The Prince of Demons

Miril returned with me to Hoggdin's cave with the same immense speed as before. Speed almost wasn't a fair description as the world seemed to slip around us as she moved us at what I could only imagine was the speed of light; the entire world was bled of color as we moved at this mind boggling speed. I need to figure out what she meant by her hint; I want to be able to run this fast. The more impressive part was as she stopped the world seemed to pause in it's tracks and there was no massive shock wave from her sudden stop. How excessively impressive that was didn't matter at the moment as we were having our meal before noon arrived. I was curious what the <Journey> would be like. Hoggdin and Miril made it clear that we better not have to deal with anyone who had been on their <Journey> before. Ikol was gleefully shifting back and forth as we ate lunch as we enjoyed some tasty fish.

"So, what's Elijiah like?" I inquired to break the silence.

"A King." Miril answered sarcastically. It took every fiber of self-control not to thank her for her grand insight, but I knew Miril would attack me ruthlessly if I did that.

"Could you please enlighten me with a bit more of an elaborate response?" I requested. Miril let out a snort that informed me just how much she intended on answering me.

"Some of the Kings are quite unassuming, and the <Journey> does serve to help teach young <Spirit Beasts> how to gauge others better." Hoggdin clarified for me. Ah, that made it better.

"Is it the ones like Duck?" I probed, as their name was the most innocuous. Miril and Hoggdin both began laughing uncontrollably.

"Duck is either going to be the easiest or most difficult of the Kings for you." Miril stated between fits of laughter.

"Oh, I wish I could see you interact with Duck." Hoggdin added on, also laughing hysterically.

"What is so amusing about that?" I checked. They seemed to find the mere idea of me talking to Duck hilarious. It's rare for Hoggdin to laugh like that, which makes me a bit concerned. Miril laughing was nothing new, but Hoggdin laughing so wildly was a bit concerning.

"You will understand eventually." Hoggdin chuckled. That was not reassuring at all.

"How soon is eventually?" I tried. The laughter did not subside.

"I think how soon you can reach Duck is the answer." Orga informed me. Like I haven't put that together myself.

"Okay." I sighed as I was not getting the answered I was hoping for.

"Duck sounds fun!" Ikol chimed, having not seemed to pick up on any of the rest of the conversation.

"As one of the eight Kings, I imagine they will be. Do not try to spoil your own <Journey> before you have had a chance to explore the world around you. Let it come to you with time." Ipnerslei told me. Stupid, wise <Eternal>.

"I understand." I conceded. I guess I would have to just let the adventure happen naturally.

"We will leave soon!" Ikol exclaimed happily.

"Yes, we will be departing soon." I confirmed for him. Miril might be right about him not fully grasping what the <Journey> entails. Ikol was more of an in the moment type thinker.

We continued to eat the last remnants of fish before Hoggdin and Miril began stretching which was likely the signal for us to get ready to leave. Ikol and I followed suit as we stood up as it was nearing time for us to begin our <Journey>. I was kind of excited as now was the time for us to leave. I guess being able to have an adventure of nearly my own is exciting. I did have my minion I mean loyal musclehead to order, so it likely was my adventure entirely. Granted if Ikol doesn't have fun Miril will beat me into oblivion. Lux's adventure with a Miril side note to be had which was good enough for me; that would still be a great adventure to have, right? Ikol was doing ecstatic hops around the cave as now our <Journey> was set to begin at long last. Anticipation was kind of making this feel like time was moving at a crawl. We made our way outside of the cave, where the sun was shining brilliantly in the sky. <Waypoint Compass> was pointing towards where Miril dragged me in a rapid sprint.

"Now have fun, Ikol. There's no need to rush and try and sprint the entire way. Take your time and enjoy your <Journey>." Miril told Ikol as she licked his head.

"Yes Mama!" Ikol chimed radiating waves of enthusiasm.

"Good luck, Lux. I hope to see you again sometime soon. When you return, I want to see what you learned on your <Journey>. I can only imagine the wealth of knowledge that you are going to encounter, and the experiences that you will gain. It is okay to enjoy your time, but sometimes remembering your roots will help you. Hopefully, you will gain the experience to truly begin to thrive." Orga advised me. I was hoping enough to be able to beat Nil, or at least not get a one-sided beating from him.

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"I will also like to see how you grow. Giving you insights has been a great change of pace." Ipnerslei added with her glowing that meant she was smiling.

"How does one move through their <Mana>, before I leave?" I tried. Miril gave me a stare that made frost form in the air.

"No hints beyond what Miril gave you." Ipnerslei stated with a chuckle.

"Was worth a try." I grumbled. Miril's hint was probably barely not cryptic enough to eventually be understood, but who knew how long that timetable was.

"It is time to depart." Hoggdin declared as we all gave hugs and nudges goodbye.

"Yes sir." Ikol and I replied in unison.

