As they kept walking forward along the tunnel, the Tengu clan eventually reached the surface of the mountain. They apparently walked through the inside of the mountain, in man-made tunnels, only now getting out of that place and reaching the top. Unlike what they hoped though, that was not the end of the trial. They found themselves at the bottom of the dessert valley. There were multiple rock formations such as buttles, mesas, and plateaus. The striking part was that it looked like the rocks made themselves look like giant spikes that were reaching up towards the sky.

Tired and exhausted from the trip upwards, the Tengu clan chose to rest for a while before going along the valley. Now the finishing point was almost within reach. They were certain that by the end of the valley, there would be a body of water from which they would be able to go back to their own home land, thus exiting the area designated for the trial.

“I think I will go and have some fun…” Ren muttered before he felt a hand on his shoulder pinching him hard.

“I think not. Do you have any idea how worried sick we were while we were separated from you, young master?” Aijasyl said with a scary smile on her face.

“Don’t worry, I will be ok.”

“No you are not! What will happen if someone ambushes you? You are not powerful enough to fight anyone off, the last thing you should do is place yourself into unnecessary danger.” Aijasyl countered.

“Aijasyl, with all due respect, partaking in the trials in itself is dangerous if not outright deadly. Having Master Ren restrict his movements will only hurt our progress. There is no way to avoid danger while we are here within the land where the first trial is held, so things like unnecessary danger is not plausible. The trials are already dangerous, there is no avoiding that.” Surprisingly, it was Kizilkoz voicing her opinion.

“Even if this place is a danger zone, we still should prioritize his safety…”

“If you are so concerned with him, then I will go with him. Will that make you feel better?” Kizilkoz said with slight exasperation.

“Alright, but if anything happens, you are to use fire magic to make a flare from your location. We will come immediately.” Said Aijasyl.

“Don’t worry, I will just climb on top of the large rocks, maybe it will be fun.”

“That is exactly what I am worried about, Ren” Aijasyl said with a worried tone. “Kizilkoz, keep track of him, make sure he does not do anything stupid to endanger himself!”

“Of course.” Kizilkoz agreed.

Now both Ren and Kizilkoz proceeded to go towards the rock formations.

While climbing on top of the rocks, they were conversing.

“Well, thanks for butting in for me; I was worried she would keep me inside the camp until it was time to leave.” Ren admitted.

“It is not like I did it for you, I needed to get some fresh air myself, but going alone is tantamount to a suicide. Having someone as strong as you around is rather reassuring.”

“Isn’t that supposed to be the other way around? Besides, you could have just sneaked away to get some great views of the land.” said Ren.

“I could, but after we encountered that frost demon, and those Aris clan demons, I am not so sure I can beat any demon when I am alone.” Kizilkoz admitted.

“Aren’t you strong? I mean you showed me what you could do with fire magic, that transforming flames, right?”

“That skill is only good for forging with materials, it is not good for close combat.” She heated up her hand and touched a rock in front of her. A hand sized chunk of the rock melted away the moment her hand touched it, but when she took off her hand the rock solidified. “While it can melt anything it touches, it can only work when I concentrate upon a small area, and it only works with physical contact, and if I were to try to shoot fire…” she shot a stream of flame at the rock in front of her. The rock remained unfazed, just slightly charred. “If my fire magic is not concentrated, it does little to no damage at all.”

“But other demons are not rocks; they shouldn’t be able to withstand flames.”

“Ren Karatengu, are you not aware that the most common resistance demons have is fire resistance? Unless the flames are special, demons like Altyn clan members wouldn’t even receive a scratch! So my ability which is just a concentrated flame with no special power is rather useless against any demon with fire resistance.”

“Then in that case, why don’t you make your flames special?” Ren asked.

“What do you mean?”

“Change the property of the flame, manipulate it, control it, and make it something beyond fire. When grandfather taught me how to control mana based substances, he said that I must make sure that the substance I am manipulating suits my needs, and if it doesn’t, I have to make it so that it does.”

Seeing Kizilkoz look at him with confusion, Ren proceeded to demonstrate by snatching the flames that were on Kizilkoz’s fingertips. He used his willpower to take over the control of her flames, now the flames obeyed him.

“My flames! But how?” Kizilkoz now was completely surprised.

“Doesn’t matter how, just listen to what I am about to show.” Ren proceeded to have the flames absorb the oxygen in the air at a rapid pace, making the flames substantially larger and darker. Now the flames were changing shape, until the flames shaped into a scythe. While Kizilkoz watched in awe, Ren proceeded to swing the flame scythe around, slicing the same large rock that Kizilkoz failed to damage before. The large rock ended up being split horizontally in half.

“What did you do? Was that my mana or did you add something to it?” Kizilkoz was now in a state of shock.

