Northern Ruk
UnderKeep
Sly stormed through the main keep’s corridors, entirely built into the walls of the city the building was enormous but very straight forward with it’s design. He took several turns that prolonged his walk but eventually he reached the main hall, where the Devil King Satan, his family and many of their military retinue sat around a great table for dinner.
He was told to be there every morning as it was the only time they all got together, for him to meet and be introduced to everyone. Sly walked through the large doorway stretching out his wings as he passed by the guards standing at attention, he was still getting used to his wings and they got in the way most of the time.
“Ah speak of the devil!” said Satan as Sly walked in, tearing away at his massive leg of meat he gestured for Sly to sit at the empty seat to his right “Sit here boy!”. Sly wordlessly walked over and took his seat, several other seats to his right were left empty while all the others were already taken.
Satan gazed down at him as if in thought, Sly sat awkwardly in his seat with his wings moving around “What is it?” he asked with a raised brow.
Satan chuckled lightly as he gestured to his left, he sat at the very middle of the square table “Let me start the introductions then! This is my eighth wife, Roselia Agni Abysswalker.” He gestured at a dainty Devillish woman with light violet skin, reddish greying hair and black eyes with crimson irises.
Roselia nodded in his direction with a friendly smile “Husband as told me you are of a distant branch, I would love to hear of your family.”
Sly glanced between her and Satan briefly with many questions going through his head, he settled for one “Eighth?”
“Ah yes, I’ve been married eight times in my existence. That is seven reincarnations mind you.” Satan explained before moving on “Further down this side are our children and theirs each of the Agni. My oldest, Hector Agni Abysswalker and his wife Scylla Ragnarok Blaze followed by their two daughters Aria and Delila Ragnarok Agni Blaze Abysswalker.” the last two names being a mouthful.
Aria and Delila took mostly from their father due to their Devil bloodlines but their mother, a Castanic Demon, looked out of place next to them.
“Then there is Zeyna Agni Abysswalker Shadowborn my only daughter, mother of my reincarnated brother Zeiken Agni Abysswalker Shadowborn.” Zeyna looked almost identical to Hector but her serious expression varied greatly from her brother’s playful grin. “Zeiken’s father, Darius Wraith Shadowborn of Greed is away visiting his mother Mammon still.”
“Wait so…technically Zeiken is Hector’s uncle but Hector is also Zeiken’s uncle?...” Sly asked in confusion.
Satan roared with laughter at his question, he held his gut trying to calm himself down. Roselia spoke in his stead “No boy, Hector is Zeiken’s uncle and that is it. Reincarnation is a difficult thing to implement into family titles so you only count the physical not the spiritual.” she explained.
Satan took in several breaths as he forced down his laughter before slapping the back of Sly’s chair almost knocking him off it “Indeed boy, you mustn’t get confused so easily! Anyhow, back to the introductions!” he stated while wiping off a tear “Lastly is my youngest son Val Agni Abysswalker, his wife Tania Frei Rain and their daughter Sistine Agni Frei Abysswalker.” he continued the introductions with the last three on their side of the table.
Val was the youngest of Satan’s children but also the tallest, he bore the most similarity to his father as his horns were more pronounced and wings larger than Sly’s. Now that Sly actually looked for it he noticed that only Val, Tania, Satan and himself had wings. Tania wasn’t either a Demon or Devilling, she was a Fae with long jade green hair, light emerald eyes and pale white skin. Her wings were bright white lined with green and full of a green-blue design of roots or vines.
“You must have noticed by now.” Cut in Satan with a wide grin as Sly leaned in to see the ones on the farthest on their side of the table.
“The wings?” guessed Sly with a confused expression.
“No…Well yes I guess but not exactly that.” Satan gestured at Val “You and Val are the only other Devils of Wrath other than Zeiken and myself. Zeiken’s wings haven’t come out yet due to his body’s age but he is a Devil.” Satan explained.
“Huh.” Sly glanced back to his side where every seat between him and the edge of the table lay empty.
“That is your family’s side of the table.” said Roselia catching Sly’s attention.
