Althos and his two companions sat in the sacristy of the chapel. A brief silence had fallen over them, due in part to Althos focusing on the notifications and reading through them quite rapidly.

Althos had begun to rapidly cycle through the rest of the notifications that had yet to be examined. He did this by mentally configuring his own settings so that notifications could be read with but a blink. He was lucky that the system seemed intuitive and responded to his suggestions with ease, rather than bogging him down with text-heavy menus.

After he made that modification to his system Salifinos and Tristan both silently wondered why the godling was blinking so much, that it actually distracted the two of them. They found themselves tempted to ask if the creature needed some eye-drops or something. They decided not too and allowed the deity to behave as oddly as he wished without questioning him.

Althos politely excused himself for a second, wanting to breeze through the rest of these notifications and recognizing that his companions were weirded out by his behavior.

He left the sacristy and walked over to the chapel's nave. He sat in an uncomfortable pew made of dark metal and got to work so that he could finish the small pile of notifications he had left.

Of the remaining handful of notifications, Althos received one of considerable interest and a handful that were intriguing but less directly useful.

[NEW COMBINED KNOWLEDGE NOTIFICATION GAINED: HEALING, EVOCATION, AND MIND MAGIC.

HEALING MAGIC CAN BE USED TO RESTORE EVERYTHING FROM LIMBS TO ANCESTRAL ABILITIES AND TRAITS AT HIGH ENOUGH LEVELS. VISION AND HEARING CAN EASILY BE RESTORED BY SOMEONE WITH ENOUGH MAGICAL POWER, AND THOSE WITH CAREFUL CONTROL OVER THEIR MAGIC CAN REACH INTO A LIVING CREATURE'S DNA AND MODIFY IT. THIS CAN RESULT IN VESTIGAL TRAITS REEMERGING IN CREATURES, OR IN THE RESTORATION OF POWERFUL BLESSINGS SOMEONE'S ANCESTORS MAY HAVE RECEIVED.

EVOCATION MAGIC IS MOST COMMONLY UNDERSTOOD AS THE SORT OF MAGIC THAT GENERATES FIREBALLS, BOLTS OF LIGHTNING, AND OTHER DEVASTATING NATURAL PHENOMENA. THIS SCHOOL REINVOLVES AROUND THE TRANSFORMATION OF MAGICAL ENERGY INTO POWERFUL ATTACKS. MOST BUT NOT QUITE ALL SPELLS FROM THIS SCHOOL ARE SPELLS THAT DAMAGE OPPONENTS AND IN SOME CASES, PARTICULARLY THOSE OF INCOMPETENT MAGICIANS, THE SPELLS CAN HARM THE CASTER THEMSELVES. THIS SCHOOL'S MAIN ATTACK SPELLS AND SCHOOLS STEM FROM THE MAJOR AND MINOR ELEMENTS.

MIND MAGIC IS MAGIC THAT DIRECTLY RELATES TO MIND-TO-MIND COMMUNICATION. THIS IS NOT THE SAME THING AS ILLUSION MAGIC THAT ALTERS THOUGHTS. THIS MINOR SCHOOL IS FOCUSED ON CREATING AVENUES FOR TELEPATHETIC COMMUNICATION AND INCLUDES SPELLS THAT ALLOW FOR A RANGE OF CREATURES TO COMMUNICATE WITH EACH OTHER.

TOTAL SPELLS GAINED: OVER 130. YOU CAN ALSO CONSTRUCT SPELLS THAT BELONG TO THESE SCHOOLS OF MAGIC AND CAN MIX AND MATCH ELEMENTS FROM EACH SCHOOL.

YOUR ABILITY TO USE RAW MAGICAL ENERGY IS NOW IMPROVED, ALLOWING FOR MORE COMPLEX USAGES OF UNFILTERED MAGICAL ENERGY.]

That notification was followed by perhaps the most painful sensation Althos had felt to his date as he felt his mind gaining awareness of new spells and new things he could do with magic. He also received a new notification that was particularly intriguing.

[NEW SIDE-QUEST: GAINING INFLUENCE OVER THE DOMAIN OF MAGIC.

