A Demon's Core

I can not pick up the items myself. Though as I wave my hand through the box, I hit something solid inside. For something to feel solid to me, there must be mana involved in some way. As I touch it I can feel that it does contain a lot of mana. I could probably drain the mana from it, but I am hesitant to do so. Without knowing what it is, interacting with it at all is a potential risk.

If whatever is inside the box is a trap, draining its mana could be what triggers it just as likely as it could be a way to disarm it. But if it is not a trap, then it could be some kind of gift. In which case, I do not know if draining the mana might damage it. For now I should just have one of my imps bring them upstairs.

Rose followed Violet and her sister to the river. Normally I would ask one of those two as they are the two that I trust the most and as the smartest of my imps, they would be the most likely to understand the significance of this, Rose especially. Lily is still here though, currently in the hallway. Probably supervising as her mate and daughter race with the hellhounds.

I tell her about the box and the envelope and ask her to come collect them for me and place them on the chair by my core. I also suggest that she should bring Noctis. Even though I can not see the humans anymore, that does not guarantee that they are not still hanging around.

If she does reply I am not close enough to hear it, but soon she is making her way down the stairs. I expected only Noctis to be following her, but I suppose I should not be surprised that the other hellhounds would follow Noctis wherever she goes or that the other two imps, not wanting to be left behind, would also come.

All of the hellhounds try sniffing the box despite Lily’s attempts to keep it away from them. When she places the items on my chair I thank her and they all go back to playing. The envelope probably contains a letter. While I likely will be able to read it if I have Lily open for me, I think I would rather wait for Rose to get back so she can offer her opinion on its contents. I do not want to rush them to return but I do let Violet know to keep an eye out for humans on their way back.

Once they return, I explain what happened and Rose and Violet rush over to my chair to inspect the items

“They just left these on the stairs? They did not try to come any closer or do anything else?” Rose asks, eyes the box incredulously.

As far as I can tell, they just dropped them off and then left. Though they were just standing around for a while first.

“Why wait? Why not just place them on the step and leave straight away?”

I assume they were waiting for some indication that their presence had been noticed, to ensure the items would be received.

Violet shakes the box gently but nothing can be heard from whatever is inside.

Please do not do that. We do not know what is inside or if it is dangerous or not. We should open the envelope first.

Rose opens it and extracts a sheet of paper. She unfolds it and stares at the page.

“I can’t read what is written at the top. I assume that is the human language. Though at the bottom is a passage written in Balkret. But whoever wrote this, their understanding of the language is limited at best.” Rose says, then slowly reads it out loud.

“‘Controller meet desire. No fight. Peace trade desire. Take gift. Return three days. Box outside if accept.’

That might even be worse than the average imp.” She says.

I can read the human’s language. Hold it out so I can see it. Rose turns the page towards my core and holds it in front of her.

To whomever controls this dungeon.

We at the Dungeon Management Office would like to send an official representative to meet with you. Our previous attempts to do so were woefully unprepared for the resistance we faced. So this time we are declaring our intentions beforehand. We do not wish to fight. Rather we would like to negotiate peace and trade agreements if you are amenable to it. We have included a gift with this letter. As you may know it is a limited and valuable resource for us. We hope this is enough to convey our sincerity and that it will be interpreted as the gesture of good will it is intended to be.

We will return in three days time. If you are open to discussion, please leave the box on the ground at the front door of the building as a sign of acceptance. If not, then we will not attempt to contact you any further.

Signed:

William Blake

Dungeon Management Office Liaison.

When I finish reading it, Rose scrunches up the paper, her face contorted into a furious scowl.

“They dare talk of peace after everything they’ve done!” She shouts. “Do they think one paltry little gift will make up for the lives they took.”

Violet, please open the box. Let us see this ‘gift’.

The box opens to reveal a well padded interior. Sitting in the middle is a small, blue, faintly glowing crystal. It is about the same size as the mana crystal I gave Rose to practice her mana control. Though this one is in a rough diamond shape. I touch the crystal to absorb the mana from it and it turns black.

