His body was undergoing changes that even he couldn't reverse. Not wanting to dwell on the topic, Shin turned to what was left of the mercenaries.
"I'll let you live this time, but if I catch you again..." Shamanic chants from deep under the ground shook the surroundings slightly. Vibrations were visible in the air as wind chimes, harsher than usual, came to life.
It produced an almost demonic tone as if the gates of hell were opening to collect fresh souls.
The mercenary leaders understood his unfinished statement quite clearly and decided not to overstay. They gathered the corpses of their men and any belongings before leaving in motorized vehicles.
Loufin froze, still a frozen chord to not incur the ire of the unknown but powerful harmonist.
Seeing this, Shin laughed at the boy. "You resemble your father. You two even have the same eyes."
The elven chief, usually full of words, was left completely speechless. Before he could recover, they heard rustling bushes behind them as what was left of the captured Salvara villagers returned to check the condition of their leader.
Suddenly a blonde elven woman jumped into the embrace of Loufin. The woman gripped him tightly. His body still ached from the battle leading him to let out groans of pain. This didn't seem to concern the woman as she kissed his winded cheek.
"Loufin! I'm so happy you're safe."
Not caring about his wounds, Loufin happily returned her hug. With a pleased smile he checks her for injuries. "Thysera, you did well in escaping."
Rubbing her stomach, those with even a little life experience could tell she was pregnant. The slight bump indicated she wasn't that far along.
Shinryu had a soft smile as he sensed the baby's frequency that had not yet fully formed. It was very subtle but soothing to anyone who listened. 'It's always a pleasure to witness the creation of new life.'
Remembering where they were, Loufin looked strangely at the man who now had his eyes closed, seemingly listening. "You know my father?"
Opening his eyes once more, Shin nods slightly. "I met him about 2 hours ago. So we're good friends."
With a deadpan look, Loufin shook his head as he began to heal the villagers that got caught in the crossfire before escaping. Thysera gave the stranger an appraising look before introducing herself. Stretching out her hand, she smiles.
"Thysera, this is my rude husband Loufin." Hearing his wife call him rude made the elven chief almost cough up blood. Not wanting to be embarrassed in front of his people, he clears his throat.
"I was prioritizing the injured! We were going to talk after."
Shin accepted her handshake as Thysera shooed her husband's excuses away with her other hand. Once they parted, Shin's ears twitched slightly as he heard something faint in the distance.
Brushing it off for now, he turns to the villagers who were still being healed. Sensing their cores, most of them were heavily damaged or slightly corrupted. That included Loufin.
"Let me help you."
Confused, Loufin understood what he meant when Shin pointed to his abdomen where his core is located. Shaking his head, as an elf he knew there was no quick cure for what he was going through. The only thing he could do is prevent the corruption from spreading any further until he can go through a cleansing.
It was a multi year long procedure using the help of a shaman who was naturally more in tune with veil energy. 'It seems I will be stuck at the Choral Master rank for longer than I anticipated.'
Loufin could be considered extremely talented. He was estimated to reach Resonant Sage by the end of the year but thanks to the Empire's experiments, he will have to go into seclusion for a while. Although it's not a big deal to lose some years because of his lifespan, not only will he miss out on the birth of his child but won't be there to protect his village.
The only reason they succeeded in capturing him the first time was because they got to his wife first. They allowed her to avoid the experiments in exchange for his and the villagers' cooperation.
He initially thought they were just going to be sent to the front lines but once they got to the camp, they quickly realized their situation. He would have put up much more of a fight if not for the fact they branded his already weakened wife.
It's a mark created with veil energy that tethered Thysera and all other prisoners to one of the prison guards. Lucky for them, the guard died by the debris from the explosion, allowing those who were branded to leave the encampment.
Thinking of what his people went through made him angry. This slightly destabilized his frequency causing the healing process to slow down. Refocusing on his duties, he steadied his breathing as Shinryu drew closer.
"Silly child. You don't know everything." Shaking his head, Shin bends down and puts a hand on Loufin's stomach. The elf tried to protest but Shin tapped his forehead with his other hand.
"Be still." His words transfixed the elf as those around them grew concerned. Thysera wanted to step in but could feel there was no malice coming from the man.
A bright blue light of pure veil energy appeared from Shinryu's left hand that was pressed firmly against Loufin's abdomen. Wind chimes and a deep shamanic chant danced in the breeze as a magical scene occurred before the elves' eyes.
Shin combined the veil energy with a slightly different frequency from his which caused a green resonant energy to form that was visible to the naked eye. He guided the energy toward Loufin's core as it gradually healed any damage internal and external. Once it reached the fractured and corrupted resonance core, the green energy began to repair it.
Both Shin's borrowed frequency and the veil's were able to purge any and all corruption in the elven chief's core. What energy was left filled the gap in his core.
