They walked back to the gym. Electricity had returned, but Marion forced them to turn off the lights and rely on the emergency lights. A faint green tint barely made any difference.

  Samantha walked straight to the center of the gym.

  "Make some room. Please help us shift the equipment," she said. Thomas and Alexander began clearing and moving some of the machines. Then Marion stood in the center. She set down a cloth bag, untied it, and poured salt in a wide ring. The circle grew to ten feet across, then Samantha began to draw symbols with chalk.

  "Stand here when I tell you. You will now be part of our order."

  Samantha finished the last sigil. "Step into the center and face east."

  Alexander crossed the salt line. The markings under him pulsed, as if something beneath the concrete recognized him.

  Marion and Samantha took their positions on opposite sides of the circle. Thomas stood behind them, guarding the perimeter. Marion raised her hands, and Samantha followed.

  They began chanting. Latin formed the foundation; Enochian cut through it in sharp intervals. The air tightened until every breath felt shallow.

  The circle glowed along the salt, golden and white.

  Marion's voice rose. "Alexander Dee, blood of a sanctioned lineage. The path opens. You will be bound to the Circle of Nine. You will be accepted by the Order to fight for humanity. You will oppose anything that arises from below, even if it be in your own heart."

  "I accept," he said.

  Pain took him immediately, and his right knee slammed against the ground. The pain drove through his chest and out through every limb. His knees locked. His vision washed white. Something inside him responded, as if an old door he had never noticed finally swung outward.

  The System responded.

  DEE LINEAGE CONFIRMED

  [ACCEPTED]

  The pain sharpened. Heat flooded his bloodstream with the force of a second heartbeat. The circle reacted, symbols brightening until the edges blurred.

  Samantha's voice cut through the noise. "Hold on. You are almost through."

  He could not answer. He fought to stay conscious while something in his core rearranged itself.

  Then everything stopped at once.

  The glow faded. The pressure dropped, and the air steadied.

  Alexander's hands dropped forward, and he pulled in a deep breath. His pulse felt different, as if a second rhythm had joined the first.

  New text appeared in his vision.

  YOU HAVE BEEN INITIATED

  NAME: ALEXANDER DEE

  LEVEL 2

  MANA: 200 / 200

  BINDING CAPACITY: 5

  SKILLS AVAILABLE:

  [ENTITY BINDING]

  [MANA COST: 150 HP (FOR DEMONS BELOW 100 HP)]

  [SPIRIT CHAINS]

  [MANA COST: 150 HP]

  Marion knelt beside him. "How does it feel?"

  Alexander stared at his hands. He sensed the mana clearly now. It moved like breath, ready to be shaped into something real.

  "Much clearer," he said.

  "You are part of our Order now," Marion replied. "Your skills have been unlocked. Now, each time you use them, they'll be stored. Each one is bound to a sigil. You have authority, and you have structure. Use both."

  A roar echoed from outside the building. The gym lights flickered. Something large struck the far wall.

  "It's just gonna get worse from now on," Thomas said, letting out a sigh. "I need to fill up this room with wards. And it would do us good if we were to bar those windows. And not just because it's getting cold."

  "I have some spare wood in the basement," Alex said. "At least a layer of protection. And we can watch from above. By the way, there's still a demon wolf on the stairs, in case you forgot."

  "We'll deal with that soon," Samantha said. "You should at least have a first pet. I've never seen someone actually bind one, so that'd be fun to see."

  "You mean..." Alex's eyes swung toward Marion.

  "He'll get to do that, no worries," Thomas said. "But I suggest we bar the windows. I'm sure the demons can feel our scent from miles away. And if the cultists know we're here, I'm pretty sure we're already a target."

  "Right," Alex said. "I'll go get the wood. I'll be right back."

  He walked down to the hidden basement. Small, humid, and containing a few pieces of luggage he never used. He pulled out thick wooden frames that had been left from the construction years ago. He grabbed his toolbox, found a few old pins, and moved back to the first floor.

  He'd get reinforced glass first thing in the morning. Then, he remembered there was probably no one alive at the store. From the little social media he'd seen, there weren't even people looting the stores with all the demons walking around.

  The whole situation was terrible. It was hard to come to terms with the fact that he had power. He had the power to grow even more powerful in magic. And he'd have to keep fighting those things.

  This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

  He wondered who was suffering at that very hour. People being hunted and torn apart by those monsters. Children. He clenched his teeth as he hammered down the nails into the wall.

  When he was done, he walked over to Thomas, who was still kneeling on the floor and drawing circles along the lower part of the wall.

  "What exactly are those supposed to do?" Alex asked.

  Thomas didn't stop drawing, but he spoke as he drew. "Wards serve three primary functions. First, they prevent incorporeal entities from passing through solid matter. Demons, spirits, certain types of undead can phase through walls naturally. A ward keeps them away."

  He completed a cross with Enochian script wrapped around it. "Second, they provide warnings. When an entity tests a ward, it creates resonance. Any practitioner attuned to the ward system feels it. Like an alarm."

  "And third?" Alex asked.

  Thomas paused, looked at him directly. "They call for help."

  "Help from whom?"

  "Angels." Thomas returned to his work, drawing another symbol. "That is what my type of magic is all about. Theurgy."

  "You're summoning angels again? To be honest, last time..."

  "Yeah, I didn't summon the powerful ones. That will require time. For next time."

  "That means they lower your mana, doesn't it?"

  "I do charge them with mana. I would say... to request their presence." Thomas leaned into the next window. "Every ward is a prayer and a beacon. It says: here are innocents in need of protection. Here is a threshold that should not be crossed. And sometimes, if the need is great enough and the request sincere enough, they answer."

  "Sometimes?"

