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The Finite (Kubera side novel): Old summaries + discussions thread

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#1
Mizura

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Edit: News: Currygom restarted her novel in the Challenge section of Naver's Novel site: The Finite - new version

 

I am now restarting "translations" from scratch: find them at the new thread. However, keep using this one for discussions, at least until the novel is finished.

 

--

 

Way back when The Company was far from catching up to the raws, I started making summaries based on what I understood with Google Translate (with very limited accuracy of course, but it was better than nothing back then). I made arc summaries from Chapter 45 to chapter 93, then more detailed summaries from Chapter 93 onwards.

Now that The Company has nearly caught up to the raws, that part is happily obsolete. :)

At the end of Season 1, Currygom had taken a half-year break. During that break, she posted "the finite", a side-novel to Kubera on her blog, detailing the story of Kasak's parents: Taksaka and Ian Rajof. This story also gives us more backstory about the world, and features brief appearances from numerous other characters such as Visnu, Kalavinka, Yama, Indra, Varuna and Ran's grandparents.

As a result I started making summaries of That instead.

Kareia then very kindly offered to translate the novel, and did translate the first two chapters. However, when she decided to ask Currygom for permission to translate the novel in full, Currygom answered on her blog that she did not wish for her novel (which she views as a private thing she shares on her blog) to be posted elsewhere, including translations. To respect her wishes, Kareia stopped translating. I'm hoping Currygom doesn't get too offended if I just post vague summaries instead. >.>

So, feel free to discuss the novel in here, and offer any corrections to mistakes. I've deleted the old, obsolete webtoon summaries in this post, but didn't get rid of the next post because there is no "delete" button. Just ignore it and skip to the novel summaries. >.>;;

Currygom's blog is here:
http://currygom.blog.me/

Just so that it's clear: the finite is a Novel. Some people misunderstood and thought it was a comic, but it isn't illustrated, sorry. D:


Edited by Mizura, 10 June 2013 - 06:38 AM.

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Kubera stuff: Character charts , Races and Cities , The finite (official side novel) ,
Official English Webtoons: https://www.webtoons.com


#2
Mizura

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(obsolete stuff, just read the scanlations)

Edited by Mizura, 20 November 2012 - 04:18 PM.

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Kubera stuff: Character charts , Races and Cities , The finite (official side novel) ,
Official English Webtoons: https://www.webtoons.com


#3
Mizura

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Profile information: Taraka and Kali

Edit: Ashenjay translated the profiles:
Spoiler

Thanks Ashenjay!

Profile information: the Gods
Moved to here:
http://vatoto.com/forums/topic/9569-currygom-blog-entries-races/

Edited by Mizura, 20 November 2012 - 04:19 PM.

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Kubera stuff: Character charts , Races and Cities , The finite (official side novel) ,
Official English Webtoons: https://www.webtoons.com


#4
Mizura

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Part 1 Review
Spoiler


Kubera novel

Currygom has started posting passages from the Kubera novel (Kubera was originally intended to be a novel) in her blog! These are probably scenes that can't be included into the comic.


The finite - Prologue

The story is between Kasak and Taksaka, after Taksaka's wife has died. The two of them are in a forest near a river holding a box containing the ash of Taksaka's wife, which then blow away in the wind. Taksaka is devasted by the death, but Kasak looks indifferent. Kasak thinks that if Taksaka is suffering so much, it'd be better if he removed the earrings, so he reached out to remove them, only to have his hands slapped away.

Taksaka noticed how scared Kasak was and noted that he must have overdone it in the past, but he still hated Kasak, because if it weren't for him, his mother would have lived longer. He said that he knew that Kasak was doing this for his sake, as when the earrings are removed, all his emotions will become nothing but a memory. But, even if it was painful, Taksaka still wanted to remember his wife.

Aww. Posted Image

Edited by Mizura, 23 September 2012 - 03:29 PM.

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Kubera stuff: Character charts , Races and Cities , The finite (official side novel) ,
Official English Webtoons: https://www.webtoons.com


#5
Mizura

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Ah, I see now, I think that while Currygom is taking a break, she'll be updating with a chapter of the side-story every Saturday instead. This side story is the story between Taksaka and his wife, Ian Rajof. So we can probably tell the end when Ian dies. D:

Summary of the novel for this week:

Taksaka was complaining about the fact that Visnu called him all the way from the Sura world just for the sake of babysitting. Kalavinka, afraid of Taksaka, started crying. However, Visnu told Taksaka that Kalavinka was the daughter of Garuda and told the two to get along. He also offered a pair of earrings to Taksaka, saying that if he wore them, he could completely hide his Sura nature. Taksaka asked him if that meant he could enter human cities, but Visnu said that the enchantment on the city was created by Brahma, so it wouldn't work. Taksaka dismissed the earrings as fishy trash, but kept them anyway.

Before leaving, Visnu added that "indifference" was also part of the nature of the dragons. Taksaka realized that it meant the earrings could change his personality, and Visnu confirmed that. The earrings allowed the normally emotionless dragon types to experience emotions. Visnu is suddenly far away, and Taksaka complained to him that manipulating time wasn't good for him. Taksaka thought he wasn't interested in the earrings, but kept them anyway.

The finite - by Currygom
Chapter 1 - Failure


6th Month of Year D873

It was the rainy season in Mistyshore, and a girl who looked about 14~15 had just just failed to enter another magic school. She complained that it wasn't fair, this was all because of her Wind - Nil - Nil birth attribute: even though she had above-average divine affinity, those with a double-nil attribute typically had a high failure rate. But, she was absolutely determined to become a magician.

During the interview, the entrance interviewer had asked her why she wanted to become a magician, despite her double-nil affinity. Her reply was that she wanted to destroy the Evil Dragon. The interviewer asked if she wanted to defeat a Half at first, being confused since dragon Halfs weren't particularly evil, but then she proudly proclaimed that she wanted to destroy the Extermination Dragon Taksaka. Well, she got laughed off, and told that even with triple-birth attribute, she could only dream of destroying him.

As Ian recalled that moment, and since she was now alone because of the rain, she shouted: "What you took for fun, it was my everything!" She thought to herself that if she couldn't have revenge on that son of a bitch, if she couldn't even enter a magic school because of her birth attributes to start her revenge, then what was the point of living? Maybe she should just jump and die here?

However, at that moment, she saw a figure in the sea. She thought that person was drowning, so she jumped into the sea.

----

Interesting, with any luck we may also get some information on what Visnu is up to. I find it suspicious that Visnu gave Taksaka those earrings. Did he predict that as a result, his son will have a bigger role in the future?

Edited by Mizura, 12 August 2012 - 07:51 AM.

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Kubera stuff: Character charts , Races and Cities , The finite (official side novel) ,
Official English Webtoons: https://www.webtoons.com


#6
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After taking the side of Gods against the Sura, humans feared the Sura's retaliation (note: maybe be alluding to how humans have promised to only borrow power from the gods, i.e. side with the gods?). Although the planet the humans were staying on itself was protected by Visnu's power, if the Suras wanted to eat humans they could still annihilate the humans. Visnu asked Brahma to create an enchantment for humans in cities. However Brahma was reluctant to create an enchantment for humans only (note: because Brahma is absolutely neutral), and made a somewhat defective enchantment. The enchantment would not be hard to break by superior Sura.

However, the enchantment from then until D873 was perfect because Gods took charge of the wards instead of humans. Quite a lot of gods came to the human world cities, and there were a number of cities with more than one or two gods. By amplifying Brahma's power, even Nastika would have trouble invading.
(note: remember that there are more Gods than the strongest 12, and that before the N0 Cataclysm humans could borrow power from all the gods)

Conversely, as many gods came to the human world, it also meant that many superior Sura came to the human world. As a result it was very dangerous outside of cities, and with the exception of heretics serving the Sura, almost every human gathered in cities.

In the meantime, Ian was still swimming to the target, but realized that the person was beyond the city's enchantment ward. Swimming any further could be dangerous as she could get attacked by Suras, but Ian was embarassed at the idea of running away, and kept swimming.

The finite - by Currygom
Chapter 2: Encounter


As she approached though, she noticed something was strange. The target didn't seem to be moving at all, and was just lying there half-submerged.

"Tired of the kid."

So, it seemed that the person was just sleeping and was not a person drowning. Ian felt really embarassed at her mistake, and looked again. It seemed to be a 15 years-old boy. He seemed rather tall, dressed in black shorts, upper body exposed, firm physique, red tones on the body. And she then noticed that he had four red horns (crap).

Ian realized that this was either a Half or and advanced Sura, and that now that she was outside the ward she was actually in danger. She quickly started swimming back, but she bumped into the ward and let out an "Ouch!" She realized that she had to go back in from the checkpoints. She'd have to swim to the east coast, and she was tired from swimming to here at full speed.

She then noticed that the boy had disappeared and had evidently been woken up by her scream. She started panicking. It'd be hard to escape unharmed if she had already been discovered.

"There's still something I have to do!"

She was seriously regretting jumping into the sea like that. Her body was going numb. Then:

"What is it you have to do?"

The boy was right there and it seemed to Ian that he would strike at any moment. Ian was trying to think up an answer to let him not kill her, but she was really nervous and her mind went blank. And she screamed "Toilet!" (wtf? xD )

The boy looked deadpan, then said "Hey bitch. Answer the question. What's this job you have to do?"

Ian responded "Defeating the dragon...."
The boy asked "You want to defeat the dragon?"

Ian thought that the boy seemed interested in her ambition, so she continued "I will defeat Taksaka the Eradication dragon." (oh boy xD)

The boy's expression hardened. He was pretty expressionless to begin with, but now he seemed a little upset. "Why Taksaka? What did Taksaka do?"

The boy's tone of voice changed, and Ian was getting a little scared now, but since she started already... "Taksaka took away all the people dear to me."

"What?"

"He did. Something red and black swept through the city and ate everything except me."

"Hey wait. Who told you that red and black thing was Taksaka?"

"He claimed to be Taksaka himself. I heard it's not likely for a Sura to impersonate a Nastika, so it must be Taksaka in person."

The boy didn't say anything for a while, then extended his hand. Ian thought he was about to attack but he pulled her up from the waist and brought her to the shore.

"I do not eat humans."

Edited by Mizura, 12 October 2012 - 04:23 AM.

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Kubera stuff: Character charts , Races and Cities , The finite (official side novel) ,
Official English Webtoons: https://www.webtoons.com


#7
Mizura

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(not really sure about this part)
Young Ian was in her house, and there were many people outside. There was an argument about taking Ian away and a fistfight. At that moment Ian's mom told her to go to the basement and not come out until she tells her. Halfway down, Ian calls at her mom and tells her that people are telling her to get out of town. Her mother looked angry as she told her to listen to her, so Ian didn't say anything more as the basement door closed.

The finite - by Currygom
Chapter 3: Name


Suddenly the rain stopped. The boy was just lying there on the shore, and Ian sat down next to him because she didn't dare to run away. Since arriving at the shore, the boy had told her "You sit over there" so she just sat there. Quite a few people have since passed by, and Ian wanted to shout for help, but she didn't know if the boy was a Half or an Superior Sura so didn't dare to get others involved.

When Taksaka woke up Ian was nodding off. He noted her appearance (Ian could be qualified as beautiful), and when she whimpered "Mom", Taksaka asked her if she was having a bad dream, which caused her to wake up with a startle and tumble because her legs were cramped. Taksaka asked her why she was staying in that position if it was tough on her, and she retorted that he was the one who told her to sit there. To which he responded: "The female does not have flexibility in sentence comprehension." (xD)

Ian wanted to retort but just dusted herself off and sat down in a more comfortable position. Taksaka went back to sleep. Ian was distracted by the hot weather. She asked him if he's slept enough, and Taksaka says that the nest's not right so he can't sleep well (something like that?). Watching him yawn, Ian became less afraid and asks:

Ian: Are you a Half?
Taksaka: Why do you think that?
Ian: Superior Sura don't sleep.
Taksaka: Why do you think that?
Ian: Superior Sura don't need to sleep, though I've read in a library that they can sleep if they want to.
Taksaka: Such knowledge isn't meaningful if not many were observed.
Ian: Yes?
Taksaka: So a very small case sample...