OBJECTIVE: GAIN KNOWLEDGE OF ALL BASIC SCHOOLS OF MAGIC.

CURRENT PROGRESS: 4/10.

REWARD: UPON COMPLETION OF THIS QUEST YOU WILL BE FIFTY PERCENT DONE WITH THE STEPS NEEDED TO GAIN THE FIRST TIER OF INFLUENCE OVER THE DOMAIN OF MAGIC. YOU WILL ALSO BE ABLE TO BLESS MAGIC-USERS WHO TRY TO USE A SPELL IN A BASIC SCHOOL OF YOUR CHOICE.]

Althos mentally accepted this sub-quest and notched gaining knowledge of magic and magical schools a bit higher up on his list of priorities. Althos highly valued magic, understanding how potent it could be in the right hands, and knew that it would probably be a powerful tool when he eventually faced off against Master Paimon in direct combat again.

Another notification of note was the notification that informed him of his progress along the routes to influencing domains and subdomains.

[UPDATE NOTIFICATION REGARDING DOMAINS AND SUBDOMAINS:

THE DOMAIN YOU'VE MADE THE MOST PROGRESS ON IS THE DOMAIN OF FATE DUE TO YOUR ACTIONS IN INFERNIUS.

THIS DOMAIN WAS INFAMOUS FOR ITS STUBBORNNESS AND DIFFICULTY TO GAIN INFLUENCE OVER, BUT THE RARE FEW GODS WHO GAINED INFLUENCE OVER IT COULD SUBTLY ALTER THE NATURE OF REALITY ITSELF AND GAIN INFLUENCE OVER SYSTEMS AND QUESTS THEMSELVES.

NO DEITY EVER GAINED ANYMORE THAN THE LOWEST TIER OF INFLUENCE OVER IT. THOSE THE RARE FEW WHO DID GAIN THE LOWEST TIER OF INFLUENCE HAD INCREDIBLY POTENT BLESSINGS. THOSE THEY BLESSED BECAME GODS, DEMON-LORDS, AND INFLUENCED THE FATES OF ENTIRE WORLDS.

THE OTHER SUBDOMAIN YOU'VE MADE THE MOST PROGRESS ON ASIDE FROM YOUR ALREADY INFLUENCABLE SUBDOMAIN OF HAND-TO-HAND-COMBAT, IS THE SUBDOMAIN OF SHAPESHIFTING.

THE SHAPESHIFTING SUBDOMAIN IS A PARTICULARLY POTENT ONE AND AT THE HIGHEST TIER OF INFLUENCE OVER IT YOU CAN FORCIBLY CHANGE THE FORMS OF OTHER CREATURES, PERMANENTLY. YOU CAN ALSO SHIFT THEIR VERY SOULS IF USED IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE SOUL DOMAIN. THIS IS ONE WAY TO CREATE ENTIRELY NEW SPECIES OF CREATURES.]

After this many of the remaining notifications were ones that concerned themselves with knowledge Althos had already gained. He gained "KNOWLEDGE" notifications related to awakenings, the mortal plane, and Infernius, none of which contained new knowledge.

And at last, he received the notification he was waiting for.

[YOU MAY NOW UPDATE YOUR HUD. WE PROMISE THIS WON'T MAKE YOU BLACKOUT.

DO YOU WISH TO UPDATE YOUR HUD?]

Before Althos accepted the update, he was a bit surprised to see the system refer to itself, especially with a plural pronoun. He knew this was a possibility and had seen it in action before when the system assessed his situation at the start of his adventure in Infernius, but now it felt different.

That said he hadn't been paralyzed by inaction before and his decisiveness had always worked before. So he decided to try and independently gain new information when he could. And that wasn't really now.

Althos accepted the update and waited for it to activate. It didn't take long.

Within seconds Althos's vision underwent a significant change.

Althos's ever-active tremor sense ability sent information straight to his brain in the past. It was active everywhere, even in Infernius with Althos's new body. The first change to Althos's vision came in the form of a visual representation of the mental-map that was generated and updated by his tremor-sense power.

