Upgrades

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[Jared Martel, reborn into Kendell Hecrule]

[Rituals]

[Tatiana's Energy Control : Current Mastery | 1]

[ Elemental Reading: Current Mastery | 1 ]

[ Shadow Gate Circle: Current Mastery | 1 ]

[ Body Enhancement Ritual, Form Demon I: Current Mastery | 2 ]

[ Body Enhancement Ritual, Form Demon 2: Current Mastery | 1 ]

[ Body Enhancement Ritual, Golden Demon's Enhancement: Current Mastery | 1 ]

[ Shadow Gate Circle: Current Mastery | 1 ]

[ Devil Contracts - Binding Summon, Azmoth: Current Mastery | 3 ]

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[Forbidden Rituals]

[Forbidden Rituals: Planar Transfer: Attempts Remaining | NULL]

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'Hmmmm,' Kendell was deep in thought sitting in the central library looking at his ritual panel, 'I need more powerful rituals that work with Azmoth, I need to find complimentary rituals.'

'I can call upon his power and set conditions for using it thanks to my Devil Contracts- Binding Summon, Azmoth ritual- however the cost is too high since I have to use Shadow Gate first to call him out and then bind him, and even if I do his prices will not be fair given the tight situation.'

The rest of the trio was off doing separate things, Coli was at his club investigating potential ties to the Fey so he could begin to enhance his personal rituals.

Celia on the other hand was preparing for her and Kendell's duel tomorrow and needed to separate from the group so he wouldn't see her strategies.

'Alright, its getting to be later in the evening now. I think the librarians switch shifts in a few minutes, I need to get up the stairs as quickly as possible without anyone seeing me. The librarians in the upper levels assume any lower-level students will be caught by the wards on the stairs so they don't care who is up there.'

Before coming to the library this time, Kendell had prepared.

Last time he attempted this he was caught by the wards designed to recognize the class level of the individual ascending the stairs.

To counter this he would need a high-level manipulation ritual to trick wards into thinking he was an upperclassmen.

Before he came he tested his connection to Azmoth and summoned the Shadow Gate in his room.

--- Roughly an hour earlier ---

By fueling the ritual circle on his back he called on Azmoth to come and discuss terms to using his power. 

"Hello Azmoth, thank you for your assistance the other day when I needed you," Kendell bowed in the presence of the mighty demon.

A booming voice that sounded like thunder echoed in his room.

"Hello human, you amused me so I allowed you to use my power in exchange for nearly taking your life since you did not politely decide on terms with me," The horned demon grinned with a smile dripping with malice, "The next deal will not be so kind should you rush me again. What do you ask for now?"

"I humbly ask that you provide me with a manipulation ritual spell to get me past the stairs in the library I summoned you in before. I wish to find more knowledge for forging deals with you, as I am terribly inexperienced in dealing with those as honorable as yourself."

"HAHA well, at least you are learning human, in exchange what do you have to offer me?"

"I plan to offer you that which you find most valuable. I will offer you a chance to cause mass chaos for humans. Tomorrow nearly 50 humans will be in an arena watching me fight, I will allow you to do what you will with my body for one of those fights of my choosing provided no one is killed."

"Bold of you to assume what I want mortal," Boomed Azmoth, as his toothy grin spread even wider, "However, I have a better offer."

"Your life force is not of this world, and I have never tasted something quite so sweet. You grant me the final quarter of your life and I will grant you three requests. Reasonable ones of course like I cannot grant you immortality, but this is still a better deal than I give most."

"What I mean by this is say you were to live to, shit what are human years again? 100 years? Is that normal for you pesky mortals?"

Kendell nods.

"Ah ok good, then let's say you were to live to 100 years. I will take life force equal a quarter of that, so you would now live to 75 years."

"As a demon, I am able to see the remaining years you have left, unfortunately, I cannot disclose to you how many those are- but if we make a binding deal I will take exactly a quarter of those years for myself," his mouth begins to drip with blood-colored drool, "I can already taste it..."

"What say you?"

Kendell stood stunned, 'Holy shit a quarter of my life? I mean in exchange for the power of a greater demon it might be worth it, but I don't know how this normally goes in this world. I could be getting screwed here.'

He looked valiantly at the hulking behemoth before him with a steady gaze, "Counter offer."

"I grant you secrets that hold significant value- the type of information that can change fates or holds power in political, magical, or personal realms. I will be your servant who finds out this information and relays it to you, in exchange for a portion of your power."

