Chapter 184 - What?

Wain prepared to fight Mimic. The monster looked strong and formidable, but before Wain wanted to attack, someone's voice sounded.

Wain looked around, but he realized that the speaker was Mimic only a few seconds later.

"Can you talk?" Wain said uncertainly. He didn't understand what was going on. It was all too strange.

Mimic said slowly, "Yeah, you're a First Chronicle creature, so no wonder you're shocked."

Tremble.

Suddenly Wain's aura intensified. He gripped the platinum sword tightly in his hand and said, "It's not like you're from another league. I admit I've never met a monster who can talk before, but that won't stop me from killing you!"

Then gray energy emerged from beneath the earth as if in flaming streams. It gradually covered Wain's palms like gloves, and a black crown with a closed eye appeared on his head.

When Mimic saw it, he trembled with fear. The monster had not expected Wain to be so strong, his aura was incredible.

"Wait, wait, wait." Mimic quickly spoke, stepping back and waving his arms.

Whoooosh.

Wain plunged his platinum sword into the ground, and a multitude of cracks rippled across the floor, spreading across the hall.

"Who the fuck are you?"

"I'm sorry, please calm down. I wanted to scare you a little, I didn't think you were that strong. I had my whole life flashing before my eyes." Mimic said hurriedly.

"Answer the question. Why the fuck am I talking to a living chest right now? You realize that's not fucking normal!"

Mimic flinched again, "What's that got to do with me?! It's not my fault I know how to talk. It's your fault you only met stupid monsters before."

Crackling.

Black electrical discharges appeared around Wain's hands.

"I don't think you understand the position you're in." Wain said coldly.

"Stop, I understand you. How about we have a mug of tea and talk?"

"Are you a total jerk?"

"I'm serious!" Said Mimic and stuck his hand in his mouth. Then he pulled the tea set out of his mouth, as well as the teapot.

...

Five minutes later, Wain was sitting in front of Mimic, quietly drinking black tea. It was strange, but Mimic persuaded Wain to sit down at the table.

When Mimic offered to drink the tea, Wain's patience ran out, and he attacked the monster. However, Mimic tried to escape with all his might, and he even managed to dodge several blows.

"Maybe you want some sugar? Don't be shy, I have everything, honey, lemon, cookies, sweets, syrups, anything." With a satisfied face, Mimic said, bringing a cup of tea to his mouth.

"What nonsense..." Wain muttered and took another sip.

"Don't worry, I'm not offended that you wanted to kill me. I understand that you were shocked and acted in a state of affect. I forgive you." Said Mimic.

Wain did not react to this. He had gotten used to Mimic's way of talking over the last few minutes and realized there was no point in wasting his nerves on it.

"Okay, let's start over. Who are you, and why are you here?" Wain asked.

"Hmm? Isn't it obvious, I'm Mimic, and I was here because I slept here."

"Damn, that's hard." Wain took a deep breath and tried again. "I hear you. Then I'll try it another way. Why can you talk?"

"I'm just smart." Calmly replied Mimic.

"Do you want to live or not? Answer normally."

"What don't you like again? I'm serious. Not all monsters can talk, or rather all, but under certain conditions."

"Go on."

"To gain the ability to talk, a monster has to go through a special mutation, it's called Awareness. It is directly related to the monster's strength but not entirely dependent on it. This means that even if the monster is Fourth Chronicle, it's not a guarantee that it will go through this mutation." Said Mimic.

"I see, mutations and evolutions are different things. I take it that's a feature of monsters." Mumbled Wain.

"Yes." Mimic nodded. "Unfortunately, monsters have to go through this special mutation to start talking. However, that doesn't mean monsters are dumb, you probably don't know it yet, but monsters can understand the languages of all races."

"I'm well aware of that, you're pretty understanding creatures, but there's something I can't understand. You just said you're smart, yet you say the other monsters aren't dumb either. Stop confusing me."

"What?! I'm telling it like it is. I'm really very smart, but that's not enough to learn how to talk." Said Mimic.

"So you went through that particular mutation? You went through Awareness?" Asked Wain.

"No." Mimic shook his head.

Crackling.

The cup in Wain's hands shattered into small pieces, his patience beginning to run out.

"Maybe I should stop wasting my time on this and kill you."

"I don't think that's a rational decision. If you kill me, you won't be able to get any more free tea, so here you go." Said Mimic and pulled out another cup.

Wain took a deep breath, "Okay, you're smarter than the other monsters, yet you didn't go through a special mutation, then why can you talk? I've met stronger monsters, but even they could only nod silently. They understood everything, of course, but they were all mute."

"As I said before, strength alone isn't enough for that, but I didn't go through this mutation."

"Then how do you talk?"

"It's simple. I have a unique ability, but it's very rare. Perhaps only one in a few million monsters can learn to talk without going through Awareness."

"Yeah, I certainly haven't met anyone like you yet. Then what else happens during Awareness?" Asked Wain.

"The monster gets stronger, gets new abilities, and so on. I think that's pretty clear, but there's more. At that point, the monster gets a Name. This process may be natural, but there may be interference from another race." Said Mimic.

"Hmm, that sounds kind of weird to me... Why can't you give yourself a name? It's just words." Wain muttered puzzledly.

Mimic shook his head, "Unfortunately, with monsters, things aren't as simple as we'd like them to be. I should start by explaining in more detail how monsters differ from other creatures."

Wain nodded. He was curious about this and didn't interrupt his infuriating but informative interlocutor.

