Well, everything went rather well, on a relative scale. Ren found out how much he worried his clan members by walking off by himself even though he had an escort.

“It can’t be helped, Master Ren. You are the only Karatengu here, if you were to perish, I don’t know what we would do.”

“Like I told you already, quit it with master! Just Ren is fine!” Ren ended up rather irritated with Shaula’s impeccable way of addressing him as Master Ren, no matter how much he told her otherwise. He didn’t mind those who he did not know too well address him as Master, but when it came to his inner circle of comrades…He would rather be just called by his name.

And then there was a matter with Akjan. She insisted that Ren invite her to go with him next time he would go out.

“I insist, I must stay close enough so that there is no chance of ambush! With my sensory skills, you will be most safe and in emergency I can teleport you away to a safe location…But if they surround us, I will be the decoy…”

“Aren’t you getting carried away here? I am going to be fine, don’t worry about it. No need for you to get so worried, it’s ok.”

“But…”

“If you want to, we can go hang out together when we are done with the trial, is that ok?”

“Yes” Akjan nodded with a bright smile.

The other Tengu clan members were easier to appease.

“I knew you would be fine, boss.”

“I heard a sound of an explosion, mind explaining it?” Aijasyl asked with a raised eyebrow.

“There was an explosion? I did not hear it. If there was one, then it wasn’t me. I did not do anything yet!” Orin countered with both pairs of arms crossed in front of his chest in x signs.

“I never said it was you Orin. The sound of it was not very loud. Only me and Akjan heard it, but we thought it was just some bird or an animal, but then Ren came from that direction with company, so I thought it was logical to assume the demon he came with was responsible for the explosion.” Aijasyl stated her opinion.

“Uhm, that would be me. I got a little carried away and I might have demolished part of the mountain over there.” Both Aijasyl and Orin stared at Ren with wide open eyes. “It’s not as bad as you think, just a little chunk of the mount is missing. Besides, I have someone I need to introduce to you!” Ren changed the topic and presented his new companion. “From today on, he is a member of Tengu clan!”

Sento Draco stepped forward and bowed on one knee.

“My name is Sento Draco, former Demon Lord of the 32nd Demon King, now a servant of Ren Karatengu, to whom I pledged my loyalty and accepted servant half of Master- Servant Contract.” He raised his right arm, now showing his palm upon which was writing in strange language. “I hope we can get along.”

“Master Servant contract?”

“Former Demon Lord?”

“Ren’s Servant?”

All of Ren’s allied were utterly confused and looked at Ren who was scratching his nose. Then they looked at Kizilkoz who just sighed as if to say ‘been there, done that.’

“Well, Let’s get you something to eat, you must be starving, stranded inside that rock for so long.” Ren invited Sento.

“I shall gladly oblige, Master Ren” Sento followed Ren.

Now as those two left the discussion, the demons who were left- Aijasyl, Shaula, Kizilkoz, Orin and Akjan could only sigh in unison a the sight of their new comrade.

“Unbelievable. That level of power, it’s just like Master Korgan’s if not greater.” Shaula noted.

“Yes, but what is more surprising is that he accepted a master Servant contract with Ren, as Ren’s servant! Who does that!? He is a demon lord for Great Ones’ sake! Logically it should have been Ren who should have pledged his servitude, not the other way around!” Aijasyl couldn’t help muttering.

“Do you really think so low of Boss? He is not the type of demon who grovels; he is the type that leads.” Orin countered.

“I understand that, but still…What in the world could he have said to make someone of Demon Lord’s level pledge loyalty and accept Servant contract with him?”

“What is a Servant contract anyways? I can’t say I ever heard of it.” Orin admitted.

“It’s an a powerful spell that binds two individuals as Master and Servant. The Master is the guiding force while the servant carries out Master’s wishes. That writing on his arm… It was the real thing, and have you noticed that on Ren’s palm, there was a writing there too.”

“There was?” Kizilkoz asked.

“Yes, it was very tiny, but I could see a single word there, it is in ancient demon language, it means- To Rule. The mark on Sento Draco’s hand on the other hand says- To Serve.” Aijasyl explained.

“So it is true then. Master Ren really made a demon lord his subordinate.” Shaula said in awe. “Even if it is someone like Master Ren, I never expected this, and now that the demon lord has accepted a master servant contract with Master Ren, there is no chance he would betray us, it is a perfect strategy!”

“What do you mean he can’t betray us? Isn’t he free to do whatever he wants?” Orin asked.

“No, Master Servant contract makes Servant unable to betray the master unless the master cancels the contract. I must admit, Ren, he really seems to know what he is doing…”

“Uhm. About that…” Kizilkoz told them how Ren discovered Sento Draco and how it lead to these circumstances.

“Oh, I see.” Aijasyl’s right eye was twitching. “So he did it blindly without even thinking, I should have known better.”

“That is our Master Ren, all right.” Shaula said with a meek smile.

“No matter what anyone says, the boss is awesome!”

