“How do you know what I am?”

Laurence was shocked, was there something other than his red book that he should have been hiding? Did this odd creature, Damascus, know about his red book? If it did how? He grimaced and swung the burning weapon towards the creature saying “What do you know about me.”

“Calm down kiddo!” The imp grinned even wider. “I’m a «sprite», a muse if you will. I know about you being a creator because I can feel it coming off you.” He got up and began flitting round the room, looking at everything with a new light. “Before you got here I was a directionless sprite, one with ten thousand years of life, but with no purpose. Now I have one!” The creature, the sprite, hopped on top of Yun’s back and lay there. He looked very comfortable on the wolf’s back. “Look, I am here to make you improve. I know things that you would take years working out. Give me a chance.”

“What are you talking about? I have finished the red book, I know all there is to know about the Art of Making and the Godly Machinations. What else is there for me to know about creation?”

Damascus laughed. It was a very knowing, sarcastic laugh that got on Laurence’s nerves. “Look, kid. What’s your name?”

“Laurence.”

“Look, Laurence. I was made by someone... I have no idea who, but I was made to help the people who talk to me attain full mastery of their book, thereby attaining the Heaven realm or the Ascendant Immortal realm. You’re just a measly Saint. Does that not seem odd to you? That you are a Saint when if you master your first book you become an individual of the Heaven realm.”

“I guess it does seem a bit strange...” Laurence had to concede this point. He had known for a while that he had learnt everything that the book had to show him, but that his knowledge was also incomplete. He knew there were ways to make his weapons stronger, or greater but had no idea how. The great wall splitting Odnw’Aldn from the wasteland beyond was a perfect example of this. It was made by someone who must have studied the same book as him, but it was so much greater in power, scope and pure theoretical knowledge that Laurence could not hope to compare without help. “I guess you are right mister Damascus. Will you help me learn?”

“That’s better.” Damascus grinned again, this time more sincerely than the last. “I will help you. First thing’s first. What you have in your bag is known as «The Book of Creation» It is one of the six books that teaches people the fundamentals of reality. It also shows you how to manipulate them when you have enough control over your mana reservoir. It is split into four sections, two of which you have read and mastered. The other two parts are known as «Infernal Enchantments» and «Myriad Manifestations». The Infernal Enchantments I can teach you about, because it is part of my nature, but the Myriad Manifestations is the final step towards completion. The Manifestations are the ninety-nine true masterpieces that have been created by the creation clans since the dawn of time. Each piece is a true masterwork that takes reality bending manipulation and a heightened sense of the way of the world to make. It is the hardest part of completing the book and also something that most people never do in their life times.”

“What makes you think I can’t? What makes you think I can’t complete the one hundredth manifestation?”

“Simple. You seem like a gifted kid, and have the will of the Hephaistia clan on your back, even if you probably don’t have their blood. However, in the entire lifetime of the universe so far, the trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion years since Babel first opened her great eye, there have been ninety-nine new manifestations. You would have to be the most gifted child of the Hephaistia clan to even have a chance to understand.”

Laurence was getting angry at this point. He knew that he had some skill, and that it probably did not compare to others, but the way that Damascus was saying it made him think there was no hope whatsoever. Damascus was slowly crushing the child’s dream of being the best and most knowledgeable when it came to the red book, the Book of Creation. “Well who is to say I am not? Who is to say I’m not the son of the head of this Hephaistia clan after all?”

“Me. Your soul is the wrong shape. The symbol of the Hephaistia clan was the forge, not the hammer.” Damascus realised he was being a little bit too harsh for the child when Yun kicked him off his back. “Look, kid...” He said, trying to make amends. “You may not be able to make the hundredth Manifestation, but you are more than likely able to ascertain one of the ninety-nine. Especially with my help.”

“Alright.” Laurence was not one to hold grudges, especially when the person talking meant no real harm. In the end the two of them chatted through the night and discussed the nature of enchantment, until Laurence eventually fell asleep.

The next morning, the officer who had put Laurence and Yun in the room went down and confronted the boy. He pulled Laurence out of his dank cell and into a room with grey walls and no windows. Sitting the boy at a chair he placed the child’s hands in a vice, then put the vice in the pressure that was just enough to keep them there without them moving.

“Child, you will tell me what I want to know, or I will press down this vice. Every time I don’t believe you I will turn the handle until you tell me what I want to know.” A fire lit behind the commander’s eyes. He enjoyed this, torture. He wanted the child to lie so he could hear the screams of pain coming from the boy. Everyone broke in the end, he just had to find the right button to push. “So tell me. How does one become as powerful as one of these ‘Challengers?’”