“My side?” Sly asked.
“Ares.” said Satan before sighing, he laid back in his large chair and closed his eyes “Ever since those seats have been nothing more than decoration, call it a sign of respect for their souls.”
Sly’s expression grew only more confused, Roselia nudged her husband and he opened his eyes “I guess it is best for me to tell you the tale.” Satan stated bitterly. “My-Our family is broken into two bloodlines, Ares and Agni with Hellborn being our last name before the Dark plane where many...many things changed.”
Satan spoke with a toneless voice reminiscing on the past “My first two sons, Ares and Agni Hellborn, both full fledged Devils. Agni was slain during the invasion of Tempres along with myself, we were later reincarnated into the Darkplane but Ares…Ares lived through it all, he was captured and treated in ways known only to himself. Even as he starved and thirst he worked and fought for the safety of our people. Blinded by the darkness and weakened by the mana that permeated that realm he still fought on no matter how beast-like he had to become.
Agni was reincarnated before me so he felt what Ares had become, the creature he turned into. That plane changed him into something…that not even his own brother recognised. A mangled nightmare that feasted upon the monsters of that realm for simple nutrition, Agni was disgusted by the sight. Enraged by the change, Agni wanted to slay Ares and take him out of his misery but knew that would not bring his brother back. Devils remember their past lives.”
Satan clenched onto the armrests of his chair as Roselia lay her small hand over his massive one, he continued to tell “Ares the warrior was gone, in it’s place stood Ares the beast and it’s brother Agni the mage couldn’t stand it. Agni could not leave his brother warped by the magic of that plane, it was insult to Ares. So Agni did the only thing he could do, at the cost of his soul he created a spell that devoured Ares’s body and banished his soul to the magicless realm where Ares’s Devillish soul would be nothing more than a mortal mundane being.”
Satan looked down at Sly “You whom has come from Ares, I apologise for misjudging you before.” He gestured at Sly “I needed proof, that your blood-Nay your soul wasn’t still tainted by the Dark plane’s magic. For that I required you to go through the change, I required you to ascend and tell me whether Agni died in vain or saved his brother’s bloodline.”
“And so we welcome back Ares’s blood to the family and toast to Agni’s feat!” Declared Hector before draining his large mug of ale, all toasted to his declaration except for Sly as he stared down at the food in front of himself.
Sly glanced down at the empty silver plate seeing his own reflection (“Then this…is who…what I am.”) he clenched his hands into fists (“Another’s legacy…Still.”)
Satan rested his massive hand over the back of Sly’s chair “I understand it is a lot to digest, to live up to Ares’s name must seem impossible to you son but be proud for you too are a Devil now.” He then gestured at the food on the table “I hope it’s not to the point that you actually cannot digest?” he joked.
Sly remained quiet as he picked some from the food spread out through the table as Satan introduced him to the others that sat with them, military officers of his Legion with some being Demons or Devillings of a lesser family branch not withholding the Abysswalker name.
“Ah before I forget!” Satan suddenly exclaimed “Your training starts at noon.”
Sly glanced away from the food and up at Satan questioningly as he chewed some sort of stringy white meat.
“Well you cannot assume to know everything about your new body now? There are many things for you to learn about what you are!” Satan explained with arms open wide before gesturing at the other end of the table “I have a legion to lead so it cannot be me, Val will be teaching you the ropes.”
The Devil in question stood up from his seat and walked around the others to stand next to where Sly sat, he forwarded his hand “I would be honoured to teach the next generation.” he stated with a dignified tone and a happy grin.
Sly swallowed and stood up as well to shake the other Devil’s hand, now that they were closer he could fully inspect Val. With similar features to his father, Hector and Zeyna, Val also had different eyes than them, they were still mostly black but only one iris was violet while the other was silver.
Sly shook Val’s hand only to find himself in a test of strength as Val instead of shaking clenched his hand and fingers around Sly’s. Sly squinted as he clenched back, the other Devil’s raw strength made Sly’s hand wail with pain but he held on releasing his own unrestrained strength.