Anyway, Ian tells him that she thinks he's a half despite his vague answer. Taksaka asks her why she jumped into the ocean and went outside the barrier, and she said that she thought he was drowning. He noted that even if he were, it didn't seem that she would be able to swim back shore on her own (lol). Ian tells him that in times of emergency human judgement drops, as otherwise judgement will lead people to be selfishly thinking of themselves as top priority.

Taksaka tells her that in that sense, she's pretty interesting, like her absurd ambitions of bringing down Taksaka, though he pretty much remained expressionless. Ian protests that it's important to her. She's heard other people tell her that it's a silly goal, but she's maintained that goal for the past 8 years. Taksaka was silent for a while then said: "Did you say 8 years?"

Then he says that there are many who are black and red, but there's only one guy who'd impersonate Taksaka and commit mischief. Ian asks if he's kidding. From the tremor in Ian's voice Taksaka felt that he used a wrong choice of words, and says that something about the nature of races and that to avoid conflict there is an implicit rule about pretending not to know. Then he stops and wonders why he's giving excuses. Under the moonlight Ian looks even more beautiful, and Taksaka blames the earrings in his pockets for briefly feeling emotions.

"Female, what's your name?"

Ian tells him that her name is Ian Rajof, and asks what his name is, though it's fine if he doesn't want to tell her. After hesitating for a while, Taksaka replied "Tak." In fact, in the long time he lived, only three people were allowed to use that nickname (note: likely Visnu, Vasuki and Riagara). Briefly Taksaka wondered why he just said that and maybe he should just kill the female, but he changed his mind as he looked into her eyes, and went "Yes. Just call me Tak."

Edited by Mizura, 23 September 2012 - 11:25 AM.

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Kubera stuff: Character charts , Races and Cities , The finite (official side novel) ,
Official English Webtoons: https://www.webtoons.com


#8
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In a wasteland covered by dark red mist, in a place that looked like a nest surrounded by rocks, a big woman sat down and yawned. The two vertical lines on her face stand out, though there were six more on the neck.
"Tak's not here, and Ria's gone to see her siblings. It's just me here. Man, this is boring."

She scratched her head and then called out "Don't look at me in secret. I'm the only one here anyway." As soon as she said that, the ambient temperature sharly fell and the moss froze, but the woman seemed unaffected.

The finite - by Currygom
Chapter 4: Jealousy


"The hair color isn't better. The blue hair used to be beautiful."
Vasuki continues that although Taksaka's nest is empty, she'll tell him. The other person becomes surrounded by a blue aura, but his head was dark with tinges of red.

Utpala, suddenly attacks, however Vasuki deflects his attack. Vasuki notes that Utpala is now a man (uh, okay...) which provokes Utpala into attacking again, but Vasuki notes that although Vritra are strong, there are exceptions to every rule, and Vasuki is #1 in line to the Ananta throne after all. Vritra on the other hand are very rare so it's like they're on the endangered species list. Utpala bit his lips and glared with cool blue eyes. Vasuki then notes that he can contact Taksaka later about the nest.
"Tell me where he went!"
"Are you going to try to attract his attention somehow?"
"What I do is none of your business!"

Vasuki sighs, and tells him that he should do things in moderation, since Vasuki is generous but Tak gets angry. Utpala retorts that rather than live, he'd rather die by his hands. Vasuki wanted to say more but saw that Utpala was tearing up, so in the end she told him that Taksaka went to Planet Willarv. Vasuki asks if he remembers, because that's where Utpala started a minor riot. Utpala then disappeared, and the ambient temperature returned to normal.

Vasuki then noted how it's pathetic that the Vritra clan only has guys now.

-
Ian hurried her pace because it began to rain. The boy had nodded in response after the name question, and she was thinking of returning to the city before he changed his mind. Taksaka was following along matching her pace.
"Do you live in Mistyshore?"
"Ah."

Ian turned around to see that he had stopped 10 steps away from her, his eyes expressionless. The fact that he didn't say anything seemed to indicate that he didn't live in Mistyshore.
"Even if you live in Mistyshore, a Half cannot go back in without a guarantor. Tell me who your guarantor is and I'll go in and get him."
"..."
"You don't have a guarantor?"
"..."

(I think Taksaka is pondering saying "Visnu", but realized that wouldn't work. xD )
"I don't have any other way to help. Although I'm a former citizen of Mistyshore, I'm not a wizard, so I can't be a guarantor for you. You'll have to find another wizard to be your guarantor."

She then disappeared past the checkpoint. Taksaka took the earrings out of his pocket."
"Even if you wear those, you'll fail to pass the checkpoint."
Taksaka was pondering for a while, and suddenly Visnu was right in front of him, surprising him. Visnu joked that they should take a photo.

Taksaka noted that what Visnu is doing is time manipulation, which Visnu confirms. Taksaka continues: "If you keep doing that, it's gonna end up in a serious problem. In the last space, didni't you change time like crazy and lost your body? If you lose your body you can't come back until that space is destroyed, yes?" (thanks Ashenjay!)

Visnu notes that Tak who only knows anger is actually caring, and that he also cared about that cute girl back there. Tak retorts that that stalk of a girl isn't cute. Visnu starts laughing, and in the end, Taksaka asks: "What should I do to get into the city?"

-
Edit: Okay, a few edits. So now we have this Utpala character, who is a probably water-aligned Vritra. Apparently he used to be a blue-haired female and is now a red and black haired male. And he caused a riot some time before on Willarv. There we go, now we know who's been impersonating Taksaka, Utpala probably wanted to get his attention (apparently Taksaka ignores him).

Apart from this, this is the second time Taksaka asked about going into the city. Since he asked about going into the city even before he met Ian, I wonder why he wants to go there? I'm also not too sure about the bit with Visnu, so it'd be nice if someone could clarify. D:

Edited by Mizura, 23 September 2012 - 11:27 AM.

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Kubera stuff: Character charts , Races and Cities , The finite (official side novel) ,
Official English Webtoons: https://www.webtoons.com


#9
Mizura

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Ian is at a checkpoint. The person at the checkpoint called her to look at something. Her profile was suspended: Ian Rajof, Quarter, born in D845. D865 urban residence permit. Her profile was just an ordinary citizen, not a wizard, and her birthday properties were nothing special.

Ian says she doesn't know what's up and that she was living outside the city before D865 (something like that?), to which the person noted that she must have gone to college later than others.

The finite - by Currygom
Chapter 5: Ian Rajof


In the meantime, Visnu was laughing at Taksaka. o,o;; Visnu noted how Taksaka would even be indifferent to even Shuri (note: Shuri is considered a great beauty in the Sura world), but got interested in a person in just half a day. Taksaka was getting angry and blamed it on the earrings Visnu gave him.

Visnu says that those earrings just mask a Sura's nature. They're not messengers of love. Dragonkind are usually unique in suppressing their feelings. Visnu started to use his insight on Taksaka, who told him to stop, so Visnu apologizes. He goes on:
"If you doubt me, you can give the earrings back to me and meet her again."

Taksaka refused though and put the earrings into his pocket. Taksaka noted that whether it's the earrings or his own feelings, if you think about how easily halfs were born until now, it's not surprising for a Dragon kind to be attracted to a human, and there was no reason for him to be an exception. Visnu started to express his surprise only to have Taksaka retort "Now what are you thinking!"

Taksaka's breathe caused the sea behind Visnu to split apart momentarily, enough to reveal the bottom of the ocean (o,o;; ). Visnu replied: "The breathe is cool, but the sea is innocent, huh?" Although the sea was agitated before of him, because there was rain and thunder there was no surprise from the checkpoints.

"Be honest. You saw something from me?" (meaning insight)
Visnu responded by laughing. "What do you mean?"
Taksaka muttered. "Ian Rajof."
"..."
"You certainly saw the kid in my future, did you not?"
Visnu remained silent.

Taksaka broke the silence noting that indeed, it was weird for Visnu to call him here, and asks if it's fun to play with other people. However, he says that Fortunately this won't have a bad ending, because there's no way that Visnu would drag his friend into a tragic situation.

Visnu was definitely smiling under his bangs. Taksaka asked why he was not answering him. Visnu still didn't answer when Taksaka asked again more loudly. And when Taksaka looked back again, he was already gone. Taksaka grimaced and looked again towards Mistyshore. How does he get in?

- Sorry, but you don't have any choice except find a magician to sponsor you.

Taksaka remembered Ian's words but shook his head. If it were easy for a Nastika to pose as a half and get a sponsor, the cities would all be gone already. In particular, at checkpoints Halfs must go through several tests to distinguish themselves from an upper Sura. One of the famous ones he's heard about is eating vegetables ( <- bahaha!). Taksaka doesn't have a strong enough talent for that, so he turned away from Mistyshore.

Ian woke up in her room to the sound of the alarm clock. She was aching all over. Although she was a quarter, making her a bit better at physical activities, she didn't have a lot of stamina to pull off strenuous activities, and was at best below average for a quarter. She had slept all day and had to hurry to her part-time job at a shop.

Normally she'd have to pick out her work clothes because many customers visited on the same day of the week every week. From their perspective, even if she had different clothes for each day of the week, it would appear to them that she was wearing the same every day, so she'd have to do something about it. However, she was short on time so got dressed and rushed out.

Edited by Mizura, 12 August 2012 - 07:53 AM.

3492bk6.jpg


Kubera stuff: Character charts , Races and Cities , The finite (official side novel) ,
Official English Webtoons: https://www.webtoons.com


#10
Mizura

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Ian works at the Mistyshore Magic Shopping Mall, in an independent section selling take-out beverages. As she was a pretty and friendly girl with a heart-warming smile, the counter was always pretty crowded thanks to her. Some customers have approached her only to find that she's a quarter close to 30 years of age, and had to leave disappointed. However, there were also people who disliked her, loudly gossiping at the tables that until recently she lived outside the city. Even then Ian would keep smiling.

The finite - by Currygom
Chapter 6: Milk


Ian's manager loudly called her as she was falling asleep. Seeing the contempt in his eyes she quickly apologized as the manager berated her, saying that although he'd let her off this time because there weren't many guests in the rainy season, he wouldn't tolerate it if she keeps sleeping in.

To not fall asleep, Ian went to the window. Many people were grumpy because of the rainy season, but Ian found the drizzle romantic. Suddenly she recalled the half from the day before: red eyes, dark brown curls and 4 horns. Kinnara clan, Asura clan, or... she thought for a moment and shook her head. It couldn't be a dragon half. Ian had looked everywhere to read up about the Dragon clan, including halfs.

Currently, the youngest dragon half is in Taitalika, and is 150 years-old. The half yesterday looked no older than 60. So it was unlikely a dragon half. Still, the half got mad when she said that she'd defeat Taksaka. A half of another race would have no reason to be upset. In the end Ian dismissed it all since she was unlikely to meet him again.

"Welcome!"

A lady with a white skirt and waist-length olive hair had just come in. Although the eyes were partly hidden by the long bangs, it was evident that she was a considerable beauty, and she was tall and had a unique atmosphere. Ian has never seen someone like her, and asked if she was a wizard from another city. The person replied that she was something similar.

The girl then bent at the waist until she was eye-level with Ian. Her eyes seemed to shine a moment. Gold? Silver? Red, no blue? Although it was briefly, Ian saw it clearly, but it was something her eyes couldn't even recognize. Ian felt a chill then quickly ran back to the counter. "Sorry, are you ready to order?"

The lady looked at the menu and ordered warm milk. As Ian was preparing two warm milks, the lady was gently staring at her.

"Here you go! That will be 60 Rarv!"

Ian stared a bit embarrassed as the lady handed her gold coins, before getting her the change. Usually the gap between the rich and the poor wasn't so bad, Wizards would still handle silver coins at a minimum. For this lady to be buying a drink with gold coins, she much be really rich. (note: Asha also only bothered with gold coins xD )

"Here you go! 9 silver and 40 Rarv. Huh?" The lady had disappeared and Ian was all alone in the store. Although it wasn't the first time for guests to leave without the change, something felt wrong. It was only when other guests arrived and the door bell ringed as they opened the door that she realized what felt wrong.

