'It's worse than I thought.'
After several minutes of explanation, Shinryu had a good grasp on the current situation.
The Talvaron Empire has hired a group of mercenaries to capture harmonists from different villages from around the Empire including Sylvara. They are taken to a camp nearby to be groomed into soldiers to partake in the ongoing war against the Echo Syndicate.
'The Echo Syndicate should be relatively new. I hadn't heard of them till Largis told me.' Taking his hat off, he places it on the table next to his empty bowl.
His unkempt hair flowed freely as Shin thought deeply about the conflict. 'If I intervene I could be placing a target on the villagers' back. There's no telling how the Empire will react to my presence.'
"Largis, you said they have your son correct? Loufin is his name?"
Nodding Largis balls his fist uncontrollably. His ears twitched as the sound of a gong could be heard, causing the surroundings to rumble a bit. The old man was beginning to lose his cool. Despite his efforts to stay calm, worry for his only child gnawed at him.
The entire village sensed the disturbance, instinctively feeling the pain behind the note. Many of the trees began to produce minor chords, reflecting the man's sadness and dimming the atmosphere.
Placing a hand on top of Largis' fist, Shinryu lets out a soothing melody as he tried to resonate with the man in front of him.
"I will get him back. There's no need to worry any further." A faint smile could be seen on his face in an attempt to reassure the village elder.
As he calmed down, Largis couldn't help but ask. "Who are you?"
Chuckling, a flash of purple light could be seen in Shin's eyes. "I doubt you've heard of me, but some call me the Wandering Tuner. I'm not one for titles like that. It's very cheesy don't you think?"
'How can he be so confident. I cannot sense his core, but he should be a higher rank than me.'
Sensing his fluctuating mental state, Shinryu sighs. "Stop thinking so much, you might get a stroke."
Almost coughing up blood, the elderly elf resists the urge to smack his savior upside the head. "I wouldn't underestimate two Choral Masters. They can even destabilize Resonant Sages if not careful."
Nodding, Shin gets up from his seat.
'I don't remember the last time someone worried about me.' A rare smirk graced the face of the man known as one of the strongest harmonists in the world. Never in one place for more than a day, Shinryu felt a bit excited for what's to come.
Stepping outside into the midday sun, Shin takes a deep breath as he listens to the sweet sounds of the forest. Largis stared at the wide back of the swordsman who stood as still as a rock.
Vanishing into thin air, Shinryu left Largis in stunned silence as he tried his best to sense where the strange man had gone.
-------------------
Somewhere deep in a forest several miles away from Salvara, there was a group of harmonists huddled together in a tent.
"The next batch is not ready yet!" Slamming the wooden table in frustration, a burly man with golden glasses argued with a purple-haired female in military attire. "If we send them out half-baked then I will be blamed when they flee or turn on the Emperor's army."
"I cannot accept no for an answer. Just like you, the Emperor would have not only my badge but my freedom as well." Shaking her head, the woman stands her ground against the much larger man.
Seeing him preparing to disagree with her once more, she releases a sharp note that damaged the ears of those at a lower rank than her. The two other Choral Masters were unfazed by this argument as they only cared about getting paid.
Leaving the tent in silence, the women prepared to make her way back to the capital. "That idiot's gonna get us both killed." With a hurumph, the woman hopped into her carriage.
Back inside, Garruk could only grumble as he tried his best to think of ways to speed up the process of assimilation.
Although he had a deadline, he was supposed to have at least 1 more week to get the next batch ready. Right now the elves who would provide substantial strength to the lower tier army, had surprisingly strong wills.
If he could just have more time to break them, they would be the perfect soldiers. Especially with the effects of corrupt veil energy.
Soon he too left the tent with his advisors who were still recovering from the woman's attack. Rynoll and Thalen were left alone to their own devices as the others continued to experiment on those who were captured.
This was just one of many camps hidden around the Empire. Even greedy mercenaries like them grew tired of this path they had chosen. Even with the inflow of golden resonance tokens, there wasn't much pleasure in selling innocent people.
The cousins sat down next to each other. Rynoll decided to meditate to ease his mind, while Thalen chose to hum a tune. While this was occurring, Shinryu had appeared not too far away from the camp.
Reinforced wood high walls were erected for members of the mercenary party to stand on. There was 24 hour surveillance with constant shift changes to keep the guards spry.
Shin observed for a moment. As his resonance flowed deeper into the camp, he could feel a slight disturbance. A corrupted resonance crystal was on the brink of destabilizing. Even its discordant rhythm was off, letting out vague whispers from the Beyond. The veil was punctured from the concentrated corrupted energy.
The entire camp's natural melody was shifting into dissonance.
'A rift is about to open. This is your karma.' Just as he finished his inspection, a crisp otherworldly note could be heard in the air as the ground rumbled. In the middle of the camp in one of the labs, a rather large corrupted resonance crystal was about to erupt.
Those who recovered fast enough ran. The influx of miasma from the Crystal's destabilization quickened the speed of corruption of those who were poisoned by corrupt veil energy. Turning them into hallowed chords, a step away from becoming strays.
