"Why are you so calm?! Aren't you going to do anything? A demon is coming for you in a week! Don't you need to prepare? Don't you need to do something?" Chloe was pacing around my room, muttering. The news that my name had been called a second time was clearly eating at her.

  "Chloe, I appreciate you worrying about me, but there's no need."

  "No need? You've been sitting in that meditation pose all day doing absolutely nothing!"

  "Chloe," I said, still calm but a touch firmer. "I expected this would happen. And this time I didn't have a week to prepare — I had a full year."

  "What?" The girl stumbled mid-step and nearly tripped over her own feet. "But when? How? They tore down that warehouse!"

  "They tore it down, so I found another place. It's farther out, but that's actually better."

  Her eyes went wide.

  "And more importantly — why didn't you tell me?! I thought we were friends!"

  "I didn't tell you because I knew you'd invite yourself along and get in the way," I sighed. Moments like these made me wonder which Chloe I preferred: the old one or the new one. The one who teased me, or the one who stuck her nose in everything. At least she could keep a secret. That much I'd give her.

  "Of course I would! And I can help, you know!"

  "I don't doubt it for a second."

  "Are you going to show me your new hideout today?"

  "I think it'd be better if you stayed out of this," I shook my head.

  "Like hell I will! I'm not letting my friend fight a demon alone," Chloe declared.

  I let out a tired sigh, shook my head, and went back to meditating. It didn't have the same effect as before, but I didn't neglect it. It cleared the clutter from my mind and let me think through the situation properly.

  I had another week, but this time I was leagues better prepared. There was genuinely no need to rush. Everything was ready. Just a few finishing touches left on the overall plan.

  Chloe tagged along, and I didn't even try to stop her. Why? Strangely enough, I sometimes wanted to share what was inside me — what I'd been through, who I really was. Chloe hadn't betrayed me. She'd proven she could be trusted. And eventually, over time, I'd told her about the two centuries in hell. No graphic details, obviously. A nine-year-old wasn't ready for that kind of revelation. What mattered was the simple fact that I had someone I could be honest with. Someone I could be... myself around, instead of the person I pretended to be most of the time.

  That's why I wanted to show her what I'd built, even if she couldn't fully appreciate the brilliance of it.

  The journey was long and hard, deep into the forest. Thanks to my daily training and the fact that I'd previously formed a focus, I was well beyond the physical capabilities of a normal kid my age. The trek was much easier for me than for Chloe. But credit to the girl — she didn't complain once, even when she was practically falling over by the end.

  "This way," I said, pointing at a narrow crevice between the roots of a centuries-old tree.

  "In there?!"

  "Yes. I hope you'll fit." Without waiting for an answer, I grinned and slipped inside. An adult would never get through, but for me it was nothing. Chloe hesitated outside for a couple of minutes, then followed.

  By the time she climbed down, I'd already walked deeper into the cave and lit a lamp.

  "Welcome to my humble demonic lair," I couldn't resist the joke. Although... looking at the surroundings, it didn't really feel like a joke. Every wall was covered in magical inscriptions in the demonic tongue. Several circles were drawn on the floor. If my mother saw this, she'd have a heart attack. A genuine cultist's hideout. But what could I do — I had to fight the enemy with his own weapons.

  "Whoa!" Chloe gasped, looking around the cave. "How did you find this place?!"

  "By accident," I shrugged. "Back when I still had my meridians, I was looking for a meditation spot. Gathering energy in town wasn't an option — there are enough first-stage practitioners around, plus stronger ones passing through on their way to the capital. So I was looking for a secluded spot with spiral energy, and stumbled on this weak nexus."

  "There's a... a nexus here?! Really?!"

  "Yeah. And if you meditate here regularly, you've got a decent shot at forming your own focus before too long."

  Chloe was nine. With a year of consistent practice, she could probably create a focus. With my guidance, even faster — but I hadn't decided yet whether to help. My teacher had always said mentoring carried enormous responsibility. One careless word or action could knock a student off their path. Push too hard, load them with more than they can handle, and you risk causing energy deviation in the body — when the level of energy exceeds their level of control. Better not to rush. Let things run their natural course.

  "But these inscriptions look terrifying... Is that..."

  "Blood," I nodded. "Don't worry, not human. I hunted animals, set traps."

  "I see..."

  Still, the inscriptions fascinated her. She wandered from one diagram to the next, studying each one carefully.

  "What exactly do they say?"

  "This circle here, plus those two over there — they contain demonic energy within the overall construct," I replied, but could tell she didn't quite follow. "Think of it as camouflage. Whatever happens in here, the signal artifacts in town won't detect it. And the inner ones... let's just say they'll come in handy later."