Despite the difference in colour, it appears to be a mana crystal.

“Is that it? Do they really believe forgiveness can be bought so cheaply.” Rose says, staring at the box in disgust. “If they come back, we should kill them.”

I understand your anger. I feel the same. Even if they meant it as a gift, it feels more like an insult. But we can not let anger guide our decision here. As much as I am loathe to accept it, I do not think we have much other choice but to meet with them.

“Why not just refuse? They said they’d leave us alone if we did that.” Violet suggests.

No, they said they would not contact us any further. That is not the same. When Violet looks confused by the distinction, Rose explains.

“They may still attack us, they just won’t talk to us about it first.”

“What should we do then?” Violet asks, her brows furrowed. A deep frown etching across her face.

“Lord Magentam is right, we have little choice but to agree to a meeting. It might be a trap though. A trick to make us let down our guard.” Rose says, still simmering in her anger.

I would be more surprised if it is not a trap. But this could be our only opportunity for any sort of peaceful dialog with the humans. We can not afford to let it go.

“How will we talk to them? We don’t know their language.” Violet asks.

I know their language, but I do not know if there is a way for me to speak to them directly. Based on the letter, it seems at least someone among them knows something about your language. Assuming they are smart enough to send that person, hopefully it will be enough.

The next few days are a flurry of activity. If we expect that it is a trap and we plan accordingly we are not likely to be caught off guard. But where should we hold the meeting? I would rather not let them on to our floor, but three days does not give me much time to set up any other suitable venue. Maybe after this I should consider expanding into the next floor down a little. Just enough to take one room to serve as a meeting room. Though whether or not that will actually be necessary will depend on the outcome of this meeting.

For now we will use Room 1 since no one is living in there at the moment. If they try to go anywhere else on this floor or if they bring more people than I deem is appropriate for ‘negotiation’ then I will show them no mercy. There is still a table in there, but I will need to have my imps bring in some chairs. Three chairs for the humans, if they have more than that they can sit on the couch.

Who should we have meet with them from our side? Rose and Violet obviously need to be there. Noctis and one other hellhound would also be good for intimidation. Perhaps Coal as well. He will not be able to contribute much to conversation, but if things do descend into violence, he will be useful.

Everyone else still needs to be ready to fight though. After making sure they are all armed, Rose and Violet manage to organize combat training sessions. Not that any of them have much combat experience to teach the others, but they are trying. They are mostly sparring unarmed because I do not want them accidentally stabbing each other. We do have some sticks that some of them use as swords though. It would be nice if we had some decent practice weapons. But we work with what we have got.

When Coal wants to participate, only Violet is willing to fight him. Those who witnessed his fight when he was first summoned saw how vicious he could be. The ones who were not here at that time were willing to try at first, but when they see him sparring with Violet, they quickly changed their minds. Violet is not even using her shield this time. Whenever they take a break they are both covered in cuts and gashes from each other’s claws and sometimes bites as well. Though Coal always comes out of it worse than Violet. Rose spends more time healing those two than all of the rest of the imps combined.

Rose and Violet try to teach him to be less predictable with his teleportation, to try to attack from other directions instead of only teleporting behind his opponent every time. He does not understand what they are trying to tell him at first, but once they do manage to properly convey their thoughts to him he starts practicing.

He is unsure about it and takes it slow at first, still teleporting behind Violet, but slightly off to the side. But as he gains more confidence he starts teleporting more to the sides. Once he fully grasps the concept he starts appearing above her as well. At that point even Violet is having trouble keeping up with him and starts using her shield again.

His progress is impressive for only a few days of practice. I just hope this does not encourage him to challenge Violet to a real fight again.

What has me most excited though is Rose’s breakthrough in her magic training. On the evening before the humans are scheduled to return. The first I hear about it Violet shouting at me through our connection.

‘Magentam, she did it!’

Who did what? Can you be a little more specific?

‘Rose did magic. She made the crystal float.’

