Nic returned to the temple in a blaze of glory. Drawing sticks and bones from his bag to serve as makeshift swords, he began to stab, slash, scythe at the air, forming a flurry of blows. Learning how to weave one strike into six, how to cut and pierce so that one blade didn’t interfere with the next. Each strike was satisfying, bringing his new strength and speed to bear as the air blurred around his weapon. His heart sang with the thrill of fighting, with the excitement of newfound power.

He slid into a flowing state of mind, a total concentration on the joy of his new form, his new strength.

In the end it lasted for just over an hour. Far more time than he’d need to settle any battle. As the form dissolved back into Essence and flowed down into his body, Nic dropped to the ground, covered in slimy sweat and gasping.

His meridians ached any time he used Essence. Damaging them had been the price of seizing such a powerful Warform, and it was more than worthwhile. Already his regeneration was beginning to ease away the damage, repairing the broken lines of power, and Nic was confident he’d made the right choice keeping his axolotl form.

One body to provide overwhelming force. One body to heal and recover. The resulting combination of strength and resilience was ideal for warfare.

He settled against the cultivation mat, for once eager to meditate. He wanted to explore his new body and understand what had changed. “Sofia?”

“I can guess what you’re going to ask.”

“What is Pandemonium? That weird energy that appeared in the bloodline sea…” He clenched his fist, examining the way the aura flowed around his muscles to strengthen them. Something was lurking within the rivers of golden energy. A darker, more insidious force that writhed and shivered. “I used to have devilish blood when I was human. But shouldn’t that have disappeared when I won the Lottery and migrated?”

“Hmm. Nicolas, it’s better to understand that demons aren’t actually related by blood. They’re not a species or even a cluster of species. Unrelated, across time and space, entire worlds will suddenly come under the sway of the demonic Concept.”

“So, Pandemonium is a Concept?”

“Yes. A predatory Concept, one that actively seeks vessels. The name comes from the Pandemonic Warren. A world-city like your own, vast, teeming with desperate people. One day without warning, every living soul received the knowledge of this concept, binding them to it.”

“And they learned they could grow more powerful by devouring each other. That’s the prime advantage of demonic cultivation- when you slay another demon you gain a massive portion of their cultivation.”

Nic winced. He could see it now. If the people of d23 were given the chance to grow by devouring each other…

In that dying city built atop a rotting corpse, there was no hope of a better tomorrow. An evil hope- one that asked you to consume and to kill- would spread like wildfire. There would be carnage in the streets. And the ones who did hold back would be powerless in the end, hunted like animals.

Would he have fallen for it?

In the new world, he’d chosen time and time again to give people a chance before he resorted to violence. But in a way that was a sign of his new strength. Mercy was something he could afford to show people.

“You have a choice of paths before you now. You could try to purge the demonic energy from your soul, and there are definite benefits to doing so. As more creatures evolve more demonic cultivators will emerge on this world. You’ll be constantly under siege, and any talents you strengthen with Demon Essence will be permanently locked from advancing with normal Essence.”

Nic grimaced. It reminded him of the addictive lumenarch flowers, which granted a temporary boon to Essence but quickly left you unable to progress normally without them, acting as a form of cultivation drug.

“The second… is to join a Pandemonium Legion.”

Reaching into his bag, Nic took out a healing orb from the weavers. Consuming it, he felt the hardened sphere dissolve into pleasant waves of nurturing energy within his body, and washed that flow of healing power against his cracked meridians; the worst of the damage was slowly sealed away as he rotated his cultivation in soothing, slow patterns.

“How demanding are these Legions? If they’re anything like the Marchesa’s Legion, it’d mean giving up my path as a lone cultivator.”

“They’re very different from the regular Legions, Nicolas. They began as nothing more than agreements between demons not to attack each other. On worlds where nearly every cultivator followed the demonic path, it was necessary to have allies to watch your back. Over time they became more orderly and joined the System, but they’re still far from restrictive.”

“The only true requirement is that you slay members of the opposing demonic Legions.”

Slowly nodding, Nic made up his mind on the spot.

“I don’t know. At the end of the day- aren’t demons going to attack me regardless? I’ll be tastier if I’m one of them, but I doubt they’re going to leave me alone either way. It might mean being dragged into the politics of the Legions…”

“But this is a chance to make some allies, when I’ve already got a hostile Settlement on either side.”

“I find the demonic path distasteful Nicolas, but I can’t fault your logic here. We do need allies- and any the Pandemonium Legions will gladly take someone with your talent for fighting. As soon as we have a Settlement, we’ll be able to make contact.”

“System? Can you show me the requirements to evolve again?”

