CHAPTER 58: Your freedom for my power.

Sirin sat in his throne in the room lit by runes. Fyseryra was out somewhere looking either for souls or another way to feed herself. As long as she did not completely scare off the humans in the nearby villages, Sirin thought that it was fine.

He looked up from the blue screen of the system. Up till now he had been working on the final details of the fortress. Furniture in all the rooms, glass in all the windows and some minor decorations in the halls were merely a rough summary.

But the two pairs of footsteps approaching him forced him to set his work aside for a moment.

Soon the heavy doors slowly creaked open and Hendrik, along with a vaguely familiar figure appeared in the opening.

The demon split his face in half with a sinister smile as he used his inspect skill on the human in front of him. 34, the highest number that he had seen eve since he got this skill. Sure, he didn't use it on every breathing thing that crossed his path, just as he didn't inspect the minds of such creatures. But that didn't take away that even without a contract this was one of the strongest humans he had encountered.

Sirin truly hoped that this human would not disappoint him. If he could make him one of his warlocks as well this human's strength would grow even more, he would be a most valuable asset.

The former teacher looked up at the demon. It was hard to forget a face like that, even if the creature had grown another set of horns. Though it seemed far larger than he remembered.

Sirin noticed the mans gaze, yet still chose to way until either one of the humans would speak.

Hendrik who now seemed to be more nervus, and even formal than usual eventually broke the silence. "Sirin, this is Danish Branch. He used to be a martial art teacher, tough for the older students. He would like train here, despite what you are and our deal, given that you can provide the proper space and materials."

"Truly?" Sirin scoffed. "I would like to hear it from his own mouth as well. As well as why he would risk being tainted by such a vile being like me."

Though he retained a proper statue, Danish seemed a little uneasy for a moment. Maybe it was something in his eyes, or maybe just Sirin's imagination.

"If Hendriks claims are correct, you are not only capable of sharing your power, but can travel across worlds as well. And given that your… friend as well as this entire building seem to emit the same kind of dark energy, at least one of those claims is true. Therefore, it would be a waste not to try and profit from that."

Sirin raised an eyebrow. "If you say it like that it almost seems like you are not here for him at all, but for me. How can I trust you to be near my friend and my fortress if you already seem to twist the truth?"

Sirin's eyes shone with a blue light as he talked down to the rather small man.

The man smiled in turn. "The ends justify the means. I teach people to learn from them. Their reasoning behind the differences they show in contrast to other students, the personal flair they give to their arts. You can learn a lot from the people you try to teach in that way. Just like how I can study your dark energy to perhaps use as a foundation for an entirely new art. The possibilities are endless, much less the knowledge you can posses and share if you can truly travel between worlds."

Sirin tapped his claws on the hard armrest of his throne, the ticking echoing through the large room. "I will allow you to teach my warlock on my grounds, and I will share my knowledge and magic with you. But for that I need you to make a deal with me. I can't hand out such things to any mortal I come across after all."

The man nodded. "State your terms."

"In my name. You will answer to me, belong to me, obey me. And in turn I will provide you with the before stated benefits. Your freedom for my power."

Danish hesitated. When he looked at his soon to be apprentice, he could only see that his expression remained unchanging. He couldn't help but wonder what Hendrik had to sign away for this power. was it so bad that threatening to take away his freedom was nothing in comparison? Or was this all an exaggeration with him knowing that these were just empty words?

"Why do you hesitate?" The pale demon asked. "Didn't you just say that the ends justify the means? Are you going back on your own words?"

"No!" The man bit his tongue and swallowed his pride. "I will do it."

As soon as he took the demons hand, he felt a little lightheaded and felt something burning down his right eye socket as a black stripe appeared there. Soon after he could feel some sort of connection between himself, the pale creature and Hendrik.

Sirin who was watching this was a little uncertain as for why this human seemed to be in pain when forcing the deal, yet Hendrik didn't seem to feel anything back then. Though the answer might as well be because this man was the second and Hendrik the first, or maybe because Sirin was weaker back then. However, it didn't really matter as their connection seemed to function simply fine.

Sirin gave the man a little bit of his magic and then turned to Hendrik. "Could you get him a room or something? He might need to recover a little."

Hendrik nodded. "Right, I'll get to it."

"Thank you." The demon spoke.

When the two humans left the room so did Sirin. Fyseryra would return soon, so he would talk to her later.

For now, he just wanted to warn Amanda. The fact that Danish seemed so determined freaked him out a little, and he was scared that the human would find a loophole in the deal. If so, he might try to commit certain rituals and sins to cultivate the dark magic.

Sure, there was no harm in it for Sirin. But he didn't want that around Amanda and the children.