"All things live carry some semblance of magic within their very veins. Animals. monster. humans Even us of the demon kin." Bjorn explained. "It's only the matter that demons like me carry more magic within our vein that we're able to overpower your kind. not only that, but our life spans are far greater. Allowing us to better hone our skills with the elements. Tell me Donovan, how much do you know about magic yourself?"
Donovan stared at Bjorn, almost pondering. They could hear the crackling of the fire and the smell of freshly cooked meat that still went unconsumed. Through the brief silence the sound of strange animal and monster noises coming from a far distance within the forest of charcoal-colored trees.
After a while, Donovan finally replied. "Not much... The way I was told, back in Celestine, was that magic is gained through the blood of a noble. Apparently, it's a bloodline that reaches back all the way to the original six celestials of our world."
"Celestials? Ah, yes. I'm vaguely familiar with those of the Serulian religion. You talk of beings that founded and created the world itself."
"So, you've read the scriptures."
"I have… I was given an opportunity by the queen herself." Bjorn proceeded to take another bite from his meal.
Donovan raised a brow hearing this interesting bit of information, but didn't press on it.
Bjorn continued. "In any case, magic is circulated through the blood itself. The very blood that flows through our veins… it's just the matter that human magic is much weaker than ours. But…. You can still manifest it, given enough practice and understanding on how to control it."
Donovan glanced over to Kalika. "Does that mean she could use magic too. Now that she's a demon I mean."
"Kalika's an interesting case. It was my understanding that she had no capabilities for magic. but given the color of her blood, I want to say her potential for magic should astronomical. But for better or for worse, she doesn't seem capable of it right now."
"Right. To be honest I was wondering about that too. Her blood I mean. Why is her blood like that?"
"If I had to guess, it probably has something to do with her transforming into a demon. but even my kin bleeds red. that is aside from one demon in particular."
And who would that be?" Donovan asked.
"That would be the first immortal Demon King."
"W-wait! There was another demon that was immortal!?" Donovan's disbelief was clear to see. his eyes searched for the lie told between the words, staring at Bjorn more focused.
Bjorn sighed. "These merely come from legends and stories passed down for generations. They're old, but well known stories here in the pit. "
"A legend? Well how did it end if this demons was immortal?"
"It ended with the first demon king finally dying after fighting a long-fought battle against his brother. he an immortal killed by another immortal. ironic, isn't it."
"Yeah." Donovan eyes drooped down before glancing back at Kalika's general direction.
Bjorn continued. "Legend passed down says the the first immortal demon king is still alive, and just watching over all of us demons. You can say that he became our god, with someone people that take their time to thank and worship him. Me. I don't waste my time with such nonsense."
Seeing that Donovan looked lost in thought, Bjorn cleared his throat, bringing Donovan's attention back to him.
"Since the future is still uncertain, I think it's more than necessary to teach you how to wield magic…"
"Huh?" Donovan quickly saw this as a joke and laughed to himself. "You can't be serious. And why would you do that?"
Bjorn with his serious gaze, focus solely on Donovan.. "It should be obvious… Given her state, what do you think will happen if you die?"
Donovan was left speechless. "I... Don't know."
"The worst-case scenario, she might go into another manic killing spree. By extension I'm sure that I'll be one of the many demons she would kill. And as much as I hate to admit it, I think your presence is helping to keep her in a calm state of mind."
Bjorn continued his explanation. "And being that you're the only human, you need to learn to defend yourself and fast. The animals here are nothing compared to what you'll see deeper in the pit."
"What kind of monsters will we be seeing then?" Donovan asked.
"Heh. You'll be seeing giant beasts, bigger than myself, some with only one eye. You may also find a huge beast that can even consume the rocks of this pit. And this is not mentioning the succubus, incubus race along with the savage demons that cannibalize their own."
Donovan was surprised hearing the long list of potential dangers that awaited them ahead in the pit. He looked back up at Bjorn with a glare.
"Aren't you afraid that I'll use this power against you?"
Bjorn chuckled at his remark. "I couldn't be less worried. I've honed my magic for the last two-hundred years. So a human who only learned how to control magic within a year couldn't possibly beat me. Even if I am unable to move my legs."
Donovan was unsure whether he should accept. He glanced at his pipe that laid by the fire, seeing the the cracks were only deepening, and the iron pipe that was attached was useless without the handle itself.
"I guess I have nothing to lose… So how do I use magic if I have it?"
Bjorn took the last few bites from his wolf meat. "First I want to see something myself… Do me a favor and lay out all the different crystals Kalika identified."
"Alright..." Donovan did as he was told and laid the four different white crystals in front of them. "So what do you want to check?"
"Take the first one and try channeling your magic through it."
