It was early in the morning, and the rising sun had an exceptional shade of red to it. Perhaps, for the more romantically-minded that sight alone could easily rank in the five most beautiful things they had ever seen.
Generally, Ain would love to say that there were no romantically-minded persons in the courtyard of the mansion, this fine morning, but the sad reality was different. Def, the diabolical goblin swindler, debtor extraordinaire, father-of-none but neck-deep in alimony payment scams, has convinced a considerable population of foolish and naive demons to join Ain's Syndicate Faction and receive Emperor-level Methods - in exchange for questionable favors.
Now, this was an easy misunderstanding to fix. Ain absolutely did not want their bodies, hearts, souls or whatever else they were willing to give in exchange for what Ain fully intended to give them for free. However - and this was the problem at the core of the issue - Ain's generosity and kindness has sparked within the demons - who were mostly female - a reciprocal emotion of devotion and, simply put, adoration. In other words, they wanted to give their souls, bodies, hearts, et cetera, to Ain.
And they reminded him of this on a near daily basis.
Senon, who was standing next to Ain, was more than a little bit displeased with the way Ain kindled the passionate embers in the Factionite hearts.
On the other hand, Def was more than pleased. His grubby, little, almost-hairless eyebrows were arched so hard, they nearly popped off his forehead, as his expression was twisted into one of vivid glee.
"Lord Ain, you look so good today. Did you do something with your hair?" a pink-haired demoness commented on Ain's appearance, even though nothing about him changed.
"No," Ain replied flatly.
There was more than thirty demons gathered in the courtyard, and most of them generally spent their mornings practicing the Methods Ain taught them. To them, Ain was a creature possessing boundless knowledge, seemingly creating Emperor-level Methods out of thin air, tailor-made just for the demon in question and their abilities and synergies. In truth, Ain knew so many Emperor-level techniques that he didn't even know what to do with them. To him, they were all mostly useless knowledge. In the Ancient Eras, Emperor-level techniques were things practiced by middle-class practitioners, and were easy to come by. They were ubiquitous in that sense, and most of them were fragments of Heavenly techniques, or some form of derivative.
In those ancient days, true treasures were Heavenly King and Heavenly Emperor Methods with the realms beyond those not even possessing a universal name. Some call those Methods Abyssal, others Divine, but no matter what they called them, none had seen them, or at least, no one knew anyone who had seen one.
An exception to this were Methods comprehended from the Pillars of Creation, but to call them Methods would be a stretch. One would comprehend an Axiom or a Catechism from a Pillar, and create a Method from that.
"Everyone who has comprehended the first three secrets of the Method I taught you, step forward," Ain called out, his voice easily reaching across the courtyard, touching the minds of those who heard it with perfect clarity.
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Four demons bounded forwards, including Atrea and the pink-haired demon from earlier.
"Master, we are ready to serve you," Atrea said, with a light blush.
Ain was beginning to think that this was a terrible idea.
Senon narrowed her eyes, subconsciously stepping closer to Ain, as if to protect him from would-be aggressors.
"Right," Ain said, deciding to skip the explanation entirely. He drew his sword and slashed the air with a single, flowing motion. Underneath the sword, space itself appeared to warp. There were four flickering shimmers in the air before the four demons, and from Ain's side, it was impossible to see what it was. However, from the other side, where the demons were, they could see rift clearly.
"What... is this?" Atrea asked.
"That is your further education," Ain said, sheathing his sword with a loud rasp. "To further comprehend your Methods, you will have to find their source in the Planes."
A loud crack of thunder poured through the rift in front of Atrea who nearly jumped out of her own skin with fright. Their faces were all distorted, partly from the flickering warp of the rifts, and partly due to fear. The other demons had jealous and sympathizing expressions. They also wanted to prove themselves, but perhaps not like this.
"How do we get back?" the pink-haired demon asked.
Ain barely resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "It's just the Planes of Creation, it's not that hard. Just walk towards the Pillars and you'll end up... somewhere."
"Somewhere? Like the Spirit Realm?" Atrea asked.
Ain nodded. "Or worse."
"This is dangerous, isn't it?" one of the four demons asked. She had blonde hair, and her horns curved backwards on themselves.
"Extremely," Ain said simply.
That silenced them. Not just the four demons that stepped forward, but the other ones as well. They were all quiet in contemplation, most of them realizing that the same kind of danger awaited them in the future.
"Either you come back, or you don't. This is the path you chose to walk, and it is fraught with uncountable dangers and horrors," Ain said, pausing briefly to point at the rift. "And that is the least of all of them. It is a simple matter. As easy as it gets."
The pink-haired demon was the first to come out of her contemplations and she nodded. "If this is how I can be of service to you, my Lord, then I have no reason to think about it further."
She stepped forward, and the warp collapsed in on itself, disappearing from existence along with the demon.
Ain smiled. He could appreciate courage and duty.
The other demons nodded, stepping into their rifts, except for Atrea, who contemplated what she saw. Another sonorous roar of thunder poured from her rift and she shuddered.
"Your Source is most aligned with elemental lightning; in fact, with any sort of plasma related to air," Ain said. "I can't even conceive how you managed to unlock the third secret of your lightning Method, if you are afraid of thunder."
Atrea smiled, her cheeks rosy-pink. "I am not afraid of lightning," she said. "But thunder is different."
"It might be a good opportunity for you then to overcome that fear," Ain suggested.
Atrea thought about it for a moment longer, and then nodded. "I will do it for you. Perhaps the reward will be worth it," she said, chuckling. Then she closed her eyes and jumped forward into the rift.
Ain nodded; he knew the reward would be worth it. Although, he was not a dense idiot, when it came to matters of the Sword, only one type of reward was worth it. In that sense, he completely misunderstood what kind of reward Atrea was hoping for.
"Our turn," Ain said, looking to Senon. "Are you ready?"
Senon nodded her head slowly, expression still tinged with dissatisfaction. "Yes," she said with a cold tone.
Ain nodded, and once more withdrew his sword, this time stabbing the tip into the ground. There was no rift this time, or any distortions in the air. At one point in time Ain and Senon stood in the courtyard, and in the next, they found themselves in a blasted plain of infinite desolation.