The room was dark, he covered the window with the bedsheets to keep anyone from looking in. The floor was slick with blood, he wanted to make this a good summon after all. He paved the room, sprinkling golden dust around the ritual with the hand he so violently gashed a few minutes ago. After the rabbit in his hand had successfully lost all its blood he threw it to the side, Connor snatching it up and putting it on a table. No point in trying to be clean now. He felt the smell of blood call to the void beyond, whispering to whatever demon made its way through.

The ritual star on the floor was small and compact. He didn’t have a vessel for the demon, so he had to make sure it wouldn’t grow too big. If it was too big he’d be scared of causing a scene so he had to at least make sure its size would be agreeable. It was two feet by two feet, enough for something powerful to make its presence. He poured dark mana into the ritual, forcing Connor to do the same. The ritual glowed purple and then darkened immediately, laced with the strength of rigorous mana. Connor looked anxious, as if he didn’t like what would come through the void.

Derb felt it too, He felt the lust for strength come from the other side. It wasn’t graceful or kind, not like the ones before. Though he didn’t feel anxious, this was what he wanted. He’d be going to war in the next coming days, outnumbered and inexperienced. He needed something that knew what it was doing. He needed… “strength” The room rumbled and shook, Connor fell on his butt from the tremors, whimpering and trying to go under the bed. Derb ordered him to stay, he had to empty Connor’s mana reserves if he wanted a small rank demon.

The mana swirled as the room rumbled more and more. The blood on the floor started bubbling and seeping into the marked wooden floor. Derb took out his hand once more and cut it thoroughly, making sure to bleed as much as possible. The blood took on a dense figure as it started pulsing and beating. It blackened and morphed into a ball, growing bigger, almost vacuuming the leftover blood. It became longer, stretching and molding until it almost hit the ceiling. It grew long, gangly but incredibly muscular arms, its body long and toned. Its face had only two singular unblinking eyes darting across the room in a frantic motion.

It was completely calm though, Derb could feel its conniving emotions. Its hands started forming next, long and rough and sinister. They looked too big for its gangly form, though not unusually so. They looked like that of something built to kill. It slowly reached out to touch Derb, the ritual circle stopping it in the process. It cocked its head at the resistance, slowly pushing harder. Clicking noises started filling the room, and everything took an even darker pitch. The demon cocked its head more and more until its neck visibly stretched and bruised at the strain.

Just before it looked as if it would break, the clicking stopped. The demon sat down with its knees tucked in, an arm around the knee while one was wrapped around its neck. It didn’t move for a minute, just standing there as it slowly grew and grew. Derb and Connor were wrapped in each other’s arms, completely pale white. Connor was especially scared, rambling about his near demise under his breath while burying his teary, snot-filled face deeper into Derb’s chest. Derb didn’t mind though, he was too busy trying not to make a mess in his pants.

The smooth black body slowly got more features, mostly muscle definition. Its face seemed to not actually be a face but a mask, with a brighter grey tone compared to the rest of its body. The eyes were still there though, constantly darting and moving, looking for a way out. Derb gulped and removed Connor from his now wet shirt. He stood up and slowly made his way closer to the demon. Connor cried in anguish as he saw his master get close to the being of pure death. He reached out to grab him but the eyes of the demon focused on him, paralyzing his movements completely.

He desperately tried to warn his master but he couldn’t even speak. He soon figured out he couldn’t even breathe, that combined with his pounding heart was making him lose air fast. His eyes rolled to the back of his head as he toppled to the ground, moments before Derb reached into the ritual. He looked back to see his incubus unconscious. “What!? What happened, Connor!?” He ran to his summon and picked him up, he’d passed out for some reason. As he tried waking him up the clicking had started again, louder this time.

He turned back to the demon staring at both of them, long arms gripped too tightly around each of its shoulders. “Was this you? What the hell!? You weren’t supposed to be this violent! I summoned you on your terms!” The demon didn’t answer, only cockling its head at the violent outburst, its grip on itself did seem to get tighter though. Derb almost closed the link between him and the demon but remembered who he was up against. Jenny and the two brothers were as skilled as him and were most likely going to work together, he had little chance against them at this rate.