  "Angels aren't servants. At least not to us. They cannot be bound like demons. They act according to their own judgment." Thomas drew a more complex symbol, with multiple circles overlapping and holy names in Hebrew and Latin. "But certain angels have... relationships with certain humans. Agreements forged over years. Or generations."

  Marion spoke quietly. "Thomas has been an exorcist for thirty years. Many of his uncles and granduncles were. The Cromwell line has been fighting demons since the 1600s. That kind of dedication gets noticed."

  "I have three," Thomas said, finishing another ward. "Some archangels have answered my calls enough times that we have... an understanding. They're not bound to me. I can't command them. But when I call, they usually come."

  "Are they... angels I might have heard about?" Alexander asked.

  Thomas touched the Sword of St. Patrick. "But the one most closely aligned with my family, we call Uriel. The Flame of God. He's been with my family since my ancestor fought in the Thirty Years' War."

  He drew another symbol, this one different from the others. More elaborate. "This is his sigil. When I inscribe this, I'm not just creating a ward. I'm asking Uriel for protection. If he deems this place worthy, if the people here are truly innocent, he'll extend his presence. Strengthen the barrier. Make it almost unbreakable."

  "Almost?"

  "Nothing is unbreakable. Given enough evil force, enough time, any ward falls." Thomas straightened, eyes locked on his work. "But it can help."

  "That is actually intriguing. Will they show up like when we fought the cultists?"

  "Not always." Thomas smiled slightly. "Sometimes, you feel it. A warmth. A sense of presence. Like someone standing just behind you, keeping watch." He walked to the door frame and began to draw a circle. "Not everyone can sense it. But practitioners usually can."

  "Can I learn this?" Alexander asked. "The angel wards?"

  Thomas paused. "Eventually. But angels are particular. They don't answer those who bind demons lightly. Your ancestor John Dee contacted angels, yes, but he also bound demons. The angels tolerated it because his intentions were pure. He sought knowledge, understanding, and a way to protect humanity. But many binders since then have used their power for selfish purposes. Angels remember."

  "So they won't help me."

  "I didn't say that." Thomas completed the door ward and stepped back to examine it. "I said they're particular. You'd need to prove yourself. Show that you're using your power to protect, not to dominate. Save lives. Defend the innocent. Do that enough, and eventually, one might take notice."

  Thomas picked up his chalk again and walked to the next opening. "The wards I'm drawing now are just Enochian script and consecrated intent. No angel required. They'll slow entities, prevent phasing, and give us warning. That's enough for times when demons are not incarnate. For the real threats, we need divine intervention." Thomas inscribed Uriel's sigil above the door frame. "And we need to be worthy of it."

  "I mean, these demons we're dealing with are definitely incarnate."

  "The sword helps too. It's been killing demons for fifteen hundred years. It's a sort of special weapon that cuts through souls."

  "I see," Alex said, then paused. "Now that we're here, I'm gonna ask questions," he said. "Tell me about Enochian. Is it really the language of angels? Of God? Where did it come from?"

  "Enochian is the language of creation. The words God used to speak the universe into being. Angels taught it to humans so we could communicate with them. But it works both ways. You can use it to call angels or bind demons. The language is neutral. The intent matters."

  Thomas stepped back from his work. The wall was covered in symbols now, overlapping layers of protection. "That's the best I can do for now. After that, we'll need to reinforce or relocate."

  "A few days might be all we need," Marion said.

  Alexander felt something shift in the air. Subtle. Barely perceptible. Like someone had opened a door in another room, and the pressure had changed.

  "You feel that?" Thomas asked, watching him.

  "I... think so. Is that—?"

  "Uriel." Thomas touched the sword's hilt. "He's accepted the ward. This building is now under his watch."

  Alex wondered if Thomas had used his mana. In response, his HUD flared.

  [THOMAS MP: 50/800]

  The man had a lot of mana compared to him, and had used a lot of it.

  The feeling intensified. Not warm, exactly. More like standing near a fire. You knew it was there, could sense its presence, its potential for both comfort and destruction.

  "He's strong," Marion said from the edge of the room. "Stronger than usual. They know we are desperate."

  Something shifted outside. The howls ceased for a moment, as if the demons and shoggoths had realized who they were dealing with. Alexander leaned back.

  "So, am I stuck with demons? I see you guys do your stuff—natural magic, theurgy—and now that I'm initiated, what am I supposed to do?"

  Marion was the one to speak: "Black magic is much more than binding and pacts with demons. Did you see the powers we used? Those magic blasts, elemental forces... They're also part of magic. The trick is that with black magic, it is reliant on passion, especially... subduing others, rage, and revenge."

  "I... see."

  "Do not get us wrong; it has a place. But it is hard to control. And if you are aligned with the Nine, it should all be done for a good cause. If not, it can stain your soul and draw evil energies."

  Alexander nodded slowly. It sounded like he had just made an oath to the dark side of the Force.

  "I know it's been a lot to take in," Marion said. "So, we want you to take it slow."

  "I get that, and I trust you guys. I just... want to know how dangerous it is to be a black magician for my soul. Because it sounds like it is."

  "There have been many good-intentioned black magicians in history," she said. "Some Eastern schools rely on black magic practiced with extreme detachment. And then... well, we have Solomon."

  "He did fall in the end, didn't he?" Alex said.

  Thomas nodded and continued to speak slowly: "Yes, he believed he could stand above both angels and demons. He believed he could use forbidden power without consequence. Many binders make the same mistake."

  Marion spoke. "It is possible to practice black magic without falling. It is possible to bind demons without becoming what they want you to become. But it is difficult. Angels do not ignore that difficulty."

  "Well," Samantha said, as if at the limits of her patience, "now that it's all said and done, I think it's time to finally bind that little specimen upstairs."