I awoke early the next morning in total darkness. It had been a long couple of days and I was thankful for the rest. I’d messaged Sally again on the way back to our swanky apartment in the Adventure Society building, but once again she didn’t reply.

  Lucas a king, I thought as I stared into the abyss above my bed. Who’d have thought it.

  After our little talk with Havier Regina it was clear that this tournament was about way more than just some asshole deity picking a new right-hand stooge. It was shaping up to be quite a big deal. I had a strong feeling that Jack had something to do with it all as well, but exactly how he fit into it all had me stumped.

  Oh well, I guess we’ll just have to wait and see. At least if Lucas was coming in for it then I’d have a few extra friendly faces around me, and strong ones at that.

  Unable to get back to sleep I mediated for a few hours until the sun came up, then made some breakfast in the kitchen. It had been a while since I’d cooked, I’d never been all that good at it if I was being honest. Leaving behind a bit of a mess, I’d managed to make the Celestian version of scrambled eggs. When Bell, Rex, and Panda finally woke up we ventured out to see Director Chonkers. It was about time I checked on my dragon.

  As I entered his office I heard a cacophony of noise, shouting, slurping, something smashing on the floor.

  “I demand that you uphold your end of this bargain feline!” Asmodeus boomed. “You said I could eat the test subjects and so far I’ve only tasted samples of them. Where is my meal! How am I to grow without proper sustenance.”

  “Will you calm down please,” Chonkers replied in a tired, frustrated voice. “I never said you could kill them; I said you could eat them… which is exactly what you have been doing. You’ve consumed more blood over the past few days than a blood bank.”

  “And yet each meagre offering only serves to make me crave more,” the dragon mumbled.

  I pushed through the door with my party in tow. “Morning, I hope I’m not interrupting anything.”

  They both turned towards me and my eyes widened. Asmodeus had nearly doubled in size. He’d gone from the size of a chihuahua to the size of a pit-bull. Rippling muscle pulled his skin taught and he sported an eight pack that any man would be jealous of. His wingspan almost reached the edge of the room.

  “Azzy, look at you!” Bell said, taking the dragon in her arms – and struggling to lift him. “You look fierce.”

  “I feel fierce,” he grinned evilly and his fangs showed. He cut quite the menacing figure. If he kept growing at this rate I’d be able to ride him soon.

  “I take it your experiments have been going well?” I asked Chonkers who looked relieved for the interruption.

  “Indeed they have, please take a seat we have much to discuss. Asmodeus, you are dismissed for today. Why don’t you go and spend some time with the others whilst Kaleb and I have a little chat.”

  The dragon growled, “you do not dismiss me, you afternoon snack. But I shall take you up on your suggestion. Come human, mongrel, I shall allow you to treat me to a feast fit for a demon lord since this cretinous fat-cat refuses to honour our deal and do so.”

  Rex shook his head, but Bell seemed delighted. I gave them a look and they understood, leaving. Asmodeus looked me up and down and then nodded before exiting.

  “It seems you’re the only one he pays any respect to,” Chonkers sighed.

  “I guess,” I replied, “though it wasn’t always like that. I had to use my command over him to force him into submission back in Cali Port. Since then he’s been much more agreeable. Protective even.”

  “Sometimes that’s how it is. I imagine you had some trouble with this one once upon a time as well?” He nodded to Panda who had climbed into the chair next to me and lit his pipe.

  “Him?” I laughed, “not at all. He’s been a faithful companion from the start.”

  “Intelligence often lends one to making informed choices, ain’t that right, kid?”

  “Quite,” Chonkers said. “But I’m sure you didn’t come here for small talk so let’s get down to brass tacks shall we? Asmodeus has come a remarkably long way in the past few days. I’ve been feeding him on a constant diet of the blood of willing, albeit suboptimal, participants. As you can see he’s reached his next evolutionary stage. Though I fear that pushing him to the next one might loosen your control over him, something I’m hesitant to test.

  The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

  “More importantly, I have determined that he is definitely not a demon lord. Though born from a fragment of the true demon lord Asmodeus, he does not possess his power or his personality. Nor is there any innate reason why pushing his power should allow the real deal to use him as a conduit to enter the mortal plain. That being said, he does share memories with the demon lord and he believes that he is a part of him. This is not true, but it might be best for you to carry on letting him believe that it is. To challenge such strong beliefs as that might cause training issues.

