Chapter 33 - Learning the Language

1 Week Later…

‘Rivia… my faithful servant… I am so very disappointed. You let your emotions get the better of you. Cast them aside… and do not fail in your assigned task. If you jeopardize his safety again, I will personally see to it that your soul burns for eternity in the depths of the abyss. However, I know you are devoted to my cause… so I will forgive your transgressions just this once. Know that this man is of immense value to me, and that if you lead him into my flock... you will be eternally rewarded. Put aside your personal vendetta, educate him, lead him into my loving embrace… turn him into an unquestioning follower just as you are. Remember this… act to manipulate him appropriately. Befriend him, even if it is a false friendship, to gain more sway over his thoughts and actions… seduce him if you can, and persuade him to follow you downwards into damnation. Do this, my faithful priestess, and receive my blessings. Now it is time to wake up, and for you to fulfill your duties.’

They’d all pitched in to help build two new additions to the wooden cabin over the course of that week. With Mattis dead, Corela was quick to move back in with her family and insisted that she not be left alone while grieving. Her room was to be built on the western end while Trey and his minions would share the extension of the eastern cabin. They had taken axes and chopped down a door through the windows in these walls on opposite sides of the cabin, and began laying the groundwork for their new rooms. Over the course of that week, they succeeded in completing the small additions to the wooden house… though it was shoddy at best. They’d need to fix it up, but that could come with time.

Blankets and furs had been given to Trey and Rivia for their room, with the two of them regularly sleeping beside each other purely for warmth’s sake. Rivia had been surprised he hadn’t come on to her for sex, but had recently been told by her goddess in a dream that she needed to oblige if he wanted it… after she’d been chided in that very same dream for nearly letting Trey die in battle. Rivia had been very displeased with the message, she was scared shitless of Trey after their previous encounters, but she’d come to accept the idea as these visions were certainly from Alkir.

Unless she was going mad, it had to be Alkir. Who else would contact her and put words into her head? The thought that her chosen deity was making efforts to contact her, although indirectly, sent chills of excitement up Rivia’s spine… but it also made her curious as to why Alkir cared so much about this man. Why was he so special? Why had Rivia received dreams just like this one about Trey in the past? Although she hadn’t known it at the time, they’d certainly been talking about her current master. Her father was killed and her mother avenged just as the dreams had talked about, right? Regardless, it was not Rivia’s place to question the will of the divine. So over the past week she’d worked on improving their master-minion relationship… not for herself, but because of her devotion to the dark mistress.

Atharost on the other hand had insisted he wouldn’t ever need a blanket for as long as he lived and declined any offers to take one. Instead, he laid on the dirt floor every night. When it became too cold, Atharost would simply walk outside and burst into flames.

They’d all been amazed at how fast the additions to the cabin had been completed. It had focused them, charged them with a duty to fulfill, and kept their minds off of losing Mattis… if only while they labored.

The All Spirit’s notification to Trey about Napoleon’s restoration had happened 2 days ago, and the small, black oblivion imp was having the time of his life interacting with Borthome’s family ever since. Nommen thought him especially hilarious with the quick jabs at Trey’s expense, even if Jason had to translate it all. Beyond a shadow of a doubt and even with only a third of the time that Rivia, Trey or Atharost had spent with Borthome’s family, Napoleon was quickest to pick up the Human language.

[Human Dialect] “Try asking Trey a question in Human.” stated Jason with a head nod. He had his hands out in front of the fire, enjoying Elise’s company right outside the family cabin and trying his best to keep Corela occupied from time to time.

“Can you understand us now, Trey?” asked Elise from behind. Trey heard his name and turned on the log he sat on, but looked questioningly to Jason.

[English Dialect] “What did she just say?” asked Trey, shrugging helplessly and cleaning Talsh’Noc’Un with a wet cloth.

Jason sighed. “She was just testing out whether or not you could understand her, since you were speaking to her brother Nommen this morning.”

“Oh. Well that was just a couple basic words with incomplete sentences, but I promise I’m doing my best! Amaia has been hard at work teaching me.” Trey gave a thumbs up and went back to cleaning the sword’s blade where the crimson crescent rune occasionally pulsed with light.

Night had fallen and the sound of nightlife was out in full force. Even despite winter coming on the horizon. The sound of chirping crickets, crackling flames and an owl hooting in the nearby treeline repeatedly graced their ears.