-------
The rain had stopped and the sun was shining through, but Mistyshore's rainy season was fickle so it's difficult to predict what comes next.
"Tak! Hey!"

The voice was quite close this time but Tak didn't open his eyes. "Tak who's tailing a girl!" "Shut up!"
Both were half-submerged in water. The boy was smiling.
"You slipped away and went to look elsewhere, Visnu?"
"Oh sorry about last night, I went to get you a drink as an apology, do come and have a drink!"
"..."

Without a word Visnu handed Tak a standard cup. It was still warm as though it was just bought from somewhere, and the smell of nutty milk emanated from it.
"You went into the city on purpose?"
"Yes, but this was the only thing you can drink from the menu."
"..."

Tak was speechless as he looked into the cup and only saw warm milk. Visnu was starting to ask what's wrong and started to tease him, but Tak just drank it all down in one shot. For Visnu, this was a victory. He clapped his hands and asked, curious, whether he liked it.

Taksaka thumbed his lower lip and tasted the milk again, and said, "Not bad."

---
So, summary for this week:
- Visnu went into the city as a girl, probably used Insight on Ian, and bought milk from her.
- Taksaka likes milk.
o_x;;


Edited by Mizura, 17 November 2014 - 01:51 AM.

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Kubera stuff: Character charts , Races and Cities , The finite (official side novel) ,
Official English Webtoons: https://www.webtoons.com


#11
Mizura

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Visnu complains to Tak if the word "delicious" is really that hard to say, and Tak just retorted back. Brahma, Shiva and Visnu are supposed to be on the same level, but many Nastika treat Visnu lower than Brahma and Shiva. Some, like Tak, put him down a little, talking to him on rather familiar terms.

Taksaka noted that Visnu seemed rather free, and asked if he wasn't taking care of the daughter of Garuda. Visnu replied that he's leaving her alone for a while since it's not dangerous, then made a joke and started laughing. Tak asked if Visnu could always see the future actions, at which point Visnu stopped laughing but remained smiling.

"Do you always act after seeing the future?"
"Not always, but about big events. But why?"
"Hmm. Then when you see a space become destroyed, it's either you don't feel like changing its fate, or don't have the power to change it." (Thanks Ashenjay!)

Visnu did not answer. After an awkard moment, Taksaka spoke first.
"I'll take the silence as a positive?"
"Of course, Tak, kind of like you."

Visnu asked Taksaka if he wanted another glass of milk. Taksaka started to say that it was enough, but Visnu reminded him that they were heated by Ian.
"So what does it matter?"
"Oh... well okay, I'll take care of it."

Visnu laughed at Taksaka's chilly reaction and returned to the coast, telling Tak that it'd be better for him to be out the water too. "Stupid." Tak fell asleep just a few seconds after laying on the road.

The finite - by Currygom
Chapter 7: Reunion


It was getting late and Ian was closing shop. The gold left by the customers vouched for her work. However, she was thinking about the customer who disappeared. A magic spell was a possibility, but it would have been strange for a person to use magic just to go in and out of a store. She put her apron away, preparing to go home to prepare for the exam for the magic school.

At that moment she heard a bell ring. Although she had already put up the "Closed" sign, it was no reason to send back the customer.
"Can I have this delivered?"

The door opened up to a boy of about 7-8 years-old. Somehow the hair and atmosphere were the same as the customer who disappeared without a sound, but Ian didn't think that they were related. She replied to him that the delivery person was away, to which the boy frowned. His long bangs also reminded her of the previous customer.
"Well, can you drop it off? Here's the money."

The boy held out 60 Rarv. That's the minimum amount for delivery, so Ian could not refuse and accepted the money.
"Will you really do the delivery?"

Seeing the boy smile brightly, Ian decided that delivery was a good idea.
"Please deliver the warm milk here!"

The boy placed a folded note on the counter. He ordered the same thing as that other customer, but Ian told herself that it was just a coincidence. "Please deliver it there!" With that the boy left, the door bell ringing as he left. Ian looked at the note: "Person sleeping on a rock near the East coast checkpoint." (lol)

Not only were there risks to going out of town, the location itself was vague. What to do? The boy already left. Ian decided to look roughly near the check points.

She left complaining about how tired she is. The coast was quiet save for the sound of the waves, and the sky was clear. Ian decided to be glad that the weather was good at least. After glancing around she stopped. Someone was lying on the rock beneath the cliffs.
"I came here for delivery, but what a guy to be sleeping outside the city!"

Ian was wondering about possibilities, including a runaway youth. She was trying to figure a way down the rocks. Because the rocks were slippery, going down would be suicidal. She'd be greatly hurt if she slipped. After finally getting down, she headed towards the rock, and surely enough, the person sleeping on it was Tak, the half from yesterday.
"..."

Ian wondered what to do about the milk. It'd probably be cold by the time he wakes up, but she decided to just leave it by his side. He didn't seem like a particularly bad guy from yesterday.

"What are you doing?"
Ian's hand movements stopped. Tak was awake and staring right up into her eyes.

---
Summary:
- Visnu finally got change
- And he used the door to leave this time
- What a joker, going in as a different person every time. Soon Ian will be wondering who all these similar-looking people are coming from. xD
- Ian and Tak meet up again. The story is finally moving again. Maybe. x_x

Edited by Mizura, 12 August 2012 - 07:54 AM.

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#12
Mizura

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Ian was so surprised that she lost her footing and fell into the sea with a splash (lol). Tak stretched a hand at her. Ian smiled back at him and told him not to worry, since she can climb back up alone. After climbing back up she started to squeeze the water out her clothes. Tak mumbled that he was trying to catch her before she fell.

Ian said that she came to deliver milk. I think Tak told her not to go, and because he said that abruptly Ian started to be afraid, and asked why.

The finite - by Currygom
Chapter 8: Boundary


Tak decided to ask how to open the insulation cup for the milk, and Ian opened it for him. Tak notes that she tied up her hair, and Ian responded that the store manager prefers it that way. He asks if she has to follow the preferences of the manager, and she says of course. As Tak started drinking, Ian noted how his eyes were dark red and started thinking. Blood. Dark red blood. Killed. Offering. Disaster. Ian Rajof, the heretics by your side all died. Your future life will be completely different depending on your answer.

Ian Rajof felt cold sweat and felt her heart pounding. She abruptly stood up saying she'll take her leave. Tak yelled at her to wait, but when he grabbed her arm he accidently hurt her arm instead, causing Ian to yell out in pain. Ian was scared and wanted to escape. He tried to approach her and tell her she's misunderstanding, but Ian ran away crying, and hid behind a rock, thinking at how she was a laughing stock for claiming she wanted to defeat Taksaka.

Tak thought that he wanted to hug her, but paused as soon as her realized what he was thinking. He felt bad because of the fact that he made Ian cry, and decided that the earrings were really crap, and wanted to throw them into the sea. His feelings wavered because of them. He never felt any guilt at the death of Gods or Sura, and although he didn't eat humans, he could kill them for even trivial reasons, like being noisy when he was sleeping. Under normal circumstances Ian would never be safe around him.

However, he didn't want Ian to be scared of him, and wanted to see her beautiful face smiling at him. He shook his head. As a Vritra Nastika, getting worked up because of a human girl would be really embarassing. Looking at Ian from behind the rocks, he finally decided to put on the earrings.

--
Yes indeed Tak, it will be Quite embarassing. So much so that you'll have Vasuki laughing at you when you get back to the Sura world. Ahem.
As a reminder, humans who served Sura instead of the Gods were considered heretics. It seems Ian's fellow villagers belonged to that group.
I think Ian's village may have been serving Taksaka, but Utpala purposely impersonated him and destroyed the village to get Taksaka's attention. But he just ignored it. :(

Edited by Mizura, 12 August 2012 - 07:54 AM.

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#13
Mizura

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"While I was visiting the Primeval Gods, another Nastika has died. This is a very sad thing."

However, unlike someone who is truly sad, the speaker's expression was numb. He had black hair, grey skin and an overwhelming vermillion gaze. In addition, he was sitting higher than anyone else and wore bright colourful clothes, though the structure was simple. Of those gathered here, he was by far the most eye-catching. (Note: omg it's Vritra! :D )

"As you know, in other clans the number of Rakshasa has long surpassed the number of Nastika. In the Asura clan, the number of Rakshasa is now 100 times the number of Nastika. But we don't have a single Rakshasa, and as a result the number of Nastika has collapsed to 7th." (I'm not sure about this part. By the way, I believe it meant 7th ranking in the number of Nastika, not 7 Nastika, so sorry for those who got confused. Basically out of the different clans, it has the fewest number of Nastika left, though I'm not sure if they counted the Taraka clan)

He was reading straight from a piece of paper, as though he had done a bad job memorizing its contents.
"Crucially, Visnu said that if we continued this way, our race will be the first to be destroyed."

This caused a stir. Taksaka was among the about 20 people attending and had a very serious expression. Someone who looked like a girl surrounded by pale light was hugging his right arm.

"Visnu does not wish for such a result, so he discussed opportunities for change with Brahma and offered to help us. This is still possible because it is still the early days of the Universe. As time passes it will become impossible to change our minds, so the decision must be made quickly."

The person reading seemed confused for a moment when he turned the paper and there was nothing left in the back. A silver-haired woman sitting behind him in the darkness handed him another paper. The reader coughed a few times as he received the paper and continued on as though nothing happened. Usually in a conference, people would start laughing at this point, but everybody was serious.

"The first method of change is eliminating emotions. Blocking love is the surest way, Brahma said that interfering with feelings would be complicated. Our people have fewer feelings than other races, so by enhancing the characteristics of our race, emotions can be controlled to some extent. However, he cannot guarantee perfect results. In particular, control over feelings that were relatively well-exposed should be partial (really not sure about this part)."

Eliminate feelings? Taksaka wanted to complain but decided to wait for the speaker to end. However, the girl besides him could not contain herself.

"Eliminating feelings is completely absurd! Why not eliminate the penalty instead?"

The finite - by Currygom
Chapter 9: Passion (1/3)


The girl looked to be in her early teens, just smaller than Taksaka. She had beautiful profound blue, shoulder-length hair.

"The penalty is so unfair, doesn't everyone think so? Love between the specimen ends up in poison which leads to death. It's too bad for one little skill, the 'breath'. All the other races are deliberately increasing their forces with Rakshasa. But what about us? There are so many Nastikas who died with unknown reasons even before Rakshasas are born. I think what should be eliminated is not feelings, but the unfair penalty itself. Or give us something as a substitute for Rakshasa!" (Thanks Ashenjay!)

Many of those gathered there nodded, but few gave active feedback. The girl was frustrated.

"It's true, Taksaka!"

"..."

"Our feelings will disappear? What do we do then?"

"..."

"This is ridiculous! Say something..."

The girl's teeth were clenched, and at Taksaka's lack of response, she burst into tears.

Taksaka looked at her, and had her sit on his laps. The girl's cries started to subside. At this moment, a clearly angry Vritra spoke up again, but Taksaka also asked and received permission to speak, and said that he'll accept the results Vritra negotiated with the Primeval Gods.

At that, Vritra nodded. "Where was I again?" The woman pointed to a section. "Oh yeah, here. So the perfect way to get rid of feelings is..."

“Taksaka.” The girl spoke up again.

"Even if I have to die, I have decided to love you until the end. Even if the feelings of the entire race disappears, my heart for you will never leave. If all your feelings for me leave, and you won't even look at me, I'll do whatever it takes for you to care about me again."

"..."

The girl was quite serious, but Taksaka remained silent.
"What the hell? I say all this and I don't get any reactions?"

Taksaka smiled faintly, and spoke to her as he would a spoiled little sister. "And I'll forgive you no matter what you do, Utpala."

--
The shores of Mistyshore offered a spectacular night view, but Ian could not afford to enjoy the landscape. She took a break to wipe her tears, only to see Tak right in front of her, causing her to take a step back in surprise. When did he pass by her? If she gets caught again, she'll be in trouble, and it's useless to start a conversation at this point. She was trying to think rationally through the pain.

