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***
Past
The first lessons in magic came into Emeric's life at the age of six.
«Demonic power or demonic energy is the basis of any magical influence on the surrounding reality of our race," his mother raised her hand to immediately form a magic circle above her afterward.
Emeric instantly tried to follow her. Raising his hand and concentrating. Not actually the most rational action, but the itch beneath his skin was pushing him forward with all his might. An incomprehensible, unlike anything earlier, sensation that rose from his entire being and traveled to his outstretched hand.
Emeric smiled triumphantly as the blob of energy that Aldis had summoned earlier appeared above his hand. The energy within was chaotic and irrational. It was begging to go out and simultaneously seeking its own end. It tried to become part of the world around her, but sought to destabilize her. It was incredibly dangerous, but it obeyed him.
«What?" Venelana mumbled in shock. Emeric's mother was incredibly surprised by her son's first contact with her demonic power. Especially her bloodline power. The power of the Bael bloodline.
Since Lucifer's arrival and his pact with Hell, the demon world has been ruled by seventy-two Pillars of Hell with their legions. Seventy-two demonic lineages, each with a unique ability. Seventy-two unique abilities that helped noble demons gain a strong foothold in the world's supernatural arena.
The Pillars of Hell were given unique powers that were inherited.
Time manipulation. Duke Agares. The Second Pillar of Hell.
Manipulation of the Weather. Marquis Leraye. The Fourteenth Pillar of Hell.
The Flame of Life. Marquis Fenex. The Thirty-seventh Pillar of Hell.
And many other diverse abilities.
The immediate power and usefulness of these abilities and determined the entire hierarchy of demonic clans. It was so in ancient times and will be so in the future, even when half of the Pillars simply died out.
And Great King Bael was the first among equals. The closest bloodline to the Primordial Lucifer. The founder and head of the strongest faction of Hell, the Great King's Faction.
Because he had the strongest and most dangerous ability among demons, the Power of Destruction.
The power of destruction is the most powerful weapon of all demonic powers. The corrosive miasma of this dangerous ability is capable of devouring reality itself. It destroys almost everything it touches and is able to destroy souls, devour magical power and stitch through any artificial and natural barriers.
Venelana Gremory was born and raised as Bael, to be given in the future as a wife to Zeotikus Gremory. She could still remember her and her brother's early days of learning their birth ability.
The omnipresent grandfather and patriarch of their kind, Zekram Bael helped to channel the demonic power through their magical circuits, but after they had played with it, he simply let go of control. The frenzied and evil force instantly began to explode and devour their bodies, only to have Zekram, having heard enough of their screams, simply pour the Tears of the Phoenix on them.
It was like that for the first time and many times after that.
The power of destruction did not tolerate weakness. It didn't care about your age or your attitude. It always took what it had and made you pay the price for its use.
Or, watching her son create "bunnies" out of his power, that's how it used to be.
In those first few times, when she'd realized the limits of her powers, Venelana hadn't even wanted to use it. There was no 'maybe this time it'll work' or 'maybe I won't lose my arm', just pain and the methodical application of Phoenix Tears. Their grandfather had simply forced them to learn and learn, to endure and master, lest years later the Power of Destruction simply go haywire and kill its bearer.
Those days of joint "m-treatment" together with her brother were forever imprinted in her memory and prevented her from objectively assessing his actions until now. Hundreds of years later, she still can't fully condemn her brother's actions in managing the family and the clan, even though his behavior was obvious to everyone around him. Every time her daughter asks her to reason with him, she thinks of a little boy calling for help and shoving his intestines back into his belly.
Until these days, the fastest mastery of the Power of Destruction in her memory had only been achieved by her daughter, the Superdemon, Lord of Hell, Aldis, formerly Gremory, Lucifer. She had mastered her abilities under her careful guidance in one year. And the number of times she'd maimed herself numbered at most a dozen. Such talent elevated her daughter to the absolute top of the demonic community, and most likely she was already historically the strongest demon. According to those in the know, she had already surpassed the original Lucifer dozens of times in pure magical power.
Aldis was also the absolute leader among all the demons of Bael's kind in the art of manipulating their powers. Even Zekram, the oldest of the demons of Hell, was long behind the current head of Hell.
Yet despite her daughter's obvious power and skill in manipulating her birth ability, Venelana never said she was going to start training Emeric. Her daughter loved and pampered her younger brother too much. Perhaps it was in him that she saw the justification for all her controversial and cruel decisions she had made for her vision of demons throughout Hell. Despite all her cruelty, which she hid under the guise of infantilization, Aldis indulged her younger brother far too much. The Lord of Hell was becoming completely helpless in front of a six-year-old child, so Venelana had completely excluded her from the training that required the proper level of cruelty to her offspring. Aldis might have been able to tutor her younger brother for the rest of her life, but neither Venelana nor Zeotikus would allow such a thing to happen.
