![Master [1000]](https://i.imgur.com/AQXM4xC.png)
![Senior [500]](https://i.imgur.com/Nmfn8cD.png)
![Novice [250]](https://i.imgur.com/lrYlde6.png)
word requirement: 7k.
words reached 7060
Do you understand the pain of being burned alive? Some have experienced this through combat, while others had experienced it through such a horrifying level it caused their life to flash before their eyes. When it came to Raiza's turn, it was a different kind of level. See, this pain was accepted willingly, as part of a change he was to go through. This change was his magical power, and the burning was a holy darkness flooding throughout his body like a raging stream of water crashing out of every magical pour of his body. Though, how did Raiza get into this predicament would be the real question.
The answer is simple, but it all started one late evening in the savage's guild hall...
The bar room was bustling full of many, a few telling stories of their grand thieving adventures, others telling stories of murders, and a couple even playing some poker games with their chums. For all of what Savage Skull was, it was still a guild after all, and just because it had blood thirsty murderers and thieves among it's ranks, didn't mean they were incapable of being civil once and awhile. Then again, with how well the guild had been doing under the new leadership of Marceline, it was no wonder or mystery as to why the guild was so lively and energetic. Crimes had even began to sprout up by the dozens across fiore with more than a couple sightings of the savage's guild mark. A mark that once inflicted terror to the nation, and now is on the rise to do the same once again.
Though off in a more silent part of the bar room, Raiza would be found slouched in a chair, and with his feet on a nearby foot table quietly flipping and poking at the screen of his I-lac phone. The sounds of a game could be heard, but it wasn't clear as to what exactly it was right away till someone spoke up.
"So, Raiza you seem focused, whats up?" Speaking to Raiza, was a thinner, and much shorter male with black hair. The male himself knowing not to invade Raiza's space, simply tried to work his way around without getting too close.
"Its a game, called The Idle RPG." Hoping to leave it at that, Raiza went back to poking at the mobile screen.
"kay, so whats it about?" Clearly, the male took no sign of a hint to get away, or not to bother Raiza, but yet, he was a guild member, and no harm would come his way, instead, Raiza decided to finally reply after making the man wait a couple impatient minutes.
"Its a game where it takes the grind out of an R P G game, every five seconds you generate a specific amount of exp for yourself, gold for you to use, and champion essence for you to use on your characters. This is based on the floor of the campaign you're currently on, which while it takes the grind out for you, it doesn't take out the strategy. You still must build a team, with two front line, and four backline of characters called Champions. These champions range in power from rarity, and level. The typical classes also exist which are hunter, mage, assassin, warrior and so forth. Build and raise up a team, and fight the ai. Good enough explanation I hope? Can I get back to it now?"
It was more than clear, Raiza wasn't in the mood for questions, and even after that, he had actually sensed a strange power. One that made him pocket the phone only to warp away, not to run, but to track down. This power was something he felt before, but where?
The question would go without an answer for awhile as the source of energy Raiza was tracking led him into a room he called his own. While odd, seeing as Raiza didn't keep anything of value in that room, he did still question why the source vanished here. Was it a trap? a lure perhaps? It kept Raiza on guard, as his blade was now drawn. If he were to attack anything or at any time now, the entire guildhall would be alerted. As an Ace, now he had to act patiently, slowly trying to sense out the source as to where it went.
"Now"
A voice, coming from almost everywhere, but also no where at the same time had reached Raiza's ears, only to make him swing around, his blade still drawn, and the tip of the blade inches from the closed door. Where was the intruder? At this point, Raiza already put into perspective this intruder was high class in stealth and anti-sensory. After all, he himself had an advanced sensory technique and it was completely useless here. Even sight through his eyes was not working or listening through his ears. It was as if there were so little opportunities to locate the intruder that Raiza would be forced on the defensive right away.
"Don't be like that. I've come to talk"
At that exact moment, it was as if sound began to cease existing. The sounds of the guild went mute, the rattling of trees from the outside no longer heard, even as Raiza took a step forward, he barely heard anything.
"But first, you need to wake up"
Yes, wake up... Wait, wake up? Wake up from what? Raiza hadn't required sleep in a long time, was this a dream? It felt all too real, but why? The more Raiza questioned it, the darker the room got until it was pitch black, the only sound he heard was the whispering words 'wake up' until it got so loud it sounded as if it was in his ears.
"Raiza get up"
Finally, Raiza opened his eyes to reveal he had indeed fallen to sleep. No, maybe not fallen to sleep but had passed out? Yes, thats right, he had came to his room, and that dream was not just a dream, it was a recollection. He was talking to a demon he once knew. He had accepted a deal. The deal to accept demon slayer magic into his own, at the cost he was to go eliminate a specific demon later down the road. Simple enough, but why was the memory so foggy?
"Good, you're up, now grab my hand"
No longer as dazed, Raiza pushed himself off the ground. "How long?" he questioned, not even remotely concerned as to why he was supposed to grab the demon's hand, which after close observation it appeared the demon had taken quite a liking to be a shadow version of the old Raiza, roughly 10 years ago back in his teens.
"you were out for only two days, but your guild master sent word to you, you're to watch the guild while she goes to a guild master meeting. We can't travel far for your training because of this, but no matter. They don't call it the void of shadows for nothing. We'll be here, but we wont. So lets go. I need to show you how to channel this new magic without killing yourself. Once that is done, we can return."
It seemed the demon knew Raiza much more than was being let on, but that was to be expected by the demon that once gave him demonic power similar to Cain, back when he was still starting out in the world of mercenaries and fighting. It was because Raiza knew this was why he made that deal, and why he grabbed the demon's hand only to be whisked away to what felt like an empty void. The surrounding area looked normal, a field that outstretched for miles and miles, but the sky was pitch black, yet light existed even in the void of shadows. Such an odd dimension it was, but it mattered little those details. What mattered now was the lack of well... everything. The void of shadows was so barren that when Raiza began to look around, his magic instinctively flared up to push his sensory further.
"You wont detect a single thing here. Well, not hostile anyways. Your old summons still need time to take form, and some will only ever be accessed if you fuse two spells together to create a certain link to the summon. Since my power is fairly low after awakening the demon slayer magic, you'll have to follow my instructions, and try to work with them if they appear. This is your realm after all Raiza, it is tied to your magic alone. Every summon you have resides within this realm, or a close realm to it. Your summons may manifest over time, but don't count on it, especially the ones that require fusion to even bring to the normal realm"
A soft nod of his head signaled he understood, but at that same moment, he still felt something, whom ever it was would be quite the stealthy summon, they remained quiet, and within the deeper parts. Were they waiting? "What first then?" Trying to gain a grasp towards the goal of this training was the start of it all.
"By the way, consider this your S-class exam, because if you can survive, you'll have access to such spells. The first Spell I want you to work on is a much lower ranking spell, and fairly easy to control. Its called Demon Claw. To be exact, it is the Hell Demon's claw. A technique of mine, and other dark demons. This specializes in close combat simply by gathering mana into your hand, and forming a claw. Fairly simple right? Well this may be harder for you now that it is your first time using holy magic, as well as shadow magic. After you can get it to solidify into a shape, we'll work on projection, and from there a few other spells. I'm only going to teach you and guide you a few spells, remastering your own spells that have been changed should be nothing to you, but learning these new ones, and focusing new elements is where I'll be here"
Though, even though it was only C-class in strength, Raiza did find difficulty using the spell. It wasn't just that spell, it was anything to deal with his magic. The more he tried to only focus on pulling his magic around, he felt it resist him. This was a new magic even though it was his own. He knew he had access to spells that were not new, but yet those spells were now infused with demon slayer magic, and thus were different in element, and as an end result, harder to cast because of such. At first, pure black energy began to engulf Raiza's hand in a shadow claw, however it looked brittle, weak and unstable. Even adding the death element only did so much. It was like adding the core to a blade without adding the refinement of the handle. He hadn't ever used holy magic yet, so this was harder than anticipated. Though, even such a spell took no time after about ten minutes of focus, he had formed a claw.
