Chapter 37: A Given Heart
The sleeping vampire was a source of much confusion for me. I had not expected her instant and enthusiastic agreement, intending instead to slowly whittle her down over the trip through the Labyrinth. Thinking back, she did seem desperate in the original when Hajime found her, but I guess I had underestimated just how much her imprisonment weighed on her.
We were currently in Oscar Orcus' room, past the Hydra fight. The blond gremlin had slept through all of it, as insane as that was, after she had gorged herself on my blood. That was also surprising, thankfully my body had incorporated so many monsters by now that the amount she drained from me was not an impedance, but still she had left me feeling slightly light-headed.
Still, I had gone through the entire labyrinth just fine, with plenty of time to spare. My spell that allowed me to teleport the monster's bodies into a warehouse in the Underworld still worked in this world, for some reason. Still, I was not going to look a gift horse in the mouth and due to abusing the loophole I had quite the feast waiting for me back home.
First though…
"Selene." I gentle shook her, causing her delicate face to scrunch up in consternation, "It's time to wake up."
She blearily opened her eyes, hands coming up to rub the sleep out of her eyes, "Hmm? Where are we?"
"At the end of the Orcus Labyrinth." My words caused her to jolt upright, causing me to step away from the bed I had laid her upon.
"What?!" Was her incredulous response, "How long was I asleep?!"
"About an hour." My reply seemed to deflate her.
"The Orcus Labyrinth was renowned as an unconquerable hell, full of monsters strong enough to decimate nations…" She looked down at her lap, "Were we all really that weak?"
"No." I consoled her, "I just cheated. Even the strongest of beings can lose to someone they have a bad match up against. My magic is not native to this world, so nothing here learned how to resist it."
"I see." She nodded, her expression considering, before she sighed, "I suppose this is the moment where you bind me to you?"
"Yes." I agreed, "I need to give you my mark, to denote you as a member of the Sagan Clan. But before that, I want to give you a gift for joining my family."
At her puzzled expression, I gently took her hand, lifting her off the bed and leaving behind the cloak that she had been sleeping in, leading her towards where the Magic Circle of this Labyrinth was located. I stepped into it, before turning and smiling at her. She nervously smiled back and stepped into the circle with me, gasping as it lit up when we reached the centre.
Mind Defence warned me of an attempt to interfere with my mind, but I didn't fight it, instead letting the old magic of the owner of this Labyrinth through. Knowledge flowed into me, Creation Magic's principles and applications taught to me in the span of seconds. To my surprise, aided by Soul Talent, I could already pick out ways to improve the Ancient Magic with my Demonic Power, as it was a lot less constrained than the magic of this world. If I pursued this path, it could become a deadly facet of my arsenal.
Happy at getting another tool for my repertoire, I turned to Selene, the Vampire princess having her eyes closed as her eyebrows furrowed cutely. Soon she opened them, staring into mine with wonder.
"What was that?" She questioned, awed.
"Ancient Magic. All the Labyrinths of this world were built to pass them on to people who were strong enough to defeat the challenges within, with the eventual goal of killing the evil God of this world." I answered, before waving my hand over the girl.
Flowing from my fingers, aided by the newly learned Creation Magic, I wove my Demonic Power into casual attire for her, finally covering her nakedness properly. She marvelled at the strange garments, a hoodie with a short skirt and stockings and practical boots, before stilling and turning towards me with a raised eyebrow.
"Why did you let me take this magic as well?" She asked, her voice dripping with suspicion. At my tilted head, she elaborated, "You could have just taken this for yourself, why share it? Aren't you worried I could betray you?"
"Not at all." I saw where she was coming from, having been betrayed herself and even before that surrounded by distrustful and envious courtiers, "You are going to be joining my family. I said it when we first met, but maybe I should explain further."
I grabbed her chin, gently lifting her face and staring into her crimson eyes, "I am not making you a slave, or a pet. Well, unless you want me to." She blushed, but I continued, "I don't want a doll, or a trophy. I want you to be as strong as you can possibly be, to have all that you wish to seize from the world. I want the best for you. After all, that is what being family means."
"I don't know how…" She pulled her face from my grasp, looking down at the floor, "The last family I had… I don't know how to live up to the trust you are placing in me. How to repay you."
"Don't think like that." I lightly chided her, "If you do something, do not do it becacuse you think it would satisfy some sort of debt to me. Do it because you want to. Actions that stem from sincerity are much more meaningful than those that come from obligation."
"You are the strangest Demon I have ever heard of." She smiled up at me, gaze lifting.
"I pride myself on that fact." I laughed, lightly flicking her chin up with the hand touching her face, "Now, we should get going."