It was really hard for her to decide to take such a step, but they simply didn't have time. Emeric was too much of a fidgety child with great magical potential, comparable to Aldis. Her son was too talented for his own good, and numerous attempts to distract him with other activities were quickly passed and abandoned. And demonic energy began to flow more and more frequently just before it was actively triggered.
Usually, magical training in the children of demonic Pillars begins at ten and up, but Emeric's potential forced his parents to force the process. All magical seals and barriers began to dissolve under her son's power of destruction. Venelana was simply afraid that her son would try to activate his abilities on his own, and given his ability to disappear literally within four walls, they might not have had time to deal with the consequences.
Even now, watching Emeric's "obedient" power of destruction in shock, Venelana recalled the original plan. It was predictable that Emeric would disobey and immediately activate his abilities after the restrictions were lifted. She knew her son like the back of her hand, so the numerous Tears of Fenex had been waiting for a long time.
But what should she do now? How can she instill in her offspring the danger of his powers when the very power of destruction is cuddled up to him like a kitten?!
*****
«Oops!
«Well done, Emeric! Well done! Ha ha ha ha...
The bird created from the power of destruction made a few circles around their table while Emerick's father laughed and clapped his hands together.
Zeotikus Gremory was a very easy person to talk to and always took all his antics with humor. And when he began to show him tricks with his power, his father was delighted.
He actually had a history lesson today, but the son was too eager to brag, and the father wanted to see his son's success firsthand.
«And now, my signature move, KA-ME-HA-ME.....
«STOP!" his father's sharp and panicked shout made him stop right before the completion of the "super move". His father wiped the sweat off his forehead and asked when he was sure that the immense demonic power of his strength had gone down. - Where did you learn that?
«So, this... - Emeric scratched his cheek in embarrassment. - Goku does that!
«Goku who? - Perplexed he was asked, meanwhile remembering all the servants and noble demons in Emeric's entourage with a similar name.
«It's from Dragon Ball! - It was explained to him like a little boy.
«I see..." Zeotikus stated tiredly and put his palm to his face.
Various anime and cartoons of a martial nature have long been recognized as one of the best tools for nurturing the ambitions of young demons. This is in real life in a normal child all just a figment of the imagination, but with demons imagination - this is the first stronghold for the successful application of their powers. If the little demon wants to repeat the "cool" technique from the cartoon - great, if it worked - even better!
And his son has long been hooked on these "senenen-renenen" and soon, according to Zeotikus's premonition, will begin to "use" these techniques. All kinds of rasengana, gomu-guns and similar nonsense created by the rich imagination of animators. It's a great situation, any other aristocrat would say. But not with his son, who will start making a trademark mess of the whole house! The worst part is, you can't forbid it! One ear in, one ear out. And the cartoons themselves have long been one of the most effective means of disarming hyperreactivity of his son.
«Okay, let's start the lesson," Zeotikus stifled a gasp when he saw his son's "super obedient" look. He's a demon after all, and you can't fool him for the tenth time in a row! - Where to start hmmm...
Zeotikus looked at the huge volume 'Genealogical Trees of the Second Dozen Pillars of Hell' and abruptly became saddened. Considering his son's attitude after gaining abilities, the best outcome would be for them to leave the entire library on their own.
What if?
«Emeric, do you know why demons use magical circles, even though it takes only imagination and will to use generic power? - Zeotikus asked his son, taking on a puzzled look and organizing the rough scenario of the current lesson in his head.
«Well, is it easier? - Emeric replied thoughtfully.
«Yes and no! - continued the father. - For direct use of your innate power, circles are absolutely unnecessary, BUT!" he raised a finger up. - If you want to use spells for "domestic" tasks, or spells where direct demonic power is harmful, such as teleportation, you need to use a circle, where the energy is "filtered" and the framework of the spell is inscribed in advance.
«But I could see mom using the circle to use her power.....
«It's a habit! In time, you'll realize that "combat" spells are used much, much less often than "household" spells, and the circle has no effect on your innate power. It's just that in the future it's psychologically easier to activate your power that way!
«Uh-oh.
«But that's not the topic of today's lesson, or rather this information will still be useful to you, but already in magic lessons. Today we will learn about who exactly started magic circles and to whom the foundation of each magic system in history is attributed!
Emeric listened to his father's story with his mouth open and memorized every word. The history lesson turned into a true tale of the legends of the world.
«The Son of David, the King of Israel, the Blessed One, the Wisest of the Wise - King Solomon! The creator of the Little Key of Solomon, the world's first volume on countering demons and the first man in history, who made all seventy-two Pillars of Hell to reckon with himself. It was on the basis of his ritualism that demonic circles and the first magic systems were created, which opened magic to humans.
«Cool! - Emeric commented enthusiastically.
The father got his way and continued to tell his son about the great figure who had almost brought all of Hell to its knees. Smart people had the advantages of longevity, such as a good memory and the ability to learn from their mistakes and teach others. That was how he had taught Aldis, and that was how he would teach Emeric.
***
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