"Demon slayer magic, as you've discovered uses holy magic, that was why it was so hard for you. You didn't realize what that missing element was, and now your body knows what it feels like. Further spells should be easier, but until you know how the elements co-exist, you'll end up with results like you did just now. True, you made the spell, but it is trash, its a C-class spell, but the quality of that of which you just made is less than D-class. maybe even less than a fourth. "
"I know what I'm doing, but i'm taking precautionary steps to see if it hurts me, or how I can further enhance the spell later down the road. If I wanted to, I'd use one of my rituals right now to force it to be extremely stronger. If anything what is throwing me off is the fact I know its supposedly tied with the darkness element but there is something..." It was almost as if Raiza could not understand the element at first, or perhaps he was just not realizing his old magic was still quite there. Death element was still part of the magic just as much as darkness and shadow were. However the more he pondered, the less confused he began to look.
"Indeed, it is there" Finally the demon responded to an un-asked question.
"So I'm not imagining it. The magic I'm using is still my own, but it is as if fused." This time, Raiza held his hand up and let a white aura surround it. The holy darkness, or other-words white shadows began to envelop his right hand until it formed a full claw. It was within no time did Raiza actually reform the spell until it looked as thin as a glove, yet as razor sharp as his blade. Once he had gotten the general elemental structure down, and had been able to mold the newer elements, including the holy variations it had become much more ready to learn the other techniques, and at the very least, begin some real training.
"The next technique you will be learning is the Hell Demon's howl. You've seen the dragon roars in the past, I assume? It is quite similiar, but that of a demon, rather than a dragon. Except this time, its going to have holy power in it, since this is demon slayer magic after all.
Nodding his head in response to the words the shadow had spoken, two things finally came to mind. One, what should Raiza call the shadow doppelganger of himself, and two, while he had seen the roars in the past, he didn't have too much knowledge in performing similar magic to it, so the question was, how?
"Sure, just I guess explain how, also, what should I call you?"
While it was an odd question to bring up now, after so long into their meeting, Raiza at least thought it to be a good idea to gain some sort of formality in the meeting. At least, doing such might lift some of the tension in the air that Raiza was feeling. Also, he had no clue how to perform such techniques, but had a general idea of how it should look or feel. Which is why, when no response was given to him right away, instead Raiza looked away from the demonic figure only to inhale as if trying to swallow something. Which to his surprise, it seemed to actually work. Darkness around him began to move towards his mouth but when he tried to exhale, it did nothing.
"You actually have to push the magic through your throat for it to work. Also, as for a name. Call me Nyx for now."
Shrugging at the response he was given, Raiza quickly retraced his steps by inhaling once more, but this time building up the energy into his throat before opening his mouth and pushing the holy dark energy from the depths of his stomach, up through his throat, and out his mouth. Which would end up in a large, collision of dark holy energy that ended up ripping through a large portion of the special dimension's dark concrete area, slowly revealing what they were standing on, and colorizing it into a new greyscale. Signaling Raiza had already learned more of the demon slayer magic.
"Right, as you see Raiza. The more you learn of the demon slayer magic, the more this realm changes. It'll quickly grow into that of a realm that flourishes with the dark energy. It sustains itself from your knowledge, and experiences both past and present. See, you now dictate what can come from this realm by your actions. This wont be too particularly influencing till you acquire your summons. Once they start to appear you must be careful. You'll have unknowingly created them, and house them here. Their personality will be because of you, and you alone. So, while that may be true, do not expect to always get along with them either. Some may be rebellious, or dislike you in general depending on what you do. "
Raiza's gaze shifted over to Nyx, only out of curiosity in the explanation he was given. Immediately, he thought of Chloe, that first 'summon' that acted like that. A free will per-say, but different. That wasn't exactly a summon, but something else entirely.
"You're curious of that feline human you once made. If these are like her? No, unlike her, you can banish anything back into the realm, and cage them if you so require. Yes, I was there for when she was made too, but even I don't understand that had gone on. However, I know there was another presence of magic. One I cannot explain. However from what I had gathered, she lost a lot of the power to gave her when she defied and left you, and as far as what I've gathered, she only wants to stay away from you. So you don't need to worry about the summons doing the same thing. Though, if they do not agree with you, they can refuse to work with you. I advise you to take that into consideration."
While the explanation went off topic for a slight bit, it gave Raiza insight on the creation of Chloe. Another's magical presence had been present? However, from what Raiza could remember, Yuuki wasn't the type to be able to influence such magic, nor was she potent enough to take control of his own. Meaning, the source had to be stronger than he is even now. Perhaps high within the reaches of the top ranks. Perhaps, SS or H-rank in the mage's book. Though that presence also wasn't around anymore, or Raiza would have detected it.
"Alright, then, Nyx what is next? I'm fairly certain as for right now, I've gotten the gest of the elemental changes, and form changes. What about property changes? I assume with new spells, some new changes to old spells may have taken place?"
Not even giving Nyx a chance to explain Raiza had immediately thought about his last summon he actually had. It was just a simple abyssal knight, nothing too drastic, however when it came down to pooling the mana for the spell, he instantly realized by now, the effort it took to raise forth an S-class spell was much easier. Before, he had to tap into two different spells and fuse them. This time, trying to pool that same energy was pointless, as his intentions were enough to raise from the shadows a knight figure(Appearance-Here)
A smile crept to Raiza's face, watching the immensely strong summon raise up. However instead of speaking, the creature seemed to stare at Raiza, as if sizing the caster up in many ways. Which, only after a few moments, did the creature's tower shield slam into the ground followed up by a quick thud from when the sword it held being slammed against it as if to taunt or to get prepared for a fight.
"You brought me to existence in here I assume? Well, my name is Aronbarra, and if you're going to be my summoner, you'll be proving your strength right here. So you have two options. Take a knee, and never summon me again, or draw your blade so we may spar."
While Raiza didn't feel intimidated, he did feel concerned a fight may break out already. A Spar tends to never end just there, and will indeed flesh out to a full on fight. The creature he summoned appeared undead, but as far as Raiza could sense, it was shadow magic, not death magic in the works here. Though, with the thought of a spar in mind, Raiza wrapped his right hand around his reckoning blade, fully prepared to spar.
"Alright, Aronbarra. My name is Raiza. Know it well, for I wont be summoning you if you're weak either. I've learned through the past, summons are not just tools. If you're going to be my ally, then I'll require your strength to be worth the mana I use to call you forth. You have the honors of going first. Strike me if you can"
Taunting was too low for Raiza, whom would steady his blade in front, as if to block any direct swings, however he fulled was prepared for a potential onslaught of attacks. The knight itself appeared fairly strong to the point that it made Raiza wish he had been able to access some of his more defensive magic right away if needed. Though one thing was for certain, if he did access magic, would it be considered cheating? No, the summon itself must have some way to fight magic, right? The armor and shield couldn't just be for show. So, lets test that, no? Which the first test would be happening soon.
