∼ Becoming Something More ∼

Chapter - 025

Come morning, a tired demon stretched its weary form, rolling around in the sheets in its sleep throes. It kicked something which elicited a soft murmur. It was first when it cracked open a drowsy eye that it realized that its small foot was planted on a freckled cheek - a sleeping Aria's cheek to be certain.

Yet, she didn't even wake at that, her eyes puffy and red from what had undoubtedly been crying. She must've been releasing her sorrow through even the night - though, the impling didn't understand that or care for any such matter.

Humans really were stupid, wasting time like that instead of hunting prey or getting some blissful shuteye. A pure loss of productivity; if you were to ask it.

A loud rumble heralded hunger. The thought of the furry creatures of the forest and the divine strips of meat the humans had carried made the impling salivate, filled its mind. On a scavenging hunt, it tip-toed around the sleeping Aria atop the bed and Eric who laid on the ground beside it, only layer of sheets to cushion his body.

However, to its great misgivings, no more of the delicious food was to be found anywhere. So it began its ventures elsewhere...

Cracking open the door to their tawdry lodgings, which had the demon dangle from its handle, it made its way out into the hallway without alerting the no-good humans. To its disappointment, no food was out here either. At least, that was until the shape of something black and small scurried over the shoddy wood boards, hugging to walls as it sped along.

Peaked by the squeaking noises coming from the creature, the impling took after it, as silent as a cat as everything else faded from the demon's focus. Only hunger remained.

Still, its stalk did not last long as a sudden shriek had the impling's predatory focus completely shatter as fast as it had come about. One moment, the demon was locked in gazes with a terrified woman, and the next, its hands were alit with purple flames. But before the demon could scorch the woman back to the ancients, a firm hand grabbed the impling faster than it could react and hurtled it back into the room.

Standing in the door, Eric looked a bit panicked, looking back and forth between the dazed impling and the hallway beyond. He closed the door, and a bleary-eyed Aria met him. "What happened?"

Eric could only sigh. "Well, the cat's out of the bag - or... demon I suppose." He pointed an accusatory finger at the impling that was scowling right back at him.

"Oh - He must be hungry," She muttered, ignoring Eric as she walked right past him over to the side of the bed.

Staring wide-eyed at the red-haired girl who suddenly pulled out some odd rolls of meat from the rucksack it had previously found to be completely empty, the impling made a shocking revelation with its newfound - and unparalleled intelligence.

It must be food magic! The demon truly had taken her for granted. This human. Such a powerful and valuable skill. She must be the most indispensable of humans - the small impling thought with about as much certainty as the sun was round.

Seeing Aria was about to give an entire sausage to the greedy impling, Eric blurted. "Hey, don't give him too much of it, that is the only rations we've got." And he wasn't lying.

They barely even had the coin for more than a single room in the town's poorest of inns. Since Eric had only what was in his pockets upon leaving Aemsburg to chase down Aria and the impling. He had hoped Aria might've looted some of the warlock's wealth as he would undoubtedly be loaded, yet that seemed to not have been the case. The only things she had on her were her magical rucksack, robes, and a plentitude of miscellaneous items she said she had gotten from some safe which held no immediate monetary value.

Crouching before the red little demon, Aria made sure to only give one of the small sausages, which it set upon with savage intensity. Aria could only smile as she scratched the munching impling under the ear, to its great delight.

Eric just stared dubiously at the kind-hearted girl and the maleficent demon. "So odd." He thought, doing a small recounting of the many strange events that had let up until this point. As Aria was petting the demon, Eric once again caught a glimpse of her badly scarred skin and those eerie scales lining patches of her arm.

Aria took notice of it and instinctively covered them back up.

"Is that why he's so taken to you? Because of what your father did?" Eric asked, before really thinking.

"Yes..." She said, a bit hesitant.

"Shit... I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-"

"It is okay," Aria interrupted him. "M-my father, he tried to turn me-"

She had to stop herself, painful memories surfacing. "He tried... to turn me into a hybrid, a demon. A daemon to be precise. One that would not be tied to the Netherworld, therefore not having to pass through the soul bindings of the Seven Lords and needing that of a warlock to exist in our world. A normal human would never be able to endure something like that - but elves... and those with the talent of healing... that is another story."

As Eric listened, he couldn't help but feel a bit sickened.

"As an elf, our bodies are basically part mana. After all the saturation our race has undergone. So demonic mana have much less effect on us than say what a human could endure. And with healing magic... if something went wrong... I could almost always mend the trauma..." She paused, fiddling with her fingers as she was crouched.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

"He never succeeded, and the best he ever accomplished was turning my body to one saturated with demonic energy."

"How do you stay sane? If it really does as you say, how come you're truly the kindest person I've ever met?" Eric asked.

Aria blushed a little at that. "It feeds not off my mind and life, but my healing magic. It is the only reason I still draw breath. No mind can handle such torrents of demonic energy. None but the demons and Seven themselves."

"I see..." Attempting to wrap his head around the new magic world of his, as he was seemingly surrounded by it now.

