The Dive: Birth of a Wordsmith (30 page)

“
Of course! If you
are staying, you can have our absolute best. Despite our reputations,
we are very generous towards those who would be our allies.”
She smiles brightly and nods quickly. “If you’d like, I
can even assign one of our best mages to help you research.”

“
No, I don’t
think that would help. In fact, I believe that this is something that
won’t work unless I do it alone.” I shake my head and try
to explain, but her confused expression tells me it didn’t
work.

“
Might I ask why?
Surely two heads are better than one, no? Or, three heads even
depending on the mage.”

“
No, it’s not
a matter of that. You see, the unique magic I mentioned before is
possible because it was a rune of my own design. Given your position,
I believe that if it was possible with the current system of magic to
view the contract, you would know of it. Therefore, I have to design
the method myself, from the very beginning.”

“
You… wish to
make a new rune?” She speaks, her mouth a bit wide. “For
the sake of the demons?”

I smile to her, and nod.
“As I said, you seem much better than your reputation. As long
as I have no reason to disbelieve that, I will do my utmost to help
you. Though, I will be requiring a good portion of your time,
personally, if I need to test any theories. I trust that won’t
be an issue?”

She shakes her head with a
grin, “Human, if it would save my people, I would serve you
night and day.”

I couldn’t help but
laugh. “Perhaps not that much of your time. I’d like you
to remain close in case I get an idea, but any time you have a matter
you need to take care of, you are more than free to do so. I don’t
want to interfere with the workings of Hell.”

She nodded, still smiling.
“Of course. I’ll oversee what I can of your research, and
your companion can receive whatever training she wishes.”

“
Well, then.. I’ll
be in your care for the next few days.” I bowed politely to
her, and Denise followed suit.

“
This is going to
turn into a troublesome task, mark my words…” Denise let
out a sigh as she stood back up, though after hearing Lilith’s
story, she didn’t want to back away any more than I did. “We
might as well get started. I’m still a novice with the sword,
so I’d appreciate it if you took that into consideration, your
highness.”

“
Quite polite,
aren’t you?” Lilith smiles to her and nods. “Don’t
worry so much about formalities. You two are officially guests of the
highest order. I daresay that you could be called friends, if this
all works out.”

Denise nodded, “If
you had asked me yesterday, or even two hours ago whether I would
have wanted to befriend demons, I wouldn’t have thought of it
like I do now.”

“
See? We aren’t
all bad. Mind you, there are those among us that can be called evil.
But as long as you are here under my protection, they will do nothing
to you. And many of us have lost those we cherished due to these
recent attacks. I had considered sealing all of the gates to protect
us.”

I smiled to her, “Well,
I’m glad you didn’t. A den of chimera would not be my
ideal place to be right now. But as Denise said, we should get
started. My requirements for work are quite simple. I could do with a
few books on advanced magic theory to reference, but mostly I just
need writing utensils.”

Lilith nodded, and waved a
hand to someone at her side. “Of course. This is one of my
generals, Krath. He can advise your companion on her swordplay. I’ll
see to your requirements myself.” Krath was a large man, nearly
seven feet tall with dark red skin, a serpentine tail, and two horns
coming out of his head. His hair was pitch black and went all the way
down to the middle of his back, while most of his body was covered in
black armor.

“
And please.. if we
are to be friends, it would be best if our names were known, aside
from ‘you’ and ‘human’.” I smirked to
Lilith and let out a chuckle. “My name is Jin, and this is
Denise. It is a pleasure to meet you, Queen Lilith.”

“
Oh, I have no doubt
it is. And I do like the name you suggested. I think I’ll keep
it for my interactions with mortals.”

I nodded, and then turned
to Denise. “You going to be alright for a while?”

She smirked, patting me on
the arm. “Me? I’m just going to be training with one of
Hell’s generals. You’re the one that’s spending
some alone time with
that
woman.” She said teasingly while pointing to Lilith, who took
the attention and struck a sensuous pose in her throne. “If
anything, I should be asking you if you’ll be alright.”

“
You really doubt my
ability to avoid temptation and focus on the task at hand?” I
put a hand on my chest, making a pained expression, to which she
responded far too quickly.

“
Yes.”

Lilith let out another
rich laugh. “Oh, I like her. She’s not afraid to speak
her mind, is she?”

“
Oh, you have no
idea, Lilith.” I shook my head and chuckled. Denise smiled to
me, and then walked out of the room via a hall to the left with
Krath, presumably to train.

“
So, given your
requirements, would it be best if you conducted your research in my
chambers? It would certainly grant us the privacy you require~.”
She winked playfully to me, mixing a teasing tone into her serious
suggestion.

“
It could work,
yeah. Though, I am starting to believe that you took the sex demon
thing as a personal challenge.”

“
Me? Do I seem like
the kind of person that would do a thing like that?” She slowly
stood up, swaying her hips just a bit too much not to notice.

As such, it was my turn to
answer quickly. “Yes.”

She looked at me for a
long moment before grinning. “You know me far too well,
considering we just met.”

And that was how I came to
be spending my days with a sexy demon. Not just
any
sexy demon, mind you, but the Queen of
all
demons! Kevin would never let me live this one down.

Chapter
14

I was sitting at a desk in
Lilith’s private chambers, reading over a book that she had
just brought me. Lilith herself was sitting on her bed a few feet
behind me, watching me work. She had a calm atmosphere about her that
I would never have imagined coming from a succubus. “You know…
I’ve not actually had direct contact with a human in years. It
was refreshing, especially since I didn’t even have to disguise
myself.”