  The cave wasn't very large — maybe fifty of my paces long and twenty wide. Elongated, but not straight — slightly curved. In the months I'd been using it, I'd set it up nicely: a meditation zone, even a sleeping cot for overnights. A workspace too, though I'd been having trouble buying paper and ink. My parents didn't trust me with money and preferred to buy whatever I asked for themselves. Still, I'd managed to bring some papers here.

  "We need to be back by morning, and I've got a lot to do. So... go hide over there."

  "Hide? Why?" Chloe blinked.

  "Because I'm about to summon a demon, and it'll be better if it doesn't see you."

  Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

  "O-o-oh..."

  "Go on."

  Once I'd confirmed the girl was tucked behind a rock and virtually invisible from the summoning point, I began preparations. Lit the candles, finished the summoning diagram, and most importantly — activated the soul stone from the gatekeeper demon. Without it, pulling a demon through in the flesh would be impossible. The only downside was that it would drain a huge amount of the stone's energy. A few more uses and it would simply crumble. But... in six days, another gatekeeper was coming for me anyway.

  Last step — I had to write the demon's name. Doing so granted a degree of power over them, though the stronger the demon, the harder the trick was to pull off. Ramuil would've just laughed if I'd inscribed his name in a circle, and the stone would've shattered.

  "Ekakock-Devourer-of-Stones"

  "Right then. Let's begin."

  Without spiral energy of my own, activating constructs like this was tricky. Last time I'd used blood as a catalyst. Now I had the demon's soul, and I used its energy.

  The diagram lit up, but for the first few seconds nothing happened. About a minute passed before a portal opened at the center, and an ugly little fat demon came flying out of it. Tiny horned head, huge belly, and skinny little legs that could barely support the mass. The arms were long but just as scrawny as the legs.

  The demon slammed into the barrier surrounding the diagram and recoiled, singed. The stone pulsed red — a portion of its energy spent.

  "What?! Where am I?!" he shrieked in demonic, then hurled himself at the barrier again. Another burn. "Argh! What is this?!"

  "Hey there, Ekakock," I smiled, crouching on the other side of the barrier. "Long time no see."

  "A human child? Who are you? What's happening? How do you know me?!"

  "Calm down."

  "Release me immediately or I'll feast on your eyes! Do you have any idea who you've summoned?! I am one of the terrifying demons of the twelfth ring, and if—"

  "You're Yutatos's errand boy. You empty his chamber pot at night, clean the forge, scrub the kitchen, and fetch his drinks. Every demon kicks you on your ass and watches you roll across the floor like a ball."

  "How do you know that?"

  "Oh, I know plenty about you," I said with a sinister grin. "Don't be fooled by what I look like."

  "Fine... What do you want?" Ekakock wasn't stupid. Cowardly, vindictive — but not stupid.

  "Zirgul. You're going to bring it to me."

  "What?! No-no-no-no! You're insane! How do you even know about that sword?! Yutatos keeps it locked away, and even if I could get in—"

  "Oh, come on. Who are you trying to fool?" I laughed. "Yutatos spends most of the day drinking, and he only fires up the forge once in a while. Zirgul is sitting at the bottom of his chest, and I seriously doubt he even opens the thing."

  "I have no idea how a human child knows any of this, but no! Absolutely not! They'll kill me if they find out it's missing!"

  "If you don't bring it to me, I'll kill you. See this?" I pointed at the circle running behind the barrier. "Know what that is?"

  The demon's crooked mouth twitched. His eyes darted over the circle, and understanding dawned in them.

  "You wouldn't dare! I'll... I'll be looked for."

  "By who? Yutatos? He'll find a new servant and assume you ran off or somebody squashed you. Nobody will care about a nobody like you. You know it. I know it. So there's only one way you stay alive — bring me Zirgul."

  "No... I can't..."

  "Fine. I'll send you back and give you time equal to..." I made a show of thinking, took a bowl, and placed a spiral incense stick in it. Lit it, set it aside, and turned back to the demon. "One spiral incense. When it burns down, I summon you again. Bring Zirgul, and I send you home. Don't, and you die. Your choice."

  Before the demon could argue, I activated the diagram. A portal opened beneath him, sending him back to the twelfth ring.

  "Is it over?" Chloe asked cautiously, emerging from behind her rock. "Why didn't you kill him? And... what were you two talking about?"

  "He's more useful alive," I smiled.

  "I can't believe I just saw a real demon..."

  "You saw one last time too," I shrugged.

  "I was too scared to look then," she pouted. "This time I could actually study it. But he's... kind of small. And not very scary."

  "He's a servant. A weak little imp who waits on stronger demons. But don't be fooled — without that barrier, he'd have killed us both."

  In an actual fight, he'd have given me far more trouble than the gatekeeper. I'd put him at roughly eighth-step strength.

  "So... what now?"

  "What now... hmm. We wait. He should be back soon."

  The spiral incense burned down, but I gave the little demon some extra time to bring me the sword. Or to prepare for death.

