Author's Preface
“How?” Harken dropped to his knees. “Your mana is weak, barely above that of a demon child.”
Ryan stood and took off his mask. Harken gazed upon Ryan, and Ryan let his mana go. “I see. There is more to you than you have let on.”
Ryan smiled as he walked up to Harken. “Now, say it.”
Harken looked at Zareth. “You made the bet, not me.”
Harken looked at Ryan. “Big brother...”
“Yeah, that sounds amazing. Now, what do you mean you summoned some demon?”
Ryan sat on the ground next to Harken. “You spoke of it like a huge feat or accomplishment. I’d love to hear about it.”
Harken spent the next few minutes explaining the talent he received and his ability to channel his aura and manifest an ancient demon that would release a devastating attack. Ryan’s eyes went wide. “Can all of you do that?”
“No, only those with a large amount of aura or mana can manifest ancient demons,” Zareth said.
“The souls of demons are turned into demonic energy. When we receive blessings from our god, that energy can attach itself to you. If you’re lucky, an ancient demon soul will choose you, and you can manifest it. You can also access its memories and learn the techniques and abilities it used during its life.”
Ryan shook his head. “Damn, makes me wish I was a demon.”
Harken smiled. “You have no need for some ancient demonic soul. The summons you showed me are already stronger than most demons in the army.”
“Speaking of my summons, I appreciate you giving me the ogre nest. I needed to replenish my ranks.”
Ryan snapped his fingers as Bubba and Meatloaf appeared. Each of them had ten ogres standing behind them. Meatloaf’s ogres each carried a massive tower shield, while behind Bubba stood ogres with large black clubs.
“You told me about your power, so I’ll share mine. Only fair my little brother knows how my power works. I create shadows from dead beings. They serve me as my own army and are subordinate only to me. And no, I’m not an elf or a traditional summoner like you might think. Honestly, I can’t even begin to comprehend my own power or how it works yet. So please don’t ask me a million questions.”
Zareth stood and clapped his hands. “Now this bet is over. Who’s up for some lunch?”
“Master, what about my evolution?”
“I literally just used two thousand mana to summon those ogres, and they’re crazy strong.”
“Meatloaf like ogres, built like mountains.”
“Ugh, I did not ask for new shadows. I asked to evolve.”
“I know, I know. One thing at a damn time. Having shadows is important as well, Bubba. I promise I won’t spend any more mana on shadows until after we evolve you. Deal?”
“Deal.”
Ryan snapped his fingers as Bubba, Meatloaf, and their subordinates disappeared into Ryan’s shadow.
Harken’s jaw dropped. “They speak to you like that?”
“Not all of them.”
“What does that mean?” Zareth stepped forward.
Ryan sighed. “Fuck, basically, if I give my shadows a name, they can evolve, maintain their personalities, and speak like they would have when they were alive. But honestly, I don’t treat them as some slave. I treat them as my companions because they are. No matter how annoying or frustrating they are. Honestly, and I hope you don’t take offense to this, they are the only people I truly trust.”
“Amazing.” Zareth looked at Harken.
Harken chuckled. “Friends that can’t disobey you. I am not sure how you manage that.”
“Well, they trust me to never put them in situations where they would want to disobey me. I treat their lives as valuable as I would yours... little brother.”
Harken rolled his eyes. “You aren’t going to let it go with me calling you big brother once, are you?”
“Nope. Now can we go eat?”
Ryan spent the next few weeks following Harken through dungeons, watching other teams clear them as well. It was all to ensure that, if the guild came here, there would be people who could clear the dungeons and gain rank in the guild. The guild would prohibit foreign adventurers for the first three months to ensure any demon who wished to register had a chance to rank up without competing with foreigners.
During the downtime between dungeons, Ryan spent his time among the common folk. He learned that many demons who chose not to join the army did so out of fear of the world. They decided to learn skills that could help others instead of becoming the thing the world feared. Though the demons were clearly struggling, none of them seemed too upset about it. Most were apologetic. They knew their own past better than most and still carried a sense of regret. There were men and women demons who could work with leather, create armor and weapons, or bake and cook. One older demon even ran the local tavern, with an inn on the second and third floors. Ryan spent time explaining the benefits of the guild to the common folk, including how having adventurers around from allied countries could help their businesses and the economy. Most demons agreed, while some were reluctant, more scared than anything. They were scared of how they might be treated. Ryan assured them that any adventurers who bullied them for being demons would be expelled from the guild immediately and handed over to Prince Zareth to be dealt with as the demons saw fit.
As Ryan carried out the duties assigned to him by Nyx, he never forgot about Harken. He made sure to appear in front of him every day. In the mornings, when Harken trained with the army, Ryan would walk up behind him as he led the men through drills and clear his throat. Every time, Harken would turn around and sigh.
“Morning, big brother.”
The first few mornings, the men would chatter amongst themselves.
“Did he just call him big brother?”
“Why would a demon ever put himself below a tiny man like that?”
Ryan would smile through his mask, pat Harken on the shoulder, and walk off.
Ryan would find Harken during their meals and sit beside him, staring until he said it. Harken shook his head. “Big brother. How is your meal?”
“Even better now.”
Ryan would find Harken even after his day of dungeons and escorting Ryan through the city was over and he had free time. Whether it was at the tavern the demons frequented or at the royal palace while Harken was trying his best to flirt with female demons, Harken was unable to escape Ryan. He couldn’t escape the embarrassment of calling him big brother.
On the last day before the king arrived, Ryan found Harken training his men in the morning once again. Ryan stood with his arms folded next to Harken. Harken nodded once more.
“Good morning, big brother.”
“Good morning, Harken.”
The demons started to chatter again. Harken raised his spear and sent it flying just above their heads. The spear stuck into the wall behind them.
“Since you all seem to have your own opinions about this for the last two weeks, why don’t you all attack him together? Let’s see how strong you are against this tiny, weak man, as you all call him.” Harken smiled and looked at Ryan.
“Oh, you son of a bitch.” Ryan looked at the demons in the training ground. Each of them was smiling and licking their lips like Ryan was the prey they were feasting on today. Fifty demons stood ready to pounce.
Ryan looked at Harken. “I know what you're doing. You sure about this? I don't want to crush them.”
Harken gestured to the training grounds with his hand.
“Fuck it. At least it's not the entire army and just your men.” Ryan jumped down. As he leaped, he snapped his fingers. All of his shadows appeared as he landed. Bubba, Meatloaf, and their subordinates stood between Ryan and the demons. They towered over most of them. Veyra stood behind them with her bow pulled tight, an arrow ready to be released. Fido stood next to Ryan, growling, as Thimble stood on Ryan’s head with her hands on her hips.
The demons looked between each other, confused for a moment. Bubba looked back at Ryan. Ryan nodded. Bubba and Meatloaf charged through the demons as the battle royale started.
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