Chapter 156

  Space, Demon, Beast, Primeval, and Sapient.

  Five Families of Darks was a basic concept, and William couldn’t blame this logic even if this reveal hadn't made total sense to him. Apart from Primevals, each had hundreds of sub-types and strange but common specimens under this order. Those were almost negligible but also clear, albeit he couldn’t grasp what was special about them as a whole.

  Space Family described Darks with the basic ability to cruise the air and space, either by wings, use of some strange properties, or just by utilization of Arcana. Demons were crazed monstrosities that didn’t fall under most categories, thanks to their grotesque lifeforms and messy Dark Aspects. If they had one common feature, they were absolutely out of this world and didn’t resemble the order of nature.

  On the other hand, the Beast Family described a complex side of Corrupted animals, or Darks, in fundamental beastly principles that people could envision. Even if it was hard or terrible, the Beast Family was huge and widespread across the globe, reaching every corner and moving the most sub-types of Darks.

  Primevals were the rarest kind of Dark, with the rarest ideas about them. They described things with abnormal sizes and attributes, with colossal strengths that were weird and mysteries countless. Very few knew where they came from, how they worked, evolved, or what they represented, and this book didn’t enlighten William about them in the slightest.

  As for the Sapient Family, it was the most terrible and nerve-wracking concept. This Family, added with Primevals, had almost nothing in this book apart from a deep, senseless forthcoming existence that William didn’t have to question. He knew the reasons and understood the answers. He saw them.

  They were Corrupted Humans or other Families mixed with them or evolved to gain one true spiritual sentience, which included utter monsters that sometimes awakened due to their hunts or chances. That meant some types of Darks could deviate into different Families, marking the strength of Madness and transformations or modification.

  The cause was their unhinged ability to eat, evolve, and get much more powerful via the absorption of anything alive. Such was the power of Corruption, a strength that everything in this world kind of possessed. Among them, Dark Aspects helped with sensibility, but in the end, it was up to Darks who they became or what they could be.

  William got scared by a couple of pages. They were simple yet intense.

  Some types had detailed physical features, displaying high offenses and ridiculous defenses at the same time. There were even some quotes from other books named Encyclopedias of Dawn, Encyclopedia of Darks, and Dawn of Darks.

  However, he couldn’t find those books, and the writing in this one was very short. Most elaborate documents were somewhere else, so this must be sufficient for beginners since it included enough information about Rank 1, 2, and 3 Darks that someone like him shouldn't find it problematic.

  Primevals were much more elevated, while problems about beginner Sapients weren’t that different from Demon or Beast Family. After all, there were a wide variety and a rather steep number of low-rank Darks from the Sappient Family.

  William found it satisfying enough; he didn’t want to blow his mind out of proportion by watching the secrets of Rank 5+ Darks, even if he could. It was Ellie who took it a bit worse, though it hadn’t taken a lot for her to find some fun and concentrate.

  “How ironic and funny. Encyclopedias are usually happy little books about the detailed or not-so-detailed things that people find fascinating. They are creations of compositions and facts, so history won’t disappear and new generations could learn. Still, it seems utterly horrifying,” William said, coming to this conclusion after a rough hour of reading.

  Ellie was close, still reading, while Kaufman kept observing, unwilling to ruin this first reaction too much. He already did so in ways his peers despised, but so what? There was none of them here, and he found William first. Well, that was wrong; Mi-Yung was the quickest and most worthy of this chance, yet Kaufman still stole this spotlight from her.

  Feeling funny, he planned to enjoy this to the bitter end.

  William was thoroughly impressed by how Darks were perceived in this book, as well as horrified. There were more things he had no clue about than whisks of ideas. Outside or not, he didn't nearly know enough. There was also much more to them than he had imagined, so it was no wonder he had more questions than answers.

  By sheer numbers, names, and vision, a lot of them were still hiding somewhere else because this book was a first beginner edition, and there were other ones, most likely depicting what youths shouldn’t know just yet. It was his clever guess or a norm in this place, even though Ellie presumed it would be bigger.

  Perhaps William hadn’t looked enough.

  Perhaps there was even a sixth Dark Family, or these five were more than enough due to all these styles and sub-types.

  The pair of Primevals and Sapients were glossed over for a good cause. Well, Sapients were something William didn’t want to mess with, while Primevals had at least a couple of descriptions. The most prominent were the others, more up-to-date and direct ones, who made up most of the Darks.

  The Families were a relative term describing what humans always understood. They made sense of marine life, animals, and pretty much everything else. Thus, with Darks and their varieties, and even with Sapients, contrasts, or bizarre human aspects, monsters were monsters.

  Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

  Humans could be monsters, but as a whole, they were comparable to people from a very twisted physical standpoint, whereas most others couldn’t, so they weren’t tossed into the same sack.