Aronbarra had taken Raiza's words into considderation, kicking off the ground fast as an S-rank mage, which currently, during his training, Raiza was still slower than. Barely able to Raiza up his own blade just in time to feel the clash of metal push him back, almost enough to topple him over. The first strike felt like a train impacting a single point, as if he had summoned a giant force, compacted into a smaller body . Though Aronbarra wasn't the type of knight to just stop there, but to push forward using his shield as well to slam into Raiza's side, sending him off to the left. It looked so one sided right now, but Raiza, whom had now wiped the blood off of his lip from the impact would grin.
"heh, that actually hurt Aronbarra. Its been awhile since I felt physical pain. Having to turn off that ability just to see what kind of force you could deliver was needed. I look forward to the next cross of blades. "
Which actually, when Raiza spoke that, he had readied his blade once more, knowing this time he'd not allow such a strike or follow up to hit him. Instead, he was going to be the type to prove his power with this next strike. Though, what proceeded to happen next had even taken Raiza by surprise. For when he noticed Aronbarra lifting his blade up, and readying a defense, something else was different. The glow in Aronbarra's hollowed out, undead eyes seemed to be off from what it typically was. A strange purplish glow radiated like veins across the skeletal body. Which alone, looked odd, but at the same token, the creature felt even stronger than it once was. What was this? More so, the weapon seemed off, as if the enhanced power was growing even to the weapon.
"Meet Vlos'xor, another whom you brought forth when you put so much effort into calling upon me. Except Vlos'xor isn't whom you expected. It is a summon that well... you'll see for yourself now."
The voice sounded distant from the start, and only during the end did it start to change. Raiza immediately knew why. Aronbarra had given control of it's body to the creature known as Vlos'xor.
"Yes, I'm Vlos'xor, parasitic death. I assume you're well acquinted with the symbiotic relationships my kind can have? Thats how I was born after all! Now, lets see you survive the next attack hmmm?! Back to you Sir Aronbarra!"
It was so strange, listening to the second entity talk, but once they were finished, the body of Aronbarra was no longer glowing like before. Though the magical pressure they bolstered was one hell of a power. It was two summons working as one. With that, meant an enormously powerful strike was going to be used. The last hit was so train-wrecking from before, so how would this next one fare in terms of being blocked. Should Raiza go ethereal like he planned, or to phase through so he may take him out with ease? Perhaps, though when Raiza thought about it more, he did have one plan of action. He knew if he were to take a full strike from the summon's amplified attack then it would deal a large portion of his life force effortlessly. To be frank, such a strike made Raiza question if he should take that sort of attack. One thought was, what if he tried to focus his magic into a compressed version of the demon claw he had just learned. Which when doing so, Raiza had unintentionally just awoke another beast entirely. One that made Nyx look towards a distant part of the dark realm.
"Final bout between you three. Understand? Another just awoke."
Nodding in acceptance, both Raiza, and Aronbarra would dash forward, ending at each other's spot. However, when Raiza kept standing, this time with no flesh wound, he had turned around to see the fact, he successfully disarmed his summon, having blocked with his blade, then quickly used the compressed version of demon claw. A move Raiza would later call assassinate, just to compress so much energy into his palm, an then push the blade away, forcing it out of the summon's hand. All before turning ethereal, and quickly phasing through his own summon.
"Spar complete, Aronbarra? I trust my skill disarming you was satisfactory enough?"
A nod from Aronbarra would only imply that it was indeed satisfactory enough. At least for now. Which showed to be true when the creature began to walk away, fading into the darkness. Most likely, they were headed to a farther depths to their own domain within the realm. However, this wasnt the last encounter with a summon yet. In fact, Raiza's creation of the assassinate technique had awoken yet another summon by the name of...
"Nazuna, thats what you may call me Raiza. Disrespect me, and you'll find out how fast you better banish me away, and never return to this realm. Understand me?"
The sudden, yet soft voice reached Raiza's ears before he could even detect another being. This one however even made Nyx back up defensively. It's power was rivaling even higher than Aronbarra's. Perhaps twice as strong. This was no coicidence though, as it was the fusion spell of the newest spell assassinate, and the summoning of Aronbarra. Her existence was a fluke accident that Raiza immediately realized how potent this one was. Especially when he already had his guard broken, and bypassed. His sword was already pushed away, and a dagger to his throat. Had he not been prone to physical wounds such as bleeding out, then that was making him at Nazuna's mercy. However, this only made Raiza step forward, phasing through the knife, still receiving quite a painful blow. Enough to make him feel a gap of life force drop. Not something he'd ever want to try again with Nazuna. Especially in a prolonged fight.
"Understand this then. Demanding respect, is something that shouldn't ever be done. I'll respect those that deserve it. However I see no reason to disrespect an ally of mine such as you. You earned your right as such a high caliber summon, and you'll be treated as one."
A smile crossed Nazuna's lips as she transformed again, this time to a mirrored version of Nyx, just for the fun of it. "I'm born from not just your two spells, but I know what traits I took from your life and actions. Nyx was part of it, but also I was formed from the desire to kill that you still hold. The desire to destroy the magic council. I look forward to working with you. Just one thing.... don't summon me while the sun is out. It bothers the hell out of me"
With that one last thing, Nazuna was gone. Entirely, and no trace. As if darkness itself had faded into nothing. The potent power of that summon only began to show small traces of humor, but that same time, was still the ruthless killer she took traits from. Even so much as walking through her blade, had made Raiza realize exactly what could have happened had he summoned her and Vlos'xor as a unison. What sort of hell could have have brought forth would only spell out a devastating combo. Perhaps, such a thing though should be best asked before hand one day. Not everyone wants a symbiotic creature inside of them after all. Last thing Raiza would need or want is to waste mana on that combo, only to have to banish it before death happened on his own part.
"If my own summon made you put your guard up Nyx, then I can only begin to understand why you're recruiting my help. Though Nazuna did seem potent. I can only assume she is my strongest summon so far. Though I wonder where she obtained the respect trait. I hardly show it myself unless needed, and never really demand it. Maybe they all develop their own persona through random chance? Who knows."
As if on cue, Nyx sighed, looking up and away. Other potential creations were forming. The entire realm began to take form as Raiza had been becoming adapt with the demon slayer magic. More so though, the more Raiza had done such, the more Nyx began to fear even Raiza. The once unison between them began to become shaky. After all, this was a magic designed against the very demon he was. Demon slayer magic wasn't something that many just flashed. Same with god or dragon slayer.
"It is demon slayer magic. She herself, is a summon that is designed to kill me or my kind. Walks in the shadows to become them, in order to kill them. Silent, beautiful, and deadly. Qualities you've once ran into before. Though you asked the magic to not harm an individual out of respect, and thus she was born because of it. Careful Raiza, EVERY action you create, can ultimately cause a new summon to be formed. Even if most may end up from fusions. That is after all, how some of the most potent will form. The one you should worry about is not thinking logically. Never give into a lesser demon's instincts and try to act on rage or the alike. You'll regret such a decision quite fast. Now. I'm going to be teaching you a couple final spells. Once you've mastered or feel confident in them, then the rest of your spells will slowly come to you through your own training. Most are similar, but just revamps through elemental changes and changes in your power. After all, you've now ascended to become an S-class mage. Your power already shines as such, and you're logically ready. So, lets begin. Next spell is a forbidden spell known as the Hell Demon's Grimoir. It sacrifices your health to become power. Forbidden even among demons, because it tends to be the death of most, whom try to sacrifice too much, and end up being too weak to defend themselves afterwards. You've used a similar technique, but this time. You're forming tainted energy around the body and converting it to yourself. "
Fully understanding this, Raiza already had the general concept down long before today, after all, he once possessed a number of amplification spells, such as his abyssal ritual, or his blood conversion technique. All of which he as a mage prior to demon slayer, had known. Now, trying to perform this hell demon grimoir technique should be no different. However, that assumption was wrong the moment Raiza began to charge up the technique. The moment he did, a black book would appear in his free hand. Though even letting go did nothing, as the book would remain there, floating. In ancient text, red as blood would be a simple phrase
'Power to be given, the cost thy pays is life. Payment must be at least half,
but more is up to you.
