In a room that is and is not there, 5 pentagrams hung only illuminated by a faint torch that hung in the middle of the room.

There was no ceiling the torch could be tied to and no walls it could be attached to. It just hung there in the middle between the 5 pentagrams. In addition to the torch and the ancient symbols, a demon floated around sitting on an old worn wooden chair.

Although the task of the demon was one of the most important in its entire world, he was only half awake. He had worked here in the first contact room for almost 500 years, but had only experienced that the ancient rituals were activated a few times.

Many demons could not understand how he could endure just being there in the void, without doing anything for so long.

His job was perhaps important and it gave a great deal of prestige to be able to say that one was the guardian of the old families' ritual platforms, but it was also incredibly boring.

The first many years he had worked here he had been young and energetic. At the time, he had spent a lot of energy keeping the room in a solid shape with large beautiful pedestals on which the 5 pentagrams were placed and lots of beautiful lights and the ceiling was made like a big beautiful vault. It looked a lot like a beautiful church in construction, but over time he had become lazy, so now he just left it at the absolute minimum.

He inherited the place from his father who was also a ritual guardian. In addition to normal jobs such as farmer or blacksmith, there were also jobs associated with taking over on the other side of the barrier between the dimensions. Most young demons strived for a life of excitement and challenges that they found in being dreams wandering or contracts.

Dreams wandering required a great deal of mental strength and incredible patience. A young demon had to look through the barrier between the two worlds and find a human who ended up sleeping or walking and daydreaming.

After finding one, they should try to entice people to give them their energy. it may sound easy to jump into someone else's dream and make them give one their energy, but the problem was that in addition to being difficult to find people through the barrier, it was also difficult to make a connection to them after having found them. then one had to match how their dreams usually unfolded, otherwise one risks just interrupting their dream and they woke up and then one had wasted a lot of energy and time.

contracts were more secure in getting energy when they started, but they also lived life much more dangerously. dreams wandering projected part of their consciousness through the barrier, so if something went wrong, they could always just return to their body, but contracts were more extreme. to become contracts, a young demon had to have great courage as they had to jump through the small damages that remained in the barrier, once there were some who wanted to make a temporary contract.

The most normal was that desperate teenagers had read somewhere that if they took and dug a box down with a picture of themselves and some cats bones, in the middle of an intersection, then they could summon a demon. When they did this mini ritual, they made a damage to the barrier that the contractor could jump through. When they were on the human level, they could make a trade with the human.

The demon could take their "soul" in exchange for a service. there was no single soul to take, but the demon could get some of the life force that man has for a service. the demon could use the energy it has taken from a person to drive its magic and change the rules of the world.

So things like making them more beautiful or stronger did not require much life energy. It may have only cost the person 5 years of their lives. Half was then used to complete the service, the other half the demon could keep for himself. Other things such as reviving a beloved dog required a lot more energy, and could easily end up killing the person before the demon was done taking what it needed.

The problem for those who chose this career was that if something went wrong then it was over for them. Since it was their real body that was on the level of humans, they risk being killed if there was a "hunter", as they call themselves, in the area. the hunters were people trying to exterminate demons. that job was high risk with high gain.

Reasons why young demons applied for these jobs were due to the fact that they could use the energy they received from the harvest to become stronger themselves, so that they could rise in rank and become stronger and better off demons.

Although his job was boring, he got a constant transfer of energy. The demons paid a tiny fraction of the energy they collected as "tax."

That energy was given to the peasants and the ritual guards. The farmers got it as payment for the food they grew and the guards for their service. A guardian's finest task was to keep an eye on if one of the ancient permanent rituals was reactivated.

There were many different rituals like the 5 at the torch and our sleeping guard. Some were for summoning specific demons and others for effects. An example could be of a ritual where people sacrificed food and riches to get a good harvest. In the food and riches, people unconsciously tied up some of their life energy, which the demons could then use just as they would if they had been normal contactors.

in the midst of the demon's slumber, one of the pentagonists begins to glow red in the void. The change in light intensity aroused the demon with a set. He spent a moment getting his eyes working again. When he was fully awake again, he hurried to rastabilize the room around him. His chair hit the floor with a bang and a door materialized in the wall next to him right away. he was out the door before the torch reached the frame floor.