Tak was not moving, but Ian was trembling in fear. She was just a quarter and he was a half.
"Does it hurt?"

Ian was now a little upset.
"Why of course it hurts. Even a Half should know..."

Taksaka touched his cheek and stopped talking, his head bowing.

"If it caused you to cry, it must hurt a lot, huh. I know now."

"..."

Ian was surprised to note that he seemed to be crying about her broken arm, his eyelashes trembling. The atmosphere around him seemed very different too, he no longer seemed as dangerous. Before he seemed like a wild beast. Now he seemed like a dejected dog.

"I'm going to get treatment back in the city. Ok, I know it was not on purpose, don't cry."

"Yes, there are wizards in town. So if you go back you'll no longer be hurt?"

"Yes, I'll be fine once I'm back in the city."

After the treatment though, the funds she had gathered for magic school enrollment will drop even further. Suddenly Tak took her flying for a distance and put her down near the checkpoint.

"I'd like to take you to the wizard directly, but I can't pass here. I'm sorry."

"..."

Tak seemed really depressed. Ian was in a daze. "It's, it's okay." It was the same Half, right? Why did the attitude suddenly change? She went to the checkpoint.

Tak was stunned for a while. "Damnit, I cried!" Even if he wore Visnu's earrings, it was still wrong. He had dull feelings still alive from the times of early in the Universe. Is it a side-effect of those feelings being pent-up for too long? Would they not only evoke, but also amplify feelings?

He looked towards the checkpoint again.

"Ok, I know it was not on purpose, don't cry."

As soon as he removed the earrings he felt cold again.
"They were rubbish after all."

Tak lifted his hands and threw the earrings into the sea without hesitation. But after a while he changed his mind and hurriedly plunged into the sea. (lol)

To be continued.

--
Omg it's Vritra! And is that Kinnara behind him? :D Hahaha, apparently he's a scatterbrain. xD

Huh, it seems that when it was still in the early ages of the Universe, the Vritra race was already in danger because they could not have Rakshasa children, so their forces were weak compared to other races that have been having Rakshasa. In order to prevent the race's annihilation, Visnu negotiated with Brahma to have their feelings suppressed even more instead. This was possible because as a race, they already had fewer feelings than other races, so by enhancing this "race characteristic" they could kill off any remaining emotions, though the results wouldn't be perfect.

Utpala was in love with Taksaka back then, and Taksaka viewed her like a little sister. She strongly protested the measure in vain, and told Taksaka that no matter what happens, she'll get Taksaka to have feelings for her again.

I guess we could see the results of what happened. After losing feelings, all the Vritra Nastika took male form. Only Utpala managed to hang on to hers, only to find that Taksaka no longer felt anything for her. In desesperation, she did anything she could to get his attention, including blowing up Ian's village (who was a village of heretics, so they probably worshipped Taksaka) after impersonating him. But Taksaka still ignored her.

As an interesting side note, Utpala protested that if Vritra were not allowed to have Rakshasa children among themselves, the Primeval Gods should give them something else in compensation instead. I think the Primeval Gods decided to give them compensation after all, by making Vritra Halfs as strong, or even stronger than normal Rakshasa. Not that it helped much, since the Vritra were still emotionally barren.

In other news, the story finally seems to be progressing now! (which is good news because once it ends, Part II of the main story may finally start)

Edited by Mizura, 23 September 2012 - 11:38 AM.

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#14
Mizura

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The finite - by Currygom
Chapter 10: Passion (2/3)


(note: I probably got the conversations in the first part completely wrong, I had trouble figuring out what they were saying)

The infernal hell. Unlike what people say the place was very wide and spacious, and not counting the place where sinners went, the area was a quite pleasant resting place. The Gods refer to it as their sauna. Also, to make efficient use of the short time there, Gods brought along several things to get done at once.
"How couldn't they process everything in time, everything is in shambles, there are too many incompetents."

The person who muttered this had long dark brown hair tied up, and was surrounded by a pile of papers. He was wearing loose robes. But he was writing and placing seals at amazing speed. His handwriting was smooth, and his deep green eyes scanned for any mistakes.
"Yes, the pace in your office is very fast, so it takes a while to get behind. I see you're having a hard time too, Yama."

The person opposite Yama was surrounded by a pile of paperwork as well, and his bluish-silver hair swayed slightly. Both his eyes were covered with a dark blindfold, which made the fact that he was processing paperwork odd.
"Still better than you Indra. After all your quota was too high to begin with. The position of King of the Astikas was because the Primeval Gods were lazy and dumped on you." (thanks Ashenjay for the clarification!)

He then made a joke about the Primeval Gods. At Indra's words, Yama stopped working for a while and turned his head, shifting the topic.
"But really, that guy, Agni."

Yama was looking at where the molten metal pools were boiling. There was a sign in front of them saying "Sword of Hellfire, Access prohibited." Agni was sleeping and smiling in front of it.
"How can that guy afford to be sleeping? He's really something."
"He's definitely the strongest."
"Right?"
"Hehe."

While they were chatting and laughing, they heard a voice that made them stop laughing. Visnu was in front of them, and smiled and waved at them.
"Visnu-nim, is there something..."

Although Yama stood up alongside Indra to greet him, Yama stayed a bit bowed, as though greeting him half-heartedly.
"Nothing serious, just something I wanted to ask Yama."
"Ah yes. You owe Visnu-nim a favor, Yama."

Indra and Yama stared at Agni who was still comfortably asleep, sighed and gave up.
"What is it?"
"Could you increase the life of a human a little?"
"..."

Until then Yama had not made eye contact with Visnu. But he now looked up to face Visnu with frighteningly cold glaze from his green eyes.

-
Tak's body was completely soaked in salt water. He confirmed the earrings in his hand and breathed a sigh of relief, then frowned. The raging storm of emotions was still vivid. For a while, he could see nothing but the lovely girl in front of him. He would have held her without hesitation. Ian would probably have asked him to let go. However, he wouldn't, because why would a Nastika listen to a human?
"Damn."

Tak clenched the earrings in his hands. Something was obvoiusly not normal. He stared at the waves absent-minded.
"..."

Why hasn't he fallen asleep yet? Normally he'd be asleep by now. Then he remembered... was what happened to that kid associated with Utpala's doings? At the time he shed the report as it wasn't a big thing, but he should have listened more carefully.

Tak thought about who to ask and disappeared.

-
Ian was sitting at her desk and tested her left arm, which was better thanks to magic. If she could have just cast the magic herself she wouldn't have needed to spend a lot of money.

She looked at a magic book she had out and placed it back onto the bookshelf. It was difficult, and even if she could understand she had a high failure rate. She took a glance at the admissions guide to the martial arts academy, but she shook her head. The half broke her arm by accident even without any intent to hurt her, and she noticed how fast he was carrying her to the checkpoint. There was no way she could overcome that level with martial arts, and even with magic, the results would vary.

If she tried really hard maybe she could overcome a half. But her goal was not a half, it was the top-class Destruction Dragon Nastika Taksaka. Even if a group of wizards gathered, no matter how great they are it'd be impossible for them to win. The breathe could destroy a planet or a star. How do you stop such an attack?

Of course, she didn't think that way before, but when she had her arm broken today, she painfully realized how weak she is.
"I know the goal is not realistic. But Mother, if I give up, what do I live for?"

She went to sleep while muffling the sound of her crying.

-
A chilling wind blew across the field at dawn, and Tak turned his attention to a young man who confirmed that it was this town that was destroyed 8 years ago. The smiling young man did not make any sound, but Tak was able to understand him.
"I never saw it directly, but I've heard that something red and black easily killed all the people in town. And they think that it's you, Taksaka."

It was a silent conversation. The young man was a Rakshasa, and could not speak. He had pink hair and smiling eyes.
"Shess. Dark red color is common. So are Vritra."
"Of course I do not think that you did it. I am just wondering why you are suddenly interested in what happened to a town 8 years ago. Do you mind Utpala-nim now?"

Tak shook his head at the question.

"That guy has been impersonating me and increasing my notoriety so often that all that crap doesn't bother me at all. But."

He looked around and muttered.
"It's weird. His opponent was too small. What value was there to get rid of a human village? Did he want to get attention with deliberately odd behaviour?"
"Maybe he was acting like a jealous child?"

Shess started laughing, but stopped when Tak glared at him.
"Okay, but my mother asked me to help you, so I will."
"Airavata asked about me?"
"Since you are second place for poorest emotional control among Vritra, she thought we should help you avoid embarassing the Dragon kind."
"What? Poor? This is a really crazy comparison."
"Should I tell mother that?"
"..."
"I know you don't think it's possible, but Mother is sincerely worried for Taksaka-nim."
"Oh, yeah."

Despite the dry answer, Shess was still smiling.
"I will tell you everything I know about what happened 8 years ago. In exchange can you promise me something?"

Tak looked at Shess.
"If you fight on this planet, please avoid damaging other organisms. She does not want your notoriety to increase any further."
"You talk as though there will be a fight."
"Maybe."
"..."

Tak thought for a while but nodded.
"Okay. First thing I must say, Taksaka, is that those in the inner city called the village outside the city as the village of "Heretics.""
"Probably. They congregated outside without fear. This means that they probably believe in something."
"The village worshipped the Dragon race. Taksaka, you belong to that race."
"..."

Tak seemed puzzled by something. They wouldn't be worth tracking.
"Yes. Dragon Halfs are extremely rare, so is a village following the Dragon kind that a dragon agreed to protect. Perhaps in the distant past there was an exchange for a Half, and they retained the traditions."

Shess then thought that others did not touch the village just in case.
"Well, that aside, why would Utpala impersonate me to terminate a village of followers? That's a pretty crazy way to get attention."

Tak was a bit annoyed by the idea by now.
"Taksaka-nim. My guess is, Utpala-nim didn't just destroy the village to get attention."
"...?"
"I heard there was a demand for sacrifice. So, when they were not ready to make a sacrifice, he made a disaster happen in return. Isn't that a common pattern in folk tales?"
"Utpala required a human sacrifice? That's ridiculous. What would you get out of that?"
"Of course I do not know the details of the matter. Specifically, the only requirement for the offering was for her to be pretty."
"What was the sacrifice?"

Shess hesitated for a moment and replied.
"I do not know for sure, but it seemed to be a girl by the name of Ian."

---
These chapters seem to be getting longer. :S But anyway:
- Yay! It's Yama and Indra! And the most manly kind of men, too: those who can handle their paperwork! Hoho. It seems Indra is the King of the Astika! But the title doesn't seem very comforting when it comes with so much paperwork. Agni is slacking off. x'D
- Yama doesn't seem to like Visnu much, and it seems Visnu is asking him to extend Ian's life? It seems the Gods really are in charge of the life and death matters of humans! I guess they really do decide who's a triple and who isn't as well.
- Shess is Airavata's son! So that's why he's close to her. Now, it seems that Kinnara is spending all her time with Vritra, so Airavata probably has to run the clan in her place. The Suras do have some interesting dynamics going on. I wonder how Shess survived that long though. That guy's fearless. D: He's facing Taksaka without flinching, and in the webtoon he was facing Gandharva without flinching either (okay, Gandharva was weakened, but still)
- Now we have a better idea of what happened to Ian's village. Ian's village worshipped Dragons, and it's possible that in the past, it really did get the protection of a Dragon because it had a Half. But that was a long time ago, and only the tradition remains. For some reason or other, Utpala impersonated Taksaka and asked a sacrifice of the village. That sacrifice would have been Ian. But her parents hid and protected her, and as a result Utpala destroyed the entire village.

By the way, there was a Q&A post on the novel not long ago. Most of it was on stuff like the title etc., but one person also asked if the novel was going to go waaay on until Ian's death. Currygom replied that this was not a novel about Ian's full life, so later on there will be a timeskip of a few years.

The good thing about this answer is that it means the novel won't drag on and on and on. But on the other hand, I don't see the novel finishing that fast after a timeskip either. A lot of things need to get resolved. So, for those wondering how much longer the break will last, I guess you could think of it this way:
- The webtoon will probably not start again before the end of the novel story
- Assuming the timeskip in the novel will start by the end of next chapter (most optimistic scenario), the novel will probably still go on for a number of chapters.