This simple phrase, only made Raiza smirk. A mental thought crossed his mind. "Hell Demon forbidden art hmmm, it definitely is forbidden. It doesn't look forgiving at all, I must trade at least half my health huh? Welp, alright then, half for now it is." Which the moment Raiza actually did decide on paying half, he instantly felt a pain unlike any so far. The tainted energy swarming from the book and onto his skin. Typically when a spell hit him, it was buffered down from his resistances to magical energy, but this time it was a self inflicted one that cut right into his direct health. Though the moment is was all complete. Raiza saw Nyx already leaving.
"The book, while in this dark realm of yours contains spells only to you. Master them in your own time. When you wish to leave, then you but need to wish it. Good bye Raiza. This won't be the last time we see each other, however it will be the last training between us. I shall call upon you when the time is ripe. By the way. Time in here flows differently temporarily. When you leave it'll go back to normal, however for the sake of your training, a single day here will become a year"
What seemed like a joke at first, Raiza played it off. Scanning the book, and witnessing spell after spell appear. Variants of his own, and many left blank for him to design. Though flipping through the pages, he came across an S-tier spell that looked rather terrifying to pull off. One that made him question using it, but at that very likely hood that he may need it, he would end up actually using it for that sake. So that, when he did require it, he would at least have the knowledge of how it was performed. The only thing that threw him off was the incantation above the spell. This spell required a vocal incantation? Such a thing meant it was dangerous to pull off. Even looking at the various details he already knew defenses prior to use would be required to set it up. Though if anything, he was at least ready to start the process.
Staying steady as he held the book with one hand, while the other hand raised to the sky. Raiza began to fuel the spell to great lengths, and only after he had it fully charged did the spell require the incantation. Which was fairly clear by the instructions to only recite the incantation once the spell was charged, or it'd be fired off weaker, and earlier.
"Cleansing Darkness Rise again,
Bring forth death without contain,
Fill the land with holy Dread,
So that tears will be shed,
Witness Dark Oblivion!"
That was it, the spell was complete. The magical pressure around Raiza's body began to swell like a hot air balloon. Hastening the effects through the demonic grimoir only seemed to fuel the raw power. What at first was unimpressive as only a beam shot into the sky, it quickly expanded out to massive ranges, and remained as a pillar of darkness. Anything within quickly falling pray as Raiza was able to move freely from the spell with no trouble, as if walking in a new oblivion realm. Even the ground under him seemed unphased, only that which he wanted to destroy would be harmed. Even so much as taking out a single jewel just so that when ready to toggle the effect, it quickly caused even that to turn to nothing. It by all means, was a wide range, damaging ability that kept to the AoE power around him.
"Interesting, such a technique. Its so destructive, yet I feel fine, anything I desire to call an enemy will be demolished in this dark oblivion spell. How long is it supposed to last?" While obviously, Raiza had some assumptions of the duration of the spell. He still remained flipping through the griomoire before finding the cancelation chant which oddly enough wasn't verbal, but mental. Just a whisk of the will to end the spell, and it'd be over before it normally should. Which, shortly after, the spell did recede back into nothing. The surrounding area though? Nothing changed. Only what Raiza did want obliterated, would have actually been destroyed. Though, the real downside of this realm was that Raiza could not test that exact potential, seeing as for miles it seemed the entire realm still was this pitch black darkness that a normal person couldn't ever see through. Though he did know, many summons already lurked within these shadows, and far away buildings did exist.
Remaining here for a single day of the real world was nothing, as Raiza still had plans to learn his magic. It fairly quickly turned day to day in this realm. Wandering aimlessly through the darkness, training new spells as it came to him. Though over the course of the year he had spent within this dark realm, he got really close with all of his summons. Able to earn their respect, as the stronger he got, they learned his true potency. Even the warrior summon Aronbarra had learned exactly what Raiza's strength was. Nazuna eventually accepted Raiza's presence within the realm when they had began forging structures within the realm until it no longer seemed as barren, this was Raiza's realm of darkness. While the buildings never reached much more than what ended up to be a mostly empty city. It was still content for the summons that resided within. So, with magic finally having been re-learned, and Raiza being on his summon's good side, this was finally time to leave.
Which is what Raiza did. With a smile, and a simple turn of the back, he nodded in apprciation of what he learned not just from Nyx whom left awhile ago, but also his summons and the grimoir. Leaving was as simple as willing himself back into his own room. Behind him, a rip in space, a black portal began to close. The dark realm was there, but now closed. This time, Raiza even taking a few steps out from the realm felt different. The feeling of energy swarmed his body as white shadows began to creep from his own body. The grimoir's damage to him was still there, but more so, he still held a terrifying energy just from walking through the guild's corridors. It felt strange, why did it thought? He was only gone a single day to the real world. Though perhaps a year in any time frame is quite a lot. It made him grow, learn, and remember many things. Things he had to pick back up on were fairly simple to do such, and he would pass the new hair length off as just part of an experiment.
Though what took him by surprise the most, was how uncontrolled his own dark aura was within this realm. It almost felt as if every shadow, every pitch of darkness, every white or black surface was under his control. While he could barely understand the concept of elemental consumption, he had even tested it out just near by. A shadow was so simple to 'grab' for him. It wasn't like trying to grab something that wasn't there, but just willing it to exist, he could. Though he more or less preferred to simply inhale, or rather breath in. This simple action caused shadow particles to lift from the nearby darkness and into his mouth more freely. It felt.. different. Who knew shadows had different tastes depending on what they came from.
This strange concept actually made Raiza curious enough to go seek out further information. Though not through others or books, but rather through his own actions. If shadows were consumable. He knew death was also part of his magic. To be able to consume darkness, shadows, and death. They were all linked to his hell demon slayer magic. The only thing he had to be careful of now, was any demons that resided within savage skull would be potential victims if he let his holy shadows harm them. Which the moment he realized he cast a white shadow instead of a black one, this meant he had to be extra careful in controlling of his magic. Even a simple thought to turn it back to normal had worked, but he still felt his holy darkness radiate around him. While this was an annoyance to try and control, he still felt it was more necessary to actually leave the guild hall to relieve some of the magical energy build up within his body from consuming the extra shadows after leaving the realm. Which, good thing he did end up doing such, as he was near able to enter demon force. A part of the magic he had not yet experienced, and for good reason at that too.
"So it seems my normal magical energy can surpass a limit, but slowly dwindles away with time or with use. Interesting, but... I think I'll stick to this method. Hell demon art: Shadow bolt"
Simply speaking the words was enough, though he didn't need to vocalize his spell. Either way, the result was what he intended. Bolt after bolt of darkness flew from his hand like arrows raining from a squad of bowmen. Quickly relieving his own mana down to normal. However, the bolts were only aimed towards the air, quickly vanishing once they reached the pinnacle of their reach. Perhaps that was just his last test, or a beginning of a trial he had no idea was going to be happening. Though what happened next was just a showboat of his new found power.