"BOSS" shouted the guard as he comes running down to a hallway, which leads into a large room filled with demons who were lying and relaxing.

"What are you shouting like that for Skalekaka" replied a big red demon who was lying with 3 other demons on top of him.

"Boss, one of the ancient rituals is active again" replied Skalekaka breathlessly.

"Why are you bothering me with it, just call the oracle and get him to take care of it" the red demon replied angrily and lay down again to sleep on.

"You do not understand it is your own who is active" replied Skalekaka. "WHAT!!!" shouted the big red demon this time, and got up so the 3 demons lying on top of him were thrown off and hit the floor and walls with a bang.

"I thought it was extinct, how long ago has it been activated?" he rattled off, while he got straightened out completely in his full 5 meter high figure.

“It has been over 60,000 years here or approx. 100 years in the human world. ” the answer Skalekaka quickly. While he start running back towards the rituals space.

The Great Red Demon was one of the oldest living demons, and the first to have made a permanent contract with a family. Big Reds, as he was often called, was the son of an adventurous contractor and a guardian who had experimented with some of the ancient rituals, such as those used to provide a good harvest.

Big reds have got both his mother's courage as a contractor and his father's curiosity about how the rituals actually worked. when, as a very young demon, having found a weakness in the barrier and having laid the foundation of a ritual around it, he had been interrupted in his experiment, by a young merchant and a virgin.

The merchant have asked for something that was completely unheard of. He asked after having a demon as his companion. He was willing to pay an incredible price for it too. Great reds courage and knowledge and rituals, made him agree to try it. By paying the virgin's innocence, salt, sulfur, cat paws, large amounts of his own blood and his grandmother's earthly remains, the man managed to survive the trade, and lay the foundation for a new source of energy.

The blang ritual big red have made ready, changed and fill itself out. At the same time, a whole new bond was bound between man and demon. In addition to the man gaining access to the demon's magic, he began to absorb energy from the outside world. Although he has lost an incredible amount of vitality, he began to regain it from his surroundings.

Big reds could also feel that he was constantly getting a little bit of energy from the man. big red and the man was bound the same the rest of the man's mortal life. over the years, the man invoked big reds several times to help him in battle and to help with greater magic.

When the man died, he had several children, all of whom repeated the ritual their father had performed. Big reds have been worried about what would happen, but instead of being ripped off in multiple parts to be able to be in several places at once, the ritual has changed itself a bit again.

Big Reds had been forced through a shift where he was elevated to one of the highest demon types there was. The only demons that have opportunities to reach a stronger stage than himself were the elements, but they have difficulty rising in rank as they did not function in some of the normal jobs, besides guardian.

After his shift, he discovered that he still had a connection to the ritual, and could feel that he was getting a tiny tiny portion of the energy the ritual summoned demon got out of his contract with the humans. big reds had been given a patent on just that ritual. all contracts formed through the ritual, he got a little bit of energy from constantly. big reds quickly ceased to be an active contractor and spent most of his time on whore or on regulating the ritual.

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When the big reds reached up in the ritual space, it was back in its big beautiful church shape again. "Have you called for a meeting?" Asked the big red man as soon as he came in the door. "Yes they are here in 10 minutes" replied Skalekaka.

While he ran around to check that he had got all the details with when he had filled the room again or if there were some places that needed some more energy to become fully solid again. Suddenly the doors slammed open and 4 other demons entered the church walking. they did not say a word as they went up and lined up for each their ritual pentagram.

"Are you going to let him wait much longer for you?" Asked one of the newly arrived demons, big reds. "No there is no reason to wait, his qualities should probably call the right ones here" replied the big red with pride in his voice. There have never been any in his contact family who failed to call one to himself. The others hissed from big reds at that comment. they had all tried that their contract families could not have called some to them.

