CHAPTER 18

“This train is departing towards Lilith. It is a nonstop journey. Please mind the gap when exiting and entering the trains. The first class is…….”

I listened to the automated announcement as I sat beside the departing train on a bench on the platform. Even the station was made out of white marble. If there is something such as going overboard, it sure isn’t in the Devil dictionary.

There were no paper or digital tickets to scan. Buy one at the machine, and it will automatically register you as a passenger. People got on and off seamlessly, and no one went in without a ticket. The lack of obvious security measures is no indication of there not being any. ‘Smart boy.’

‘Be quiet.’

If I were to design a spell to scan passengers on a train, how would I trigger it? ‘Eureka!’

‘It’s weight, isn’t it?’

‘Ding, ding, ding! The award for the bluntest tool in the cupboard goes toooo Caaaalllen!’ He even did the announcer's voice, complete with a chime. How do you even do that?

‘Dick, or Richard or Richie, whatever your name is. You thinking what I am thinking?’

‘By jolly, my good boy, you are not thinking of committing a crime by way of gravitational magic, are you? You don’t happen to have an instruction manual provided by your awesome Ancestor, do you?’

‘For Satan’s sake, I can’t believe I am telling this to a millennia-old consciousness in my brain, would you please grow the fuck up?’

‘With age and wisdom comes the knowledge that life sucks, and we all need some fun once in a while. Now, I saw you eying up that lass at the library; why don’t you let gramps teach you the secrets of the trade?’

‘I would rather be bathed in acid. Thank you very much.’

Ignoring the ramblings of the old fool and the no doubt perverted giggles I keep hearing. I set my course to the forest on the outskirts of Belial City.

……….

After triple-checking my surroundings, sensing for any other magical signatures, and using my mini-map to make sure I am alone, I open my inventory tab.

* [Inventory]

* Weapon: Ancient Enchanted Blade – Sword of Ipos

* Tomes: Gravity? Newton was wrong.

* Clothing: Research facility garb x3, Tattered research facility garb x1

* Food: MRE ration packs x4

* Potions: 3 Health, 2 Mana

The information was updated with my knowledge of the blade, which is useful. I gather that the average adult Devil is around levels 15-20. Although I had a bloodline advantage, I could not afford mistakes, so I hope this works.

I take out the tome with a thought. A massive book appears in the air before me and stays there. The cover is made from dark leather with a purplish hue. The title of the book is embossed in gold on the front. Cheeky git.

‘And you wouldn’t have it any other way.’

I gingerly held out a hand and touched it. The book opened on its own accord, flipping the pages rapidly. It shined with a golden glow, and purple lighting sparks around the clearing. I frantically tried to do something, anything, to make the light stop, and a bolt of lightning was my reward.

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

…….

I stand on my side of the training room; my opponent, handpicked by my grandfather, staring at me dispassionately. I take my time, studying the carvings on the massive underground chamber. Scenes of House Ipos at its apex were depicted in lifelike quality. As usual with Noble Devils, a Pillar House at that, most of these carvings are greatly embellished. Did Master Ipos fight a Seraph in the Great War? Yes. He lost his life to kill it. The depiction of this battle completely contradicts reality; Ipos is shown standing triumphantly over a twelve-winged figure, his decapitated head held by Ipos in a grotesque display of victory.

“Valerie?” The disapproving voice of my grandfather interrupts my daydreams. He was old, with a balding hairline and grey beard. He will officiate this bout.

I nodded.

He gave the signal.

I was next to my opponent before my grandfather’s hand moved from its position—purple magic circles with the sigil of house Ipos aflame on my fists. My opponent quirked an eyebrow in response. He will regret that.

The spell activated before he could muster a guard. A gravitational pull manifested at the epicentre of my fists, and he was pulled towards me. I targeted the ribs, and a sickening crack broke the silence in the room.

He was propelled across the room and smashed into the far wall. Hard. I didn’t let up, and a trio of spells formed, two at my feet and one at his location. Two gravitational forces were created in an instant. A negative field that counteracts the natural pull of the Underworld and a second that accelerated my mass towards my enemy. I broke the sound barrier.

The fast-approaching silhouette of my opponent in the dust indicated that he had just gotten up. Not for long. At the final stretch, I twisted my body in a roundhouse kick aimed for the head. My foot met his jaw and unplugged his head and spine from his body.

I felt a painful grip on my other ankle and was pulled towards the now headless body, and he struck me using his knee square in the kidney. The shower of gore from my earlier stunt rained down, and flames started appearing where his head used to be. A pain I could not describe radiated from my abdomen and prevented any retaliation.

He did not let up, and the hand still on my ankle threw me towards the roof. I broke the sound barrier again. As I sailed through the cavern, I pondered through a clarity only pain can bring. ‘Why did you do this, sister? Why didn’t you take me with you?’

A golden glint pulled me back to the present, and my opponent's pristine, grinning face and blond locks greeted me in midair. I tried to cast a few spells, but he was faster. He grabbed me by the same ankle and twisted.

I stifled a scream. He would enjoy it.

Not having had his fill, he put as much force on his grip, let go and punched me in the kidney again.

I welcomed the ground. Cracks crisscrossed the arena, and it had a Valerie-shaped hole in the middle. I tried to get up, but it was no use. Blood rushed to my mouth, and I tried my best not to choke on it. I could not help the tears.

I heard footsteps.

“Pathetic” My grandfather scoffed. The only indication of his departure was the echo of his footsteps.

“Need a hand?” The smug voice of Riven sounded.

“Yes.”

“Yes, what?”

“Yes, please.” Asshole.

He came to the edge of my body and carefully extracted a small, gilded vial from his pocket. He opened it and tilted it until a single droplet came out. The effect was immediate; my ankle was healed, and my internal injuries dissipated. ‘Damn Phenexs.’

I slapped away the offered hand and made my way to the exit. ‘When will I be worthy of the Ipos name? Is inventing a new branch of magic not enough?’

…..

I awoke with a start, my mind filled with memories—Valerie’s. I studied magic under my mother, who I was sure was a prodigy among prodigies, and I can safely say Valerie was at least at that level. Her grandfather, and mine, I guess, is a massive Asshole.

Looking around the clearing, the moon was well on its way across the sky, and mercifully, I was alone.

‘Why didn’t you tell me about what will happen?”

‘Cause it’s funny.’

‘I want to say I am disappointed, but that would give you too much credit.’

‘It’s a rite of passage, kid. No one is told.’

‘That doesn’t make it any better.’

I lay down next to the trunk of the nearest tree and take out an MRE from my inventory. My mind was awash with possibilities from my new knowledge, so many ways to incorporate Valerie’s magic into my arsenal and, most pressingly, commit a minor crime.