“Okay, so first things first, gotta make sure I can survive. It would kinda suck if the second I get a new life, I die from my own stupidity. I need water, food, and a way to defend myself if something decides to kill and eat me. Given that there are plenty of trees and other plants, this place clearly gets a lot of rainfall, so if I just keep walking downhill there will probably be a river or at least a creek with water I can boil. Conjuring water with magic is also theoretically possible, but I dunno how to do it, and I’m pretty sure that just pure water actually dehydrates you, and you need all the extra minerals and stuff normally found in water. I have no clue if conjured water has all that so err on the side of caution and find a water source. On the way, learn magic 101 and figure out some basic offensive and defensive moves, and maybe make myself some physical weapons to use to fight/hunt while still learning magic.”
“For someone who accidentally summoned a demon on a whim. That is a remarkably logical and thought out plan. I find myself astonished.”
“Well, to be fair, on my Earth, demons are considered nothing more than myths, things that don’t exist. I had every reason to believe that that ritual wouldn’t amount to anything and would just be an interesting way to spend a night.”
I responded as I started walking downhill, keeping an eye out for suitable sticks and rocks to use to form primitive tools, and keeping my ears open for water flowing. Meanwhile, Sophia began teaching me the fundamentals of magic.
“All magic is essentially just a three step process. You manipulate mana to act as fuel and control the spell, your imagination gives the spell shape, and your will brings it into reality. For example, the easiest beginner spell to visualize is the fireball. You take your mana, and make it hover above your hand, you then delve into your own conceptual understanding of fire, and then you will it into existence. The first and third steps will be the most difficult for you to get a handle on, so we will start off with how to feel the flow of mana.”
Sophia’s POV
Truly, the manling is quite the curiosity. He was sent to a strange new world with absolutely no warning, and had his soul bound without his consent, and yet… He’s just excited to learn magic and explore. I find it impossible to tell if he’s simply childishly naive, or just unconcerned for his own wellbeing. No, clearly he is concerned, seeing how aware he is of his own situation, and the logical steps he is taking in order to survive. Yet… something is missing. No sane individual could be in his position and not harbor a single doubt or negative emotion, which means… Either he is truly excellent at concealing what he’s feeling, or he is not completely sane.
However, while that sounds bad, neither of those are necessarily a bad trait to possess. In the demon realm, emotions are a central part of our spells, making them both a tool and a weakness. They can be used to heavily strengthen our magic, making us one of the most offensively powerful species, yet at the same time, can be used against us, making us simultaneously the easiest race to manipulate. However, this weakness has rarely been taken advantage of throughout history, due to the fact that our heightened emotions cause many demons to actively practice emotional control.
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When attempting to manipulate the emotions of a demon, there’s about a 30% chance that you’re only seeing the emotions that demon wants you to see, and you are in fact the one being controlled. And when it comes to Leo potentially being insane….well, funnily enough, the pursuit of desire is often an inherently insane endeavor. It requires a certain level of resolve and fearlessness that is not commonly found amongst mortals. After all, very few of them would actively risk their lives to pursue something they want. It takes a little bit of insanity to turn into someone worth something in this world.
I watch Leo as he practices manipulating mana, trying and failing to feel it flowing through his body as I leak a little of my own through the connection that binds us, causing his to move around and be easier to sense. While he walks, I think about why I went ahead and bound my soul to this human, why did I go so far? I could have easily just left him in some small town where he could find companions by himself, so why did I decide to interpret his desire for companionship as an invitation? To be completely honest, I don’t really know.
A side effect of immortality is that you tend to take the connections you have for granted. When the people involved haven’t changed for millenia, there really aren’t any new conversations you can have, so you either rehash old topics, or you ignore them until you need them to do something. Rather than a collection of individuals, you all kinda just become a small piece of one collective being.
Was I lonely? Did I desire to spend time with someone who wouldn’t see me as Desire’s Flame but instead as Sophia? Was I bored of the monotony of immortality and simply decided to pick up a new hobby in the form of a broken human? Did I just need a vacation, to go explore and see new things, new places, new lives? Perhaps. All I know is… When the manling, no, Leo, was lying before me, breathless and exhausted, I felt an emotion I hadn’t in centuries. Empathy. True empathy, and not just the facsimile of it that you get from knowing in full detail how the other person thinks. I felt his weightless insignificance, his heavy chains of despair, his desperate scream into the void for escape, for freedom, and his lightless pressure of isolation as though they were all my own.
It’s somewhat ironic, he could not possibly be more different than I, and yet, in that moment, it’s like we were two sides of the same coin. Like I could understand every thought in his head, but not the way he expressed them.
Uncertainty. What an odd emotion, almost nostalgic. When was the last time I-
“Hey! I think I got it!”
My musings were interrupted by a triumphant Leo, and I returned my attention to him. Sure enough, his mana was flowing even without my interference. It was by no means impressive, it was choppy and sporadic, and much of it was slipping out of his control causing large inefficiency. However, when I saw his face, full of self satisfaction, of excitement at learning something completely new, I lacked the heart to call him out on it.
“Well done Leo. Congratulations, you have now taken your first step into casting magic.”
He was positively beaming. He gathered a small bit of mana into his hand, with much more dissipating into the environment around him. He then closed his eyes, and I knew he was picturing everything he knew about flame. I watched as he screwed up his face and then…
FWOOOOSH!!!!!
A rather small explosion of flame lit up the surrounding trees. It was not nearly enough flame to risk setting the forest on fire, however, the location was rather close to Leo’s face. He jumped backwards, tripping and falling on his rear, with parts of his eyebrows now mysteriously vanished.
I took one look at his stunned face, and couldn’t help myself. I burst into uncontrollable laughter.