  "Alright, I'm done waiting. Go hide," I told Chloe. She ducked into her spot immediately, and I repeated the summoning.

  A flash, and the demon was ejected into our world. I barely suppressed a satisfied grin when I saw Zirgul in his hands. I'd known he'd bring it. The little coward loved his own skin too much, and I'd been counting on that.

  "Nice work, Ekakock."

  "Don't celebrate yet, human. This sword won't do you any good," the demon snorted, baring a crooked smirk. "I don't know who you are, but someone like you can't wield it."

  "Don't worry about that."

  The demon clutched the blade to his chest, eyeing me with suspicion.

  "What guarantee do I have that you won't kill me once I hand it over?"

  "None," I said, smiling with my hands clasped behind my back, watching his fear with amusement.

  "You're messing with me... Aren't you supposed to, I don't know, reassure me?"

  "Why would I? You already brought what I wanted. I can kill you any time. You're the one who should be convincing me, Ekakock."

  "Aghh..."

  "Go ahead."

  "Who even are you?"

  "That doesn't sound like begging," I shook my head. "You're not even trying."

  "I won't grovel! Enough! I've had it! If I'm going to die, at least I'll do it with some dignity. You want to kill me — go ahead. Otherwise, tell me what else you need."

  "Not sure yet," I scratched my chin. "But I'll think of something. And you think too. Next time, I expect a gift. Make sure it's something that makes me happy."

  The demon snarled, baring sharp, slightly chipped teeth. Not impressed. I knew firsthand where he ranked in the twelfth ring's hierarchy. Barely a step above the condemned.

  "Set the sword on the edge of the containment seal and step back. I'll send you home. But remember — I can pull you here anytime I want."

  Still snarling, Ekakock obeyed — though he clearly expected me to trigger the annihilation seal at any moment. But I really had no intention of killing him, and soon the demon was ejected back to the twelfth ring.

  "And... you didn't kill him again."

  I raised an eyebrow and turned to Chloe.

  "Didn't expect such bloodthirst from you."

  "But he's a demon. The enemy!"

  "In a sense," I agreed. "But his death gains me nothing. And — strange as it sounds — sending him back costs far less energy from the stone than killing him would."

  "Really?"

  "Yeah. The first summoning is the most expensive — I'm tearing the fabric of reality. After that, there's a kind of passage left behind, which makes subsequent summons easier. It heals quickly, so by tomorrow it'll be gone."

  "Sounds complicated... So what's the sword?"

  "Zirgul." Grinning like a cat that got the cream, I stepped inside the seal and picked up the weapon. Drew it from its scabbard and admired the amber pommel and the black blade.

  "It's beautiful... Are those runes?"

  "Yep. The real deal."

  "Wow... So it's a special sword."

  "Yes. It's... almost alive."

  "What does that mean?"

  "You'll see."

  Still smiling, I walked over to a table I'd cobbled together from junk and laid the sword on a pre-prepared sheet of paper bearing another magical construct — two circles. The sword went on the first; the demon's soul stone on the second.

  "Ak'hi vol ataxu yu manef garhen Zirgul. Zirgul t'henu yutachi-fai."

  With the final words, I nicked my finger with the dagger and let a few drops fall onto the amber pommel.

  "Oh..."

  The sword drank the blood. Simultaneously, the soul stone began to pulse, and the lines on the paper glowed crimson. The blade trembled. The soul stone crumbled to dust, making Chloe gasp.

  The paper caught fire, unable to withstand the energy flow, but that didn't matter. It was done. Zirgul was mine now. Too bad Ekakock couldn't see this — he'd probably be screaming: "How do you know the binding incantation?! Only Yutatos knew that!"

  Yutatos had forged the sword for Mar Ei, Yul's mother. By the old smith's account, she'd been a true master of the blade. He'd planned to pass it to Yul, but Ramuil had forbidden her from carrying anything like it. So Yutatos gave it to me instead — to protect his only daughter. He and I hadn't always gotten along, but we'd shared one thing: we both loved Yul.

  Given that sword's history, I felt uneasy about how I'd obtained it this time. But Spiral's spirit as my witness, I needed it far more right now than Yutatos did.

  Who could've guessed it would come to this? I'd planned to spend the next couple of years in peace and quiet — training, enjoying the calm. Then when I turned ten and my body was ready for Ascension, I'd start preparing for real.

  "The stone... it crumbled. So how are you going to create the demonic focus now?"

  "In six days, I'll get a new one. And with this —" I ran my finger along the amber pommel, "— I shouldn't have any trouble with the demon."

  "You sure?" Chloe asked doubtfully.

  "More than sure." I stepped back, barely flicked a finger, and the sword came alive. It rose into the air, made a lazy circle around the cave, then darted into the scabbard on my back. "Don't even worry about it."