Chapter 7 - The Attrition

*Cinq*

*Huff*

*Cinq*

*Huff*

-” Aiiuu… “

*Cinq*

-” How is it… “ Torith started in a gruff voice, but stopped abruptly. -” Third hell has it, woow. “ He exclaimed in surprise. -” How the… how did you dig up all that? “

*Cinq*

I brought down the pickaxe, breaking away a small pebble from the bedrock. I blinked and stopped myself from rising the pickaxe again. The words finally penetrated and I looked back, at Torith. -” Wh...wha...what? “ I whispered as I was hungry and weak, barely able to stand.

-” I mean that I didn’t expect you to be that hardworking. “ Torith shook his head as if in disbelief. -” Even burning mana for sustenance… That's gonna be the most selfless thing ever around here! “ He spoke loudly and with a tinge of respect.

-” Wait! “ Abrupt suspicion dawned upon me and my body was flooded with rapid rush of fear driven power. -” What do you mean selfless?! And burning mana! I don’t even know how it works… “ I took a deep breath trying to calm down. -” Don’t tell me I did something wrong?! “

-” Wrong? Overlords forbid, no. “ Torith responded, but somehow his attitude only made a chilling sensation growing in the pit of my stomach worse. -” Excessive and selfless? Maybe. As to your question… “ He started explaining while shaking his head with good spirited smile. -” ...it appears that you had quite a bit of untapped mana and used it to work harder… “ Suddenly he put a hand over his eyes, and a teary note appeared in his speech. -” Really, going that far for my sake makes me really moved... you really are a good… “

With almost audible snap my suspicions arranged the facts in a whole picture, and I didn’t like it one bit! -” I lost ALL of the mana that I received from slaving at the laundry?! “ A shrill complaint escaped my mouth.

-” Um, that appears to be correct. “ Torith responded uncertainly and took a step back. -” Look, I can give you your pay… “ He started weakly.

-” Really?! “ My attention snapped back to the present, growing uncomfort over what I lost was suddenly replaced by the anticipation and hope.

-” Yes, have these. I will even give you ten of them… “ Torith’s voice was really weak for some reason as he extended his clawed hand to me.

My gaze instantly wandered to a ten, enticingly glimmering, shards of glasslike substance lying on it. Led by unknown craving I pounced at the hand and started slurping the crystals, which sent a blissful heat over my body.

-” Uuuuu… “ In an instant the shards were consumed and I unwittingly let out a whiny complaint. My gaze wandered to Torith, who had an expression on his face that was vaguely familiar to being sorry.

Disappearing heat and slowly returning hunger made me realize that the mana I had gotten was nowhere near the amount of what I used up. I wanted to cry from the misery, but no tears could appear in my demonic eyes. -” Why did it happen? I worked earlier and I didn’t loose anything… “ I fell to the ground in despair and complained to noone in particular.

-” Well, in the Netherworld you don’t use much mana, living out of the residual energy… “ Torith stopped retreating and started explaining, somehow he seemed apologetic. -” ...but when you do more than existing it taps into your mana… and demons can boost their power by expending mana… anyway I gotta go… got things to do… somewhere... “ Torith’s voice grew uncertain and, as he spoke, he started to move further and further from me. -” Work well tomorrow! “ He exclaimed briskly and escaped.

I laid down, depressed. -’ Why am I always a victim… ‘ I mulled over bad things that kept happening to me and a growing, persistent thought kept gnawing at my mind. -’ Noo, it couldn’t have been Deidre’s fault… no way… ‘ I tried to object the growing suspicion, but couldn’t…

Suddenly, a bunch of imps with pickaxes rushed into the chamber and started striking at the walls. I realized, with utter horror, that I was still at the work site and, with my luck, some demon was going to put me through another shift of forced labor.

I glanced around in panic and found a tunnel other than the one used by the arriving imps. Without wasting time I scampered into it and started skidding forward. After few turns the tunnel widened into rough stone cavern that was filled with sleeping imps.

Relieved, I walked further in, my gaze casually wandering over a grotesque, sleeping silhouettes. -” Ui! “ An angry yelp came out of my mouth as I spotted a familiar looking imp, it had a new pair of horns which looked like they were made out of a burning coal.

-” You...you… “ I started angrily as I approached the imp and vague memories of the summoning came to haunt me.

-” Yaaawh! “ The imp yawned lazily and looked at me with half closed eyes and relaxed smile. -” Oh, your back. Good job up there. “

-” What do you mean good job?! “ I was almost screaming. -” I went through hell up there! “

Horned imp sat up awkwardly, probably due to its bent back knees, and looked at me sternly. It made me realize that it was bigger than me. -” Do you think that mana is easy to come by in hell? For that little gig I have received more than you earn in a month... “ Suddenly, his gaze lost its edge. -” Though, I admit, that particular summoning is one of the worst… “

An awkward silence fell between us.

Horned imp finally broke the silence and spoke out in an amicable tone. -” Look, we had a deal. I will answer your questions... “ As if struck by a sudden thought the imp looked at me inquisitively. -” Moreover, I can even give you half the mana from this and subsequent summons if you agree to do at least thre… “ He looked at me doubtfully. -” ...er...make that two more summons. “

I was at a loss. At the one hand the offer seemed really good, almost too good to be true, on the other a vague memory was sending warning chills down my spine.

-” You don’t know how the mana works, right? “ Seeing my doubts, horned imp started explaining. -” See these? “ It pointed to the glowing horns. -” You can change your form, make it stronger, tough, or whatever you want really… “ It smiled widely. -” ...for a hefty price in mana. In a long run, you might even become Overseer… who knows, even a Soul Keeper might be within your reach. “

I listened to the words and my hell tempered suspicions grew stronger and stronger. -’ He definitely wants to scam me, he is too kind! ‘ I thought and some of my doubts must have shown on my face as horned imp suddenly switched the angle.

-” Hmm, let me put it that way. “ The imp stated openly. -” You might work for a month or two to get enough mana for your seal, one that is not bound to that accursed summoner, or you can take my seal and run in my place, earning what you need much sooner... “

In silence we looked at each other measuringly, until horned imp finally pulled out his final ace. -” If you focus on being summoned you don’t have to dig, you know? Also, do you really like diggin that much? “

I swallowed, the offer was so tempting, but it was a real deal with a devil, and after experiencing the hellish price of it once I was hesitant to accept. My hand reached to the silvery brooch that magically clinged to my body and I felt a sudden heat.

The booch started to shine and a weak, indistinguishable words suddenly started to sound in the air, becaming stronger with each passing second. The summon was coming, I had to make decision fast…

===============

Hey~, Author's here~

My board of advisors, you can consider them a PR guys, came to me and said that for public image it will be better if I start releasing on the schedule. Since they seem to know what they are doing most of the time, and they had a proof for it, I decided to go with the idea.

So the imp's gonna be released weakly on mondays. I hope you will continue to like the story and cheer me on :P

Cheers,

Mea, The PR Overlord

http://royalroadl.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=31512