Halfling

**Halflings** are individuals who have ties to a bloodline shared between humans and non-humans. While there are many other variants, those are just called **Hybrids**. They gain most of their power from their non-human parent gain most of the physical characterstics of their human parent.

## Description

The cells in a halfling's body are a mixture between isodyne (demon blood infused with seithr) and hemopoiesis (formation of human blood cells.) As a result the body goes through a perpetual battle between accelerated apoptosis (cell death) and regeneration. In a normal state, their cells undergo accelerated regeneration. As insanity accumulates as a result of numerous external factors and the body evolves because of excess blood, the cells additionally undergo apoptosis at a faster rate than the accelerated regeneration. This detail may explain why only a short number of halflings exist in any given time period.

### Transformation

Demon Halflings have a mode of power that they fall back on when their lives are in danger called **Demon Madness** (鬼神狂気, *"Kishin Kyōki"*) that amplifies their power and physical capabilities tremendously. In this state, all of the seithr in their body begins to go into overdrive, while their sanity diminishes over time. This form can be triggered by trauma, extreme rage, exposure to too much demon blood or by receiving too much damage in a confrontation.

#### Kishin Kyōki: Stage One

The first stage of the transformation moderate increases overall power. The halfling begins to show signs of a loss of sanity but just enough control to know who their allies are in most cases. Generally the claws become elongated, the pupils transform into serpentine slits, and a menacing red aura appears around the individual. Sometimes they will completely discard their traditional way of fighting for a more animalistic approach. Their healing becomes incredibly accelerated, in tandem with their other physical enhancements. For people who are able to make good use of their internal energies like Ars Manus practitioners, they experience a dramatic surge in power but without proper control they will struggle to maintain harmonious energies. This transformation was first seen by Takami at the very beginning of the Heisei Rebellion Arc, when it was used to slay a demon that injured him greatly right after his awakening as a maledictus.

#### Kishin Kyōki: Stage Two

The second stage of the transformation causes seithr to physically manifest as a toxic red aura that causes people who get too close to experience severe burns. This seithr can be used as an art of transmutation, taking multiple forms and appearances such as blades, additional limbs or even a barrier. They have lost most of their sanity at this point and may attack without regard for their allies or friends. The energy around the individual appears like a type of crimson foam, though it is quite uncommon for an aura to become visible. The physical changes are now even more severe and noticeable than before. As almost all of their latent power has been practically drawn out. Their healing is even faster than before, practically on the same level as a higher-grade demon.

#### Kishin Kyōki: Stage Three

The third stage of the transformation is the most dangerous, not only for themselves but for others that are around them. All of their sanity has been lost, they will continue to fight until they are killed or beaten into submission, having no qualms about the deaths of their friends, relatives or allies. Their vision, now appearing monochrome with the hallucinations of voices whispering into their ears to commit grave atrocities. They are no different from a mass murdering sociopath. Demons at this level usually have some type of marking that appears on their face along with a complete transformation into their true form. Their demonic bloodline begins to dominate their will, forcing them to feed its insatiable bloodlust. In the east, court mages in the past would use Kujikiri to forcefully cancel the transformation by using the command: "Rin, Pyo, To, Sha, Kai, Jin, Retsu, Zai, Zen." In the west however, many people relied on rosaries or crosses to banish the demonic influence of an individual.

## Abilities

**Halfling Physiology**: Halflings possesses the following features well above the level of an ordinary human: dexterity, strength, speed, sensory capabilities, adaptability, coordination, balance, healing, reflex, agility, durability, regeneration and endurance. Eir/Seithr being the universal force that it is, stimulates or improves all of their physical capabilities and because of this these things are naturally expected of someone who has awoken to the power it can provide. Most of their power comes from their non-human parent, an example would be that of a Demon Lord's child, which would only be able to fight at the level of a Demon Prince because that is considered half of their power. Halflings can move at speeds well beyond the return stroke of lightning with ease, lift entire skyscrapers, stay underwater for several days, survive point-blank explosives and regenerate from fatal wounds.

Their only shortcoming is a lack of stamina, though they can fight longer than humans, they can't exert themselves for too long as a result of their cellular incompatibility. They appear to have semi-immortality since they no longer age physically after reaching adulthood and in most cases cannot be killed by conventional human methods such as poisoning, being shot/stabbed or being hit with powerful spells. However it is not impossible for them to develop illnesses and sicknesses.