"Amaris! We have a problem on our hands!" The sounds of Ryden could be heard echo through a wide and stacked cave. All kinds of gods could be seen at the very end of it all with a small throne.
A lady, callous of their presence took a light glance at the quartet and mused, supporting her head with her hand. "What is it this time Ryden? A mercenary or an adventurer?" Her tone completely indifferent to Ryden's worry.
She was barely clothed however what really stood out was her light pale pink skin and the two horns that arched from each side of her head downwards. A thin tail which played around with her allure and presence extremely captivating, capable of ensnaring any man who would as much take a quick glance at her.
A tier four demoness known as Amaris who was on the verge of breaking into the next tier. "No! We have a demon on our hands!" Sirena mused, her tone frustrated with how calm Amaris came off.
"And here I thought that it would be a problem. Let me guess, a tier four demonic expert, or maybe a tier five?" She was still ignorant about the situation. "A tier six bastard that's walking around with a kid." The light smile on her face was quickly washed away.
'A tier six demonic expert? This deep into the blessed lands without rousing the suspicions of the church or any other kingdom?!' For a tier four demonic expert, they were deemed to be problematic but nothing too crazy.
Tier five were considered great threats with as far as kingdoms waging war on such monstrosities. Such high level demonic experts wouldn't usually be located this deep into the blessed lands thus they would have to be disposed off with extreme prejudice.
As for tier six demonic experts, such were considered calamities and multiple kingdoms would have to band together to put an end to such a plague.
As for a tier seven demonic beast, the only confirmed demon was the demonic queen but with the extensive lifespan of demons, it was certain to assume that the possibility of others could be probable.
She immediately stood up from her throne. "We have to leave, now!" Baylor however wasn't all that willing to leave so soon. "But what about all these treasures? We've spent most of our lives to amass this and now we have to leave it?"
"If you want to stay then do so. I'm not going to risk my life for some gold and silver." Starla mused as the others prepared themselves to leave whereas Baylor's perspective wavered and in the end, he chose to compromise and pack along with them.
"Where do you think you're all going? We as your guests have just arrived." The entire group came to a resounding halt as they heard this, with Amaris the one tense the most. Looking at the source, a body could be seen but upon a closer inspection, knew could see that it was abnormally tall.
It was Hedon however Shyla was resting on his shoulders, making his silhouette seem taller than he actually was. "You lied to me, I can't believe it." Shyla mused as her demeanor seemed to flare up as an ominous red glow enveloped her entire body.
*Thud*
Without wasting a second, Amaris fell to her knees which took the other four by surprise. "Ah! My liege. I will do your bidding to your hearts content."
'I can't believe the nerve of this bitch!' Sirena along with the other three mused in their heads. Sure demons weren't to be trusted but for her to switch her alliance so quickly was too unexpected.
"Hump!" Shyla hopped off his shoulders and landed gently onto the ground. "No, you're probably lying again." Amaris was taken aback with the fact how passive Hedon was and as to why he was tolerating a human kid.
"What! I wouldn't think of lying to you. It was them, not me who lied to you." The other four had completely lost faith in Amaris, despite knowing her for years, it would seem that in front of pure power, her trust was easy to falter and change.
"No! I don't want to hear it." The little girl pouted as a strange beam of fiery red light was emitted out of her palms.
*Boom*
Amaris's figure was covered in the heated inferno and and just like that, the only thing that remained was a corpse that was charred black. The other four instantly grew wary of the little girl and it was now that it dawned on them.
'We never sensed any mana patterns off her but recalling the artifact, it probably had something to do with it. The same goes for this demon, sure he has black horns but his actual tier is something we haven't sensed yet. But if so then what are their actual tiers?' Ryden came to an unnerving conclusion.
"All of you lied to me as well and for that, you have to be punished for it." The four put up barriers all over their bodies to shield themselves from what was to come.
Instead of a big white flash of heat, multiple streams of fire burst in all directions and enveloped the premise. The two intruders were unharmed by the heat however the four weren't. If the heatstroke didn't take care of them then the scorching heat definitely did.
The two were left alone as the sizzling of flesh could be heard. 'She has become indifferent to killing but that is under the stress of reason.' Hedon mused as he picked something up about her attacks. Sure she had become extremely proficient with her flame however he knew that he could raise the scale even further.
"Shyla?" He started off as he crouched down to her level. The little girl turned her head, her demeanor cute and quirky which was the exact opposite of what she was a couple of seconds ago.