"I don't think anything will happen. But okay." Donovan took the first crystal to his left, channeling whatever kind of power he could. and to his surprise a fury of flames spout out from the crystal.
"Whoa!" He dropped the crystal in surprise. Bjorn however, calmly analyzed the crystal.
"It seems my theory was correct..." Bjorn thought.
Donovan quickly moved to another of the crystal on his own. and out of curiosity tried replicating the same thing with just his hands. But nothing happened.
"What… What does this mean? I always thought these crystals were just glowing rocks that you mix in with the gray powder…"
Donovan took another of the crystals. "Hmmm…:" He channeled magic through it again but this time it took longer until water gushed out like a geyser from the crystals.
He quickly moved to the others as Bjorn watched, just as curios as Donovan. The last two took just as long to eject wind magic and earth magic respectively, although more meekly than the last two.
"This is crazy. If people knew what these crystals could actually do, it'd be a game changer!"
"And who's to say they don't already. You said that the country of Gallock had produced these pipe weapons. Surely they would've figured out something like this." Bjorn moved to pick up one of the crystals. "It's pathetic really. Even our kin hadn't figured this out."
"Yeah, you would think this would've been common knowledge by now…" Donovan said. "I mean, you said it yourself that these crystals are used like the gold coins above ground."
Bjorn pondered what Donovan said curiously. Meanwhile, Donovan continued channeling more earth magic through the crystals.. "Hmmm… It might sound a little strange but… All four of these crystals… They all feel different."
Donovan pointed to the far left crystal which was the one used to produce fire.
"Like this crystal, it feels like everything is moving fast." He pointed to the earth crystal he was holding. "And this one feels like everything is tightening."
Bjorn chuckled. "It looks like these crystals will help make things easier for you to learn how to use magic."
"How so?"
"The first step in using magic is understanding the sensation of each element and the second part is channeling that feeling outside your body."
"Really?" Donovan looked at the crystal in hand, before Bjorn continued.
"Yes it's something that takes a lot of time to figure out, but thanks to these crystals it seems to help give a general idea of what each element feels like. Not to mention help us find which element you have a strong affinity with. By the looks of it, I think it's safe to say that both fire and water are your highest out of the four."
Donovan was surprised. "Fire and water?"
"Yes. Another of my comrades had the same affinity as you, but for the sake of defending yourself I'll also try to teach you how to use the earth element as well. Since unlike him, you won't know ice magic."
"W-wait! There's Ice magic too!? How is that possible?"
"I don't know, He never really explained how he was able to manifest this element. But that's not important now. Hurry up and finish with your meal and let's start. We'll begin with earth magic." Bjorn said.
Donovan quickly did as he was told and finished the last bit of his rabbit meat. He then followed through Bjorn's carefully worded instructions learning to conjure a ball of earth using a crystal.
He was made to practiced conjuring the ball of earth several times until was able to make one the size of Bjorn's fist. After an hour of working at conjuring large balls of earth, he was finally made to do the same with out the use of a crystal.
Donovan placed aside the crystal he was using and slowly focused the sensation of tightening within his palm.
"And now move it outside the body." Bjorn said.
Listening, Donovan attempted to moved this sensation just outside of his palm. after a minute of focusing, a tiny pebble was manifested and dropped to the ground.
Donovan saw this, and looked on in shock. "I...I did it... I did it!" a pride swelled forth. Despite the small size of his effort it was still progress. and that was good enough for him.
"Don't let it get to your head. what your just did is nothing short of a parlor trick. so you still have a long way to go."
Donovan nodded. "Right."
"I think that enough for now for tonight. But when you find the time for yourself, you should train using these crystals. The sooner you able to use magic to defend yourself, the better."
Donovan once again affirmed his understanding. as Bjorn turned in for the night, Donovan couldn't help but keep his gaze affixed to his hands. He clutched it, manifesting a pebble in his grasp once again.
"I'll get stronger, no matter what it takes."
He then crushed the tiny pebble in his hands, finally resting for the night himself.
********
As the morning arrived, everyone prepared themselves and departed without a hitch. Both Kalika and Donovan continue their long routine of lugging the sled that housed Bjorn and their other equipment, behind them.
They pull through the dirt path laid before them resting for breaks and meals, every so often.
Strangely enough they had yet to come across any hostile monsters. As boring as it made the trip, it did afford them the luxury of enjoying the nature around them. The yellow grass swayed around them and the black and purple leaves fell gracefully to the ground one after another.
It what a haunting beauty of an otherworldly nature that flourish around them. And despite the cold nip, they felt in the air, it felt like a welcome breeze Since both Kalika and Donovan worked hard in pulling along Bjorn.
Donovan glanced over at Kalika finding her simply closing her eyes and enjoying the weather with her same blank expression.