Aria continued as she got back to the full height, though that was barely to Eric's chest. "If my father had known this demon was a monster with a class, despite its already inconceivable existence in our realm, he would have never left it out of his sight. I doubt he would have even gotten a moment of rest. It would prove all his theories; that it truly is possible for demonic entities to be free-reigning and that demons do not need the Netherworld to sustain themselves."

She looked at her hands for moments, clenching them as they began trembling ever so slightly. "If he had managed to bind this impling, I shudder to imagine the power he would have had the potential to achieve."

That did sound very daunting, and Eric could only be happy that the vile prick hadn't - as rather than his success, the demon had been his downfall.

Watching the impling that burped loudly, despite its small size, he shook his head amusedly. "He really is a special one, eh?"

Aria just nodded, a smile finding its way back onto her face as she looked at the small red creature.

"What about finding him a name? Would make it easier for us," suggested Eric suddenly.

"A name?" Aria mused - her tone one of intrigue, all somberness gone from just moments previous.

"I'd be thinking that anklebit-" Eric was about to put out with a smug smile, but Aria cut him off suddenly, seemingly in a world of her own.

"Nyx - we will call him Nyx."

"Nyx...?" He pondered, scratching the faint stubble on his chin - if a few flaxen hairs could be considered stubble...

Aria was quick to explain, as always. "Before my father was corrupted by the taint of the Seven, I always loved playing with his demons. My dream was one day to become a warlock and get my own demon. I would have named it - Nyx. "

"Alright, we can do that, I suppose." Eric nodded his agreement.

Aria went back to the impling that looked as if it was about to doze off for a second time, an after-meal-nap one might say.

"What do you think, do you like the name Nyx?"

The demon licked its mouth lazily but raised a curious brow as a blue prompt suddenly invaded its mind.

[Ariadne Toramir El'Ehalanor, is attempting to assign you a name]

∼[Cognitive comprehension... adequate!]∼

[Do you wish to accept the name ‹ Nyx ›?]

To the demon's great surprise, it found that it mostly understood the intent of the prompt this time around. That the food magician was trying to give it something. Though specifically, what? It wasn't sure.

But what it did know was that; it loved things!

So with but a mental thought, as if second nature, the demon accepted the prompt. An inexplicable sensation washed over it. It was unlike the power of leveling up, neither its muscles becoming stronger nor its mind swifter.

The demon itself was becoming something... more.

It was no longer just a demon; it was no longer an it.

He - was Nyx - The Mighty Red!

∼[Nyx]∼

[Your name has gained permanence]

Bounding around, and posturing itself in front of the puny humans, Eric just looked at the impling. "Wait... did it understand you?"

It took a bit for Aria to answer. "I-uh - no, but the Codex just told me I had successfully named him. He is now Nyx."

"Oh... would have been nice if he could though. Do they - demons, I mean, do they become smart enough to talk at some point?"

An idea suddenly sparked in Aria's mind. She did not respond, but rather began furiously digging through her rucksack, pulling out all kinds of items Eric didn't have the faintest clue was. Finally, she retrieved what she had apparently been looking for. A small book, barely the size of her hand.

"What's that?" He asked.

"A tome of knowledge."

Seeing Eric's expression which told of his complete lack of understanding, Aria hurried to explain. "It is an enchanted book, made to store and imprint knowledge. This one contains the common tongue."

"Wait, you're going to try and use it on him? Will that even work?" Eric asked, if not a bit skeptically.

"I have no idea, but I am excited to find out." She simply responded, too in the moment to calm down.

Handing the demon, Nyx, the tome, he just stared at it questioningly. Aria merely nodded at him, encouragingly. He inspected the odd item, which was practically half his size. It did seem vaguely familiar to something... though he could not remember. Gnawing on it a bit proved to serve no purpose either, as its taste was rather foul.

Then suddenly, it came to him, and he managed to crack it open - and Nyx's world went white. He couldn't be sure for how long he was entrenched in that tome, nothing but its contents was all that mattered to him as everything else faded to inutility.

Swaying on stumbling feet, Nyx barely managed to keep himself upright. But catching himself before doing anything embarrassing, Nyx suddenly realized the two pairs of eyes peering intently at him from only scant inches away.

"Do you think it worked?" asked the large human boy.

"It appeared that the magic took hold... but I am not sure..." The red-haired girl said back.

To the demon's great surprise, much of the tome contents of which he had just absorbed, matched the nonsense the humans were spouting.

"Do-you-under-stand-me?" The green-eyed human asked, coming in closer and enunciating his words slowly.

Narrowing his eyes, Nyx began uttering something. Something other than what came naturally to it. Something new, ingrained in a corner of its mind. Nyx, spoke his first words. "Hoo- hoo-man..."

"Human stupid!" The impling launched into a peal of maniacal laughter - as if the greatest joke untold had just been uttered.

Eric sat back, his face the rictus of a chagrin. But the demon only laughed harder.

Casting a glance to his side, he even noticed Aria smile sheepishly, doing a bad job of hiding it.

He just groaned - for the umpteenth time since meeting this spawn of mischievousness...