Noah was pretty sure he’d been forgotten. It wasn’t that he particularly minded that — he had told Aylin and the others to pretend as if he wasn’t there. He just hadn’t actually expected them to do it.

That said, he had never been happier to have been forgotten. He’d learned so much about demons in the last few minutes that he was worried he might actually forget some of it. The corner of his mouth quirked up.

Who would have thought. Demons that live in the Damned Plains actually know a little bit more about themselves than I do. What’s interesting is that Lee knew so little. She understands the basics, but even Aylin knows more about being a demon than she does.

Is that because she spent all her time alone in the Wastes instead of in a city? I get that the cities were dangerous, but Aylin is weaker than Lee. His whole group is. So how is it they were managing to survive even at Rank 1 when Lee was scared of the cities at Rank 3?

Noah’s brow furrowed as he thought. Azel had been Lee’s father. He’d known she’d followed him into the mortal plane. Hell, he’d encouraged it. There was no doubt he’d been lurking around Lee for quite some time, probably since she’d been born.

Could he have intentionally kept Lee away from the other demons? He was a Rank 5. That’s no joke. Azel knew a lot more than he let on. Damn it. I wish I could have been there when he died. Actually, and I can’t believe I’m thinking this, but I wish he hadn’t died. If he could seal Lee and stop her from losing herself, then he knew a lot more than I do.

But the past was the past. No matter what they knew now, there was no way to turn back time and ask Azel the questions that Noah needed answered. All he could do is move ahead with what he’d learned — and that wasn’t an insignificant amount.

Lee and Violet have a lot of similarities. That’s incredibly useful. If I can figure out how Violet’s runes work, I can make progress toward Lee’s as well. For that matter, Aylin also has some similarities with her with his ability to taste things that shouldn’t be tangible like truth. Honestly, that’s an incredible ability.

That wasn’t Aylin’s only incredible ability. Noah wasn’t sure if he should laugh or rub the bridge of his nose as he looked at the trio of demons sitting in the center of the room. Vrith was laid out flat on the ground, having gotten the energy drained out of her about a dozen times over the course of their conversation.

Aylin had sent for someone to get food and was absently feeding her as they spoke. He’d propped her head up against his crossed legs. Vrith had objected to it at first due to Violet’s presence, but it had only taken about two more questions before she’d changed her mind.

I was a bit worried about Violet’s change in personality at first. She was obviously a driven girl before, but the Rank 3 Rune really strengthened her resolve. For a moment it looked like she was going to turn into an obsessed guard that didn’t let Aylin do anything on his own.

Fortunately, that didn’t seem to be the case. Violet’s expression had been steadily softening throughout the conversation. The more Aylin and Vrith discussed their abilities and the clearer it became exactly what their deal was, the less Violet seemed to dislike her. Noah could almost pin the point where Violet’s opinion of Vrith switched from distaste to curiosity and then to amusement.

“So you don’t want anything from us other than to continue doing… this?” Violet asked, waving vaguely in Aylin and Vrith’s direction.

“Yes,” Vrith said once she’d finished chewing a large grape. “Could you stop asking that? And feel free to ask Aylin to verify this, but I will kill you if you go around telling anyone about this.”

“She’s lying,” Aylin said.

Violet snickered as Vrith’s glare bored into Aylin’s skull.

“I’ll keep it to myself,” Violet promised as she placed a hand over her heart. “But I’m curious. Was the deal that someone has to feed you? Or does it have to be Aylin?”

“This has absolutely nothing to do with the original line of questioning. I will not be answering that.”

“She’s telling the truth.”

Violet shrugged and stretched her arms over her head with a yawn. “That’s fine with me. I think I’m satisfied. It doesn’t look like you’re going to stab us in the back, so I really don’t care what you think of Aylin.”

“That was a lie,” Aylin said automatically. He paused, but it was too late to take back his words. He cleared his throat. “The latter half, that is.”

It was Violet’s turn to glare at Aylin. Vrith joined her, united against a common enemy. “I no longer like this ability. Turn it off.”Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

“I can’t,” Aylin said sheepishly. “Not yet. I’m working on learning how to control it, but I’m not very good at that yet.”

“Maybe focus on not ripping energy out of everybody you speak to first,” Vrith suggested with a sigh. Then she opened her mouth and gave him a pointed look.

Aylin fed her another fruit. Noah was starting to get hungry watching them. He wasn’t about to go ask Moxie to feed him, though. That felt like a bit much.

At least they’ve figured out something that works for all of them. It’s interesting to see how effective the perfect runes are in comparison to the normal Rank 3s here. Vrith is getting snacked on constantly, but Aylin and Violet are equally matched so he can’t accidentally eat her energy. I wonder if he could do it on purpose.