I personally doubt it will end in less than 2 months based on all this. On the other hand, another post claiming that the webtoon will only start again next year turned out to be an April Fool's joke, so the break won't last the whole year, if that's any consolation. :o

Edited by Mizura, 12 August 2012 - 07:54 AM.

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#15
Mizura

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The finite - by Currygom
Chapter 11: Passion (3/3)


After Shess left, Tak stood there for a while while dark clouds gathered.
"If that's true..."

The most likely candidate would be Visnu. Primeval Gods have insight into the Nastika, but the only ones who would spill the contents carelessly are Visnu and Kali. Kali lies for more than half her insights, so most people don't believe her. Even if Utpala was blinded by jealousy, surely she wouldn't believe Kali? So Visnu was more likely.
"But why?"

Did Utpala need to kill Ian 8 years ago because she knew that she'd meet with Tak? But Ian didn't die there. If Utpala knew that Ian would survive, why bother doing all that in the first place? Tak suddenly remembered that Ian became moody after he mentioned the events 8 years ago. When he dismissed what he was saying as a joke, she looked as though she was about to cry. Although Tak could not understand the feelings well, he understood that Ian would become depressed when it comes to the events 8 years ago.
"Annoying."

He didn't know why he was annoyed. Nothing remained of the village, and he recalled that he tolerated this before. Now it was all silent, and since Tak did not have patience when it comes to anger, he couldn't resist roaring into the air. The light of the moon seeped through the split clouds. Visnu's protection was powerful, without it it'd have been gone already. Looking at the moon, Tak recalled Vasuki saying: "If you cannot avoid, enjoy." So he took out the earrings.

--
Early in the morning, in the forest not far from Mistyshore:
"A sponsor?"

The one who responded was a 40 years-old wizard. There were also about 10 other people there, including a boy with dark sunglasses, who started removing something from his backpack.
"What can we do about that?"

Tak who was wearing the earrings was putting on the most desperate expression he could. He also made his clothes look miserable. It was hurting his pride, but there were no other ways to get into the city.

He learned from Shess yesterday that to get approval he needed to ask, but it was never easy. Many wizards had already refused. Shess said that it would be difficult unless he actively cooperated with the sponsor, so the sponsor would need to "trust" him rather than feel threatened. It would not be possible with just Visnu's earrings, so he had to put aside his pride as a Nastika for now.
"Unfortunately, that's not something so easy to decide."
"There are many constraints to being a sponsor."
"There's a possibility that it may not be a Half but a Nastika..."
"What do you mean? There's no way a Nastika could obtain a sponsor."
"Huh? Isn't that right?"

Nobody seemed eager to sponsor him.
"A polite attitude itself helps to obtain a sponsor. Because the condition is that the wizard must take responsibility no matter what happens to the Half."
"..."

The normal Tak would have just been "If they're not going to sponsor me I'm just going to kill them." But he's wearing the earrings now. He's able to recognize the circumstances around him instead of blindly charging in anger. This was also possible because near the beginning of the Universe, Tak was relatively moderate.
"I can't. You'll have to find another wizard..."
"I'll sponsor you."
"...?"

Tak, as well as all the wizards, looked in the direction of the answer. It was the boy earlier, who removed something from his backpack.
"Instead, let's rule out the possibility that you're a Nastika."

Tak was visibily shaken by the sight of the cucumber (BAHAH!). However, the other wizards had a different attitude.
"Wait a minute, you just got certified. Don't you know..."
"I know. There are no benefits to being a sponsor, only damages to worry about."
"Then why?"
"Because he looks like he really needs it."
"..."

At the end, the others just shook their heads. No matter how desperate Tak acts, the boy wouldn't see it because he's blind. The boy approached Tak with his cane, holding out the cucumber. Tak wanted to beat him up. Obviously he'd need to pass the vegetarian test at the checkpoint, but it still felt like a blow. He recalled Ian.
"Okay, okay, you didn't mean it, don't cry."

Recalling Ian softened his anger. If it's to see her smile again, he could stand this much.
"I guarantee they're all delicious!"

The boy had a smiling, innocent face, but to Tak it sounded like a death sentence. He was forced to swallow them.
"..."

Tak broke out in cold sweat. But he already came here and can't go back. If he gives up on a sponsor, he'll have to rely on Visnu to call Ian out of the city again. After the accident last time, there's no way she'd go out again. It was better for him to go into the city. Tak closed his eyes and told himself that it was just a cucumber. He let out a huge smile, in contrast to the turmoil he was feeling inside, chomped on the cucumber while saying it's delicious, and finished it in an instant. (BAHAHA!!!)
"From the sounds of it the cucumber must have been very delicious!"

The boy laughed. Tak wanted to beat him up, but forced a smile on his face even while he was beginning to have seizures.

--
"Oh yes, for the checkpoint: my name is Nard Lehn."

Nard was walking down the road of the Mistyshore Magic Lane. He walked very slowly because he needed to find his way with the cane. Tak followed him, still sick from the smell of vegetables he had to swallow at the checkpoints.
"Yes. Nard Lehn. As I said earlier, my name is..."
"You said your name is Shess?" (*dies laughing*)

Well, Shess will understand, and if he doesn't, why should I care? Because of the earrings he was starting to feel bad, but he suddenly noticed that he had walked ahead of Nard, and stopped to wait for him.

Thanks to the earrings, he didn't have too much trouble passing the other tests except for the vegatables test. And without the earrings, his pride as a Nastika would not have allowed him to eat the vegetables. Moreover, the checkpoint is a god-level item created by Brahma. Tak felt relieved that he made it past, as well as a bit conceited. Few Nastika probably made past the city defenses since they were created, especially Dragonkin.
"-ess-ssi. Shess-si."

Tak was startled. Nard told him not to get lost since he can't see anything without casting Hoti Surya. Nard was smiling. Although his eyes glanced around, they weren't focused on anything.
"Nard, are there many magic shops around?"
"Oh? From the checkpoints it was obvious that Ian works at one of the cafes at the Magical Shopping Lane. We'll find her soon."
"...!"

She can be found soon! Tak was delighted.
"You like Ian-ssi?"
"?!"
Tak looked at Nard startled in response.
"Although I'm blind, everyone says I notice everything."
"..."
"Did I get it right? Haha."

Tak didn't answer, but Nard just laughed and said he'll do him a favor.

Tak had a frown on his face and pressed Nard's shoulder, but not hard enough to break it. "Ow, wait, that hurts!" Nard's complaints mixed in with his laughter, but to onlookers, it looked just like two best friends playing around, and they just moved along.

--
It wasn't hard to figure out where Ian works, and soon the two were standing outside her store.
"I don't know what outsiders know but, in Mistyshore Ian is quite well known for her looks. Are you a wizard?"
"No, I am not a wizard but..."
"Is she very pretty?"
"..."

"Very" doesn't cut it. Tak just nodded.
"She's pretty famous so I'd like to see her face once. It's a pity I've used up Hoti Surya for today."

Sensing that Tak would get into a bad mood again, Nard found a table and sat down, telling Tak "You can go, I'll stay here." Normally Tak should tell him a word of thanks, but he was too pre-occcupied about the fact that he'll meet Ian again. He just swinged the door open.
"Ring"

Ian was cleaning the shelf when she heard the bell ring. Normally she'd face the customers but she had her hands full cleaning tableware.
"I'm sorry, I am cleaning. Can you look at the menu first?"
"Ian!"
"?!"
Before she realized it her body stumbled.
"Ian... Ian..."

A familiar voice. The breath in Ian's ears was hot, and the heartbeat sounded like the heart would explode at any minute now. The arms around her waist seemed like they would never let go, but they seem as they would not hurt her, instead ensnaring her in a gentle but strong pressure.

A few seconds passed while Tak buried his face in her hair, and Ian was able to assess the situation and realize that the heartbeats were her own. Ian wanted to ask how he got into the city, but her trembling voice only made out "It's not a good place to talk." Then she saw the shiny pieces of broken tableware on the floor.

---
OMG!!! His name is Nard LEHN, he could be Haas and Kaz' ancestor! And he's blind, maybe he's Ran's grandfather too! (wait...) Haas and Kaz are purebloods though... Different people? Relatives?

Let's see now. Ran is 36. He has an older brother, too, who looks much older than him, let's say his mother had her first child 50 years ago. Ran's mother, a half, must have been at least 20 physically when she had her first child, and since she ages at 1/4 speed, that'd be at least 50+80 = 130 years ago. The current events take place 142 years ago. ... damn, it totally fits. ;_;

Now, the dominant theory is that Ran's mother is from the Yaksha clan (since his mother has a furry tail), but I initially thought that she may be Airavata from the Kinnara clan (though there is absolutely nothing to support this apart from the fact that it was the only other name mentioned that we haven't seen visually yet >.>;; ). Shess said that Airavata was worried about Tak though, so she could have followed him to Willarv and met Nard Lehn. Still...

Oh hoho, if this continues, this is good, either it's Airavata and we learn more about her soon, or it's a Yaksha and we learn more about the Yaksha clan. First we need to see if Nard is a Quarter or not (Ran's grandmother was a quarter). If it's really Ran's grandfather, I wonder if the poor dude realizes that he'd sponsored two Nastika (and fed them cucumbers P: ).

Ah. Of course, there's the question of who told Utpala. According to Tak, the two likely culprits are Visnu and Kali, though most people think of Kali as a liar. Still, story-wise both Visnu and Kali are likely culprits. Kali may have foreseen that Taksaka's son would fight against her own, and tried to prevent it. But Ian survived. What if Visnu is the one who planned everything instead? Questions questions. But, I think this also proves that Kasak may have a bigger role in the future than we've foreseen! Kasaaak! :D

If Kali is thought of as a liar, I wonder what she told Garuda to convince him to have a kid with her? Especially since Garuda is good friends with Visnu. Suspicious... Ah, and it seems Visnu's protection prevents the whole planet from being destroyed and such. I wonder why it didn't prevent the destruction of other planets during the Cataclysm?

Edited by Mizura, 12 August 2012 - 07:55 AM.

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#16
Mizura

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The surprised Ian managed to escape Tak's hug. Ever since he broke her bone she saw him as big trouble. Squatting on the floor she looked at the pieces of broken dishes. Although they could be repaired with recovery magic, she had spent all her money healing her arm. She was afraid the manager would get angry and that she'd lose her job.

In fact, it'd have been better if Tak were not wearing his earrings right now, but with the earrings now he had his judgment severely clouded. He thought Ian squatting on the floor was cute.

The finite - by Currygom
Chapter 12: Oath


"Why did you come into the city to harass me?"
"..."

Ian's voice was mixed with cries. Tak knelt down besides her and tried to carefully turn her face to his, but she shrinked back. At that moment Tak saw the shattered objects Ian was holding. He felt relief that it was just about recoving something. His sponsor was just outside and he could also ask Visnu later.

-Tinkle-

At that point, the door opened and Ian quickly got up to welcome the manager. The manager was a few centimeters taller than Tak, looking quite impressive as a human. He was wearing expensive looking wizard clothes. Although Ian was crying earlier she showed a smile to him.

Tak on the other hand was scowling at him. This was actually a way to neutralize an opponent, as terrified magicians lose their ability to calculate.
"Gosh, the sir is angry."
"...?"

Surprisingly, the manager answered Tak and proceeded to scold Ian.
"You should properly greet the clients and not look like this. What are you doing right now? Don't you see you're getting the customer angry?"
"Oh... that's..."
"Go ahead and take his order."

Tak realized what the problem was and bit his lips. Shoot. After putting on the earrings, no matter what he did he just looked like a disgruntled teenage boy. Ian turned to Tak again with a frosty look that startled him.
"What are you going to order?"
"Oh uh... milk."
"Milk?"

Ian seemed puzzled and frowned, taking a step closer to Tak to stare at him. She was still young right now. Humans get increasingly ugly as they age, but Tak wasn't thinking about that. Right now he was just thinking that she's beautiful.
"..."

