The Record of Unusual Creature

The Sacred Relic of Origins ran for a while after it was fully charged. In the minutes that the relic came alive, sensors had managed to record various parameters and internal activities. But due to a missing core component, the ancient device could not run past the self-diagnostic stage.

“I suddenly pity Bethanos.” A strange smile appeared across Vivian’s face. “He was destined to fail even without our intervention. But, I’m curious about where he got his information from. He was so confident.”

“Hessiana’s interrogating him at the moment, so we’ll know soon.” Hao Ren twitched the corner of his mouth. “However, I wouldn’t expect him to give away information that easily. The thing’s been with the Olympians for some time already, yet Zeus was not able to crack the mystery. So, Hesperides, do you know anything about the Sacred Relic of Origins?”

Hao Ren knew Hesperides was a survivor from Olympus, hence she may have known a thing or two about the relic. But, Hesperides shook her head and waved her hands. “I’m not a scholar. And in my family, I’m just a small fry, so I couldn’t possibly know beyond what I was supposed to know.”

However, she still tried hard to dig into her memory. Then, something came to mind. “Ah! I remember meeting Athena several times during the end of days. She would look very disturbed and she was constantly babbling, saying things like, ‘everything’s just a mistake’, ‘we’re digging our own grave’ and stuff like that. Something strange was happening on Mount Olympus back then; people mysteriously went missing and came back a few days later only to become completely different—very irritated and withdrawn. I suspect that Athena conducted experiments involving live humans with the Sacred Relic of Origins.”

Digging our own grave… digging our own grave… Hao Ren repeated the phrase in his mind.

“Did the Olympians discover the secrets of the Sacred Relic of Origins? That they weren’t born but made?”

“Perhaps, the phrase was meant for the creator of the Sacred Relic of Origins!” Vivian clapped her hands softly. “And, don’t forget that a disaster is in the making in The Plane of Dreams. Could it have something to do with the Sacred Relic of Origins too?”

Hao Ren thought it was a possibility and for a moment, it felt like he saw light in the dark. The thought quickly disappeared however, as the whole thing was still shrouded in thick mystery. He had an instinctive feeling that he and Vivian had made a mistake in their understanding of the Sacred Relic of Origins. He was none the wiser no matter how hard he tried to think. He shook his head and said, “One misstep leads to another. Let’s not make blind guesses.”

The MDT was all praise for Hao Ren’s diligence. Then, it sent some instructions to one of the mechanical tentacle sets that was putting back the panels on the relic. At the same time, it projected a hologram, showing images of the onboard factory. “I’ve given the onboard factory the order to produce a substance. The substance will be synthesised exactly as the residue sample found on the feeding mouth. I’ll make a few replicas of the Sacred Relic of Origins for the purpose of synthesising substances. Even though we can’t determine the finished product, we can at least figure out what’s lacking. That will give us a direction in our subsequent research.”

Hao Ren nodded. He looked up at the opening on top of the Sacred Relic of Origins, where the alloy cover had been removed. The opening was the size of a soccer ball and it used to house the missing part of the relic. He had the platform lowered so that his eyes were level with the opening. He reached inside with his hand and felt a series of uniformed, raised dots. They also felt something like card slots.

If only he could find the missing part, it would have been so much better.

He decided to leave the Sacred Relic of Origins alone for now, and went to check out the remaining analyses on the other test benches. The test bench nearest to him was running an analysis on demon hunters’ blood and tissue samples. On another test bench, some familiar-looking items were laid open: the sophisticated mini crossbow, the complex and magically blessed crossbow, rune cards as well as quarrels with shiny, silver heads—some were from the sanctuary in Athens while some others were taken from the demon hunters during their encounter.

Half of the rune cards were left behind by Nangong Sanba. Lil Pea had been feeding on these cards for a long time and there were still many left. So, Hao Ren took a few for analysis, thinking that they may just shed some light on the difference between half-baked and purebred demon hunters.

Lil Pea was excited upon seeing her “meal” on the table—obviously, she had mistaken the lab for a restaurant. She quickly jumped onto the test bench, but she hit a wall—a transparant shield, which covered the test bench when analysis was underway.

Two sensing probes working on the rune cards were stunned by the sudden impact. They “looked up” at Lil Pea, then shrugged as though they had shoulders before carrying on.

She became jealous because her food was taken by other fish—she thought those probes were fish, so she got angry. She grabbed Hao Ren by his sleeve and yelled, “Dad-dee! Lil Pea’s food… They took it!”

Hao Ren was almost in tears: the effort he put in during the past month was not in vain. His child finally pronounced it correctly!

He reached his hand into his pocket, took out a piece of wood chip and fed it to Lil Pea. Then, he turned his attention to the analysis report. “…Most of the tools used by demon hunters are blessed. This involves a complex exorcism procedure, and the equipment are quenched in herbal as well as mineral solutions. The solutions have a common ingredient—their own blood?”

“That’s right. Blood on all the tools,” the MDT replied. “The pigment on the rune cards, the magical patterns on the crossbows, the performance enhancement drugs and even the yarns of their clothes have been dipped in blood. The analysis confirms that demon hunters apply their own blood on every gear they make.”

An indescribable feeling ran up Hao Ren’s spine. As his gaze landed on Nangong Sanba’s rune cards, his bones began to shiver. He hugged Lil Pea tightly and said, “Don’t eat those cards from now on!”

Lil Pea hit his hand with her tail and pretended not to hear him.

“Don’t worry. There’s no blood found in Nangong Sanba’s cards, just normal herbal extract.” The MDT tried to put Hao Ren at ease. “He’s probably got a problem in his bloodline whereby his blood lacks the strength, or maybe he just hasn’t learned the trick.”

Vivian picked up a quarrel from the test bench and said, “There’s nothing wrong with this. Most types of magic require blood to work. If you can’t accept this, then what are you going to do when I exercise my blood magic?”

Hao Ren knew she was right, so he stopped harping on the issue. Nonetheless, he was still curious. “That means demon hunters get their strength from their blood?”

“It’s not that simple. The fact is, the composition of their blood is really strange; the complex ingredients in their blood makes you wonder how they managed to survive until now.” The MDT continued, “Also, I’ve noticed a strange phenomenon that may explain the slow decline of the demon hunters these past few years.”

Vivian and Hesperides were all ears.

“The demon hunters seem to have a genetic disorder. I’ve found lesions in young demon hunters, yet older demon hunters have never had such problems. This disease isn’t fatal, not even detrimental to their overall health. But, it can slowly weaken the magical power in their blood and also weaken their fertility. If I’m not mistaken, it’s a type of genetic disease that probably affects the entire family. As for the cause of this genetic disorder, it’s a result of not being able to adapt to the new environment just like the otherworldlings. They’re being rejected by the environment. Only, this is happening a few thousand years later than when it happened to the otherworldlings.”

The MDT paused for a moment, then added, “Besides, there’s no sign that they’re taking any remedial measures. They probably haven’t realised that they’re suffering from this hidden disease.”