Chapter 323: Sleep Demon

A massive demon burst into the world through a column of fire and brimstone.

The flames crackled with an evil intelligence, clawing at the invisible walls of the summoning circle and hissing their rage when they couldn’t break free. Within the inferno, a shadowy form materialised. Arms the size of tree trunks. Legs as thick as temple columns. A towering height—approaching twenty-five feet tall— scraped the soaring chamber ceiling.

A snarl twisted the Lurker’s face, the flame demon’s scales—like burning rubies—bristled with wrath. Light burned through its eyes like miniature suns, and lightning crackled between six horns that crowned a misshapen skull as it raised a fist the size of Alex’s torso.

Boom!

With a rumbling growl, the fist clenched and struck the invisible barrier. “Release me summoner! Now!” it demanded, its demonic language piercing the ear with sharp, alien syllables. “If you do not, then when I free myself from this circle, mortal, you—”

“Mortal?” Baelin repeated the word—a note of amusement in his voice—using the demon’s own language with perfect pronunciation. “How presumptuous of you. Perhaps those lights in your eyes are not nearly as piercing as they look.”

His flippant tone only stoked the demon’s rage; its flame flared so brightly, Alex couldn’t look at it directly. Sweating from a heat that seemed to reach his soul, he took a quick look at Claygon calmly standing at the edge of the room. He was there if Alex needed him, a calm presence in stark contrast to the demon’s rage.

“You court death,” the Lurker said. “You call me to this realm. You insult me…I don’t know how you mustered the power to summon one such as I, but know that no bargain will save you. I will find your name and—”

“I give it freely. Have you heard the name—” The ancient wizard uttered a strange sound: a cloud of syllables that defied understanding, like an entire book’s worth of words all condensed into a single noise. While Alex was trying to puzzle out any meaning, the Lurker in flame let out what sounded like a gasp.

“You! What…what do you want?” its tone changed, fear now apparent in its voice.

“Well would you look at that, respect! A much better way to begin this hopefully short relationship,” Baelin smiled. “Have you ever heard of a Hannar-cim? Or—”

The ancient wizard asked the demon a flurry of questions slowly and calmly while Alex watched. It answered ‘no’ each time, growing more flustered and fearful.

“I do not know anything about this Hannar-cim!” the demon growled with dread. “But I do know that my liege, Ezaliel, harbours a grudge against you—”

“I also know that,” Baelin said, his voice seemingly pleasant. “For the moment, that holds no interest for me. Do you have anything else to say?”

“No, that is all I know! Please have mercy!”

With a sigh, Baelin waved a hand. “Very well. Begone, then.”

There was a whoosh like air being sucked from a glass vessel, then the circle collapsed, disappearing in a puff of foul smelling smoke.

“Another failure,” the ancient wizard said. “But that is the way of things.”

“Great,” Alex muttered in irritation. “Guess it’s my turn?”

“Indeed.” Baelin strolled to his desk, picking up a deep mug of hot cocoa teleported from his favourite cocoa bar in Sengezi. The late moonlight poured through the towering office windows, making the chancellor’s shadow fall long across the floor. “More cocoa?”

“How could I say no, chancellor?” Alex said, preparing to conjure a lesser demon.

He checked his mana reserves; over the last few hours of demon summoning he’d drained his pool twice, refilling it each time using his new technique. His fibres were building a tolerance to the hyper-stimulation, but were still being stressed; they’d take a current one more time before he’d need to rest them for the night. Falling into himself, he began running his mana through the fibres, enjoying the rush of power.

“You seem to be getting quite the handle on Hsekiu’s technique,” Baelin said between sips. “I trust it’s serving you well?”

“It’s great,” Alex said. “I’ve been using it for a few days now and the longer practice time is helping me learn Rejuvenating Sleep faster.”

“Ah…Rejuvenating Sleep,” Baelin said, with a nostalgic note in his voice. “I might have known you’d have an interest in that, what with all your reflections on power recently.”

“What do you mean?”

“Rejuvenating Sleep is a spell wizards who obsess over power are often inclined to attempt. It does not always help everyone, but it can be a path to gaining a considerable amount of time in one’s day,” the chancellor said. “If I multiplied the sheer amount of time I lost to sleep before such spells existed, it would add up to a depressing number. Possibly the range of an average lifetime or two.”