This visual representation occupied a small spot in the bottom right corner of Althos's field of view. It was a small blue circle with a yellow dot at the center of it that revealed the locations of nearby creatures whenever Althos took a step. Salifinos and Tristan were represented by green dots.

This little map did also come with a useful feature: if Althos knew the people who were nearby, their names were revealed as well.

Along the bottom of Althos's field of view came a transparent gallery of icons that a mental examination revealed were a series of mental "hotkeys" for casting spells. At least, that's what his intuition called the strange shortcuts.

It contained 18 spells, 3 of which related to establishing mental connections and pathways so that Althos could communicate with creatures mentally. Another 3 spells were mind-altering illusion spells that branded targets and afflicted them with potent curses causing powerful and negative emotions. The remaining 12 were split between the schools of healing magic and evocation magic.

The healing spells focused on healing various degrees of injury and even in regenerating lost limbs or restoring senses to people. The evocation spells were a series of potent elemental spells that promised to both increase and diversify the godling's offensive capabilities.

[THIS LIST OF "HOTKEYS" CAN BE CUSTOMIZED AT WILL AND WITH BUT A THOUGHT. ITS PURPOSE IS TO SIMPLIFY THE PROCESS BY WHICH YOU USE TRADITIONAL MAGIC.]

Althos's reaction to this was silent excitement, as this greatly improved his understanding of his capabilities and showed him a variety of the spells at his disposal.

Another significant change was that a series of images began to descend from the upper right corner of his vision.

[THIS IS A LIST OF YOUR DIVINE POWERS. SOME OF WHICH ARE THINGS YOU'RE AWARE OF ALREADY, THINGS LIKE BLESSINGS, SHAPESHIFTING, AND TREMORSENSE. OTHERS ARE NEW TO YOU. POWERS LIKE YOUR DIVINE AURA ABILITY, WHICH YOU CAN EXTEND TOWARDS YOUR ALLIES AND SERVANTS. A USEFUL ABILITY YOU DIDN'T KNOW YOU HAD IS THE ABILITY TO CREATE RELICS. WHEN YOU ACTIVATE THESE POWERS YOU'LL RECEIVE AN EXPLANATION ABOUT THEM. JUST NOW THAT, FOR NOW, THEY ARE USEFUL ABILITIES THAT YOU CAN ACTIVATE ONCE A DAY.]

Althos listened attentively to this explanation. After listening to it he examined the final major part of the updated HUD.

The final major visual update to his HUD came in the form of the image of a small book in the bottom left corner of his vision.

[THIS IS YOUR CODEX. IF YOU EXAMINE IT YOU'LL BE MANUALLY INITIATING A CONVERSATION WITH US WHERE WE CAN GO THROUGH AND LOOK UP ANY INFORMATION YOU ALREADY KNOW BUT MAY HAVE FORGOTTEN. I CAN ALSO RECALL NOTIFICATIONS AND SHOW YOU YOUR PROGRESS THROUGH ANY QUESTS YOU HAVE ACCEPTED.]

Althos waited a few moments, to double-check his HUD and then to listen for any more comments by his "System". When he didn't notice any other major updates or hear any more remarks by the system, he felt that it was safe to return to the sacristy.

It took him but a few moments to return back to the small room where his odd pals were waiting for him.

Even as he strode towards his seat Althos began to speak. He sounded more confident, and he wasn't blinking anymore.

"Sorry about that. So what were you saying about this Dark Saint story having a sequel?"

Tristan grinned at the deity and she prepared to speak, gathering and ordering her thoughts, right as he sat back down where he was seated before.

When Althos looked at her right before she spoke he noticed that above her face there was a bit of text that hadn't been there before.

[NAME: TRISTAN DEVIL-KISS

CLASS: CLERIC

SPECIES: HALF-DEVIL

FACTION: THE ORDER OF THE DARK SAINT]

Upon reading that, he also heard a soft pinging noise that seemed to emanate from inside of his skull.

[YOU'VE BEGUN TO PROGRESS ALONG THE "TRUTH" SUBDOMAIN. CONGRATULATIONS!]

