Book 2: Chapter 101: Advice and Mushroom

Book 2: Chapter 101: Advice and Mushroom

"Nothing's changed this time around, huh?" Lone said to himself as he peered down into Void's Abyss.

Darkness's peculiar body of purple galaxies appeared next to him. "Well, you haven't exactly gained any new mental or soul-related skills nor have you ranked up again."

"Right shame that is," Lone sighed. "You're a godly being right? Any ideas on what I need to do to reach B-rank?"

"I'm no expert but I would assume you need enlightenment," Darkness replied with a sagely nod.

Lone gave it a dirty look before turning around and heading towards its inverted pyramid. "If you don't wanna tell me, just say so. Giving me a hint though would be a good way to really start mending those broken bridges."

"It's not that I don't want to," Darkness claimed as it followed after him. "I just can't. Enlightenment is different for everyone. Would it help you if I said you could gain enlightenment by fighting something and almost dying in the same way you've done so thus far? Or, would letting you know that you have just as high of a chance of reaching B-rank by harvesting a tomato and having an epiphany at the same time help?"

Lone stopped in his tracks. "No... No, you're right. I'd just like to be able to really control my aura and tell how strong other people are off-rip instead of relying on Soph's pretty accurate but not perfect Mana Sensing."

"That's fair. Well, ready for the meeting? Monsieur Librarian is pulling for you but I'm stopping him from dragging you away," Darkness asked. "His power grows. In the future, I bet I'd only be able to keep you here for a minute or two at best."

"I'm good. Let me be whisked away," Lone replied.

The very next moment, he was in his usual seat at the long table. Two weeks had passed since the last meeting and the only thing that had changed in the shelf-filled hall was that Swamp's red blotches were no longer present on his blurred green form.

There was no new guest nor no new books this time. Lone had decided to read that single tome of Monsieur Librarian's today and he'd spend however long he needed to get access to it without revealing anything about himself.

"Welcome back, Human, Swamp," Monsieur Librarian greeted. "Let the third Conclave of Seekers commence."

"It's good to see you're in a better condition," Lone said to Swamp.

"Thank you, Human. Asss I sssaid during the previousss conclave, usss Followersss of Lord Delwind are blesssed with long livesss," Swamp happily replied.

"Monsieur Librarian," Lone called. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Of course, though do not be disappointed if I ask for payment as the answer very well may be valuable enough to demand one," the multi-coloured being responded.

Swamp fixed his gaze upon Lone curiously, clearly wondering what he wanted to ask of the conclave's host.

"I killed an SSS-ranked blood, explosion, and wind, mage a few days ago," Lone said. "I surprise attacked her which didn't work but I ended up being able to trap her, choke her to prevent her from casting more spells, and I then snapped her neck. My question is this; she had an army of blood creatures at her command. Why did they all just die when she did? Were they entirely sustained with her magic?"

Lone got a sense of shock from Swamp but Monsieur Librarian merely raised a hand to tap the side of his chair thoughtfully.

"That will require payment, I am afraid. Tell me what rank you are at and you will have your answer," the being offered.

'That's... fine. I don't see the harm in revealing that,' Lone thought before he replied, "I'm a C-ranker."

Swamp seemed even more surprised by that revelation than anything from any of their prior conversations.

Monsieur Librarian nodded softly. "The army was made from a pure blood magic spell known as Blood Thrall. It is a fairly simple spell requiring very minimal affinity with blood magic and training to learn. Using it to maintain an army, however, would take centuries of effort and many thousands of litres of blood as well as a handful of earned additional effects. When the caster perishes, so too does the spark of life held within the blood sustaining any thralls made with it. For the army to have persisted after the caster's passing, Blood Thrall would have needed to have been evolved into Blood Servant - a feat a bit above the ability of an average SSS-ranker."

Lone considered that for a bit. 'That's what I suspected. I guess I wouldn't have gotten any levels from killing them anyway, so it's fine they all died when Rosanne did. Glad to have that worry off my chest.'

"Thank you," Lone said respectfully.

Monsieur Librarian nodded. "It was my pleasure."

