“Finally, t-that’s it.”

I released a sigh of relief after I closed the giant dictionary on The Angel’s Language, the final dictionary I needed to read before being able to understand every possible language out there. I dragged the closed book over to its spot on the shelf and was able to put it in its spot after much difficulty.

“Hah, hah. Man, what the hell? Who brought this book up to the second floor?”

I took a couple deep breaths to slow my heart rate a bit, before standing up straight. I decide to leave the library and sneak down to the kitchen. I bring up an image of the entire mansion’s floor plan to find a quick route down to the kitchen. After deciding on which path I’d take, I walk down the stairs and take a couple of turns before reaching the kitchen doors, where cooks were scrambling to finish cooking the dishes for Mr. Sjorn and my other siblings. I walked into the kitchen, where I saw Mrs.Culder, the main cook, standing with her wooden spoon, waiting for me.

“There you are, Maxwell! You’re late to come to pick up your lunch! I was worried you’d injured yourself!”

“Sorry, Mrs.Culder. I was a-almost finished reading m-my current book, so I decided to f-finish it before t-taking a lunch break.”

“I understand, but sweetie, making people wait and worry is rude, you know?”

“S-Sorry, Mrs.Culder.”

“Ah well, anyway, today I prepared something special for you. We got a little bit of salmon from the fisherman today, so I decided to prepare it for you.”

“Oh, wow! A-All of this is for m-me?”

“Well, the salmon wasn’t that big, so I prepared the leftover lamb we didn’t use yesterday to make sure you’d get a full meal.”

“Well, thank you v-very much, Mrs.Culder. T-This is too much, so I’ll go share s-some with the others. I h-haven’t seen them in a while.”

“Ah, actually, that reminds me! The Head wanted to see you in his office, as he hasn’t seen you in a while, either, so he wanted to check up on you.”

“O-Okay, sure thing.”

I took the heaping plate of lamb, salmon, and rice and carefully began walking towards my brother’s room, making sure not to drop the plate.

After taking a few turns and climbing two sets of stairs, I was able to finally arrive at James’ room. I carefully remove one hand from under the plate while balancing it with the other and knock loudly on James’ door. I place my hand back under the plate as James yells out,

“Who’s there?! I am busy!”

“Open up, James! I-It’s me, Maxwell!”

“Maxwell! One second, I’ll be right there!”

I hear some shuffling behind the door while I wait for James to open the door. Eventually, James opens the door, revealing his tired, smiling face.

“Maxwell, where’ve you be- Whoa, where’d you get all this food from?”

“Mrs.Culder always m-makes me a plate of f-food, and today she m-made me a lot of f-food, so I d-decided to come by and eat t-this with you.”

“Well then, don’t just stand there. Come in. Set it on the table over near the window.”

“A-Alright.”

I walk over to the small table in James’ room near the window and place the heaping plate on the table. I then pull up a chair for me and James, while James pulls out some plates and cutlery. While James was setting up, I notice that James had cleaned his room, something he never did back at the orphanage. I decided to set up some more chairs and walked over to the magical stove. I fill up a tea kettle and put it on the magical stove. I set the heat to low, since I assumed it’d be a while before we’d need some tea. I then walk over to the now set-up table with some sugar and some spoons. I pull the chair back for James and then sat across James. James then walks over to the table with some cups of tea and places them in front of each chair. Then James sits down, and after we both look at what we had done, we broke into fits of laughter.

“So, how’d you know I had guests coming over?”

“You never c-cleaned your room, so I assumed t-there was an occasion f-for you to clean u-up and decided to p-prepare for some guests.”

“Ah, so you noticed.”

“Also, did you ask M-Mrs.Culder to make me t-this much food?”

“Why do you think that?”

“Well, there’s food for 5 h-here, so I assumed you asked her t-to make extra, knowing I’d m-most likely come to share s-some with you.”

“You got me.”

“James, I h-hear footsteps. I-I think your guests a-are almost here.”

“You can hear them coming from here? You have some keen senses

James got up from his chair and walked up to the door, moving out of my line of sight. I hear him open the door, after which I heard some familiar voices. I get up from my seat, realizing there aren’t enough seats for everyone, and just pull up another table and put it right next to the other table. I then rearrange the chairs and pull up a fifth one. I then sit down right next to James’ chair just as James welcomes everyone in. I get up and turn around, welcoming everyone that just came.

“Hello, Maxwell.” (Everyone)

“Hello, Everyone.”

