"Demons of the underworld. Hear me. I call open the doors of communication to hell. I open the pathway to siphon the power from the eternal pit. Hear my call, and answer me. Answer this boy wishing to use your malicious power." He recited the incantation, word for word without missing anything.
Kieran focused intensely as he recited the incantation. The red aura began to form around his chest, but it was still faint compared to the time his body was taken over. Thus, he wasn't able to bring out the potential he displayed before.
Kieran recited all three paragraphs of the incantation. He mimicked the hand signs displayed on the book as he recited the last paragraph. Just from feeling the energy gathering around his chest, it was clear that it was working. One could tell that the teenager was putting all of his strength into performing the blood ritual. He had studied for weeks in preparation for this very moment.
He then began to move his injured arm around the magic circle, spraying his blood all over. "With this blood offering I open the gates of communication."
He recited the statement and immediately Kieran clenched his fist and started shaking uncontrollably.
Upon completing the ritual, he felt the malicious aura envelop his senses.
"I am Drakthos. I sense your power and wish to form a contract with you."
The voice of the demon was deep and hollow, similar to the one Kieran would hear back when he was in Mistwood Village. Though he knew this was not the same demon, he sensed that they were not the same and was glad because of it.
Kieran did everything necessary, and the dark aura moved into his body. Now, all that was left to do was for him to come to an agreement with the demon. As his body was energized, the demon then stated the conditions he would have to fulfill in exchange for the power.
"You must perform a blood ritual to me at least once everyday," Drakthos stated. "Missing even one day will result in dire consequences."
The voice then ceased to speak after that, waiting for a response. Kieran would have to ponder before giving out a reply.
As he came to a decision, Kieran's body was empowered by the demonic energy. When he felt like his body was no longer gaining power, a smile formed on his face. He knew that all his efforts had finally come to bear good results.
The moment his body was enveloped by the dark energy, he could tell that his five senses also improved considerably.
"I can't believe it actually worked."
"Neither can I," Sidney said from behind, a smile forming on her face.
Turning around, Kieran saw that she was standing right by the door. He realized that he hadn't locked the door prior to starting the ritual, plus with all the noise he was making someone was bound to come check what was going on. Although he didn't expect it to be Sidney, he was still glad that he hadn't woken her father up from sleep.
"You finally did it. You learn how to use your power."
It was something that was revealed to her the day when Kieran and Hector went to see the village mage. He told her about his negligible magic potential, as well as his abyssal conduit ability. He had seen the way Hector had reacted upon learning of it and was glad that she had reacted the same way. However, she was still more curious to learn about what he was capable of.
She didn't bother to ask him questions about his ability, since she planned on poking around to one day spot him using the power thinking that no one was watching him. Since he had forgotten to love the door, it provided her with the perfect opportunity to do just that. She was there when he started the blood ritual, when he slit his wrist and recited the incantation. However, she didn't to make her presence known until he was done. She wanted to see the final result. She was pleased to see him succeed.
When he laid eyes on her, he walked forward. The bedroom was not that big and he quickly covered the distance. A smile formed on his face as he looked her right in the eye.
His ability was supposed to be a curse that would only bring forth death and destruction. But now that he had learnt to willfully activate his ability, the fear of that happening had greatly reduced.
He raised his right hand, immediately forming a dark red ball of energy. It was hot and thick, a condensed ball of aura. The mixture of dark red and black gave off the feeling of damnation. The crackling sound resembled a blazing flame burning through timber. In the centre, a faint voice could be heard, mimicking the whispers of lost souls, the cries of agony burning through eternal fire. The aura embodied the movements of fire. Meanwhile, it gave off a dim glow that barely illuminated the space around him.
"This is demonic energy," Kieran said as he aimed his fist at the wall.
He then swung his hand forward and the ball of energy travelled through the air.
"Demon Sphere, that's what I'll call it," he started to form another ball of aura in his palm.
"So far, I feel as strong as a near mage magic user." He proceeded to continue to pour all of the energy into a demon sphere, but he still felt like it wasn't enough.
Quickly, he shot out the attack. Seeing the damage done, his eyes grew wide in shock.
"I broke the wall. Why did I break the wall? What is wrong with me?"