Taking both hands away, Shin observed as Loufin regained consciousness. His expression was weary as he checked his core. Although he was conscious, he could still feel what was happening inside his body.
"What? How?!" What he found could truly be considered a miracle. 'My core, is healed?' No one could understand what was happening. Since they were all harmonists, they all believed such damage could not be reversed so easily. You would have to spend multiple years to even get rid of the corruption, let alone heal an even slightly broken core.
Largis' core had been damaged beyond repair leading to a regression from Resonant Sage to Choral Master. Loufin was hopeful that his damage wouldn't be too much of a setback only because of his young age.
Shaking his head, Shin laughs. "It seems thinking too hard runs in the family. Stop trying to come to some rational conclusion and just accept that it happened." Shinryu knew this ability of his was completely unheard of to the general population.
Once everyone calmed down, Shinryu went around to the other injured elves and did the same procedure. Dusting his hands after finishing up with the last elf, he smiles.
"It'll take a few weeks before most of you are back to your peak. Just make sure not to overexert yourself or the effects may reverse before you can be fully healed. I'm not sure how much longer I'll be around."
Nodding, the elves were extraordinarily grateful but didn't know how to express it. They were prideful by nature but hoped they could repay him at some point in the future.
"I can escort you back to Sylvara but..." Trailing off, Shin's head snaps to his left where he had sensed something previously. It was a faint melody that had now become much more chaotic, it had branched into multiple different melodies. They fluctuate, sometimes combining into one soothing sound then suddenly separating turning to something reminiscent of a corrupt crystal.
Such an anomaly couldn't go unnoticed to his sharp senses. Loufin grew concerned as he also looked over, but couldn't tell what Shin was looking at.
The others were just as confused as Thysera held Loufin's hand in case they had to run.
Shin looked over for a moment before disappearing, leaving a few words of reassurance in the wind. "Everything's fine, go back to the village on your own. I'm sure you know the way."
As Shinryu grew closer to the rapidly changing melodies he could sense the presence of 5 creatures in the middle of all the chaos. 'They must be the source.'
Entering a clearing in the forest, he found what looked to be a group of human children huddled together. Some of them noticed his arrival which alerted the others.
A teenage girl no older than 15 stood in front of the others. Her long black hair was even crazier than Shin's giving her the appearance of a wild animal. Her piercing blue eyes seemingly stared into the man's soul. The child took in a deep breath before letting out a sharp scream.
"GET AWAY!"
The vibrations destroyed many of the trees in the area but only passed Shinryu like a breeze. The girl's scream seemed to cause a chain reaction from the other children as they covered their ears and let out a variety of elemental attacks indiscriminately on the fauna in the area.
Bolts of lightning flashed, fire burned, the earth shifted, and wind cut. Some of them sustained injuries from their own or another kid's abilities. The girl who was conducting such a messy symphony had collapsed onto the cold forest ground.
Shinryu decided to close the distance as he attempted to match his frequency with the loudest kid in the bunch. Although unconscious, her body still leaked a painful scratchy frequency that countered any attempt from the forest to resonate and lead the other frequencies in a discordant melody that occasionally split.
It was like a band playing the same instrument but different songs all at the same time. These kids had yet to find their individual sound and the corruption that Shinryu sensed in their cores made resonance almost impossible.
Their resonant energy poured out with no regard for their health. If not contained soon, they would be sucked dry. As he stepped closer, the children attempted to push him back. With their leader knocked out, they were more vulnerable than ever.
One of the 3 boys stood up with fire bursting from his fingertips. Another boy jumped up as lightning sparked around his body. The teenagers put on brave faces as they attempted to launch attacks at the approaching threat.
Most of their attacks missed and others fizzled out before they could touch Shin. 'They're running out of energy. By the looks of it their bodies will begin automatically taking energy directly from the veil.'
All harmonists use a small amount of veil energy, but it must first be converted to resonant energy. Veil energy is synchronized to someone's frequency and powers their core. This is an automatic process and is done at all times throughout the day even when sleeping. Once someone's resonant energy is depleted however, they will take directly from the veil.
Veil energy is pure making it 100x stronger than its corrupted counterpart. An ordinary harmonist's body cannot handle the strain and will either explode or just outright die if they use too much. Even those who can withstand it may damage their core if not careful.
As Shin got within a few feet of the children, he stopped. "Don't fight it." Before they could understand what the man was talking about, the sound of wind chimes and a shamanic chant engulfed the once chaotic area.
His melody dwarfed theirs. Their untamed frequencies instinctively sought out his much calmer one. It didn't take long before they naturally matched his, causing the kids to regain some of their bearings.
They were still wary of the stranger as the two boys brought the unconscious girl behind the other kids. Shin stared at them as they did their best to stay vigilant. Exhaustion set in now that their bodies could finally rest.
"It's fine, let go." Shin's voice brought a much needed ease to the children's minds as they let sleep set in.