It was seconds after Althos blinked that notification away that Tristan began to speak.

Althos and Salifinos both gave their undivided attention to the half-devil. Before she spoke she noted how the attention felt and delighted in it. At this point, she had allowed the mist to dissipate and relied on her own storytelling skills to keep her audience interested. Not that she made much more of a story to tell.

She didn't have a story to show though. That would come later, soon, but not right now. Now she just needed to get her companions to be willing to move.

"The story of the Dark Saint is understood as being both history and an origin myth for the plane of Infernius. It's more than that though."

Tristan was more surprised by how attentive Salifinos was being than by the attention paid to her by the deity. The imp didn't strike her as someone who would be interested in what many devils viewed as a heretical interpretation of the myth of the Dark Saint.

After assessing the continued interest her two guests had in her story the devil decided to continue taking.

"Some devils, we call ourselves the Order of the Dark Saint, believe in what appears to be a highly censored addition to the myth of the Dark Saint. This addition tells of someone else. A second Dark Saint."

Althos's interest was piqued by this. He inched closer to the half-devil, his eyes encouraging her to continue talking. Salifinos's eyes were narrow now, but the imp was still paying attention and was clearly interested in what she had to say. The word "censored" seems to have gotten his attention.

Unfortunately, she knew she had their interest but not their beliefs. That would come later. So she plotted out her next move in her head and began to try and make it a reality.

"If I told you this myth involved you, Althos, and me, you wouldn't believe me. And honestly, I'd get it. So, for now, I've got a proposal for you."

Salifinos's eyes went wide as he listened to her. He was stunned that after all of this she was going to stop telling them her story. After pausing for a second to react to that the imp felt deeply annoyed.

"Fuck me, seriously? You're gonna tease us like this? What proposal could you possibly have for us?"

The imp was tiny but in his annoyance, he was quite loud. Tristan winced at his profanity, not used to such vulgar displays of irritation due to her own isolation. Living out in the desert wouldn't really prepare you to deal with tiny cursing imps after all.

She reacted to the imp's statement with the patience and grace one might expect of a priestess of the ancient founder of Infernius.

"Yes, really. Your friend Althos has gained a new power thanks to his status as a true-devil but its one that he can't practice on his own. There is a place where we can travel, together that would grant him a chance to familiarize himself with his newfound command over soul-orbs."

Salifinos lacked a mastery over deceitfulness that many other imps had, and it was apparent in his every reaction to Tristan. His eyes went wide when he heard the bold proclamation made by the half-devil. Althos might have been a deity, but he wasn't a devil. It shouldn't have been possible for him to command any sort of devil unaided, even the lowliest of devils. No one had done that since the Dark Saint himself.

Then Salifinos replayed what Tristan said in his mind and realized the implication of saying that Althos was a true-devil.

"Althos... is what Tristan said true? Are you a true-devil?"

Althos nodded at the imp, and Althos realized that this stunned the imp into silence.

Althos was ignorant of the supposed impossibility or near total uniqueness of a non-devil gaining the coveted status of being a true-devil. True-devildom was what all devils who languished on the devilish hierarchy coveted.

Althos looked to Tristan and spoke, his voice filled with divine power and potent authority to a creature of order and hierarchy like her.

"I am annoyed by the fact that you knew of my power. That said I want to go to this place you spoke of. When are we leaving? Now?"

Tristan felt a variety of emotions wash over her. The most potent of them was a sense of relief since she still had Althos intrigued. The second most powerful was a sense of shame. She believed Althos to be the subject of the ancient prophecy she had devoted her life to, and he was annoyed with an action of hers.

But the third most powerful emotion and the sensation overwhelming her was exhaustion. She spoke quietly to the deity, her tone apologetic but her voice revealing her exhaustion.

"I apologize Althos, but I am a mortal. I require rest. I am technically incapable of dying of old-age, but exhaustion can kill me and I've been up for over an entire day. I need to sleep."

Althos's acceptance of this surprised her. He merely nodded at her and turned to leave the room.

Tristan in her exhausted state hadn't noticed that Salifinos had left moments ago as well, storming off in an annoyed huff.