Requirements to open the Path of the Great Chain are as follows:

+ Devour or Attune to a Settlement Pillar (0/1)

+ Gain understanding of two synergistic or opposed Concepts (1/2)

+ Gain a total of five Ranks beyond X in your Cultivation Base (0/5)

+ Defeat an opponent of D-Class or higher. (0/1)

Three of the four must be completed before the Path is opened.

In addition, you walk the Path of the Red Wastes. The following trials must be completed before evolution is possible:

Slay an E-Class child of Pandemonium or receive a Hellfire Baptism (0/1)

Cultivate two techniques to Rank X using Demon Essence (0/2)

It seemed as if becoming a demon had raised the requirements significantly. But even without that, the obstacles in his path were no joke.

Attuning a Settlement was already in his plans. And he’d achieved three ‘overflow’ Ranks in Physical Strength. Gaining two more might be possible.

The last two were the real trials. He’d either need to fight an opponent well above his Class, or…

Learn another concept that could combine with Sacrifice.

“Sofia? What’s the opposite of Sacrifice?”

“It depends, Nicolas. There’s no strict answers when it comes to the Concepts, rather, what matters is what you believe the opposite of Sacrifice is. By giving the Concept an opposite you also define what it is not.”

“This…” Nic sighed out loud. “Sounds an awful lot like the kind of mystic mumbo-jumbo I try to avoid.”

“Yes, and the sooner you learn to confront the spiritual aspects of cultivation, the sooner you’ll learn they’re nothing to be afraid of.”

“What’s even the odds of finding another treasure like the feather that just happens to contain the Concept I need?”

“Very, very low. But there are other ways to achieve a Concept, for instance-”

“AHEM.” Standing on the edge of the Saturnalia was Inkspur, wings outstretched, chest puffed up and glowing with luminous symbols. “I cannot help but NOTICE you AND that insufferable brutish insect have reached your transformations. When, may I ask, will I ascend to become a TRUE-BORN DRAGON?”

Chuckling, Nic reached out a hand and let the mouthy little lizard scramble down his arm.

“I don’t know. How’s your cultivation going? I’ve already given you a Shard, so I don’t see why you can’t evolve right now…”

“BAH. You know nothing of the dragon-blooded ways. I require a TREASURE. Something precious that speaks to my soul, a GREAT and TERRIBLE GREED that ignites my dragonfire!” Inskpur shouted, wings fluttering in agitation.

“Oh, I see. Is that what you were doing with your statue, then?” As Nic’s fingers dug into the soft spines beneath his chin and scratched, the wyvern let out happy, chirping little purs, calming down and relaxing to rest on his side against Nic’s palm as his legs kicked with involuntary bliss.

“Yess... To the right, please, THAT’s the spot… I thought such a BEAUTIFUL statue would finally ignite my spark…” Inkspur groaned unhappily. “But it was useless. I need something glittering. Something gold. Something no other dragon in the known worlds has…”

“Well, it’s not like treasure is exactly rare down here- hey, you liked that feather, didn’t you?”

“Yesss, that feather might have done the trick. If SOMEONE hadn’t gone and WASTED it…” Inkspurs eyes were closed, but one cracked open to give Nic a baleful glare.

“Hmm. So maybe something fiery? Or another treasure with a Concept inside....”

Nic paused in a moment of thought, and Inkspur nipped at his fingers until they resumed scratching.

Redjaw’s evolution had made him an excellent warrior, capable of holding back hordes enemy hordes while Nic served as the sword to Redjaw’s shield. The Lindwurm wasn’t a tremendously powerful form in terms of offense, but it was able to hold its own with sheer weight and size, and Redjaw’s cultivation-binding venom combined with the Lindwurm’s rotting breath would slow any enemies without true immunity to poison to a crawl.

In short, Redjaw was excellent at playing a fixed role in combat.

All three of his companions would hopefully come to do the same. Nic was flexible and tricky, but with each of his companions a Class behind him, they would have to focus all their might on supporting him in just one aspect to keep up.

For Redjaw it was his defense and his poisons, holding down an area.

For Inkspur, and for the sleepy, childish Sunfire?

He wasn’t sure yet. As he thought, Redjaw slid out of his tattoo, wrapping itself around Nic’s throat like a second scarf. It was an almost affectionate gesture from the brute. The centipede hissed and clicked at Inkspur, until the little wyvern rolled his eyes and huffed out-

“The idiot asks what’s next for him. He wishes to prove himself in battle.”

Nic just smiled. “I think that makes two of us.”

His scarf reached up onto the Saturnalia, wrapping around Sunfire and pulling him into Nic’s arms. With all three of his companions at his side, Nic closed his eyes, settling into the feel of cultivation with his new body and new strength.