The Prince of Demons

Nox

Nez apparently felt like toying with death. Yesterday he managed to convince Senna to allow him to teach Nil in earnest. Today, he was throwing needles of at Nil full force right after saying a random shape. The first few throughout the day were given a ton of warning, but Nez steadily decreased the time between warning and the throw. At this point, Nez would hop out of nowhere yelling the shape while throwing the needle at Nil’s head, who without fail made the shape to block the needle. The first time Nez did it near Senna, she almost threw the table at him until my brother and I snapped into action to save lunch. The problem child I call a nephew began counter attacking with his own needles about an hour after that fun discussion. Nez didn’t fully dodge the first one, and now I was helping him debate whether or not to keep his ear pierced. His aim was surprisingly good.

“Did you see that throw?” Nez asked excitedly, leaning in close.

“Yes, he aimed straight for your head. Luckily you only ended up with a pierced ear.” I replied.

“Not that tiny detail, I can make it stylish later. He threw a needle of at me!” Nez pointed out excitedly.

“I am failing to see why my nephew counterattacking like that is a good thing. What’s so good about that?” I inquired.

“You Crowthornes take being innately good at for granted, you know that? There is a huge difference in the control needed for a versus . Those objects he makes, , , and are all . Those needles show he is learning to do .” Nez explained.

“How on Tenebrae is a ?” I checked. Actually, how are any of those three ?

“ and refer to how the is being used. refer to that have fixed targets and require anchoring on a specific location. however has no fixed target and no anchoring of . It is a fluid creation that is used at a non fixed point, making it much more difficult. The needles are one of the most basic examples. I never dreamed he could replicate it so quickly. There are also but those are very few in number and have such a different use of the other two categories do not really fit.” Nez lectured excitedly.

“You Magus have so many classifications for stuff.” I said absentmindedly.

“Well, is quite complex. Most have an , , , , , and a . For example, .” Nez continued.

“You are such a nerd.” I teased him.

“I am an intellectual who takes their work as tutoring the Crown Prince seriously.” Nez retorted, giving me some side eye.

“Yes, for his highly talented self needs your unwavering expertise and knowledge to become the best he can possibly be.” I taunted. Nez stared daggers at me.

“Awfully bold talk from someone sleeping on the floor tonight.” Nez snapped back.

“I was joking, Nez. Please don’t take it so seriously.” I begged.

“Nope. Too late. My feelings are hurt.” Nez tutted with a few sniffles.

“I’ll make it up to you. We can go to your favorite restaurant tonight and go to the Winter Palace for vacation!” I groveled quickly.

“Okay! I would have settled for the restaurant and some more groveling, but I really want to go to the Winter Palace.” Nez teased me.

“You planned this didn’t you?” I asked. Nez was chuckling now.

“Well, I just wanted to go eat at Beelze again, but you pulled out the big gun of the Winter Palace because you started to panic. And it’s not my fault you try teasing and make such cruel comments.” Nez teased some more.

“Aren’t you going to be late to your afternoon lesson with Nil?” I probed, trying to change the subject.

“It’s like up one floor from where we are. We can leave now if you insist.” Nez replied as he grabbed an apple to snack on.

I shrugged, and we went to Nil’s afternoon lesson. Nil was sitting ready, courtesy of Helga’s hard work. We are in danger. I looked around, trying to figure out where this horrid sensation was coming from. I looked at my nephew, there was something off about his face. There was a fiendish glint in his eyes; he was up to something.

Nez, brace yourself. Nil has something up his sleeve. I warned him immediately.

So I am not imagining that I just stepped into a trap? He can make such an unsettling presence as a toddler. Did he have a breakthrough of sorts I wonder? Nez replied.

“Let’s begin your lesson Nil. Did you want to show me your progress?” Nez asked, looking the problem child in the eyes as he set the apple on the desk.