Val’s grin grew into a smirk “Make sure to keep up son, us Devils know little restraint.” the man suddenly seemed much more than Sly initially saw, his height, pronounced horns and massive wingspan sending shivers down his spine.
“Cut it out Pa, you’ll scare him off before you’ve even begun.” Stated someone from behind Val.
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“But I’m only introducing myself, the warrior’s way.” said Val with an apologetic expression as he allowed himself to be pulled back, his daughter stepped out from behind him wearing an unconvinced sneer as she glanced up at him.
“Don’t be fooled by his aura new comer, my father is actually a softy on the inside.” She forwarded her hand to Sly “I’m Sistine.” Unlike Aria or Delila who were built like barbaric warriors, even the young Zeiken, she was thin and much less impressive than either three. Sistine looked to be in her early-twenties, pale white skin, long and slightly pointed Fae ears along with short emerald hair and like her father a silver and an emerald eye, Sistine was a mix of Devilling and Fae.
Sly’s face seemed to completely freeze as he stared at her, his hand floated half raised. Sistine took his hand herself and briefly shook it “I don’t believe we’ve heard your name yet? Grand Father is growing demented as of late.” She winked at him implying the joke.
Satan spat out the ale he was just drinking “Who ye calling demented now!? Of course we-” he stopped and thought something over briefly “Oh.” He cleared his throat with a cough while wiping the ale that splattered on his hands “Speak your name boy, not your Devil name that is.”
“What’s the difference?” asked Sly while still entranced.
“Ah! Because a Devil’s name is not given to them by their parents but by Hel herself!” exclaimed Val already entering his teacher’s act “Val is my actual name while my Devil name is Archon! Devils and Devillings have both names. We already know your Devil name is Zeokul but I’m afraid nobody has asked you for your actual name?”
“Oh.” Sly momentarily glanced at Val snapping out of his daze “Um…Justin, it’s Justin.” He turned back to Sistine “My friends call me Sly.”
“Sly?” asked Val and Sistine in almost unison.
“Long story…” admitted Sly.
“Well we have time! Sit down! Tell us about yourself then!” urged on Satan while sending Val and Sistine to their seats.
Sly awkwardly sat down and glanced around the table before looking up at Satan who gestured for him to start (“Okay…how do I explain the internet to mostly medieval and magical demonic beings?...”) he asked himself while everyone stared at him waiting.
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Sly collapsed to his knees as sweat trickled down his entire body, his black shirt and grey long pants drenched as he took scattered breaths.
“Come on boy get up! Now that we’ve stretched out our limbs the lessons can actually start!” announced Val from his perch above a boulder, they were outside the city high above on the hills that the ravines were part of.
“Stretching!? I thought I was going to die ninety percent of the time!” exclaimed Sly as he looked up at him from below, Val had him run through the entire area and leap over the ravines, each time he fell he had to go back and start all over. The suns weren’t being friendly either, each smouldering hot burning his skin over and drying the sweat off it almost as quickly as Sly produced it.
“Bah! That was nothing!” said Val as he hopped off the boulder to stand in front of Sly “All you’ve been using is your body’s own energy, remember boy raw strength does not compare to magically enhanced. You have to tap into your reserves and make use of your Abysmal mana, that is what I will be teaching you today.”
“Aby-what?” asked Sly as he stood up still breathing heavily.
“Abysmal.” corrected Sistine as she sat on a rock nearby watching.
“It is the power us Devils tap into when using magic.” Val continued to explain “It is the core of our power, a limitless pond of energy that we may take from as much as we like.”
Sly stared at him in disbelief “That’s not possible?”
“It very much is.” Insisted Val “Abysmal mana is like a sponge, it absorbs mana from your surroundings and transforms it into what you require although more pure than your body can normally handle. Which, is why you shouldn’t absorb too much else you’ll end up facing unimaginable agony.”
“Infinite mana…sponge…lots of pain…got it.” said Sly in between exhausted breathing.
“Sistine, please show him what I mean.” said Val as he gestured at her.
