"Goodbye! And thanks again for all your help!" A young girl waved up to an airship taking off, her cheeks a bit rosy as she shouted. While it rose from the docks and to the sky, a young boy poked his head out of a window of the large vessel and waved back.
"I better see you at the academy! Corrine!" He shouted back, waving just as enthusiastically as the young girl, as he gained more and more altitude. "We'll meet again in two years! And become heroes together! The sword and the spear! Hahaha."
Her face reddened further. "Y-yeah! Sword and spear!" yelling a final word as the airship began to float into the distance. The two waved to one another until the ship was well out of sight.
"Young miss, let us depart; our carriage has arrived." Beside the young girl stood a heavy-set butler. He had a monocle on one eye and a sling holding one of his bandaged arms. He adjusted his tie as he looked down at the young lady.
Corrine nodded. "Let's head back, Chauncy." It was finally time to go home. She had a rough couple of days. Her papa had sent her and Chauncy to go into a neighboring town to gather ingredients for his research, since he was feeling under the weather. But who would have thought they would get attacked by bandits? Had Chauncey not protected her with all his might and retreated into the forest to hide and recover, who knows what would have become of them.
But just when they thought they were in the clear, the bandits soon found their trail, cornering them in a nearby cave. This time, the bandits numbers were doubled; not only that, the bandit reinforcements had a few stronger opponents mixed in.
Demons.
With their backs against the wall, Chauncy was prepared to sacrifice himself to give his young lady a chance to flee, but right when things looked dire, a figure appeared.
His shoulder-length blonde hair showed in the sun, his crystal-clear blue eyes were sharp and focused. His short stature was overshadowed by the broad back that stood in front of them. He raised his sword towards the bandits, resolute and determined.
"Damien." Corinne whispered as she now sat in the carriage, heading back towards her family estate.
For someone the same age as her, his strength was monstrous; he defeated the bandits with no issues at all. On top of that, he used a skill that Corrine herself was working to achieve.
Chi breathing. Manifesting the inner chi to produce aura, and the density was impressive.
She herself could only hold her aura for a couple of seconds, but Damian could do it for 12 minutes without even breaking a sweat!
"Truly a genius." She was a little embarrassed; she only managed to kill one bandit with her spear, but Damian had swiftly killed 8 before the rest surrendered.
So this was the difference between a talented fighter and a genius.
But she wouldn't be left behind. Two years. She had to close the gap in two years before meeting again. She clenched her fist, her eyes showing stubborn determination.
Chauncy, sitting to the side, glanced at his young lady, a complicated look on his middle-aged face.
He was happy his young miss had made a friend, and he could tell she was touched when the young boy showed no disdain when he saw her family crest. What's more, the time they spent together while the butler was recovering had yielded gains for his young lady when it came to her chi breathing.
But…
"Young miss… Did you ever get a chance to mention the family's specialty?" He probed, pretending to be an offhanded question, just a simple question to fill dead air.
High-level practitioners in the community call this the tactful reminder.
"...." The young lady's mood visibly dropped.
'Damn! A backlash! Chauncy, you oaf!' Were his tact abilities still lacking?
He cleared his throat. He decided to go with his bread and butter, sucking up. A skill he recently cultivated to a higher realm.
"Well, I'm sure, given your keen eye and judgment, you will know the right time to tell him."
Her mood brightened once more as she nodded vigorously. "Y-yeah! I just need to ease into it this time around!"
His monocle glinted, indicating his critical proc. A proud smirk hung on his lips.
'Behold, the sky beyond the sky, butlery skill: biased assessment!'
Some may sneer at his skill and call him an apostate, but Chauncy didn't care; his young miss's opinion meant more than those geezers of the old ways.
Besides…
He looked down at the crest on his formal jacket. A signifier of the unorthodox ways.
The goat.
The goat of House Baphomet. A fallen great noble house turned merchant family. They were once well known as a house of powerful magic spear users. But after their exile, the family had to find other means to maintain their livelihood.
Why?
Because hero parties don't take too kindly to warlocks anymore. Not for 600 long years.
Chauncy smiled and nodded to his young miss but sighed in his heart. He took off his enchanted ring. Now that they were in the curtained carriage, all was fine.
As he took off the ring, the rotund butler's skin turned from sickly pale to ruby red.
A demon.
"I'm sure with the young miss' charms, the boy would accept all there is about you, given enough time." The butler said with a smile.