First, a dark swarm began to spawn from his shadow, and the surrounding darkness, spreading out and into the sky while the sun became eclipsed to the point the dark swarm only grew wider. The entire area becoming blackened with shadow magic until everything grew silent, and had ended up vanishing entirely along with Raiza, whom had already returned, fully satisfied with the use of his magic in this realm after all of his training.
words reached 7060
Do you understand the pain of being burned alive? Some have experienced this through combat, while others had experienced it through such a horrifying level it caused their life to flash before their eyes. When it came to Raiza's turn, it was a different kind of level. See, this pain was accepted willingly, as part of a change he was to go through. This change was his magical power, and the burning was a holy darkness flooding throughout his body like a raging stream of water crashing out of every magical pour of his body. Though, how did Raiza get into this predicament would be the real question.
The answer is simple, but it all started one late evening in the savage's guild hall...
The bar room was bustling full of many, a few telling stories of their grand thieving adventures, others telling stories of murders, and a couple even playing some poker games with their chums. For all of what Savage Skull was, it was still a guild after all, and just because it had blood thirsty murderers and thieves among it's ranks, didn't mean they were incapable of being civil once and awhile. Then again, with how well the guild had been doing under the new leadership of Marceline, it was no wonder or mystery as to why the guild was so lively and energetic. Crimes had even began to sprout up by the dozens across fiore with more than a couple sightings of the savage's guild mark. A mark that once inflicted terror to the nation, and now is on the rise to do the same once again.
Though off in a more silent part of the bar room, Raiza would be found slouched in a chair, and with his feet on a nearby foot table quietly flipping and poking at the screen of his I-lac phone. The sounds of a game could be heard, but it wasn't clear as to what exactly it was right away till someone spoke up.
"So, Raiza you seem focused, whats up?" Speaking to Raiza, was a thinner, and much shorter male with black hair. The male himself knowing not to invade Raiza's space, simply tried to work his way around without getting too close.
"Its a game, called The Idle RPG." Hoping to leave it at that, Raiza went back to poking at the mobile screen.
"kay, so whats it about?" Clearly, the male took no sign of a hint to get away, or not to bother Raiza, but yet, he was a guild member, and no harm would come his way, instead, Raiza decided to finally reply after making the man wait a couple impatient minutes.
"Its a game where it takes the grind out of an R P G game, every five seconds you generate a specific amount of exp for yourself, gold for you to use, and champion essence for you to use on your characters. This is based on the floor of the campaign you're currently on, which while it takes the grind out for you, it doesn't take out the strategy. You still must build a team, with two front line, and four backline of characters called Champions. These champions range in power from rarity, and level. The typical classes also exist which are hunter, mage, assassin, warrior and so forth. Build and raise up a team, and fight the ai. Good enough explanation I hope? Can I get back to it now?"
It was more than clear, Raiza wasn't in the mood for questions, and even after that, he had actually sensed a strange power. One that made him pocket the phone only to warp away, not to run, but to track down. This power was something he felt before, but where?
The question would go without an answer for awhile as the source of energy Raiza was tracking led him into a room he called his own. While odd, seeing as Raiza didn't keep anything of value in that room, he did still question why the source vanished here. Was it a trap? a lure perhaps? It kept Raiza on guard, as his blade was now drawn. If he were to attack anything or at any time now, the entire guildhall would be alerted. As an Ace, now he had to act patiently, slowly trying to sense out the source as to where it went.
"Now"
A voice, coming from almost everywhere, but also no where at the same time had reached Raiza's ears, only to make him swing around, his blade still drawn, and the tip of the blade inches from the closed door. Where was the intruder? At this point, Raiza already put into perspective this intruder was high class in stealth and anti-sensory. After all, he himself had an advanced sensory technique and it was completely useless here. Even sight through his eyes was not working or listening through his ears. It was as if there were so little opportunities to locate the intruder that Raiza would be forced on the defensive right away.
"Don't be like that. I've come to talk"
At that exact moment, it was as if sound began to cease existing. The sounds of the guild went mute, the rattling of trees from the outside no longer heard, even as Raiza took a step forward, he barely heard anything.
"But first, you need to wake up"
Yes, wake up... Wait, wake up? Wake up from what? Raiza hadn't required sleep in a long time, was this a dream? It felt all too real, but why? The more Raiza questioned it, the darker the room got until it was pitch black, the only sound he heard was the whispering words 'wake up' until it got so loud it sounded as if it was in his ears.
"Raiza get up"
Finally, Raiza opened his eyes to reveal he had indeed fallen to sleep. No, maybe not fallen to sleep but had passed out? Yes, thats right, he had came to his room, and that dream was not just a dream, it was a recollection. He was talking to a demon he once knew. He had accepted a deal. The deal to accept demon slayer magic into his own, at the cost he was to go eliminate a specific demon later down the road. Simple enough, but why was the memory so foggy?
"Good, you're up, now grab my hand"
No longer as dazed, Raiza pushed himself off the ground. "How long?" he questioned, not even remotely concerned as to why he was supposed to grab the demon's hand, which after close observation it appeared the demon had taken quite a liking to be a shadow version of the old Raiza, roughly 10 years ago back in his teens.
"you were out for only two days, but your guild master sent word to you, you're to watch the guild while she goes to a guild master meeting. We can't travel far for your training because of this, but no matter. They don't call it the void of shadows for nothing. We'll be here, but we wont. So lets go. I need to show you how to channel this new magic without killing yourself. Once that is done, we can return."
It seemed the demon knew Raiza much more than was being let on, but that was to be expected by the demon that once gave him demonic power similar to Cain, back when he was still starting out in the world of mercenaries and fighting. It was because Raiza knew this was why he made that deal, and why he grabbed the demon's hand only to be whisked away to what felt like an empty void. The surrounding area looked normal, a field that outstretched for miles and miles, but the sky was pitch black, yet light existed even in the void of shadows. Such an odd dimension it was, but it mattered little those details. What mattered now was the lack of well... everything. The void of shadows was so barren that when Raiza began to look around, his magic instinctively flared up to push his sensory further.
"You wont detect a single thing here. Well, not hostile anyways. Your old summons still need time to take form, and some will only ever be accessed if you fuse two spells together to create a certain link to the summon. Since my power is fairly low after awakening the demon slayer magic, you'll have to follow my instructions, and try to work with them if they appear. This is your realm after all Raiza, it is tied to your magic alone. Every summon you have resides within this realm, or a close realm to it. Your summons may manifest over time, but don't count on it, especially the ones that require fusion to even bring to the normal realm"
A soft nod of his head signaled he understood, but at that same moment, he still felt something, whom ever it was would be quite the stealthy summon, they remained quiet, and within the deeper parts. Were they waiting? "What first then?" Trying to gain a grasp towards the goal of this training was the start of it all.
"By the way, consider this your S-class exam, because if you can survive, you'll have access to such spells. The first Spell I want you to work on is a much lower ranking spell, and fairly easy to control. Its called Demon Claw. To be exact, it is the Hell Demon's claw. A technique of mine, and other dark demons. This specializes in close combat simply by gathering mana into your hand, and forming a claw. Fairly simple right? Well this may be harder for you now that it is your first time using holy magic, as well as shadow magic. After you can get it to solidify into a shape, we'll work on projection, and from there a few other spells. I'm only going to teach you and guide you a few spells, remastering your own spells that have been changed should be nothing to you, but learning these new ones, and focusing new elements is where I'll be here"
Though, even though it was only C-class in strength, Raiza did find difficulty using the spell. It wasn't just that spell, it was anything to deal with his magic. The more he tried to only focus on pulling his magic around, he felt it resist him. This was a new magic even though it was his own. He knew he had access to spells that were not new, but yet those spells were now infused with demon slayer magic, and thus were different in element, and as an end result, harder to cast because of such. At first, pure black energy began to engulf Raiza's hand in a shadow claw, however it looked brittle, weak and unstable. Even adding the death element only did so much. It was like adding the core to a blade without adding the refinement of the handle. He hadn't ever used holy magic yet, so this was harder than anticipated. Though, even such a spell took no time after about ten minutes of focus, he had formed a claw.