I smiled back to her, “I’m
glad I lived up to your expectations of me, then.”

“
My
expectations
,
as you say, were for you to wish to leave and never come back,
believing as many do that angels are always good, and demons are
always evil. I daresay you did much better than that, going so far as
to live with us while working to solve a problem that has plagued our
entire race.”

“
Hey, I’m just
glad it was me that came along, instead of someone that would do
things like that. As for your problem, though, we’re going to
need several spells. Most likely a ritual.”

Lilith laid back on her
bed, making the size of her arsenal quite apparent. “Yes, I
figured such would be needed. Though, the components are the problem,
yes?”

“
Right. First, we
need to separate the contract from your own being. That’s
likely to hurt a great deal, by the way. Then, we need to manifest it
into something that can be read. After that, it’s just a matter
of me adjusting the contract and putting it back inside you.”

Lilith twisted on her bed
to grin to me. “Oh~, you’re so rough, and it’s my
first time even~.” She spoke with a playful voice, obviously
wanting to tease me.

“
If I can figure out
a way to make it painless, I will. But, the contract is fused with
you from what you said. And it has been for longer than any human has
been alive. I’ll essentially be ripping out a part of you.”

Her face contorted into a
grimace. “That doesn’t sound at all fun, but I’ll
put up with it.”

“
Thank you. It would
be a problem if your guards thought I was trying to kill you because
it hurt too much.”

“
Yes, that it would.
I’ll make sure they are informed in advance.”

“
Also, the magic
used for the contract is older than anything I have knowledge of, so
would you mind explaining the process to me? It would help me to
understand what I’m dealing with.”

Lilith rolled over again,
this time landing on her stomach and facing me, her hands propping up
her chin and giving me quite the view of her cleavage. “I don’t
mind. It’s the oldest form of contract magic that exists. The
parties involved must gather together, and agree upon the terms. Then
a ritual circle is formed around the representatives, outlined with
runes detailing the contract itself. Once all parties have put their
magic into the circle, the contract merges with them, using their own
magic to enforce its rule.”

“
I see. I may need
to add another component to the ritual to link it with its
counterpart after putting it back in you. Otherwise, it would only
work against your own people.”

“
That would be most
unfortunate, indeed. And, of the steps you mentioned before, the
magic known to me would only allow you to manifest the magic once it
is separated. I could adapt an old spell for that purpose. Something
we often use to conjure contracts.”

“
Thanks, that would
save me a step. So, my job is to figure out how to separate,
integrate, and link the contract. Meaning I need to create at least
three new runes.”

“
Can.. can you do
that? I know you said you’d make a rune for us to help, but
would you even be able to make three?”

“
I made one before
to pass the human Mage test. But.. uh… could you keep that
tidbit secret from the humans? So far, I seem to be the only
foreigner that has passed the test.”

Lilith giggled a bit,
“Sure, I’ll keep your secret. But still, don’t you
have a time limit?”

“
Yeah, but I’m
more experienced now. I should at least be able to work out two of
the runes in time. If I’m not done, I can just have my friend
wait for me a while. This seems a bit more important for now.”

“
...Thank you,
really. You’re going out of your way to help, when you could
have just as easily walked out on us and ignored the problem. You
might never even have noticed the difference…”

I shook my head and smiled
back to her again, before returning to the book. “How can I
just ignore people that need my help? In a sense, I’m the same
as you, you know?”

“
How so?”
There was a curious tone to her voice, and I heard her shifting on
the bed again.

“
I’m different
from the other foreigners. I can’t return to my world. As far
as I can tell, the only reason that would be possible is if the god
of this world made it so. I can’t even let any other foreigners
know that, or there is a chance that they could be stuck as well.”

“
I see… so,
in a way, god made an enemy of you, is that it?”

I thought about her
question for a minute, and shook my head. “Not really. I’ll
admit, I was worried at first, but I think it’s alright now.
Honestly, I didn’t have much going on for me in my own world.
In a sense, I’m better off here.”

I heard a soft giggling
from behind me, “Even though you have been trapped by god as
much as I, you still have such an opinion. No, your prison may even
be worse than my own. I still have the companionship of my people.”

“
So do I. Just.. not
the same people as before.” I smiled to myself as I diligently
read the book, even while holding a conversation with the woman
behind me.

“
Well, I think that
god probably had a reason for what he did. We might not like it in
the end, but he usually does.”

“
Oh? You can say
such things, given the situation?”

“
Ah, you
misunderstand something. It isn’t god that commands the angels,
but the angels themselves. We are two of the oldest races, granted
dominion over our own kind. The king of angels chose to govern under
a strict rule, while I wished to allow my people freedom of choice as
was granted to us by our maker.”

“
I see… so
even with this, I’ll be no closer to finding out what
happened.” I sighed a bit and shrugged.

“
I do apologize. I
thought you had understood. Do you still wish to continue, even
knowing it won’t lead towards your goal?” Her voice was
worried, like she thought I’d leave if this wouldn’t help
me now.

“
I already told you,
didn’t I? I can’t just turn away from people that need
help. In the first place, talking to the god of this world was never
my reason for accepting. It’s not even a goal the current me
can achieve. I’ll help you because that’s what I’ve
resolved myself to do, because I couldn’t live with myself if I
condemned an entire civilization when I could help them.”