Abyssal Conduit
"He has a deficiency with his magic power, correct?" The man said, trying to clarify what he had heard.
The mage had immediately dismissed the class he was having with a bunch of children about magic. He and Hector shared a close relationship with each other, being one of the few people high up in the social ladder who Hector looked up to with regard. He was also his best friend since they had known each other from back when they were learning how to hunt as teenagers.
His name was Thorn Ironheart, head of the Ironheart family and one of the major authority figures of the village. He clasped his hand together and began to cast a magic spell. Just from looking at the man, Kieran could tell that he possessed a great amount of power. One could tell by the way he carried himself and how he spoke. His eyes glowed with power as he recited the incantation. He imbued the spell with his magic, and it began to take effect.
He focused his gaze at the boy and a bright yellow list escaped his mouth, rushing towards Kieran. "Magicus Locatus."
Upon casting the spell, the mage tried to locate and determine how much magic power potential Kieran has in his body.
"I cannot believe this. The boy's potential is very weak."
Kieran ignored the words of the man as he clenched his fists, trying to concentrate to drawn out his magic. When he was back in Mistwood Village, he would train everyday to improve his magic as a wizard, but now after hearing the words of the mage, he didn't know how to feel.
He trained hard everyday, making sure never to kiss a day of practice. However, all his hard work would always amount to nothing. As he soldiered on through his years back in his home village, he always did his best never to lose hope in a better tomorrow.
"The boy has no future as a wizard," Thorn said as he ended the spell. "His magic power potential is near negligible and if he keeps on training then he is just wasting his time."
A teardrop streamed down his face upon hearing this news, his fists clasped tight. One of the worst news he could ever receive slapped him right across the face.
As the reality of Thorn's words dawned upon him, Kieran began to shake his head as his fist connected with the table. He could hear the sound of his bones cracking, but he didn't care at this point. He stood up from his seat and began to make his way towards the front door.
The moment he turned his back on the mage, he heard the man say something else.
"But I did sense something else inside of him."
"What is it?" Hector asked, hoping this could be something that would be useful to Kieran in the future.
Hearing what the mage stated, Kieran's body froze in fear. He knew what the mage was referring to, it was his innate ability. The very one that grants him power from the underworld, the one that nearly wiped out his village.
"Please, sir! I know what you are going to say."
It was a power that he never wished he would have to use. An ability that was considered a taboo and a sin, capable of only bringing about death and destruction. A curse which he was born with and had to live with for the rest of his life.
Not once did he ever think of cultivating such a power, he didn't have the heart to pursue such a vile path to strength. As he turned around, he saw a smile on the mage's face as he went on to explain what he had sensed inside of the boy. Hector was shocked upon learning the kind of power the boy was harboring. However, unlike the people from his village it didn't change the way he viewed the young man. He had lived with Kieran long enough to know the kind of person he is. He doesn't possess an evil heart.
When the mage was done explaining what he had sensed, he offered to make a proposal to the both of them. Being the strongest mage and protector of Sunhaven, he had access to a wide range of knowledge possessed by the village. It included knowledge about demons and a lot about what one wished to know about them.
The library was sponsored by the council of elders and housed over a thousand books ranging from spellbooks, to history books, and even books about magical creatures and demons as well. On top of one of the many shelves in the library was just the book he was looking for.
He climbed a ladder, immediately reaching out his hand to grab the spellbook. It was a hard and thick textbook, weighing about one kilo. The front cover of the book boasted a color that resembled a darker shade of red. In the center, a creature with two curved horns sticking out of his head and a trident in his right hand could be seen, its skin bathed in blood. The image of the creature on the front cover looked almost alive. Meanwhile, there was a message written at the bottom of the cover.
"Woe onto those that thread the path of darkness," Kieran read the message.
He then quickly turned the book on its first page and read the bold heading.
"An introduction to hell and the world of demons. What are demons and why do they exist?" He then started to read through the first paragraph of the page.
"Demons are creatures born from the wrath of the goddess upon mankind," he then proceeded to continue reading the paragraph, taking no break until he reached the end of the page.
Carefully, he read through every word that was on the page. Doubling back to see if he had missed anything before turning to the next page, but he had read every word.
"Demons are immortal. Their only weakness is light magic. There are numerous classifications of demons."