“I did not add any mana into it, I simply manipulated the mana that you emitted as flames and had the flames change form to suit my need, in this case I made a sharp weapon out of the flames. I used your mana to do this, so if you have enough control, you should be able to do this as well.” Ren now had the flame scythe condense and turn into a ball of flame size of wheel. “Now then, how do I get rid of it… Maybe… I got it!”

“Ren…” Kizilkoz was slightly alarmed at what her ally was going to do.

“I got it! Maybe I can do the same thing Orin does, at least I hope so. Heave-ho!” He condensed the ball of flames into a fist sized ball and proceeded to throw it at the rock hills. When the small ball of flames hit the barren rock hills, a heavy sound of explosion could be heard, with the rock now crumbling away and the piece of the plateau now being hollow.

“Ren Karatengu!!! What did you just do!?”

“I tried to imitate Orin’s explosion power but this came out completely wrong.” Ren admitted.

“Orin’s explosions are a result of Mi energy manipulation, not mana usage!”

“Then in that case, my bad.” Ren said with a hand scratching his head. He just nonchalantly destroyed part of rock landscape, and now he is acting like it was no big deal. “Well, I might as well see how much damage I caused.” He proceeded to walk towards the destroyed section of the plateau.

“Wait, Ren!” Kizilkoz reluctantly followed him. Now his impression within her mind was even worse. He used her own magic to such a devastating effect. If he could use someone else’s magic to such disastrous level, then there was no telling what he could do with his own mana. Yet, little did she know that Ren could not use his own mana due to extreme mana deficiency, and the feat that he accomplished was due to advanced mana control, nothing more.

Kizilkoz followed Ren, who stopped looking at the side of the plateau. Apparently the explosion peeled away a layer of rocks and earth, now there were something that could be seen, embedded in the rock.

Looking closer, Kizilkoz was able to tell that that there were two distinct things there. Two diamonds. One blood red and the other bluish white, faceted diamonds. They looked very out of place in such a landscape, and why they would be hidden underneath the layer of rocks and stones inside the plateau? Kizilkoz could not wrap her mind around what it could mean. Before she could say anything, Ren was already using her custom made knives in order to get the diamonds out of the rock wall.

“What are you doing?”

“Getting the diamonds, obviously.” Ren muttered. With several thrusts the diamonds ended up being freed from the rock and fell on the ground. When Ren reached out to touch them, he felt a strange sensation on the tip of his fingers, a sensation of connection, dread and slight pain momentarily coursed through his body. He did not try to pick it up again.

“Kizilkoz, can you pick them up?”

“Ok” Kizilkoz reached out and touched the diamonds and then she immediately withdrew her hand, as if feeling some pain. “This is weird, it is as though the diamonds are cursed. Wait, don’t touch them again!” but it was too late, Ren grabbed both diamonds with his hands.

His ears heard a ringing sensation within them, as if he was listening to a music performed by a mad artist who only knew how to scratch metal upon another metal. Needless to say, the sound was unbearable. Just as he was about to drop the diamonds, he heard two voices in his head.

“CAN YOU HEAR MY VOICE?” a masculine voice.

“CAN YOU HEAR ME” a feminine voice.

Surprised, Ren dropped both diamonds on the ground. Then he tried to listen for sounds diamonds were making, but there was no sound. He bent down and shouted at the diamonds but no response came. Kizilkoz just looked at him as if watching a lunatic in his native environment.

Then, he touched the bluish white diamond, from which a woman’s voice could be heard.

“AFTER TWO HUNDRED YEARS, FINALLY, SOMEONE HAS FOUND ME! MY NAME IS SERENA, I AM YOUR AND HUMANITY’S GODDESS. HELP ME GET OUT OF THIS ROCK, AND I SHALL HELP YOU PURGE THE DEMON KIND.”

“Uhm, no thanks.” Ren muttered.

“WHY? AS A HUMAN BEING YOU MUST FREE YOUR GODDESS, THAT IS YOUR HONOR BOUND DUTY. NOW FREE ME!”

“My duty? I know not of such a duty. If you are a goddess as you claim, then how come you look more like a polished jewelry rather than a deity?”

“I WAS SEALED IN THIS FORM BY A VILE DEMON, THE SERVANT OF DEMON KING. I FOUGHT ON THE SIDE OF HUMANITY WHILE HE LED HIS DEMON FORCES. BUT HE WAS TOO STRONG, I HAD TO RESORT TO SEALING HIM IN A FORM OF A DIAMOND IN ORDER TO STOP HIM, BUT IT TURNS OUT HE HAD THE SAME IDEA. AT THE SAME TIME I SEALED HIM, HE SEALED ME AWAY. WE BOTH WERE SEALED AND FELL DOWN INTO THE EARTH, WHERE WE REMAINED BURIED FOR AGES. HE WAS BURIED IN A DIAMOND FORM NEAR ME, I HAD TO TOLERATE HIS PRESENCE FOR SO LONG! NOW FINALLY, THE PROOF THAT HUMANITY HAS PREVAILED HAS ARRIVED. BREAK THE DIAMOND AND FREE ME, O CHOSEN SOUL!”