Ian confirmed that something looked different. The terrifying atmosphere around him was gone. The skin was lighter and his eyes were docile, like how he was when he was at the beach crying because he hurt her.
"You're... Tak?"
"Uh, yeah."
"You know, Tak, do you have money to buy milk?" (pwned!)

---
"Hahahahah!"

Nard who was drinking tea was laughing loudly. Tak told him to stop laughing. Nard said that it was funny, and that he was allowed this much compensation. Tak was mad and started cursing him and Visnu mentally, but instead of saying anything he just started scratching and punching holes in the table. He was bored waiting for Ian.

Nard asked Tak how he met Ian. Tak explained that Ian swimmed out of the protected zone to save him while he was sleeping in the sea. Nard was impressed, as although Ian was a quarter, she also has weak stamina.

Ian had been willing to risk her life for someone else. Nard noted how she must have had a big heart, and for Ian to happen to be passing by like that and jump in, it must have been a destined encounter.

That got Tak thinking about Visnu. Obviously he must have seen Ian in his future. Would things have gone differently if Visnu had not been involved? Apparently he was emotionally attraced to her anyway. It wasn't certain if the earrings were causing him to feel those emotions. He felt the same towards other humans, only Ian was different. In the end, Tak believed that out of the millions of possibilities of future, Visnu must have helped pick the best one for him, so he felt at ease. (whoa, so trusting)

Nard was laughing because Tak didn't know the relationship between a manager and a clerk. Tak shot back that he's being very cheeky. Nard apologized, saying that judging by Tak's voice, it sounded like they were close in age. So, since Tak is a Half, he must be double Nard's age, so around 60? Tak replied that he's older than that. Nard asked if he was over 80 then, and Tak said of course.

"But if a half is 80 years-old, he's nearly grown up, right? You don't have the voice of an adult."
"..."

Tak realized he had made a mistake. When he put on the earrings, for some reason he took on a really young age, as a side effect of taking a particular look, and he sounded like a little kid too.

At that point Nard said that he had more information on Ian, which got Tak interested. Nard tells him that Ian is quite famous because of what happened 8 years ago. Ian came from a village of heretics. Normally heretics have a hard time coming into the city, especially once they became adults, as it was difficult to alter the faith of adults. Ian came 8 years ago.

The law was amended a bit but, now quarters are considered adults at age 20. Despite the fact that they look and have the mental age of a 10 years-old, by age 20 their accumulated knowledge makes them harder to handle as children. As pure reference standards, they would be considered as 16 years-old adults.

At that time, Ian was definitely considered an adult by age alone, but her advocates noted that she had the looks and mentality of a young child, and she was also quite modest compared to children raised in the city. Also, her village was attacked by a dragon, so her belief shouldn't be a problem. However, the fact that her village was serving Sura instead of the Gods was in itself offensive. In the end Ian was declined in all cities, and was only accepted in Mistyshore under a condition. The condition was to swear publically that she would reject everything she used to believe.

Nard says that what happened to her was horrible. In a day, all of her family and village was slaughtered, and everyone knew her as the surviving child of heretics. For someone with the mental age of a 10 years-old, it was hard to bear. And then she had to make that oath... Nard looked very sad as he said this.

---
D865, Mistyshore

Thousands of people gathered in the square of the Temple of Ressurection to watch the child from the village of heretic being tried. In some cases, people felt compassion for the child, but others were openly throwing insults.
"A quarter? That village was serving dragons. Is she a dragon quarter?"
"Maybe, maybe not. Could be a Yaksha quarter, that's the most common mix."
"Is she really just 20?"
"Everyone in the village was eaten? She may be 20 now, but in 200 years she may destroy everything."

A simple gesture from the priest silenced everyone. He showed a mild but dignified smile to the girl in front of him.
"Ian Rajof. You were where the heretics died. Your answer now will determine your future."

The kneeling girl did not answer immediately. Through her cries she barely managed to open her mouth.
"From this moment on, I, Ian Rajof, abandon my faith in the Dragons."

Here and there, voices muttered look, look, she'd also discard-
"And from now on I will survive with the sole aim to bring down Taksaka."

Taksaka? Hah! People started to laugh, giggle or worse. Because of the laughter, her next sentence was barely audible in the noise.
"And I will prove my faith in God by becoming a great magician."

To be continued.
---

... O-okay. I'm not sure about you, but even if Tak and Ian did have a happy-ish end, I'm pretty convinced now that Visnu is a sadist. :S
... well, she swore that at the Temple of Ressurection right? So if Visnu himself wants her to get along with Tak, then it's all alright, right?
And it seems to me that Tak there has quite a bit more faith in God Visnu than many humans. xP

... oh by the way, Nard's been confirmed as a quarter. And he's 30 years-old. Which means he'll be meeting Ran's grandmother Real soon. :D Which also means that the timeskip probably won't occur in a while. Guys, expect this break to last at least 3 months longer. D:

I find it rather weird how humans would worship Nastika as they would Gods. I mean, I kind of get the impression that most Nastika don't give a damn about them? At least the Gods came down in person to protect the humans.

Edited by Mizura, 12 October 2012 - 03:56 AM.

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#17
Mizura

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The finite - by Currygom
Chapter 13: Shadow


It was late afternoon, and Tak was still waiting for Ian. Nard asked him if he was listening, and Tak said yes, though in fact, Tak lost interest as soon as Nard finished talking about Ian's past. Nard found it strange that when he looked at Tak with his spell, all he saw was a normal human being. He sighed and repeated his story.
"So, I'm from Taitalika."
"Yes."
"You're not surprised at all?"
"Is that surprising?"

Tak had forgotten that in fact, unlike Gods and Sura, to move between planets, humans needed tools. Most never attempted it because it was difficult. Nard said that most people couldn't afford the trip. Since Tak still didn't seem to get it, Nard suggested that since "Shess" was going to live in the city, he should get a better grasp of the concept of money. Tak laughed thinking that it's pretty useless for him to bother, since he didn't plan on living in the city anyway. He just planned to take Ian and get out.

Nard continued that in fact, he didn't need to spend a lot of money because he got the help of his friends. At that point however Ian came out and Tak completely lost interest.

Ian apologized for making them wait and sat down. Fortunately, Ian didn't notice the holes Tak poke in the table. She thanked Nard for reimbursing the broken dishes. Nard said it was no problem since he was "Shess' sponsor." Ian was surprised by that, saying that the name she heard before was "Tak." Upon hearing that, Nard's face hardened momentarily, but returned to normal.

Nard noted that people living outside of the city without identification sometimes used several names depending on circumstances. Ian nodded at that explanation, then asked what she should call Tak then. With his eyes watery from using the name of the son of a friend, Tak told them to call him "Shess."

Ian asked why the two were waiting for her, and Nard replied that "Shess" wanted her to become his girlfriend. This caused both Tak and Ian to widen their eyes at the same time. Ian's attitude was "I beg your pardon?" while Tak's jaw dropped. Nard continued that Tak was so anxious to see her that he was asking every passing wizard for help. Tak was boiling mad at this point while Nard was still smiling. Being blind, Nard completely ignored his expression.

Ian was embarassed and stood up to leave, but Tak asked her not to go. Ian, looking at Tak, understood his previous behaviour a bit more as that of an overwhelmed teenage boy in front of his favourite girl, though with bigger mood swings. Still...
"Why do you like me?"

The sudden question made Tak hesitate. Of course, the most obvious part was that she was pretty, but saying that probably won't win him points with Ian. There was also her past, courage and commitment, as she jumped into the sea without hesitation to save a drowning man. He just wanted to give her a hug filled with love. He briefly thought about how all these reasons originated from 8 years ago. Anyway, his words weren't very well organized.

Ian said that a lot of men had told her that they liked her while bearing gifts. Tak's eyebrow twitched. Ian continued that they'd say that she was pretty, that she was cute, her smile was nice... it wasn't even funny. She chuckled while Tak had no idea what to do. Nard was still listening in on their conversation.
"Tak... no, Shess-ssi. What do you know about me?
"..." Tak had no answer for that.
"Shess-ssi. You don't know me, and I don't know you. We just met a few days ago, so it's really hard for me to accept this."
"I'm serious!"

Since Tak was just sitting there quietly until now, Ian was surprised when he suddenly spoke up, but her surprise turned to sadness. She said that there was a problem with age, and that he should think about it when he's more grown up (lol?). After that, Ian didn't say anything more to Tak, and greeted Nard before going home, leaving Tak there stunned while Nard shook his head.

(ooooh, Dumped!)

---
In Mistyshore, it was late and it was raining. Nearly all the lights in the houses had already gone out. Ian's home was one among the rows of closely packed houses. Tak glanced around to make sure all the lights were off, and proceeded to try to climb the fence. Nard was waiting nervously beneath while holding an umbrella.
"Shess-ssi, this is illegal."

When Taksaka ignored him, he hooked his pants with the end of his cane, with uncanny accuracy when you consider he's blind, and yanked Tak's pants off. xD The embarrassed Tak missed his hold and tumbled down, then hurriedly pulled his pants back up.
"Hey, you really..."
"Please lower your voice, if you make things worse I'm going to quit being your sponsor."
"..."

Tak frowned. There was a god in charge of the ward of the city. Gods by themselves don't worry him, but if the gods knew that Tak came into the city because of a human, Ian would become a huge weakness for Tak. The gods kidnapped Shakuntala because she was Gandharva's weakness. The gods would kill Nastika by any means necessary. Ian would not be exempt.

Fortunately, the god in the city still hadn't noticed that a Nastika had come in, probably thanks to Visnu's earrings. But posing as a Half was ruining his pride. Tak sighed as he looked at his now dirty clothes.
"You'll be the first human to survive after what you've done to me, Nard."
"Really? Then go ahead and kill me. Then you'll be chased like a criminal and it will be almost impossible to meet Ian."
"..."
"We'll go back now."
"I'll stay here."
"..."

Nard was troubled. As the sponsor he couldn't go home alone, and two people standing in the streets in the middle of a rainy night was a bit...
"That would be difficult."

Nard smiled and leaned against the fence. He didn't mind getting his cloak wet and muddy. In the end Tak got embarassed and followed him home.

---
Ian's village. A man slowly walked on the field in the dark pouring rain. A flash of lightning revealed his outline. The pair of bluish grey horns did not seem to match the hair. The wet hair below the horns was black but seemed to end in red. It didn't reach shoulder-length but covered the neck slightly. The face was quite pretty from the side. He spoke.

"You're alive." No changes in emotions could be seen from his facial expressions. "Ian Rajof."

After that, he looked up at the sky and took a deep breath and the wind subsided. He muttered to himself.
"I do not know what ending you want, Visnu."

With that he left.

To be continued.

----
You know, Tak sure has a lot of friends. D: Visnu, Vasuki, Shess' mom... But yeah, if Visnu caused all this, wut? D:
The god in charge of that city will get one major headache when he learns of everything that happened under his watch. xD

So anyway, we now know that Shakuntala was kidnapped before D873. So, she's over 142 years old right now.
... oh yeah! Utpala's finally shown up! That was faster than I expected. It seems that Utpala thought that Ian Did die. Now how did that happen? Did Visnu use his powers to hide her for example? We saw that Visnu asked the Gods to prolong her life. What if that scene was actually in the past, and Ian should have died by now?

Edited by Mizura, 12 August 2012 - 07:55 AM.

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#18
Mizura

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"I'm asking you again. Why did you come to find me?" Yama said this in a very annoyed tone of voice.
"I told you. I want the life of a human, Ian Rajof, prolonged."
"Really? Did you come here for this? While you are here, didn't a long time already pass in the human world?"

Yes. The residence of the god of death, Yama. As a rule, the higher the dimension, the faster time goes by. Yama's residence, way higher than even Indra's, is a place where time really flies. (thanks Ashenjay for the clarification!)

Nonetheless, Yama had a reason to set his residence here: it reduced the number of requests regarding human lives. While someone was arguing with him, the target of the request would have died already, and he could just ignore the requests that do come through.
"It's fine. She won't die in the near future. She'll be fine until I get back."
"..."