Swamp suddenly spoke up. "I wisssh to trade knowledge for accesss to the book on the ssshelve."

Monsieur Librarian's shrouded expression smiled. "Of course."

"I am sssorry for asking a foolisssh quessstion firssst, but isss anything that isss new information to you fine?" Swamp asked first.

"Let me assure you both of something before I answer. In this hall, there are no stupid questions. Knowledge is many things; power, currency, helpful, haunting, a necessity, a detriment, and so much more. The lack of it, however? And even more so the desire to fill said vacancy? That, Swamp, Human, that is to be applauded here, not shamed." Monsieur Librarian nodded affably. "Now, your question, Swamp. Yes, anything is perfectly serviceable, but it must interest me on top of being a discovery to me."

"That makesss sssenssse." Swind slowly nodded. "There isss no ssshame in ignorance and wanting to no longer be ignorant..."

Lone watched the reptilian being ponder for a moment as he had his own thoughts on what had just been said. 'Why'd the monsieur think I needed to be told that too? I already think like that.'

"I am the final follower of Lord Delwind," Swamp claimed, sadness in his tone. "And I will rebuild hisss temple, no matter the cost."

Monsieur Librarian tapped his chair's armrest thoughtfully. "The final one... Very well. I was unaware of this. I truly hope you will accomplish your goals, Swamp. The tome's knowledge is yours as is the contents of one more book of your choice when I reclaim more. I was unaware Lord Delwind's temple had been destroyed."

'Lucky bastard,' Lone thought. 'Such simple information that means fuckin' nothing to me...'

Instead of letting himself get sucked into just jealousy, Lone instead began thinking of how he could do the same; offer information that is useless to him and would be senseless to Swamp but might prove interesting to Monsieur Librarian.

As he wracked his mind, the black book with a blank spine and no cover entered Swamp's hands, who immediately began reading its contents.

"I... would also like to trade information for the book," Lone said.

He had noticed that despite the fact Swamp was clearly reading the tome, it was still present on the shelf meaning it was an illusion or a copy or something along those lines, so he could likely read it too.

"Of course," Monsieur Librarian replied. "Do you now wish to tell me who it is that possesses Basic Regeneration?"

Page 2,326

With my fourth successful dealing with an Arch Devil concluded, I think I can safely make a conclusive evaluation of this class of demonic beings.

You're fucked. You're just fucked. It's that simple. I've spent twenty thousand years trying to break the bindings between me and that first Arch Devil (refer to page 732 for context, but if you haven't been paying attention, stop reading this book you worthless ingrate and give it to someone who it might actually help).

It's useless. I now know they just need to speak to bind you. Well, not quite 'speak' like their lesser, the normal devils, but it may as well work that way. Let me tell you exactly why I'm absolutely buggered in a sense.

When I first made a deal with Sendrela, Arch Dealachadh Devil, Lady of the 16th Wrought Hell (yeah, get fucked, bitch! If you ever read this, I may not have broken the bindings, but I sure as fuck learned how to bend 'em!) she introduced herself and asked me to take a seat.

Where a normal devil may bind you by forcefully ordering you and utterly destroying your mind in the process, Arch Devils work by a certain set of unbreakable rules. Unbreakable but highly malleable.

I, in my foolish excitement to finally have a meeting with an Arch Devil, while not verbally agreeing, did, indeed, sit down at her offer. This created a deal between us. I had done her a favour by sitting, thus, giving her power over me until I did something of equal standing in her eyes.

Of course, I clearly have yet to do that and likely never will since I, well, y'know. Since I fucked the succubus and tricked her so she didn't get a single drop of my life essence.

Page 4,321

It worked! It fucking worked!

I was able to not only summon an Arch Devil and his entire army of devils and demons, but I bound them all to my will in exchange for some worthless information on how to kill some nobody group of secular Divines.

He had to fulfil my terms when he was done, and boy was it glorious. I got an Arch Devil to kill one of its peers.

I'm going to do it. I'm going to try to summon "Her". I doubt I'll succeed. It's just a completely different level of existence even when compared to the Omni Devils, and I stand almost no chance of success with the Emperor Devils.