“Right…I’ve been kinda wishing that I didn’t have to sleep at all,” Alex glanced over at Claygon. “You know, like him.”

The golem was ‘studying’ his puzzle books quietly and dutifully; these were new ones Alex had asked Selina to borrow from the Junior School’s library. His little sister hadn’t needed much convincing to get in on what was unofficially called ‘Operation Cultured Claygon’: the thought of an educated Claygon had thrilled her, and she’d taken to reading storybooks to him after her studies were finished for the day. The hulking construct would silently crouch beside her while she read, but no one knew whether or not he was actually listening.

But if he was, Selina’s storytimes meant a nice bit of variety in his ‘learning curriculum.’ After all, having him look at the same puzzle books repeatedly sounded less like a good way to nurture his mind, and more of a way to nurture madness. Selina’s stories had also inspired Alex to teach Claygon his letters once his mind was fully formed; the idea of a golem that knew how to read wouldn’t have been too thrilling to wizards like Minervus, but Alex thought it’d be pretty cool.

“There’s a lot for him to learn,” he said. “And he has all the time in the world to do it.”

“Do not envy those made of clay and magic, Alex.” Baelin put his cup down. “Mortality has its own benefits. Death is a gift to some. The monotony of one’s own heartbeat becomes…too much for many.”

“Well, Claygon’s ‘heart’ is made of hope, dreams and incredible magic power, so it’s a lot more interesting than mine. Plus, he doesn’t need sleep, like I said, and that’s pretty cool.”

Alex paused considering the benefits he could get from Rejuvenating Slumber.

“Hopefully, my sleep time’ll cut way down since sleeping means a lot of time wasted, and for now, time is immutable. I have a lot I want to get done, and there just aren’t enough hours in the day to do it all.”

He looked at the empty area of Baelin’s office where he’d soon be summoning another demon. “Kinda like this in a way. There’s got to be a way to find Hannar-cim faster, or someone that either knows her, or knows something about her!”

“Patience, Alex, patience,” Baelin said. “A Proper Wizard takes the time they need to accomplish what needs to be done, as long as the task is worthy.”

“What if we don’t have time?” Alex asked.

“Then a Proper Wizard creates the time,” Baelin countered. “We will find your Hannar-cim eventually. We will combine perseverance with evolving strategy. Do not let thoughts of sudden explosions make you believe that there is a need for hurry when there is none.”

By this point, Alex wasn’t surprised that Baelin had seen to the heart of his troubled thoughts so quickly. “Yeah, I’m trying to think that way but... By the way, did you learn anything when you checked out the explosion site?”

“Only that there was no poison.”

“Poison?” Alex cocked his head.

“A member of my cabal once warned me of certain…energetic effects leaving invisible poisons in the air. But there was none of that, fortunately. So, only the potential for progress lingers.”

“Right…” Alex said, knowing better than to ask more. As far as he knew, no one on campus knew anything about Baelin’s cabal, and nobody asked. He wouldn’t be the one pushing his head into a bear’s den with unwise questions. “So…what kind of poison?”

Baelin gave him a long look. “Suffice to say, it does not matter. There is none of it at the site of the explosion. But, enough of that for now. Already, Professor Jules and the other professors are discussing applications for this new discovery. If applied properly, a combination of chaos essence and dungeon core remains could be an incredible power source. Not to mention a fine weapon.”

“Maybe too fine,” Alex said. “But…I dunno, maybe folk said the same thing when the fireball spell was invented.”

“As a matter of fact, they did, by my recollection. At the time, some foresaw a world where every wizard would simply consume anything that annoyed them in a raging inferno. Some did, of course, but soon others came to recognise that those who threw fireballs were still—in fact—vulnerable to other fireballs themselves. Or arrows. Or spears. Or claws. Or any other tool of death. Worry not for the progress of the tools of violence, my young friend. Worry as to whether or not they can be used against you. Now then, shall we continue?”

Alex yawned, holding his hand over mouth. “Yeah, sure.”

Baelin paused. “Hm, quite the yawn there. Perhaps you are pressing yourself too hard? Shall we break until another time? As I said, there is no hurry.”

‘Easy to think when you’re immortal,’ Alex thought.

“I’m still good to go. I have plenty of mana left,” was what he actually said out loud.

“But what of your mental fatigue? You do not know Rejuvenating Slumber just yet.”

