Morning found The Warlock still in bed. Normally she would already be up and about. Either making breakfast or taking a long shower, but today she had just been lying in bed for the whole time. It hadn't really sunk in yet, not until she woke the next morning. She had sent a text to her boss that she was ill and after staying so late last night she didn't feel the slightest bit of guilt. Last night. Last night was insane, she was still coming to term with exactly what happened as she had been doing for the last hour. It hadn't really helped that she could cast spells now, there went her possible defence mechanism.

Deciding to get up, she got out of her nice and comfortable bed and walked to the shower. She took some more time there and even made a list with her finger on the condensation of the shower door.

1. Do I want to delve more?

2. How do I prepare for that?

3. Magic?

She hesitated and finally wrote one more entry on her list of things to find out.

4. Devils and deals

I was quite a while later when she finally sat at her laptop, searching the internet. After looking at delving she found a lot of archaeology books, but not much else. She wasn't exactly tech-savvy so googling was really the best she could do at the moment. She decided to see it as a survival thing, so she went to survival sites and looked through their catalogue. Deciding to spend the money she earned, at least a little of it, she purchased some basic gear. A backpack, bedroll, a new first aid kit, water purification tablets, a lighter and some MRE packets. She would have to try them first so bought a couple from different countries, they weren't extremely expensive and seemed to be relatively well filled.

Her basic supplies on route, she sat back and called upon her knew power. She understood magic know and while it was thinner on earth, she could feel it all around herself. She tried some basic exercises and found that it was quite hard to practice. Her magic spells were instinctual, not trained. She just knew what and how to do it, but that didn't mean she knew much. She was extremely knowing at this, and the devil had hinted and unlocking more through training. Seemed like a good idea to start with that now.

She sat down on her living room floor and tried to take a meditative position, she hadn't actually ever meditated, but she had seen plenty of movies. That counted...right? Deciding to get some extra help she looked through her phone and found a meditation app. Downloading it took no time at all and she booted it up. She retook her pose and waited; a voice-over walked her through it. It didn't work great. She had focus, that wasn't normally an issue, but this was more than that. The situation made it strangely difficult. She knew there was mana inside her, power flowing through her body, but focussing on it was proving to be extremely difficult. She wasn't a quitter though. She turned the app back on and tried again. She could do this.

She couldn't do this. She had been trying for more than an hour now. There had to be better ways to do this. Hard work and practice are the best way for regular people, but she was a fucking warlock. Didn't that mean she could jump the queue or something? Wait. Maybe? No, that was a dumb idea. Unless? Fuck it. She walked over to the table and grabbed the tablet she had put down there. It still showed the same information as last time.

--- Warlock, Level 1 ---

--- Abilities: Infernal Pact Magic ---

--- Spells: Force Blast, Hex ---

There was a new tab though, a communication tab. That couldn't be, right? I mean, you had to summon devils and shit, they didn't have WhatsApp. But this wasn't a normal phone, this was a magic phone so maybe? Screw it. She clicked over and a new screen loaded.

--- Contacts: 1 ---

--- Pacted Devil: Unknown ---

She clicked it and a familiar screen opened. It was a fucking chat function. Alright then, here we go.

Hello. Does this really work?

Why yes, it does. It seems to have worked.

His response was fast. Way too fast for her. The letters also felt wrong somehow. His damn messages even looked evil, that generally wasn't a good sign. Then again, they were her patron, if anyone could help it would be them. The problem was that there would be a price. Probably something evil. There was nothing to gain from doing nothing though, time to text with a devil. She reflected again at how her insane her life had become in such a short time.

I was trying to practice my magic, but I ran into some problems.

Well, we can't have that now can we. Please, how can I be of service.

I'm hoping you can do the magic knowledge insertion thing and just learn it to me that way.

Mmmh, let me bump that request up the chain, it would require some outside help.

The chain. Wait, of course hell had a fucking corporate structure. Actually, that may be something to keep in mind anyway. If her devil's plan was for her to end up in hell, she could work with that. Something to consider definitely. She was at least familiar with corporate structures. She just had to think of this like an internship. A traineeship? Outside employment? Whatever. She needed more details.

It's possible. It hasn't been done in a while, but our deal makes it possible for that to happen. However, it seems I cannot increase or affect your overall level. It could grant more spells. Maybe? Like I said, hasn't been done in a while.

Alright devil, what is the price?

Now that is a much better question. However, I feel like you have some lingering resentment. People often have that after dealing with us for a while. Let's keep it simple then, nothing too outrageous.

For knowledge of meditation and mana manipulation you must steal any one item from your usual grocery store.

Wait. WHAT? That was it? Actually, that might be something more insidious again. Getting her more comfortable with making deals, with agreeing to them at least. She had to be careful. This was a dangerous game. Strangely enough, she felt a spike of adrenaline run through her though. This might be fun.

Deal.