"Demon slayer magic, as you've discovered uses holy magic, that was why it was so hard for you. You didn't realize what that missing element was, and now your body knows what it feels like. Further spells should be easier, but until you know how the elements co-exist, you'll end up with results like you did just now. True, you made the spell, but it is trash, its a C-class spell, but the quality of that of which you just made is less than D-class. maybe even less than a fourth. "
"I know what I'm doing, but i'm taking precautionary steps to see if it hurts me, or how I can further enhance the spell later down the road. If I wanted to, I'd use one of my rituals right now to force it to be extremely stronger. If anything what is throwing me off is the fact I know its supposedly tied with the darkness element but there is something..." It was almost as if Raiza could not understand the element at first, or perhaps he was just not realizing his old magic was still quite there. Death element was still part of the magic just as much as darkness and shadow were. However the more he pondered, the less confused he began to look.
"Indeed, it is there" Finally the demon responded to an un-asked question.
"So I'm not imagining it. The magic I'm using is still my own, but it is as if fused." This time, Raiza held his hand up and let a white aura surround it. The holy darkness, or other-words white shadows began to envelop his right hand until it formed a full claw. It was within no time did Raiza actually reform the spell until it looked as thin as a glove, yet as razor sharp as his blade. Once he had gotten the general elemental structure down, and had been able to mold the newer elements, including the holy variations it had become much more ready to learn the other techniques, and at the very least, begin some real training.
"The next technique you will be learning is the Hell Demon's howl. You've seen the dragon roars in the past, I assume? It is quite similiar, but that of a demon, rather than a dragon. Except this time, its going to have holy power in it, since this is demon slayer magic after all.
Nodding his head in response to the words the shadow had spoken, two things finally came to mind. One, what should Raiza call the shadow doppelganger of himself, and two, while he had seen the roars in the past, he didn't have too much knowledge in performing similar magic to it, so the question was, how?
"Sure, just I guess explain how, also, what should I call you?"
While it was an odd question to bring up now, after so long into their meeting, Raiza at least thought it to be a good idea to gain some sort of formality in the meeting. At least, doing such might lift some of the tension in the air that Raiza was feeling. Also, he had no clue how to perform such techniques, but had a general idea of how it should look or feel. Which is why, when no response was given to him right away, instead Raiza looked away from the demonic figure only to inhale as if trying to swallow something. Which to his surprise, it seemed to actually work. Darkness around him began to move towards his mouth but when he tried to exhale, it did nothing.
"You actually have to push the magic through your throat for it to work. Also, as for a name. Call me Nyx for now."
Shrugging at the response he was given, Raiza quickly retraced his steps by inhaling once more, but this time building up the energy into his throat before opening his mouth and pushing the holy dark energy from the depths of his stomach, up through his throat, and out his mouth. Which would end up in a large, collision of dark holy energy that ended up ripping through a large portion of the special dimension's dark concrete area, slowly revealing what they were standing on, and colorizing it into a new greyscale. Signaling Raiza had already learned more of the demon slayer magic.
"Right, as you see Raiza. The more you learn of the demon slayer magic, the more this realm changes. It'll quickly grow into that of a realm that flourishes with the dark energy. It sustains itself from your knowledge, and experiences both past and present. See, you now dictate what can come from this realm by your actions. This wont be too particularly influencing till you acquire your summons. Once they start to appear you must be careful. You'll have unknowingly created them, and house them here. Their personality will be because of you, and you alone. So, while that may be true, do not expect to always get along with them either. Some may be rebellious, or dislike you in general depending on what you do. "
Raiza's gaze shifted over to Nyx, only out of curiosity in the explanation he was given. Immediately, he thought of Chloe, that first 'summon' that acted like that. A free will per-say, but different. That wasn't exactly a summon, but something else entirely.
"You're curious of that feline human you once made. If these are like her? No, unlike her, you can banish anything back into the realm, and cage them if you so require. Yes, I was there for when she was made too, but even I don't understand that had gone on. However, I know there was another presence of magic. One I cannot explain. However from what I had gathered, she lost a lot of the power to gave her when she defied and left you, and as far as what I've gathered, she only wants to stay away from you. So you don't need to worry about the summons doing the same thing. Though, if they do not agree with you, they can refuse to work with you. I advise you to take that into consideration."
While the explanation went off topic for a slight bit, it gave Raiza insight on the creation of Chloe. Another's magical presence had been present? However, from what Raiza could remember, Yuuki wasn't the type to be able to influence such magic, nor was she potent enough to take control of his own. Meaning, the source had to be stronger than he is even now. Perhaps high within the reaches of the top ranks. Perhaps, SS or H-rank in the mage's book. Though that presence also wasn't around anymore, or Raiza would have detected it.
"Alright, then, Nyx what is next? I'm fairly certain as for right now, I've gotten the gest of the elemental changes, and form changes. What about property changes? I assume with new spells, some new changes to old spells may have taken place?"
Not even giving Nyx a chance to explain Raiza had immediately thought about his last summon he actually had. It was just a simple abyssal knight, nothing too drastic, however when it came down to pooling the mana for the spell, he instantly realized by now, the effort it took to raise forth an S-class spell was much easier. Before, he had to tap into two different spells and fuse them. This time, trying to pool that same energy was pointless, as his intentions were enough to raise from the shadows a knight figure(Appearance-Here)
A smile crept to Raiza's face, watching the immensely strong summon raise up. However instead of speaking, the creature seemed to stare at Raiza, as if sizing the caster up in many ways. Which, only after a few moments, did the creature's tower shield slam into the ground followed up by a quick thud from when the sword it held being slammed against it as if to taunt or to get prepared for a fight.
"You brought me to existence in here I assume? Well, my name is Aronbarra, and if you're going to be my summoner, you'll be proving your strength right here. So you have two options. Take a knee, and never summon me again, or draw your blade so we may spar."
While Raiza didn't feel intimidated, he did feel concerned a fight may break out already. A Spar tends to never end just there, and will indeed flesh out to a full on fight. The creature he summoned appeared undead, but as far as Raiza could sense, it was shadow magic, not death magic in the works here. Though, with the thought of a spar in mind, Raiza wrapped his right hand around his reckoning blade, fully prepared to spar.
"Alright, Aronbarra. My name is Raiza. Know it well, for I wont be summoning you if you're weak either. I've learned through the past, summons are not just tools. If you're going to be my ally, then I'll require your strength to be worth the mana I use to call you forth. You have the honors of going first. Strike me if you can"
Taunting was too low for Raiza, whom would steady his blade in front, as if to block any direct swings, however he fulled was prepared for a potential onslaught of attacks. The knight itself appeared fairly strong to the point that it made Raiza wish he had been able to access some of his more defensive magic right away if needed. Though one thing was for certain, if he did access magic, would it be considered cheating? No, the summon itself must have some way to fight magic, right? The armor and shield couldn't just be for show. So, lets test that, no? Which the first test would be happening soon.
Aronbarra had taken Raiza's words into considderation, kicking off the ground fast as an S-rank mage, which currently, during his training, Raiza was still slower than. Barely able to Raiza up his own blade just in time to feel the clash of metal push him back, almost enough to topple him over. The first strike felt like a train impacting a single point, as if he had summoned a giant force, compacted into a smaller body . Though Aronbarra wasn't the type of knight to just stop there, but to push forward using his shield as well to slam into Raiza's side, sending him off to the left. It looked so one sided right now, but Raiza, whom had now wiped the blood off of his lip from the impact would grin.