“I’m 85% of the way there,” the young wizard said. The past few days practising had helped him make lightning-fast progress. “I’ll get there soon.”

“Indeed. But that day is not today,” Baelin said. “When did you get up this morning?”

“Get up?” Alex asked. “I went right from a shift at Shale’s to practising Rejuvenating Sleep, then to class, then doing things at home, then here.”

The chancellor frowned. “No wonder you are yawning. Go home for the night.”

“Yeah, but, it’s just temporary—” Alex said. “I’ll crunch for a bit and learn Rejuvenating Slumber which’ll give me a lot of extra time. It’ll be worth it.”

“Hm, not if your health collapses. And I do not think summoning demons while exhausted is a good idea. Even with me present. Go home, Alex.”

“Come on, I just—”

“Prepare to be teleported.”

Baelin raised his hands.

“No wai—”

There was a rush of teleportation magic. Alex felt a lurch in his belly. Images rapidly flew by.

And then, cool air touched his skin.

He and Claygon were suddenly standing in front of Alex’s insula.

“...dammit, Baelin,” Alex swore at the ancient wizard…from the safety of distance. For a heartbeat, he considered marching right back to the chancellor’s office, but quickly dismissed the thought, very quickly.

Still, he had too much energy to sleep.

Almost out of spite, he walked away from the insula, heading to a copse of trees nearby. There he sat down beside Claygon and opened up Rejuvenating Slumber.

“Alright.” He cracked his knuckles. “Fifteen percent left and I’ve got a pool full of mana. Let’s see how this goes.”

Despite fatigue, Alex concentrated on the magic circuit, studying it closely. Spite was powerful fuel as it turned out, and he found his fatigue slipping away. Driving himself through the spell array, he made steady progress and recorded each advancement.

After three tries: 86%.

After five: 87%.

After another two: 89%.

Then another five: 92%.

To his frustration, he got stuck at 92%, making no progress for ten tries in a row.

Then…attempt twenty-six: 93%.

Another try: 94%.

Two more: 96%.

Four more: 98%.

His mana was running low.

But, his determination wasn’t.

Two more: 99%.

Then finally…

A strange calm fell over him as the magic circuit completed. Mana rushed through his body, relaxing every vessel, organ, and sinew. Alex felt like he was sinking in a sea of soft sand.

Perhaps, casting that particular spell outdoors in the middle of a stand of trees hadn’t been the best idea.

The sun was shining on the back of Alex’s neck when he woke up. Maybe the burning sensation had been one of the things that woke him.

“Wha—” he groaned, prying the side of his face from the tree root he’d collapsed on.

His clothes were covered in branches and dust, while his body and head felt…absolutely amazing. He felt better and more refreshed than he had in days.

Despite having passed out on the hard ground.

He looked up at Claygon. “Thanks for watching over me, buddy. Now I’m about to become a hell of a lot more like you.”

Over the next few days, Alex combined Rejuvenating Slumber with skills he developed through the Mark: skills that helped with sleep. Images of specific breathing techniques he used for meditation, along with ways he’d stretched his muscles, and a sleeping position that conformed to his body, came to him. All came together, and sleep grew more restful, and more efficient.

The following night he stayed awake until morning. The night after he awoke fully rested with the moon still high in the sky.

And after another day of practice? He reached his goal.

He woke up feeling fresh, checked his new timekeeper and realised what he’d accomplished.

After only two hours of sleep, he’d had enough rest to leave him feeling fully rested in body and mind.

By pairing the Mark with Rejuvenating Slumber, he now only needed two hours to feel as refreshed as after a long night’s sleep.

Alex wanted to scream in victory, but all he could do was a few silent fist pumps since Brutus, Selina and Theresa were still sound asleep.

So, he got to work instead.

Using stealth to move to his desk, he opened up the spell-guide for Warp Flesh and pulled out a notebook, flipping to the last page he’d written on. There, his progress was recorded as: 25% after only a few days. What a difference being able to quickly regenerate his mana was making. At this rate, he’d likely finish learning the spell in a couple more days.

And then?

Then he would combine Warp Flesh, the mana manipulation technique from Ito’s Spiral, and the framework of Hsefiu’s technique to test out a theory.

If his idea worked—he could achieve a level reached by almost no one. A culmination of skill, knowledge, mana and physical training with one goal…

…peak strength; a concentration of strength experienced by very few.