"And what makes you think I would find this satisfactory?"

"Easy, you are the demon of manipulation and illusions, what better way to torment and cause mayhem then using the personal secrets of those you wish to manipulate?"

Azmoth just cocked his head at the offer, as if it tempted him slightly.

Kendell pressed on, "Think about it, if I want to torture my enemy I'm not going to show him a vision of happy skies. I want to find what information works best for him, if the sound of nails on a chalkboard makes him lose his mind I trap him in an illusory world filled with nothing but that till he's ready to talk."

"If I want to convince my enemy to move his forces to another location I show him an illusion where the person he cares about most tells him to change his plans or have them die a gruesome death in the upcoming fight to shake them."

"If I want to get results I would show my target their own personal hell to get my way. If you are going to cause chaos, it's best to do it properly right?"

"HAHAHA I like you human, something is off and twisted about you and it pleases me. I will grant you a portion of my power, however it won't be as simple as gathering secrets for me. I also get the right to tell you to perform specific tasks that align with my interests here in the mortal realm."

"Unfortunately my power in this realm is limited due to the pesky wards placed on Hell by those damn priests. So you will help spread my chaos."

He smiles toothily and a forked tongue swishes out and drags across his lips as if the taste of chaos was tangible to him. 

"These tasks will inevitably involve torture for manipulation or subterfuge but will never directly harm you, human."

"Know that no typical human gets this offer, I reserve the seal of the deceiver for those who truly show me they are worthy. Your twisted mind will allow me to do much work here in this realm..."

"Now do you accept the offer?"

With almost no hesitation Kendell nodded in affirmation, "I do, but first, how will I receive your orders or send you the information I retrieve?"

With no words, Azmoth held up a single finger and it suddenly was engulfed in black twisting flames. Even though they were just black flames, Kendell felt like he could see whole lives inside the fire before him. Faces and stories flew around inside them.

Then with no warning, Azmoth reached out and touched the back of Kendell's hand! The mysterious black fire swirled around his hand and all on its own, began to draw a pattern on the back of his hand. 

The swirls and intricate design formed a ritual circle of sorts, except it felt... alive. The lines were ever-changing as they slowly continued to change while on his hand, never settling into one exact symbol. 

Kendell looked up at Azmoth in confusion only to be met with a fierce grin.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH"

 Kendell screamed as the black twisted fire began embedding itself into his hand. 

"This is the Seal of the Deceiver. It is symbolized by a unique, ever-changing tattoo that shifts its shape and pattern upon your body, representing the fluid nature of secrets and lies."

He grinned yet again while Kendell continued to agonize over the tattoo engraving itself upon him, "however this does more than just look pretty. I can mentally communicate with you through this tattoo, even from Hell. This will allow us to discuss other contracts and the nature of this deal as well."

"Additionally, it can morph into a tattoo of your choosing to allow you a small bonus when infiltrating other places for information. It can appear as if it is the tattoo of any magic user in the kingdom, and with my illusory power you can make it seem as if you are the real deal."

He raised his hands and proclaimed, "Now my disciple! Go and spread my chaos to the world!"

With a final flash of his teeth and a swirl of millions of colors, he vanished. A small plume of smoke remained where he had stood and was sculpted in his image.

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[ Seal of the Deceiver Tattooed. ]

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Kendell groaned as he got up and looked at the tattoo, 'Well that wasn't as bad as increasing the mastery of the binding summon at least, and now I have more of Azmoth's power at my disposal'

--- One hour later, back in the library ---

Kendell moved ritual energy into his Seal of the Deceiver and tried to send a mental message, 'Azmoth, I humbly request a high-level manipulation ritual of some sort to trick the wards in front of me into thinking I'm an upperclassman. I wish to break into this floor and steal forbidden knowledge, an action I hope you can appreciate.'

Azmoth's booming voice echoed in his head, "HAHA of course, as expected of my disciple. A matter as simple as this can be done for you, I will show you the ritual circle to call my power for this situation... I only ask that you allow me to watch your movements for the duration of your time in the forbidden section."

'Of course, help yourself,' Kendell could feel Azmoth's creepy smile through the mental connection and the image of a ritual appeared in his head, all of a sudden all of the understanding for the ritual filled his head- granting him the ability to fully use this ritual.

With a sly smile, Kendell began to draw the ritual circle under the table he was seated at.