"Ugh, I'm done with this place," groaned Terra. "It has to been at least a year. I need the sun! Sun, where are you?!"

Andrew sighed and nodded. "Just random monsters, more walls. Hell, we've walked to the edges like four times, but there was nothing. Even the centre seems impossible to get to. Stupid evil mechanical spiders..."

"Walls, beasts, more walls, more beasts. I'm tired off sleeping in steel walls. Even those magical showers are weird when I'm with a little kid next to me."

Andrew scoffed, "I'm not interested in that kind of thing, pervert."

"Hey, you're the one going to basically make... how many scenes?"

"Forty, fifty?"

"Fifty scenes of naked women parading around a dim-witted, ungodly blessed man."

Andrew gave him a pointed glare. "You realise the mental damage I got from a perverted old man forcibly reading that to me for months? Not even by myself - an old man. Reading it to me - excitedly."

Terra shivered and the simple speech brought Andrew's mind to numb. However, after several minutes of beating humanoid lizards that seemed to phase out from the very walls themselves to vent their frustration, they calmed themselves.

Even with groans surrounding them, the two ignored it.

Andrew looked at the ceiling for a while before he muttered indignantly. "What is the point of this bloody thing? Too stupid. Too stupid - lizard buddy, sorry. Terra, please make a sleigh or something with these guys."

"Again? Really?"

Andrew sighed and nodded. "Last time took a few days and that was going blind. I might just be able to blast out a way if I syphon them as I go."

"Whatever," spoke Terra heaving a sigh. His face brightened up for a moment, "that means we'll see the sun sooner, right?"

Andrew nodded and grabbed the first of ten lizards. His and Terra's armour was fixed and folded with increasingly dense layers of hardened steel. They both gave up on appearances after so long, therefore their armour was completely utilitarian. Granted, Terra did squander a little gold each time to make a person insignia no matter if it would be lucky survive for one day - let alone one week.

Nevertheless, with them completely outfitted, Andrew forced the ceiling to the side of him to cave in. After wandering around in circles for many days, he realised the walls automatically repair themselves, but such functions required a month at the very least. It was a type of magic he was very interested in learning, but it was tedious when monsters prevented any in-depth examinations.

After the ceiling collapsed, Andrew used his doppelganger to force his way up as he drained lizards from his original body. The tunnel was created at a reasonable angle, reinforced, and crafted with rough, earthen steps. However, the climb was treacherously long.

"At least on lizard for food... if it'll survive out of this thing."

"Why wouldn't it?" Spoke Terra curiously.

"It's their home and there are somehow or another formed from it," said Andrew with an indifferent shrug. "Whatever, it is basically done. It leads... to some town. Looks familiar, but still a ways away."

"Markit?"

"Hell if I know," laughed Andrew. "Oh, did I even tell that old man about demons and humans? Ah, whatever."

'Andrew, you hear me?'

'Leya? I thought the old man stole the earring?'

'Nah, he just duplicated it. Thank God he can only send it to you, though,' project Leya with a heavy sigh. 'We are going on a family vacation. You've been gone for too long so I didn't really think to tell you.'

'Family, huh? Ah, whatever, I'll learn lightning magic sooner or later.' He could almost swear he heard a muffled string of curses. He laughed heartily at that and continued, 'we are going to force our way back out. Those assassins are getting annoying. Hell, I had to devour four of them to heal my exploded stomach. Do you know how bad of a wound that is?'

'You are disgusting. I don't care if they were trying to kill you, don't go about 'devouring' people to heal your mistakes.'

'Pfft, you're just jealous. Triffling water magic is nothing compa-'

'I can use light magic - ergo, healing, idiot.'

Andrew was downcast for a moment. 'Fine, whatever. Just hate, hate, hate. I don't care. I'll contact you when I'm up. When will you be there?'

'Uhm... now? Ah, bye.'

'Dumb bitch,' thought Andrew inwardly.

'Hey!'

Andrew laughed it off and cut off the connection.

"Well, I guess I'm gonna be alone for a bit afterwards. You wanna head back to the capital or just wander?"

"I still have to see my father. It's been too long, you know? Anyways, we can work together later after all this shit is dealt with, 'kay?"

Andrew shrugged and grabbed another lizard. He rose the ground underneath the two of them, guiding them towards the passage. It was large enough to stand - for Andrew. Terra was complaining the entire time due to a ridiculous posture, but he finally resorted to crawling on his hands and knees to speed up the process.

Without Andrew doing the slightest thing to them, the lizards' life force began to dwindle rapidly. By the first day, they were all dead. However, their bodies remained. Additionally, when Andrew noticed it, he stole away the last vestige of life in order to widen the tunnel for Terra.

