A red moon lit up the night, creating a sense of eerie ambience as it watched over the land. On nights like these I would always feel unsettled as if I could be drawn to conflict at any moment. Nazuko laid quietly as she slept in the center of my bed, scrunched up in all the blankets. I myself always had trouble sleeping on nights when there was a red moon present. I could almost feel the mystical ring on my finger twitch at times. My self reflection came to an end when I heard light knocking coming from my door. I go up and open it to find Vasavir standing before me.

“What are you doing here old man, some people are trying to sleep?” I told him.

“Oh, but if you were truly asleep, then you wouldn’t have heard me knocking,” he responded.

“Fair enough, what do you want?” I demanded

“What, I can’t show up once in a while to say hi?”

“Not at midnight,” I complained.

“There’s a reason I came here at this time. There is someone I want you to meet and some things I want you to learn that we can only do now,” Vasavir revealed.

“At this time? You mean because of the blood moon?” I asked.

“Exactly, now armor up and walk through that portal when you’re ready,” he instructed as he snapped his fingers to create a blue portal in the center of the room.

I quickly equip the beat up leather armor and follow Vasavir as he steps through the portal. The next thing I know we are inside a cathedral with the sound of holy music reverberating throughout the building. It produces a calming effect, making that eerie feeling I had just a moment ago disappear. I see a large statue of Vienna centered in the back of the cathedral behind the altar which I can feel giving off a divine aura. I follow Vasavir as we walk down the center aisle passing by all the church pews. He stops at the first row and kneels at a bench as he looks up at the statue. He then motions for me to do the same.

“Why not offer a prayer Will? After all she is your god.”

“I won’t.”

“And why not?”

“Because I know she’s listening, and I know any prayer I make will go unfulfilled anyway,” I tell him.

Somehow I can’t bring myself to admit the fact that I still occasionally make prayers to my old god. I don’t know how to feel about committing heresy just yet.

“Then perhaps not offer the prayer to make a request, but in thanks,” an unfamiliar voice suggests.

I turn to see another old man with white hair wearing black church robes stand before me as his hands come together culminating in a pose of prayer. He wore round black tinted glasses and donned a silver necklace as well. I’ve met many priests in my life, but this is the first time I’ve met one accompanied with a very strong aura.

“Hendrickson, it’s a good thing to see you are still kicking around. You must be reaching about 84 years old by now and still in good health!” Vasavir congratulates.

“It seems Vienna isn’t ready to take me in just yet. What are you here for Vasavir? I did not take you for a man of faith,” Hendrickson claimed.

“I may not have the favour of the gods, but I still respect their authority throughout the land. Hendrickson, are you aware of the red moon that watches us tonight?”

The priest scratches his chin as he takes a deep breath before letting out a long sigh.

“This is going to be a long night.”

“What’s going on? Would somebody explain what’s going on already?” I pleaded.

Vasavir stands up to watch as Hendrickson pulls a halberd out from under a nearby altar.

“You see my protege, a priest's duties are not only limited to listening to the troubles of others and giving sermons. Nay, in this country priests are also responsible for committing exorcisms and sealing away demons,” Vasavir lectured.

“It isn’t the most appealing part of the job, that’s for sure. But it must be done,” Hendrickson finished.

“So what does this have to do with me?” I asked.

“I would like you to watch and learn from Hendrickson. I can’t help but shake the feeling that it may come in handy for your future.”

“You want me to become an exorcist? Isn’t killing demons the regular way enough?” I say as I brandish my sword.

“No, your master is correct. There are demons out there that can’t be dealt with by traditional methods. Such as those that are immortal or possess high regenerative abilities,” Hendrickson adds.

“I see.”

“Come, let’s head for the dungeon. This must have been enough time for the portal to form,” Vasavir says as he starts to walk in the direction of the 20 ft church doors.

The two doors swing wide open as Vasavir waves his hand to open it with telekinetic force. The light from the red moon is now visible once more, but while I stay within the cathedral I don’t feel that eerie feeling from earlier. Hendrickson placed his hand on my shoulder as he sensed my hesitation.

“While you are within this holy sanctum, Vienna’s power protects us. However, for those of us in our profession we must go forward and strike at the source of the corruption,” Hendrickson tells me.

Vasavir opened up another portal that led directly to the dungeon, the portal to the demon world.

