"Hey, I've got a few questions, if you don't mind."

The demon eyed me carefully as we made our way up the cave passage.

The two of us were walking through the twisting caverns of the Tiletik nest, trying in vain to find the way out. We had been moving for maybe ten minutes by then, silently watching each other. It was awkward, to say the least, and I was getting a bit antsy.

"...I suppose it wouldn't hurt to entertain your curiosity, as long as you are willing to answer a few questions of mine, as well."

"Sure thing! First off, could you explain how we're even talking? Because that’s been confusing me for a bit."

"An air-based translation spell."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

The Imp looked at me like I was something nasty on the underside of its shoe.

"I cast a translation spell, with air mana."

Oh! So the magic system is a lot more like an RPG than I originally thought! This demon can use air magic along with lightning magic, while I can use water, ice, and blood magic! I'm guessing the type someone can use is random.

"That's cool! Can you use any other magic besides air and lightning?"

"Forgive me for being frank, but I currently do not have enough trust in you to answer that question."

That makes sense. I can see how that kind of inquiry would be a little personal and rude. But, this guy is a demon, so I'm sure he couldn't care too much about politeness and social common sense.

"Now that I have answered a question of yours, I believe it is my turn to ask."

"Um, wait up, I have one more magic-related thing. Can someone get access to more elements later on, or are we stuck with what we have?"

I liked the idea of being able to shoot lightning from my hands like the demon can, but I couldn't sense any elements in my soul-space besides ice, water, and blood.

"What you are asking is impossible with our current resources."

"But does that mean we could do it in the future?"

The demon paused and took a second to gather his thoughts, before speaking with a somewhat smug undertone.

"It has been done before by a few greatly powerful and noteworthy magic-users, but it is a complicated and expensive process that even the strongest of demons struggle to complete. Now, it is my turn to ask questions."

"Uh, sure. I promise I won't lie unless I have a good reason for it."

"What are you doing in this realm?"

"I have no idea."

"In that case, I will assume you have not traveled here intentionally."

I scoffed. "Of course not! What sane person would actually want to visit this hellhole? Oh, I mean, no offense."

"None taken." For the first time since I met him, the demon smiled, although it was more of a dark smirk than anything cheerful. "Trust me, us demons revile this cursed place just as much as you."

"Ha! I can see why! It seems to me like this is just some sort of horrible desert. Is there anything more to it, or is the entirety of Hell hot and barren like around here?"

"There is much more than what you have seen. This particular region, Aurantias, is a more... isolated section of Hell, in many ways. There are dozens more regions, each one specifically designed to bring misery to those within."

"Wait, seriously? Shit. I mean, it makes sense, this is Hell after all."

"We are getting off track. I would like to ask you where you lived before finding yourself here."

That's another thing I was worried about. Is he going to react badly when I say I'm from another world? He's obviously met or at least knows about humans, but how? Is this world like DnD, where Hell is a seperate realm connected to some sort of regular fantasy world or is this place more of a crossroads between universes? Or maybe it's just honestly where sinners go when they die.

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I had no way of knowing besides asking him, but I felt like there was a possibility of him reacting poorly, and I absolutely did not want to fight that guy.

"Um, I was staying in a place called New York City."

"I have never heard it, although I must assume that the population was mostly human. What was the name of your nation?"

"Yeah, there was, um, mostly humans living there. And the nation was called the United States. It's pretty new."

"The United States, you say? How interesting."

Oh shit. What the hell does 'interesting' mean?

"Ah, check it out, dude! This is the spot where that lightning barrier was! You were the one that put it there, right?" I decided to blatantly shift the topic to stop him from asking more difficult questions.

Luckily, he seemed to not mind my somewhat desperate attempt to change the subject.

"Yes. I cast a simple barrier spell to delay Tiletik reinforcements from interrupting my battle. Also, I would greatly appreciate it if you would stop calling me 'dude'. It is misdemeaning."