“Yes Papa.” Sistine stood up from the stone and raised her right hand up into the sky, she briefly focused as a violet miasma formed around her hand. Flames formed flowing inward to surround her entire arm, not forming from her body but from the mana surrounding it that lay inside the miasma.
“You focus on summoning your Abysmal mana then like focusing Aura you surround the part of your body you wish to use it with, then focus on your surroundings with it.” explained Val as he turned back to Sly.
“Sure, I can do that.” said Sly as he straightened up and held his right hand ahead of himself in a fist, he focused to locate the Abysmal mana that lay within him. He pushed it out and willed it to surround his outstretched arm, dark purple miasma formed around it. As he was told he focused on his surroundings locating the mana with the miasma and pulling it in, he felt the mana enter his miasma as if it was an extension of his body.
The mana felt strange, almost invasive as he absorbed it. Having taken in enough he then summoned the only magical spell he knew and white lightning surged across his entire arm.
Val nodded “Well done, that’s the easy part. Now on to the next!” he held his left arm out with hand wide open as violet miasma formed out of his palm, it expanded and took form before a solid pitch black pole-blade appeared. Val grabbed the weapon and spun it around expertly for a bit before slamming it’s butt down on the ground “This is Dark Cruelty, my Abyssal weapon.”
Sly gazed at the beautiful weapon, it’s pole was etched with a flowing golden serpent that rose up to the blade where it’s open jaws were perfectly carved into the flat of it on either face. “Abyssal weapon? Do I get one?” asked Sly as his excitement suddenly skyrocketed.
“Slow down, let me explain first.” Val chuckled at his reaction “An Abyssal weapon is your Abysmal mana taking physical form, it is an extension of your very soul. To summon it you must do four things, will your Abysmal mana out and imagine it’s shape, do not force it’s shape but simply let the image appear in your mind.”
Sly followed his instructions raising his right hand forward again and willing out the miasma, he made it move around as he pictured an assortment of weaponry he was proficient with.
“Now as you imagine the weapon, speak it’s name.” said Val ending his explanation.
“How do I just speak it’s name? Do I decide what it’s called?” Sly asked slightly confused.
“Once you find the weapon’s shape, you will know it’s name.” replied Val.
Sly stood focusing for a few seconds before speaking again “So I need to know the shape?”
“Yes” replied Val.
“Can you advise me on what should I be thinking of?...” Sly asked while closing his eyes to concentrate better.
“Big, bladed and possibly single edged?” offered Val.
“Ah…this might take a while…”
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Barik
Eslet, Merchant’s District
Kyle roamed the streets along with Soren, Woody, Skill and Sparta in search of the general store.
“So what are you all going for next?” asked Skill as he crafted himself arrows to refill his quivers.
“Whatever sounds best I guess?” replied Soren with a shrug.
“My main class is a mobility fighter type so either a magic type class or something similar.” Said Sparta as she looked through her skill book.
“I don’t even know what I have available…” murmured Woody.
Kyle sighed as he thought over his current skill set “For once I don’t know either, Golemancer would improve my capabilities with golem creation but…There are a couple unique classes I have available that I won’t know unless I see.”
All five of them were heading to the general store to interact with an Obelisk and gain a sub-class, having finally found the time to do so without interruption. With the agreement between Esfelt and the Dezol currently being talked over the rest of them had some free time to kill.
The group of adventurers briefly stopped in front of the massive building’s entrance, with the army of adventurers having spread out through the city most were spending their time here. The bottom area was populated but the tavern up top was packed when they ascended the stairs up.
Kyle glanced around looking for an open table only to quickly step back behind the others. Many of the newly formed Adventurer’s Guild of Barik were celebrating the peace here, there being no other tavern large enough to hold the massive feast that was going on now.
Woody whistled “Now this is my kind of party.”
Kyle grimaced as he eyed a few people at the end of the longer tables “Let’s just find a spot in the corner somewhere and get this shit over with.”
Skill glanced back at him and followed his eyes “Wait isn’t that?” he saw Dherik, Regina, Zaahr and obviously Karnage sitting at the end of the table feasting with the rest.
