Chapter 25.2 - Atharost
Trey cracked his neck and he watched the archer leave before scoffing at the notification concerning his hand to hand combat.
“My hand to hand skill should be a hell of a lot higher than ‘level 2.’ What a joke.” Trey muttered, insulted that the system didn’t recognize it and casting shade on what Trey thought was a honed combat training disregarding weapons.
‘I believe it to be a modifier increasing damage output, not an indication of skill.’ Sithis postulated. ‘It wouldn’t make sense otherwise.’
Trey flinched when he reached up to feel where his left ear had been. It was still bleeding like all hell, but his HP bar was still above 60%. That being said, HE wasn’t the one in serious trouble. Walking over to the ifrit pincushion, Trey knelt beside the dying greater class demon and gently placed a hand on the creature’s shoulder.
The ifrit’s breathing was shallow, his flames were gone and his eyes were drooping. Blood covered most of his body and he could barely hold his head up, but he still managed to grin at Trey when he saw him kneeling.
“I... am surprised... by you...” the ifrit muttered in the native demonic tongue. His voice was raspy, his breathing was harsh, and it was obvious he was struggling to hold on. He coughed and sent flecks of blood onto the floor to join the puddle accumulating there. “Have you... come... to kill me...? Or mock... me?”
Trey just shook his head with a sad smile. “No. I have come to offer you a deal.”
He raised his hand and began to concentrate. Seconds later a familiar pentagram illuminated the rock floor and then flashed. There in the dying light, 30 seconds later, stood Rivia. The culn girl was alert and anxiety-ridden, but she knelt upon being summoned and bowed her head to Trey.
“Yes my lord, what is it you wish of me?” She noticed the collection of bodies first, keeping her head low while her eyes wandered the carnage. Trey could see her breathing rate increase by the moment. Either she was angry, or still very scared.
“My lord?” Trey mused. He liked that name.
The girl nodded. “You... are my new lord, are you not?”
Trey nodded in a thoughtful pose. “Yes I am. Now please heal our ifrit friend here... we owe him a favor after getting my ass out of that mess. Then if we have time, heal me as well.”
Rivia looked visibly upset at the request but nodded and did as she was told, while the ifrit continued to slouch in his kneeling position with shallow ragged breaths. The miracle didn’t take long to cast and Trey still didn’t hear anyone coming in from the halls, so he summoned Napoleon and told the imp to keep watch on the hall that the culn archer had left through.
At the end of channeling two separate miracles, one for each of the men, Rivia was told to go find some new clothes and that they were leaving soon. The projectiles had been pulled out of the ifrit during the healing process by Trey, with new flesh molding into recent wound to completely cover them up.
Afterwards Trey specifically asked Rivia to find a cloak for him to take as he really didn’t want to be berated by any of Oblivion’s bad weather again. Upon being informed they were leaving, Rivia began to cry... but she kept it to a minimum and went to obey her new master anyways.
Meanwhile, the ifrit continued to sit in the same position it had been left in after the spears had run it through. The greater class demon shifted its weight confidently while staring Trey down. Trey stared right back as he waited calmly for Rivia to return, but before that happened the ifrit chose to speak.
“... My name... is Atharost. What is your name, human?”
“Trey! My name is Trey.” he immediately replied, extending a hand of friendship out, only for the demon to look at it curiously and dismiss it before continuing the conversation.
“What is the deal you spoke of?”
Cinders flickered around the ashen room. Burnt corpses and overturned broken furniture was rampant, and that smell... Trey kinda liked it.
He shifted forward, rubbing the spot where his ear had momentarily been shot off and feeling the soft new flesh between his fingers. He cleared his throat. “Well... Yeah. I was hoping that... uh, that I’d be able to convince you to join me as a minion.”
Atharost’s expression didn’t change. If anything, the Ifrit showed absolutely no emotion. “What would compel me to do that? My kind has been hunted to the brink of extinction by warlocks and summoners for our power, as well as other demon races who fear us or competed with us in the millenia past. Why would I pledge myself to one like you?”
Trey shrugged. “Because I saved your life?”
Atharost’s head shot back in a heavyset laugh. He was smiling, genuinely this time, and calmed himself to look the other man in the eyes. “This is true, but you also put me in this situation to begin with.”
“I also released you from centuries of imprisonment!” Trey retorted, beaming happily.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
Atharost’s grin faded slightly, but he kept a friendly composure. “Has it been that long?”
They were interrupted by Rivia. She’d walked over with some clothes she’d stripped off the corpses, handing Trey a black cloak in the process which he quickly donned. It had taken her a while to find ones that weren’t soaked with blood or burnt, but she had eventually succeeded in finding a pair of hooded black silk robes like the ones she had ruined when Trey had attacked her earlier.
Her old garments were bloodied and charred, and she quickly changed her own clothes within less than a minute. Somehow she made the act of putting on clothes just as attractive as taking them off, and Trey couldn’t help but stare at the demon he’d claimed for his own as he watched her toned figure work them on. She gave him a timid look when she caught his gaze and she quickly looked away with Atharost catching the exchange between the two.