From across the clearing, Rivia made her way back from studying scripture. She glanced over at Jason and the other humans with a condescending sneer, then continued to walk with her head held high to where Trey sat next to the bonfire. She gave him a polite smile, gently grazed his shoulder with her fingers and came to stand behind him.

[Ancient Demon Dialect] “You look tired… hold still.” Her hands came up to his shoulders on either side of his neck and began to firmly press.

Trey gave her a curious glance, wondering what the hell she was doing, until the rhythmic motions of the massage against his bare trapezius muscles quickly reduced the tension they’d built up.

Oh, so that’s what she was doing.

This wasn’t the first time it’d happened either. He’d been rather surprised that she’d offered this as a service out of the blue just a day ago, but he certainly appreciated it and she’d already been improving after discovering his preferences. So he didn’t question her intentions too much and just enjoyed it instead.

[Ancient Demon Dialect] “Are you still fasting?” Trey asked and gave a pleased moan when Rivia successfully finished loosening up the tight muscles along his back, though she still continued the massage even after that.

[Ancient Demon Dialect] “Of course, master. I will have finished my fasting by tomorrow morning, and I have prayed to the Dark Origin 13 times today.” Rivia couldn’t help but smile at the thought of learning the new miracle she’d been given, but her hands still trembled sometimes when touching him. She was still very scared of Trey due to their past experiences, even despite her own advances under the guidance of her goddess.

Book of Miracles: Pestilence

Item Tier: (8) Very Rare

Requirements: 13 Faith, Dark Attribute, 50 hours of fasting and devout prayer to the Dark Origin

Durability: 9/12

Special: Disease afflicts your opponent, causing rot at an accelerated rate. Very painful. Reduces HP and SP equally.

This new miracle would give her a means of inflicting damage over time and add to her utility, something Trey was secretly proud of her for taking the time to learn. Even if he didn’t like Rivia much, she was still his demon to command, and he could appreciate the growth that his minions were having. He would benefit from their growth just as they would, his minions were extensions of himself comparable to another arm or leg that he could use, and in turn it meant that he as a summoner was becoming more powerful.

As for the Dark Origin: Trey had asked about this when he’d caught Rivia reciting a prayer out of the Book of Miracles that praised this origin. She had told him that these prayers listed in the book were unique to learning this miracle and that she was essentially asking the Dark Origin in a reverent manner to bless her with it. The Dark Origin itself was the source of all Dark mana, it wasn’t a god or even a living entity but something else entirely. Beyond that explanation, even Rivia couldn’t really understand it, but she accepted it for what it was.

He’d also come to learn about the differences between ‘Spell Scrolls’ vs. ‘Grimoires’ vs. ‘Miracle Books,’ after discussing it in length with the priestess. With spell scrolls, a mage gifted in that spell would pour his hard earned skills and memories into a scroll with the help of an enchanter. An enchanter was someone who had the affinity of ‘Enchanting’ magic that was essentially the ability to siphon other people’s magic into items. Once the memories and skills relating to a spell were placed into the paper, the scroll would have a one time instant use ability that would destroy the scroll after the use. The reader would gain that spell if they had the correct affinity and the correct stats, while the scroll wouldn’t activate if they didn’t qualify. Spell Scrolls also had a possible downside if too many scrolls were used in a short amount of time - being that you’d either get some sort of permanent brain damage or simply die on the spot as your mind fried like cooked chicken. Rivia had strongly suggested only to use a maximum of 1 spell scroll in a single month to let the mind rest, though she’d heard more ambitious mages bent on the pursuit of power claiming three or even four scrolls in a single month without negative side effects. Needless to say those were rare, and it was common to have brain damage with three in a month. This was apparently not only a waste of time and effort put into creating the scroll for whatever mages had done so, but only a small percentage of mortal races could even use magic at all, and killing the mage would result in a loss of potential in the gene pool. She guessed there was around 1 person with magic potential out of every 5 for the mortal races, while the number of magic wielders drastically increased in ratio with the Fae, Demons, Celestials, or any of the other immortal races.

Grimoires, like the one Trey had lost back in Oblivion after being killed at the lakeside battle, were books of spells that had to be learned. They discussed the theory of magic and practical application a lot like a textbook would, where hard work and study was needed to learn each of the spells. Some grimoires would hold a dozen or more spells, while others would hold information for only a single complicated spell, it just depended on the author.