I used <Wayward Compass> to see which direction Elijiah was in, and the two of us bounded across the open field. The long, golden grass swayed in the breeze as we bound across the plains. We headed towards the trees, which were a nice vibrant green. While Ikol and I were heading towards the mountains, he paused and looked back as I kept moving. Come on Ikol, we need to get moving. I gave him the moment as Hoggdin, Miril, Ipnerslei, and Orga stood there, watching us move away. Ikol after a few moments hurried up and caught up to me as we reached the woods. It was obvious by his face as he followed me part of the reality that we were leaving everything he had known was beginning to sink in. You do have to leave your mom behind. I guess I never really thought about it, as mine left me with Nil and his family when I was young. Which is quite in line with what Hoggdin told me about <Spirit Beasts> being bad parents. It didn't overly bother me though.

"Come on, Ikol. We need to keep moving, we can't stop this shortly into our <Journey>." I told him gently.

"I know, it's just, I won't see Mama for a while, will I?" Ikol checked, sounding a bit sad.

"It is just for a bit. We'll be back before you know it!" I tried. Please just accept the answer Ikol.

"I've never left Mama for that long." Ikol moped. Of course it was not going to be simple to convince him.

"Sometimes leaving where you are from is a way to grow. If you want to be like Boss, you need to grow at some point." I told Ikol. I might want to listen to part of what I was saying.

"I know. I… I just thought it would be different. I was excited to leave, but now that it's here I'm realizing Mama is going to be gone. We won't have a nice cave each night." Ikol explained. I guess he had a point there, our sleeping arrangements would not always be the nicest.

"But we're on a <Journey>! We get to have our own adventure! We have to be willing to make small sacrifices to enjoy the rest!" I added on enthusiastically.

"But, what if part of the small bit is a bit we didn't want to let go of?" Ikol asked. For an idiot, Ikol could raise a surprisingly good point.

"Then don't let go of it. I guess we just need to know what we can afford to compromise on, and what we will not let go of." I answered Ikol.

"Com…com-pro…compromise?" Ikol sounded out as we continued in the woods.

"Make an agreement on, I guess? Like when we split the fish." I explained. I was willing to share the fish, which was a compromise.

"Oh, I get it. Like splitting fish, and the things we don't want to split like the fish." Ikol stated, sounding happy he got the concept.

"Exactly!" I confirmed for him.

"So, do we just keep walking this way?" Ikol checked. A new realization hit me. Ikol is going to be my only conversation for a while, isn't he?

"Yes." I replied as I tried hard not to sigh. Hopefully my conversation skills wouldn't suffer as a result.

"Are we going to zatta zatta?" Ikol inquired enthusiastically. Maybe a swat or two. No, I needed to conserve my swats.

"Yes, we will zatta zatta." I sighed. Ikol speak was going to grate on my soul.

"Zatta zatta!" Ikol chimed happily.

"Not yet." I told him quickly.

"But it's a perfect time for zatta zatta!" Ikol retorted. I sighed. Fine. Distract him from the departure.

"Sure." I conceded as I cocked my ears down.

Ikol began singing and dancing in tune to his own music as we traveled. What differentiated this from singing and dancing and turned it into zatta zatta was beyond me, but it made him happy. I did a little bit of a hum along as to stop him from groveling and begging for me to join in the zatta zatta. The two of us traveled along, reaching the mountains in no time as we kept a steady pace. It was impressive how well Ikol could travel as he danced along; he was as graceful as usual despite the uneven terrain of the woods. His physical ability has always been top notch. I guess the Lords keep things balanced in some ways. Maybe it would be worth making sure we had a nice place to sleep each night, at least until Ikol adjusted more to traveling on our <Journey>. I checked the sky, seeing we still had plenty of time before the sun even began to set. We likely didn't need to climb up the mountains but rather stay near the bottom ravines where the ground was flatter on our <Journey>. We still had a bit of distance before we reached the mountains, however.

I mulled over Miril's hint about how to run so fast. Was it something similar to Nil's <Marionette Strings>? I doubted that. Her speed was so fast it made time slow down. Was that correct? My brain hurt from trying to process the information when she moved that fast, so what was it like when you were the one controlling that speed? I could do blips of <Light Magic> that beamed me place to place; something about what Miril did was different. She actively adjusted and moved while at that speed. So how did moving through <Mana> work? It was such an odd concept, as nothing I could think of resembled the <Technique> whatsoever. Maybe try breaking it down into smaller parts? Ugh, I sounded like Nil there. Not that I would ever tell him to his face, but he was quite good at solving problems like this. I knew the first step of his process was trying to think of the different little building blocks he could turn the problem into so that it was less daunting. He would gradually chip away at a problem until he could make a large leap. If I were Nil trying to solve this, what would the smallest block be? I think trying feel what moving through <Mana> even was; replicating and learning the <Technique> from there would require knowing what that sensation even was. I looked at Ikol, wondering if he understood it at all. I had the distinct feeling Miril had not taught her son that <Technique> just yet because his specialty was more power than speed. I let out a small sigh. No need to rush it, I have an entire <Journey> to figure this out.