Jessica bounced from branch to branch, dashing through the trees trying to shake Marcos. Despite his lacking strength, no matter what Jessica did she couldn't seem to get the Vampire off of her tail. Instead of continuing to run, she skidded to a sudden stop and let out a fearsome call.
"BIG FELLA! TIME TO EAT!".
Beneath Marcos the ground began to shake, as if something was emerging that could threaten the very world. His eyes widened as he watched the horizon before him warp, giving rise to the same monster like creature he had watched his master fight.
Immediately he drew his blade, watching Jessica leap up towards Big fella's shoulder and whisper something into his ear. The smooth surface of Big Fella's arm began to shift and vibrate, giving birth to jagged snowy edges.
'So he's an earth mage then?'.
Marcos internally cried to himself, using a tree to prop himself up and continuing to analyse the sheer size of Big Fella.
'But that doesn't mean he should be able to do this much at one time … it must be his emblem that's responsible'.
Marcos was already aware from their previous counter that this, Big Fella, shouldn't have sentience. From his time in the demon kingdom, Marcos became all too familiar with this type of demon.
Big Fella was a lower ranked demon, one that was normally just a lumbering mass of earth that was usually under the command of a much higher ranked demon. They weren't sentient in the slightest and could barely function with any tasks that weren't walking in a straight line or demolishing everything in sight.
Of course, there was the odd case where one of these low ranked demons could awaken an innately powerful emblem and propel themselves to a much higher standing amongst demons. It was just his luck that he would have to fight one now.
Or did he have to fight?
"MY MASTER JUST WANTS TO TALK", Marcos bellowed, pushing all of the air from his lungs in a single moment.
"…", Jessica remained silent, and it looked as if Big Fella cocked a brow.
Jessica remained still, perched on the shoulder of Big Fella. She wasn't so stupid as to believe Marcos was willing to simply talk it out.
"WHAT COULD A VAMPIRE POSSIBLY WANT WITH ME!", She called back, watching Marcos jump to the floor.
"I MAY BE A VAMPIRE, BUT RIGHT NOW I AM THE AIDE TO MILO VAN BELCHED", Marcos shouted, "AND HE WISHES TO SPEAK WITH YOU".
Jessica's features darkened; she still couldn't believe it. A Vampire submitting himself to a human was unheard of.
It didn't matter how you judged it, Marcos didn't seem as if he had a hope in this situation.
The task of even speaking with Jessica was proving to become a lot more challenging by the moment. Judging from her codename, Marcos was able to deduce that she was one of the select fighters in direct service to a lord of the demon kingdom.
Which made the reason she was here all the more interesting.
In the demon kingdom Nyxahar, ranks were more valued than anything else. The ranks could be split into a pyramid of sorts, where the low rankers far outnumbered the higher ranks, but were so weak they couldn't even begin to touch them
The lowest rank was quite simply referred to as, unmentionables. These demons were the ones you would typically see in a children's bedtime story, you know, the usual red-skinned, skinny, devious looking creatures that were so small they were accompanied by an angel on your other shoulder.
They weren't very powerful physically nor in terms of mana, and a majority of them only managed to awaken the weakest attribute emblems. In short, they were incredibly pointless to the kingdom and were cast aside and forced to live in swamps.
Demon knights followed these unmentionables. The knights themselves weren't anything special, but their appearance was akin to a human besides horns and dark grey, green and blue skin. Their physical strength and basic ability in mana allowed them to make up the bulk of the demon army. These demons lived ordinary lives for the most part, some even living on farms with their families when they weren't at war.
Servant class followed. This was Marcos' class of demon; they were a class of creatures that specialised in serving a master rather than developing their own strength. They are the most versatile group as their strength is highly dependent on who they choose as their master, some reaching Emperor stage and others sinking back down towards the Tempering realm.
Funnily enough, Vampires weren't the only kind of demon that were able to form blood bonds. Night walkers were the other main group, a special kind of demon that could only operate in the night, but when they did their strength was propelled further than that of their own master.
Enforcers were the rank that kept everyone beneath them in check. The growth rate of these demons was slow, but being born with natural talents they were innately powerful from birth, meaning they didn't actually have to grow. Their numbers were limited, but given they had a select few families that were able to consistently produce high quality enforcers, it wasn't much trouble.
Now, you may be wondering how Big Fella fits into this, or if there are more ranks. Big Fella is somewhere between unmentionable and Knight, meaning that he lacks the intelligence but possess the physical capabilities.
Marcos watched Jessica carefully, she finally began to slide down towards him.
'She must be a general …'.
Demon Generals were one of the stronger ranks, and as their name suggests were the leaders of units in the demon army. What made this group extraordinary to Marcos was their capacity for growth, not only was it staggering but it seemed boundless at times, as if they could surpass the even higher ranks.
Demon lords were a select class of elites that commanded the demon generals. These 10 families governed the continent and possessed immense amounts of power, wealth, knowledge and men. To say they were the pinnacle of the kingdom wouldn't be a mistake, that is, if the final class didn't exist.
The demon king. As his name and title suggests, he is the king of the kingdom but doesn't really do much in terms of governing. His immense power is more than enough to keep those under him from rebelling and he only moves if a situation has the capacity to wipe out his kingdom. Marcos had never laid eyes on the demon king, to him he still remained as a legendary figure.
"You want to talk", Jessica skidded to a stop in front of Marcos, "Then let's talk".
"Perfect!", Milo and Renny emerged from behind a tree. Milo was clapping as he approached Jessica, although he made sure to position himself slightly behind Marcos.
