Hmm, toxic fire spiders, black striped doom frogs and even a carcass eater!

It really may be time to bail, but I should test this new technique first! Having entered into the second phase of the demonic arts, I have remembered many hidden secrets. I’m really interested to find out what my current power can do.

Let’s start with the carcass eater. This rat like monster is a small creature, as big as a normal man’s torso, with sharp teeth, vicious claws and a red mane. Some of the older ones have spikes growing from all around their body, the longer they are, the older the rat. They normally prefer their meat dead and rotten, but if anyone would go against them, they’d be eaten alongside their dish. Amongst the critters, that rat was actually the most dangerous here, while the spiders would make a good pet and the frogs were just annoying.

Safe to say, the two spiders were not much of a threat, but combined with the frogs and the ones I feel approaching… things could go horribly wrong!

“HA!”

Amassing fiery red energy, I catapult myself forward, shrouding myself in a veil of dense heat.

Fifth ranked fire spell “smelting body”! After the breakthrough in my demonic arts, my magic also experienced not a small amount of advancement.

While the spiders fired their toxic, fire-retardant nets, the frogs had a hard time, as their skin dried up from the heat of my body. That was not all what the spell did, however. My blood boiling, my muscles constantly moving and the air around me distorting from the heat I emitt, it was all evidence on how potent the spell was. Fire magic itself emphasised the saying of: “Attack is the best defense”. So truly defensive fire magics were not only rare, but rather weak in comparison to other types of magic.

The best one could do, would be the “smelting body” spell. As a Grand Magus Saint, the spell would literally turn you into walking torch, merging yourself with the flames and heat. Anyone near you would have to shield themselves from the intense heat and fire, any moment of carelessness would undoubtably injure them gravely.

Having scared the frogs off for the moment, I use sudden acceleration to vanish from the line of sight of the carcass eater. Circling around, dodging the spider’s webs, I fire a fireball 2 meters in front of the rat, having it dodge towards me and quickly close into its unprotected side! A flurry of tail whips greets me, but I swat them all away, take steps into its space and finally stab its heart in a cold efficient blow.

This is where the fun starts, my dears!

Concentrating on its fleeting life and soul, I quickly hold onto its source of power and crush it within my hand, receiving a sudden rush of power. Just in time too, as the frogs now have a queer thin film of liquid around their bodies, protecting them from my “smelting body” spell. The spiders used the small interval I needed to draw upon the carcass eater’s life, shooting their webs and finally catching me with it. Busy with trying to spin me into a cocoon, they don’t notice the wave of an intangible beam of light, piercing them. Falling to the ground and dying on the spot, they no longer pose a threat to me, but not only did they poison me, but these damn frogs actually used this distraction to lash out at me with their tongue, paralysing me after having penetrated my defences!

Dammit! I underestimated the spiders, while not strong, they were enough to distract and poison me!

Putting my guard up, I notice three other beasts coming from behind me and one more approaching from my left.

Great, just great... the more the merrier, right?

While manipulating life force, I can currently use it for three different things. First I could use it to enhance myself, empowering my attacks, speed or defence. Second I could funnel it into my magic, enhancing the potency of my spells and lastly I could use it as an attack to directly strike my opponents spiritual energy! A spirit attack was a very potent way to deal with a lot of the weaker opponents, as only very strong ones would actually come across such attacks frequently enough to have developed ways to deal with them. The spiders were a prime example of that. I could easily dispatch them with my attack, shattering their spirit and killing them in an instant.

The downside on attacking the spirit of my opponents was that it took a lot of life-force to do. I would eventually have to use my own, greatly weakening myself in the process. Something I’d rather not do, which is why I used the life-force of the rat instead of attacking with my own immediately.

Now I had even more life-force to play with, the land or really weak creatures just didn’t give me enough, but the toxic fire spiders should suffice, as they are magical beasts of the 4th rank. Thanks to my carelessness I was now partially paralysed through these frogs and still weakened from the poison webs of these spiders. I wouldn’t hold out too long.

Quickly ripping apart the remainder of the webs entangling me, I rush to the spiders, taking their power, using it to empower myself and move with a blinding speed. These predators just couldn't anticipate such rapid attacks. I first dispatched the first one with a vicous kick, squashing his head, then circling around to get rid of the other two pesky frogs, slicing their heads off with my battle-qi claws, without them so much as trying to strike me back in retaliation!

Rewarded with a head-ache inducing muscle pain, not helped by the fact I was still sore and poisoned, I position myself to face these newcomers head on.

A group of wolves, jumping from tree to tree, the one originally from my left, almost soaring in the air, greeted me.

Pumping my remaining excess life-force into my legs, I sprint off… and RUN AWAY!

Noope! Not fighting Windwolves in this condition!