“Hee hee.” Akjan chuckled. Her beloved demon was fooling around with the bowls of soup and making them extra spicy for his servant Sento, who was devouring soup in large gulps. “You really are a one strange demon, Ren.” Akjan lovingly stared at the sight of her beloved demon being his reckless self and smiled. A fair smile that would have made Ren’s heart beat faster, if he was paying attention that is.

* * *

“I feel sick~” Ren muttered, while being carried like a sack of potatoes on Orin’s shoulder.

“Whose bright idea was it to turn the eating time into a soup eating competition? You even made the soup so spicy that only Sento can eat it!” Aijasyl muttered, irritated to say the least.

“It seemed like a good idea at the time, Ugh!” Ren ended up puking a little on the ground. He was being carried so he was more than two meters off the ground, but the content of his stomach fell to the ground much to the disgust of the ones walking behind Orin. “I mean, Sento told me he couldn’t taste the soup so I thought I could spice it up a bit…”

“I am very sorry about this, Master Ren. I never intended you to fall ill just in order to make food taste good for me.” Sento Draco profusely apologized while repeatedly bowing. This was rather embarrassing. He indirectly caused his new leader to have stomach ache and nausea by telling him of his preference for spicy foods.

“Don’t apologize! It’s his own fault for turning it into some kind of sport!” Aijasyl said with a satisfied smile.

“I am right here, you know.” Ren helplessly muttered.

“Why in the world would you eat three bowls of such a spicy nightmare let alone take a sip? Haven’t you learned your lesson, anything you cook is most likely inedible!”

“That’s not true!”

“Lady Aijasyl, some foods Master Ren makes are actually quite good, though they don’t look very appealing or safe to eat for that matter.” Sirinke voiced his opinion.

“Sirinke, not you too!” Ren’s hands now ended up shutting his mouth as he felt another wave of puke about to spill out of him.

He was their leader, yet now he was being carried as some kind of a luggage. If he wasn’t feeling so sick he would have been humiliated to the extreme.

When he regained at least some sense of balance, Ren muttered.

“Sorry about this Orin.”

“Don’t mention it. Carrying my boss is part of my sworn duty. Besides, you are extremely light, have you not been eating well?” Orin answered.

“Well, I did eat, and then I un-ate it.” Ren admitted.

All of them were walking towards the ending place where the routes were leading. They walked for a few hours and now they could see a great body of water, a Great Oasis.

As they came near it, they could see that they were not alone. There were many demons that have reached that point, but they were not fighting. Many of them looked battered and injured. There were significantly less demons here than the ones who entered the competition. As they entered the water, the demons’ forms disappeared, like they have been swallowed by the swirling torrent of calm water.

“I see, so that is the way back” Akjan informed Tengu clan members.

“So, we just enter the water and we will be back in Kalkan kingdom?” a Tengu clan member asked.

“It seems so, there is a portal over water so anyone who enters it would be transported, but if what the Great Ones said is true, the portal is only temporary. We need to hurry or we will be stuck in this place!”

All of them now marched toward the water (except Ren, who was still carried by Orin). Strangely none tried to act against them.

“I kind of expected at least one of them to attack us, it is strange.” Kizilkoz observed.

“Take a closer look, many of them a exhausted and just as many are wounded. Without a doubt they encountered perils on their way here. They are tired of fighting; they just want to go home.” Shaula made a rather grim observation.

Now all of them were in front of the oasis. Ren climbed off Orin’s back.

“Wow, the water looks so nice!” Ren scooped a mouth full and drank it.

“Ren it’s a portal!”

“Oh, right. Then Bombs Away!” Ren proceeded to jump into the water. Now he was being swallowed by the whirlpool. Strangest experience it was. For just an instant he was submerged in water, but now he reemerged on the other side.

After a few minutes, the other Tengu clan members made it to the other side as well.

“Kalkan kingdom, we are back!”

“It is good to be back!”

“Oh Yeah!!”

Everyone was celebrating.

Then, when Ren confirmed that every surviving Tengu clan member made it out of the realm where the first trial was held, he noticed that the water they were standing on was now growing dark. Before it seemed to be glowing with unmatched radiance, but now the radiance faded away.

“YOU HAVE COMPLETED THE FIRST TRIAL, NOW YOU ARE ELIGIBLE TO PARTICAPATE IN THE ONE THAT IS TO COME. REST TILL THEN.”

Ren looked around, there was only the Tengu clan here, no other demons from other clans.

“Uhm, guys, there were demons who exited before us, right? Where are they? For that matter, where are we?” the place looked unfamiliar.

“Uhm, Ren, you should probably look below the hill we are on top of” Shaula meekly spoke.

Ren did just that.

Now he could see the fields, lands and also a rather big settlement with a very familiar mansion.

“We are in the Karatengu territory.” Ren said with a cry of joy. The portal sent them back to their own territory.

“We are home!” Ren raised his fist into the air; the others followed the suit as they roared in unison.