Yama let out a mix of a sigh and a laugh, then raised a glare at Visnu.
"Didn't you guess that I'd refuse your request?"
"..."

Visnu didn't answer. Yama looked at him for a while, then turned back to the papers on his desk while he continued talking.
"See that's what's extraordinary. You can see the results of all choices. For you, Visnu, you can just achieve anything through "trial and error.""
"..."
"I wonder if your ability is overrated?"
"..."

Visnu made an awkward smile, but stopped as he said "No, not exactly." (not sure about this part)
"I see."

Yama took his eyes off his papers, then looked at Visnu with his distinctive cold, green eyes.
"You've deliberately made the wrong choice."

The finite - by Currygom
Chapter 14 - Choice (1/3)


"She, Shess-ssi!"
Nard hurriedly came out of his room in his pajamas, and tumbled. Tak caught him just before he reached bottom.
"What are you doing, running around when you can't see in front of you?"

Yesterday Nard asked Tak if he should order something to drink, and Tak asked for a lot of warm milk, so there was milk in the fridge. The earrings did seem to make Tak sleep longer though, like humans. Nard said that Tak wasn't in bed so he was afraid that Tak went out on his own again. Tak said that he couldn't sleep, so he went to get some milk, and asked why Nard was up.

Nard said he was uneasy because what was Tak thinking when he went to Ian's place? Tak replied that he was thinking about when Ian said that he should become more grown up. Nard didn't seem to understand and chastised him mistaking that and burglary. Tak decided that it would be too complicated to explain about "raising his age" .

Nard continued asking if Tak had anything to do with the fact that Ian went to see a doctor already, called his conducts crazy, and complained about potential criminal matters. He then told Tak that it was important for the two to get to know each other slowly. Tak retorted that Nard should not lecture him because he had circumstances of his own and couldn't afford to relax.

Nard couldn't know how anxious Tak was, hiding as a Half in a city with a god. Tak found this frustrating, and accidentally broke the cup of milk in his hand. The sound make Nard go stiff, but then Nard asked in a more gentle tone if it was already light outside. Tak said that he didn't know, because he couldn't see the sun because of the cloudy day. But there were some people outside.

Nard told Tak to come with him, since Ian's on holiday today and Nard promised Tak he'd let him meet her. This caused Tak to beam and call Nard his "most useful and favourite person so far," pulling on Nard's collar and almost strangling Nard. Tak was still a long way from acting like a normal human.

---
Tak was right outside Ian's door, about to knock. Nard didn't want to stay right next to him so was a distance away, but Tak was nervous about seeing Ian alone, and remembered all the mess when he rushed in blindly like yesterday. As it was a weekend morning, Ian was in the garden sipping tea. As soon as she saw Tak she wanted to get back inside but didn't make it in time.
"Wait, I'm trying to tell you..."
"Kyak!"

Ian instinctively screamed when Tak held her wrist, letting her teacup fly. Tak caught the teacup and caught the scattered tea lightning fast before handing the teacup back to Ian. Ian was puzzled but accepted the teacup. She asked where Nard was, and Tak pointed up. Nard was sitting on the balcony of the second floor, and appeared to be listening in on the conversation. Ian was relieved at the presence of the sponsor, but still a little tense around Tak.
"Why did you come here? Yesterday, I definitely..."
"You said we needed to get to know each other more."
"Yes I did, but it was a figure of speech and..."
"Tell me what you want to know about me."
"..."

Ian was speechless for a moment, but then continued.
"You must know... there's no guarantee... that I'll change my mind..."
"You will change you mind! Because I..."

Tak tried to say something but stopped. He could show his advantages as Nastika compared to humans. Taking power into consideration, there were in fact a considerable number of advantages to appeal to Ian's reason, like the costly interstellar travels? He could provide that service to her for free, and he could change his age appearance to her liking. If she lived alone and out of Tak's sight she could be threatened by the Gods but he could keep her safe.

But Ian saw Taksaka as an enemy. He'd have to explain that he was not the person who killed her family 8 years ago, and in the process would inevitably have to bring up Utpala. "This guy annihilated your family, sorry." To get Ian he'd have to abandon Utpala.

- I'll forgive you no matter what you do, Utpala. -

Tak vividly remembered the day of his last promise to Utpala. He remembered without the earrings too, but just as another memory. With the earrings on, it was different. At the time, he really cared for Utpala as though she were family. He could sympathize with the fact that the abandoned Utpala only had jealousy remaining. After coming so far and understanding emotions and behaviours, it was hard to deal with all these emotions.
"So what were you saying?"
"..."

He was tempted to say "In fact, I am a great guy!" But taking their first meetings into consideration, Tak became embarrassed as he realized his difficult situation.

"Yes, I don't know anything about Shess-ssi. All I know is that you are a crazy violent Half with severe mood swings. You didn't even answer which race you are from. Your status is uncertain, and everywhere your name is different. I don't even have a guarantee that Tak or Shess are your real names."
"..."
"Can you show that you have you been truthful to me even once?"
"..."

Tak couldn't refute anything and just looked more and more gloomy. As if in tune, the sky began to drop heavy rain. Ian wanted to avoid the rain and tried to open the door handle again. But what if Tak came in too? She glanced up anxiously to the balcony, where Nard was also getting inside. Nard probably couldn't hear them anymore because of the rain.
"..."

Ian carefully let go of the door handle and looked at Tak. Unlike Ian, Tak was completely exposed to the rain outside and drenched from head to toe, looking depressed with his head down, and looking like a pitiful dog.
"..."

"It's okay if you couldn't show me. From now on I want to know more about you."

Ian decided to be big-hearted and left open the possibility of hearing his story.
"First... Shess-ssi, or Tak? What is your real name, and what what is your other Half race?" (ouch)
"..."
"Shess-ssi?"

Even though Ian finally showed a possibility, Tak only looked puzzled. Ian was puzzled and took a step closer to him. A rain puddle splashed as he took a step backwards. Why was he suddenly putting up a fence against learning about each other? Was this also ones of the whims of the Half with severe moodswings? Ian sighed about wanting to talk to him in vain, and angrily asked what he planned to do.

Tak acted like he wanted to say something but shut up again. Ian took another step to say something else when Kwaang! an impact shook and tore the ground.
"!!!"

As Ian went off balance she was just barely caught by something. When she realized that it was Tak she tried to get out of his hold but Tak didn't let go.
"Well..."
"Stay still."
"..."

Tak's voice was quite serious. Ian felt embarassed at first, but then felt growing dread and held Tak's clothes. There was an approaching sound that sounded like rainfall at first, but now sounded as something else, something unknown.
"What... what the hell is that?"
"..."

Tak did not answer Ian's question. A shout from Nard called from the distance, but Tak was thinking seriously.
"Ian."

Ian looked up from his arms. Tak was looking at her with an expression that she couldn't tell was a subtle laugh or cry.
"You... might be surprised."

------
Whoooa there, Yama said that Visnu deliberately made the wrong choice. Wtf does that mean? D:

I wonder what happened at the end there. *__* Something showed up. Who is it? Ran's grandmother? A god (ack)? Utpala (double ack)? D:

Edited by Mizura, 14 March 2013 - 05:34 AM.

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#19
Mizura

Mizura

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Mistyshore was facing an uncertain situation, as it was very easy for a Dragon Nastika to wreak havoc on Willarv. Although Visnu's power protected the planet, it only protected its existence, so it wasn't a complete protection. Though, most Nastika avoid spending excess force in the human world to avoid getting higher ranked on the blacklist of gods or avoid silly rumors spread by humans. What's more, there was no compelling reason for the Suras to attack Mistyshore, so the attack was totally unexpected.

With a brief flash, the forest and sea surrounding Mistyshore disappeared. Although the barrier protected the city, it was as though a huge meteorite fell, forming a huge pit, and soon the sea flowed into the pit, turning the city into an island.

After a while, the God in the city estimated the energy felt. The power was probably lowered due to being in human form, but still few gods could hold up against a Dragon Nastika. A 5-zen god may be able to, but the god in this city couldn't. The Sura didn't even need to reveal itself right now. (not sure about this whole part)

A man was walking step by step on the water, then with a splash jumped into the air. Overlooking the city while floating in the air, he called out to the Nastika of the same family hiding within.
"Why don't you come out here before the whole city is submerged, Taksaka."

The finite - by Currygom
Chapter 15 - Choice (2/3)


"What do you mean?"

Ian asked Tak in a trembling voice while still clutching his clothes. The Half in front of her was behaving in an unexpected way. The unidentified sound stopped, but the rain pour escalated, making her completely wet. She was wearing a very thin dress, so she was lucky Tak wasn't aware because she was getting shy. Tak pulled her closer, causing Ian to blush. He buried his face into her hair, and whispered in her ear.
"Ian, I'm not a Half."

Ian's eyes widened. Until a while ago her heart was beating fast because of shyness, but soon she felt the weight of Tak's answer. If he wasn't a Half, then he was a superior Sura, and only one type of superior sura was possible.

Until now she didn't think of Nastika as a possibility. Obviously she thought of the possibility when she first saw him as she had to be careful, but when she saw him spending most of the day sleeping, she thought he was a Half. Since the horns on his head were not visible there was nothing to support the assertion. Also since Nastika have lived for a long time they were rather insensitive, but he showed a lot of human emotions, and looked too awkward to be a Nastika. Because of that, she had completely ruled out the possibility of him being a Nastika.
"Um... ah..."

She couldn't speak properly because of her trembling. If she weren't facing Tak she would have sat down in shock. Seeing how badly she was shaking Tak held her hand.
"Ian. Ian. You don't have to tremble. I won't hurt you. You already know. I love you."
"..."
"I tried to hide as much as possible, but the situation got out of hand."
"May... I ask for your name and race?"
"No, there are even more serious problems right now."

Tak looked a little worried and stopped talking for a moment, then looked Ian in the eyes and asked.
"Are you afraid of heights?"
"Eh? Oh, no, not really..."

Tak seemed to smile a little at her answer.
"Thank goodness. I didn't want to separate from you."
"...?"

Tak removed one of the earrings with one hand, and horns that were until now invisible sprouted from his hair.
"From now on I may look and behave cold to you. But no matter how angry I am I promise not to hurt you."

While saying that he finished removing the other earring, and suddenly they were gone. Or rather, they moved so fast that they seemed to disappear. By the time Nard came down to the garden there was no-one standing where Tak and Ian used to be.

---
Suddenly the man who was on the mountain outside of the town turned his head.
"I came this far to see you. Why are you trying to escape? Are you trying to leave for more favourable terrain? What a shame. With your skills you could take that much of a handicap."

The man's body glowed with blue light as he shot up into the sky. As rain and sea water were sucked into the light the light grew more and more, until the shape of something huge moved towards the distant horizon.

--
When Ian came to, they were already in the wilderness, and the landscape was passing by so far that it was a blur. She first thing she realized as she woke up was that she was hugging Tak's neck all this time.
"Eek! I'm sorry!"

But then when she looked up, Tak seemed... different. The face clearly looked alike, but he was no longer a boy.
"Uh... huh?"

Of course she knew from books that Nastika could change their age appearance, but this was still not so easy to accept in person. He now appeared to look in his mid-20s, and his face was cold. The four red horns on his head were bigger than when he looked like a boy. His body physique was firmer and much larger, distinctively exposing his muscles. There was nothing strange about him holding Ian with one arm. Even the clothes were changed as well. They looked better than in the city, and he had a long, dark purple scarf coiled around.

Without the earrings, in this form, he wasn't sweet or considerate enough to soothe her panic.
"This... is real?" Tak turned to look at her.
"Nothing is real. The first form was a bother, as it looked like a boy, but I don't really spend time in this form."
"This is sudden, I..."
"The boy appearance is convenient as it's hard to abstain from anger now." (not sure)
"..."

What did he mean by that? Did Ian make Tak angry enough for him to hurt her? Ian gulped. Tak frowned at her attitude.
"That's not what I meant. Have you forgotten that I promised not to harm you? I keep my promises."
"Y... yes..."

Although Ian answered that, she was trembling with her face down. Tak peeked at her appearance and whispered to her in a low voice.
"About that. I'm hungry and didn't eat properly for days now, so I may forget the promise."
"...!"

