Acala

**Acala** is the cursed object Dawn's host and a former Ranger from the Griffon Kingdom.

## Appearance

Ranger Acala is a man in his early thirties about 1.78 meters (5'10") tall with already a few grey hairs mixed with his chestnut hair and a beard of brown so light to look almost red.

### Soul Projection

Acala's Soul Projection looked like himself burdened by chains - the image of a person burdened by the expectations of others, someone so afraid of discovering they are the real source of their own misery that they prefer to keep wearing the chains.

## Personality

Acala is a bitter, jaded man, resentful of his lack of recognition despite his 10 years of service to the Kingdom, and harbors deep envy for his betters. After he bonds with Dawn, he becomes greedy and ruthless in his efforts to achieve his goals, drunk on his newfound power.

## Background

The grizzled Ranger served in the Corps over 10 years. As a soldier in times of peace, he lacked both the ambition and the luck necessary to rise among the army ranks. Talent wasn't his problem - he ranked second overall at the Fire Griffon specializing as a Battle and War Mage, plus a third as Healer achieved during his service. However, he felt used and unappreciated by the Kingdom.

At a low point in his life, Acala wandered until he discovered the Rezar tribe's village. They helped him find peace and settle down, even marrying one of their women. However, over time Acala grew jealous of their Light Mastery similar to Manohar's and attempted but became bitter when he was incapable of learning such magic.

Dawn took the opportunity one day to break free and bond with Acala, whose lust for power made him readily accept becoming her host. He burned the village and everyone in it, including his own wife. When they first bonded, Acala was hellbent on revealing his newfound abilities to elevate his standing in the Kingdom, though Dawn dissuaded him from appearing too extraordinary and manipulates him into raising his status in the Kingdom without attracting attention. The duo spend 5 months and 16 days biding their time.

His disappearance for more than a day prompts High Command to order Ranger Lith Verhen to investigate. Acala appears being chased by undead and rejoins Lith after Lith kills the assailants. He explains how he followed bandits to a well-guarded cave hideout and how the vampires were kidnapping travelers to turn them. Commander Berion orders the two to investigate the hideout together despite their mutual dislike. Acala uses his lack of achievements and ambition to become a hero amidst the Jiera undead invasion as a pretext to lure Lith to Dawn.

The two Rangers retrace Acala's footsteps to the hideout, finding nothing but traces of numerous arrays until they come across a lab with blood spatters and a white prism bearing the same energy signature as Acala's previous assailants. They decide to split up to cover more ground. Acala becomes surrounded by a large group of vampires and thralls with white prisms grafted into their bodies before he is subjected to an array and taken over by Dawn in the form of a diamond-shaped crystal on his chest.

Dawn brings Lith to the undead, recovering the strength she had bestowed upon her minion. Nalrond appears and attacks her, releasing her hold on the vampires warn Lith about Dawn. Nalrond and Lith form a temporary alliance to fight Dawn, and eventually Dawn is forced to flee back to Baba Yaga to heal her wounds.

After their defeat at Solus and Lith's hands, Dawn decides to follow her lead and to become one with her host instead of just using Acala as a slave. His core and her power core beat in unison, generating a power greater than the sums of its parts. Acala shares with Dawn his knowledge of where every secret of the Kingdom is kept. During Dawn's assault on Belius, this allows her to destroy the city's arrays. When Dawn's crystal is shattered by a Blade spell unleashed from the Spell Hoarding Cube, Dawn refuses to sacrifice Acala to heal her wounds. Baba Yaga arrives and Warps them to safety before healing their wounds with Creation Magic.

## Quotes

* *"Sorry for leaving you for dead, but in our line of work you have no idea how many conceited youngsters with a death wish I've met."* (Acala to Lith, Chapter 868)
* *"What the fuck is that? I spent ten years of my life, enduring sweat, tears, and blood for my country. All I got for it is a minor noble title and a land in the middle of nowhere. How come a little runt gets all the honors and a hottie? When I was still on active duty, if I wanted company, I had to pay for it."* (Chapter 870)
* *"After days without sleep and eating, not only was I so tired that they spotted me, but I had also the pleasure to learn that fucking Baroness Margrave and all the fucking nobles I risked my ass for a decade to protect, didn't trust me enough to get the job done and had their golden boy meddle with my hard work."* (Acala to Lith, Chapter 871)
* *"You ask too many questions. How the heck did you manage to join the army with such an attitude? A soldier only needs to obey his orders and let his superiors do the thinking."* (Acala to Lith, Chapter 871)
* *"I can't believe how unlucky I am! You promised me that everything would be fine! You promised me that you would turn my life around for good! Yet nothing ever goes the way I want. I did everything you asked from me and this is how you repay me? With failure? All your insignificant spawns had to do was to kick Verhen's ass, maybe even kill him, to make me look good and turn me into the new hero of the Griffon Kingdom. Instead, you made me look like a fool, running away with my tail between my legs."* (Chapter 875)
* *"I'm so sorry. I never meant to harm anyone. I didn't choose Dawn, she chose me. We were destined to be together. It was your people who tried to take her away from me, I just wanted to...Shut up, shut up, shut up! Your people had everything. You had strength, magic, and artifacts, whereas I had nothing. All I asked you was to teach me light magic. Everything that's happened is your fault! You hid Dawn from me and tried to take her away once she found me because you, didn't want to share with me the gifts that she bestowed upon you. I only acted in self-defense. It was your people who attacked me first!"* (Acala to Nalrond, Chapter 894)

## References

1. ↑ Chapter 868
2. ↑ Chapter 1151
3. ↑ Chapter 869
4. ↑ Chapter 877
5. ↑ Chapter 864
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Chapter 870
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Chapter 884
8. ↑ Chapter 865
9. ↑ Chapter 867
10. ↑ Chapter 875
11. ↑ Chapter 881
12. ↑ Chapter 897
13. ↑ Chapter 1397
14. ↑ Chapter 1399