“How long has she been yours?” Asked Atharost curiously. “For a culn, she is fairly attractive.”
The question caused Trey to huff.
“Just today. Placed a contract on her after I came back for revenge against a culn officer who killed me in cold blood. That’s actually why I was here to begin with.” Trey shrugged and nodded to the girl. “A damn good asset with that healing of hers. Her people shouldn’t have fucked with me.”
Atharost’s eyes narrowed. “You... were killed?”
Trey’s eyes rose and he realized he hadn’t shown the ifrit his status page. With permanence, he was hoping that it would be leverage to get Atharost on his side. After all, his immortality was his minion’s immortality by extension during the ON phases of All Spirit permanence. Right?
Well that thought process was absolutely correct. As Trey went over how he was able to respawn and come back to life, even if it was only cyclical and temporary, Atharost became intrigued. The ifrit became even more intrigued when he learned of immortality by extension. Rivia was listening just as keenly but trying not to make it obvious, her eyes widening as she listened to how it all worked for Trey and the other Earthborn. Then he told them all about the system message he’d received from the All Spirit, and how he expected many more Earthborn to not only be here currently... but also to show up in the future. It was a lot to contemplate for the native NPCs and neither Rivia nor Atharost said much as they pondered it all.
Another minute passed before they finally got up to leave.
“Wasting more time here will land us another fight.” Trey stated as he pointed to the hidden passageway’s latch still ajar along the wall. “Come on, let’s walk and talk. Grab some food for the road… I don’t want to be here when they send more reinforcements.”
They all agreed and followed Trey out, with Napoleon coming to sit along Trey’s shoulder and giving the ifrit wary glances at random.
They walked in silence. Trey had a feeling of relief and accomplishment, while Napoleon was beginning to tire and curled up in Trey’s arms just as they reached the end of the miles long tunnel. Along the way, Rivia kept giving longing looks back the way they had come and occasionally let out a stifled sob; tears occasionally trickling down her purple face while she trembled. Atharost on the other hand was absolutely quiet, pondering what he had been told.
After climbing the ladder and into the dark night, they stood together on the hill and watched the fortress far out from their position under a bleak Oblivion sky. The culn were scrambling their warriors and opening the gates for patrols to leave. It was without question that those patrols were looking for them.
“They are coming to avenge their fallen.” Atharost said quietly, a grim smile on his face with another stifled sob as Rivia covered her face and trembled some more.
The culn girl looked like she was seriously upset, but Trey didn’t give a shit. Not after what he’d see them do.
“Perhaps I should just kill you like I did the others?” Trey mused out loud for Rivia to hear, but the culn girl quickly shook her head and began trembling even more violently.
“No my lord! I will serve you faithfully! Please... let me live.”
Trey nodded in satisfaction and turned to the ifrit. “Well, have you considered my offer? No hard feelings if you don’t, but I could use all the help I can get.”
Napoleon remained silent and Talsh’Noc’Un hissed sporadically in the cool breeze of the night air until Atharost began to speak. Their eyes met, and then the ifrit bowed on one knee.
“Not only did you save me, but you could have forced me to submit if you had wanted to instead of healing me. You showed me kindness, and it is not something I will forget.”
Atharost lifted his horned head. “I am... young, and inexperienced for my kind. If you still wish that I come, I will serve you. You will be my new lord, and I will do my best to show you that our friendship will be a benefit to us both.”
“Atharost the Ifrit wishes to make a pact with you. Do you accept or decline?”
The All Spirit’s mechanical voice spoke into Trey’s mind, and they were the most beautiful words Trey had heard to date. He willed the ‘Accept’ option to activate.
“You have made a pact with Atharost the Ifrit. Atharost is now registered as your minion. To see more information about your minion, go to its Status Page.”
The biggest shit-eating grin Trey had mustered in the last three years spread across his face and he placed a hand on Atharost’s shoulder. “I look forward to our growing friendship. Welcome aboard Atharost. Now let’s get the hell out of here and figure out how to leave.”
Atharost stood and received a surprise barrage of compliments from the little imp on Trey’s shoulder, causing him to smile. The greater class demon began to chuckle, just as Trey did, and together they sat laughing at the tiny enthusiastic creature under the black night sky of Oblivion.
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Simplified Status Page for Atharost
Name: Atharost
Race: Ifrit, Greater Demon
Class: N/A
Level: 21 (2 skill points, 10 stat points to spend)
HP: 278/278, MP: 402/402, SP: 100/100, DP: 1/1
Skills: Firebolt (lvl. 23^^) (Fire), Fireblast (lvl. 18^) (Fire), Wall of Flames (lvl. 8)(Fire)
Firestorm (lvl. 2) (Tier 2 Fire), Demon Tail (lvl. 11^), Hand to Hand Combat (lvl. 7)
Traits: Flying, Life of Phoenix, Fireform, Trey Bon’s Minion
Magical Attributes: Fire
Opinion of you: Liked
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