With the sound of cracking, Aile's focus changed to the humanoid figure.
The dark energy around the humanoid formed a spider web, and the sound of a fine-glass breaking was heard. The cocoon of darkness fell, revealing what was hidden behind the curtain. When Aile and Hazel saw it, they were surprised to see a woman in a spirit form similar to the kid spirit.
He thought, 'Uncle Blacky is a woman?'
Spirits are souls that have managed to cultivate and retained their shape and can manipulate the energy without a body. Strong cultivators even after losing their body can fight in spirit form.
Currently, the spirit that had a dark tone, emerald eyes, a minutely different body structure than humans and with the curves at the right places was turning intangible.
The little differences between her and his women were easy for Aile to spot, he had seen this race from his inherited memories. She was a demon, and she had been focused on healing the child while using all her energy, risking her existence. The energy drain has created an imbalance in her body, making her unstable. If she does not receive help, she will dissipate.
Aile also realized that the kid he has been helping was also a demon. After all, they do not seem different than humans until their body fully develops.
Aile thought about it and decided to help her. He does not care about her race, and so far, she has treated him fairly. After all, his situation is dire, the royals, the people of the white clan, the people descended from above are his enemies. They are looking for him, and a great opportunity is in front of him. If he can get a powerful possible ally in the future for his action now, would it not be worth it?
Sending coal in winter makes one's intentions of comradery clear. It removes a large portion of worry that comes with meeting a new person, as their intentions are unclear. Now if he helps her, then he can possibly gain an ally in the future. Plus he already has gained a lot from her, so even if nothing comes of it would be worth it with the legendary item he got.
With his mind and thoughts set straight, Aile dashed to her and saw a helpless expression in her face. She had expected him to deal with her. After all, that is what humans do to demons.
To her surprise, she saw Aile sat in front of her, and he closed his eyes. Slowly dark energy seeped out of him and moved around her, and warmth was given off from it. The disappearing body of her reduced from turning insubstantial, and it started to stabilize. After a few more minutes, she gained back her appearance, she and Aile both look drained. The soothing feeling that came off from the dark energy was so calming to the demon. It would aid her in stabilizing every place that seemed imbalanced in her soul. Slowly the demon woman accepted Aile's help, and with his understanding of the soul, she became more and more stable. To her surprise, Aile even knew the differences and weakness of her soul that were not present in humans. This made her realize that Aile was not naive as to not recognize her but was genuinely helping her. Even though she was different and on the surface enemy of his race. The lack of hate was visible on his face when she opened her eyes and saw his smile.
She was still wary of him, after all, the enemy of her race was in front of her.
Aile vulnerably said, "I guess you do not need my help any more, I will move away so you can be at ease stabilizing yourself better."
Aile got up and shuffled away from her, and to Hazel. Hazel's face no longer contained any sense of worry after seeing Aile walk towards her safely. Hazel smiled at him as he returned.
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Meanwhile, the demon was confused and almost lost her control over her body again. She was curious about what happened to her, why did she push away and show hostility to her benefactor. Especially since he did not discriminate.
Did she push the first person that did not look down on her? Is he going to change his perspective because of her reaction? Proving to be the 'ungrateful,' the exact stereotype demons are known for, made her outraged at herself. Nonetheless, these were things that she could worry about in the future. She would not forget the help in such a crucial time. Now she just had to make sure she restores her body and the equilibrium.
Aile arrived in front of Hazel, and she gave him a curious look. She knew that even the worst of enemies would temporarily shed their difference while facing demons. Because they treat humans as food and cattle. So she was surprised to see Aile help one. Aile knew what she was thinking, and he said, "We are not just going to make all the demons our enemy just because of the action of a few of them. They have rotten people just like us and also trustable people. How they treat us is how we will treat them individually."
While helping stabilize her soul, Aile also got some insights into the understanding of souls. He was a step closer to better understand and solving Hazel and Sara's problem.
After understanding his new insights, Aile restored his energy by absorbing the energy from outside. When he opened his eyes and moved around, soon the demon lady came to him and bowed. "Thank you for helping me, I am indebted to you. You can ask me for anything, and if possible, I will comply."
"I just wanted to extend my hand in friendship. But if possible can you help me find a solution for Hazel, or protect me for a while," Aile knew it was unlikely for her to accept this, but he made this request anyway. Just in case there was a place in the demon kingdom that could help Sara and Fiona or having a strong backer could allow him to find solutions easily.
Afterwards, if she accepts, he can freely move with her as back up, and he would be unhindered. He could easily find more clues and possible solutions to help Hazel.
Her countenance changed, and after pursing her lips, she said, "Sorry once I get a body I have to leave, and I have already told you the possible ways she can be saved. I apologize, do you have any other request?" She said this in a sad tone, clearly not happy that she could not fulfil his wish. She did not want to appear ungrateful, but it seemed that she was acting that way nevertheless.
"That is fine, then how about you tell me how to get into the Demon Kingdom, and a way to find you if I go there. You can act as a host and show me around if I come to visit." Aile was working on a possible back up plan. If he is identified by the people from above, then his only option would be someplace they can not go to. The Demon kingdom being everyone's enemy will be the only safe sanctuary. As he would have everyone as his enemy here, and in there they too need to act reserved as to not be targeted by demons.
"That is it? The Demon Kingdom is not a hidden place? It is not really a place where you will thrive, they will treat you how they treat us here. Are you sure?"
"Yup, that is all I want."
She then gave him a map and a way to contact her but was not satisfied with this little help. She offered cultivation method, techniques and other things that Aile had access to or did not value. Aile rejected them. Therefore, she remained unsatisfied, and because she felt that she had been unfair to Aile, the demon visited him more. As they talked, she gave him an understanding of the Demon Kingdom and their reason for going back as they became closer. It seemed that two of them were important people there and were backstabbed and lost their bodies. They had to reach there quickly because an important event will be happening there.
If they did not, they would lose the sway they have there, and in the next 3 days, Aile made her a body and found out that her return will be full of dangers. Her beautiful appearance would not help her in her endeavours. Once she started to assimilate with her body, Aile made some changes to her, left her a message and walked around the tomb collecting some stuff that she had told him about.
Among the stuff was a necklace that had a transparent gem attached to it. It was designed for men and called Sheridan's Blessing. It gave off some sort of soul power and some residual fate power. Although it looked good, Aile knew it was not something for him. The lady also had shown Aile the other ways to get out of the tomb, she had been there for a few years and modified the entrance formation. So Aile took her advice and took the back exit and got out from a small cave. It was hidden under vegetation, the opposite side of the mountain 180 degrees to the tomb's entrance.