If I don't feel confident dealing with just a single step above the Arch class, why not shoot for the stars, eh?

I'll publish this journal. Maybe spruce it up a bit, add extra notes. Warn others away. Let's say... 25 copies? I'll write 25 copies then I'll do it. I'll invoke "Her" name.

If you're reading this, thanks. You're probably gonna die if this interests you enough to light a fire in your chest, but I believe in the me that believes in you (because this me doesn't).

All you have to really remember is to never allow a devil of any kind to talk you into doing something you don't want to, infinitely more so for an Arch Devil. If you can, kill them before they can even speak or somehow bind them to your will first (impossible without my bloodline or a very specific type of unique skill).

Good luck.

"Ah, hello," Darkness greeted as it stuffed a grape into its mouth. "That took a while."

Lone shrugged as he found a set of cushions to sit upon. "I guess the monsieur is regaining his power? I only got booted out when I was done reading my book."

"Book?" Darkness asked inquisitively. "I'm surprised he let you just sit there and read one of your tomes. Actually, you can access your Dimensional Storage from in there? You aren't physically there, so that seems rather unfeasible."

Lone shook his head. "Nah, it was a book of Monsieur Librarian's. "Devils and How to Make Deals With Them by Archsummoner Ruldso Redmore of the Temporal Plane" was its title."

Darkness looked startled. "You read that?"

Lone nodded. "From cover to cover."

"And you weren't, oh, I don't know, beset upon by various types of infernal flames?" Darkness asked, a jovial tone in its voice. It then consumed another grape.

Lone raised an eyebrow. "Should I have been?"

"Oh, yes, absolutely. I don't believe Infernal Flame Resistance is in your rather large skill catalogue, is it? If I recall correctly - and I presume I do - anyone without master rank in that skill or not at least a Divine being should instantly be burned to death upon even touching that book, let alone reading it," Darkness claimed.

"So... it's a genuine book? Everything in it was true? All the advice?" Lone asked. "The stories? The exploits? Ruldso Redmore?"

Darkness nodded its purple swirling galaxy head. "Oh, yes. That's why it was cursed. Every single one of its remaining volumes were affected. It couldn't be destroyed on account of preparations from that wily little summoner, but some very powerful devils were able to make it incredibly hard to read. Or was it one devil? I can't quite recall. Oddly enough, my fellow Primal Life would likely know more than I do about this. The hellish planes aren't exactly my forte."

"Huh." Lone leaned into the cushions a bit. "I wonder why Monsieur Librarian thought I needed that knowledge then."

"Oh, probably because there's a devil in the middle of your camp waiting for you to wake up," Darkness said casually.

"There's a... what?!" Lone exclaimed, panic rising in his chest since he was painfully aware of how dangerous devils were now thanks to the book.

Darkness nodded slowly. "Yes, an Arch Aghaidh-choimheach Devil. If I remember correctly, he was Zel, the Seventh King of all Demonkin? I do apologize if that isn't entirely accurate. I was recently locked in a ball for a few centuries though it's unlikely he was promoted or demoted during my extended involuntary vacation."

Lone quickly got up and shouted, "And you didn't think it was important to tell me this why exactly?! I was in that hall reading for hours!"

"Oh, I'd imagine. Even with your level of Reading Mastery, 4,321 pages is quite a lot," Darkness agreed. "And it didn't seem urgent. He's been waiting patiently without disturbing your companions for about two hours or so. I assume he wishes to speak with you, but what do I know? I'm just a Primal living in an upsidedown pyramid trapped within a C-ranker's soul."

Just before Lone ejected himself from his own soul, he asked, "Would you have told me if my friends were in danger?"

A serious aura consumed Darkness. "In a heartbeat. Your moniker of Immortus the Immortal is quite accurate, I do assure you. I do not wish to be trapped here for all eternity with a jailor who hates me. I would have even attacked that hall of Monsieur Librarian's to get your attention if I felt it was necessary."

That gave Lone a moment of pause. "I appreciate that."

He then dismissed himself from his soul, leaving Darkness alone.

The Primal sighed. "He's a very lucky boy to have such a lucky girl attached to his hip..."