Nil smirked, and then launched a needle way faster and harder at Nez than earlier. He didn’t even move. Nez quickly put a to block the needle. Then came the next one. And the next. And they were getting faster. It was a stream of high powered needles getting launched at Nez. Nez’s eyes were glowing as he kept reinforcing his to deflect the onslaught. After maintaining it for about thirty seconds, Nil stopped and was taking a few heavy breaths.

“THAT WAS AMAZING! HOW DID YOU THINK OF THAT NIL?!” Nez checked excitedly. His stood tall, with easily fifty needles embedded in it. Fifty needles in thirty seconds? How on Tenebrae did he manage that?

“How did he do that? That was just over fifty needles in thirty seconds. Even if the shape is simple, forming and launching them that rapidly is difficult.” I probed.

“He made a ring of needles, with the launching point at the top of the circle and rotated the circle into the launching while reforming the needle at the opening made in the circle.” Nez explained.

Nez illustrated it with . He made a ring of needles and formed some to launch the top needle at a high speed. The ring rotated, putting a new one at the top. Nez formed a new needle as the ring rotated. The instant a new needle hit the top; it was launched at a high rate of speed. Once Nez formed it all, the rotation speed increased launching a similar, albeit quite a bit faster, stream of needles.

“It sacrifices accuracy for speed and power. He forms the needle, has rotating the ring, and just a constant output to launch whatever slots into the top. It is simple but quite effective. Definitely rough around the edges but shows great promise.” Nez praised him.

“Where did he learn something like that?” I inquired.

“He probably came up with it himself. Like I thought, he has a terrifying talent with . His ability to see , replicate it, and then apply it in a different way to devastating effect is not only unique, but also quite dangerous.” Nez replied with a smile.

“No argument there. But aren’t all these spells types he has mimicked? What about a type?” I asked.

“You have been paying attention when I discuss !” Nez complimented. Wait, was he insulting me?

“I do not focus on your good looks all the time.” I flirted, leaning towards him.

“Well, let’s see what happens. Pay attention Nil!” Nez replied with a blush.

*

Nil

After my Uncles successfully blocked my nail gatling gun, they started flirting again and said something about . It probably is something with how is classified, but what is the difference I wonder? Nez made a circle appear in thin air, with a language and symbols I did not recognize lining the outer rim. It was three inline circles, each seemed to do a different function. Operation: Cut. Several equations flashed before my eyes. Very familiar equations. You have got to be kidding me. I have a degree in this. Hell, I have a masters in this. Command, input, output, controller, and some minor filtering. This is a control system. I could feel my lips begin to stretch. How am I understanding that though? I don’t recognize those symbols. A small blade of magic shot out and arced to cut the apple.

Nez and Nox looked at me, their eyes clearly expecting something. They want to see me mimic it I guess. I tried forming what I saw, but it fizzled pretty quickly. The structure was clearly wrong. Let’s try this step by step. Cut. The inner circle formed. Maybe add some power and range for distance? I could feel some supporting circles form around the first. Something was converting my thoughts into what I desired: what was this? I fizzled the . I could do better. Let’s make it cut. High compression, and then suddenly release it. Input, format my into , as thin as possible. What happens if I want to set it to be an atom thick? The corresponding circles started appearing. I want to understand why this is working, why is this forming off my thoughts? I needed something to stabilize the output, and maybe a structure to give it some feedback control. Two more circles appeared. Filter my input a little to help the compression: another circle appeared. Seven circles total now. Can I do better? I kind of wanted to see what this would do. I looked at the I formed. It was shaking pretty bad. I added some dampening, and a little more support. An eighth circle appeared, and it looked very stable now. I looked at my Uncles, who looked quite pale. I made this , I am casting this .

I turned to face outwards, where it should shoot harmlessly into the wall. There was an unused spire in that direction as well. It was used for defense in case of a siege, but from what I could tell, it was only used for storage at the moment. My poured into the . It began shaking immensely as it charged, before releasing a massive fan. The blade shot out at an incredible speed, slicing through everything in its path. It went right through the wall, and kept going. I heard something begin to slide, followed by some screaming and a large crashing sound. A wave of nausea hit me, accompanied by an all too familiar skull crushing migraine. can you not? Went through my mind as things went black.

