I roused from my stupor on a bed of glowing flowers; asters I believe they were called. They glowed like glittering stars, illuminating this dark place I was in.
I noticed that the ground was smooth and shiny, as if it was just waxed. However, the strange thing was that it was made of rough, grainy stone. Clearly the opposite of smooth.
I looked to the sides of the room, it appears to be a ball room or throne room of some kind as there were multiple mosaic windows.
One even being completely rose tinted. Every window I saw so far depicted a man on a camel, as well as impossibly dark creatures with ghastly appearances.
I could barely ascertain a face on them other than their wide, gaping maws. Fanfare blasted from behind me, causing me to shriek in surprise.
Trumpeters, cymbalists and many humanoids with instruments materialising out of thin air arriving in black smoke, pale faced and shivering, the tailed beings lined up in rows of two.
It appears that they were proclaiming the arrival of someone important, as they usually did in the movies depicting medieval times.
At the far end of the room, a loud creaking sound reverberated throughout the room. From what I can ascertain from my position, it seems to be a large door entirely made of metal.
Fierce red eyes glowed in the dark, glaring at me. The being came closer; it was the same person depicted in the mosaics.
It was a tall and slender man with a feminine face, a cold and regal presence enveloped him. Although he may look womanly, his mosaics certainly didn't depict him as such.
An image of a bare figure clothed in only a loincloth spoke volumes of what to make of this person before me.
As he neared me, I saw the many things I hadn't noticed before. A crown that glimmered splendidly as if it were made of jewels, furred robes and golden chained reins for his dromedary.
Another thing was his complexion, if I didn't know any better I would have believed him to be of Middle Eastern or Mediterranean descent if not for the sharp, pointy ears.
A feature I associated with Elves. "WHO HAS INTRUDED UPON MY TERRITORY?" The camel rider was loud, and his voice hoarse.
I clutched my ears in pain, staggering as I tried to maintain balance, "Loud! Too loud!"
I yelled in response, which worked perfectly fine. "Apologies. It has been too long since I have had a visitor. We Goetial Demons have to isolate due to a particularly troublesome Queen." He explained his situation in a confusing summarisation, but I had gotten the gist of it.
A party with the King ended in him having to dismiss everyone in fear of his wife killing everyone out of anger. "I see, and where exactly is this?" I tapped my chin, gazing all around me.
"Fear not mortal, you are in the presence of me; King Paimon. 'The spirit with all the secrets.'" He introduced himself as a Demon King of Hell, presiding over the Greed Circle.
"Wait, if you're a king, shouldn't you be trying to help your fellow king?" My query seems to have struck a chord with him, I assume that politics are still a prevalent problem with Demon Kings.
Then in startling realisation I recalled his words, "Holy mother of Christ. I'm in Hell! Literal Hell!" Paimon flinched at my outburst, unable to make sense of it.
"Well, yes. You're in Hell. Why wouldn't you be? Wait, hold on." His Majesty raised a finger, his lithe hand became shrouded with a dark purple glow.
Slightly closing it, something incredible happened. The asters I had been standing on swirled around and formed the exact same letters I had with me.
Even the envelope was there! "I see, you are not meant to be here. You're supposed to be in another world by now. It seems like the Rifts has sent you here due to Ira's magical interference. And it just had to be New Year's too." Paimon rubbed his head out of weariness, it seems that even Demons get frustrated over troublesome matters.
In all honesty I thought they'd revel and take joy in the chaotic situation. Turns out that not every Demon loved destruction.
"What do I do now? I mean, if what you say is true and that Queen Ira is rampaging around using the Rifts, then doesn't that mean it's unsafe for me to go back home?" This was what worries me the most, being in Hell was fine.
I could handle it, but not being able to go back home was a big problem. "Well there are other methods to go back to your home. But, I am unsure if it is even safe to do any of them." Paimon told me of the various things I could do, and eliminated the impossibilities for me.
"You can't exactly use magic so that's out of the question. Yggdrasil is obviously off charts and Ira is still raging around, so that's a shame. I could ask the other High Demons with spatial abilities, but I'm concerned about being caught by her." Paimon ruminated over the many options all whilst we watched buildings crashing down as reddish orange flames erupt out of nowhere.
After his pondering, in the end he gave me three options. All of which were still, in a way risky but were somewhat safer.
One: Wait until it all blows over. Two: Take a gamble and use the Rifts once more. Three: Obtain Spatial abilities for myself.
The first option was easy to eliminate as Paimon told me of the time difference between Hell and Earth, as expected it was a wide gap.
An entire minute in the human world was an entire day here, not so bad right? But the thing was; Ira was an unpredictable one and could extend her rage possibly for hundreds of years.
I was a human, I didn't have that long. So there were only two options to pick, now the former was obviously risky; having to place it all on luck and chance that I don't encounter Ira in my way and not get killed in the process? No chance of that happening.
So the third option it is! "I go with; the final option. It is as you said the less riskiest of the three and comparatively easier than the other options as long as you are helping me." I confirmed my answer with Paimon.
Who, for some reason was quite happy with this, "Great! Let me awaken the System in you first though."
"The what now?" I managed to utter these three words before an orb of revolving sigils and light was pushed into my chest.
After forcibly adulterating me with an unknown object of some sort, Paimon inspected me closely.
"You seem to be in good shape. Looks like it works! Now, your body is relatively weak as the System has been adjusting it with precision. But I think it'll be fine. So, go ahead and say 'Condition Check.'" Paimon dusted me off and patted my back. Encouraging me like a proud parent.
"Okay? Condition Check." With am unsure tone I spoke aloud according to his instructions, and all of a sudden a blue window screen materialised before me.
I jolted in shock, I was still unaccustomed to the magical norms of this new world. I was pretty sure it wasn't a dream as the blazing flames outside sure were hot.
[Name: Callum Mason
Race- Human
LV: 1
MA: 0
STR: 5
END: 5
AGI: 5
INT: 5
WIS: 5
LUK: 5
CHA: 5
SP: 0
Skills: 0].
I was quite disappointed with my stats, it seems to be due to that adjustment Paimon was talking about.
"Hm, the balancing seems to be in place. The weaker you are, the better you become. After all, everyone starts out as weak. Now, come." His Excellency gestured for me to follow.
And so I did, as we traversed his castle we spoke about what I had to do. "To be able to gain Spatial abilities one must first need to be of a high level in order to help your body accomodate the raw power." Paimon taught me of the System and it's purpose.
How the Gods had deigned themselves to help humanity of other worlds, how the System was left for them to grow stronger in the event that they lose their divinity.
"The best way to learn Skills is through Skill Books, or otherwise known to the archaic era; Grimoires." Paimon telekinetically pushed open the dark oakwood door, revealing an upwards spiralling library.
Hundreds of bookshelves rotated in place, all magically interconnected to each other. There was no need to gather it for oneself, as long as one called out what books one needed, imperceptible spirits would gather them for you.
These spirits were damned souls summoned by King Paimon himself. "Let's see. How about we start with your affinities? Hm?" Paimon gazed at me, my starstruck eyes gazing back.
"This is so cool!" I shouted, an unimaginable feeling welled within me. Excitement and joy, shock and amazement. All in consideration it made me want to sing out loud.
"Yes, yes. But don't sing. Some of my Familiars hate music." Paimon's shock faded away sooner or later, but I was more surprised to know that he knew of my habits.
Of course I don't doubt that he read my mind, or used any other methods. But I can't help but feel strange about it.
Oh well. Least he's not an enemy, at least not right now. Better to be wary than careless of course.