I shake the outstretched hand of Lucifer, while simply bowing before Irene and Lilith. They all sit down, with Lucifer sitting next to me and Irene and Lilith sitting on the other side. James then sits at the head of the table, to my left. James gestures to everyone to begin eating, cutting a piece of salmon and lamb for everyone. Everyone then places some rice onto their plates and begins eating. We all finish eating around 4:00 PM. After cleaning up, I hear the tea kettle whistling. I get up and walk over to the kettle and grab some teabags. I take the kettle and place it on the now cleared table and place a teabag in every teacup. Everyone begins pouring tea for themselves, where they begin talking. I, again, don’t participate due to my lack of knowledge in the subjects they talk about, such as physics, organic chemistry, and such. All of these subjects were relatively new, discovered only 50 years ago, but due to the knowledge from the other races, they advanced rapidly to the point where it would’ve taken us another 200 years to advance to this point. I also just sat there while they were discussing their plans for how to overtake the other head candidates. After finishing my cup of tea, I got up and excused myself. James got up and saw me out of the room, giving me a quick hug before leaving. I then begin the long walk to Mr. Sjorn’s study.

I arrive at the gigantic golden doors and pull on the knocker a couple of times, causing the door to shake a bit. After a while, the doors opened up, revealing Mr. Sjorn’s desk, where he was sitting reading some papers. I walk up to the chair in front of Mr. Sjorn’s desk and sit down, waiting patiently as Mr. Sjorn finishes reading the documents in his hand.

“So, Maxwell, I’ve come to check up on your progress. What books have you begun reading?”

“I-I’ve begun reading some d-dictionaries.”

“Hmm, I see. And have you been understanding the words?”

“Yes, I have.”

“Then tell me. What is your favorite word?”

“Ꜿɮѫѫꜷꝕꞑ.”

The moment Mr. Sjorn heard that, he placed his papers on the desk and took off his glass, shaking.

“M-Maxwell, what was that?”

“Ꜿɮѫѫꜷꝕꞑ is s-saffronic (The Demonic Language) for Ancient.”

“Maxwell, y-you’ve learned the Demon’s Language?!”

“Y-Yes, s-sir.”

“A-Amazing. I am sorry for yelling, but I was just surprised. It usually takes years to be able to speak Saffronic, and even longer to understand and write it.”

“Do you w-want me to write it, M-Mr. Sjorn?”

“Write what?”

“T-The word Ꜿɮѫѫꜷꝕꞑ.”

“Hah, you can write it as well?”

“Y-Yes, sir.”

I take a small piece of blank paper and use the quill on Mr. Sjorn’s desk and write out the word Ꜿɮѫѫꜷꝕꞑ, causing Mr. Sjorn’s eyes to shake while looking at the sudden red glow being emitted from the letters as I write.

“Maxwell, don’t finish writing th-”

Mr. Sjorn tries to stop me as I finished writing the final letter. Abruptly the paper turns black and burns. Shortly after, a summoning circle appears on the floor, sending out waves of energy.

Mr. Sjorn’s desk suddenly flies back as books and papers start spinning around the circle. The circle goes from red to orange, then yellow, and continues in the order of color energies (Levels of energy are determined by color, as well. They go as follows: Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Cyan, White, Gray, and Black). Once the circle reaches the color black, it suddenly starts growing, with circles forming inside it. The circles begin spinning like gears, releasing loud sounds. At this point, Mr. Sjorn has jumped out and cast a barrier in front of us. We try to escape, but the pressure was too strong, as we couldn’t even move our legs. I continue to watch on as suddenly the circle begins to grow and turn the Dark Red. Suddenly, a hole begins to appear in the center of the summoning circle. As the hole grew bigger, a hand comes out of the circle, followed by a crown of horns. Then a human-like being with black glowing eyes appears with a sinister smile on his face.

“Ah, it’s been so long. The air of the surface world is like no other.” (???)

“W-Who are you, sir?” (Maxwell)

“Hmm? Oh, it’s a little boy. Are perhaps the carrier of my certificate?” (???)

“Um, I d-don’t know.” (Maxwell)

“Well, then how did I get here and how are you able to understand me if you’re not the holder of my certificate?” (???)

“Well, I was writing o-on a piece of p-paper the word Ancient, a-and then the paper t-turned into a s-summoning circle, and then y-you came out.” (Maxwell)

“Maxwell, you’re able to understand that demon? Ah, never mind.” (Calligpher Sjorn)

“W-Wait, you can’t understand h-him?”

“No, he’s just making weird sounds. And not to mention you as well are making those sounds.” (Sjorn)

“Oh.” (Maxwell)

“Are you done? You know it’s rude to talk to someone else while someone’s talking to you.” (???)

