In the outskirts of town, near a house isolated from the rest, a unique encounter was going on. A boy in soaking wet robes was shivering, in a curled-up ball. While he was experiencing trauma, his teacher was guiding him through the first steps in becoming a mage. “The darkness attribute isn’t actually directly connected with darkness. It’s an attribute mainly directed with life after death, what scholars call the void."

Gerald flipped the old book to a certain page. "It’s a plane of existence in which nothing but the consciousness exists. A world where one experiences nothing, neither pain nor pleasure.” Derb had a glazed look in his eyes, caused by the bath before. The moment Gerald said this he started attentively paying attention. “Usually those that use the darkness attribute fill themself with the power of consciousness from the void. However, it’s very mana intensive. It's extremely powerful but allows no way to sustain a fight. Not to mention allowing two 'souls’ active control in one body puts a great strain on it." The book was slammed shut, his teacher seemingly having found all he needed. "This is where ritual magic comes in. the inhabitants in the void cannot enter this world on their own. They need permission, allowing them to inhabit your body is just one way.”

Derb suddenly realized where this was going. “Ritual magic is one of the other ways to grant that permission. By granting the souls limited access their consciousness can enter into our world. The form transforms into a being made of pure physical mana, essentially considered a demon by all accounts. These demons can be made more powerful by adding extra attributes, but that technique is far too mana intensive for you at the moment.”

Derb gawked in amazement Did this mean He'd be able to control armies of demons? He could imagine the strength... the ravaging! Pillaging! KILL- “However!" The old man interrupted. "There are some drawbacks… summoners need an obscene amount of mana discipline, rather than mana itself. Fortunately for you, that seems to be your forte.” Derb hung hid head in disappointment. He guessed he couldn’t have an army so soon, at least not until he became a god or something. At least he had good mana discipline, as his teacher apparently said. Though he had no idea what he did to gain that control, Derb couldn't help but be smug about the talent.

All of a sudden a hand snaked around his neck. He turned to see his teacher somehow behind him. “Don’t get too complacent, boy. You’ll have to train your control every day to continue having such pure mana.” The hand tightened, and so did Derb's heart. “I won’t have you slacking off, you hear me?” Fear combined with his cold and wet robes left Derb a shivering mess. He knew his teacher wouldn’t punish him without reason. It didn’t mean wouldn’t go and hand Geral those reasons on a plate, though...

Geral released his grip on the boy's neck, who sighed in relief. “Now get up, we’ll begin training you in how to begin ritual magic, it won’t be too hard since your control seems to be beyond that point. Hurry and get in a meditative stance.” The old man was finally teaching him a spell!. Derb was beginning to get excited, he’d finally be able to use the energy inside him. At least, for something other than meditation. “Picture a rune in your head, it can be whatever you want, think of it as the name you’ll have in the void.” After some quick thinking Derb exactly what symbol to think of.

If you summoned demons, what else can you use besides a pentagram? The image formed in his head, dormant and black, and he waited for further instruction. “Once you’ve found your symbol, pour your mana directly into it, make sure it circulates through the entire sign, like a river running through a trench.” The old man instructed. Derb did just that, breathing in the crackling energy in the air. The mana around him started turning a darker shade of blue as it was pulled in. He found it was easier and faster to absorb when he “compressed” the mana around him, it was like making the water in the air solid drinking it.

The mana started coalescing into a small ball in front of him, turning from a dark shade to a calm and pale blue. He opened his mouth and willed it into his mouth, taking it as if it was a pill. Before when he was breathing the mana in it felt sort of pleasant, having it at this amount and quality felt like pouring alcohol down his throat. The first time he did this it made him gag uncontrollably. This time he barely reacted, however. The concentration required to fuse it with the star in his head was intense, and it took everything he had to pull it together.

Derb started trembling as he felt his mana reserves dry up. He felt like he ran a marathon. At some point it became easier to siphon mana into it, almost as if it became unclogged or something. The pentagram started to shine brightly, turning a pale blue. The old teacher quickly noticed. “Now boy, inject it with a thought of darkness, any will do. The quality of it is sure to shape its form though, so choose carefully.” Derb was confused at this, how would a mere thought change the process? He remembered the remains of the dream he had back then. The one he had back in the cell right before he met the two girls. The feeling of numbness caused by the dark, looking for anything to change the world around him. In the unending darkness, he felt fear of losing the scrap individuality he had. The years passed like seconds as he tried to find any form of stimuli, seeking to escape and cause untold havoc.