The two still complained as they ate tough, dry lizard flesh; but with a healthy dose of blood magic to refresh the meat, they were able to enjoy it ever-so-slightly more. Granted, it was still horrid. Yet, it still provided for them long enough to reach the surface.

When they arrived, they were met with a similar ambush, but Andrew's doppelganger abused the cover of night to take care of them all silently.

"Gruesome," spoke Terra indifferently. "I could probably do it better, though."

"Without alerting a single one? Hardly," scoffed Andrew pridefully.

The two laughed and moved through the forest for a few kilometres before they rested. Originally, they had rested in the tunnel itself just before. However, they were still lulled to sleep by the approaching night.

--

Andrew yawned loudly as he looked at the crowd all around him. "Why are y'all here? It doesn't even make sense, honestly."

An assassin garbed in blood red clothes looked at Andrew furiously before he shook his head. His eyes were replaced with a profound coldness.

"We need to extract information from the two of you. We've been made aware of your long-distance communication so we require proof of your silence on the matter."

"That being?"

"Your heads," laughed one.

The leader rose a hand and interjected. "We require a blood-oath. Nothing less will appease us."

Andrew half-glared at them before he sighed. "Why? I haven't done anything. All I did was pawn off some goods for meagre prices using a mask. You all should be aware of that."

"That isn't the issue," growled the leader.

"Something, something Lord Huren is a dick for killing my shadow-me when I just wanted to know about how to demonify myself?"

"Tha- what?"

Andrew's sleepy eyes grew excited, "do you know how I can turn myself into a demon? My sister told me I was crazy ages ago, but I know there has to be a way! Two horns, naturally, though."

The leader's expression twitched, "why... why in the hell would you want to do something like that? You'd be hunted - even more than now."

Andrew shrugged indifferently, "I survived thus far, right? Anyways, my dream is to be a demon king and unify the realm! Well, people can, I suppose, exist - but under my rule! I will finally, finally have true authority!"

"You... what?" The leader looked at the other assassins who seemed equally perplexed.

"For that reason, I have learned dark magic, plan on specialising in forbidden magic, looking to expand my- oh no! The bandits! I need to collect on those slimy bastards!"

Andrew wanted to turn and run, but Terra was still fast asleep. He grabbed a piece of earth and formed it into two earrings. "If you want, we can keep in touch. I need to harass a few bandits later. Anyways, if you can make the long-distance magic right now, that'd be preferable. Otherwise, we can deal with in the city."

This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

The leader was still completely confused; however, Andrew just rambled on for several minutes. All the time he was hounding his minion to awake, but the man seemed to be a lost cause.

"So... did you really want to learn that magic?" Mumbled the assassin. "I know of one technique, ghastly as it may be, that you carry. However, your aspirations may prove to be too fa-"

"I'm eig- uhm, nine? Whatever. I have time, right?"

"How the hell can a nine-year-old defeat trained assassins," growled the leader as he looked furiously at his underlings.

Andrew puffed up his chest with pride. "You just need to train better minions!"

"I'm not a minion," yawned Terra as he awoke.

Andrew splayed his hands towards the young man and laughed triumphantly. "See? I've had this particular minion for a year and a bit and he can probably take on... that's a lie, he has taken on two or three of your previous assassins."

Terra scratched his chin in embarrassment.

Andrew grinned at the response, but the troop of assassins seemed offended. "They likely weren't mine, but a colleagues. Though, let him take on two. We'll see if that truly is the case, Iyo, Juy."

Andrew raised his hand as high as he could.

"Yes?" Sighed the assassin leader.

"Lethal or non-lethal attacks?"

"Whichever you prefer," boasted the man. "It isn't like you can do anything to us anyway."

Andrew called out, "just beat 'em up, 'kay, Minion?"

Terra was woken from his daze and he glared at the two advancing assassins. He snorted coldly and grabbed the two blades at his waist. The assassins did the same; yet, the next action threw them off.

He tossed them on the ground and roared loudly. He bolted towards the first one and threw the stunned assassin minion to the ground. As the second approached from behind, Terra looked over his shoulder and caused the ground to collapse under both of their feet.

Terra recovered instantly and swung his forearm into the assassin's neck before pummeling the two who hastily tried to defend with knives. Terra snorted and covered his fists, arms, and chest with stone as he continuously struck.

"Enough," spoke Andrew happily. "Good job, Illustrious.... what is it again? Great Knight something or another?"

Terra snorted coldy, but a content smile appeared on his face. 'Carrot and stick approach,' mused Andrew inwardly.

"And three?"

Terra faced off against another three that appeared from the shadows. All told, there were five beaten into the ground as four stood there agape.

Andrew snickered and pointed at the leader, "I don't really care about politics so if that's what you're worried about then whatever. Like I said, we can deal with an earring thing if you can find me a demon spell book."

The leader's eyes narrowed, "what is your end game?"