“This isn’t a widely known fact yet, but the red moon is the result of the light coming from the dungeon reflecting off the moon,” Vasavir says as he looks up at the moon.

“That means that there’s a dungeon that appears whenever a red moon appears! That’s why I’ve been feeling that eerie feeling,” I say out loud.

“Indeed, for the past year I’ve been going around putting an end to those dungeons myself, at least the ones that pop up near Colonus. However they’re becoming more and more frequent as we approach the demon wave.”

I feel like I have just learned something I didn’t want to know. I’m barely strong enough to deal with one demon, I won’t think about what could happen when they start coming forth in waves.

“Ready yourself mentally son, there is a chance that we may all die tonight,” Hendrickson tells me.

“When he says ‘we’ he really means you two,” Vasavir corrected.

“Oh great, I feel like the whole world could end and you’d still be alive,” I proclaimed.

The reddish black portal before us was unstable as it grew, then shrank inconsistently. Some part of me feared that if we were to step through, it might close on us and leave us trapped in the demon world. I’ve heard tales of various adventurers disappearing due to that exact cause.

“How come the demons don’t all rush through these portals whenever they open? And it seems that the ones that do get through are incredibly weak,” I stated.

“You’ve noticed how these portals are incredibly unstable, yes? The stronger demons are unable to fully cross through as their strong demonic aura disrupts the portal entirely. When the true wave starts, it is said in the prophecy that a much larger portal will open, allowing the demons to run rampant. What we are currently doing is nothing but a stopgap measure, similar to patching a hole in the side of a dam before it eventually bursts,” Hendrickson lectured.

“I see, I understand now.”

I feel the inevitable pressure of time as I comprehend this information. When the time comes I, no, this country, must be prepared to face it together. Perhaps I should take a closer look at what the prophecy entails. All this time I’ve heard bits and pieces of it from what people tell me, yet I have never read it myself.

“Let’s go, we do not have all night,” Vasavir said before disappearing through the red portal.

Hendrickson and I follow suit as we step through ourselves. We find ourselves in the midst of a rocky wasteland. The sky is dark red and lightning streaks down from the clouds. My stomach churns in discomfort as I take in the atmosphere. The air is heavy and my mind feels sluggish.

“Before we go, let us offer a prayer to the Goddess. Her blessing shall protect and guide us,” Hendrickson states as he pulls out his bible.

She maketh me to lie down in green pastures: she leadeth me beside the still waters.

She restoreth my soul: she leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for her name's sake.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.

Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of God for ever.

As Hendrickson finishes his prayer a purple glow surrounds us and I feel strength pour into my very being. My aura grows stronger and I feel invigorated.

“What was that?”

“The words of the Bible contain semblances of the Goddess’ power. The fact that we feel such a blessing means that she hasn’t abandoned us. Not everyone receives her blessings, only those that do not stray from the righteous path are granted that right. Praise be the Goddess,” Hendrickson prays.

“Praise be,” I quietly mumble.

I suppose Vienna truly does care for humanity if she’s willing to grant blessings to those that are on the ‘righteous’ path. I’m still unclear on what that actually means.

We walk forward through the rocky climate as Vasavir leads the way to the source of the dungeon. The ground occasionally shakes as we walk, large fissures tear open in the distance and we just barely avoid falling into one. What I call luck Hendrickson calls the grace of God. Either way it doesn’t matter as long as we don’t die. We eventually come to a large circular clearing that sinks deeper near the center. At the center lay what appeared to be a black pond filled with a kind of gelatinous substance.

“What is that?” I questioned.

“That is most likely the dungeon boss,” Hendrickson answered.

“But it looks like a puddle,” I replied.

“Looks can be deceiving,” Vasavir answers.

The old wizard raises his hand opening a portal in the sky. One demonic bird happens to fly through and is sent directly before the black pond. As its presence is made, black tendrils pop out from the pond wrapping around the bird and pulling it into the body of fluid.

“Ok, it's a demon puddle,” I say, correcting my earlier statement.

“Who would like the first attack?” Vasavir puts out there.

“I don’t know whether I can stab a puddle or not, but I’ll try,” I said as I volunteered.

That creature isn’t actually a puddle but a slime. And I detect a darker presence within the slime that is most likely controlling it from within.

“A slime?! I’m getting worked up over a slime!”