Milo knew that he was strong for his age, but Jessica was still someone so far out of his paygrade, so much so that it was unimaginable for him to even think he could take a hair from her head. So, he made sure to hide himself, out of tactics … yeah, tactics.
"So", Milo began, "What's a demon general doing all the way out in the sticks?".
"Before that", Jessica said, pointing towards Marcos, "How have you managed to get a Vampire to swear complete loyalty to you despite you being a human. That is simply unheard of in our continent".
Milo shrugged, "Just kind of happened".
"No", Jessica shook her head, "Something like that doesn't just simply happen. Someone gifted him to you, didn't they?".
"Clever girl", Milo clicked his tongue, "Yeah, I was out back training in a forest when I stumbled upon Marcos who seemed quite panicked. Out of nowhere some demon called Dark showed up and told me to drop blood into his mouth … here we are".
'So it was Dark'.
Jessica rubbed her chin in thought, looking from Milo to Marcos.
"Wait …", her gaze lingered on Marcos, "That means …".
"Enough", Marcos said sternly, watching Jessica visibly pale at the sight of him.
'Wow …'.
Milo whistled internally. He knew Marcos carried a certain weight about him, but he never cared to show it. This was the first time he had actually seen Marcos flaunt his name and power.
Although, what Milo wasn't aware of was that it wasn't Marcos' name who carried the weight. It was the man who he casually brushed away as an inconvenience every chance he got, Dark.
Jessica shook herself from her thoughts before beginning to speak, "So then, all you want to know is what I'm doing here?".
Milo shone a smile towards her, "That's right. I'm not naïve enough to believe I could beat you in a fight as I currently am".
A wave of pride crossed Jessica's features. She crossed her arms and took a step towards Milo, but visibly relaxed, "That's fine, as long as you know".
"As for what I'm doing here …", Jessica began, "It really isnt anything special. As you already found out I formed a contract with the Earl, which indirectly led to me testing you. To be honest, it was my pleasure to be able to meet such a talented individual".
"Oh please, you're making me blush", Milo said sarcastically, placing his hand on his cheek.
"Is that all?", Milo asked.
"That's the gist of it. I didn't bother to ask why he needed someone as powerful as me, but I didn't really care as long as I got paid", Jessica replied.
The sound of armour clattering coupled with men's voices screeching could be heard from the distance.
"It's as you said Milo!", Renny said in awe, his eyes widening as they swept Milo up and down.
"What a pain in the ass", Milo snapped, looking back through the trees, seeing the faint outline of multiple torches and hearing the hooves of horses clattering over the fallen wooden trees.
"Go", Jessica said.
She pointed up towards Big Fella, commanding him to move towards the cacophony of sounds, "Go and stall them Big Fella, until the kid and his crew get to a safe distance".
"You sure?", Milo said, cupping his ears and listening intently, "Sounds as if it's an entire unit".
"Yeah, we can handle it", Jessica said, tapping Big Fella's toe as he trudged past them.
"Besides", Jessica said, hunching into a ball with goosebumps tracing her skin, "If I let something happen to you, he'd probably torture me in more ways than I could possibly imagine".
Milo cocked his brow hearing this, "He?".
He didn't get a response. Marcos tugged his arm and swiftly swept Milo off his feet and began to dart through the remaining trees. Despite Renny not knowing where he was going, he was more than capable of keeping up with Marcos. Whether that was down to Marcos purposely slowing his pace, Milo wasn't sure.
"What a weird girl", Milo mumbled to himself, looking up at Marcos' relaxed expression.
'I hope I get to see her again'.
…
Back at the Van Belched residence, Melissa stood outside.
She let out a heavy breath and turned back to enter the house but was stopped when the familiar figure of Sheila appeared to block her path.
"Mother!", she exclaimed, "Shouldn't you be speaking with auntie?".
Sheila lightly shook her head, "Not at all my dear. I'm just worried is all, do you believe he will be ok?".
Since Sion and Sheila had arrived at the main residence two days ago, all Sheila had been capable of doing was pacing back and forth, riddled with worry about Milo going to meet an Earl.
How did she know this? Because the idiot Pavlor was pouting about being left behind.
Sion didn't take the sudden news any better. After the sudden realization that his son was now more powerful than he was, came another revelation. Neither he nor Sheila had taught him an ounce of etiquette.
Milo had always been a quite and respectful child, choosing to read books rather than squabble with his sisters. But, on the odd occasion he did feel superior to someone else, he took it far, arguably too far. That was a trait he seemed to inherit from Sheila, who also took a great deal of pride in herself.
After a few days exploring the town, Milo, Renny and Marcos finally decided it was time for them to head on back to the main residence. They hadn't gotten what they came for, but then again, they didn't actually come here for anything.
Although Milo had picked up a new potential comrade in Jessica.
His list of potential allies just seemed to keep growing as he ventured further out into this new world.
Being left with Marcos and Renny was more than enough for him but being gifted an intelligent monster like Melissa as a sister and Rebecca was already astounding. Not to mention the development of Pavlor.
All Milo could think to do was bring Jessica to his side somehow. She seemed to be more relaxed and friendly than she liked to make out. Her outward appearance may have been prickly, but Milo felt a strange sense of kinship whilst he cracked jokes with her.
"Milo?", Renny asked.
"Hmmm", Milo responded, growing tired.
"Are you excited to see your parents?", Renny asked again, earning a surprised look from Milo.
He rested his hand on the carriage that was taking them back home, "Right, I forgot about them coming over".
He didn't mean anything bad by it, he had just been so focused on his own development that he had pushed everything else to the back of his mind.
The main thing he took away from this excursion was something he didn't want to imagine, the demons being fairly active.
The catalysts for the previous great war, were once again moving freely.