"World domination," spoke Andrew innocently. "Wanna become my minion, we'll do really, really, really cool things. Well, I want to hunt down all the vampires for eating pretty, two-horned demon women, but still, I know that's boring, but I feel like I should..."

Andrew's speech continued on for a long time. In fact, Terra, who heard it all already, laid back down and dozed off. The four others were unfortunately required to hear him out in one way or another as Andrew spoke fervently.

"Kha?" Murmured one of the assassins.

"Yes," sighed the leader, Kha. "Someone... I don't even know. I'll contact headquarters... this isn't normal. Keep guard over them, okay?"

The three of them pulled out many different weapons from under their blood-red cloaks and began circle around Andrew and the sleeping Terra.

A stalemate happened for a long time, but Andrew continued to talk passionately about his dream to conquer the world's lands, women, and riches as he alternated his gazes between the increasingly more uncomfortable assassins.

"You know, you must know," spoke Andrew excitedly, "how are the demon women?! I really, really want to see a pretty one my age with two horns; no offence, but single horns are kind of strange. I just really the symmetry between it all, right? Like how it frames their face and those intoxicating tails! Ah! The tails! I forgot about the tails!"

Andrew scrambled onto the ground and formed his ideal demon women sculpture for when he grew up. It was hastily made at first, but he constantly refined it under the preying eyes of the assassins. Even those who awakened after their encounter with Terra looked at it passionately.

"Right, right!? Two horns are the best! Symmetry! Granted, the style doesn't matter too much as long as it fits their personality. Hell, having a single horn in the middle means it can only be boring and straight and even the slightest curve makes it look weird - right Assassin Minion #3?! Look at your horn, look at hers. Weird, right?! We need two horns! Two!"

They were torn between wanting to kill him and wanting him to create another figure. However, many already secretly coveted the steel sculpture he tender created in front of their very eyes.

Nevertheless, after an hour, Kha softly sighed, "you can return back with us. However, you must completely abandon all ties to this kingdom, alright?"

Andrew shook his head firmly, "no, my mom, dad, baby sister, uncle, and a few friends are here. I don't want to leave right now. How about... you come around with me. You don't seem to be like that ugly Yuol so you should be able to pass as a human, right?"

"Yuol... ugly?" Spoke Kha incredulous. "He is pretty much on the most attractive demon list, you know?"

Andrew waved his hands dismissively, "I broke that scoundrel's horn. He was already ugly before that, but how could a healed horn ever look desirable... not to question your standpoint."

"I'm not like that!" Kha's eyes were filled with indignation. "I am not interested in that - not my thing."

Andrew raised his eyebrows and looked at A.M. #3.

The assassin was forced in-between the two gazes and sputtered for a long moment before he ran.

"Ha! Don't lie. It isn't polite to those that are. You just have to accept it, it'll make things easier."

"I'm not! Hell, you probably are," scoffed Kha.

Andrew snickered and pulled out the first five pages of his trial on the Wild Adventures of Lusty Maid. It was not his best work, but it was not like he could get anything of substance over the old man's panting.

When Kha looked at the thin steel pages, his eyes grew wide. "Is... is that... really?"

"Yes," spoke Andrew with a firm nod. "The first edition is already reserved. However, I can put you on the list. Naturally, you'll have to wait a bit while I deal with a few things. How about... a year? I'll be ten then so it'll be normal... wait, is it normal to leave home at ten? Or even eight?"

"No and no," sighed Kha. "I'll talk it over with HQ. We will go back to the city and sort out a form of communication. However, my men seem to have taken a liking to your statue..."

Andrew's eyes sharpened and rested on the man. "Will anyone modify her horns? If so, no. I refuse."

Kha rose his hands up defensively and frantically spoke, "no! Never. Anyways, I'm going to be in some trouble for playing it out this way so you damn well better drop off one of those book-things to me."

Andrew quirked his brow for a moment. "Did you want this type... or better?"

The man's eyes twinkled and he sub-consciously gulped. Andrew laughed and jumped up to tap the man's shoulder. "I will make a better version, but you have to trust me. Hell, it might be heretical considering your guys' opinion... but it'll be better, I swear."

Kha scanned around the group and barked out, "no word of this gets out! Nothing!"

"Understood!"

The assassins acted oddly disciplined for once. Nevertheless, the effect faded as the looked at the statue which Andrew gave consent of passing towards them.

Andrew suddenly got an idea and ordered, "give me your gold! I want to do something! At least whoever is keeping the statue!"

Andrew immediately began forging a pair of bat-like wings on the demon and created a sleek, revealing dress on her otherwise nude body. It was simple, see through even, but its line could be seen emphasising the demonic woman's curves.

Andrew noticed a few purses that were offered and he stole them without asking for permission. Nevertheless, he reforged the gold with black iron to form an otherworldly black wing with veins of pale gold. Granted, it was not the ideal colours for the demonic woman; however, just three features gaining the coating was enough to stun even Terra who awoke to look at the statue.

