A few weeks passed. Or at lest a few weeks according to the time in this world. But in the end the time did not really matter, and I was just growing bored.
The men were successfully performing their cleansing while I read nearly their entire library, allowing me to learn various techniques of using magic. All I had to do was learn how to use them.
Verry often another demon would come out of the rift of space. Apparently, demons loved going through random portals of which they had no idea where they would lead. Of course, I killed those as soon as it entered this world.
This along with the sacrifices the men offered was pretty useful. The only shame was that they really brought a lot of pure and innocent people. Those were the most delicious, but that was about it. they did not really contribute to my strength.
At the moment, I was reading trough a book about necromancy. Tough the contents were truly interesting; I was not planning on actually learning it. I was already consuming souls and infiltrating minds. I did not want to disrespect people further by also using their body while they had already passed.
I sighed and placed the book away as I caught a scent that I did not recognise. A few moments later a woman walked into the room.
I roughly guessed that she was somewhere in her twenties. She had dark skin and resembled Allenya in a lot of ways. Only her hair was as black as my claws and her eyes were as blue as water.
Her gaze landed on me and she spoke without any sing of fear or hesitation.
"My name is Leonor. I am a scholar from the southern islands. Rumours of your arrival have spread throughout the lands and I have come to seek your help."
In merely a flash I appeared before her. The constant feeding and killing had greatly enhanced my strength and speed, allowing me to move nearly instantly over short distances.
"And what could it be that you, Leonor, scholar from the southern islands require my help with?"
Only now she hesitated but soon collected herself. "I am leading the resistance against the monsters from the north. But they caught us by surprise and two third of my troops have already fallen. I need you to hold them of for two to three weeks until we get backup. Otherwise, we will lose another country to the monsters."
I grinned. "So, you put yourself in danger in the hopes of that you can fend of the monsters by sending an even worse monster onto them? what will happen to your troops if I decide to decline and kill you instead?"
She closed her eyes. I did not know if it was because she was scared or because she wanted to come up with a good answer. "If I die the second in command will take my position. I am expendable, the only life I put on the line is mine."
"I like your answer. So, I will help you. But I want you to share your knowledge with me in exchange. Do we have a deal?"
She nodded and we shook hands. Much like when I made my first deals back when I just had become a demon, I could feel a little amount of energy passing over as a sing that the deal had been made. Of course, I did not really have to make deals. But doing it like this would make Leonor feel more secure about the situation.
"Thank you so much, great demon. May I know your name so that I can address you better?"
"Rubedo."
Her eyes grew wide. "Really? I-I mean it does suit you. Are you perhaps associated with the great work?"
"I don't know of that great work. This name was merely given to me by a human a long time ago."
"Then let this be the first of my knowledge that I share with you. The great work, or Rebis is the final goal of alchemy. The stages of alchemical progression to get to that point are nigredo, albedo, citrinitas and the final stage Rubedo. The name literally translates to redness. It signals alchemical success and the end of the great work. The symbols used in alchemical writing and art to represent Rubedo can include blood, a phoenix, red flowers, a ruby gemstone, and the red king. The stage Rubedo can take years to complete, and it involves the struggle of self before the complete manifestation. But once it does, it is often compared to a re-entry of the world."
Quite satisfied, I folded my wings behind my back. from the way she was speaking I could easily deduce that she was not making stuff up. She actually knew those things. Meaning that she would probably know a lot more. And all I had to do to get all of that information was holding some monsters off, making this a verry successful deal.
"As I expected, you are quite knowledgeable. but as much as I love to talk to you about alchemy, I believe that you require my help with holding off some monsters."
"Of course. I will lead you to the camp."