Twenty minutes into the uncomfortable silent journey, Amari got bored and continued his conversation with the large birds, which were called Ryclefs. They greatly resembled very large eagles, but weren't as intelligent as he first made them out to be.
After a while of talking to both birds, Amari turned away, disappointed.
He figured Fuller didn't want to talk to him, so he left him alone.
So… the journey to Ifrit territory was as stale as an old piece of bread.
When they got there, though. It was a different story.
"Uhm, do you think I can get new clothes?" Amari asked just before they landed.
Fuller nodded absent-mindedly and reached into space, grabbing a few garments for Amari to wear. The other demon quickly took off his clothes and threw the burning clothes onto the ground hurriedly.
"What the fuck?" He asked Fuller dryly.
Amari put on the smooth coarse fabric as he watched the clothes he'd worn for the past few days get burned by a creepy blue flame.
His new clothes were an all-black plain shirt and trousers with a red tie knotted perfectly on top. It looked like something worn to a fancy event, but his overly large boots didn't do him any favours in that regard.
The other demon said nothing but shook his head at the large castle in the distance. Calling it a castle was an understatement. It was a town in its own right.
The large black walls formed overlapping patterns and arches that hung menacingly above. A shimmering orange light flashed in and out of existence, and a second later a small unassuming fire-type demon beast was burned to death when it stepped too close.
Amari tried to ignore how ironic the situation was and focused on his surroundings.
Several gargoyle-like creatures floated above the castle perimeter, eyes glowing with fiery red blazes.
And apart from all that, Amari felt a foreign presence lock onto him immediately he stepped onto the land.
He tried to maintain a straight face and ignore it, but his sweating face made it that much more obvious especially since he wasn't really affected by the heat of the surroundings.
"Come on, let's move. They won't like it if we keep them waiting for too long." Fuller said, tapping his shoulder and walking towards the invisible flame barrier.
Amari didn't like where this was going, but he followed the Ifrit, albeit hesitantly.
A second later he stood face to face with the flame barrier and burst into sweat. The heat rolling off evaporated those sweats as soon as they came out of the skin.
'Ahh, fuck it!'
He plunged himself into the barrier and closed his eyes expectantly. Nothing happened.
A warm sensation trailed over his whole body and circulated a few times before wearing off. Amari opened his eyes and saw himself standing next to Fuller. The other demon had a bored look on his face.
"That was so dramatic of you." Fuller rolled his eyes and started moving before Amari could respond.
The demon territory was more crowded than what he'd seen on the outside.
For one, there were a lot of small imp-like creatures that ran around, spurting tongues of flame and causing mischief.
After kicking one too many out of the way, curiosity set in and he used Observation.
[Name: Imp]
[Race: Demon]
[Species: Lesser Ifrit]
[Attributes: Negligible]
[Danger Level: Non-existent]
"What are they called?" he asked Fuller as he stepped over a few small magma puddles, which, unsurprisingly, were everywhere.
Fuller reached down and picked one up, to the demon's annoyance. It kicked and screamed until it was thrown to the side.
"Lesser Ifrits. Like us, but weaker, more annoying, and less developed. Lesser Ifrits can turn into Ifrits, but their blood is as impure as muddy water after a storm. Lesser Ifrits alsoo aren't Lesser Demons, make sure to remember that,"
"Ah," Amari grunted and looked at the creatures again.
They certainly looked like Ifrits except for their diminutive stature and the absence of horns.
But he furrowed his brows, not sure why Fuller called them less evolved.
Well, until he saw one of them kill and eat the other joyously.
'Gross,'
At this time, they reached the castle doors, and everything became cooler.
The gargoyle creatures he saw flying in the air earlier also guarded the castle doors. They stood menacingly posted up.
Their stone-like skins undulated uncomfortably and ground against each other, causing sparks to fly and a persistent humming sound to fill the air. Each one held flaming spears and stared in their allotted directions.
Amari held himself back from checking their strength and let Fuller do his thing.
"Fuller'natinler reporting back to the leader."
The sparks and hums became louder as one golem moved to face Fuller.
"Identity confirmed. Carry on, Lieutenant."
Lieutenant was not something he'd expected, but apparently Fuller was a lieutenant. He shook himself again, trying to remember the purpose of their visit, but everything seemed blurrier in this place.
Whoosh!
The doors swung open as they walked forward, and the castle's insides were for him to see.
His first reaction was confusion.
"There's no way this is the same place," he said to Fuller's rapidly advancing figure.
No response came, and he had to follow up promptly in order not to get lost in the sea of demons.
It was like a marketplace ten times wider than the one they had first arrived at. Bright flames illuminated the corridor and multiple voices clamoured, each louder than the next.
Amari squeezed through two large Ifrits as he chased Fuller.
The demon didn't do anything. People just made a way for him, but ignored Amari instead.
Preferential treatment at its finest.
Several murmurs spread like wildfire, and the room went silent. The silence didn't last a minute and was broken by gradually ascending whispers. Fuller didn't stop moving toward the end of the corridor, though.
A few minutes later, but after what felt like hours to Amari, they'd reached the end of the hallway.
Another verification later. They were on the other side of the next door.
This time around it was a more subdued atmosphere, and a few people moved around from place to place carrying things and talking.
Amari had little trouble following Fuller, unnoticed for a while. This didn't last long, though.
A little girl ran up to Fuller and tugged on his pants.
"Are you Lieutenant Fuller? My mom says you're amazing!"
Fuller paused, then in a moment of uncharacteristic joyousness, turned down to smile at her.
"Your mom is also amazing. Listen to her!"
Amari experienced this scene multiple times until they finally got to the place they needed.
The stairs.
The very stairs that determine his next move in this fantasy world!