This fact annoys me as I open up a portal beneath the largest boulder in the area and drop it over the black pond, appearing to crush it completely. The next thing I see are black tendrils coming out the side of the rock as it cracks and breaks apart. The black fluid, now agitated by my attack, quickly grows as a tendril latches out and wraps itself around my leg. It begins to pull me in, before getting chopped off by Hendrickson’s halberd.

“Thanks.”

“Do not be so hasty when it comes to weak looking opponents. Underestimating a foe could lead to your death,” the priest warned.

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

“I suppose I shall give it a shot next. Will I believe your approach was in the right direction, but you think too small. Use a much stronger force,” Vasavir says.

The old wizard lifts his hand as the ground begins to shake as rocks fly up into the air, coalescing into one large mass. The amount of ground ripped away was enough to make a decent change to the landscape.

“Why am I even here,” I sighed disparagingly from the volume of his attack.

The large mass is forced down upon the slime, causing a massive shockwave that blows me and Hendrickson back. When the dust settles and we begin to look for signs of the dungeon boss, we see the slime bring itself back together slowly as it starts to reform.

“It seems it's quite tolerant against physical attacks like those. Perhaps we should target the demonic seed that’s been placed within it,” Vasavir suggests.

“Seed? What seed?”

“When he refers to a seed, he’s talking about a mass of demonic energy that has been given a solid shape. When a seed is placed inside an organic creature it is given demonic properties. That slime there is an example,” Hendrickson lectured.

“Indeed. Did you know slimes are creatures native to our world, not the demon’s? They are primarily made of natural energy after all.”

A small dance

The slime itself begins to shapeshift into a larger being, something akin to a minotaur. The now beast-like slime charges forth, seeking to impale one of us on its horns. With an overhead swing of his halberd, Hendrickson cleaves the monster in half directly through its head. Then one half of the slime shapeshifts into another monster, now appearing to be a death mantis. I jump up and attempt to stab it through the abdomen with my sword, but it evades as it quickly flies away from me. I unleash a torrent of wind to fly as I attempt to cut it again with my blade. I manage to slice off its wings, causing it to fall to the ground. It shapeshifts once more, into an octopus-like monster. It turns its attention to the two old men directly below it. It squirts an array of ink at them, reducing visibility in the area. I hold up my finger attempting to blast away the ink with a gust of wind, before I see the slime, ink and all, soar up past me into the air. I look down and it seems Vasavir blasted it away using the power of space. There’s a clear circle around the two men where the ink failed to cover, indicating a barrier of some sort was used.

“So we’re dealing with a shapeshifting slime?” I say as I land on the ground.

“That seems to be the case. Will if you can immobilize it, I can deal with the seed inside of it,” Hendrickson tells me.

“And how am I supposed to do that? Hold it down? It’ll shapeshift,” I argued.

“Take this,” he says, handing me a slender rapier-like blade.

“Ah, you're giving him that. That will do the trick quite nicely,” Vasavir noted.

“What is this?”

“We members of the clergy refer to those holy weapons as white keys. They are especially effective against demons. They inhibit demons from properly utilizing their powers.”

I examine the long slim blade in my hand and affirm that it does have a holy energy attached to it. I wield the white key in my left and my regular sword in my right.

“Now go forth and be blessed. Destroy all that which is evil. So that which is good may flourish.”

I run forward jumping into the fray as the slime extends its tendrils attempting to incapacitate me. I spin quickly cutting off the tendrils attacking me. I noticed that after cutting with the white key, the severed end of the slime’s tendril began to burn with a hot white fire. It starts to show a semblance of fear as it begins backing away shooting out spike-like projectiles I didn’t know it had. It doesn’t matter as I open a portal to protect myself and I continue the charge. Right before I’m about to stab it, it surprises me by shapeshifting into Vasavir. I paused only for a moment, but then instead of hesitating, I only became more eager to stab it. I plunge the white key deep into the fake Vasavir’s heart, a small smirk starts to form on my face.

“Oh my God! I have been wanting to do that for the longest time!” I say in elation.

“Oh how my heart is wounded. I daresay I thought he liked me better than that,” Vasavir says sarcastically.

“You know most people would like a crack at you, myself included,” Hendrickson tells him.

The slime turned back to its original form, now slightly burning from the point of contact with the white key. It is unable to move and has been weakened from the holy energy of the slim sword.

