CHAPTER 56: Preparations.

Sirin was tapping his claws on the stone armrest of his throne. The ticking echoed through the room illuminated by the countless runes engraved in walls and ceiling alike.

He sighed as he was fooling around with his 'magic creation' again. He had yet to see the limit of this skill, yet he was scared to take things too far.

He looked up as he heard footsteps that were slowly approaching. Swiftly he adjusted his pose and waited for Hendrik to arrive.

Before long, his human friend stood in front of him.

"Sirin, I have something that I need to talk to you about." Hendrik spoke.

Sirin didn't say anything but just nodded.

Hendrik took a deep breath before he continued. "Back at the festival I encountered some of our old teachers. You know, before the battle in the woods."

Sirin frowned as he recalled that other demon that had claimed that forest full of spirits as his territory.

"Well, it turns out that not long after we left the place fell onto chaos. Different families had different opinions about whether or not they should risk everything to hunt you down, leading to massive inner conflicts. Some stayed to fight while others fled. And the teacher I encountered did just that, he fled because these quarrels are below him as he himself stated."

"What is your point?" Sirin hissed.

"He-he wants to take me in as his personal apprentice. He saw how much my power had grown in such a brief time, and he does not blame me for what happened." Hendrik responded.

"Then why would you make a point of telling me?"

"Well, the bond between a master and his apprentice is special. The master is responsible for everything that the apprentice does, be it good or bad. Likewise, if your father tells you to go right and your master tells you to go left, you go left without question." The young man explained.

The demon shifted his position in his throne to sit more comfortably. "Does this 'master' know where your power truly comes from?"

Hendrik hesitated. "No."

"However," He continued. "I'm sure he knows that this power is… vile? Evil? I'm sorry I didn't mean to be offensive, it's just that creatures like you aren't seen as particularly virtuous by the standards of this world. The point is, he knows, I'm sure of it. And I don't know if I can ever find another master with you as a source of my power."

"And now you are worried that I will see it as a betrayal if you place yourself under a master, aren't you?"

Hendrik nodded. "Yes, but if you are against it, then I won't do it."

Sirin stood up and placed his hand on Hendrik's shoulder. "I'm fairly certain that our contract is stronger than any agreement you can have with another human. you belong to me, and I would honestly be impressed if you somehow managed to betray me. I appreciate your concern though."

Sirin let go of Hendrik's shoulder and grinned. "Why don't you bring that master of yours here? You know, so he can see with his own eyes where your power originates from. Then we know if he is worth the trouble. We can even let him live here; I didn't make this building this large just for show and I need more people anyways."

"Alright then I'll get him." Hendrik spoke, still with a hint of uncertainty in his voice.

While he was off Sirin suddenly got an idea. Would it be possible to enforce a contract like he had with Hendrik with another demon? If that would be the case, he could grow his forces much quicker.

Then he wouldn't have to worry about leaving this place unguarded and he might be able to safely claim more land to harvest souls. This time along with demons that could help him gather them.

He rushed outside and picked a place still withing the walls he built yet separate from the fortress itself. Here he flattened the area a bit and changed the dirt into the dry rocks found in hell. and most importantly he created an altar with a small building surrounding it to protect it from the elements. He didn't want to summon particularly large demons in the first place.

Now that the outer appearance was done, he focused on the altar itself. It didn't take long to engrave it with the green glowing runes that matched those in hell.

When that was done, he poured a lot of magic into that thing to truly link it to hell.

He flew off and swiftly returned with a rabbit that was running around his territory. He bit tough the throat of the creature and let it bleed on the altar as he opened the portal.

The stench of fresh blood was sure to attract young demons. More however it might even suppress his own smell so he wouldn't scare them off.

Not even a few minutes passed before he saw the first pair of glistering green eyes looking in at this world from the other side.

Sirin knew that this demon should be the same age as him, if not younger. So how could it resist a free ticket to a new world?