A powerful slap almost twisted his neck and snapped out of it.
“Are you insane? You almost broke the tank!” Xenagrosh’s voice made the memories fade, returning him to reality.
Nandi found himself sitting on the ground of a room that looked out of a warzone. Everything that wasn’t protected by the powerful arrays surrounding Vastor’s version of Arthan’s Madness had been destroyed.
Broken pieces of equipment were scattered throughout the room along with the wooden splinters that once had been furniture and the walls had more holes than swiss cheese.
“I’m so sorry. I-”
“Just got a glimpse of the burden that your name carries. Now get back here and fuel the machine. Our little scuffle almost drained the energy reserves.” Xenagrosh cut him short.
Nandi focused on the living mana crystals decorating his skin to conjure the necessary world energy. He used it to restore the arrays, empower the gene tank, and fuel the base’s self-repair abilities.
“Can I ask you something?” During the last few days, Nandi had learned the hard way why Baba Yaga never left him alone with the children and why she had sent him to the Master.
There were parts of his past so painful that he could speak about them only with those who had gone through similar experiences.
“As long as you’re not asking me out, sure.” She replied while fueling the tank with a constant stream of vitality from her troll core.
“Why do you blindly follow the Master? He’s but a simple man whereas even before turning into a hybrid, each one of us had enough power to slaughter an army.”
“It’s complicated.” Xenagrosh said.
“Try me.”
“I met him about a decade ago, right after one of his dearest students, someone called Nalear, almost died because of what the academy considered but a practical joke.” Venom filled her voice, making Xenagrosh want to spit in disgust.
“The Master had already researched Arthan’s Madness for decades on his own, but until that point, he had always followed the Kingdom’s law. He meant to use the knowledge gained from the Mad King to find a way to cure all diseases without the risks that Body Sculpting involves.
“After that incident, however, the Master had taken a more radical approach and considered humanity itself as the disease that needed to be treated. He needed people for his experiments with Forbidden Magic and I needed food.
“Our interests aligned and so we started working together. The pact was simple. He would use his resources to provide me with a safe house and a semblance of life while I would use my abilities to supply him with all the subjects and knowledge that his research needed.” She said.
“That doesn’t sound much like an Organization, more like a partnership.” Nandi said.
“Neither of us was interested in the other except for how we could exploit our respective talents.” Xenagrosh shook her head. “There was no trust nor bond between us, just business.”
“Over time, however, the Master became intrigued by my ability to cast silent spells of all tiers, of never aging nor suffering any illness just like I got engrossed by the juicy amounts of energy his experiments generated.
“Each one of his failed attempts released so much life force and world energy to keep my hunger at bay for almost a day. Soon we started to compare notes and once I understood his potential, I offered myself as a test subject.
“The Master managed to create arrays that helped me control the Chaos energy coursing through my body and altered the machine in the attempt to sate my hunger for good. He failed, yet with each one of his experiments, I could feel my strength grow.
“It was the most amazing thing that might have happened. As you know, after reaching the state of Eldritch, Mogar turns its back to us and once we master our new state, there is no room for improvement.
“We become no different from fake mages, capable of learning new spells but limited in their execution by the power of the mana core. It was then that I offered him to find more of our kind.
“We Eldritchs accumulate countless resources through the ages, but we have no way to spend them because of the Chaos energy that courses through our bodies slowly corrupts everything we touch.
“We can’t eat, drink, or even have intimacy without killing our partner.” Her words triggered more of Nandi’s memories that only a well-timed slap kept from having another episode of Blood Madness.
“With each Abomination that joined our cause, the Organization took shape.
“At first, we all considered the Master just to be our servant, but he was the one capable of creating arrays that we had never even thought about, he was the one crafting Forgemastering marvels that gave us new power while the best we could do was be his hunting dogs.
“Over time, he gained our respect and his kindness garnered him our loyalty. Thanks to his devices, we could attend social events from time to time, giving us hope and a purpose. The Master taught us how to speak and walk, even helping some of us to remember who they were.
“We taught him everything we could because we knew that if anything happened to him, the Organization would crumble and we would be back to be nothing but lumps of Chaos energy.
“At that point, none of us was content with surviving anymore, we wanted to live again. Every form of disrespect towards him was met with extreme prejudice and the most powerful of our kind would protect him 24/7, to make sure that no arrogant brat could ruin everything.
“It led the new members to assume that the Master was our leader and we let them believe that. We were his teachers, but he was our friend, our confidant, our only hope. With time, the lie became the truth.
“Yet we never respected the Master just for his power so much as for his undying will and determination.” Xenagrosh said.
“If he’s so kind, then where does that people come from? I doubt that they volunteered for the role.” Nandi pointed at the gene tank on the left.
It was filled with humans whose life force was transferred to Vastor to increase his odds of survival and rejuvenate his aging body.
“Dregs of society. Filth that had no role but to make the life of others harder.” The idea of such scum becoming part of Vastor made her sick, but Xenagrosh respected his will.
“Convict criminals?” Nandi said.
“No. Handpicking them would take too long. I’m talking about addicts, drunkards, thugs, gamblers, homeless bums. All people who have nothing to offer to society but more misery.
“Every city in the Kingdom, every slum, has so many of them that even when they disappear in dozens, no one reports it. By taking them out, the Master allows the three Great Countries to focus their welfare on people whose life is worth saving.
“It’s what the Master taught Gadorf the Wyvern about choosing his prey and it would have allowed him to go unnoticed for decades if he didn’t start dealing with the slave trade.” Xenagrosh said while looking at her blinking communication amulet with worry.
She worried about her little brother, but with the life of her adoptive father at stake, she couldn’t afford a single moment of distraction.
