The Devouring

Transmission & Vectors

The disease is transmitted through contact with an infected person or a complete bio-mass. The disease is also known to, extremely rarely, spontaneously mutate in any living being with mana that is capable of locomotion.

Causes

The initial cause of the parasite is unknown but is widely believed to have been the result of a burst of Wild Mana.

Symptoms

• Immediate fatigue
• Paralysis, during which, the body will convulse rapidly, tearing the skin at the joints
• Severe pain
• Severe nausea
• After the bout of nausea, the infected person falls into a permanent coma. Death after the growth reaches the neck.

Treatment

Currently, any research of treatment past has been internationally postponed due to the high danger posed by the parasite. General procedure upon discovery of an infected creature is immediate incineration by 4th tier fire magic or higher.

Prognosis

First Stage: The virus rapidly spreads throughout the major mana centers of its host's body. The host dies soon after it spreads to the neck.
The Second Stage: Directly following the final growth breaking the skin, the tendrils will rapidly expand and conjoin on the corpse's chest. From there, the growth expands once more and blanket the body in black digestive fluid. During this process, the growths spread across the body forming a hard exoskeleton.
While maintaining the same basic body structure as the original host, the parasite transforms the body- typically extends the femur and reverses the knee joint while forming an entirely new spear-like appendage where one's foot would be. The upper body is elongated significantly and another spear-like bone replaces the hands. These new appendages being formed can be anywhere from 3 1/2 ft to 5 ft long on the average adult human.
The Final Phase: The neck is extended 4-5 in widened to the same width of the head. The head and neck are then covered in a similar exoskeleton as the rest, simply a lighter shade. The face of the host is commonly left unaltered and uncovered except for the teeth being elongated and covered in the same exoskeleton.

Affected Groups

The parasite can infect any living being that has mana and is capable of locomotion. This includes beings as large as the great desert leviathans to the common ant.

Epidemiology

As the parasite is capable of spontaneously appearing in any living being with mana, an outbreak can occur in the middle of a dense city, in an animal population, or the most dangerous kind, in an insect colony. The parasite and its host are typically incapable of surviving in frigid environments as its exoskeleton becomes extremely brittle in cold temperatures.

History

The Fall of Leon: The first occurrence of the disease was during the Battle of Leon. While the Ulth empire and the Kingdom of Leon engaged in a fierce battle outside the capital's walls, the ground in the city's central plaza caved in, revealing a great artificial cavern. While the citizens were grieving over their loved ones who had fallen to their deaths, hundreds of thousands of giant insects, mutated by the parasite, scaled the cavern walls and devoured the city and its people from the inside out. 90% of the cities population was killed and infected or eaten within half an hour. The insects soon spread beyond the walls, massacring hundreds of thousands of distracted soldiers. Finally, the vermilion family engaged the insects, and Skylar Vermilion- the family patriarch- annihilated both the city and the insects with an 11th tier calamity spell. The Kingdom of Leon disintegrated, the land becoming a quarantine zone.

Type

Parasitic

Origin

Magical

Cycle

Short-term

Rarity

Rare