She quickly fell asleep in her chair.

Hours passed by quietly and Althos spent his time wondering what Master Paimon was doing. Althos didn't know his opponent well, but he figured that the devil was plotting ways to lure him back into the city.

The deity came up with this hypothesis after remembering something Salifinos said. When the two had been fleeing from the city of Bastille Salifinos made an offhand remark about how Master Paimon hated so-called "less humanoid looking devils".

The deity pondered the implications of that, coupled with some of the knowledge he had gained about things like the "hierarchy of Infernius".

The main way his time was spent was thinking. He was seated on the floor of the chapel's nave because sitting on the floor was more comfortable than sitting on one of the metal pews.

After a few hours passed, Althos heard Tristan begin to stir. He went outside and retrieved the first devilish ally he had made: the moody imp. Together the two of them went back to the sacristy to meet with a hopefully energized Tristan.

Within the tiny sacristy, the reinvigorated half-devil was waiting for her two guests with a grin plastered on her face. Though the two guests didn't say it, both of them wondered why or perhaps how the young-looking priestess was perpetually in a good mood.

Salifinos figured that she was just acting, but Althos wasn't certain she was being deceptive. She seemed genuine.

And then she spoke. Her voice was more energized than it had been before and reflected a more positive state of mind.

"Well hello, guests of mine. I appreciate you letting me rest! If you'll allow me I'm now ready to take you to a place where Althos can practice and develop his newfound power. I've even kept a few Soul-Orbs there. Just for him."

At the end of that statement, she looked directly at Althos and winked. The godling was mystified by that gesture and didn't quite know what it meant. But what passed for his intuition and imitation of common sense suggested she was flirting with him.

He smiled softly at her and decided to do something which would go a long way towards endearing himself to her. He checked in on her.

"How are you feeling? Did you recover enough energy?"

His concern was more genuine than either Salifinos or Tristan had been prepared for. Of course, it wasn't altruism that drove him but rather a desire to not be held back by mortal weakness. Though he didn't mind benefitting from an illusion of kindness and good-heartedness.

Her grin turned softer for a second before it returned to its default state. She wasn't expecting kindness and concern from the deity. She also knew better than to blindly discount the very real and accurate assumption that his question contained a point and sought to suss out weakness.

"I'm fine. Plus we're not going far. If you're ready I promise I'm feeling energized enough to take you to see what lurks beneath the sands."

Her voice was soft, genuine and hinted at the destination of their upcoming journey. Althos nodded at the half-devil and then turned to Salifinos.

The childish imp grunted at the top of them, the sound unimpressive and unthreatening but both of his companions knew better than to say anything.

The sand felt loose and insubstantial beneath Althos's feet. It was here where he was reminded of the fact that being on sand was disadvantageous for him. It rendered his tremorsense power nearly useless due to the grainy nature of the footing.

I don't like sand.

He thought to himself. He stifled his complaints and trodded along the sand with his companions.

The imp was hovering and flying slowly right behind Tristan. Althos took up the rear and used his enhanced senses to keep an eye out for any possible threats.

High above them the same false moon that illuminated the city of Bastille covered parts of the desert in eerie purple light. From time to time a member of the trio would look up at the sky and shudder.

To Salifinos and Tristan, the moon's omnipresence throughout the layer had caused them to see it as a symbol of Paimon's tyranny. Althos just didn't like it.

The trio walked or flew for a few kilometers, a trip that had taken the better part of two hours before they stood in front of a gigantic mound of sand. This mound stared down at them like a tiny mountain.

Tristan turned to her companions and spoke.

"I want to offer you the chance to turn back. I doubt either of you will, but if you want to back down now's the time. We're about to enter a tomb. A devil's tomb. Once we do we'll be there for a while."

Salifinos felt what little conviction he had in any of this begin to seep out of him upon hearing that they were about to intrude upon the final resting place of at least one devil and shuddered with fear.

Tristan noticed this and grinned, ready to make a case for boldly continuing their journey but it was Althos who spoke up. His words lacked kindness or tact.