  Even within the same Family, a Dark might look nothing like the others. This made complications and more apparent absurdity. It was important to notice them, learn, and know what was important and what was not a threat. All according to Ranks, that is.

  And danger. That, too, was a nice hazard.

  Some types of Darks have mixes of multiple traces of Families, full or mutated with peculiar monstrosities and Dark Aspects. They weren’t mutants. There were no mutants, that is.

  Demons were the most likely Family filled with this mixing idea, as their strange cases didn’t run into most categories. Some might even fly, but they wouldn't be a part of Space Family.

  William also guessed there was something important missing that he thought would be more critical.

  Arcana.

  He learned what that magical term meant a long time ago, and Darks had it as well. Where did this magic move within these Families, or did the Dark Aspect fall in the same category?

  Well, the answer was simple. It was everywhere, and how to look at it was somewhere else. Through survival and power, this magic ruined and gifted things. He had to grasp it as well before he would be on the other side of the chopping board.

  Arcana was under every single category and not spaced out as some rare knowledge. The quality and quantity mattered, and depending on Rank, a critical conjecture and matter moved Walkers and their acts.

  He had yet to learn any more than an outside level threats, which he assumed were a rather weird term and category. His case was more personal, touching on his hand and what he had grasped or lived with. William never thought it was sufficient, so what else did he need or lack?

  It was obvious this book wouldn’t change his life. William had a hunch it was likely because everything ended up with people, direct experiences, and knowledge.

  This place must have even more links and corners, followed by miles of secrets. Darks were even more insane since humanity kept losing its flank, even with those Walkers and decades-long struggles. Some Walkers were even old as shit and powerful enough to rip Rifts apart, crash mountains, or even reach outer space. Well, that one was a tale or propaganda, and William didn’t dwell on whether it was important to escape this world or air. Darks wouldn’t leave.

  Numbers shouldn’t be all about survival, Corruption, or lacking land.

  At this moment, William decided to pursue Darks wholeheartedly, leaving curiosity about Emblems, System, and Walkers aside.

  “Sir Kaufman, why do certain Darks have their rankings, while others don’t?” William dug for some ideas, hoping Kaufman had a loose tongue like Luke. It was correct, but one of them was much more careful about their tone than the other, and so much more was still missing.

  Kaufman yawned before talking to pass some time. At some point over the last hour, he wondered if he had made a mistake.

  “Someone was yet to update their content, or no one could assess their Ranks. System or Walkers included.” Kaufman said simply and didn’t elaborate further. His answers had a great number of implications that William found curious, and Ellie liked them as well. It meant there were some forms of assessment, and the unknown matters were hard to see but not impossible to discover.

  For Ellie, it meant interest and people who did these calculations. That meant she could pursue them or their knowledge. She wasn’t entirely sure about this segment, but she knew there were people in charge of many writings now that Heidi let her reach a new kind of crescendo.

  Some of them were hidden under a rag by Heidi, and even Ellie’s rare and brave act didn’t find a loophole to get them.

  Until now

  Then, there was the Emblem Association and piles of science and experimentations matters. Those were also curious, if not downright diabolically tasty-looking.

  “Not assumed? Does that mean either no one had killed them or no one survived to tell the tale?”

  “That is rather bold of you to assume that, but that’s not true. The general unassuming nature of some Darks is hard to identify and guess because the System is critical and knowledge about Darks can shift over time. Some can get twisted, extinct, or changed. Not every Rank is about strength and defense. Rank in Darks represent weight of their existence, which is nothing more than a mix of what they are to Corruption and Madness. It might factor in other things that can be big or small. Then, there are their Aspects, which can be below their Rank, while another might be well out of their proportions. We call those Focus Aspects, but some call them Primaries. Walkers have them as well, but...let’s not compare us to them, shall we?”

  William took a great mental note of that.

  “They are also incredibly varied, unlike Walkers, who are just humans with some... extraordinary abilities and quite... well, not quite, but significant, powerful abilities and skills you can’t even imagine.”

  “Because of the System, right?” William asked an excellent question that took Kaufman by surprise.

  “Yes, exactly. How do you know that?”

  “Because Darks don’t have it, correct?”

  “Yes... Imagination and the brain is why, I think. Our growth is worth mentioning, and the speed and rate of our success and brain are stable in comparison. Darks have numbers, however, and even if their upper-rates are spiraling, they are much more expansive than what Walkers, who have their main shortcomings caused by birth and upbringing, can resolve. Emblems contain this idea, while Darks are more bottomless. Walkers can lower this gap by mastering this tool, so that is that.” Kaufman further explained and brandished his Emblem to make a point to the air.

  He forgot to mention Forced Awakening mending with this point, albeit with some small shortcomings of more work, instabilities, and forcing teenagers down a rather devious rabbit hole.

  William nodded in understanding and focused even deeper on reading. He no longer needed Ellie’s help.