Big reds stood in front of his ritual. Suddenly a cloak appeared around his shoulders and the air changed. The 6 demons that were in the church could all feel the old magic that bound the great reds, the family and the ritual together. "Let's begin," said the great red, and his voice resounded with power that only the greatest and strongest demons could produce. with one the light disappeared and a voice begin to recite the first verse as it was the tradition.

I call out to the void.

I call to those who will listen to the call of a simple man.

I call to those who are more than I am.

I call out to the void.

I call and hope they will answer me.

After each sentence, a rung went through the church as one stood and rang a giant bell. big red rejoiced, it was so long ago that he had heard that verse said. suddenly the doors to the church slammed open and lots of the "weak" demons swarmed in.

They had heard the bells loud and clear. there was everything from simple imps who lived just a little away from the fort the church was a part of, peasants and blacksmiths. Big Reds also spotted some guards in between and were very impressed. Before he could answer, a couple of dream walks and a couple of contracts also appeared. now having big reds almost lost their jaw, how have the kid put so much strength into just the first request, to be heard.

"Some who will oppose that he has been heard" asked big reds and looked around at the other four contract holders. none of them dared say anything against this.

Big red answered him according to the rules of the ritual which waited to see if there was the same strength in the second bell. it would be incredible to see how many would show up if he could keep that strength.

I'm looking for a partner.

I'm looking for someone who will show me the way in the dark.

I am looking for someone who will help me with my abilities.

I am looking for someone who will share my life with me.

i am looking for someone to have my back to me.

I am looking for a companion through life.

how that kid no wait.... the young warlock could put even more effort in second verse big red did not grasp. Again the bell rang loud and clear, and the door flew open again with a bang. in came lots of demons from all social ranks and forces. there was everything from the sex demons, succubus, to physical manifestations of the mortal sinners.

There were also some demon dogs and a couple, demi dragons who most of all were crosses of an alligator and a human. if they got enough strength they would become the people calling a dragon.

again the Big Reds end up standing for a while and just staring at how many he could call to himself. Skalekaka was getting pimples, he would soon need help getting the room stable. There was so much strength in the boy's words that he almost tore the room to pieces. Skalekaka decided to grab hold of some of the lower standing demons that he knew would not be chosen, now with such a large selection, and start dedicating sections to them that they should keep stable.

Big red answer again the young warlock as tradition offered, and really looked forward to the next. It was rare but sometimes more came when the sacrifices were given. Big Reds had no problem answering as he knew there would be at least one of those who showed up who would make the contact.

The next words send a whole new effect through the assembly. He has drawn his part of the ritual in his own blood. It was absolutely incredible, none of his predecessors had wanted to invest so much of themselves in it before.

There was silence in the church and everyone was waiting for what would happen next. Suddenly the door slammed open, and a fire element demon walked in. Never before had it been seen that a warlock had succeeded in calling all the way to the land of the elements.

"I will offer my strength to the young warlock" it sounded from the live fire. Big reds just shrugged. Who was he to say what should stop one of the elements from being his contract holder. If the fire felt the kid had enough life force to keep him stable, then he should be allowed to try.

Just like the young warlock having changed some words the answer big red and a little different than he normally would.

we accept gifts given by our own blood with great joy.

What happened as the next send again a shock through the assembly. The purest innocence claimed the kid. What could he mean, though. Everything became clear when a pacifier came into view. No one could contradict the claim that a child's innocence was the purest innocence of them all.

There was a loud bang and an imp fell from the window high up in the ceiling, which stood far too upright in relation to its relatives when it had gotten up. The chaos will reach out to him. ” said the imp and everyone took a shocked breath. The collective hiveminde that the impene could draw from when they occasionally needed to make a coordinated attack, have given their consent. The new warlock, could effectively get a whole army of imps as its helpers. now the world no longer stood.

The next few things were thankfully normal, and did not call for more than there already were. but that would soon change. Big Reds did not know what to expect, how the young warlock succeeded in getting a person willing to donate the blood he needed for the ritual he did not understand. The bell rang changed complaint about this. instead of the loud clear sound of yesteryear, there was a half-suffocated sound, as if one heard it from a great distance.

No one knew how to react. the bell had never sounded like this before, what did it mean though. Was the magic not happy with the sacrifice the warlock brought. Before the attendees could panic, all the lights in the hall dimmed.