I rush to their room to see what she means. When I get there, it is just as Violet said. Rose is sitting on her bed, her hands cupped together in front of her, the mana crystal she uses for training levitating about a hand span above them. Her eyes are shut tight as she concentrates while Violet and her sister watch in wide eyed wonderment.

The crystal floats in the air for several seconds before she lets it drop. She opens her eyes and smiles, breathing heavily from the exertion.

Excellent work Rose. Your progress is extraordinary. Rose perks up in surprise.

“Lord Magentam, I didn’t realize you were watching.” She says, looking a little flustered.

Violet alerted me to your success so I wanted to see it for myself.

“I was hoping to surprise you.” She laments, casting a glare at Violet, who just smiles in return.

Would you mind explaining to me how you achieved this feat?

“I am not entirely sure how to describe it. Now that I can control the mana enough to extend it a little beyond my body, I imagined the mana sort of taking the shape of a hand to wrap around the crystal to hold it up.”

So it is a combination of mana control and proper visualization?

“I think so. Though even now it is hard to hold onto the mana and keep it in the proper shape.”

Then perhaps that is what you should focus on practicing next. Creating a shield out of mana would necessitate holding it in its shape for an extended time period.

“Of course. I will get started right away.”

No need to rush. You have already accomplished plenty for today. I am proud of you. But you should take a break. That looked like it took a lot out of you.

“You’re right. Thank you, Lord Magentam.” She says, slumping down a little.

It is best not to exhaust yourself too much before we meet with the humans tomorrow.

Visualization and mana control. That has been the basis for pretty much everything I have accomplished with mana so far. If that is really all it takes then I am going to be disappointed with myself for not figuring it out on my own.

The blue mana crystal is still sitting in its box on my chair so I will try with that. Gathering mana in my hands I picture it taking shape and reaching out to pick up the crystal. I do not think I need it to be in the shape of a hand specifically, just small tendrils to wrap around the crystal. When I pull the mana back towards me, the crystals wobbles a little. That is encouraging. I use a little more mana and try to focus more on the image of my mana wrapping around the crystal and pulling it upwards. I am elated to see the crystal rise and float in the air. Though it does require more mana than I expected to maintain.

After lowering the crystal down again I have another idea. Rose imagined her mana in the shape of a hand. But I already have hands that I am reasonably certain are also made out of mana. It is just not enough mana to physically interact with anything. So I simply need to increase that mana until they are able to interact with things.

I gather mana in my hands, but instead of holding it, I imagine the mana being absorbed into my hands and becoming a part of them. It is a strange concept but as I focus on the idea I feel a tingling sensation throughout the whole length of my arms. I reach out and touch the crystal. To my astonishment I am actually able to pick it up. For the first time in my entire existence I am actually holding something in my hands.

Such a simple thing, yet it is exhilarating. But a mana crystal is not the best thing to test with. Mana crystals always felt solid to me, even if I could not pick them up or move them, I could still touch them. What I need to do is try this with things that I can not normally touch at all.

Putting the crystal down, I reach for the box, my hand still passes through it, but I do feel some resistance. It is a strange and slightly uncomfortable sensation. I focus on absorbing even more mana into my hand and try again. Eventually I find the right amount of mana needed to pick it up. This is a marvelous discovery. I would likely be weeping with joy if I was capable of such a thing. To actually be able to touch things is wonderful, even if it does require a significant amount of mana.

I am a little disappointed in myself, as predicted, for not figuring this out sooner. But better late than never. This will lead to many new ways for me to use mana both offensively and defensively. But now is not the time to test them. I have been conserving my mana in preparation for tomorrow. It would completely defeat the purpose if I used it all now and did not leave myself with enough to actually defend against the humans if it becomes necessary.

When the sun rises I tell Violet to take the box outside and leave it at the front door as instructed. I also tell her take Noctis and Fire with her. Once she has placed the box, she is to find somewhere to hide outside. A place where they will be out of sight, but still have a good view of the entrance of our building. They are to wait for the humans and let me know as soon as they arrive. But do not let the humans see them.

We have done all we can to be ready for them. Now all that is left to do is wait.