When Luke stepped onto the wooden floor of Hazor's dojo on the night of the third day, he smiled as he sniffed the sweet scent of Meredith, who when she saw him ran to hug him.
"Where have you been?" She asked, her voice muffled from having her head buried in the half-wolf's chest.
"I told you I would put some ideas into practice. If I'm really going to have more time to live, I want to end this in the best way possible." Luke answered her.
He then explained to Commander Hazor and Meredith everything he had seen and heard over the past three days. It was of paramount importance that they listen so they could advise Luke on how to proceed. The half-wolf knew he was not a master of public relations or social relations, but if his goal was to gain the trust of many of Melki's people, gaining influence was the first step.
Obviously, because Luke had killed the Lich, the monster that terrified the dreams of adventurers and the populace alike, he had gained the respect of many. However, respect differs from support, someone who respects you will not necessarily support you. What Luke really had in mind was to make people see him as a sword they could use to attack the great figures of the Melki Empire.
When Hazor heard this idea from Luke, Hazor promptly intervened. "Luke, it's okay that you've earned some people's respect, that's great for both us and the half-beasts. But I do not agree with this idea of ??offering yourself as a weapon for these people."
"Why not?" Luke understood that this was how he would win more people to fight by his side, literally assembling an army.
Hazor tried to find an answer and suddenly had an idea. Thus, Hazor stretched his hands forward and in the palm of each hand appeared a magic circle.
"Magic is a lot like how society actually works. The runes in a magic circle are the people and together they have more power than they do apart. However, depending on how the runes are arranged in a magic circle and the type of energy that goes into it, the result varies between negative and positive."
As Hazor explained, the small runes on the two magic circles moved, varying in place and placement.
Not only was the half-wolf confused by Hazor's example, Meredith was too. As soon as Hazor noticed this, he undid the magic circles and said,
"What I mean is that the people of this nation are afraid, uncertain about the future. Luke, if you let these people use you however they want to destroy everything, Melki will become anarchy."
The half-wolf had already learned from Ayumi Yamazaki that anarchy is a form of government where there are no political, social, economic or cultural authorities. In fact, one of Ayumi's biggest fears is that Broteforge will become anarchy if they lose the war against the demons. Living in anarchy would be like living in a lawless land where nothing matters too much.
Thanks to Hazor's experienced way of thinking, Luke was forced to think of a more reputable way to attract people.
Luckily for the half-wolf, Hazor himself was seen as a legendary national figure because of his accomplishments as a former leader of the Melki Empire's armies, so he had a good advisor. The only downside was that Luke couldn't use Hazor himself to his advantage, because of the Twelve Thrones' no-intervention rule. This rule Luke didn't understand very well, he just respected.
After the conversation was over, Hazor and Meredith began preparing the final details of the power transfer ritual.
The half-fox ground several herbs with water and an advanced healing potion, mixing everything together to form a viscous, wine-tinted liquid.
Hazor drew a magic circle with charcoal on the floor of the dojo. There were runes that Luke had never seen in other magic circles before, but these weren't crooked like the runes found on the pentagram that protected the common room.
When Luke asked why the magic circle is drawn physically rather than magically, Hazor replied that drawn circles are more resistant to the user's mana fluctuation. Although Luke didn't understand what exactly this meant, he nodded and sat in the center of the circle, knees crossed as requested.
Meredith took the bowl of viscous liquid to the half-wolf very carefully and handed it to him.
Luke Lange drank what tasted faintly of healing potion and green tea, an eccentric concoction, but one that Luke didn't think was nearly as bad as it looked.
"Now, close your eyes." Hazor asked for the half-wolf.
Before obeying, Luke looked around. There were several lamps on, illuminating the entire dojo as well as Meredith's worried face. According to Hazor, there was a small risk of the curse interfering, but no matter what happened, nothing would stop Luke from using the power of the cursed items, so he didn't back down.
Before closing his eyes, he said to the half-fox, "If I faint, don't despair. I will definitely return to you."
Meredith smirked and nodded. "You're not crazy to leave me alone in this world."
Luke looked at the old man standing in front of him, and nodded too, as a way of saying he trusted Hazor. Then he closed his eyes.
"Meredith, please place the cursed items as I taught you before."
The half-fox stood up, picked up the cursed items, finally positioning the bracelets in line with the position of Luke's arms, the sword in front of him and the ring behind.
"Ready." She said when she was done.
"Thanks. Now that all the preparations are done, let's get started… The curses on all these items have already been broken, but Luke, keep your eyes closed at all times, the energy of these items is still very strong and the will built into each one is intoxicating. Keep focused on your own inner self, only in this way will you be able to return to us without any problems."
"Okay, I'll try to do that."
Seconds later, Hazor began to utter phrases in a strange language that none of the half-beasts had ever heard. Each stressed syllable was low and the consonants were indescribably vibrating.
This was the lost language of the Hazor, a language the Hero Arani invented for a single ritual, a ritual that would return the full power of that condensed mass of pure mana to a human capable of containing, suppressing, and controlling it. . Arani already knew that one day a member of the Hazor family would have to use it, he just didn't foresee that this ritual would be used on a half-beast.
As Hazor uttered the phrases embedded deep in his mind, the charcoal magic circle glowed white, a paranormal wind invaded the dojo, and red energy spilled from the Cursed Items towards the half-wolf's aura.
In Luke Lange's mind, all external events were excluded from his thoughts. It was a little difficult for him to keep his consciousness stable, because somehow he felt he was being pulled further and further away from where he should be.
All of Luke's memories were fragile. At times, he actually forgot almost everything about himself, his name, race, goals. However, even while everything was easily forgettable, the peaceful smile of the people he loves the most was unwavering. For a second, when all the mana from the first bracelet finished pouring into Luke, he felt those memories flicker, but at this moment someone came up from behind and hugged him.
"Do not worry. I'm still with you." The soft voice was easily recognized by Luke.
"Balance?" Luke asked, feeling the woman's gentle touch on his back.
"Yes it's me. However, now I remember my real name: Ayla. At least, that was the name I gave myself when I was born." She replied, letting go of the hug.
The golden-haired woman floated in that infinite white world, which gradually began to take shape from the inside of Luke's soul. A vast blue sky with few clouds, and a floor made of water so calm it looked like an endless mirror.
"Why didn't you answer me when I tried to talk to you earlier?" Luke asked indignantly. The lack of communication with the Scale really confused him.
Ayla landed in front of the half-wolf and her toes made the water shimmer a little. "The future we are in was inevitable after all that has happened. At some point, you would ask about the Cursed Items and Hazor would plug it all in, ending up in the dojo with you guys doing the ritual."
The half-wolf stopped to think when she answered that and his eyebrows shot up as he connected all the pieces.
The first thing the Scale asked Luke, even before he was able to communicate with her daily, was for him to head to Stahurt. She probably knew that Hazor had been investigating Sakan's Religion for a long time and that this would eventually lead to the fourth Cursed Item, the ring. However, Luke's situation worsened and the Scale instructed a time-saving path, so he spent six months searching for three more cursed items before heading to Stahurt.
After understanding all of this, Luke only asked Ayla one question: "It's the Cursed Items that will give you back your powers, isn't it?"
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