"heh, that actually hurt Aronbarra. Its been awhile since I felt physical pain. Having to turn off that ability just to see what kind of force you could deliver was needed. I look forward to the next cross of blades. "
Which actually, when Raiza spoke that, he had readied his blade once more, knowing this time he'd not allow such a strike or follow up to hit him. Instead, he was going to be the type to prove his power with this next strike. Though, what proceeded to happen next had even taken Raiza by surprise. For when he noticed Aronbarra lifting his blade up, and readying a defense, something else was different. The glow in Aronbarra's hollowed out, undead eyes seemed to be off from what it typically was. A strange purplish glow radiated like veins across the skeletal body. Which alone, looked odd, but at the same token, the creature felt even stronger than it once was. What was this? More so, the weapon seemed off, as if the enhanced power was growing even to the weapon.
"Meet Vlos'xor, another whom you brought forth when you put so much effort into calling upon me. Except Vlos'xor isn't whom you expected. It is a summon that well... you'll see for yourself now."
The voice sounded distant from the start, and only during the end did it start to change. Raiza immediately knew why. Aronbarra had given control of it's body to the creature known as Vlos'xor.
"Yes, I'm Vlos'xor, parasitic death. I assume you're well acquinted with the symbiotic relationships my kind can have? Thats how I was born after all! Now, lets see you survive the next attack hmmm?! Back to you Sir Aronbarra!"
It was so strange, listening to the second entity talk, but once they were finished, the body of Aronbarra was no longer glowing like before. Though the magical pressure they bolstered was one hell of a power. It was two summons working as one. With that, meant an enormously powerful strike was going to be used. The last hit was so train-wrecking from before, so how would this next one fare in terms of being blocked. Should Raiza go ethereal like he planned, or to phase through so he may take him out with ease? Perhaps, though when Raiza thought about it more, he did have one plan of action. He knew if he were to take a full strike from the summon's amplified attack then it would deal a large portion of his life force effortlessly. To be frank, such a strike made Raiza question if he should take that sort of attack. One thought was, what if he tried to focus his magic into a compressed version of the demon claw he had just learned. Which when doing so, Raiza had unintentionally just awoke another beast entirely. One that made Nyx look towards a distant part of the dark realm.
"Final bout between you three. Understand? Another just awoke."
Nodding in acceptance, both Raiza, and Aronbarra would dash forward, ending at each other's spot. However, when Raiza kept standing, this time with no flesh wound, he had turned around to see the fact, he successfully disarmed his summon, having blocked with his blade, then quickly used the compressed version of demon claw. A move Raiza would later call assassinate, just to compress so much energy into his palm, an then push the blade away, forcing it out of the summon's hand. All before turning ethereal, and quickly phasing through his own summon.
"Spar complete, Aronbarra? I trust my skill disarming you was satisfactory enough?"
A nod from Aronbarra would only imply that it was indeed satisfactory enough. At least for now. Which showed to be true when the creature began to walk away, fading into the darkness. Most likely, they were headed to a farther depths to their own domain within the realm. However, this wasnt the last encounter with a summon yet. In fact, Raiza's creation of the assassinate technique had awoken yet another summon by the name of...
"Nazuna, thats what you may call me Raiza. Disrespect me, and you'll find out how fast you better banish me away, and never return to this realm. Understand me?"
The sudden, yet soft voice reached Raiza's ears before he could even detect another being. This one however even made Nyx back up defensively. It's power was rivaling even higher than Aronbarra's. Perhaps twice as strong. This was no coicidence though, as it was the fusion spell of the newest spell assassinate, and the summoning of Aronbarra. Her existence was a fluke accident that Raiza immediately realized how potent this one was. Especially when he already had his guard broken, and bypassed. His sword was already pushed away, and a dagger to his throat. Had he not been prone to physical wounds such as bleeding out, then that was making him at Nazuna's mercy. However, this only made Raiza step forward, phasing through the knife, still receiving quite a painful blow. Enough to make him feel a gap of life force drop. Not something he'd ever want to try again with Nazuna. Especially in a prolonged fight.
"Understand this then. Demanding respect, is something that shouldn't ever be done. I'll respect those that deserve it. However I see no reason to disrespect an ally of mine such as you. You earned your right as such a high caliber summon, and you'll be treated as one."
A smile crossed Nazuna's lips as she transformed again, this time to a mirrored version of Nyx, just for the fun of it. "I'm born from not just your two spells, but I know what traits I took from your life and actions. Nyx was part of it, but also I was formed from the desire to kill that you still hold. The desire to destroy the magic council. I look forward to working with you. Just one thing.... don't summon me while the sun is out. It bothers the hell out of me"
With that one last thing, Nazuna was gone. Entirely, and no trace. As if darkness itself had faded into nothing. The potent power of that summon only began to show small traces of humor, but that same time, was still the ruthless killer she took traits from. Even so much as walking through her blade, had made Raiza realize exactly what could have happened had he summoned her and Vlos'xor as a unison. What sort of hell could have have brought forth would only spell out a devastating combo. Perhaps, such a thing though should be best asked before hand one day. Not everyone wants a symbiotic creature inside of them after all. Last thing Raiza would need or want is to waste mana on that combo, only to have to banish it before death happened on his own part.
"If my own summon made you put your guard up Nyx, then I can only begin to understand why you're recruiting my help. Though Nazuna did seem potent. I can only assume she is my strongest summon so far. Though I wonder where she obtained the respect trait. I hardly show it myself unless needed, and never really demand it. Maybe they all develop their own persona through random chance? Who knows."
As if on cue, Nyx sighed, looking up and away. Other potential creations were forming. The entire realm began to take form as Raiza had been becoming adapt with the demon slayer magic. More so though, the more Raiza had done such, the more Nyx began to fear even Raiza. The once unison between them began to become shaky. After all, this was a magic designed against the very demon he was. Demon slayer magic wasn't something that many just flashed. Same with god or dragon slayer.
"It is demon slayer magic. She herself, is a summon that is designed to kill me or my kind. Walks in the shadows to become them, in order to kill them. Silent, beautiful, and deadly. Qualities you've once ran into before. Though you asked the magic to not harm an individual out of respect, and thus she was born because of it. Careful Raiza, EVERY action you create, can ultimately cause a new summon to be formed. Even if most may end up from fusions. That is after all, how some of the most potent will form. The one you should worry about is not thinking logically. Never give into a lesser demon's instincts and try to act on rage or the alike. You'll regret such a decision quite fast. Now. I'm going to be teaching you a couple final spells. Once you've mastered or feel confident in them, then the rest of your spells will slowly come to you through your own training. Most are similar, but just revamps through elemental changes and changes in your power. After all, you've now ascended to become an S-class mage. Your power already shines as such, and you're logically ready. So, lets begin. Next spell is a forbidden spell known as the Hell Demon's Grimoir. It sacrifices your health to become power. Forbidden even among demons, because it tends to be the death of most, whom try to sacrifice too much, and end up being too weak to defend themselves afterwards. You've used a similar technique, but this time. You're forming tainted energy around the body and converting it to yourself. "
Fully understanding this, Raiza already had the general concept down long before today, after all, he once possessed a number of amplification spells, such as his abyssal ritual, or his blood conversion technique. All of which he as a mage prior to demon slayer, had known. Now, trying to perform this hell demon grimoir technique should be no different. However, that assumption was wrong the moment Raiza began to charge up the technique. The moment he did, a black book would appear in his free hand. Though even letting go did nothing, as the book would remain there, floating. In ancient text, red as blood would be a simple phrase
'Power to be given, the cost thy pays is life. Payment must be at least half,
but more is up to you.
