Magic Apprentice

Monster was still in the human world. Never had he so much entertainment in the last thirty-thousand years! So rather than return to Nadirheim, Monster took the liberty of burrowing into Elric’s subconscious before he woke. No one would detect him and he’d be able to perceive what Elric perceived. So the events that transpired in Flania’s room was seen in its entirety by Monster when it happened.

Put simply, Monster rather enjoyed Charle’s plan. It pleased him that even after thousands and thousands of years, humanity was still capable of coming up with such interesting things. Finally his plans from before his demise had borne fruit. Monster didn’t even remember the reason why he tried to tempt humanity towards the demons. Was it because he simply wanted to sway mankind away from the gods? Or was it because he just wanted to play tricks on these delightful creatures? Regardless, the interesting shenanigans mankind came up with was worthy of applause.

The predicament Elric was in was of particular interest to Monster. Deciding to help Elric, Monster quietly dug deeper into Elric’s subconscious and began to touch upon his psyche.

Elric felt the demon’s presence descend into his mind mid-prayer. He had always been curious about the enigma that was Monster and wanted to converse more with him, though he never figured out how to properly call him. Who would’ve known that Monster would choose now of all times?

Thankfully, Monster was inside his head instead of materializing in the real world where Kebrilio would notice. The only issue was figuring out how to send Monster back to his own world. Why would Monster chose now of all times to show up?

“Fear not, mortal. I have come to lend assistance.”

Only Elric could hear Monster’s voice since it was spoken telepathically into his mind.

Warmth filled Elric’s heart. His trust in Monster was at an all-time high ever since the latter saved him from the Barren Barons. Compared to everyone else he knew, Monster posed the least amount of harm and the greatest amount of assistance to him. Being tricked into making an unequal pact with Monster was a bit of a sour note for Elric, but Monster hadn’t harmed him at all for it. 

He took a second to think about his past teacher figures. 

Victor was constantly taking advantage of him, Crazy was prone to temperamental tantrums and forced him to take part in experiments all the time, Charle was proven now to play tricks on him when least expectant, and now Flania who had pushed him onto a precarious and tragic fate. 

Compared to those four, Monster was practically an angel. Kind-hearted and benevolent. Useful rather than useless like Crazy. Powerful enough to defeat Kebrilio. Elric was sure of it.

But the next words Monster spoke would drop Elric’s confidence. He was hoping that Monster would manage to pull him out from the mire of misery he was in. Monster hadn’t the power to change other people’s minds or free Elric from his misfortunes (not that he would even if he had). But what Monster could do was make it harder for his disguise to be made undone.

Elric didn’t plan on having Monster change anyone’s mind. If Monster could help him perfect his disguise or not embarrass himself, then Elric would count this as a huge favor. Right now, he was desperate for anything that could potentially save him.

Things, however, went in a way Elric didn’t expect. “Mortal, I have helped thee in every instance. Hast thou ever thought what benefit thou hast brought me?”

“Wasn’t you tricking me into that pact the greatest benefit?” Elric retorted.

“A pact with no merit. Thine mana is lacking as is thine capabilities. Hast thou ever ask what thou canst do for me when I have given my aid?”

Embarrassed, Elric looked away. It was true what Monster said. He had no power to help himself or Monster. It was only by Monster’s help that Elric was able to keep his life after escaping from the Barren Barons and Kebrilio’s magic. It was only right that he do something for him as well.

Still, Elric felt unsure if he should so readily agree to help Monster. Helping a demon? What if he asked for something that’d put humanity at risk?

To have Monster say his feelings out in the open like this embarrassed him. He was further distressed to hear Monster’s request and had no idea how to respond.

Indeed, Monster’s request was a rather wicked one. Offer up a woman’s body to him? Elric never realized a being with no physical body would have an interest as perverted as that. The request didn’t endanger humanity as Elric was afraid of, but it certainly endangered his sense of morality. It was an embarrassing act he didn’t even want to think about doing.

Monster was the only one that could save him. Saying no or refusing the request would lead to a life of perpetual darkness for Elric. Should he, then, live in shame so his conscience would be intact? Or should he live a life, shackled by the burden of his conscience so his name could be safe? A decision had to be made, but Elric wasn’t sure what the right decision was.

Elric’s hesitance was easily noticed by Monster. Pretending to be furious at his hesitation, Monster began to dissipate from Elric’s mind as if to force the latter to a decision.

He, of course, was sufficiently frightened by Monster’s act. Losing his last savior couldn’t be allowed to happen! Elric quickly replied in affirmation before Monster could completely disappear from his mind.

His answer pleased Monster. The latter didn’t even have to reply to Elric anymore. He had the young male where he wanted him. With just a little pressing and Monster found the lowest Elric was willing to go for.

For someone as innocent as Elric, having sex with someone of the female gender wasn’t a sin or against his morals. Inflicting harm onto their person was definitely impermissible, however. No matter how many times Monster coerced him into such an act, Elric remained steadfast. His refusal to bend the metaphorical knee to him angered Monster. 

One of these days, Monster would most definitely turn Elric into a slave to his lust, a servant of darkness. This was the type of game Monster loved to play regarding humanity. It tickled the demon to see how he could tempt the most stubborn of humans into the darkness. Elric was a stubborn one, but Monster was sure there’d be plenty of opportunities in the future to lead him deeper and deeper into the abyss. 

The pact now had terms both sides had to uphold. In return for Monster’s aid, Elric would have to help Monster with the pleasures of the female body, receive a kiss, and at the very least have physical contact with a woman (both sides having differing opinions on what this meant).

Elric wasn’t devoid of other benefits. After a series of intense haggling and bargaining, Elric managed to learn two spells from Monster. One of them was actually the spell Elric wanted to learn most. It was the one Jack told him about, the spell Monster used to cancel out Kebrilio’s spell—Spear of Darkness. 

This would be the strongest offensive spell Elric knew to date. He didn’t have enough mana to cast the spell, but Elric was pleased nonetheless. The other spell was actually brought up by Monster. The spell was originally meant so Elric could use magic to ‘open’ his eyes. 

The night Elric shared with those two women pleased Monster to a slight degree, but not completely. His own body was immaterial now, thus he felt rather powerless not being able to sense what was happening in the real world. Thankfully, the magic and hallow those two ladies used helped Monster realize a solution to his problems. 

While he lacked the body to perceive or sense the outside world, that didn’t mean he was without options. A certain kind of magic could be used to perceive the world and project it into the mind. A spell befitting this purpose actually shared the same name with the hallow he created—Oculus.

The spell wasn’t limited to viewing and manipulating the mind of another, but it was also capable of ‘seeing’ the world around the caster. By projecting their surroundings into the caster’s mind, the spell rendered the eyes redundant. It also had a very unique functionality in battle. When casted onto a person, the spell can reveal certain characteristics about them such as what their strengths were and how they were planning to attack.

The motivation for teaching these spells left Elric a little wanting, but he was very interested in these spells. One of the reasons was because they were powerful. Another reason was that these spells didn’t require the mana converted from Chaos Bulwark. He could cast these spells on his own mana!

It therefore held a great deal of significance for him to know these two spells. The only issue with the Oculus was of its range of effect being only ten meters. Everything beyond that would be utterly dark. In battles of magic where spells had ranges of several hundred meters to kilometers, ten meters was a mere pittance.