"Beastification Syndrome."
Some believed it was an infectious disease meant to destroy intelligent life, while others thought it was some terrible curse born of moonlight and the wilds.
For countless years, people had argued endlessly over its origin.
A twisted creation of some mad mage from ancient times with fantastical whims, an evil conspiracy devised by the gods to spread their faith and cultivate offspring...
What could not be denied was that, to this day, "Beastification Syndrome" had become one of the most terrifying names on the Aifala Continent, enough to make anyone's face change at the mere mention of it.
It could transform a normal, healthy intelligent being into a mindless, bloodthirsty beast.
And the method of infection did not require any complex ritual or lengthy prayer.
Through blood.
So long as one was injured by Beastmen, this invisible, intangible, horrifying curse would silently invade your veins, then gradually corrode your body and reason as time passed.
Eyes that gave off an unnatural glow in the dark, canines that grew sharper and sharper, dense fur that suddenly sprouted like a wild beast's...
Under the glow of moonlight, it would not take long before you fell into a state like some uncivilized, upright, savage Beastman bearing the traits of a beast.
Of course, perhaps there were some individuals who could rely on their own willpower, or on the traits of some refined variant of the curse, to resist the curse's erosion of their personal reason.
After becoming Beastmen, they still retained the reason and cognition they had possessed before their transformation.
But they still needed to beware those nights when the moonlight was bright.
Xia Nan had spent so long hanging around the White Tit, sitting in the tavern every day listening to the Adventurers around him brag and chat.