One hundred - that was the number of demon classifications that are stated to exist. Not only were they numerous, but the book stated that hell was more than vast enough to host billions of demons. He read through the next page just as quickly as he did the first, making sure he didn't miss a single bit of information.
Seated in the library, he was ready to read through the entire book, word for word without missing a single ounce of detail. He was always fond of reading. In the past, his mother would always call him a nerd because a lot of the time she would see him with a book in his hands.
Upon turning to the next page, he heard the mage speak once again.
"I'm glad you are enjoying the book, but I need to get back to my class now. Since Hector cares so much about you, I'll let you keep the book."
The mention of keeping the book for himself had caught his attention. The book was quite large and was bound to host a vast amount of information about the demons. From reading the table of contents he could see a wide range of topics covered by the textbook.
With not much time for him to cover much information, he immediately covered the book and followed Thorn out of the library and towards the front door leading into the mansion. Hector followed the two as they existed the mansion, seeing the book in Kieran's grasp, he was quite curious to know what his friend had given to the boy. The two of them headed back to Hector's house, and went back to work doing whatever household chores were left for the day, meanwhile, Kieran wished to learn more about the book.
Everyday after that, after completing the chores, he would read through the information provided by the textbook. He would read on for hours, barely getting enough sleep at night.
When two more weeks had passed, he had obtained a considerable amount of knowledge about the demons - What they are and their various species that exist. He began to learn about demon contracts and how to form them in hopes of one day being able to use the ability to his advantage, despite his fears. Even so, there was much to learn, and seemingly hundreds of pages worth of knowledge for him to accumulate.
Obviously enough, his drive to gain power was getting the better of him, pushing him to slowly overcome his fears, the various rituals and binding vows opened his eyes to a lot of things. There was more than one way to draw power from demons that didn't involve the cost of one's life.
It was something that was clearly stated, and there were other ways of forming contracts, such as blood offerings, offering the lives of animals, completion of certain tasks, and even the destruction of properties or territories.
Kieran was glad to discover this. The thought of killing for the sake of power didn't sit well with his morals, his conscience wouldn't let him. When he finished reading the section of the book dedicated to forming contracts, he began to consider using his innate ability at some point. He learnt that there was a way for him to will fully activate his ability - A way that required him to perform a blood ritual.
"I guess I'm going to do this," he said, flipping the book onto the next page.
It was late that night, and he began reading the next section of the textbook. He read the heading that stated the power scalings of the various demon species. He noticed that there were certain pages regarding the topic that were left blank, and he wondered what information was left missing.
"Five blank pages? Why are they blank?" He asked as he skipped those pages. The thought of what those pages could have contained slightly distracted him from the others.
Unfortunately, he couldn't keep his eyelids open for much longer, and he eventually fell asleep.
He laid down with his face on top of the open book.
"Hey, wake up."
A few moments later, his eyes panned open and the first thing he saw was the face of Sidney smiling down at him, her body leaning forward close to him. As he got off the bed, he felt dizzy as he struggled to maintain his balance.
The book he was reading was laying wide open on the bed, the page he was on somewhat wet and creased from sleeping on it, he rushed to grab the book and place it on top of the table beside the bed, and stood up to get ready for the day ahead of him.
Kieran quickly freshened up and headed downstairs to help out Sidney with the chores. While working, he couldn't stop thinking about those blank pages from the textbook and all the information he had learnt.
"I'll need to find out what those pages were meant for eventually."
The day quickly came and passed by. Later that night, Kieran opened up the book, continuing his study from the page where he stopped last night, eager to learn more. Kieran knew he would eventually forget the things he was reading if he didn't study closely and make notes of the things he was reading. It was his nature to forget the important things if proper care wasn't taken. That night he read through twenty more pages of the textbook. Nevertheless, there were still over three hundred more pages left to read.
When it was finally midnight, Kieran got ready to perform the blood ritual, which would enable him to conciously utilize his innate ability. At the same time, he was considering all the possibilities of something going wrong and him loosing control to the influence of a demon once again. Kieran's conviction may have been weak, but his will to grow was not.
He drew the magic circle and placed a dagger close to his wrist, making a small cut.
"Demons of the underworld, hear me…"
He began the incantation to open the doors of communication to hell.