Skill was about to raise his hands up and call out to them when Kyle grabbed his right shoulder and oozed out (Elder Frost) from his palm “Don’t.Even.Think.About.That.” he whispered to Skill who glanced back with a mischievous smirk.
“Alright, alright just kidding.” Skill replied with arms raised in surrender.
Kyle sighed (“That awkward conversation is the last thing I want to have.”) he thought to himself.
“Master there’s an empty table there.” Declared Lilior from atop Kyle’s head as she pointed towards the table in question.
“Oh hey there is.” said Woody as he followed her pointed finger, it was right behind Karnage’s seats.
Skill’s smirk grew into a grin as he pulled Woody and Soren forward “Awesome, let’s take a seat before someone else takes ‘em.” (“REVENGE AT LAST!”) he cheered victoriously in his mind.
Kyle was about to say something but Sparta followed them wordlessly as Woody and Soren got pulled over by Skill (“Son of a…I’ll get you for this…”) he cursed then followed after them while raising his hood covering Lilior along with his head.
As they approached the empty table Kyle caught parts of conversations the adventurers around him were having with some citizens and bandits that had joined them. It appeared as if the populace didn’t care who led as long as they didn’t bow down to the Empire or resorted to the extremist rationality the churches had brought onto the country after the death of the King.
But he also heard conversations of those that didn’t want to join the Dezol to fight the Empire, they were sure the Dezol was only winning so far because the Empire barely gave them attention. Like an adult ignoring a whiny child.
Kyle even briefly stopped to listen in on one specific conversation. A grizzled bandit was explaining to a dozen adventurers what the Dragon Riders of the Empire were, a free company, a cult to be more exact. He explained that the Dragon Riders were a clan of Elves that lived alongside Draconics, they weren’t exactly part of either court’s military but easily rose in power within it due to their monstrous partners.
Kyle stopped listening in when the bandit began making jokes about cross-breeding, answered by raging laughter from the adventurers and the one that actually wondered how it would work if ever. He moved on and quietly made his way to the table where the others had already sat down, two seats were still open.
Skill glanced at him with a smirk before quickly turning around and grabbing hold of one of the other chairs as he stood up “Hey friend take a seat, we got an extra one here.” He told one adventurer that was standing next to Dherik as he handed him the chair.
“Yo thanks mate.” Answered Silent not recognising them at all as he took the chair and sat down. Skill sat back down but not on the chair he was previously on, leaving that one open for Kyle.
Kyle quickly took his seat before a shiver went down his spine, he heard Karnage speaking directly behind him. He glanced over at Skill who was barely containing himself.
“The hell is wrong with him?” asked Sparta as she stared at Skill who was holding his mouth and gut while leaning over the table.
“How should I know?” said Soren with a shrug.
“Yo Kyll did Skill eat something bad?” asked Woody.
Skill suddenly froze as did Kyle, both glanced back briefly as most of the adventurers behind them had ended their conversations to look at them.
“Kyllix?” asked Zaahr as she had stood up from her seat to glare down at him, he was still hiding behind his hood.
Dherik grimaced as he recognised some of them “You guys…”
“Tch, there goes the celebration.” Said Regina as she dropped her ale.
Dherik rose up from his seat mostly drunk, he glared at Soren recognising him “It’s you fucks again…”
Soren rose from his seat while unstrapping his battle axe “What fucks? You fucks? Or the ones I don’t give?”
Sparta and Skill moved to hold Soren back while other adventurers stood to hold Dherik, they settled him back down to his seat and gave him more ale to distract him.
“Kyllix I know it’s you, cloaks don’t stop Inspect like masks do.” Said Zaahr as she crossed her arms and continued to stare down at him.
Kyle sighed and pulled down his hood revealing his head and Lilior sitting with legs crossed on it, she leaned back and looked at Zaahr upside down “Master there is a very angry man behind us.” She said in a whisper.
Zaahr’s expression turned cold “I’m a woman.”
Lilior leaned back further “Correction, there is a very angry flat ch-” Kyle quickly shut her up with his hand as he glanced back with an apologetic smile.
“Hey…” he greeted.