"Don't be a coward. Plus what are you gonna do if you back down now? Do you think that overlord, Master Paimon, will welcome you back into the city if you leave here? After you came with me?"

The first few words Althos uttered infuriated the imp, but the last few words were laced with both wisdom and venom. It was the wisdom that forced the imp to contend with the reality of his situation.

Tristan looked at the imp and watched him steel his resolve after grimly accepting that he either went forward with allies or left alone and risked an inglorious death in the desert or at the entrance to Bastille.

Tristan was about to begin the spell needed to open the entrance to the tomb when Althos questioned her. His voice and tone indicated that he wouldn't allow any verbal games.

"Enough games devil. What's this prophecy? How does it involve you, me, and a devilish tomb located in the desert?"

Tristan huffed at the deity, annoyed but ultimately understanding why he was fed up. He struck her as the sort to dislike ignorance, and if he was consistent at all that would lead him to have a special hatred for his own ignorance.

Tristan took a breath, and then she steeled herself for whatever reaction the deity might have to the news she was about to drop on him. She thought about whether or not to be complex with her explanation and quickly made the decision to be simple.

"The tomb is a testing place. We've got to go in, conquer it, and if we succeed we complete the first trial left behind by the Dark Saint."

Althos went along with this, vowing to fact-check it himself if he could.

"Fine. But what is this prophecy?"

He felt annoyed to be repeating himself but he knew that what Tristan provided him with wasn't an answer to that question.

Tristan sighed in annoyance, wanting to get into the tomb already, but responded to Althos's question.

"The prophecy concerns the fate of Infernius in this age, the godless age. It states that someday a new creature, a black and white entity, would seek refuge in a chapel dedicated to the first Dark Saint and become the second non-devil to be able to truly command devils. The second non-devil true-devil. And that that entity would reunify Infernius."

Althos responded to this by simply saying a single word. But that was just an initial reaction to some big news.

"Oh."

This marked the first time Tristan had truly seen the young deity surprised. It was an amusing sight.

Tristan laughed for a few seconds at this subdued reaction. Then she gestured towards the big hill in front of them, as if presenting it to auctioneers and spoke again.

"It's not as simple as 'enter dungeon, clear it, defeat Paimon', but that's the start. Now can we finally enter this dungeon?"

This snapped Althos back to reality.

"Yeah, let's go!"

Althos seemed more inflated now, more ready to go. But that was because of the notification he had just gotten.

[NEW QUEST: CONQUER THE TOMB OF AGOWRAITH THE KINGWHISPER.

OBJECTIVE: GAIN POSSESSION OF THE DUNGEON-HEART.

REWARD: GAIN CONTROL OVER THE NEXT RUG IN THE INFERNAL HIERARCHY: THE IMPS. GAINING THIS REWARD WILL ALSO GRANT YOU THE ABILITY TO PROMOTE SOUL-ORBS INTO REAL DEVILS.

NOTE: THIS QUEST WILL TEACH YOU HOW TO CONTROL SOUL-ORBS. IT IS ALSO THE NEXT QUEST IN THE CAMPAIGN TO INSTALL YOURSELF AS THE OVERLORD OF BASTILLE.]

That notification urged Althos forward. He watched as Tristan prepared to utter the quiet incantation that ought to unveil the path forward.

But not before he asked a question. He turned to Salifinos and began to speak.

"What does 'promote' mean in a devilish context?" The god asked, his eyes filled with curiosity. The imp looked at him and considered the question before responding.

"Promotions are the devilish equivalent of evolutions. Do you know what those are?" The imp asked, curious to test the limits of his companions' knowledge. Althos politely shook his head. The imp sighed, and then began to speak more.

"When most creatures gain enough experience they can evolve into something else. Another kind of creature. What they evolve into depends on... well their behavior mostly, but their current species is also a factor." The imp said, lecturing the deity who had asked it a question.

"Experience is gained in a variety of ways. Quests can grant experience, as can combat, and engaging in activities that classes are centered around, such as sneaking and stealing if you're a rogue, as one example of non-combat experience gaining." The imp told Althos, his voice sounding rather scholarly at that moment.