Then there were the miracle books. Books of miracles were a lot like grimoires in that they could be reused. There were no scrolls that could immediately teach a miracle like the spell scrolls could do with magic, they simply didn’t exist for miracles. The reason why is because miracles could only be gifted unto you by a higher power such as a god or a mana origin like the Dark Origin she’d been praying to in order to acquire the pestilence miracle. To acquire a miracle you needed to have the correct prayers and you needed to show how devout you were in your faith, hence the 50 hours of fasting and prayer to the Dark Origin for this new miracle she was trying to obtain.

Both miracles and spells were well guarded secrets for most masters of the arts though. Finding one was a big deal, so Rivia knew very little about what types of miracles were out there due to this unspoken rule of secrecy… even though she was a priestess.

He snapped back to the present with another question from Amaia. She’d been working with him all day, and even though night had closed in she hadn’t given up on seeing some progress. Strangely enough, Amaia wasn’t acting at all upset about recent events but was actually rather excited as she tried to teach Trey the language.

[Human Dialect] “I hungry eat wood?” said Trey.

“NO!” Amaia giggled, the staple red hair and tanned skin of her family radiating against the darkness and starlight.

Jason just sighed after seeing their interaction, glancing over to Elise who was sitting next to him at the fire’s edge. No doubt Elise would have something to say about her little sister’s actions if things… progressed.

‘You are so bad at this,’ said Sithis aloud with the infernal mask materializing for a split second to voice his judgement. The others jumped slightly as the symbiote spoke, but settled back down after they realized who it was. It would probably take them a while for them to get used to the symbiote with its strange sinister voice, and nearly every time Sithis said anything at all - someone nearly shit themselves.

[English Dialect] “It’s FOOD, not WOOD.” Jason began to translate and explained it again.

[Human Dialect] “I’m hungry and need to eat food?” said Trey aloud to clarify, scratching his chin where the long scar across his face ended.

Amaia clapped excitedly and gave Trey a flirtatious nudge for his success, she was a little more happy than she should’ve been. Rivia was swift to shoot her a dirty look while continuing the massage along Trey’s shoulders, for what reason Atharost would never know... as he caught the demoness in the act.

“So, Jason, you and Trey lived in the same area when you were kids?” questioned Amaia while she picked up some smoked boar meat they’d preserved from the tusked cultist mounts days ago. The meat rewarmed was still good to eat, though a little tough and took a lot of chewing.

“Yup! We didn’t know each other but we lived in the same state. Texas was a blast if you ignore the poor parenting I had. Haven’t been back in a few years though, and I only see what’s going on in my old home town through social media... but that’s all history I guess.” replied Jason. He somehow doubted he’d ever use social media again given the current circumstances.

“What is social media?”

Jason’s lips pooched and he let out a humph, taking a moment to scratch behind Napoleon’s ears while the imp curled up in Elise’s lap. “It’s complicated. Something that Earthborn used to communicate back on Earth… but it isn’t available to us anymore.”

Estela, Amaia’s mother, took this moment to interrupt. “Can you apologize to Trey for us?”

Jason raised an eyebrow, and the others looked equally puzzled.

“What do you mean? What for?”

Estela looked down shamefully and then back down the hill to the houses that’d been burned down in the attack a week ago. Even in the dark of night, the starlight still made the outlines of the ruined village visible from here. Some had started to rebuild their homes, but not everyone. There were still some older folks that couldn’t do it by themselves, and with many of them having lost family that would have helped them it fell to the community to provide.

“We aren’t the best hosts… Many of our belongings were taken or ruined. Thank the gods our house wasn’t burned down like so many others, but I just wish there was a comfortable place we could let him stay other than a dirt floor. I’m just so grateful for what he and those other men did for us!” Estela put her head in her hands and began to weep. “Please tell him that we appreciate him, and that we are sorry. Please.”

Jason was skeptical that he should say anything at all, as it wasn’t their fault that the cultists had stolen their shit before it had all gotten ruined in the fighting. But… he did as he was asked and forwarded it to Trey, while Rivia finished her massage and came around to sit beside the summoner.

[English Dialect] “It’s obviously not their fault. I’m just happy to be out of Oblivion man! Having good company and chilling around a campfire… This is great. Tell her not to worry, and that as long as they can put up with me - that’ll be all that matters! Teaching me the Human language here in game would definitely help too.” He scooted forward and put his legs out to lay back and rest his head on Rivia’s legs. He had to maneuver sideways so that his horns didn’t poke into the girl’s abdomen and his minion accepted her role as a thigh pillow without a word. Secretly he’d wondered how she’d react to this move… and was surprised to see she didn’t look to mind.