Derb stopped shaking, completely lost in his thoughts. The darkness was boring, a demon wanted nothing to escape it. After all, what more does a bored demon want other than… “Chaos...” The words came out of his mouth unnaturally, and as he opened his eyes he finally saw what was in front of him. The pentagram in his head was printed onto the grass, but instead of the light blue he thought it’d have it'd turned a dark purple. The mana inside started to take shape, opening a rift between the two planes. He could feel that the space inside the star taking conscious form. something had come, but it wasn't forming. “Quickly boy! Before your mana dissolves into nothing!” Gerald tossed derb a small sheathed knife, what was he meant to do with it? That was quickly answered. “Cut yourself! The more blood the merrier! The summon needs a lot of organic material and your blood is the best conduit for it!”

His thoughts went back to the boy in his dreams, the one that was disabled and covered in wounds. He looked down at the knife, was this in any way affecting his future? would he become something considered evil? He shook the thoughts away, no point in thinking such useless things. He tried to remember the shape of the dream's wounds had looked like. start with a line snaking up from his palm to the tip of his middle finger, and then a slash through all his fingers at once. from the he was meant to cut off his fingers, but of course he wouldn't do that. His blood started pouring out in large, unnatural amounts, looking like a fountain spring. Derb began to feel woozy almost instantaneously, at some point he couldn't take at and fell to his side.

“HEAL” Derb heard his teacher use that spell that had rendered him immobile once before and waited for the pain. Fortunately it didn’t come, only an itch from the hand he slit open. Derb stood up to question why it didn't hurt, only realize the state his teacher was ib. “Gerald! Are you alright?!” He rushed forward to help the man up, only to get his arm slapped away. “you don’t… have the right to call me that, boy...” His teacher said, gasping between breaths. “Hurry boy, summon... summon your demon, not much time.” He nervously looked towards the marking on the ground that had rendered his master to this state.

“Are you sure it’s safe for me to go over there? I don’t want to end up like you… no offense.” All that came from his teacher was a mocking bark of a laugh. “Idiot, the symbol wasn’t what caused this, that was you and your reckless cut. Hurry, go and unleash your mana into the blood. I’d have helped you at this point but I'd be more of a hindrance right now.” Derb was shocked… HE did that to him? This old man who could carry boulders almost didn’t have the strength to save him!? He gulped, Gerald didn’t tell him anything about what would happen if he ran out of mana, but that just means it couldn’t be a problem right?

He inched towards the puddle of his blood. Grimacing at the sheer amount he plunged his hands into it. He felt his mana getting itself sucked out through the blood, and it disgusted him. At first Derb reeled, but then realized this’d just help the process go smoother. As the mana was pouring in the blood started sparkling and throbbing, to his great displeasure. He almost blew chunks when he realized the blood was slowly forming into a tiny heart at the center of the pentagram. Suddenly flesh started knotting itself over the heart, forming what seemed like a fetus with a single eyeball. He started pumping mana faster, whatever happening couldn’t have been comfortable for the monster. He feared he would run out so he took in the ambient energy around him, feeding it almost instantly to his summon.

Eventually, the demon took form, leaving a gasping and sweating Derb to faceplant onto the floor. Fortunately, all the blood on the floor went into feeding the demon, so he wasn’t covered in it. After a few minutes, he was finally able to pick himself up to look at the creature, and by god it was the ugliest thing he'd ever seen. It looked as if a 3-foot goblin had lost its lower jaw, leaving a disgusting maw that opened ad closed like an insect's. Its feet and legs were as if a child was forced to do nothing but work out and starve, and both arms and legs had vicious-looking claws on them. The most glaring thing about it was the two small wings stuck in its back. They flapped occasionally but not in a way that signified any lift.

That was weird because the little monster was flying around him, taking in the scenery for the first time. “An imp! Boy, I didn’t know you had it in you! That's on par to a lesser demon elite!” The old man seemed proud in him, which offset the fact that he wanted this thing dead the moment he saw it. “Hey uh… you don’t think we can do a redo right?” The old man smiled warmly at him. “Redo? Boy, I doubt you could make something stronger than this at your current strength. I’d assume you’d be able to summon some wisp demons if you want, but this is glorious for your first time! ” Derb was beaming, his teacher really was a good guy if he was praising him for this weak-looking thing.” At least, that’s what he thought until the old man grabbed his head from the top and picked him up by it. “It took me 2 months to put up my first barrier… two months of hard work... ” the old man still had his smile, but his eyes weren’t genuine. “Two months and some punk learns his ritual in a week… ahahah!”