"I would not be wrong to say that the Monsters are the most numerous race in existence, but we are also the most fragmented and unstable race of all. You may have heard of such creatures as Goblins or Trolls, they are monsters, but they can also be called a full race."

Mimic took a sip of the already-cold tea and continued.

"I believe that the most accurate definition of Monsters would be a community of hundreds of other, lesser races, as well as creatures whose identity to any race cannot be established. 

Monsters are also more susceptible to mutation than other races because of our hyperactive genes. This is also one of the reasons why there is such a wide variety of monsters."

"I couldn't agree more. There are a lot of you." Wain muttered.

"Yes, but there are certain problems because of that. Monsters can communicate with each other, but not with members of other races. I'm not sure what the cause of this phenomenon is, but it most likely has to do with our genes' instability and fragmentation. I'm not a scientist, so my words may be wrong."

"I understand, but it sounds like the truth."

"It's also the reason why we can't give ourselves a name. First, we have to define who we are, and only then can we become full members of the world, not just living organisms. Viruses and bacteria don't have names, only a general classification of species." Said Mimic.

"Hmm, that makes sense, but I still don't understand why, for example, you can't give yourself a name? It sounds like some nonsense to me."

"In that case, I'd better demonstrate it. Since I can talk, I've already chosen a name for myself, but here's what happens if I try to give it to myself." Said Mimic and put his cup of tea aside.

He stepped aside and slowly gathered his spirits and said, "Now my name is Ele..."

Tremble.

The next moment, the space shook, and a large amount of dark mist permeated the hall. It quickly clustered around Mimic, and various seals appeared beside him. They prevented him from saying a word or even taking a step.

After a while, the dark mist disappeared. Nothing happened to Mimic, he received no wounds and was perfectly fine.

"I hope you understand what I was talking about now."

"Yes, good, then let's move on to the next question. You said that Awareness could happen naturally, but a member of another race can intervene. How can others help monsters go through Awareness?" Asked Wain.

"It's rather complicated but possible. First of all, there has to be a connection between a person and a monster and some kind of relationship built. They don't have to know each other for ten years and save each other's lives several times. An ordinary, friendly relationship is enough.

Secondly, a person who wants to help a monster to pass through Awareness must be pureblood, mudbloods will not do. Third, a person must have great power and be at least a Second Chronicle creature.

Fourth, a person must own at least one Void, and the monster must reside in territories under a person's control most of the time. This is to get their auras and energies used to each other.

Fifth, the monster must approach the desired state on its own. A person can only help make the last step and nothing more."

"How many conditions... And all to get the Name, now I even feel sorry for monsters." Wain muttered. He didn't expect the situation to be so serious.

"Yes." In a slightly depressed voice, Mimic replied.

He was hurt in the back of his mind that even though he could talk, he was not entitled to a name. This disturbed him and hit him hard emotionally, he felt like some molecule, but only a very large one.

They were silent for a while, Mimic didn't want to say anything else, and Wain pondered his interlocutor's words.

'Hmm, perhaps I could give the Ice Knight a name? Most of the conditions match, but I'm a First Chronicle creature, and I also don't know if my blood is right for it. I'm sure the Ice Knight will soon come close to committing Awareness, and I might be able to help him take the final step.'

"I want you to tell me more about blood. What do mudblood and pureblood mean?"

Wain understood the meaning of these words, but he was unfamiliar with how the World of Darkness and the hundreds of races living there were arranged.

"It's pretty simple. Let's take two fairly common and powerful members of races, the Elf and the Vampire, as an example. If a purebred Elf and a purebred Vampire have a child, it will be mudblood. 

Because to be considered pureblood, the blood purity must exceed 50%. In this case, the child will have 50% elven blood and 50% vampire blood, and you need at least 51%."

"I see, so pureblood Elf and mudblood Elf can have both pureblood baby and mudblood when they mate. It depends on the purity of their blood." Said Wain.

"Yes, you're completely right, but even if the creature is mudeblood, that's not the end of it. There are various ways to increase blood purity, but it is usually too expensive or even impossible for mudblood. But, there is another, extremely rare option, with only a few precedents in thousands of years."

"And what method is that?" Wain asked with genuine interest.

"The Mudblood creature must become a new race. It's almost impossible, but in that case, it would cease to be mudblood and instead become the progenitor of a new race and crystal clear blood. 

Unfortunately, I have no idea what it would take to do that, but I'm pretty sure that power alone isn't enough. It's tens or hundreds of times harder than going through Awareness."

"How confusing it all is... The World of Darkness really is an incredible place..." Mumbled Wain and thought about Mimic's words.

'Hmm, I have no idea how pure my blood is. Of course, people have that notion too, but in today's world, it has become unimportant. Until recently, people didn't have superpowers, so blood purity is just a remnant of the past when it was important to royal families.

However, I learned something interesting. There were quite a few Elves and Vampires stories in my world. Is that a coincidence? No, there are no such coincidences.'

"Tell me, what do Elves and Vampires look like?" Wain asked. He wanted to be sure of his hypothesis.

"Elves are tall anthropomorphic creatures. Their average height is almost two meters. They have pale, smooth skin, blond hair, and pointed ears. Their average lifespan is one thousand years." 

Vampires are also anthropomorphic creatures, and they are quite similar to Elves. They are also quite tall, their skin is just as pale and smooth, but their hair doesn't have to be blond. They also have regular, not pointed ears.. Their main features are their fangs and the fact that they drink the blood of other creatures."