"Are you going to mark me now?" She asked, appearing a great deal more comfortable with the situation.
"No, we are going to get the second part of your gift." I replied, gently lifting her up into a princess carry as my wings spread behind me, "Hold on tight."
As she tightened her grip on me, I noticed the warmth in her gaze and the slight flush of her cheeks. She really was getting attached fast, but I could hardly complain about things going well. Stepping into the circle that would teleport us to of the Labyrinth, we were suddenly relocated to a desolate area, a great canyon stretching out in both directions from the wall the circle had deposited up next to.
Feeling the weight of the world's rejection increase upon me, I also felt my information defence getting pinged. It did not feel like an active search, rather as if a passive effect was attempting to lock on to me. Deflecting the attempt with practised ease, I closed my eyes as I felt out the closest source of magic, knowing that Reisen's Labyrinth was located within this area.
Feeling the nexus of energy off to my right, I took wing and started speeding towards if, causing Selene to yelp and clutch on to me tighter.
"I can only exist in this plane for a full day." I explained to her as we flew, the distance to our target rapidly shifting, "But that time is dramatically cut short if I mark anyone. That's why I want to get you a second Ancient Magic before we run out of time."
"A second one?" She asked, eyes wide, "But how will you defeat something like Orcus in just a day?"
"A fair question. Orcus was the largest Labyrinth, but the one we are heading to now was built to be as annoying and time-wasting as possible. That's why we are not going into it, we will go through it."
"Through it?" She tiled her head, before realising what I meant, "You're going to break you way in?"
"Yes." I grinned down at her, "The Orcus labyrinth just assumed that anyone who reached the Circle was worthy, but this one has an actual intelligence guarding it. I will defeat the worst enemies, but it's time for you to stretch your legs, Selene."
She smiled at that, a small thing but present nonetheless, "Good. I want to help."
"You'll get a chance soon." I promised her.
Indeed she did. Once I found the entrance to the Reisen Labyrinth, I opened it by merely forcing the doors I could see with my Geass to move with telekinesis. The Labyrinth's trick was to prevent magic from being used within it, but thanks to the differences between Demonic Power and this world's magic, I was able to create a small bubble around Selene that allowed her to cast unimpeded, as the Demonic Power prevented the Dispersal of the magic within it.
As for myself… Using Geass, I decoded the enchantment that repaired and maintained the walls of this place, breaking it with an analysed counter spell. From that point on, all that stood between us and the end was distance and a bunch of stone. Stone that I easily blasted through with my power, keeping Selene safe from the debris with my own body.
Flying through the holes that I opened, we were soon on the floating platform that signified the end of the Labyrinth. The Golems, creations of Meledi Reisen, soon started to swam us. Thanks to my barrier, Selene was free to blast the smaller ones. Meledi tried to speak, but was soon overwhelmed by both of us working together. Selene used her lightning to act like a flyswatter as she quickly figured out that she had to alter her spells to influence physical phenomena and not rely of magical power and me using the Dark Moon Great Sword to carve my way through the Golem that was the primary protector of this place.
We defeated the trial and I grabbed Selene before the platform could fall, flying down to the distant floor beneath us and gently landing.
"Jeez!" A grating voice sounded out, a small golem with a smily face bouncing out from deeper in the Labyrinth. This was the Owner, Reisen herself, "You guys completely ignored the point of the challenge! This was supposed to done without magic, you know?! Not only that, you wrecked my Labyrinth so thoroughly! Do you know how long it's going to take me to fix all this?! Huh??? Do you know?!?"
"Probably instantly." Was my response, causing it to whirl on me.
"That's not the point! The point is that you didn't do this properly! Go back and…"
"My," I interrupted her, looking past her at an unassuming wall, "That's a pretty crystal. I wonder why it looks like it has a soul in it?"
The golem, stopped, motionless, staring at me, "What do you mean?"
"Nothing." I replied, "Just looks interesting is all. Maybe I should… break off a chunk of it to study? Oh, but I might slip and shatter the whole thing. I'm awfully clumsy."
"Are you threatening me into giving you my magic?" Reisen seemed incredulous.
"No, I'm extorting you." I replied in all seriousness, causing Selene to snicker, "Besides, I don't need it, but I want you to give it to Selene over here."
As I said this, I brought Selene closer to me with a hand on her shoulder, causing her to smile up at me, touched that I would give up something like this for her.
"You…" The golem observed Selene closely, obviously recognizing her, before turning to me, "I don't see why I should. There's nothing in it for me. I doubt someone like you would kill Ehit, that is what this knowledge is for."
"True. I have no intention of fighting your war for you. I plan to leave this world behind entirely soon." I gave Reisen a meaningful glance and tilted my head towards the small vampire, "Selene is coming with me. To a place that Ehit can't reach."
