A lot of time had passed since I left the temple... but there was still no sign of human civilization.
It won't be long until the sun goes down, so I'll need to find shelter soon...
With my enhanced senses and a little bit of sensory magic, I finally found a small cave covered by trees and other vegetation.
Even though I'm the strongest In the world, sometimes you can never be too careful of your surroundings...
I felt it earlier, but my mana has seemed to become unstable... Probably because a new variable was introduced to my body.
Right now, the light and dark attributes are fighting for control as the dominant element, that's why I need to balance them before they tear my body apart.
In fact, if left alone, my body would probably explode into tiny little pieces.
I sat on the floor and closed my eyes, taking small, deep, breathes...
Alright, now that I stabilized my rhythm, I need to quickly reduce my magic energy to absolutely nothing. ...It's a bit risky, but I have no other choice right now...
It took a while... an entire week at least, but I finally managed to use up almost all of my magical energy. ...Now, comes the hard part.
My first step was to create a mental image. Both light and dark elements clash into one another with full force. They are like colliding waves, always fighting until one overthrows the other.
...However, during my travels across the world, I encountered numerous phenomenons. One of which was what I like to call, "Whirlpools." The flow of water doesn't move against each other but works in unison to create a powerful force that sucks in everything it comes into contact with.
Now, all I have to do is keep this image in mind when gathering mana from the surrounding area.
Swirl, swirl! Swirl, swirl!
Alright, good. It seems everything is going to be fine. Just need to keep up this pace for a while.
...
...
...
Swirl, swirl, swirl...!
...Alright, that should do it!
...Now that that's over with... I should be able to use both types of elemental magic without any drawbacks to my body.
First, I should start by conjuring a simple light spell...
...Good. And now for.... wait a minute... I don't know any dark elemental magic...
How am I supposed to use this new power if I don't know any dark elemental magic...!
...
...
...
Wait. Maybe there is a way... summoning magic!
Although there are some subtle differences, the fundamentals are all the same. All I have to do is just change some parts of the spell, like so...
Okay, now I should get started.
"Oh child from below, heed my call... You who comes from shadow... You who comes from darkness! Come forth, so that we may destroy our enemies!!"
I could feel the summon draining the mana from my body. For a dragon, this amount is nothing. If a human tried to summon a Greater Demon, they'd already be dead...
The demon appeared before me, using the dark elemental magic as a catalyst for its physical form.
It took the form of a maid; with her short black hair and slender physique, you could almost mistake her for an actual human.
"Greetings, my dearest contractor. My name is Ruelle... It is a pleasure to meet you." she said, giving an elegant bow.
"Ah, my apologies. I didn't realize it was you, my liege," said Ruelle.
"So... you could tell at a glance, huh? Then you must also know my true identity," I said.
"Of course. No individual can exude this much divine light as you can, Master Lucius," replied Ruelle.
Strange. Not only is she not fazed with me having the Demon Lord's heart... it's like she doesn't even care!?
"The existence of demons is to serve directly under the Demon Lord. Therefore, we treat their will as if it were our own... In other words: you have nothing to worry about. We don't hold any grudges, nor do we need to," said Ruelle.
She isn't lying; not even a little...
No lie could ever get past me.
...If what she said is true, then demon hierarchy must be cruel in its expectations of Demon Lords.
"Fine. I suppose you wouldn't happen to have a contract on hand, would you?" I said.
"Of course," said Ruelle.
Snap!
"...Now that we've come to an agreement, all that's left is a bit of blood," said Ruelle.
"Alright," I replied.
Squeeze!
Drip, drip, drip...
"Now, let us begin..." said Ruelle.
Ruelle let go of the contract, letting it slowly descend towards the ground before it suddenly burst into flames.
The blue flames began to spread, creating a pattern resembling a magic circle.
"Today, we forge a contract bound by blood... I, Ruelle, vow to never betray my Master, Lucius. If I were to do so, it would only end in my death."
As if reacting to her words, the flames rose from the ground... transforming into chains...
It attached itself to both of our arms. One end of the chain to myself and the other to Ruelle.
...Contracts work by creating a connection between two beings. Even now, these chains are burning away chunks of our mana and transferring it to one another.
By the end of this ritual, both of us would essentially become one being. Forever linking our lives until one of us dies.
It's risky, but it's not like I have a choice right now. Besides, there's no better person to help me know more about the world than someone who's lived for hundreds of years.
"Contract complete. Now then, what are your first orders, Master Lucius?" said Ruelle, giving me another elegant bow.
"What I need now is information... Anything relating to the current state of affairs of the world will do: politics, social status, history, etc," I said.
"Your wish is my command, my liege," said Ruelle.
"Would you also like for me to gather grimoires to help you with mastering dark elemental magic?" she asked.
"Ah yes, that would be ideal," I said.
Snap!
In an instant, I had been teleported to an unknown place... Probably a pocket dimension created by Ruelle...
It was a library with wooden floors. The sweet smell of tea and paper was something that I was all too familiar with...
Ruelle had disappeared behind the shelves of books while I freely browsed the different books.
Each book was thoughtfully well placed, which I found quite shocking given she was a demon.
Describing her as a "collector" would be an understatement... She was more like an intensive researcher, it reminded me more of Medea and her experiments.
Unlike Ruelle, Medea had books all over the place...sometimes you couldn't even find a place to sit, let alone get comfortable...
Ruelle had returned with a stack of books in her arms, gently placing them in front of me.
"Here are all of the most recent books to date. I recommend reading these two for history, this one for various politics, and... Oh, my apologies. It seems I may have overstepped," said Ruelle, pulling herself away.
"It's alright," I replied.
"I'm honestly very impressed by your collection... As a fellow mage and researcher, I would like to apologize for being rather rude and look forward to working with you," I said.
"I am honored to hear you say that, Master Lucius. I too, look forward to working with you. Now, if you'll excuse me... I will go brew you some tea," said Ruelle.
As she was leaving, I could see her cheeks showing a slight tint of red.
Although she takes her role so seriously, it's a good thing to see that she also has feelings... I can't help but smile.
My time in that place made me realize how much I took for granted the people I had in my life. I should try to be more open-minded to the other races while I continue to live in this world...