A voice sounded from the center of the floor, where the shadows suddenly seemed to be alive. "Who is it that makes such a noise" sounded deep and powerful. Before anyone could gather his thoughts so that they could answer, the shadows thickened and a figure appeared.

Big reds gave up right there. In front of him in the middle of the floor stood one of the oldest creatures in the entire dimension. according to the ancient texts, the shadows were here long before any other demons. Even the fire elements that appeared before life started on Earth have legends about how the shadows were already here when they appeared.

The shadows were some of the strongest and weakest creatures at one and the same time. If they were on their own you could defeat them with a little bit of light, but if they had a host to stay with, they could hardly be defeated.

No one could touch a shadow properly as long as its host was alive. Many have tried to kill a shadow after it has bound itself to a host, but it was almost impossible. It was good that the shadows usually kept to themselves and did not interfere in how their world was run. if the shadows wanted they could easily control it all, but they did not bother. they were shy by nature, and rather withdrew from a confrontation than anything else.

"A new warlock," the Great Reds said in a voice full of awe.

"I take him" was all the shadow said and went up to the altar where on the ritual was placed. big reds just stood there gaping as the shadow went and put his hand on the pentagram.

we gladly accept the payment with willingly given blood.

the shadow responded as the hole through the barrier stabilized around him. Big reds came to themselves shortly after that again and continued the ritual. after big reds thanked for the gifts, there was a bang and all the light returned to the church.

"I think it's time I let my son take over" started one of the 4 old demons. even though they have kept the contract much shorter than big reds, they have been old when they were made.

“My heart can not stand if your contacts are going to make such some numbers. Imagine what would happen if he ever called us with the war ritual. he will be able to summon an entire army, and no one will be able to resist his order. ” finished the old one as he walked out of the church along with all the others. Skalekaka stood nicely and waited until everyone had left the hall before he left the dish back to just be the 5 pentagrams his chair and a torch, now he would probably be able to get some peace again some years.

***********

There was total silence in the attic. no one knew what to say or do. the two adults just stood with their mouths open and their eyes full. their son, just sat there on the floor, surrounded by his own blood still burning, and gaping completely.

"Hhhhaaaaalllloooo, anyone home?" asked the shadow demon, waving its misty hand in front of Charles' eyes. "What, have I got a mentally retarded warlock as my contact person?" shadow demon sounded already frustrated.

Karl could not quite grasp what was standing right in front of him. he had read about them in his book, but never thought that he himself would meet one of them and then not get a contract with them at all. a true element demon and not just some subclass element like water or wind, but a shadow demon.

"Sorry, I'm just a little shocked," Karl replied quietly. "That's understandable but you could at least present yourself" commented the shadow. "Yes of course" begin Karl "my name is Karl Valentine and it is my parents who are standing by the wall" he replied quickly and waved his hand towards his parents.

“Hi Karl, my name can not be said in any earthly language, so you will probably have to settle for a nickname. what about shadow? can it work? ”the demon asked cheekily.

"Yes it's fine" Karl replied after he chewed on it a bit and tried the name a few times "if there are any who hear something I can just say that it is my cat I am talking about" Karl continued. "Well thought out," Shadow replied. "So what can I do for you young warlock?" asked Shadow as he sat down in front of Karl.

"We'll probably have to start from scratch, I would not throw myself into some of the magic until I have someone here who could guide me" Karl replied embarrassed.

"So you have not only strength and courage, but also common sense" replied shadow impressed. "Strength and courage?" Karl asked quietly.

"Yes strength and courage, you have enough strength to awaken even the shadows and we usually hide far away from everyone else and you dared to take a chance with your changes in the ritual and it has required a lot of courage" Shadow replied again. “But then let's get started. what you see here is…. ” begin shadow and invoke a ball of almost completely transparent mana.

They end up spending many hours that night sitting and talking about mana manipulation and mana theory. they only stopped when Karl almost collapsed at sunrise, his parents had gone to bed shortly after the ritual was completed, so shadow decided to just relax in his new partner's shadow until he woke up again.