*

Nox

Lux walked over to the unconscious Nil, and gave him a few licks before giving him a bit of and a minor heal. Lux gave a small irritated swat, and curled around Nil. Nez and I just stared at each other, and then out the window to the spire Nil decapitated.

“What on Tenebrae was that ?” I asked Nez, who was slack jaw.

“That was .” Nez replied dumbfounded.

“HOW WAS THAT CUT? HE DECAPITATED A SPIRE!” I roared in reply. The guards were scrambling, and the castle was going into lock down.

We looked at Helga, who seemed like she saw a ghost. She just shook her head. What did Nil do? How did he make it so devastating? Nil didn’t have enough for a that strong. Guards rushed in, with Empress Senna. The three of us were just staring at Nil dumbfounded.

“What happened?” Senna snapped as the guards formed a perimeter around the room, looking for any hostile activity.

“Nil.” Nez and I answered in unison.

“What do you mean?” Senna inquired.

“Nil used a and decapitated the spire. It went through the wall, through the spire, and dissipated at some point after.” I explained, still trying to grasp it myself.

“I thought you were teaching him and improving his control?” Senna asked Nez who was still opening and closing his mouth like a fish.

“I was seeing how he would do with . It was supposed to be a simple cut. I never imagined Crown Prince Nil could turn it into that.” Nez replied, grasping the reality of what Nil did.

“Nil cast that?” Senna checked, her face an odd mix of emotions.

“I showed him a simple cut on an apple, and then he tried it. His first attempt fizzled, he stopped his second attempt, and then his third attempt just cut the top of the spire off.” Nez explained.

Senna looked at Helga, who nodded in agreement. We all looked at each other, the reality of what Nil did still sinking in. His talent is truly terrifying, Nil can mimic and improve any he sees. Nil’s control has grown at an incredible rate as well. This level of talent just seemed unnatural.

“How is that possible?” Senna asked, trying to figure out what sort of monster her son was. She took a seat, trying to come to terms with what happened.

“Empress Senna, I know this was unexpected, but it is possible to adjust his lessons to account for this. I was just caught off guard by his talent.” Nez assured her.

“How could you be caught off guard by his talent? You said it was being wasted with his previous lessons!” Senna snapped at him.

“That’s not fair Senna. Who on Tenebrae could guess Nil is this ridiculously talented with ? Not even his father is this talented. Nil saw once and was within three attempts able to mimic and cast a much stronger version of what he saw. Look at this wall, you can barely even tell the went through it, but it went on to cut through the spire. How could Nez anticipate that?” I retorted, to which Senna let out a long sigh.

“I am sorry, I am just a bit flustered. Nez, what can you do from here with Nil?” Senna asked.

“Clearly showing him more is a bad idea for now; his ability to mimic and improve them is unprecedented. I imagine the combination of his and mixed with the innate talent that runs in the family is the cause of his ability. Working on his control, reserve, and will probably be the best way to cultivate his without risking more .” Nez explained, just admiring the missing spire.

“Okay Nez, just please reduce the frequency of him getting major . Nil just seems to have no regard for how often he does it.” Senna replied while looking at her son.

“Crown Prince Nil is a toddler, and may not realize the risk of repeated . I will prepare a new set of lessons immediately.” Nez stated as the gears in his head began turning.

“Thank you Nez. Nox, do you think you can start teaching Nil to fight or some ?” Senna probed.

“I could. Are you thinking of starting his training already?” I asked, a bit surprised.

“If Nil can turn a simple cut into this, and repeatedly , it might be easier to start teaching him to harness his rather than let him keep playing around with it.” Senna sighed, rubbing her temples a little.

“I’ll see what I can do.” I answered, as we all stared at the sleeping Nil.