“That device you mentioned, don’t tell me it’s the platform they’re sitting on…”
“That’s right, the very same. Those platforms are called Elemental Segregation Platforms and are one of the greatest inventions in our clan history.” Even though those words were clearly filled with respect, Anmi’s mood was still noticeably low: “Unfortunately, because too much time was spent on researching the platform, most of the already-dwindling Shadowcat population have already died from self-combustion leaving only the researcher and one other Shadowcat…”
Wide eyes blinking, Mo Na proceeded to spit out another trademark question of hers that almost made me vomit blood in exasperation: “Just two? What a coincidence for them to be a pair of male and female Shadowcats then.”
“…no…” Clearly incensed by her disrespect, Anmi was about to berate the little devil but upon seeing the raised fists of No.3 and Big 4, he caved in once more and merely continued explaining in a defeated tone: “Both of them were females.”
At that point, Mo Na adorably gave me a couple bat of her eyelashes before saying: “Mama…how did those two female cats give birth?”
“Sweetie, that’s not the point you should focus on…”
‘How would I know the answer to that and even if I knew, I wouldn’t tell you. Speaking of which, how did those two female cats give birth? Perhaps there’s a chance of a pure Shadowcat being born from two Purgatory Shadowcats?’
Anmi rolled his eyes at the little devil: “Because one of them was already pregnant…”
Initially, we only wanted to know why he was so vehemently opposed to marrying the Princess but as the conversation dragged on, it somehow ended up straying further and further off course. However, Anmi wouldn’t have mentioned all that if they were truly irrelevant…
‘Did that mean that the reason had something to do with all that? Hold on a second, can a Purgatory Shadowcat even bear a child with a Shadowcat? By mutating, the Purgatory Shadowcats have basically turned into a new type of Shadowcat. Although they might still have some traces of Shadowcat DNA, strictly speaking they aren’t even the same creature anymore. In that case, if Anmi and Princess Meisian were to get married…would their child be a Purgatory Shadowcat? Or a Shadowcat?’
‘Given that only Shadowcats can succeed the throne…that’s actually a very important question worth digging into.’
Because the environment within Purgatory was filled with fire elements, the platform itself had to be tuned up to a high setting. At that time, a portion of the Purgatory Shadowcats tried to use this device to return back to being a Shadowcat but all of them failed; the mutation was irreversible.
Back then, there wasn’t really much of a difference between the two species except for the addition of their fire element so no one really minded the difference. Other than those two surviving Shadowcats, no one paid anymore attention to this matter.
As time passed however, the difference between the two races became more and more pronounced with the most problematic issue being that they lost their ability to Dreamwalk.
As the saying went, ‘only by losing something will one realize how precious it was’, only after they lost their ability did the Purgatory Shadowcats realize how much they relied on it. They were terrified, from the bottom of their hearts, they felt an overwhelming sense of fear. That one ability of theirs not only bestowed a wealth of knowledge onto them, it was also a part of their identity, their pride. With it, they felt a sense of superiority compared to the other races. Now that they had lost it, they felt incomplete as if a part of them had been wrenched out…
In a sense, it was like having your favourite website taken away from you. Having browsed it everyday for god knows how long, one day you discovered that not only did the government block access to that website, they also fined anyone who had used it…that was exactly how those Shadowcats felt right now.
Just like that, the two Shadowcats who persevered in their pure-bloodedness suddenly became objects of reverence. The Purgatory Shadowcats raised their status to that of a ruler’s and thus the first Cat King was born.
However, a tale when told too long tended to get dry. No.3, clearly bored and irritated by now, snapped at Anmi: “What’s the point of telling us all this historical nonsense? What we want to know is why you do not want to marry Meisian. Will you die or something?”
“I think I get the big picture now…” I turned towards Anmi and sighed: “It has to do with that platform doesn’t it?”
“That’s right, at the end of the day, it has to do with that Elemental Segregation Platform…” Anmi gave a bitter smile before continuing: “I said so before, the main purpose of that platform is purge all fire elements from our bodies. But us Purgatory Shadowcats are mainly made of fire elements now…once we lose that…”
In other words, standing on that platform would cause him suffering…as for how painful that was…only he would know.
Because of their comparatively frail constitutions, the Shadowcats weren’t able to endure any elemental imbalance in their bodies. That was why Meisian and that Eldest Prince would never leave their platform willingly.
Given that, should Anmi marry Meisian…he would probably have to spend his entire life with her on that platform. The problem then, was what about the fire elements in his body?
The platform would purge his body of said elements and cause him harm so how was he to spend an extended period of time on that platform? That was the unsolvable problem facing Anmi right now.
“So you’re saying that by marrying her, you would have spend your life on that platform?”
“It’s not to that extent, but after getting married, I would have to spend quite a bit of time on it.” At that point, he shivered uncontrollably: “If I were to stand on that platform, the mana in my body would rapidly deplete and that sensation…can only be described as torturous…”
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