“You aren’t allowed to do anything as long as you are under my servitude until you learn to behave yourself.” The demon just stood still, casually looking around the room. Derb sighed and unsummoned the demon. The soul inside him looked like tar and flesh, completely unlike the other two. It wasn’t until the demon was unsummoned that he heard the loud knocking on his door. He quickly went to open it, worried that he annoyed the landlords. He was relieved to find Jenny, looking panicked and disheveled.

“What happened!? There was this horrible noise and the smell of blood was so strong around your room… why’s it all gone now?” Derb scratched his head, wondering how he’d get out of this situation. “I was only doing some rituals, nothing too terrible. I was just-” She went inside to grab his right arm, large scars still formed around it. “Ah, wait. There’s a perfectly reasonable reason for-” She stopped him, “You were summoning a demon, right? Papa told me about blood being used for the demon's hungry lust for human beings.”

Derb grimaced at the false information, he could guess from that that summoners weren’t exactly viewed in a good light. “Papa? You must really care for your father.” She gasped, just realizing her word choice. “I meant father… he just forced me to call him that whenever we’re together...” He smiled at her blushing face, she was probably spoiled silly by that dad of hers. “Of course, I heard nothing. Is that all?” Derb needed her to leave, he had to train that damn demon properly.

She didn’t take the hint. “You just summoned a demon, right? Can I see?” Derb reeled at the request, literally the last thing he wanted to hear. “Demons are dangerous, don’t you know? Didn’t your ‘Papa’ tell you not to go near one?” She scowled at the obvious taunt. “I doubt a demon’s going to be a problem for me, especially if they’re all as cute as that one.” Huh? Derb looked back to see Connor right behind him, sniveling and clenching onto his clothes. When did he wake up?

He slapped Connor’s hands off him and ordered him to stand in the corner to think about what he did wrong. He looked back to see a smirking Jenny, making him groan in annoyance. “I”m starting to think Connor might be the only demon like that… every other one had tried to kill me.” He didn’t bother telling her that he’s only ever summoned four demons. She looked at him with unfaltering eyes, he stared back with an albeit weaker gaze. Inevitably, he faltered, visibly angry. “Fine… Just let me… set things up a bit.”

She nodded with excited eyes, sitting on his bed to watch the show. Derb sighed at the enthusiasm. It wasn’t like it was much to look at. He set up a few barriers of chaining, just like his teacher had used. He couldn’t use them on command, and they weren’t nearly as strong as his teachers so he had to set many more up, but they were a clear sign of his progression. The setup only took around ten minutes but that was apparently too much for Jenny. “You’re sure taking your time there… Do you need help?”

He almost spat at her. “Unless you want to end up like ‘crybaby’ over there, you better hope I take my time with this.” He pointed at the still sniveling Connor. He seemed to have gotten the hiccups while he was in the corner, alternating between quiet sobs and sudden hiccups. “Touche… you called him Connor, right? Why name a demon? Isn’t that a bit crazy?” He was about to just summon the cursed eight-foot demon and have it eat her for those poor choices of words. With gritted teeth, he answered. “There’s nothing crazy about it... it gives them a title and a way to hold their power.”

She cocked her head and he almost exploded. He wanted to rip her shreds to shreds, he wanted to eat her… wait. “Oh, fuck. Jenny, get the hell out of here!” He threw himself into the barrier and activated the ritual, black chains piercing every limb on his body. The chains lifted him into the air, pouring his mana deep into his limbs and weakening him rapidly. He checked inside himself to find the demon’s soul barely restrained. He looked on as the soul continued to pour tar over his, albeit at a much slower pace. He exploded in anger that wasn’t his, ironically at the demon supplying it.

“How fucking DARE you!” He raised a metaphorical fist and clenched it, tearing at the demon’s very soul. It cried and waned, the first time he saw it do that. He wasn’t in the right mindset so he didn’t let up, ripping at the soul until there was almost nothing left. The demon groaned and begged, clinging onto dear life. He could feel its regret, the fear of losing such a precious chance in the shreds of its soul on his fingers. The chains darkened, noticing the bloodlust and anger in the recipient, though this time it wasn’t the demon’s

“You will follow my orders to the letter, any other betrayal and I'm ripping you to shreds. There won’t be anything left to return to the void, got it?” He felt the soul become extremely surprised at such a chance, clinging onto it with hope and happiness. Its once massive and viscous soul was now in a tight dark ball, its true form. He opened his eyes to find the chains slowly wrapping around his neck and arms, Jenny was desperately trying to pull them off. He realized his face was turning blue and he couldn’t feel his arms and let go of the chains immediately.