"Yeah, Zephie?" She chimed as she made her way to him. "Do you want to make your fire stronger?" The little girl frantically nodded her head in approval. "Very well."
*Whoosh*
The eerie sound of space being torn could be heard which drew her interest as a vast dark void could be seen on the other side before a glass cubical structure of some sort was extracted out of it.
Inside it for Shyla was a strange liquid that floated in it's space as it emitted a sharp pale bluish color sprinkled with a dash of violet. It was mesmerizing to look at however Hedon knew what he held at his hands.
"You see this innocent blob? Well it's the hottest thing to ever exist." His tone light as he removed it out of the encasing that it was and letting it float in the air. He made various shapes with it, from weapons to more mundane objects making the blob look like modeling clay which made her even more invested in it.
With it, he was able to tear through the walls of the mountain like a hot knife cutting through butter, unlike before where he would have to wait for the fire to pierce through the material first. "Do you want to master it?"
She gladly accepted and with that, the last thing that she recalled was his fingers making a light sound.
*Snap*
Waking up and looking about, she realized that Hedon was carrying her down the mountain and the cart could be seen from where they were. A strange feeling ran through her body as she took a peek at her pendant which was now completely different.
It lacked the fiery jade look to it as now, it had a violet bluish color to it which went well with her eyes. Aiming at a nearby tree, a semi solid projectile was emitted from her hand and burnt through it with ease to the point it went through the ground and out of sight.
"It's plasma. Well more than that but there's no need to worry your little head about the specifics. It should be hot enough to burn right through anything but unlike fire, it's more dangerous given that it acts as a laser beam than fire."
He mused as he made a small dagger and chopped a tree clean off without leaving any marks. With it's new state, it was considerably better than fire as it could be molded much better and it's potency much higher than fire.
She tried to recreate his action and succeeded with ease however after she was done, the plasma knife didn't burn up but hovered aimlessly. "Just don't think about it and it'll go away." Shifting her attention elsewhere, the pale blue plasma dissipated into thin air.
Hedon put her down onto the carriage before he took a seat next to her.
*Snap*
The sounds of clattering could be heard behind them and Shyla looking back, she saw all the loot that was in the cave back then. "What skill is that?" Pointing at the rift in space that hauled all the hard work of the bandits to the back of the carriage.
"It's spatial manipulation but that is a completely new element. I'll even introduce you to a friend of mine who does it if you'd like." Seeing a completely new skill, how could see afford to miss such an opportunity. "Yes, please."
He gave a light chuckle as the two kept on making their way to the district. Shyla experimented with her new flame. 'Plasma?' She had never heard of such a word but she was definitely curious about it.
The sight I fallen trees could be seen as she kept on making new weapons and toys with it. The one thing that she did note about it was that it didn't feel hot when she was close to it which tempted her to touch it which confirmed her suspicions.
"Zephie? If it's so hot then why can't I feel it?" A light sigh escaped his lips. "Because of the pendant that it gave you. It neutralizes the heat making you unable to feel it's effects but the damage is still there if yu want to take it off but I would urge you not to do so."
"Oh! But everything else can feel it too, right?" To which he nodded as he looked ahead. "A district of Galespire's. Maybe you can become an adventurer and take quests to help you improve your skills."
With his statement, he cloaked his horn making him appear human which took her by surprise but his sharp red ruby eyes were still prevalent. The two were granted access the district after a Rhovis test.
After that, Hedon booked a hotel, the finest and most expensive there was. From the ample space to the decorative paintings and gallery put up all over, it all came as new and fascinating to Shyla who had spent most of her life from a peasant's perspective.
And with this new shift of position, she wanted to explore it all. With the little girl curious of the place, she took the lead whereas Hedon followed behind her. The magnificent sights of the cliffs from afar was a breathe of fresh air not to mention the quizine offered to them.
Scrumptious all the way through and it wasn't long before the two made their way to an adventurer's guild. The sight of the two together was similar to watching a brother and sister duo but with a huge age gap. The scene was heartwarming overall.
"Can I apply as an adventurer?" Shyla posed as she struggled to see over the counter. Hedon held her up with his will providing a platform for her. The lady behind the counter was baffled with how young she was but she had no option but to go along with it.
There wasn't an age restriction on becoming an adventurer and that was because by the time one would opt to become one, they would usually be of age to do it. Most of which was about twenty years old but at ten was completely unheard of.
"I can't believe that you're a tier one for someone your age." The secretary couldn't help but mumble. "But you need to be at least tier two to properly apply." The excitement on her face was completely wiped clean off.