"Promotions are directed evolutions. Devils can't be promoted without an arch-devil commanding them to evolve. Aside from soul-orbs, which aren't really devils, they just... become devils. Most creatures aren't like that. Most creatures can evolve without being commanded too by another, greater, creature." The imp revealed, before finally taking a breath, his explanation complete.

Tristan spent nearly a minute collecting the necessary magical energy for the task before her. Her companions warily stood around her, waiting for the half-devil to complete the task she had spent a long time believing she was destined to do. It was the first of many tasks that would fall to her in the days to come.

She reached into the very core of her being and quietly willed the energy to travel from her heart towards her hands. She felt dizzy as the energy began to obey her will and travel from her heart towards her tiny palms.

When she felt that she had gathered the necessary energy, she looked at the mound of sand that stood between her and her dreams and opened her mouth to speak. Her voice thundered out of her mouth, powered by her magical energy.

"WIND! HEED MY CALL AND BLOW DOWN THAT WHICH STANDS IN MY WAY!"

And then she dramatically flung her open hands in the direction of the sandy hill.

At first, nothing happened. But then all three of the strange creatures who were facing the hill began to hear incredibly loud rumbling. And then all at once, the sand that protected the entrance to the tomb was done away with by an incredible act of magically manipulated nature.

A magically conjured wind roared overhead and fell upon them like a hungry dragon. The wind was probably strong enough to be compared to a tornado fell over the hill and in a matter of seconds blew away every single grain of sand.

It roared around them and terrified the imp, who had to fall to the ground to evade being swept up in it.

The trio stood, both Tristan and Salifinos stunned by the display and watched as the wind scattered the sand that had piled up over the entrance to the ancient tomb

Althos stood stoically as it descended on the hill, but was quietly impressed by the mighty display of magic. He quietly looked forward to using evocation magic of his own, possibly within the dungeon itself.

The wind fell over the hill, decimated it, and then dissipated in a matter of seconds. The last person to react to it was Tristan herself. She stood frozen as she watched the devastation her spell wrought on the hill, and it took her a second to process everything.

Her reaction was impressively loud. After she recovered from the shock of her own impressive magic, she jumped up and shouted.

"YES! THAT WAS AWESOME!"

She was over the moon, even the false one that floated over them, as she processed that she was the one who was behind that amazing display of evocation magic.

After she regained her composure, a process that took nearly a full minute, the three of them looked at what her display of magic uncovered.

What stood before them was a small part of the desert that was no longer covered in sand. At the center of where the hill had been was a massive metal trapdoor built directly into the floor. And within a few moments, that same door began to produce a sickly green glow that penetrated the air directly over it.

Within another few moments, the moments it took for the trio to approach the trapdoor, something began to coalesce in the sickly green glow, something that loosely resembled a floating skull made of green vapor.

The shape was gradually solidifying in front of the trio of travelers. It was soon apparent that the shape was a human skull due to its proportions and lack of tusks, even considering its color.

When it had finished solidifying it was a perfect imitation of a human skull, complete with a full set of phantom and transparent teeth and ghostly emeralds for eyes.

And then a voice exploded from the floating skull.

"WELL MET TRAVELERS. WELCOME TO THE TOMB OF AGOWRAITH THE KINGWHISPER. IF YOU WISH TO CONQUER THIS DUNGEON AND CLAIM THE TREASURES WITHIN ONE OF YOU MUST BE ABLE TO COMMAND SOUL-ORBS. IF ANY OF YOU MEET THIS REQUIREMENT, PLEASE STEP FORWARD."

The voice spoke boomingly in Infernal, the language of Infernius. All three of the creatures present understood it, and Althos stepped forward ready to move this process along.

"HELLO CHALLENGER. I WILL NOW SUMMON A SOUL-ORB FOR YOU TO COMMAND. MERELY WILL IT INTO THE DOOR BELOW ME AND THEN THE TOMB WILL OPEN FOR YOU."

When it finished speaking the floating skull didn't close its insubstantial mouth. A tiny blue orb escaped from between its incorporeal teeth and floated lazily in Althos's general direction.