Deep down, he understood that a peace like this wouldn't last long. But he chose to enjoy it too nonetheless alongside Kalika.
As they were enjoying the tranquility the forest had to offer, a scream suddenly erupted.
It came from the path ahead. Everyone was on alert.
To Donovan's surprise, Kalika began to curl a smile. She released the rope to pull the sled and dashed forth into the unknown.
"Kalika!" Donovan raised his hand in vain as she left their side.
"Tch! Wait here Bjorn."
"Do I have any choice?" he retorted.
Donovan, taking his pipe ran forth into whatever danger Kalika was suddenly dragging them into. To his shock there were some demons that were being attacked by the strange green creatures he only saw once before.
Goblins.
Another red demon was slain by one of the goblins leaving a demon who seemed to be a succubus with pink eyes and white hair.
The goblins saw Kalika's approach. They prepared their weapons in hand. But they failed to realize the sinister smile she carried as she dashed forth with her newly conjured dagger.
"I was hoping something interesting would happen." Kalika said. She made the first move, slashing away the first of twenty goblins heads.
The goblins flinched seeing this as did the succubus.
The goblins in the back line rushed forth attacking with their crudely made weapons.
Kalika blocked and dodged each of their attacks. She moved to stab goblin through the neck and another in the head.
It was then they all saw her crazed excited eyes. it sent shivers down their spines. some started to back away. However a a few attack from her side, hoping to catch her off guard.
As the goblins attack once more unisons, They suddenly struck by a metal pipe. Donovan arrived, by Kalika's side.
"Don't act recklessly!" he yelled.
Kalika jumped ahead, ignoring him and continuing with an onslaught.
She cut and sliced through Goblins. Blocked and dodged through their desperate attacks, finding them overly simple and uninspired.
Donovan wasn't far behind as he whacked and bludgeoned his way through the goblins, blocking a parrying their attack as he did. He kicked one down, and smashed its head in and quickly turned to smacked down another that attacked from behind.
With both of them on the offense, it didn't take long to finally defeat the goblin horde. With the last one, Kalika pinned them to the stabbing into its chest.
"This was… too easy…" Kalika thought to herself.
She stared at the goblin that seemed to be writhing in pain. She then looked at her hand filled with blood and slowly cut her blade down its chest.
Looking back up she watched it squirm and scream out in pain with its gremlin-like voice. an amused smile curled to her face as she continued to play it it, torturing the goblin..
"Kalika stop!"
Kalika snapped back to her senses.
"Just kill it." Donovan said.
Kalika froze, unsure what she was even trying to do anymore. "Right…" she ripped her dagger out, stabbing it through the goblins head.
"
Kalika approached the women and crouched down to her level, staring and scanning the women's facial features.
Her face was no doubt beautiful with her fair skin and pink eyes. And the fact that this woman spoke in the demon language and sported black horns and a tail was a dead give away that she was a succubus to Kalika.
Despite how completely differently the women looked and acted, she reminded Kalika of Rhonda.
Kalika, as if by instinct, simply patted the woman on her head. "
Both Donovan and the succubus were taken aback by Kalika's action. And for Donovan he was even more surprised that she spoke in the demon tongue.
The succubus women looked on in confusion, unsure what to make of Kalika.
"U-u-u-umm." Donovan tried to find the words but found himself speechless.
The woman hearing Donovan darted her eyes to him, her eyes widening and looking at his ginger hair.
"K-K-K-Kalika, I-I think you should give her some space?"
Kalika turned back with a glare, but listened.
"
"What did she say?" Donovan asked.
Kalika simply stared at the women before answering. "She's thanking us…" She then glanced over to the several dead demons of blue and red, they were all men. Not one of the demons had any weapons on them. If they arrived much earlier the outcome may have been different for them. Not that Kalika cared much about them.
Kalika turned, now uninterested in the women. "
"
Kalika stopped.
The woman clasped her hands, pleading. "
"Friends?" Kalika questioned.
"What is it now?" Donovan inquired once again.
"Apparently her friends were captured… We should just leave. It's not our problem."
"N-no. Let's help her."
"Huh?" Kalika glared back at Donovan who looked serious about lending a hand. "Why? We don't owe her anything, besides… what if the dream becomes more weird?"
Donovan chuckled awkwardly. "U-uhh… Putting the whole dream thing aside, I-if we help her, she might help us get a better lay of the land or give us a helping hand in some other stuff."
Kalika rolled her eyes. "So, you want to have them owe us?" She gazed back at the women indignantly. She then sighed. "Whatever… but if this gets weird I'm blaming you."
"
The women instantly pointed into the forest where a small path laid in wait. "
"
On command, the succubus lady got to her feet and began leading Kalika and Donovan down a dark and narrow path. a path the succubus was all too familiar with.