the roots of our way too, since magic and the Yang Ying energy are not far fetched, only honed and better tuned with the equilibrium of the Ping Heng... but that is a discussion for another time." Indeed, there are many cultivators who would feel offended to have their ways compared to magic, for this one is far more limited, if not at least average for common use, but cultivation requires elemental roots cores to be inside the person at birth that many do not possess, plus years and years of study and practice.

However it does, indeed, gives back immortality and stronger almost goodly powers in return for all the effort needed, so I guess it is only natural for some to think cultivators are closer to divinity than simple mortal magical users.

"The fact is that there are many, if not most, demons who are resistant to physical common attacks, and others are so beastly inhuman and monstrous that an army would have a hard time dealing with them, so it is agreeable in history that, before magic came to be, the humans had a very hard time dealing with demons, and on the Demon Era they flourish like weeds on a wetland... and with their lands and greed their powers were higher and ancient."

"And so an ever lasting war of humans and demons persisted, the Bringers of Magic came to bring the humans a way of truly fighting back and not only surviving and losing land, turning the tides that years to come would cost a lot to the demons."

"And yet, as much as humans were able to fight back, much was lost to both sides, and in an attempt to stop this war the Goodness sealed the demons inside this island where their main base stands until this day."

Such powerful magic picks my interest, so I start questioning him:

"How does such magic works? Is the barrier still up? And there are demons on the main land as well, were they the remains of the ones left behind or is the barrier weakening?"

But of course I should know that being this helpful would cost me as I was doing the exact thing I had pledged to avoid: to give him attention, to feed him my words and my presence, for he is the type to greedily consume it all, more stubborn and voracious than a hungry flame.

"Such a curious beauty... so many questions, so eager that even makes me jealous... perhaps I should be requiring some sort of payment for such precious information... I can be your tour guide even down there... for the right price that is." He leans over the railing and rests his face on his hand casually, a smirk playing on his lips making dimples appear on his cheeks, but it is his gaze that hits the mark, the unblinking passionate stare that hints at the intensity of his emotions, of his desire.

And, as his last actions play on my mind, of knowing now that he truly meant what he said, of what he hints at, makes my heart skip a beat beyond my best attempts to be unmoved by his actions and words.

"Or perhaps is of your interest to have someone with knowledge of the place to stand beside you and support you down there."

"Well, I much rather have you in the front."

"Ethan." I say his name harshly, stopping him from continuing his line of thought, and yet his manly chuckle and my red ears say otherwise from my cold tone.

Sigh, this man will drive me crazy one day, such a devil rascal he is.

He gets back to telling me about the place, this odd tension we have going back and forth, seemly increasing these last weeks, but not enough to take us away from the objective this mission held.

So, once he is back to being serious, he says:

"A motherless land it is..." He starts, and something on his distance gaze holds a deeper meaning: "The barrier stands strong, however there is a grave hole in it that the demons soon discovered and exploit it until this day, that the magic does not work on humans... and is only necessary a small amount of it on their lineage to have passage over the invisible walls..."

"... Does it work on other things that aren’t demon?" Such as magical creatures like myself? That would be troublesome indeed.

"No, only demons, and diluting their bloodline to some point made so that they can exploit the outside once more, awfully turning into breeding human farms... so yeah, motherless indeed, although such ways were banned by some clans, others still use it for maximum breeding capability, but last not dwell on such awful things..."

"Let’s not." I say, already feeling my blood boil from the mere thought, the action of the demons and the lion against my mother still vivid until this day, and such ways only bring forth such long forged hate for this treatment they receive, that mother must be receiving.

I clench my hands to steady the shuddering anger, still listening attentively.

Only that our talk is cut short by out of nowhere screams, followed by the ship suddenly tilting and creaking to the side.

For we are under attack.