12:30am - This was the current time of the day. Not only did his attacks break through the ceiling, but they also produced loud bang that could wake anyone up from sleep. He turned his head to face Sidney, having a shocked expression on his face, he never expected something like this to happen, after everything he didn't expect himself to loose control yet again.
His hands fell to his sides, his head hung low, he had nothing to say to defend himself. He never expected this to happen. With so much information at his finger tips, he still fumbled and ended up blasting holes in the roof.
Upon forming the contract, he never once thought of how he would deactivate the aura up until now.
"I am truly sorry for blasting the roof, I will do whatever it takes to make sure it gets fixed immediately. Please, don't kick me out…"
The thought of himself losing control had always been on his mind. The innate ability he was born with was unlike any he had ever heard of. His ability was one that possessed immense potential but still came at the risk of him losing control to the influence of the demonic energy.
With no idea as to how he would curb this issue, he decided the best thing for him to do was to search the textbook for any information regarding the matter. Of course, he had set his mind to reading the book cover to cover, but he was still glad that the blood ritual had worked and now he could utilize demonic energy while being in control albeit to a certain extent. The magic circle began to vanish, and in a couple moments, it could no longer be seen.
Everyday, regardless of his chores, he would study the book and try utilizing the demonic energy. He would also have to complete the daily request that was stated by the demon known as Drakthos.
When he had nothing left to do, he would practice his use of the sword - Trying to see if he could imbue the blade with demonic energy, similar to how magic users would imbue their weapons with their magic. He began learning how to channel the dark energy through the blade. Even so, his physical strength still remained the same, and he would still need more physical training to improve in that area.
Moreover, physical training wasn't something he had much time for, since almost all of his time would be spent doing household chores, hunting, cooking, as well as reading the textbook at night. Only an hour or two a day could he spare to use the sword.
It was something that he didn't want to disregard. He didn't want his innate ability to distract him from improving his sword skills.
Kieran never had someone to mentor him on how to use a sword properly. He had only been given a novice spellbook by his dad and was never given an instruction manual that could teach him how to properly wield a sword. After a week had passed, he considered asking Hector if he had any books on swordsmanship, or if the village mage had a book somewhere in his library that could help him out. He was eager to improve his swords skills - Something he always told himself he would uphold to remind himself of his family name.
"I'll ask him tomorrow," he said, falling asleep soon after.
Getting out of his bed the next day, he started sauntering his way down stairs after freshening up. He sat down on one of the chairs and dug into his breakfast, thinking non-stop about what he wanted to ask.
"Can I ask you something? It's about me learning to use a sword," he said as he looked at the old man. He hoped that Hector was in a good enough mood to agree to his request.
Unfortunately, there was the incident that happened a week earlier with his ability and their roof.
He hoped the man wasn't still mad at him because of it.
"What about it?"
Kieran wasn't sure if this was a good sign, the tone of his voice sounded like he was irritated, like he didn't even want Kieran to be at the dinning table with them. Sidney had tried to smoothen things out between the both of them, knowing that the teenager hadn't intentionally destroyed their roof that night.
She knew that he was under the influence of some evil entity, causing him to do what he did, and he had to face the hatred of the man ever since then.
Kieran had lost his appetite after telling the old man his request. He couldn't bring himself to finish his cereal and he was more worried about what Hector would do if his anger didn't subside with time.
"The mage is not currently in town. He travelled to handle some urgent matters."
The words he had spoken weren't the words he was expecting. A few seconds later, he thanked the man for considering his request, understanding his place in their family. Kieran knew that he couldn't overstep his bounds regardless of the way they had been treating him for a while now. It was something that was drilled into him from a very young age. He was taught by his parents to never take advantage of people's kindness. Nevertheless, people's kindness is not perfect, intense love can always be accompanied by intense hatred.
When everyone had finished breakfast, they all went about completing their daily chores, with Sidney and Kieran later heading out into the forest to hunt.
As the two spent more time together over the weeks, Sidney eventually started to trust Kieran to hunt magical beasts on his own.
"Let me see how demonic energy affects magical beasts."
Once he had encountered a magical beast, he gathered the dark aura in his hand and shot it out.