Explanation of the world and its inhabitants'

Race classification

In our world, each race capable of forming a society falls into one of three categories. Blessed, neutral, and cursed.

Blessed

To be placed into the category of Blessed, a race must have, as a whole, received a divine blessing from one or more members of the pantheon. Many races are blessed by two gods, but the maximum number of blessings observed in today's age is that of the humans at three.

Cursed

Races in the cursed category received a blessing from a dark god. Cursed races are usually very aggressive. Many, but not all, of the cursed races have an aura about them that carries a piece of power from the dark god that blessed them, with the older and more powerful ones having a more potent aura. Cursed races often get treated the same as monsters for the actions they take.

Neutral

Neutral races are, simply put, any race that doesn't fall into one of the other two categories. The origin of the neutral races is often a subject of debate among scholars because of the vast difference between them. Some believe that the neutral races should be treated the same as the cursed, while others think that we should attempt to establish communication with each of them before making such a decision. The only thing we know for sure about the neutral races is that the concept did not exist before the fall of the first Demon King.

The Boy treads softly through the trees, the bucket in his hands filled with water from the well. The sun had almost set casting long ghastly shadows around him. The Boy scowled with apparent irritation as he walked. "Chores. Always more chores. Why won't they just hire more people to take care of things like this? I mean having ME fetch water for washing clothes, it's barbaric." The Boy's acidic comments weren't directed at anyone in particular. After all, The Boy thought himself alone.

"Hello, Boy." The familiar rasping imitation of a voice seemed to come from every shadow around The Boy, causing him to freeze in place.

"What do you want?" The Boy's voice shook with barely concealed terror. "I don't have anything for you yet, and I haven't given up, so why are you here?" The Boy looked around, trying to spot the source of the sound, the source of his fear.

"Look up." Said the terror-inducing facsimile of a human voice in response to The Boy's actions.

The Boy was quick to obey, fearful of his fate should he ignore what he perceived as a command. In the canopy's shadows, upon a branch sat the object of The Boy's fear, The Husk. The bandaged creature took on an even more horrendous appearance in the shadowy twilight. The limbs that previously looked to thin now looked as if they were just bones wrapped in loose cloth instead of made from flesh and blood. However, the pulsing section of the creature's chest made it all too clear that the thing in the tree was quite alive.

"How's the reading?" Rasped The Husk, it's faceless head angled towards The Boy as if looking at him.

"W-why do you a-ask?" stuttered The Boy, a new form of destress taking hold in his mind.

"Checking in on my investment, see if you might need something to make progress" The rasping tone of The Husk seemed to stick in the air around The Boy, reinforcing his fear.

"Well, it's going rather nicely, I have some trouble understanding some things, but I thin-"

"Speak honestly, Boy" The Husk interrupted The Boy's rambling.

"Honestly, I don't get many chances to read the book. Most of my time gets spent on chores, and what little time I do get is after dark, when I can't practice without getting caught." The Boy quickly deflated while speaking. He feared that The Husk would take the book back.

"So you want fewer chores? How would that come to pass?" The Husk's voice seemed to worm its way into the Boy's mind, infecting him with a fear of something he didn't understand.

"I-I don't know. Maybe if we had more caretakers, even then, I doubt they would stop having the orphans do the work." The Boy quickly gave a response, hoping that as long as he said something, he wouldn't anger The Husk.

"What if there were more orphans?" To The Boy, The Husk's words seemed to suggest something horrendous.

"YOU CAN"T." The Boy screamed, forgetting his fear for an instant. "I-I-I m-mean, you sh-sh-shouldn't just k-kill people to m-make it easier for me." Afraid that The Husk might react poorly to his outburst, The Boy quickly tried to give reason to his shout.

"I wouldn't need to. You see, your country is about to go to war. War means orphans." The Husks rasping failed to convey any emotion to The Boy, leaving him wondering if The Husk enjoyed tormenting him with these statements.

"Wait, what do you mean war, our country is in good relations with those around us." The Boy's confusion was evident in his tone.

"It's quite simple. Your king is going to announce that a new demon king has come to power in the west."

All of the blood in The Boy's face drained in an instant at the words. His skin now paler than a ghost The Boy spoke his thoughts aloud without intending to do so. "A demon king. If it's close, then we need to evacuate, we need to leave. This country isn't ready for that. We can't win against a demon kings' army.

"Relax, there isn't a demon king. The only thing happening to the west is a large hoard of grims has ransacked a couple of the smaller nations. Your king is using the panic to take the land for himself. Regardless, you will soon have a little less work to do around the orphanage."

The Boy visibly relaxed at the statement before another thought brought panic back to his eyes. "You don't have anything to with the grims gathering like that, do you?"

"Ku ku ku kukukuk" The rasping laughter sent shivers down The Boy's spine. The sound was unnatural, like millions of terrified whispers all at once. The Boy felt like every cell in his body was screaming at him to run, like if he stayed here, his very soul would crumble. "Does it matter if I did, Boy? The damage is done. Even if I wanted to, I can't stop that hoard alone." The Husk stood from its seat, landing silently on the forest ground. "It is time for me to leave, but if you ever require assistance, do take care to call for me. I just might have a solution that benefits us both." With those words, The Husk began walking off into the depths of the trees.

"How do I know what you said is true?" The Boy called out.

"You'll have to learn to trust me. For now, just wait."

Four days later, the announcement about the demon king reached the orphanage. With everyone in the country working towards the war effort, lots of children got left without parents. Six months later, the war ended with no signs of a demon king and the land to the west placed under the king's rule.