“I see, I suppose I should see the other one then.” Ren muttered, still holding the bluish white diamond which was screaming protests. (DON’T!!!!)

“Hello there, would I be speaking to a demon sealed in a rock?”

“I HAVE NOTHING TO SAY TO A HUMAN. LEAVE ME BE, iF YOU KNOW WHAT IS GOOD FOR YOU” the red diamond muttered in a harsh tone.

“JUST LEAVE HIM THERE AND FREE ME!” The bluish white diamond said in a desperate voice. “THAT DEMON DESERVES TO ROT IN THERE FOR ALL ETERNITY; SUCH IS THE FATE OF ALL DEMONS.”

“I DON’T WANT HUMAN’S HELP, I WOULD RATHER DIE THAN STOOP SO LOW AS TO ASK HUMAN FOR HELP.” The red diamond said angrily.

“YOU HEARD HIM, LEAVE HIM AND JOIN ME! I AM PATRON GOD OF HUMANITY, I SHALL HELP YOU PURGE ALL OF THE DEMONS HERE!” the bluish white diamond said in a happy melodic voice.

“Uhm, guys, I think you are making a mistake, I am not a human, I am a demon.”

Both diamonds now stood silent for a few seconds before answering.

“PLEASE TELL ME THAT IS A JOKE!” bluish white diamond seemed to be on the verge of tears.

“IS THAT TRUE? YOU DON’T LOOK LIKE A DEMON. YOU HAVE NO HORNS.”

“Why the heck is there such an obsession with horns?!! I am a late bloomer, that is all there is to it. I am a demon; my name is REN, KARATENGU REN!!!” Ren now was positively agitated. Topic of being hornless is one of few things that cause Ren to lose his cool. Ren looked at the red diamond with focused gaze and for a moment it seemed like the diamond stared back at him.

“YOU ARE NOT LYING. YOU REALLY ARE A DEMON. A KARATENGU… A CROW TYPE DEMON? AREN’T YOU?” The red diamond muttered.

“Of course I am.”

“I WAS SEALED IN THIS STONE FORM FOR TWO HUNDRED YEARS. WHEN THE HUMANITY INVADED OUR REALM BACK THEN, DEMON KING MANAGED TO DRIVE THEM BACK, BUT THIS GODDESS PERSISTED AT KILLING OUR KIND AND WOULDN’T STOP, UNTIL I SEALED HER AWAY, BUT IN THE PROCESS I ENDED UP BEING SEALED BY HER AS WELL. IF YOU ARE A DEMON, THEN…PLEASE FREE ME FROM THIS PRISON.” His voice sounded ragged and pained.

“Alright, consider it done!” Ren took a knife and slammed the sharp tip upon the diamond, shattering it.

An explosion of mist radiated by crimson light and then a figure appeared from within the shadows.

It was a demon, Ren could tell as much. But he resembled more of a dragon than a demon. His skin was covered in red scales and spikes. He had two large leather wings on his back as well as a tail. His face looked similar to lizard demon’s but his was more muscled and with sharper teeth and more horns on his head. In a sense, he looked rather badass. His well-muscled physique was visible through rags of clothing he was wearing.

“WOW!” Kizilkoz who was observing the entire time was looking at the scene with wide open eyes.

The dragon demon now stepped forward till he was in front of Ren. Then he proceeded to bow on one knee.

“Ren Karatengu, you have freed me from a prison I thought I could never escape, for that you have me in your debt. To repay your kindness, I, Sento Draco, the Demon Lord of the Draco clan, pledge my eternal loyalty to you.”

“I am not sure what to say, Sento Draco. But ok?”

“I will serve you well, Master Karatengu. I will never forget the debt I owe you. You have this one’s pledge of absolute loyalty.” He proceeded to bite his arm, spilling blood. “Please make a Master- Servant Contract with me.” He extended his right palm, soaked in blood.

Thinking it was a handshake, Ren shook Sento Draco’s hand. Now Ren’s hand felt like there was some kind of electric shock within it.

“Ren, What have you done?” Kizilkoz muttered.

“I just shook his hand, is something wrong with that?” Ren asked, in a rather oblivious manner.

“You just accepted Master- Contract with him, it means now you are his master until your death!”

“Wait, what?!”

“That is indeed the truth, master Karatengu. I will pledge my life to serve you as long as you live.” Sento Draco bowed his head.

“Oh….This is going to be very hard for me to explain to everyone.” Ren muttered before sighing in exasperation. He wasn’t sure how exactly he stumbled upon this Demon Lord, but now he knew that he gained another subordinate.