The blue orb emitted a constant and thick blue light that shone brighter than the rays of soft light that the false moon shone down on the desert. It quickly began to paint the area it floated over in a thick shade of blue.

Althos examined it for a few moments, staring at the thing with open curiosity.

"So this is a soul orb huh?"

It was at this moment that Althos realized that since Tristan couldn't open the entrance to the dungeon by herself she almost certainly hadn't stored soul orbs in it for Althos. He was annoyed by this, but he knew that he had a bigger fish to fry right now.

In time he'd do something to ensure she wouldn't lie to him again, even if the lie was to move him to action. He just needed time to figure out what he'd do.

[NEW SPECIES KNOWLEDGE GAINED: SOUL-ORBS.

SOUL ORBS ARE THE WEAKEST AND DUMBEST CREATURES ON THE INFERNAL HIERARCHY. THESE INCORPOREAL CREATURES ARE THE PUREST REMAINS OF BITS OF EVIL SOULS THAT HAVE BEEN MELTED DOWN AND REFORMED.

THEY CAN NATURALLY EVOLVE INTO OTHER DEVILS OR THEY CAN BE AUTOMATICALLY PROMOTED TO HIGHER RUNGS ALONG THE INFERNAL HIERARCHY BY SUFFICIENTLY POWERFUL TRUE-DEVILS OR ARCH-DEVILS.

THESE ORBS ARE BARELY ALIVE AND AUTOMATICALLY OBEY COMMANDS ISSUED BY ANY TRUE-DEVIL. THEY ARE GENERALLY USED AS PROMOTION FODDER TO CREATE MORE ADVANCED DEVILS, OR ARE USED AS SURPRISINGLY POWERFUL BOMBS BY WICKED TRUE-DEVILS.

TO COMMAND ONE, MERELY WILL IT TO ACCOMPLISH A SIMPLE TASK. MANY DEVILISH DUNGEONS DEMAND THE ABILITY TO COMMAND SOUL-ORBS TO EVEN ENTER, WHICH IS WHY THROUGHOUT INFERNIUS DEVILISH DUNGEONS REMAIN INHABITED AND UNLOOTED.]

Althos read through this notification and then willed it away. The deity confidently approached the orb and wordlessly established a mental connection with it.

Then he sent the tiny thing a mental image of it entering the trapdoor. He waited for a moment, watching to see if he had somehow failed. And then the creature moved to obey his command.

The thing almost instantaneously vanished into the metal trapdoor.

The door began to slowly creak open, and as it did the floating skull began to speak in its booming voice again.

"WELCOME CHALLENGERS TO THE TOMB OF AGOWRAITH THE KINGWHISPER. I AM EXCITED TO MONITOR YOUR PROGRESS. I AM A FRIENDLY ENTITY CREATED BY THE SPIRIT OF AGOWRAITH, DESIGNED TO ACCOMPANY CHALLENGERS, WARN THEM OF THE CLEAR CONDITIONS OF A VARIETY OF ROOMS, AND RESUPPLY THEM WITH SOUL-ORBS IF NECESSARY. NOW IF YOU ARE ADEQUATELY PREPARED STEP INTO THE OPEN DOORWAY AND ENTER THE TOMB OF ONE OF THE FIRST DEVILS."

By the time the deity had finished speaking the trapdoor was fully open. Althos, hoping to see what lurked beyond it, quickly approached the door.

He was instead greeted by a pool of shadowy darkness. This provoked a wisecrack remark from the godling.

"Of course, it can never be that simple can it?"

Althos turned to his allies, smirked at them and then leaped into the pool of shadowy darkness, heading in feet-first.

Tristan was next, and she walked in front of Salifinos, twisting to look at him and spoke a few words.

"Come on Salifinos! Let's go raid this tomb."

And then she also leaped into the black pool and into the tomb of an unthinkably ancient devil.

Salifinos began to fly towards the pool, biting his nails the whole way and then dove into the inky darkness behind his companions.

Darkness surrounded him in every direction for a few moments, and then the tiny devil felt two separate hands grab him by his small shoulders and pull him towards them.