Derb had to think of something fast. His teacher seemed delirious and his head wouldn’t take much more before popping soon. He looked behind Gerald and yelled. “Tiff! Look at what your teacher is doing!” The old man let go in shock, dropping the boy, who flopped like a fish. He looked back, wanting to make an excuse for his shameful behavior… only to find no one. He sighed, knowing by the distance of the screaming that the kid wouldn’t be behind him anymore. Really, the kid had no trust in him. It wasn't as he would have done any lasting damage to him. It was just Gerald bonding with Derb. He looked towards the sky in anticipation. “I think I’ll make the bath extra hot tomorrow, really toughen the boy up.”

Derb was hidden on top of a tree, looking at the sky and watching clouds. His little imp was flying around him in a circle like a vulture, which sorta pissed him off. He just escaped his teacher’s wrath but he didn’t come out unscathed. He looked down at the ground, knowing he wouldn’t be able to get down without help. Curse whatever squirrely instinct made him think a tree was a proper escape spot... He sighed, Tiffany would come to get him at some point, she always had a habit of knowing where he was… it was kinda annoying actually. A few more moments of silence passed, then he remembered. The imp! He could have it help him! ...how would he do that, though? He stood up on the branch he was in, waving at his summon in the sky.

“Hey! Get me down! Get me out of this tree! HELP!” The imp paused midair, and Derb thought it understood. It then dived towards derb as fast as it could. Derb barely saw it coming and dodged the little blue devil. “OY, WITHOUT HURTING ME YOU DIMWIT.” He shouted. He crouched down, prepared for another dive. Fortunately, the imp didn’t go for another round, deciding to float towards him gently. “Can you get me down from here by carrying me?” the imp shook his head, to Derb’s dissatisfaction. How was he supposed to get down? After a brief moment of staring at the floating imp, he made his decision. “Okay look, I've got a good... I've got an idea, just latch on to my back.” The imp complied, getting on Derb’s back and squeezing with way more strength than he imagined. “Oof, hey bud. watch it with the nails, just try to take as much weight off me as you can, ok?” Derb psyched himself up, proceeding to climb down the tree. Even though he still felt weight it was as if the imp had lightened him by a hundred pounds. This was awesome! Derb decided to jump halfway down and landed with a light thump.

He did a pose, graciously showing off his ingenious demon backpack. That was until he heard a voice behind him. “What are you doing?” He jumped in surprise, looking back to see tiffany, holding a basket with a blank stare on her face. “Uh… get off me already you stupid imp.” After a second the imp unlatched himself and sat on the ground, staring blankly at the sky. “Heyyy Tiff I was just playing with my new friend here, say hello, imp.” the imp just kept staring blankly at tiffany, earning him a harsh glare from derb. “Just look down, imp. Anyways, Tiff, what are you doing all the way out here?” she set down her basket and pulled out a few sandwiches. “I saw you stuck up on the tree and went to get you some food.”

Derb smiled wryly. She actually saw that, huh? “It’s not nice to spy on me, you know, and usually someone goes and gets an adult, not food…” “I know, I just wanted to help on my own. Here, food!” she happily exclaimed, shoving the sandwich basket in his face. He sighed internally and gave a thumbs up. “Thanks, Tiff. You wouldn’t believe the day I had. Hey, imp, can you eat?” the imp nodded slowly… looking at Tiffany. Derb wasn't sure what that meant but he knew for sure he wouldn't trust the thing anymore. ...I’ve got a tuna sandwich here, will you settle for that?” The imp looked blankly, then shook his head no. Its pickiness pissed Derb off more than it should’ve then. "starve then, you goddamn idiot.”

He took a bite out of the sandwich and groaned in pleasure. That ritual sure took a lot out of him, literally. He couldn’t imagine how much blood went into making the stupid demon. “Tiffany, these might be the most delicious sandwiches I’ve ever had.” she beamed at the praise, also taking chomps of her own sandwich. “Thank you! I was taught to make them by Mrs. Anne!” Huh, he hadn’t heard of her before. “Is she a cook or something, it explains why the food’s so tasty.” this earned a giggle from tiffany. “No silly! She’s the blacksmith’s fiancee!” Tch, married, I was hoping to have food this good every day. “Say, can this blacksmith make me a shovel or something? I need something to attack Hannah with and I heard shovels are useful against snakes.”

He didn’t actually want to use the weapon on Hannah, but he wanted something to defend himself with. Hannah had the forces of nature in her hands and Tiffany could put him to sleep with two words. His teacher could wipe both those two off the face of the earth if he wanted to. All he got was a blue-winged manchild who wanted to eat people. “It’d be nice to walk around with a cane in hand or something...” he looked over at his eating partner. “Tiff, do you know where his shop is? Can you give me directions?” She smiled at him, crumbs falling from her mouth. Very unladylike. “Why don’t we just go there now?”