“I need to get myself one of these,” I say noting its effects.

“Become a member of the clergy and you get ten free,” Hendrickson says as he comes forward.

“Excellent work my pupil, your footwork has gotten better,” Vasavir claims while golf clapping.

“Now I will perform the exorcism,” the priest informed.

He steps forward and firmly places a hand on the creature.

“I will kill.

I will let live.

I will harm and heal.

None will escape me.

None will escape my sight.

Be crushed.

I welcome those who have grown old and those who have lost.

Devote yourself to me, learn from me, and obey me.

Rest.

Do not forget song, do not forget prayer, and do not forget me.

I am light and relieve you of all your burdens.

Do not pretend.

Retribution for forgiveness, betrayal for trust, despair for hope, darkness for light, dark death for the living.

Relief is in my hands.

I will add oil to your sins and leave a mark.

Eternal life is given through death.

Ask for forgiveness here. I, the incarnation will swear.

Kyrie Eleison.”

A white light from the sky comes down completely covering the creature being exorcised. It was as if said light came from another dimension. A black mist started to evaporate from the slime as it hovered above it, coalescing into a small seed before suddenly being broken apart. The slime itself, now free of the seeds' influence, turned from a black hue to blue, now lying quietly in my hands.

“Whoa, so that’s an exorcism. That was so cool! Someone teach me how to do that,” I exclaimed.

“That was simply the result of allowing the Goddess’ power to flow through you and cleansing all impurities in the area. It is another reason why we should always uphold our faith and follow Vienna’s principles,” Hendrickson says in a gentle tone of voice.

“Please, that bout of exorcism was done not even using your own power. I could teach you more exciting and environmentally disastrous magic. Plus it's only effective against demons and you would have to spend hours doing bible studies. Would you really want to add that to your daily training regimen?” Vasavir asks with a hint of jealousy.

“It is safer and less painful than what you normally make me go through,” I argue.

I continue to bicker with Vasavir over adding bible study to my daily routine as we make our way back to the dungeon portal entrance before it closes. He argues that my time would be better spent training my physical and mental capacities rather than wasting time praying.

“Then what was the point of this trip if not an introduction to becoming an exorcist?” I say as I step out of the portal.

“The point was simply to introduce you to the church of Vienna. They will be an invaluable ally to you in the future and you should come to them on demon related matters. Like getting rid of curses, or receiving a blessing from them.”

“Curses? What are curses?”

“It’s what it sounds like, my boy. Curses are when one comes down with a kind of magical affliction, usually casted by a demon, but certain humans can cast them as well. Curses can range from a minor inconvenience, like always stubbing your toe on the side of your desk, to major curses like lycanthropy. The church has had a record of dealing with werewolves in the past,” Hendrickson mentioned.

“I will make an exception to one thing. I believe you should learn a form of sealing magic from the church, there will come a time where it will be difficult to take care of an opponent through regular means. In that case it would be much easier to simply seal the being,” Vasavir lectured.

“Oh I see, also what do I do with this thing?” I say still holding the slime.

I see two little white dots pop out appearing to be its eyes. The thing feels slimy and I had no idea why I carried it all the way back from the demon world. I think I got distracted arguing with Vasavir.

“I suppose you can just let it go. Slimes are relatively harmless after all. Especially now that it's been rid of the seed.”

“Ok off you go little guy.”

I toss the slime on the ground allowing it to roam free, but it just sits there and looks at me. I feel strange as the round blob stares at me intently and I almost feel violated, like it stared into my soul or something.

“Umm ok then I guess you could also just sit there and stare at me, but I’m going home, it's cold out here,” I say as I shiver.

I turn around preparing to head back as I feel the blob ram into my back before changing into a… dark blue coat? I see the white eyes of the slime coming from the coat around my arms. It even feels like a regular piece of clothing which is the strange thing.

“This is so weird.”

“It seems the little slime has taken a liking to you hero. It is not unusual for people to keep slimes as pets. Although many people report losing them when they get flushed down a toilet or down a shower drain,” Hendrickson chuckled.

“I remember my last pet slime. Accidentally blasted it into space in an experiment. Rest in peace Dreg,” Vasavir reminisced.

And that was how I was introduced to the church and got a pet slime. Surprisingly enough, this was not the strangest thing I’ve ever done.