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Quiv fell into a deep state of semiconsciousness where he was neither asleep nor awake, but his senses where as sharp as ever. He could feel something hard but moist underneath him, whilst he breathed in and out a familiar scent through his nostrils.

"Smells like home." He said under his breath, wriggling his toes and fingers, glad he still had some control over them.

"That's because it is home." A whispered from behind him startling the fazed Quiv from the small wooden bed unto the hard floor underneath him.

He let out a loud groan, using both hands to cup his forehead, trying to press down the bump that had formed.

"I would get you some ice for that, but there's nothing in this house." The voice went on to say, sounding much louder than before.

Quiv blinked his panicked eyes open, to only cast his gaze on an exact replica of his bedroom in his house. Right from the cracks in the ceiling, down to the spells he had written in foreign language all across the room. Even the one toy he had growing up, his mother's handmade mage's wand rested beside him on the floor, with the exact carvings still intact.

The only thing that was different was the presence of someone else in this room, sitting on the bed he shared with Malkin.

His gaze lifted from the floor, and fell upon a blonde hair kid, who picked up his pillow from the bed, examining it with disgust.

He squinted his eyes at the child, focusing his mind, trying to rewind through his memories, in a bid to figure out where it was he had seen this child.

"Even as an adult, you're still as weak as before, you really do amaze me kid." The child spoke in a familiar tone, mocking Quiv with his teasing.

It didn't take Quiv a second more to recall just where and how he met this insufferable child.

"Hey! It's you isn't it?! The kid from the market!" He cried out, lunging forward in one swift motion, making to grab the child by the wrist.

The child spread out his little hand and pressed his palm against Quiv's head, stopping him from coming any closer to him.

"You have a good memory kid, that'll come handy to you in the near future. But let's skip the formalities and get straight down to business." The child, whom he remembered to be called Strages announced, flicking his index finger against Quiv's head, actually hurting the man.

Quiv didn't know whether to focus on the pain, or reflect more on what Strages had just told him about getting down to business.

"Pardon me, if I sound rude or anything, but did you not grow at all over the years? I mean, it's normal for some children to be late bloomers but..."

Strages eyebrows twitched in anger and irritation, he was trying to wrap up all business he had with Quiv, but the youngster seemed to deflect a lot.

"I'm only stuck like this, because of you! It's your plane of consciousness, anything goes here." The younger boy told him, resting against the wall, his feet stretched out on the bed.

Quiv knitted his brows against each other's, unsure of what he meant by his lack of growth, being Quiv's fault, but he decided to listen a bit more than to ask pointless questions.

"To save us both the millennia, I'll make this narration as brief as possible, just raise your hand if you have any questions." Strages frankly told him with a straight face.

He nodded obediently on his knees like a wolfdog ready to receive orders from it's owner.

"Six years ago, you signed a contract with the most powerful demon Lord the world has ever had. A.K.A me, and as a reward, I gifted you a once in a lifetime contract, to summon me in your desperate hour. It took you six long years, but you finally decided to make good of your opportunity and summoned me here. So my job here, is to help you with your problem and then I'll be off, back to the demon realm to continue my reign." He explained with exaggerated hand gestures and facial expressions.

Quiv could only nod from time to time, entertaining this child's imagination. 'He's just as delusional as the last time, but...' Quiv gazed around the room, certain that this was indeed his bedroom.

"Can you prove that you're a great demon Lord? And not just some ten year old whose read far too many mananovels." He sounded strict at the latter part of the statement, focusing his gaze on Strages.

The child placed his hand on his chin, thinking of a way to satisfy this kid's disbelieving mind. His mouth made an Ah sound, followed by a mischievous grin that spread across his face.

"I know, punch me in the face." He blurted out, grinning his ear to ear, pushing his unkept locks or hair to the side. "Give it everything those weak arms of yours can do, and I won't feel a thing. Demons are immune to pain inflicted by humans." He explained, confidently crossing his hands across his chest.

"But hitting a child goes against my moral code, I could never raise my hand to you." Quiv softly replied, earning a sneer from Strages.

"Should I do it to myself instead? Though I doubt you'll believe me if I'm the one doing it, I am a demon after all. It might actually sting." He contemplated, utterly confused on how to convince Quiv to punch him.

"Tell you what? If you punch me right now, I'll save you from that Naga whose about to stab you for free. How's that sound?" Strages insisted, scooting over to Quiv, taking one of his flabby arms, curling his fingers into a fist.

"Tavee! I forgot about him! And Malkin! The kids! The plot to kill them! I have to save them before it's all too late, I need to leave now." He said all at once, panic washed all across his face.

"If you want to leave, all you have to do is punch me, and I'll tell you how to leave your plane of consciousness." Strages offered, using Quiv's vulnerability against him.

Quiv who was desperate at that point, looked at his curled fist with disgust, psyching himself to carry out the needful. Then he shifted his gaze to Strages who had a tooth grin across his face, using his right hand to point at his cheek suggestively.

"Don't hold back okay..." Strages sang in his ears, relaxing himself to receive the punch.

Before he could back down from his decision, Quiv drew his fist back, then landed the strongest blow he had ever conjured on the kid's face.

"I want to leave." He cried out, after the sending the powerful punch at the unsuspecting kid. The blow was so strong it sent the kid flying back, almost hitting his head against the wall full of cracks.

Quiv who never knew he had it in him to send a blow that strong stared at his fist in awe. It didn't even hurt him as much as he imagined.

What's more, he could slowly see the room fading away, like it was some blury memory from some dream he had. But right before he fell out of this state, he could hear Strages cuss under his breath.

"Impossible...how the hell did a weakling like him hurt the greatest demon Lord?"

And just like the transition of burning paper to ash, Quiv jolted out of his sleep, from a lying position to a sitting up posture.

Only this time, when he flickered his eyelids open, he could see that he was no longer in his home, but in Tavee's cave, resting in the huge nest. His racing heart continued to beat wildly, whilst he tried to figure what was behind that weird dream he just had.

"You awake?" Quiv heard from behind him, he snapped out of his daze and swiftly looked over his shoulder, to see none other than Tavee, who held a huge blade in his hand. Resembling a warrior with his defensive stance.

"Yeah..." Quiv responded on his guard.

"Good." Tavee announced, and planted his blade into the ground with little force. "Because I think we need to talk." He said, walking up to the perplexed Quiv without a weapon in hand.

He sat opposite him in the nest, his legs crossed in a criss-crossed manner, his eyes heavily focused on Quiv, if Quiv didn't know any better, he'd say Tavee was scared of him.

"Talk about what?" Quiv nervously asked, doing a horrible job at disguising his uneasiness. He could only see Tavee's face in this darkness because of the green crystals hung across the walls of the inner cave, illuminating the place.

"The five mythical warriors." He answered firmly, folding his arms across his shoulders.