The golem paused at that, realising what that meant for the mad god's plans, "I see… and if I don't give you the magic?"
"I will kill you and take the knowledge from your soul." I spoke matter of factly, "By force."
"Jeez, you don't have to be so serious. You're a serious guy, you know?" She seemed taken aback by my threat, but seeing as I had used several types of magic she had never seen before she believed me, "Fine. Take the magic you brute, the sooner you leave the better."
As she said this, a magic circle like the one back at Orcus flared to life under us and knowledge started to enter my brain as before. This time, it fit into the Gravity Magic that Kasane and I had created together, but was a lot more… flexible, for lack of a better word. It allowed me to more easily combine gravity with other elements, fit it into other types of magic and spells I knew. Compared to what Selene got from this, being her strongest spells, I got comparatively little, but that was fine.
"I have a feeling you'll be fighting Ehit anyway." Reisen spoke, gaining my attention, "You're an arrogant guy, the universe is only big enough for one being with that sort of ego. Also, didn't you know? He doesn't let anything he finds interesting leave this place."
Before I could respond, she waved a hand causing water to flood into the room and down a drain that had just opened up in the floor, "Now ta ta! Have a nice trip!"
I had grabbed Selene as soon as the water appeared and merely floated up, dodging the flushing effect while staring at the golem with a deadpan. Having already got what I came for, I decided to not even give her a response before flying out the same way I came in, making sure to make a couple of extra holes on the way.
Not my fault Reisen had rebuilt the walls like that.
Now outside the Labyrinth and sitting on the edge of a cliff in Reisen Gorge, I contemplated maybe making a run for one last Labyrinth, before dismissing the idea. The only one that would be a meaningful boost to my power was Evolution Magic, and that one was so far away that finding it would probably take too long.
Looking to my side, I saw Selene who was having fun floating a rock with her new magic. A lot of the tension she was carrying had been released in the fight, as brief as it was. Giving her an opportunity to cut loose had certainly done her well.
"Selene." I called her, causing her to let the rock drop and look over to me, "It's time. Are you ready?"
"She squared her shoulders, turning to look out across the admittedly pretty view, "I spent so long locked up in there that I forget how the sky looked, how the open air felt… It makes me angry. I want to pay back the one who did that to me."
She turned her crimson eyes onto me, resolve filling them, "But more than that, I forgot kindness. How it felt to be treated by someone who cared about me."
She picked up my hand, guiding it to her neck. Moving it down and through the gap between her hoodie and her skin, she let me feel the beating of her heart underneath her palm. I was taken back by her forwardness, but stayed quite as the breathless girls continued.
"Even if it's a trick, even if you don't really mean it… I want more. I want this warmth that you are offering. If I can be a part of your family… If I can be treated this way forever, I will have no complaints."
I smiled gently at her, with a flex of will imprinting my stamp where my hand lay, directly over her heart.
"It's not a trick, Selene, I do care for you. You will be a member of my beloved family." She nodded at that, blushing and looking down, "In time, I hope you will believe me, but I can only prove my sincerity with actions."
"I'll…" She whispered, "I'll trust you for now. I've made my choice, so I will just have to see it through."
"You wont regret it."
With those words, colour faded from my surroundings, as the familiar interface appeared before me fore the first time in years. Quickly scrolling through the options, I felt a wide smile split my face. The boon that I had been coveting the most had finally been unlocked, Selene the final piece needed to acquire it.
Selecting it, I felt the change immediately. My magic had been strained from repeated use here, but the fatigue washed away from me as I beheld the chosen perk. One that would allow me to truly take my training to the next level, growing my power exponentially.
Inexhaustible.
Perks Acquired This Chapter:
Environmental Defence: Damocles is immune to environmental effects, this being any detrimental effect that is tied to a specific environment or plane. This is a conceptual defence, meaning while it applies to environment, it does not apply to effects that are directed that have similar outcomes. For example, he can exist in the Void, but will still be effected by Void Magic.
Inexhaustible: Damocles instantly regenerates his Demonic power to his maximum. This does not prevent mental and physical strain, but ensures that his well of power never runs dry. Damocles' maximum capacity remains unchanged. In a nutshell, his MP gets instantly refilled whenever he casts a spell, but his maximum MP total is the same as it was before acquiring this perk.
Talent Sharing: Damocles can share certain talents with his retinue. Passive effects like talents will be seamlessly incorporated, but are not retroactive. Active effects will be an instinct that will need to trained to be useful in combat situations.
Current Shared Talents:
Information, Mind, Stress, Fatality and Environmental Defences
Soul, Science and Martial Talents.