This simple phrase, only made Raiza smirk. A mental thought crossed his mind. "Hell Demon forbidden art hmmm, it definitely is forbidden. It doesn't look forgiving at all, I must trade at least half my health huh? Welp, alright then, half for now it is." Which the moment Raiza actually did decide on paying half, he instantly felt a pain unlike any so far. The tainted energy swarming from the book and onto his skin. Typically when a spell hit him, it was buffered down from his resistances to magical energy, but this time it was a self inflicted one that cut right into his direct health. Though the moment is was all complete. Raiza saw Nyx already leaving.
"The book, while in this dark realm of yours contains spells only to you. Master them in your own time. When you wish to leave, then you but need to wish it. Good bye Raiza. This won't be the last time we see each other, however it will be the last training between us. I shall call upon you when the time is ripe. By the way. Time in here flows differently temporarily. When you leave it'll go back to normal, however for the sake of your training, a single day here will become a year"
What seemed like a joke at first, Raiza played it off. Scanning the book, and witnessing spell after spell appear. Variants of his own, and many left blank for him to design. Though flipping through the pages, he came across an S-tier spell that looked rather terrifying to pull off. One that made him question using it, but at that very likely hood that he may need it, he would end up actually using it for that sake. So that, when he did require it, he would at least have the knowledge of how it was performed. The only thing that threw him off was the incantation above the spell. This spell required a vocal incantation? Such a thing meant it was dangerous to pull off. Even looking at the various details he already knew defenses prior to use would be required to set it up. Though if anything, he was at least ready to start the process.
Staying steady as he held the book with one hand, while the other hand raised to the sky. Raiza began to fuel the spell to great lengths, and only after he had it fully charged did the spell require the incantation. Which was fairly clear by the instructions to only recite the incantation once the spell was charged, or it'd be fired off weaker, and earlier.
"Cleansing Darkness Rise again,
Bring forth death without contain,
Fill the land with holy Dread,
So that tears will be shed,
Witness Dark Oblivion!"
That was it, the spell was complete. The magical pressure around Raiza's body began to swell like a hot air balloon. Hastening the effects through the demonic grimoir only seemed to fuel the raw power. What at first was unimpressive as only a beam shot into the sky, it quickly expanded out to massive ranges, and remained as a pillar of darkness. Anything within quickly falling pray as Raiza was able to move freely from the spell with no trouble, as if walking in a new oblivion realm. Even the ground under him seemed unphased, only that which he wanted to destroy would be harmed. Even so much as taking out a single jewel just so that when ready to toggle the effect, it quickly caused even that to turn to nothing. It by all means, was a wide range, damaging ability that kept to the AoE power around him.
"Interesting, such a technique. Its so destructive, yet I feel fine, anything I desire to call an enemy will be demolished in this dark oblivion spell. How long is it supposed to last?" While obviously, Raiza had some assumptions of the duration of the spell. He still remained flipping through the griomoire before finding the cancelation chant which oddly enough wasn't verbal, but mental. Just a whisk of the will to end the spell, and it'd be over before it normally should. Which, shortly after, the spell did recede back into nothing. The surrounding area though? Nothing changed. Only what Raiza did want obliterated, would have actually been destroyed. Though, the real downside of this realm was that Raiza could not test that exact potential, seeing as for miles it seemed the entire realm still was this pitch black darkness that a normal person couldn't ever see through. Though he did know, many summons already lurked within these shadows, and far away buildings did exist.
Remaining here for a single day of the real world was nothing, as Raiza still had plans to learn his magic. It fairly quickly turned day to day in this realm. Wandering aimlessly through the darkness, training new spells as it came to him. Though over the course of the year he had spent within this dark realm, he got really close with all of his summons. Able to earn their respect, as the stronger he got, they learned his true potency. Even the warrior summon Aronbarra had learned exactly what Raiza's strength was. Nazuna eventually accepted Raiza's presence within the realm when they had began forging structures within the realm until it no longer seemed as barren, this was Raiza's realm of darkness. While the buildings never reached much more than what ended up to be a mostly empty city. It was still content for the summons that resided within. So, with magic finally having been re-learned, and Raiza being on his summon's good side, this was finally time to leave.
Which is what Raiza did. With a smile, and a simple turn of the back, he nodded in apprciation of what he learned not just from Nyx whom left awhile ago, but also his summons and the grimoir. Leaving was as simple as willing himself back into his own room. Behind him, a rip in space, a black portal began to close. The dark realm was there, but now closed. This time, Raiza even taking a few steps out from the realm felt different. The feeling of energy swarmed his body as white shadows began to creep from his own body. The grimoir's damage to him was still there, but more so, he still held a terrifying energy just from walking through the guild's corridors. It felt strange, why did it thought? He was only gone a single day to the real world. Though perhaps a year in any time frame is quite a lot. It made him grow, learn, and remember many things. Things he had to pick back up on were fairly simple to do such, and he would pass the new hair length off as just part of an experiment.
Though what took him by surprise the most, was how uncontrolled his own dark aura was within this realm. It almost felt as if every shadow, every pitch of darkness, every white or black surface was under his control. While he could barely understand the concept of elemental consumption, he had even tested it out just near by. A shadow was so simple to 'grab' for him. It wasn't like trying to grab something that wasn't there, but just willing it to exist, he could. Though he more or less preferred to simply inhale, or rather breath in. This simple action caused shadow particles to lift from the nearby darkness and into his mouth more freely. It felt.. different. Who knew shadows had different tastes depending on what they came from.
This strange concept actually made Raiza curious enough to go seek out further information. Though not through others or books, but rather through his own actions. If shadows were consumable. He knew death was also part of his magic. To be able to consume darkness, shadows, and death. They were all linked to his hell demon slayer magic. The only thing he had to be careful of now, was any demons that resided within savage skull would be potential victims if he let his holy shadows harm them. Which the moment he realized he cast a white shadow instead of a black one, this meant he had to be extra careful in controlling of his magic. Even a simple thought to turn it back to normal had worked, but he still felt his holy darkness radiate around him. While this was an annoyance to try and control, he still felt it was more necessary to actually leave the guild hall to relieve some of the magical energy build up within his body from consuming the extra shadows after leaving the realm. Which, good thing he did end up doing such, as he was near able to enter demon force. A part of the magic he had not yet experienced, and for good reason at that too.
"So it seems my normal magical energy can surpass a limit, but slowly dwindles away with time or with use. Interesting, but... I think I'll stick to this method. Hell demon art: Shadow bolt"
Simply speaking the words was enough, though he didn't need to vocalize his spell. Either way, the result was what he intended. Bolt after bolt of darkness flew from his hand like arrows raining from a squad of bowmen. Quickly relieving his own mana down to normal. However, the bolts were only aimed towards the air, quickly vanishing once they reached the pinnacle of their reach. Perhaps that was just his last test, or a beginning of a trial he had no idea was going to be happening. Though what happened next was just a showboat of his new found power.
First, a dark swarm began to spawn from his shadow, and the surrounding darkness, spreading out and into the sky while the sun became eclipsed to the point the dark swarm only grew wider. The entire area becoming blackened with shadow magic until everything grew silent, and had ended up vanishing entirely along with Raiza, whom had already returned, fully satisfied with the use of his magic in this realm after all of his training.