Noah tapped a finger against his leg. This was good information, but he needed more to decode how to help Lee. There was always the option of testing different qualities and types of runes on a bunch of different demons. That thought made Noah’s lips curl in distaste.

He was entirely fine with killing anyone that posed a threat to his group or him. Using a ton of demons as nothing more than test subjects… that felt a little far, especially given the things he needed to test.

I’m not a saint. Never claimed to be. I’m not going to be a monster either. If I’m going to test something, then it’s going to be something that should help someone, not hurt them. There’s no point randomly stuffing runes into demons unless I actually have a proper game plan.

Therein lay the problem. It didn’t make sense for Lee to try to progress with anything less than flawless runes.

Azel definitely didn’t have flawless runes, but his personality still got warped and controlled by the feeling he consumed. The worst part is it makes sense. Demons and their runes are strongly connected. You can’t split them apart without killing them, so a hatred demon is going to become hateful.

If I could find a way to somehow separate that or limit the effect of the rune without significantly weakening Lee, I could solve the first of her two problems.

The other problem… Noah wasn’t even sure where he could start on that. He still had absolutely no idea how Lee had managed to mash a Master Rune into her combination. It should have been impossible according to everything he knew about runes.

But, on the other hand, the more he learned about runes, the more he realized that people barely knew anything at all about them.

Our soul may only be able to actively use seven runes at once… but is that truly the limit as to what you can combine? Master Runes break other rules. Maybe there’s a way to break the rule of seven as well.

That was something he could test. He didn’t want to waste any of his current Master Runes, though.

Eh. I’m sure the Damned Plains has Master Runes in it. I’m going to need a whole lot more runes anyway at the rate I’m going through them. I was able to bring Aylin and Violet up to Rank 3 without too much difficulty, but I can’t keep at that forever.

I’ll be in position to do that pretty soon. Once Aylin collects a bunch of gangs under my banner, it won’t be long before I draw the attention of someone a little more important. I should be able to bargain with them. I just need to get into their equivalent of an auction or learn where a good hunting ground is.

And if they don’t give me that information… well, if they’re stronger, then they’ll have some decent Runes for me. I get what I want either way. I was kind of betting on taking a few runes from the other streetlords, but nobody else has shown up to challenge Aylin. He might be a bit too good at his job. Maybe I’ll pay a visit to the ones that don’t send word they’ve surrendered by tomorrow.

Noah shook his head. There were too many ‘ifs’ to consider that line of thought any further. For the time being, everything was going exactly how he wanted it to. It wouldn’t be long before he had control of the local gangs and enough strength to push his way into a higher level of society, where he could continue gathering strength and runes.

After I do that, I’ll find a way to get some stronger demons in my favor and keep climbing my way up the ladder until I have a whole damn army — no pun intended. I’ll upgrade my own runes in the process, fix Lee up, and then beat Wizen’s ass and go back to the mortal plane. Preferably in that order.

He was more than aware that his plan may have been just a slight tad optimistic, but nothing ever went like he wanted it to anyway. If shit was going to go south, it might as well go south while he was already aiming for more than he had any right to get.

While he’d been lost in thought, Aylin’s group had wrapped up their conversation and were just sitting around on the ground awkwardly, likely waiting for him to give them an order. He’d just been standing there and staring at them absentmindedly.

Ah, damn it.

Noah took a step forward — and tripped. Something soft and furry had lodged itself in front of his shin. He swore and stumbled, catching himself before he could fall and spinning.

Then he froze in place. Peering up at him with disdain, nose scrunched in apparent annoyance and eyes twinkling with amusement, was a white-furred cat with glistening red horns. A heartbeat passed as Noah locked eyes with Mascot.

“You little shit,” Noah said, a disbelieving laugh slipping from his mouth as he picked Mascot up. The cat yowled in displeasure but did nothing as Noah scooped him into his arms. “How did you get over here?”

Mascot twisted his head to look up at Noah. The cat gave him a dry look, as if to ask if he was stupid.

“Can you make a portal back?” Noah asked, his chest tightening. “You came here on your own, right?”

Mascot squirmed out of Noah’s grip and dropped to the ground. Then he started licking his nether regions clean. Noah’s lips pressed thin and he blew out a huff. That was a ‘no’ if he’d ever seen one.

Wait. I don’t need to go back. Not yet. Even if I could return home, there’s stuff I have to accomplish here first. But Mascot can somehow fucking travel between dimensions. Does that mean…

He crouched next to Mascot and the cat paused, tongue still sticking out of his mouth, to meet his gaze. They stared at each other for a second.

“A letter,” Noah said, his voice taut. “Can you take a letter back to the others?”

And, in response, he could have sworn Mascot smiled.