Andrew looked at it appraisingly before he shook his head in disapproval. He reached forward and grabbed a bit of the spilt blood on the ground to form intoxicating crimson eyes.

"Hmm, there are so many options... will this do...? Oh, that was definitely not blood-magic. Definitely."

The troop was shocked, but Andrew grew irritated at their gazes. "This is my ideal women! This is the power of two horns! Never forget that. I digress, Kha, assassin guy, let's go."

"Huh... I don't want to," murmured the man. "Can't I just say here?"

"No," spoke Andrew adamantly. "Send your minions to take her to a royal gallery where people can appreciate her. Protect her with your life."

"Yes, sir!" Roared the troop who carefully picked up the statue before bolting towards the border.

Andrew rolled his eyes dramatically. "Simpletons. They'd be better off using a carriage to prevent savage eyes laying on her. Kha!"

"Huh, yes!"

Andrew grabbed the earth and the man's purse. The gold coin was marked with a different emblem that Nineau's; however, the effect was the same. He created a miniature version for Kha and spoke solemnly.

"Protect her, okay? I will come back to check. Anyways, it is already afternoon!"

Andrew pulled the despondent man before finally creating a sleigh underneath the man's feet. He levitated it with earth magic as he securely loaded the once fearsome assassin up.

After two kilometres, Andrew approached the city of Markit with a confused assassin in tow. His face was hidden by a hood so he was easily able to morph his features to that of humans. Even Andrew was surprised at the young features the man portrayed. Nevertheless, the black hair and tan skin were a little out of the ordinary.

Granted, it was nothing too major, but it did attract stares especially with the blood-red cloak. Kha, Andrew, and even Terra entered into the city unhindered and wandered around for a short while as he looked at the bizarre.

"Pottery sold by the mysterious Demon Brothers! It is unique - this metal never rusts! The designs are flawless, starting at one hundred gold!"

"One hundred and ten!"

Andrew looked at the prices and felt his heart pull. Even as the two looked around, he fell back to a wall and hid as complicated feeling arose inside of him. The final price was twenty times what he himself had made on the hastily created art pieces.

Andrew self-consciously checked his purse. It was still heavy, but it was nowhere near as heavy as it could have been. He wanted to tearfully run to the Thieve's guild and forge a few more to be thrown on the market. However, he suddenly heard something that stilled him.

"The Master Blacksmith of the Demon Brothers has created exactly five hundred fourty-eight known items. Each of them is unique - even weapons forged by his hands carried a trace of artistic passion that no one could reproduce. Early works have appeared as well! Look out for the ominous, elongated 'x'."

Andrew felt that the entire world turned on him as he thought about all the wasted gold.

"I should have known... artists are worth so much more after they're dead," sniffled Andrew.

A nearby shopkeeper patted him consolingly, "it is true. I once had the opportunity to buy a blade in a small village. However, the man selflessly passed it to the chief. I hear his clan has been raised from the commoner class to landed knights with the simple token."

Andrew cried even harder and even more people came to console him. "I just... I just want to be alone..."

"Here," spoke a boy who wore a cracked mask. "I've known the grace of such a generous man. Because of it, I was finally adopted into a noble family. Think! A street orphan suddenly claiming the seat of a third son! You should have this, it'll all be okay!"

He offered up a small toffee candy to the despondent boy his own age.

Andrew looked at the mask and cried again. However, he stuffed the small candy in his mouth as he wallowed in regret.

Kha seemed lost, but Terra was on the other side of the bizarre with a similar reaction. The people simply thought they missed the opportunity to purchase the items as they showed the reactions of many others in the past. However, Terra was more proactive. He constantly checked all of his gear before he cried aloud even further.

"Why?! Everything else had it, but why not this set?! Not even the swords!"

His old armour was habitually marked with the x as well, but with the last alteration, Andrew simply forgot about it and left them with no chance to capitalise on it. Andrew looked at the dagger in his hands before he restrained himself. He did not want to draw attention to himself like that; but if a pot could sell for two hundred gold, he was extremely torn.

Kha decided to leave the two alone and gazed in admiration of the small statue in their hands. Nevertheless, the two of them remained stationary for several hours until Andrew lethargically purchased two pairs of enchanted earrings.

"Please..." spoke Andrew sorrowfully. "Just..." he sighed loudly and dropped a gold coin to the man.

He took the earrings and forced it on Kha before he went to work on his own.

'There, now I'm going to drink. I need wine- lots of wine. Why?! I could have been so, so rich!'

Andrew continued to wallow as he projected his thoughts to Kha. The leader, Kha, consoled him for a bit before he blocked the communication and the three sat in a bar drinking heavily.