Chapter 93: Tales Of Demons (And Familiars) (1)

Ergthen focused on the black cover book sitting atop the stone pedestal for a short time then opened it's pages.

"This is the Chronicle of Demons. It is a record of all demons who have ever come into existence in this world. From the moment you are inscribed within these pages your deeds will be inscribed."

"Really? It...looks like a normal book -- minus the creepy cover of course." Agni remarked.

"Indeed. But it is a living artifact. It's abilities and powers transcend that of a normal object." Ergthen explained as the book's pages began to flutter without his intervention.

"Is that like a living weapon?" Agni asked curiously as she stepped closer to the pedestal. Ogthin and Vivian stood behind her, looking on. What was to come was in no way foreign to them, so their interest was purely on the specifics.

"Yes. Have you encountered one? Living weapons are quite rare--and expensive." Ergthen responded. Agni nodded her head and mentioned Katrin's Grimoire.

"I see. This book also serves another purpose. May I see your hand, young Leviathan?" Ergthen extended his hand and awaited Agni's confirmation. As she reached her outstretched hand to meet his she felt a slight prick against her pointer finger.

"Ow!" Agni said, mostly on reflex as the tiny wound barely hurt. Instead a bead of blood appeared on the tip of her finger.

"Drip three beads of blood on the book's pages. The Chronicle will do the rest." Ergthen directed, and thus Agni did as he said. She watched with bated breath as the first drop of blood fell into the book's fluttering pages. From the second her blood touched it's pages the book opened to a blank page. With the second drop of blood it's pages began to glow and text began to form on the empty pages. With the final drop of blood the book began to shake gently as it levitated upwards from the pedestal and positioned itself so that it's pages were directed at Agni.

"Good. Now, you should see a magical circle. Place your hand against it and infuse some mana into the magical circle." Ergthen next directed.

Agni did as he suggested, closing her eyes the moment her palm touched the page, mostly because it felt appropriate to do so. She found it rather difficult to infuse the page with her mana, however. She only intended to use a small portion of her magic power at first but she felt stifled and oppressed, she could only explain the sensation as a weight pressing down on her mana itself. She gritted her teeth slightly and forced her mana further, raising the pressure with each passing second until finally she was forced to push with all of her might. At this time she felt the sensation of "weight" fly away and her mana flowed freely into the book.

Agni opened her eyes at this key moment and discovered that the book was now shimmering with particles of red light energy. The words on her page continued to form as the book set itself on the table once more. After a few seconds the writing on the page was complete and within the magic circle a hexagram was formed. In the center of this hexagram was a small, black coin with the insignia of a demon's head at the center. Agni recognized this coin as the same item Vivian used to earn entry into the Demonic Chapel.

"Take it, it's yours. The coin before you is a special item. To bind it to you, you must flow your mana into it. With it you can enter the Demonic Chapel, as long as you possess it."

Agni picked the coin up from the open page and inspected it more closely. It seemed to be made of a metal comparable to the same black material as the building. She did as Ergthen said and used some mana on the coin, which was about the size of a walnut in diameter. The coin assimilated itself directly into her body, sinking into her palm and alerting her to it's new location within her inventory.

[Black Coin Acquired. This item will allow you entry into the Demonic Chapel of Kirlunst. Can also be used as a favor.]

"This can be used as a favor? What does that mean?" Agni asked.

"It allows you to gain the chapel's assistance with a problem of your choosing." Ogthin responded.

"Hmm.."

*That's sort of vague…* Agni thought to herself.

"Now, let's see what your entry into the Chronicle says." Ergthen said as he turned the book so that he could read the foreign script there. The letters seemed alive, they morphed before Agni's eyes until finally they resembled a language Agni hadn't seen for some time -- her native language from her past life.

"The script on this page is visible only to a select few. You will always be able to inspect your own information while others will be ignorant of your info unless they have special knowledge to access it. Or they are able to read it.." Ergthen explained as he gazed down at Agni's page.

"I expected as much, your natural elemental affinity is one of fire. Your namesake speaks to this so it's no surprise." Ergthen said as he continued to study the page. It was clear to Agni that he was omitting most of the information there as his finger moved down the page, line by line.

"This is interesting." Ergthen said as he eyed a specific line, tapping his finger against the page as he read. Agni awaited some kind of context to his comment but when Ergthen moved on she took extra effort to glance at the line in question.

*Horn Pattern? * She wanted to ask what caught Ergthen's eye but she was halted by his next statement.

"Your familiar's name is Shula." Ergthen said as he continued reading.

"Yes, that's right. Is that also on the page?" Agni's eyebrows arched upwards as she leaned closer to the book.

"Oh--you already know your familiar's name then? This should be much easier." Ergthen seemed surprised.

"We will need three items to perform the summoning ritual. Flames, Blood and a piece of your horn." Ergthen said as he closed the black book before him and motioned for Agni and the others to follow him. Ergthen led them out of the book-filled room and into an empty room, much smaller in size. There in the center of the room was a rather large magical circle comprised of several smaller circles within. They all touched one another in some way and were bordered by the same sort of morphing script as the pages of the Chronciple of Demons.

"Stand here, in the center." Ergthen ordered as he once more took Agni's hand and pricked several of her fingers to draw blood. He then drew really close to the Succubus, so close in fact that she felt somewhat shy. The older demonkin seemed to be examining her horns. He ran his fingers along them and poked them a few times before a shooting pain flared up in Agni's skull.

"OW!" She shouted in pain for real this time as Ergthen snapped her left horn completely in half.

"What the hell! That freaking hurt!" Agni practically shouted as she clenched her broken horn.

"Heh. Horns of lesser demons are always a bit sensitive. No worries, it will grow back if given enough time." Ergthen replied as he took the piece of horn and cupped it into his palm.

"Drip some blood across this." He commanded. Agni obliged as best she could, choosing to ignore the throbbing pain in her broken horn. It was as if nerve endings were exposed to cold air, the pain was intense enough to make her grit her teeth.

"Good. Now, give me a moment to exit the circle, then you'll flow fire magic through the summoning circle. That should do the trick. Are you ready?" Ergthen asked, just to make sure Agni understood the process before beginning.

"Y-yea. I'm ready. Let's do it." She said as she winced in pain, tears practically begging to fall from the corners of her eyes. Agni couldn't help but pout slightly as she prepared to activate the ritual to finally summon her familiar.