12 Demons (2)

They were certainly demons. Between the crowd of horns and the fiery red tinge of their skins, Amari wasn't sure what was more obvious.

"Wait, you're not a student?" The same cheery voice said, but now Amari knew who spoke. It was a cute demon girl with orange skin and two stubby horns growing out of her forehead. In addition, she had a long tail from her bottom.

"Why would I be a student?" Amari questioned, his eyebrows still furrowed

The girl awkwardly cleared her throat and pointed at Amari.

"Well, you look like you're our age, for one. Most people our age without training wouldn't dream of stepping a single foot in the Pit. And we're here for our end-of-year exams, so I assumed you would y'know… be a student?"

Amari shook his head and dispelled the mana he was gathering. He didn't need mana to defeat them. Plus, they seemed harmless.

"No no no, you've got it wrong. I didn't enter the Pit. I was born here, and this is my younger brother." He pointed at Belat in a matter-of-fact way.

A pregnant silence ensued. Each demon looked at him sincerely with polite smiles that faded once they realized that he was not joking.

"Well, that's amazing…"

"Oh, my name is Raion'shalang, but you may call me Raion," Amari said, speaking a bit faster than he was comfortable with.

"Well, that's amazing, Raion. I've never heard of demons born in the Pit. Maybe in stories, but not in real life!"

Amari nodded. He didn't feel comfortable telling them his real name. Not even Reida, Felaud or Belat knew his real name. It wasn't anything special but he liked it to be a connection to his past that only he knew.

"My name is Liliasen'Aniet, and these are my classmates as well as my relatives. You can call me Lilia." The demon girl giggled.

Lilia the demon girl chatted along, but Amari only half-listened.

"Are you among the invaders?" He interrupted her.

She was taken aback by the question but shook her head.

"Nonono. That's the Palenia family you're looking for. They're the only human family in these parts. Our academy only sends students here for tests and we're all demons."

Amari had got his answer.

'Palenia again. What is Lamart Palenia's position in this family?'

He didn't immediately ask that, instead paying attention to the demons that had joined him. They all burst with pride whenever they talked about their Academy, which he found interesting.

'Must be a pretty prestigious place…'

"So can you tell me about the Pit, Raion?" Lilia asked, snapping him out of his thoughts.

Amari thought for a moment before answering.

"I don't know much, to be honest, but it's a pretty brutal place. You need to be very careful here."

"Oh. Do you think you can help us with our mission? I'll owe you a favour after this!"

Amari who had been planning to ditch these fellows froze in his tracks. That was the avenue he needed!

"Ok I wi-"

"No!"

An older-looking demon stepped forward. He looked several years older than Lilia and fit the demon description more.

He had the reddest skin in the group and talked with a faint rumble and power in his voice. The demon was similar to Lamart Palenia, only a bit slimmer. His ram-like horns added to his brutish appearance. They were also the largest and longest in the group.

Amari frowned. It was obvious that this was their strongest.

"Young mistress, I feel that is inappropriate. We have been assigned this mission by the school and outside help is highly frowned upon. And besides, who says this guy has any power?"

The others voiced their agreement, deepening Amari's frown even further.

Lilia stepped in as soon as she saw Amari's frown. "I am sure Raion will handle it, Fuller. You do not need to worry.".

"But, young mistress! If anything happened to you, we could not bear it. You are our responsibility and we shall ensure your safety!"

Sidelined and ignored. In a conversation about himself. Amari did not like this feeling. He felt the same way when he heard God talk about his fate as if he were a science experiment But that time and this time were different.

The difference? He could fight back now.

"Shut up."

All their mouths ceased to move in that instance, much to their dismay. The only ones not affected were Amari himself and Lilia.

Amari was tired of being on the receiving end of disdain, suffering and jealousy. He was sick of it!

He walked over to the demon called Fuller, who grasped at his throat desperately in an unsuccessful attempt to bring forth a sound

"Refrain from insulting me ever again." His words were simple but his voice boomed in the demon's ears, causing the fellow to fall to his feet first.

His face fell into a small grimace, causing the demon to look a little older than he actually was.

"Move ten meters away from me. I don't want you near me," Amari said again.

And much to his companions' dismay, Fuller did what he was told. None of them noticed the small grin on the other's face, though.

Amari grinned widely and turned to Lilia.

"I'm sorry about that. What were you saying?"

"Uh, yeah. Um. I said I would owe you a favour." Lilia bit her lip and looked away from Amari, her face redder than it should have been. (AN: W Rizz?)

"Hehe, consider your mission done. But before that, what is the mission in the first place?"

Lilia narrated the details of her mission and suddenly Amari felt like kicking himself in the balls for those presumptuous comments.

"Kill a Higher Demon Beast and bring its head back?!"

'Fucking kill me now!'

He groaned, then looked down at Belat who seemed to enjoy this.

Amari didn't know a lot about power rankings but the one thing he knew was that he couldn't mess with Higher Demon Beasts. Reida and Felaud were good examples of Higher Demon Beasts.

Talk less of Felaud, Amari wasn't even sure of Reida's full power. Felaud on the other hand could call upon an army of shadows to fight for him.

"Is there a problem, Raion?" Lilia blinked. She was oblivious.

Amari sat down on a rock, then sighed.

"No, there's no problem. When is the deadline?"

"Uhm, I think it's in three days."

'Yeah, makes sense that it's in three days.'

"Well. No problem then, we'll just have to kill a Higher Demon Beast in three days!"