Quickly outrunning them, I crash into a cave, having lost control of my lower limbs mid-stride, as they burned with pain. A clear downside in using my powers in enhancing myself… but it wouldn’t cause lasting damage, as long as I wouldn’t overuse it.

*Grooowl*

“Ohh f*** me running… you cannot be serious.”

A dire bear! A bear twice as big as a human, without it even standing up. Vicious claws, digging deep gashes into the stone floor, the mother bear growls at me, clearly warning me not to come any closer to her and her three little cubs, already past the height a normal bear could ever hope to possess.

Not only were these bears as protective of their young as any bear would be, but they were even magical beasts of at least the seventh rank. Looking at this specimen before me, I’d say close to ninth rank, perhaps. In short… I shouldn’t have run from the windwolves.

Slowly trying to walk away, I immediately fall on my butt, the bear just grunting in response. A good sign, if you ask me… This guy could have killed me in an instant. Squashing my body beneath a giant paw. Instead she chose to warn me with a growl. A little odd, sure, but who am I to argue? Normally animals would be happy to eat me alive.

Dragging myself towards the exit, a sudden rumble stops me dead in my tracks. Stones crumbling underneath me, a gaping hole opens up and I start to fall.

Shrouding myself in the last bit of battle-qi left, my body takes on a sinister appearance. My purple qi is twisted into a mirage of the demon trapped within me, but I couldn’t care less right now, as I slam my now claw-like hand into the stone wall, slowing my descent.

How unlucky could I get!? First I run into these waves of magical beasts and now I can’t even move properly as I just happen to crash into a cave that would collapse and send into a ravine underneath it!

My weariness hits me as I continue to slide down and before I could even be weary enough to let go, I run out of wall to hug. A huge open area greets me, as I fall in mid-air, at least hundreds of metres. With a *SPLASH* I land in a huge underground lake, with a remarkable hissing as I touched the water, cooling me instantly.

Oh great… luckily it’s a natural salt water lake. Wouldn’t it be just the worst to hit pristine, untouched, perfectly drinkable groundwater lake? This world clearly hates me…

Swimming, with the last of my strength, I get to the surface and with just sheer willpower manage to drag myself to shore.

*pant* *pant*

Enough of this… I don’t care if I die.

Not even daring to open my eyes, because of the damnable salt lake, that still leaves a bad taste in my mouth, even after having done my best not to swallow any water. I cannot fight against the calm, soothing sleep that comes over me.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Thank you for reading and please leave me feedback or shout at me for having made a grammar mistake, telling me where it is. :D

Now we get our big, dusty book of history out and read some more about the Nine Hells, shall we?

Spoiler :

The evil plane of torment and cruelty, or commonly known as “The Nine Hells”, is a plane ruled by Baator. Baator created the Nine Hells when he first ascended into one of the higher divinities, ruling it ever since. Thus his domain was also just referred as The Nine Hells of Baator, or just Baator for short. The plane itself has seven sub-planes (seven layers). Each is different, but each is as vile as the other. From a destroyed plane of ruins, filled with the undead and wailing banshees, to a poison filled march, an endless bog of pollution full of sick, toxic creatures.

The ruler of any layer is commonly referred to as “Demon Lord of the ‘x’th layer”, or just “Demon Lord” if talking about the ruler of the layer one is currently in. The Demon Lord sires his lieutenants, the ones who enforce his orders upon the realm. They hold the third highest position in all of Baator. Just under their own master and Baator himself. Even another Demon Lord may not order them around, as long as their Lord still lives.

Other than their lieutenants, the Demon Lords may not have any family. As the lieutenants have been created by their master, while not really connected by blood, they are, in a sense, brothers, forming the only sort of family they shall ever have.

Each lieutenant must swear unwavering loyalty to their creator under the name of Baator. Should this vow be broken, Baator himself will punish the offender. The hierarchy and laws in the Nine Hells are heavily enforced, so while it is an evil realm full of death and cruelty, it is not without law.

For a demon of the Nine Hells to make a vow willingly, it has to be heavily in his favour, or he must have found a loophole in it, to begin with. This makes most inhabitants very deceitful, while they do not tell lies, they always try to obscure and twist the truth in their favor. Most are also rather longwinded, as they twist the wordings of agreements to alter their meanings in the slightest of ways, for them to gain the upper hand. A good example of that should be the demonic side of our MC.

The lieutenants all build their own clans and establish and maintain the position of their Demon Lord. Should another wish to take the position, he will have to challenge each clan, kill all lieutenants and face off, in a duel, one on one, against the old Demon Lord. Should there be any interference, Baator will pass on his judgement.

That should enough insight in that place for today, folks. If you have any questions, please tell me. Hope you enjoyed a bit of the background.

Hope it was interesting to you.