Crystals grew on their foreheads as black veins wiggled underneath their skin. Limbs elongated, cores shattered letting in more corrupted energy. Elves turned into tall husks of their former selves, while the humans grew claws that could shred through ordinary armor.
They let out pained shrieks that turned the camp's melody into unbridled chaos. Horrifying inhuman sounds could be heard by everyone in the vicinity, causing even the bravest harmonists to falter a bit.
Thalen and Rynoll sensed this disturbance and readied themselves for what's to come.
Just as the lab was fully evacuated, an explosion occurred causing a bright blue ball of energy to erupt from the crystal that floated inside the lab. Soon a great suction force could be felt as the energy was tucked back in causing a tear.
Black miasma leaked out from the tear, causing discomfort for those too close. Those who knew what was happening ran, including Garruk. Leaving the mercenaries and the captured villagers to fend for themselves.
The mercenaries quickly got into formation as the first stray, a beast from the beyond, leapt out of the rift. The villagers screamed in horror, many were too weak to even stand as they desperately crawled away.
An elven male, no more than 20, jumped in front of a group of humans that were trying to resist the corrupt veil energy and miasma attempting to seep into their already beaten and battered cores.
Loufin, the silver-eyed elf, released a frequency to counter the rift's. This expelled some of the negative energy around them. Even in his weakened state, Loufin would never let such a minor rift get the better of him.
He is after all the 'Son of the Forest', Loufin Varhin!
The elves around him were in awe of his aura. Those of his village recognized him instantly as their one and only chief.
"Sir Loufin!"
"Please save us!" His name was even known to other elven villages in the vicinity causing those around him to feel some reassurance.
Loufin, invigorated by his people, matched frequencies with the weakened harmonists to repel the unnatural frequencies from the rift.
Opening his arms wide, a bright white light originating from the elven chief temporarily blinded the strays and hallowed chords rushing at him. With a flick of the wrist, a light construct of a spear appears.
The sound of church bells rang throughout the camp as a barrage of light spears pierced the creatures with ease. Shattering what was left of their cores. The strays dispersed into black smoke and what remained of the corrupted harmonists fell to the ground, lifeless.
Another group of strays was attacking the mercenaries. Wave after wave was butchered as the mercenaries quickly regained their footing and became one.
Just as they were getting their confidence back, an anomaly occurred as a rather large stray that had the appearance of a giant black bear clawed it's way out of the rift.
It's resonance felt much more threatening than what came before. Loufin frowned.
'This one is about the same rank as me, maybe higher.' Looking over at the two other Choral Masters, Loufin gritted his teeth as he hesitantly asked for assistance from his captors.
"Help me if you want to live!"
Both Thalen and Rynoll had come to the same conclusion. Thalen gritted his teeth as he tried to no avail to sense the whereabouts of Garruk. 'That coward! As expected from one of the Empire's dogs.'
Refocusing on the threat in front of them, Rynoll concentrates his energy into one of his strongest attacks. A ball of pure energy appears as Thalen crosses the distance between him and the bear. Holding an axe in his hand, they clash.
With a roar, he releases a concentrated blast of resonance that disrupted the bear's already chaotic frequencies. The stray stumbled as it's claws gripped the solid ground. Loufin, understanding Rynoll's intentions creates a chain of light and wraps it tightly around the beast.
Thalen then jumps out of the way as a blast of veil energy anchored by Rynoll's resonance blasted the bear, leaving a deep fissure in the ground and forest behind the bear.
Once the dust cleared, the group was once again readying attacks as the bear seemed to brush off such a heavy attack.
Loufin bit his lip as he instructs the villagers to flee. 'This is going to be tougher than I thought.'
Once the villagers had left, Loufin didn't hold back anymore. The church bells let out a suffocating pressure as Rynoll's drums and Thalen's bass created a beautiful harmony.
Their residual energy was enough to take out the weaker strays so that they could focus entirely on the bear.
They clashed with the creature using a wide variety of attacks. Both sides received damage as the stray began to get the upper hand. Once there was a break in the fighting as the strays seemed to taken pleasure in their pain, Thalen tore a piece off his shirt to wrap around a gash on his left arm.
Rynoll could not protect himself from all the sound attacks the bear launched, leading to his current bloody appearance.
Wiping away blood from his cheek, Loufin let out frantic breaths from the pure adrenaline he was feeling after barely dodging the stray's claws. 'Even just an inch to the right would have sent me to heaven.'
Just as Loufin was considering running away, a man in a straw hat and white robe had appeared out of thin air. His nonchalant attitude in great contrast to the raging bear only a few feet away from him.
At that distance, even Loufin could lose his life. Before he could move him out of the way, at a speed almost imperceptible to him the man unsheathed his katana and a purple arc of veil energy pierced the bear's neck.
It's head began to fall as it's body decayed. Before it could hit the floor, the stray that had three Choral Masters on the backfoot was defeated. 'Just like that...'
With the bear's defeat, their harmonies were able to soothe the violent frequencies, closing the rift and returning the forest to its usual calm.
Shinryu stared at his trembling right hand as he shook his head.
"Too slow."