Jake was watching in the back, and knew the commander’s nature. He could feel that this was going to be his last straw. He could deal with watching over grown men being tortured, because they made their choices, but this boy could not have been more than ten years old. He clutched the hilt of his sword until his knuckles went white, holding back his rage.

“That’s simple” Said Laurence. “You just go to the door to Babel on this floor and enter it. You will be tested and if you succeed in creating a mana reservoir you will be able to begin climbing.”

“Tighten the vice.” The commander said in a cold voice. “I have heard that lie a thousand times before. Tell me what I want to know.” The vice began to turn but all it did was confuse the boy. He had not lied but was being punished anyway, and that simply did not make sense. That is unless the man intended to harm him no matter what he said. Because of that Laurence decided to go about this a different way.

“I don't think you know what you are looking for.” The boy said. “I told you how to become a Challenger, but if you don't believe me that's your loss.”

“We won’t stop child, unless you tell me how you gained that tattoo and how you achieved your strength.” The commander pushed the soldier holding the clamps and twisted them, grinning viciously. He twisted the clamps tight and looked Laurence in the eye, watching for the point he would break. Adults might be able to hold back their secret but a child surely had to break. After tightening the clamps to their maximum and watching for thirty seconds the officer sighed and said, “Take him back to the cell. Tomorrow we torture his dog instead. He might be strong, but he’s still a child.”

This irked Laurence. He had done nothing to these people, but they insisted on trying to hurt him and make him tell them something they already knew just did not believe. The fact that they were going to hurt Yun next angered him more than anything else so far. Yun was his dog, not theirs.

They lead the boy back to his cell and when he got inside he gathered up the paltry amount of items he had taken out of his bag, cleared up everything and then said to both Damascus and Yun, “Tonight we get out of here. They plan on hurting Yun to get me to tell them how to be challengers, but they already know how. The leader of these people is awful and was probably never going to let us leave in the first place.”

“Well Laurence, I have something I should probably mention then.” Said Damascus, “I am a sprite, and we are bound to objects. There’s a ring under the bed and it has my spirit bound to it. If you take that then I can come with you.” Laurence looked under the bed, it was dusty and pretty much empty, but sticking out of the area between two stones was a ring. It was stuck fast, and after about thirty seconds of pulling Laurence decided to move the bed. He summoned Jormugand, raised it into the air and smashed down on the tile with all his power. The hammerhead smashed into the ground and cracked the tile below, as well as all twenty-four surrounding tiles. He then levered the pieces apart with the blade and pulled the ring out. As he lifted the ring out of the cracks a light went off in Laurence’s head because he realised that he could swing his hammer as well as thrust the spear to fight. It was a simple thought, but one that had completely passed him by due to the nature of Orion’s Hunt.

Before they could implement any sort of escape plan there was the sound of a large kerfuffle outside the cell. Two people were arguing, there was a shout and then silence. After about thirty seconds something was dragged to the door and they heard it unlock. Laurence opened the door out and saw Jake lying on the floor with his guts coming out of his stomach and a stupid grin on his face.

“Hi Kiddo. I seem to have made a little mistake.” His face paled as he talked, he was obviously losing a lot of blood. “I couldn’t stand for the captain to..” He paused for breath, “To torture people anymore. You aren’t the first person he did it to, but you were my breaking point.” He pointed to the corpse near the doorway limply, “Simon did not agree with me.”

Laurence looked at the man who had got him in the situation and was paying a far greater price than necessary to amend that. With the way his body was looking there were two options, one to seal the wound by sewing it, or to seal it with fire. The former was safer, but the latter was quicker, and time was of the essence for Jake. “Sorry Jake, this is going to hurt you, but don’t worry. You are coming out of here with me.” He paused as he pulled out his hammer and shrank it to ten centimetres in length. “Alive.”

“Wha..?” Was all Jake got out before Laurence stuffed some spare leather into his mouth and sealed the wound shut with the now burning hammer. Jake screamed into the leather and tears freely leaked out of his eyes from the pain. Mercifully it was quick. Once he had done this he slapped Jake in the face. “Come on Jake, I need you to guide me out of here.” Jake groggily responded, but the pain was becoming too much for him. It was then that Laurence remembered he still had some of the Silkweed from his and Yun’s operations, so he pasted it over the wound, hung the injured man on the back of his dog and bound it with Damascus’ ring, simply locking the cloth in place with pressure.

Looking up the stairs the group could see a light source bobbing their way. Laurence reformed his hammer and pointed it into the darkness, waiting to pounce on the enemy approaching.