He fell to the floor gasping for air, barely able to stay conscious. He should have realized he’d be hurting himself when trying to torture the demon. He shuddered when he realized choosing the death of the tall demon would have meant his death as well. He couldn't move so he decided to filter his mana, rushing all of it out of his system. “Are you ok!? What happened!? A-are… you ok?” He smiled at the words, he found her charming again. At least, he found her only a bit annoying now. “Yes, yes. Please don’t yell in my ear.”

She hung her head at the retort, “I’m so sorry about all this, I shouldn’t have rushed your little spell. I don’t know how I’ll be able to make it back to you...” Derb couldn’t believe what he was hearing, only then remembering she had no clue how summoning worked. “Look, I don't want to explain the details but the short story is that I would have probably been taken over by a demon if you didn’t hurry me to put those barriers.” He was still laying on the floor so his words seemed to lose a bit of vigor, but he kept going. “You saved my life by annoying m- err, Coming to check on me.”

She stared at him with wide eyes, many emotions going through her face. Fear, relief, anger, shock, and then a goddamn smug grin. “I knew I should have checked up on you! I’ve got a sixth sense that warns me of trouble, you know? Hehe.” He closed his eyes in grim disappointment. This was the person that saved his life? He couldn’t just let this pass. “Once I’m able to get up I’ll do anything you want me to do, you’re my savior, after all.” She grinned at the words, and Derb silently cursed his stupid pride. “There’s this bakery nearby that I wanted to go to… you mind spending a bit of money?”

____

Derb collapsed onto his bed, that damn woman had him wait on her hand and foot for the past six hours. They’d been in the bakery for the least amount of time, each of them only getting a small pastry. They’d spent the rest trying out clothes on her, and then when that got boring for her, trying clothes on him. In the end, they’d bought only clothes for him, making Derb feel guilty as if he hadn’t paid proper respect to his savior. She just laughed it off, saying “The look on your face when I took out the butler outfit was good enough.”

He chose not to remember any of it, locking it away with the rest of his repressed emotions. He’d lost 20 silver in the process, gaining a bunch of neat clothes in the process. None of them were his style, all simple and not flashy. He took one of many black shirts, crying about how he couldn’t convince her on the prettier ones. There was one laced with gold flowers for christ’s sake! Whenever I asked she just gave me a pitying gaze, as if I was the one with bad taste.

He looked inside his soul, finding the still inert tall demon, not daring to move a muscle in fear of punishment. Derb sighed at the pitiful show, it’d been its fault in the first place. Why did it choose to feel regret now? The damn thing had tried to take over his body. It showed him how bad demons could really be. He didn’t use him as a basis for every other one though. Humans were just as bad in many cases. Some were much, much worse.

He buried his head into his pillow, his head racing with unwanted thoughts. He hadn’t even been training lately, would he be alright in the coming weeks? The creak of silent night echoed through the town, the silence deafening in his ears. He remembered the fun times he’d spent before all this, before he was summoned here. The night was full of worldly pleasures, everyone was connected even at the standstill of night. How idiotic was he to take it all for granted? He stood up from his bed, his mind racing with nostalgia and regret. He hated when he got like this.

The past few days were filled with so much commotion that he spent little time thinking to himself. Now that he had a roof over his head his mind no longer needed to spend time worrying about survival. He placed his armor on slowly, one by one. There was only one thing that stopped the thoughts, it’s why he worked so hard while he was in the village. He walked out of the inn, heading straight for the gate. He didn’t know if there was a place to train or not, like it mattered. What he needed wasn’t fancy training equipment, he just needed a place to rip everything apart.

They didn’t interrogate him while leaving, it seemed you only needed to show identification while going in. He made it out into the clearing, searching for a proper place to train. There was a forest nearby, normally it would have been too dark to enter but the light of the moon was good enough to train in. He didn’t care to wait. Charging into the woods he unsheathed his sword and rended a tree off its trunk with a single swing. He didn’t stop there, activating both the rabbit and snake to jump onto the falling tree.

He ran up it and jumped just before it fell too far, grasping a branch from another tree. A simple climb later and he found himself standing at the peak, gazing down at the forest illuminated by both the city and the moon. He’d found what he wanted, demons.