  “Of course, none of this is to say that he is not dangerous. His power is vast for a mere familiar. I would advise that you train him rigorously and build up a trusting and loyal comradery with him. If you can do this, and you can control him, then I have no doubt that he will serve you well. By the time you reach gold rank, assuming Asmodeus continues to grow at the rate you do, you should be able to ride him – maybe even sooner than that. One day it’s possible that your entire team will be able to ride him. He’s going to grow quite large.”

  I took a moment before replying. That was a lot to take in and I only understood about half of it. Chonkers had a weird way of speaking. “Thank you,” I began slowly. “I’m glad he’s not a real threat.”

  “Mere familiar,” Panda said, spitting on the floor. “That’s big talk coming from a fat kitten.”

  “I meant no offence,” the cat sighed, he looked older than he had a few days ago. “Kaleb, perhaps you should check your interface. You do have a tab for your familiars don’t you?”

  I nodded and opened it in my HUD.

  Asmodeus (Soul Bonded) – Phase 4

  Due to your use of the Chaos Seed, a small fragment of the demon lord Asmodeus has remained in the mortal plane.

  Possessing a miniscule amount of his powers and personality, he has hatched as a demon familiar, taking on a shape imposed on him by the imprinted soul to which he is bonded.

  As a soul bonded familiar, Asmodeus cannot directly disobey your commands.

  Make sure you house train him.

  Leech Life – Adsorb another creature’s power and use it as your own by draining their life force. Three skills can be stored at a time. Excess power will be used as nourishment to enhance the overall stats of the wielder.

  I read over the familiar text a few times. There were only two real changes to it. Firstly, he was now phase four, higher than I was at phase three. I wouldn’t hit phase four until level ninety and at level 58 I still had quite a way to go. Secondly, he could now absorb three skills from absorbing the life essence of other creatures and people. That was quite the boon, especially if he got any good powers.

  Though it didn’t say it, I got the impression that he’d be able to swap and change these powers at will. If, for example, he had three powers already stored up and then he absorbed life force from someone else, he would be able to see what power he could have from them and choose to replace a currently stored power for it.

  Also there was no cooldown period and nothing to suggest that he couldn’t keep these powers indefinitely. I wasn’t sure how I knew this stuff, but I put it down to my connection with the dragon. As he was a bonded familiar I shared a lot of knowledge with him, as long as it was about him and his powers.

  “That’s a glow up if ever I’ve seen one,” I said to Chonkers who smiled tiredly at me.

  “Good, in that case my need of your familiar is done. A few weeks earlier than anticipated I might add. Don’t worry though, you’re welcome to stay in the apartment for the duration of your stay in Castalor. I imagine you’ll be attending the high priest tournament soon.”

  “How did you know about that?” I asked.

  “I know many things my boy. It’s a crucial part of my charm wouldn’t you say?”

  “Can I ask you a question?”

  “Why of course, though I can’t promise I’ll answer it.”

  “A little while ago Freja mentioned something about a person who changed Adventure Society, made it more bureaucratic, got rid of the militaristic nature of it and made it more businesslike. That person wouldn’t happen to be you would it?”

  Chonkers looked at me with a discerning glance. He licked his lips, swished his tail a single time and then, and only then, answered. “No. I have been around far longer than Freja and I can assure you that if I had it my way the society would be run quite differently. Though I don’t advocate for a complete return to the old ways as she does. Why do you ask?”

  “No real reason, I just ran into some guards in the Morningstar recently and their salute reminded me of it. It’s none of my business though I guess.”

  “That it is not, though I will never shoot down a young man who dares to question.” He leaned in closely and spoke in a whisper so silent that were my hearing not superhuman I wouldn’t have been able to hear him at all. “There is a corruption within the society. The man responsible for its changes is not as altruistic as people think. His identity is hidden, if his name was to get out amongst the tank and file it would sew chaos. I cannot say more, but you especially should be weary young man. Those tattoos on your back may as well make you a target.”

  As he pulled back I opened my mouth to reply but he shot me a powerful look which said not to and I listened to it. How did he know I was an outworlder? More importantly, who was this mysterious head of the society who I needed to be weary of?

  “Anyway, it’s been a lovely chat my dear boy, but I do believe my brother should be arriving in the foyer any minute now and it would be rude of me not to greet him. It has been quite some time since we’ve seen each other you know?”

  “Lucas is here?” I asked.

  “Indeed, care to join me?”

  I nodded and together we left his penthouse office, Panda clinging to my back like a rucksack.