Ian looked up at Tak with her eyes wide, completely frigid and face pale. Tak replied to her with his same cold expression.
"I'm kidding."
"...?!"
"I do not eat humans. I'm also not stupid enough to target them."
"..."

Tak's joke left Ian completely speechless. Tak turned his eyes towards the sky. A light was coming from the distance.
"Since you were within the barrier, I put on the earrings because I didn't want to be apart from you. But I can't deal with that guy in these conditions. Ian. Stay on up until the end."
"Yes?!?!"

Stay on what? Ian did not know what to do. Right then, Tak lifted her up on his shoulders like a child doing a piggyback. This caused Ian to glow red and hold onto Tak's face. She knew it was rude but couldn't held herself.
"Sorry, it's to avoid falling so..."
"No, don't apologize for this. Rather, I have to apologize for not cleaning up yet."
"What do you mean?"
"..."

Suddenly Ian found herself in swirling light and she was suddenly higher than the clouds.

--
Suddenly she was no longer holding Tak's head. Instead she found herself sitting in a stretch of red and black with cracks and hills all around.
"Oh my god."

Nastika were of unimaginable size. In fact, it was her first time to see. Ian looked around stunned at the plains and mountains and took a while to realize that it was Tak. And in spite of the clear daytime she could only see the night. Normally her body would not be able to withstand this attitude, though Tak's body seemed to block such external influences.
"Shess-ssi!"
[I'm not Shess.]
"...!!!"
[Call me Tak. And don't add the -ssi.]
"Oh... yes."

Ian was startled by the voice sounding in her head and looked around surprised and startled.
"I... Tak, I'm too small for you, I can only see part of your body, so I don't really understand what race you are."
[...]
"Oh, that, you don't really have to tell me."
[Look ahead.]
"...?"

Ian saw something shining far away and her face slowly hardened. A monster swirling in blue was quite far away. A dark blue sky span over the clouds, so it was hard to gauge its size as there were no comparable features. Ian's Quarter eyes were keen enough to see the body under the blue light. A pair of brilliant grey horns. The source of the blue light revealed a gorgeous pair of black wings with red patterns. The whole body was floating in the air without any movement. The limbs were relatively small, probably suited for other environments than the ground, though since the body just hanged in the air, it probably did not matter. The body seemed armed with scattered red armor, and the uncovered parts had a tinge of black. Overall, the appearance could be described as a "red and black dragon."
“Ta..Taksaka...”

Ian couldn't bear to say anything more. At that moment, Tak's voice came.
[A red and black dragon is not necessarily Taksaka. The one you are on is also red and black.]

---
So, like, Nastika are friggin' huge. You can probably live on one until the Nastika decides that it's getting itchy and scratches you off. O.o;;

I'm not sure how big he is exactly though, since he may be flying. But anyway, huuuuge! (it kind of makes sense. We've seen pretty small Sura, and then Maruna by comparison is the size of a mountain, so the #2 of the Vritra clan must indeed be friggin' huge).

Are they going to fight? :D Maybe, maybe not. Maybe Airavata will show up right now because she doesn't want them damaging the area. Whoo!

Edited by Mizura, 12 August 2012 - 07:56 AM.

3492bk6.jpg


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#20
Mizura

Mizura

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The dark red mass easily scattered the clouds, revealing a long suspended tail. The dark red dragon had its wing folded, and although it was standing on the ground, most of its body reached into the clouds. From the field, Shess was staring at the colossal shape in silence. Shess heard a woman calling out to him, and he hurriedly greeted back. The woman had very dark blue-grey skin, and multiple white braids. Somehow she did not seem to be a normal human being.

When Shess greeted her back, the woman smiled and swept her bands apart. Her golden eyes went well with her light blue lips. The conversation turned to Taksaka, with Shess noting that he's normally relatively quiet, but that this problem was due to Utpala's jealousy.
[But what are you doing here? I heard you were on Taitalika.]
"My friend wanted to come here."
[If you say friend, is it Shuri-nim?]
"No, recently I've been dating a very small friend."
[A human.]

At Shess' comment, the woman gave a "This guy, did you learn insight?" response and started laughing. She told him that he should try dating too, as that would be quite interesting. He responded that he'll pass, since humans grow old fast and die soon. The woman noted that other than the Gods, everything dies. But Shess noted that at least they (unlike humans) at least didn't die just by living. He did not want to witness an inevitable death he couldn't prevent. When he said inevitable death, the woman's face went stiff.

How much time before you face death, my dear friend. We had to hide our relationship for fear that the Gods would catch you. Once you die, the days we spent together will be left out of my memory. As a longer time passes, I might not even remember that there was once such a friend.

The way reality reminded her that she'd have to start from scratch squeezed at her heart, like a pain similar to starvation.
"Hah, I don't know. You live your way. I will live my way."
[But now that you're the #2 of the Yaksha clan, shouldn't you care about your own race a bit more? Human friends are important, but don't matter as much as your own species. You should be striving more for the sake of Shuri-nim and your people...]
"This is good. A Rakshasa is preaching a Nastika."
[I'm sorry.]

Noting that it's better not to hang around there with Taksaka there, the woman disappeared, moving too fast to be seen just like Taksaka did earlier. Shess stared at where she disappeared, glanced up to the sky, shook his head and left.

The finite - by Currygom
Chapter 16 - Choice (3/3)


Black and red?

Ian looked around once again, and realized that the red and black mountain she was sitting on was Tak's head. Is that why he was so angry the first time they met? For mistaking the black and red dragon Taksaka? What the... For a moment, she felt something was deeply wrong and realized. "Taksaka devoured all the villagers." But what did Tak answer? "-I- do not eat humans." "..."

Until now, she would have missed it. Tak identified himself in the first person, but she didn't pay attention. She had just told Taksaka about her revenge earlier, but she had delivered milk right to the "enemy", laughed with him, cuddle with him and was now caught by him. (oh yeah, brain overload, meltdown in 3... 2... 1...)
"Tak... Taksaka, my village..."

Her lips were trembling, but because she couldn't see a way out by herself, she stopped talking.
[Is your nervousness an expression of anger towards Taksaka, or of fear?]
"..."

Ian heavily frowned and bit her lips. It was clear now that the dragon was making fun of her.
"I'm sad, as I can't do anything with the enemy right in front of me."
[As for me, that's not a feeling I'd understand.]
"I do not want you to understand!"

Ian was talking back at him rudely now, but she was willing to die anyway, so she said her feelings. He promised not to hurt her? There was no guarantee in the first place. This was Taksaka, whom she swore revenge on, but she realized she was just fooling herself.

Tak was rather annoyed by Ian's nervousness. Because he wanted to protect her, he did not react aggressively towards her. But Ian had a serious misunderstanding, and there was only one way to solve it. He was much calmer now without the earrings, and could speak without hesitation.
[I was not responsible for the incident 8 years ago.]
"Ah? ... so who..."
[The guy you were looking at.]

He was so conflicted when he had the earrings on, but Tak wasn't bothered now. Of course, he remembered the distant promise to the dragon in front of him, but right now Ian was much closer and more important to him.
[That was not the first time that this guy committed atrocities while claiming to be me. Ian. If you just believe me, I can destroy him now.]
"..."

Ian didn't answer. To be honest, she couldn't completely trust Tak's words. But she was helpless in this situation and didn't have any options. Whether she gave a positive or negative answer, it did not matter. This Nastika was stubborn. Sure enough, even without her answer, Tak took a step towards the other dragon.
[You shouldn't have come after everything you've done. Did you really want to die, Utpala.]

Ian could not hear the conversation started between Sura. Upon hearing Tak's answer, Utpala shifted slightly.
[Hey, you said you'd forgive me no matter what?]
[My patience also has a limit.]

His words weren't just a warning.
[So... you kept irritating me to call me, right?]

Utpala turned his head.
[That's not it, no Taksaka. From the beginning, the promise couldn't be kept.]
[... What the hell is that supposed to mean?]
[...]

Utpala didn't answer any more of Tak's questions. Instead, he stretched out his body, and Tak recognized the answer.
[In the end you're going to die.]

Tak moved towards Utpala at tremendous speed.
[Truthfully more disasters will come out of this.] However in this state Tak no longer listened.

He couldn't kill Utpala by simply twisting his neck, so he brutally grabbed his armor-covered neck and hurled his whole body into the deep blue sky. Soon Tak shimmered in black smoke and spread his wings, and his huge body rose lightly into the air, following in the direction Utpala vanished.

For a few seconds it was quiet as though nothing had happened, but soon a terrible change happened to the place the Destruction Dragon was staying. The mountain he had left behind collapsed like a sand castle, and the forest his wings grazed turned black. The black cloud caused by his breath wreaked havoc on the ground.

As opposed to this horrible sight, the shot Utpala caused in the beginning wasn't meant to cause too much damage, and the marks disappeared quietly into the sea.

---
Willarv was the fourth planet out of nine from the star Fedust, but apart from Willarv, none of the other planets around Fedust had environments that humans could live in. There were other habitable planets such as Carte of course, but they were an enormous distance away from Willarv.
[If you want to die, I'll send you to a place where you can die.]

Tak grabbed Utpala in outer space and pushed her towards Fedust. The corona surrounding the star was nearly 1 million degrees. Although the dragon race was of the Fire property, for Utpala that used water as a source of strength, such an environment would be fatal. He'd be fine if he could avoid it, but he was a prisoner of Tak.

Ian was very confused when they left Willarv for outer space, and was horrified to see them fast approaching the Sun. Although Tak blocked external influences, Ian was scared.
"Ta... Tak! Wait, I..." (yo, I'd panic too D: )
[...]

Tak knew that Ian was fidgety, but since she wasn't going to die anyway, he didn't bother responding. However, Ian's movement attracted the attention of Utpala who was trapped by Tak.
[Is Ian on your head?]
[You do not need to know.]
[This is Ian's fate.]

Tak felt a subtle smile from Utpala and regarded him with suspicion, only to realize too late when Utpala's long and winding tail pulled Ian from his head.
[Fool. She's so easily taken away.]

Until then, Utpala hadn't displayed much power, but with a sudden transcendence he forced Tak to let him go, then plunged towards the searing 1 million degrees corona.
[One day you will regret my death, Tak.]

This was his first and last time to call him Tak. He was never permitted to before. While he said that millions of time in his mind, he could never say it out loud. And those were the last words from Utpala to Tak.


---
WAAAAAH!!!! UTPALA WHY DID YOU HAVE TO DIE!!!!!!
And now that Utpala's dead there's no-one to pin the blame of all these events on Visnu. Tak is going to be devastated once he puts the earrings back on. T__T

Oh yeah, Utpala's got Ian too. I guess that's why Visnu is asking her life to be prolonged. I'm kind of curious to see how this life-prolonging thing looks like. Does she regenerate from a pile of ashes? O.o;; Though I suppose Visnu may also suddenly show up and rescue her.

I gotta say though, I'm amazed by Utpala's precision. She (he/she... ack, not my fault Utpala can change genders!) could pull off Ian from Tak's head with her tail. It's like picking a flee off an opponent in the middle of a fight. O.o;;

Ran's grandmother is now confirmed as the current #2 of the Yaksha clan, so historically #3, and third King once Shuri dies. I couldn't understanding the conversations at the start of this chapter, so sorry for skipping most of it. =.=;;

... Waaah poor Utpala! She's really unlucky. The person she loves suddenly lost his emotions and became cold to her. She was left alone of a race that could no longer feel anything.

By the way, the finite spelled Willarv in English again. It was spelled Willarv, and not Willrarv, so I guess it's safe to assume that Willarv is the correct spelling (in the webtoon, it was spelled Willrarv in a chart at first, but Willarv later on). Man, Kubera's world is pretty big. The humans even live in different star systems. D:

Next week's summary will be late, as I'll be gone most of the weekend.

Edited by Mizura, 26 September 2012 - 09:45 AM.

3492bk6.jpg


Kubera stuff: Character charts , Races and Cities , The finite (official side novel) ,
Official English Webtoons: https://www.webtoons.com