"S-stop that sort of talk!" She said, giving him a weak slap to his good shoulder, her face cherry red.
"Hahaha! Young miss, you're starting to look more and more like a demon yourself! Why is your face so red if my words didn't ring true? Hahaha."
"Chauncy!"
"Hahaha!"
Though the demon laughed, the concern in his heart still lingered a little. The boy seemed kind enough and quite strong.
But…
He thought back to the time he saved him and the young miss. While the young miss was still fighting the human bandit, the butler had gathered his last bit of strength to fight alongside the young warrior.
What he witnessed could have been just a coincidence, but he couldn't help but feel… a little worried.
The boy had swiftly slain 4 of the 16 bandits, showing his sword aura to the brigands. After witnessing the aura, the bandits had already begun to surrender, lowering their swords. But the boy continued on, killing 4 more in a flash. At that point the bandits dropped their swords and got on their knees to surrender.
He then stopped, around the same time the young miss was finished with her own battle.
The young miss did not notice the peculiarity of the deaths because she herself was facing a human, but the butler had noticed.
The boy, with reflexes and skills like his, should have seen the lost will to fight, yet he slew nonetheless.
On top of that, the 8 slain were only demons. Coincidence? Maybe, but the butler would have felt more at ease if the young one hadn't weaved through the crowd to swiftly kill them.
His heart sighed again. Their territory was at the outskirts of the kingdom, next to the broken gate of Hellnia, the holy land for demons, so the relationship with humans and demons there was quite good.
'Let's hope I'm just overthinking it.'
If the boy Damien was like the people living in the central capital, his young miss could lose a friend yet again.
He glanced at the smiling, brown-haired girl next to him. He wished the best for her; she has gone through so much already. He wanted the sun to shine on her once more, and hopefully that sun won't ever set again.
~~~
Central Neel Continent, Hephaestus Group Airship
Damian sat on a luxurious chair, gazing out at the clouds in front of him with awe; he'd never get tired of seeing the sky from up here. As he sat, he grabbed a few handfuls of mixed nuts that lay in a bowl on a table next to his reclining chair.
MUNCH MUNCH
A good snack for a hard day's work. He felt proud; he had slain the demons effortlessly. His first rescue mission had been successful! He was a bit nervous at first, but seeing the helplessness of Corrine had stirred something within him; in the end, he moved without thinking.
His display was so dominating he was sure the rest of the bandits would turn their lives around after all this; getting mixed up with demons was surely a mistake they would regret from this day on!
He chuckled to himself. Finally, the strength to protect! He was feeling his hard work pay off. But he wouldn't stop there. No. He would shoot for the top spot at the hero academy when he entered, then the top hero when he graduated, and then… perhaps further beyond when he defeats the demon lord.
"Maybe the devils aren't beyond reach…" he muttered. He was confident, with this pace, he could see a peaceful Neel in the future!
"What's that about devils? And…who was that girl you waved to earlier?" A melodious voice sounded in a reclined chair beside him.
Damien looked to his right; his master was leaning back so far in the chair she was practically looking at him with her nose. He couldn't help but feel exasperated at her display. What if malicious eyes were to see her in such a vulnerable position?
"Master, do you need to sit like that?" he asked.
Abigail just scoffed. " This is a vacation, isn't it?" she smirked. "This is the Hephaestus group's new invention; they call it a 'laisse-boyaunt'! It's quite relaxing; you should try it." She said as she grabbed the handle, pulling it even further back, activating its maximum comfort. "Shame it's a bit small though; it would probably be even better if it were bed-sized."
Damien shook his head at his beautiful master's antics; if she's happy, then fine. He would guard her vulnerable form while she relaxed.
"I'm fine sitting like this, and that girl was Corrine. I ran into her while I was meditating in the forest and you were looking for those ingredients you needed. Her caravan was attacked by bandits, so I went to assist." He said, taking another handful of nuts.
"Mhhmm." Abigail said while squinting her eyes at him. The girl was quite pretty, how convenient. She shook her head; if he was helping people in need, then she couldn't really say anything.
"And what do devils have to do with her? They were just regular bandits, right?" she inquired. Grabbing an oddly shaped straw from her pocket and placing it in her drink.
Damien chuckled and shook his head. "Yes, master, they were just demons and humans. But after the victory, I was just thinking of dreams. Dreams of one day having peace throughout all of Neel."
