Clara’s crimson eyes narrowed slightly at Adam’s question, a hint of irony flickering within them.
"An ironic question, considering my current state."
She replied, her arms raising her new sword to eye level as she looked at it and said.
"In my time, vampires were considered an invasive species. They would infiltrate our settlements, kill and taint our women and children. And if that wasn’t enough, they would go as far as to sire more of their kind and occasionally corrupt humans into... hybrids. Half-breeds that are not quite human, but not quite vampire either, yet possessing the best traits of both, and often strange abilities of their own."
And continued speaking.
"The worst of them could evolve into monstrosities greater than their creators. In my time, we called the females witches, and the males wizards."
"Of course, these things did not sit well with the church; as such, they were labeled as heretics or abominations. Often call blights upon the world that Elohim, the God of the Bible, created. And so we were trained to fight against them. To purge them from the world, and from our people."
Adam’s brow furrowed, absorbing every word, as this was getting really interesting.
"But I will admit, our knowledge was greatly incomplete. We knew too little of these supernatural creatures, or much less where they even come from."
"But we learned more each day. Trial by fire, as they say, and vampires were a serious problem back in my day. So, oui mon maître, I indeed know how to kill a vampire, and very easily at that."
Clara said in a low and emotionless tone, but her words reached Adam’s ears very clearly
Causing him to react as such.
"REALLY... THAT GR...
But before Adam could celebrate, his flow was brutally cut off, as Clara crushed his hopes and slaughtered his W being saying.
"...But I do not know if I can anymore."
That admission truly hit differently. Not because of what she said but how she said it. Clara was not someone who admitted weakness so easily, and yet in this instant, she did.
For that reason, this got Adam wondering as he asked.
"Why is that...care to explain?"
Said Clara as she began to explain.
"When it comes to dealing with creatures of the unknown and the supernatural, we humans relied on divine power back then."
Clara said, almost to herself at that moment.
"The Arcane granted by Elohim... it flowed through us only if we were faithful. Devoted. Trusting. I served King Philip VI of France, and through my belief in God’s righteousness, I channeled His will into my blade."
"But during my imprisonment... during the tortures and the silence I went through... I prayed. Desperately. Every day. Every night. I cried out for salvation, I would plead for death under his merciful hand, and yet none came."
"It was in that horrible silence where only madness, pain, and despair reside that I soon realized... Dieu ne se soucie pas de moi. God does not care."
Although her words were flat and cold, Adam felt emotions behind them regardless of their station.
Clara’s backstory was really a sad one.
But even then, she carries herself with great pride, but realistically speaking, her emotions are being heavily supressed by the functions of Recall Oblivion.
In a way, if he lifts those suppressants off, she would crack under the emotional pressure of her own existence.
But that aside, Adam listened on as she continued to speak.
"That was the day I lost my faith. And without faith, there is no Arcane. Divine power cannot be wielded by those who no longer trust in its source. So no, I cannot call upon the light to slay these creatures. Not anymore."
Adam stood quietly, watching her sigh in a defeated tone.
Clara added, raising her chin slightly.
"Although... these feathers of yours... mon dieu, they are formidable. If what you say is true, if they can truly cripple, tear, prevent healing... draw blood like leeches, even if they are not blessed... but they are brutal and effective. And that... will be enough."
She paused, eyes gleaming with restrained pride.
And she continued saying.
"Even a vampire cannot recover from wounds so severe that regeneration becomes... impossible. And with my full strength...oui, even without the Divine Arcane, I can say with confidence: if I truly push myself, I can probably erase every last trace of their matter from existence. Completely. Something like that would be possible with the sword technique of the Moreau family."
After Clara said this, Adam began to think more on the topic; on the other hand, however, he also became curious.
"By the way, before we go, you mentioned something about humans using Divine Arcane. Is it something similar to magic?"
Right away, she shook her head in denial and responded, saying.
"No not all my maître... Magic and Arcane are too different things."
"Arcane has to do with the existence of a religion and drawing power from it to perform divine miracles through a certain system of Divinity. There are many pantheons, mon maître. Many gods, many belief systems."
"And the power of Arcane is not unique to many people either, it can only be used by a handful of people that have close relations to their god. It is a term used to describe divine techniques. Powers birthed from faith, from doctrine. From ritual. To wield such power, you must be ordained into a system of belief. You must carry four important things."
"Faith... Trust... Devotion... and Conviction."
She took a step forward, her hand brushing along the cavern wall as she spoke.
"For example, the Chinese practice the Way of The Universe, or Tao, often known as Dao."
"For us, the French arcaneurs, we were bound to the Elohim, the God of the Bible. Catholic Arcane focuses on the Divine Logos. The Word. The Incarnation. It is said that God’s voice shaped reality... and so through His Word, we shape it too."
"But like I said, there are many divine systems out there and many Arcane practices."
"Another example would be the Egyptian, their Arcane draws from the divine order of Ma’at, not a single god. Each deity...like Ra, Thoth, Anubis...all of them offer a piece of the cosmos. Their Arcane isn’t spoken base like the Logos, it’s inscribed, balanced, and aligned. You don’t command it, rather, you become part of it."
"Hell, it doesn’t even need to be something like normal practice of just gods alone. Take the Zoroastrian Arcane for a more detailed example here. There, Arcane is born from the duality of light and shadow... Ahura Mazda and Angra Mainyu. Their power comes not from worship but from choosing. To wield it, one must devote oneself fully to truth, to asha. It is less about miracles and more about moral alignment. The Arcane answers only to the righteous."
When Adam heard this, he had a dumbfounded look on his face, as he held is chin in disbelief, and said.
"So, in layman’s terms, the human race literally has the power of God and Anime on their side?"
"I don’t know what Anime is, but yes, in the eternal duty of fighting off the unknown and the supernatural, casting these blights from the word... God, no matter the pantheon is on the side of humanity."
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