Mage And Wolf
Chapter 125

Chapter 125: Chapter 125

We’ve been teaching Demon Lord Prim all about our world, and she’s teaching us about hers.

The demon world strikes me as a very Lawful Evil sort of place. They’re truly brutal with criminals, but what constitutes a crime can be questionable. Especially for other Demon Species.

It’s in the agreement that they will abide Dragon Law if they leave their territory, but it’s good that is a Succubus Lord ruling what is now dubbed Fallen City. She wants to make her own Las Vegas, but hasn’t worked out all the details yet. Like how to safely get tourists in and out with all the monsters.

The Succubi are planning on building a huge hotel in the trading post they will staff in the meantime, and we’ve agreed to turn a blind eye to the goings on as long as nobody gets forced or hurt. One feeding a month is survival level for a Succubus, so at least they can rotate staff.

"What’s next? Full time staff have taken over the mission, and it just might go on forever, so we’ve got two acolytes with free time and nothing urgent to do." I ask Karl.

"First up, I’m almost at a breakthrough to Condensation Realm. A day or two hunting should do it."

I am close to another breakthrough too. I’ll show Karl how to compound his breakthrough ’images of the experiment at the hotel flash through my mind’ well, maybe not that kind of compounded breakthrough, but Karl does have a certain appeal with his gruff looks and all.

No, keep on track. Kill monsters, break through. Talking with the Succubus so long must be messing with my mind.

"There’s a nice spawn area with bugbears. Perfect for working out pent up frustrations" Karl suggests.

He’s right this area is perfect. There’s almost fifty of them spread out over the ruins of what looks like a small town, giving lots of places to hide and attack from.

I see purple explosions a block over, so Karl is still nearby. I’m Shadow Melded, sneaking through a house to get to the shaman on the top floor. He’ll never know what hit him.

"Come quick, fresh portal just opened" Karl whispers through the radio, busting my cover and I dart quickly to pierce the Bugbear shaman’s heart before he can respond.

"On my way, what have we got"

"Ogres, huge, red skinned Ogres." Karl whispers with glee. He really does like fighting big things for some reason.

The two by the portal are already dead when I arrive, and Karl is waiting by the entrance to what looks like a soldier’s camp. Shabby, hastily erected tents are set up and dozens of the bright Red monsters are sitting around.

This is perfect for working out frustrations, the category 2 bugbears just aren’t much of a challenge.

Karl’s plan is simple, stroll in like we own the place and tear it down. I’ve switched to a pair of short swords, increasing my reach and letting me use short ranged energy techniques that were designed for armed fighting.

Karl is true to his word, walking in the open through the perimeter of the camp until he’s noticed, then raising a half dozen Golems to fight beside him and pelting the area with Arcane explosions.

I gracefully bounce from target to target, the Blooming Lotus sword fighting style I am using looking more like a leaping dance than a brutal fight, arcs of blood cresting through the air as the energy strikes hit home, huge bodies toppling like falling buildings as I slash through their vitals and dance away to my next victim.

All too soon we’re down to one last target. In heavy armor. Why must there always be an armored one?

He’s wielding a huge club, his crude iron armor dented and scorched, all but two of the Golems destroyed around him.

"Мен сені пұтқа табынушыларды жоямын" it shouts at us, evidently a Taunt.

"What did he say?" I ask Karl, who is definitely the better linguist among us.

"No idea, but I think he still believes he can win"

It was wrong, so very wrong. The sharp energy strikes from a crossing slash with my swords delimbs the champion and the Golems put a quick end to its misery.

By the door of its tent we find a curious object, it looks like an ancient Egyptian burial urn, but gives off huge amounts of Death Energy.

"Pocket that thing quickly" Karl insists, "It’s going to force me to break through, and I’d rather not do it in a camp we haven’t cleared."

This one is an important one for Karl, it should take him into Condensation if I can enhance it. Mages can already do a great number of things with energy, but the Condensation Realm is a massive power boost for them, merging inner and outer energy within the body.

"Let’s get out of here. Close that portal and we will rush back to the camp.

We run into his tent, Karl needing support to keep his feet while his energy fluctuates. I sit him in a chair, sitting chest to chest while I try to smooth the repressed energy flow and his breakthrough properly starts.

This is the point that I realize my position in his lap, arms linked astound his neck was maybe not a great idea. It’s more intimate than I’d intended, even with our clothes on, but the biggest problem is that his energy is resonating off me, forcing me to break through as well.

Exactly what happened with the dual cultivation experiment. The energy flow has made my legs numb, I couldn’t move if I wanted to at this point. All I can do is throw a Core Formation and Soul Forging Pill into his mouth as he nears the peak of his breakthrough and my own an instant later before I totally lose control of my body.

The waves of energy seem endless, Death Energy from our marks mixing with outside energy to give everything a warm, comfortable feeling, even as the first turns into a second and our power soars.

In a flash of either idiocy or brilliance, I am inspired to bring out that urn that caused this whole fiasco in the first place. Energy pours from it into Karl, like it’s got something to give him. Perhaps it’s an inheritance?

I’ll have to ask afterwards. For now the peak of the second breakthrough had left me exhausted, slumped against Karl while I catch my breath and he begins a third rank up.

He shakes me back to consciousness at some point, the feeling of surging energy finally finished. Focusing on his cultivation, I can tell he made Condensation 3 from Fortification 10.

"What did you gain from the urn?" I ask him, curious to know what that huge influx of energy did.

"It was the inheritance of a Death Priest of their world. Mostly knowledge of Death Energy’s cultivation and his memories, but he also knew some great spells, like one he called redemption. It can use death energy to send a living being between Realms to a desired location. He used it to send them to a hell dimension."

"So like my True Transmission Token, but used on others. That is a very handy spell to have."

"There’s a Purgatory Fire spell I should teach Hui’Jin too, but he wasn’t a Mage before he became a priest, and had no formal teacher so the spell repertoire is limited." Karl adds.

"The cultivation knowledge alone would be enough to be a top tier inheritance" I shrug.

"The urn should keep condensing Death Energy in the area too, much like a mana gathering formation. Great for our cultivation, but that’s what drove the Ogres insane and changed them to the red skinned brutes here, so best not to leave it in the open."

"So on my night stand next to the other cultivation totem is out?" I laugh.

"Definitely. Also, This is a great position, but your swords are poking me in the sides."

Red faced, I scurry out of his lap. That was so embarrassing. But speaking of ’swords’ poking.