They walked through the dark, silent library. Their footsteps echoed, increasing Theo's curiosity even further, raising the question of 'How will this make me more powerful?'. The bookshelves around them were tall, filled with books of all kinds, centuries of accumulated knowledge, for them to use. It was neatly clean, without a speck of dust, all thanks to Lucius' hard work.
The place smelled of books and tea — a standard drink the students had while reading, though Lucius hated that one of them might someday spill on one of his precious books.
Theo initially thought they would go somewhere else, perhaps Lucius' apartment or a hidden corner in the library, but when he realized they passed through a door saying 'Staff Only, ' his mind started to raise questions.
He stared at Lucius' back and asked, "Where are we going?"
Lucius turned, smiling at him with a mysterious glint, which sent shivers down Theo's spine for some reason: "It is a secret area in the basement. I found it while cleaning it."
The walls around them changed from well-decorated marble to pure rocks with webs and small cracks. No one bothered to reform the basement of the library.
There weren't many things there, only a few crates with books, old bookshelves with more books, and separated crates and barrels with food and water for the library's staff — it was so terrible that Lucius never ate it.
Lucius stopped before an ordinary-looking old shelf. Nothing of it made it particularly impressive. Theo himself looked at it and thought it held no secrets.
With a swift movement of his hand, Lucius took out a small hidden dagger from underneath his robe, making Theo retreat a few steps.
"Don't worry," Lucius said, "This is not for you, my friend."
After taking out the dagger, Lucius cut the palm of his hand, placing it on the shelf. Nothing happened, but Lucius knew it took two minutes for the passage to open.
He warned Theo by saying, "Stay close to me. The passage opens for three seconds, and we don't want to miss it."
Theo nodded, moving toward Lucius, yet he grasped his wooden staff, ready to cast a spell if danger presented itself before him. After two long minutes, the shelf in front of them vanished.
"Fast! Go, go!" Lucius said.
They dashed toward the mysterious tunnel that appeared before them — though their speed was laughable how slow it was, akin to a turtle. But, it was enough for them to reach the other side before the passage closed.
If the atmosphere inside the library was already dark and quiet, it intensified inside that tunnel. Spiders and other bugs crawled through the walls, coming out of the holes between the rocks. The place had some torches — Lucius put them there.
"An altar at the end of the tunnel belongs to a deity! Come, I will show you."
The more they explored the place, the more calm Theo was, realizing that Lucius was not there to end his life.
After one minute's walk, they reached a vast open room with an altar. It had an ancient statue of a deity and a book with a prayer to get the deity's help. Lucius forged everything! The statue was of an actual deity, the God of Magic, but the chant was one for the Devil God, Lucius himself!
It was written in an ancient tongue. Lucius still knew it, as it was the primary language of the Gods. Theo would never find someone or the knowledge to translate what was written on the rustic leather book Lucius placed above the altar. That was what made him confident his plan would work!
"I can read it," Theo said, passing his finger through the book's pages, "But I have no idea what it means."
The ancient language followed the same alphabet as their current language, so that was the reason Theo could read it yet not understand it, and his pronunciation would probably be an ass too, but that did not matter. Even the wrong pronunciation would make him sell his soul to Lucius!
Lucius moved forward, stopping beside Theo, "You know I have almost zero talent for magic, right? After I did this, praying to the God of Magic, my talent increased, and I can feel it increasing daily!"
"Really? Let me try it!" Theo said, clenching his fist, determined to get enough power to stop others from bullying him.
Theo started reading the called 'Prayer.' It was a prayer, but to the devil and not to the God of Magic like Theo thought it was. His voice echoed inside the hidden chamber, saying unfamiliar words, yet the more he told them, the more power he felt within.
That made him more confident that the prayer was working, so Theo kept saying it aloud with vigor, determination, and faith…
Lucius felt something, too! The prayer linked Theo to him; the further it went, the more potent their bond was. When Theo reached the end of it, a notification appeared before Lucius' eyes, something that only he could see.
That was a tricky question. Sending it back to his original to gamble for a skill seemed like the best thing, but what were the benefits of keeping the soul to himself? Lucius looked for the information inside his system, and he found it!
After a careful read, Lucius realized he could give his followers blessings, regardless of whether their soul was with his current body or his original body inside the abyss.
< To increase their Soul Charge, they must do the Devil's bidding>
With a careful thought, Lucius decided to keep Theo's soul, and the moment he did, he felt their connection grow stronger, and everything Theo knew, Lucius knew too!