He smiled as he gazed out the window once more. "A Neel where none need to cower." He placed a hand on the window as he watched the clouds pass them by. "A Neel where evil didn't exist."
His eyes sharpened with purpose and true resolve. "A Neel where I'm strong enough to eradicate all the dev-"
But his words were stopped there by a firm grip on his wrist.
It was Abigail, now sitting up, her eyes wide in horror, and her voice urgent. "Damien! Don't ever say something like that again!"
Damien, for the first time, saw a side of his master he'd never seen in his 2 years with her.
It was fear.
He was bewildered. "Ha…haha, master, what are you saying? Surely-" But his words were cut off once more.
"Killing some devils, especially at the hero level, is not a problem, but Damien…" Abigail's voice was now hushed and concerned. "Do you know why the phrase 'Slay all demons, and trust no devils' isn't 'slay all demons and devils'?"
Damien shook his head; his master's seriousness was making him feel a bit concerned as well.
Abigail took a deep breath. "Some heroes can take on four-star devils, and I've even heard of empyreans able to slay five-star devils when matched properly and partied perfectly… but…"
She gripped the shoulders of her disciple and stared into his eyes seriously, pleadingly. "If you ever encounter a six-star devil, Damien… You run. Don't let them speak, don't look them in the eye, and don't ever…ever think of attacking them. Just run. Don't let anyone convince you otherwise; you run as fast as possible!" Her eyes were desperate as she said those words.
Damien was floored by all this. He couldn't believe it; his strong and beautiful master was… actually cowering at the thought of a devil?
"B-but master, what about Caesar Godschild? The 11th generation Hero? The churches said he managed to fight off a six-star in his prime, before his ascension!" Damien couldn't understand his master's fear of a six-star devil; sure, they were strong monsters, but they weren't invincible!
For the first time, Abigail felt something she had never felt before toward her disciple.
Anger.
His questioning had brought back a harsh memory to her mind.
…
…
A black-eyed, horned being floating above her old hero party after their last battle.
He wore a white suit and an orange tie that matched his hair; a yellow button was pinned on his front breast pocket, showing a face that laughed so much tears were in its eyes. The devil's smile was wide, having two small stars on both sides of his stretched mouth.
He peered down at the group, each eye covered with a black star. His purple eyes glowed playfully as he spoke down at them.
'Kyokyokyo! You seven slay a puny demon lord and announce to Mother Earth you will hunt the devils next? Kyokyo! I thank you all for getting me across the gate with such a quip, so I won't kill you… But surely you have to learn your place, right? Kyokyokyo!'
He raised a gloved hand.
SNAP
A finger snapped.
Their arrogant words vegetated three of them and crippled the rest.
'Kyokyokyo, Know the name of Humor, the name of irony, the name of the devil…'
…
…
She ground her teeth at the memory.
'Humor!' She'd never forget that name, but she dared not say it out loud. His power worked based on words, she was sure.
She shouted out. "Fought one off?! He was a hack!" Some people worshipped Caesar like humankind's emperor, but Abigail knew better. Those devils were more than just powerful.
They were living gods.
Six-star devils make the rest look like cattle!
The passengers of the luxurious airship floor glanced at the magic hero with disdain. This wasn't the level the rabble should be sitting on, a noisy passenger just ruining the smooth ride.
Damien jumped at his master's outburst. Why was she so wound up about this? He figured she had a bad encounter with a six-star devil. If that was the case, when thinking logically, wasn't she alive and well? Hadn't she achieved the same feat as the Godschild? Both his respect and concern grew for his master; she was strong but still a bit vulnerable when it came to mentioning her past encounters.
He was sure that was the case; he never doubted his instincts. A warrior should never. But his instincts were also telling him this sensitive subject should be shelved for later; the other passengers were watching, so he answered, his tone apologetic.
"I understand, master; I apologize. I won't speak so recklessly in the future…"
Seeing her disciples' remorseful look, Abigail calmed down.
She let out a sigh. "Just don't speak of such nonsense again; you in particular are a special case. The heavens may be watching over you, but the earth is listening intently as well."
Those words confused the young disciple. "What does that mean, Master?" He questioned.
But she shook her head. "I can't tell you; there are rules to the world, and some answers can only be discovered by yourself." She answered.
She peered out of the window across from him. "Those that should know, know. Those that don't… don't."