Then… then his thoughts drifted back to Amanda… It’d been a while since he’d thought of his ex. He used to lay his head in her lap like this all the time, and the act triggered a flood of damaging memories. He quickly had to hide his frown and pretended to cough to cover it, not wanting to let on that something was wrong.

He wondered if she was ok. He hoped she was. He definitely missed her… and although he doubted Amanda felt the same way about him, he still loved her. Even after she’d cheated on him, even after all the fighting they’d gone through due to her bipolar disorder and enraged outbursts over tiny things that should have never been fought about… He still loved her. How fucked was that.

“These goddamn horns get in the way so much! UGH!”

Atharost shook his head while rolling his eyes, not being much of a talker this night and already getting drowsy. He yawned and said a brief goodbye before turning in to sleep with a backwards wave.

Jason laughed and turned back to Estela. [Human Dialect] “He basically said it’s not your fault and that if you teach him Human, and are able to put up with him, that it’s even.”

[Human Dialect] “So he’ll be staying with us then?!” Amaia asked enthusiastically, much to the discontent of Elise. Her older sister didn’t feel comfortable having Amaia around Trey alone, and the younger woman had tried her best to do exactly that as of late.

[Human Dialect] “He’s so interesting! Can you ask him if I can take a look at his status page? I’m just curious.” Amaia gave an innocent smile and clasped her hands out in front of her.

“That’s RUDE!” exclaimed Estela in astonishment. “Don’t go asking people for their pages! That’s not polite. What has gotten into you?!”

Amaia’s innocent smile cracked and faltered, and suddenly she looked ashamed.

“I’m sure he wouldn’t care,” said Jason. “He seems like a pretty laid back guy after you get to know him, though at first I thought he was a real asshole. Don’t tell him I said that when you’re teaching him though.”

“Absolutely not! You WILL not ask for his status page!” Estela insisted and she slapped her knee to make a point. “On top of that, you should inform Trey not to go around talking to people about being Earthborn or showing his status page to people. You all have 2000 gold bounties on your heads thanks to the king now. 500 just for information that leads to a capture. We wouldn’t want you two ending up in prison!”

Napoleon yawned widely and then repositioned himself in Elise’s lap. For nearly an entire minute everyone was completely silent. The chirping of crickets was still occasionally heard amongst the crackling of flames but the owl had flown off a couple minutes ago. More wood was thrown onto the fire to keep it blazing, and then Borthome coughed loudly to spit up some phlegm with a croak.

“We still need to go get those ingredients for your medicine.” Elise said as she looked down sweetly at the imp asleep on her legs. “We’ll have to start over since we lost our ingredients in the attack, but I think we’ll be able to find it all tomorrow if we start early.”

“I’ll recruit Trey to help us out too. The lazy asshole needs to do something with his life anyways.” Jason commented playfully, pointed a crooked finger at his new friend, and the others about the fire laughed. Trey had seemed like a real dick when they’d first met, but Jason was taking a quick liking to him. Trey had been very polite to Elise and her family, respectful of their rules, and helped a lot around the house and with labor or hunting. It went a long way in making him re-evaluate his initial assessment of the summoner despite the blaringly obvious moral deficits he had concerning his minions.

[English Dialect] “Stop talking about me you asshat.” stated Trey making a pouting face before pulling his turquoise battle-robe’s hood over his face. Well… as much as he could, given the horns getting in the way of pulling it all completely down.

[Human Dialect] “Do you think he’d teach me some magic if I asked?” questioned Nommen in a whisper to Jason. He looked rather eager when he asked it too.

Jason picked up a piece of skewered meat from a wooden board next to him and shrugged, ripping a piece off and chewing to swallow. “Honestly I don’t know if he even knows how he does it, but I’ll ask him for you tomorrow.”

Nommen nodded, smiled, and pulled one of the few blankets that had managed to keep over his shoulders. It took a while after that, through the relative silence of night, but Elise’s younger brother eventually dozed off and fell into a perfect dreamless sleep.

However, there was one person that didn’t sleep well that night. Corela watched the others in silence, occasionally suppressing a sob and trying her best to come to terms with her new reality. Mattis was gone… it was the cultists that had done it, but the demons they served were to blame too.

Her eyes fell to Trey, then Atharost, Rivia, and even the large talking sword with that strange crescent rune. They were all evil too. Hot raging anger simmered inside her, with her glower descending into madness. She would have her revenge.

She would show these monsters what it was like to experience loss.