AN: Sorry about the delay in putting out a chapter. Hope you enjoy this exploration into the Dark Plane.

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Paden spent the following days in relative relaxation as he recovered his spiritual power. He continued to talk to Luanne through his connection, learning more about the light plane and spirits in general. As the days passed, Luanne started speaking less arrogantly as she had when they first met it was almost tolerable to Paden.

Paden was once again in the familiar room with Marie and the rest of the family. It was now time to begin the dark ceremony and Marie had drawn the formation he sat upon. She had given him a lot of information pertaining to the dark realm. Each piece of information only seemed to fuel his uncertainty about being able to complete a contract. It was to be suspected as dark spirits were notoriously known for their malevolent nature.

Paden began to meditate as Marie chanted and activated the formation under him. A familiar sense of uplift penetrated his spirit and before he knew it, he was inside a world of endless darkness.

He stood taking in the sight or lack thereof. Per his instructions he began by slowly acclimating himself and trying to ‘see’. Eventually his vision changed as though a red tint were placed over his eyes allowing him to make out shapes and distinctions in his surroundings. As he grew comfortable a sudden blinding light flashed almost blinding him as he reflexively closed his eyes.

Fighting his sudden disorientation he looked at the culprit with aggrieved eyes as she returned a look of innocence. The look irritated him and he began to pinch her rosy cheeks as she cried in pain.

“What was that for?!” Luanne cried as she rubbed her cheeks with her white hands.

“You almost blinded me, woman!” Paden told her angrily as he took in his surroundings, dismissing her own feelings of being wronged. So this is the dark plane?

The dark plane looked like a twisted nightmare. He stood on a hill overlooking a city with twisted spires and collapsed homes. Compared to the ‘immaculate’ feel of the light plane, the dark plane could be explained in a contrasting word, chaotic. A shiver ran down his spine as tortured wails in the distance elicited a feeling of fear in his heart. Logically, he knew he could not be physically harmed in this plane but the risk of possession was explained. He was not looking forward to the feeling of being some spirit’s puppet for a lifetime.

“Let’s go,” Paden said before leaving without waiting for Luanne’s response.

The two walked down the hill a short ways before a long serpent burst from a nearby dead bush. Paden was well aware he would be attacked during the ceremony and had been prepped by Marie. He quickly formed a dark sphere into his palm and threw it at the serpent as it rushed them. The creature hissed in agony as it retreated angrily.

Like this, Paden and Luanne were repeatedly attacked by several lower ranked spirits. Luanne had no power in this plane as she had in the light plane. She could use her affinity with light but that would only suppress the others party to a certain extent. Paden grumbled inwardly at her seeming uselessness. She had on more than one occasion invited disaster on them by giving their location away.

They arrived at a broken wall of the city and made their way through as several spirits looked at them. Paden looked at the varying amount of spirits which were completely different from the spirits of the light plane. He had counted several that had beastly almost demonic appearances in contrast to the human like appearances of those in the light plane. As he was looking around, his eyes fell onto a muscular demon like spirit with horns and snake like eyes.

The demon walked towards Paden with a smug look. “Another frail human come to try their luck?” he sneered with disdain as some of the surrounding spirits laughed. “Kid, leave the woman and we’ll let you through.”

Paden scoffed mockingly as the grin on the demon changed into a look of anger. “Brat that doesn’t know his place.”

He dashed over and swung his large fist at Paden who stood still, not giving his attack a second thought. The fist was met with the casual grasp of Paden who closed his grip as the demon cried in agony. He struggled to free himself from Paden who only closed his hand tighter causing the sounds of his bones being ground to fine powder to be heard. The surrounding spirits looked at Paden in shock.

This kind of strength was to be expected. Compared to the light plane where his light element had been sealed leaving him virtually powerless, here in the dark realm, Paden could fully display his excellent affinity to darkness. His power in the dark realm was nothing to scoff at and a royal class spirit like Luanne would possibly be unable to contend with his strength.

With a casual step, Paden threw a punch into the stomach of the demon and launched him meters away before it fell into the dirt. It was not dead but it might as well be. In the dark realm, spirits regularly fought and consumed one another in order to gain more strength. Paden’s mercy did not matter one bit as spirits swarmed the down demon and pulled him apart consuming his power.

Paden looked at this with some mixed feelings as Luanne snorted. She could not believe the audacity of it and would have killed it herself if she were back in her realm. However, she was suppressed in this plane and could barely count as a noble class spirit in this with her current power.

He signaled to Luanne and they continued on through the city. Similar situations as the earlier continued as arrogant spirits tried to challenge Paden. He was growing frustrated as a spirit that suited him had yet to appear and all he seemed to be doing was killing lower demons. He had begun to wonder where in this city was its domain ruler. If it was sufficiently powerful he would offer to contract if not then he would look elsewhere.

However, no spirits gave him information as to where the domain ruler of this city was. He was not as fortunate in appearing right in their home like he had with Luanne. Worse, it seemed the ruler was shrouded in mystery even to its own brethren. Going by rumors, Paden had some inkling it was royal class like Luanne or at least higher noble class.

Eventually they arrived at an area that looked like an execution area. It was oddly quiet and Paden noticed that spirits had avoided this area for some reason. His curiosity was raised so he wandered in as Luanne faltered behind him. Paden turned to see what the fuss was and saw that Luanne had disappeared. He felt something amiss and became vigilant.

The ground beneath him began to shake and a decaying hand grabbed at his ankle as he dashed back. He watched as one after another, five decaying corpses rose from the ground. He instantly channeled magic and created a dark sphere and threw it at them one by one. They collapsed and disappeared but soon a dozen bodies rose from the ground and attacked him.

He had fought off and killed several before the rest enclosed on him, pinning him to the ground. He quickly tried to think of a way out of this but noticed a large stone hand shoot out of the ground holding Luanne in its grasp. As he was wondering what was happening, he heard a soft chuckle from next to him.

Paden turned his head to see a man sitting on the execution platform while smiling at him as though his dilemma were a source of entertainment. He moved slightly and fell softly to the ground before walking purposefully towards Paden.

The man was in his late twenties and possessed pitch black hair and eyes. His sharp features and neatly trimmed beard gave him a roguishly handsome look. His body was finely built with lean muscle hidden by the soft black robes that covered it.

The man became aware of Paden’s presence and the fact he was accompanied by another spirit. While multiple affinities were not rare, he was deeply surprised to find his companion was a light spirit. Out of fun, he laid a test for the boy. Should he pass, he would have reason to approach and if not, he could care less for the boy.

He could sense his excellent affinity for darkness as soon as he set foot into the execution arena. A mage of less power would curl up into a mess as their minds shattered from the inherent evil of the area as it corrupted and twisted their souls. What had surprised him was the boy seemed to strut about without noticing it as though this were just any other part of the dark plane. He felt bad for the others but this child would be his.

“You…are interesting,” he spoke softly as he raised a hand to lift Paden’s chin. He saw the look of resistance in his eyes and smiled inwardly, amused. Innocent children like him were his favorites. In the end, they all fell to their baser instincts. He would be no different, he quietly thought.