While walking faster, I pretended not to hear him, because I didn't want to admit I had already forgotten his actual name.

….

As we passed by the large pile of dead spiders, I took notice of the Tiletik corpses that had been burnt by the lightning barrier. There had to be at least a dozen or more of them, all mostly piled together. None were a very strong type of Tiletik, all either Spiderlings or the slightly stronger Tiletik Sisters that I had fought previously.

My eyes widened as a stray reminder crossed my mind, and a hand darted up to the side of my head. To where my ear should have been. To where a previous encounter with a red Tiletik Hunter had ended with me losing the organ.

Still nothing.

It’s still gone. Although the level-up seemed to have cleaned up the blood and evened out the raged edges of the spot that used to have my ear, it didn't restore the outer organ.

So basically, my left ear was gone for good.

...Fuck spiders, man.

I bit back a growl and looked around for something to distract my thoughts, most of which involved mass tarantula genocide.

It was then that I noticed the way all the stray spiders were killed. Although the barrier had burnt the Tiletiks, the other corpses we had crossed, the ones that were simply caught alone in the tunnels, were different. Each one was sliced perfectly in half, and thinking back on it, I realized that most of the dead Tiletiks I had seen were killed in the exact same way. Almost every carcass was bisected cleanly in two.

But my new demon buddy didn’t use a blade of any kind; he used lightning.

“Hey dude, I thought you said that you were the one who killed all of these Tiletiks?”

He glanced back at me for a moment before responding.

“I had never stated that I was the only one to mount an offensive against this den, although it is true. Why are you asking?”

“Well, I noticed that all these spiders died by a blade or a sword of some kind, but I’ve only seen you throw around lightning spells. What’s up with that?”

“I have multiple offensive spells. My lightning attack was the most effective against the Tiletik Mother, while wind blades were best against these lesser threats.”

Wind blades? That sounds badass. Not as badass as the lightning he was using, but still pretty cool. Damn, I couldn’t wait until I learned more magic.

Speaking of that…

“Do you think you could teach me some magic? I have a few spells, but they’re all self taught…”

He nearly did a double-take at that statement. It was probably the most emotion I’ve seen on the demon’s face, to be honest.

“Excuse me? Did you say that the spells you know are all self taught?”

“Um, yeah.”

“Did you also unlock your mana by yourself? With no outside instruction?” He asked somewhat frantically,

“Yes…? It wasn’t a pleasant experience, I’ll say that much.”

At first, I thought he was surprised because I had done something amazing, like the progress I had made all by my lonesome was wonderful and prodigious.

However, the instant I saw his expression, I realized that was definitely not the case.

The look he had on his face clearly stated exactly how far his opinion of me had just fallen.

“Lake. The fact that you are still alive genuinely astounds me. I am not sure if I should be regretting or rejoicing in the fact I have made a deal with you. After all, you clearly must hold some astoundingly powerful abilities to have survived the rampant idiocy I am currently witnessing.”

His voice was dry, completely devoid of emotion, and as he spoke he gave me the most perfect deadpan I have ever had the pleasure of witnessing.

“Oi! What did I even do?! What’s wrong with teaching myself magic?”

The instant those words left my mouth I remembered exactly how many blunders I had made in my previous attempts. Accidentally learning useless spells, bumbling around with my soul-space, that horrible debacle with the burning…

Okay, I admit it, he might have a point there.

The demon decided not to grace my statement with a reply, simply raising his head to the ceiling and sighing despondently.

It was an amusing action, but it was also a very human action, similar to many small gestures he had made in our conversations already.

At first, this demon seemed like a completely alien creature, devoid of emotion and spirit. But at points like this, it was as if I was talking to another human.

I frowned.

However, as a light began to fill my view from up ahead and we reached the exit of the cave system, I had to turn the thought away and focus on the present. I could think about my strange new ally and the mysteries he brought, later.

For now, it was time to head back to base, and maybe, finally, start to be strong enough to stand on my own here, with the support of this demon that had suddenly become my partner.