“Oh, s-sorry, sir.” (Maxwell)

“Ah, it’s fine. Since you’re the first person I’ve gotten to speak to, I’ll be generous. And stop calling me sir. My name is Rex Omnium Malorum, or you could just call me Rex.” (Rex)

“Wait, d-doesn’t that mean T-The King of A-All Evil in Latin?” (Maxwell)

“Oh, why yes!” (Rex)

“B-But how do d-demons know Latin?” (Maxwell)

“Secret. Well, anyways, it seems you know Saffronic, and not only that, you seem to have mastered the first letter” (Rex)

“Huh? W-What first letter?’’ (Maxwell)

“Read up all about it, Maxwell. Oh, wait, I forget humans don’t have access to that knowledge yet. I’ll help you, then. Maxwell, I’ll give you a special spell just for you. Write Ȝꝕꝕᴁ on a piece of paper and you’ll get a book on that stuff, and as a gift, only you can read it, so don’t worry about anyone knowing anything.” (Rex)

“Oh, t-thank you, Mr. Rex.” (Maxwell)

“Anytime. Well, I’ve spent too much time here. I hope I get to meet you in person one day, Maxwell. Anything else before I leave?” (Rex)

“Sir, c-could you please let m-my brother hold y-your certificate?” (Maxwell)

“And who’s your brother?” (Rex)

“His name is J-James Merlin Moriarty, s-sir.”

“Ah, I see. Well, luckily for you, he already does, but I’ll do you a favor and upgrade his certificate.” (Rex)

“Well, thank y-you, sir. You don’t actually seem e-evil at all.” (Maxwell)

“Oh, how I hate that name. It just means I control all evil, it doesn’t mean I am evil. It was a job I was forced to do, but I do enjoy helping people enjoy the small things in life. Well, anyway, I really have to go, Maxwell. Goodbye.” (Rex)

“Goodbye, M-Mr. Rex.” (Maxwell)

Then, just as suddenly as he appeared, Rex instantaneously disappeared into thin air. Mr. Sjorn released his barrier and stood up, observing the mess, when he turned around and looked at me.

“Well, Maxwell, it seems you’d be great with Glyphs.”

“What do y-you mean, Mr. Sjorn?”

“You don’t know about Glyphs?”

“No, sir.”

“Well, then, read up about them in our libraries. Oh, and before I forget. Maxwell, are you planning to study magic?”

“No, sir, I d-do not.”

“Why?”

“I do not have a-any skills with controlling magic w-within my body.”

“Oh, what a shame. I suggest then for you to read the book called The Obelisks of Power. They’ll help you find alternatives for magic, although I’m sure none will be as powerful.”

“T-Thank you, sir. I will.”

“Well, you may leave. The servants will be here to clean soon, so we’ll both be in their ways, so let’s leave.”

“Well, then, g-goodbye, sir.”

“Goodbye.”

I leave Mr. Sjorn and start walking to the library.

After walking around the mansion for a bit, I arrive at the library’s doors. I slide through the opening in the door and begin looking for a pen and paper. I then write out the word “ȝꝕꝕᴁ” on the paper. The paper begins glowing just like before, but unlike before, it creates a small circle, which lands on the back of my hand. The moment the circle touched my skin, it suddenly glowed brightly, causing a burning sensation to flow throughout my body.

“Aagh!”

I call out in pain as the circle burned itself into the back of my hand. After a few painful moments, though, the pain subsides, and the burned part of my hand heals instantly. Suddenly, a screen was projected from the back of my hand. It read

“You have been given The Rights of Passage and Access to The Kabbalah, The Library of The Devil’s Palace.”

After reading the message, a portal opened up in front of me. I slowly walked up to the portal, looking carefully inside, only for a hand to come out and pull me in, closing the portal behind me. After a couple of moments, I land on the ground with a hard thud. I got up and observed my surroundings when I realized I was in an interesting library. Each book, scroll, artifact, and paper was locked up individually, bound with chains and locks. Each book was also stored individually in spheres. As I was bust staring at the books, a voice calls out to me.

“Why, hello there, Maxwell.”

“Huh? H-Hello, sir. I h-hope I am not i-intruding, sir.”

“Hahaha! No, of course not. You’re welcome here anytime you wish to come.”

“T-Thank you v-very much, sir.”

“Well, Maxwell, it was nice meeting you. I am The Professor. If you ever need me, you can come here and call out for me. If I am not busy, I’ll come.”

“Thank y-you, Professor. But P-Professor, how c-can I gain a-access to those items?”

“Oh, why, that’s simple. I’m sure you got a message saying that you now have access to The Kabbalah?”

“Y-Yes.”

“Then that means you have access to all these items. If you want one of them, just reach your hand out and it will come to you. Anyway, I have prepared the books that’ll get you started on that table. Read those and you’ll be able to understand all of the knowledge here. And now, if you’ll excuse me, I must get going. It seems an Idiotic Mad Scientist is messing with things he shouldn’t, so I’ll have to go rescue him. Goodbye for now, Maxwell.”

The blacked-out figure that had a sort of pitch-black fog surrounding it, that introduced itself as The Professor, turned and looked at me with red glowing eyes peering from that black fog. Then the eyes disappeared as the fog was sucked into a purple portal and disappeared. After the fog disappeared, I looked around for the books that The Professor had prepared and saw a towering stack of books waiting for me. And so, I decided to begin reading.

(To Be Continued . . .)