-----

Through this week I've been trying to find ways to summon new spirits. I had touched the Grimoire, looked into it, sniffed it, and I had even tried to write on it to see if I could do something with it. Anything I wrote in the empty pages was quickly deleted without any trace left, it seems that conjuring magic against it doesn't work, as magic passes right through it. The item seems to have some sort of invisibility trait to it, which probably goes as high as Lucifer's Existence Realm itself.

What are Existence Realms? Well, in simple terms it's the rank that an existing being is in. For example, Demigod, God, Great Gods, and so on are all Existence Realms, perhaps. Although they often take a variety of names and they're never too clear, but it is often quite simple to guess you become a godly being when your energies suddenly being to merge and transcend into divine energy, which I once wielded.

When I fought Lucifer, I was about to reach the Universal Realm, being capable enough to swallow and absorb an entire Universe… But Lucifer stood in my way, his army of demons overrunning the entire Universe, I had to quickly stop them from ruining everything, so I went to his Hell. And… well, that's that. I am here now, I guess it never truly worked. Anyways, Lucifer's Existence Realm was above Universe Realm, he was truly a monster not even my powers could fathom.

Ultimately, this tool he has given me for his own amusement, the Grimoire, cannot be damaged by the current me. But perhaps one day I might achieve enough strength to do so… hopefully. But for now, modifying it is impossible, and the summoning of spirits is strictly connected to it.

But what about my soul? I had checked it a million times by now, inside the Origin Core of my soul, there's certainly something that I can detect. Lucifer roughly patched it all together, fusing my Origin Core with the all the broken ones of my subordinates. This has ultimately fused my soul with them, but all of their powers are sealed, and they're unlocked as I summon them, it seems. This is probably why Eleanora and I have our powers so connected with each other. I have tried getting inside my Origin Core… and I have managed to do it, but the intensity and the energy used to do this are too much for the current me, and I can only peek inside for a few seconds before being too exhausted to continue.

The interior feels like an enormous dark place, extending for several kilometers, if not completely endless. And inside I was able to see faint, phantasmal figures standing in silence. Perhaps my subordinate's souls are there, and they're randomly picked when I finally summon a new spirit, apparently.

I will have to keep working hard and reach Rank 2 eventually, I am sure that reaching Level 10 should also help, perhaps by then I will be very close to reach Rank 2. Even if it takes days, weeks, months, or even years… I will get all of them back eventually, all of my friends- I mean, my servants.

But I wonder… who else is next? I wish I could select them myself, there are so many fitting servants for the job of helping me in a new world, but it seems random. Even Eleanora being summoned was an act of pure luck, I was very lucky to have managed to summon the first ever ally I had in my previous life. This is why I treasure her a lot I suppose. It is strictly that and not because… I have strong feelings for her.

Hm… Perhaps both.

Sigh, being a human is really a pain, all of this thing about feelings and everything else. I really miss having an immortal vampire body that didn't bothered me with strong emotions and annoying sexual drive. My body is still far from reaching adolescence, but I cannot help but notice women and girl's body more now, especially every time I think about Eleanora's adult form in specific, I can't help but grow strangely agitated. Being a human is surely the worst curse I could had ever received, Lucifer must be laughing at my misfortune from Hell.

But it's usually on Eleanora, or beautiful women I see in the village… Little girls are… they look like dolls, I cannot really feel any attraction, even though Elizabeth and Erika pester me a lot even as children. I am not dense enough to realize they might be developing romantic interests, but my mind is elsewhere, so I really cannot answer such childish feelings. Thankfully, they have not said anything so I am only just guessing things. At this point I've grown soft enough to see them as my little sisters, or something remotely close to that. Elenora is… well, in my eyes she's different, but only because its Eleanora. She maintains her child form because it helps her conserve energy and it costs less Mana to summon her this way.

All things considered, today I had just finished my work with the priests, we had gone around healing some nobles, while they let me heal some commoners for free. I got a good bag of money, but in the middle of dinner in the tavern, Ellergest mentioned the half-demon child Erdrich.

"He has been keeping himself inside that room all this week, no matter how much we try, we cannot let him get out… I don't want to provoke him or something, if he awakens into a demon, it would be dangerous and I might… be forced to take him down. With that fear in mind, I've been rather cowardly in confronting him." He sighed, he seemed rather tired.

"Hm, then let me handle him." I said confidently.

"You? Handle him?!" Laughed Jack. "You're just a kid, Blank!"

"I took the life of her mother, it is the least I could do to… help him recover." I sighed, faking some regret.

"W-Well… You're right, but I am also partially in fault of that as well…" Sighed Ellergest.

Suddenly, Elizabeth held my hand tightly and smiled rather pumped up by an idea inside her childish mind.

"T-Then let's go together to cheer him up, Blank! Let's bring him tasty food!"

Hm, maybe conquering his stomach could work, he's a kid at the end. Elizabeth is also cute; I could use her to catch his attention. Her gentle nature let people lower their guard in front of her, she's quite useful to soften the hearts of the unwilling.

-----