Lucia was looking at a polearm that looks like it has a shovel head on one side and a crescent blade on the other. It was an exotic weapon from the east, and Lucia has no better idea what to do with this thing than she did with the axes she rented yesterday. She tried swinging the flat end of the shovel at the wall of Atelier Feru. The shovel head then proceeded to bounce off the building wall and slam into the top of Lucia’s head. The drake she had effectively adopted the day prior was sitting on the street floor watching all this. Meanwhile, Ren and Feru were in talks about alchemically producing a new metal substance.

  “Nothing is working.” Feru groans as she slumps onto a table. “Even our theory and calculations don’t work.”

  “You’re too reliant on the math.” Ren says. “The hidden secret to alchemy is turning individualism and intangible emotion into a physical and tangible material we can use. That’s what the philosopher’s stone is all about. That’s what this metal will be all about.”

  “How is that even supposed to work? Alchemy is all about taking existing worldly materials and making it into something else!”

  “And that’s the secret to ultimate power using alchemy. You take something with no physical presence and make it physical. That’s how a lot of cool stuff is made. It’s like emotionally charged ultimate power. So the theory is that there is no end to that kind of power.”

  “That doesn’t help me! How am I supposed to do that? Can I bleed into the cauldron or something?”

  “That’s not how that works.”

  Ren rubs on Feru’s head. During this discussion, Lucia stumbles through the door.

  “Guys, can I get a break.” Lucia comes in sobbing and a bump on her head.

  “You shouldn't be crying from a light bump on the head. We're almost the same age. Big girls don’t cry like that. We cry from heart break and stuff.” Ren says in her usual tone of voice.

  Lucia and Feru snap to attention at those words.

  “Wait, how old are you?” the both of them ask.

  In response to that question, Ren grabs both of them and carries them under her arm.

  “Let's take a walk around the city.” Ren announces suddenly.

  “Devils, this would be so much easier if I could just whisper a deal into her ear.” Warumasa groans.

  “Wait, who made her say she was about Lucia’s age?” Agnoir asks.

  “Not me.” Apherward says.

  “I don't track mortal ages. What kind of demon do you take me for?” Warumasa says back.

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  “One stupid enough to bash himself with a hammer.” Apherward chuckles.

  “And because of that, I have obtained an immaculate form.” Warumasa begins to boast.

  “You’re a demon who was once his own person and now you’re just a tool.” Agnoir scoffs at the demon.

  “Okay, let’s move on.” Warumasa groans. “You both want this quest done. How are we going to get the girl to make emotion and philosophy into a bulletproof metal? If I had all my faculties, I could see how much envy the girl has and turn that into something, but like this I have nothing.”

  “Woah, what are you talking about?” Agnoir says.

  “As a demon pertaining to a certain sin, he can sense that particular sin in mortals.” Apherward says. “I assume by his language, that something is wrong with that ability.”

  “A lot of things haven’t been working since the girl took me up.” Warumasa says. “I can’t speak with other demons as a spiritual being, I can’t sense the envy in mortals and so much more. No… actually, I think I’ve been cut out of the power of the Pact Prime Evil all together.”

  “The what now?” Agnoir asks.

  “The Pact Prime Evil is a contract penned by the first devil.” Warumasa starts. “Devils are demons who have ascended to the power that matches that of one of the gods. The first devil created laws and codices about how all demons would work from that point forward. We call that the Pact Prime Evil. That document has all the power of anything and everything with evil in it’s heart. From a goose flying into a rage in a city pond to the second devil to ever ascend. So if someone evil had the power to control time, the Pact Prime Evil would gain that same power, even if it is a piece of paper without thought or morals of it’s own. Still, as a document it has been written to defend itself from any evil that would seek to destroy or control it. Quite simply, if you are evil this piece of primordial paper matches all of your power. I would also recommend avoiding devils that try to cheat the Pact Prime Evil. Even then the first devil, author of the thing, might have something to say about any meddling with the pact he wrote.”

  “O- okay.” Agnoir says offhandedly. “So a devil contract controls all evil?”

  “No. The Pact Prime Evil doesn’t control anyone.” Warumasa continues. “It gives all the potential for power and tools for anyone to tap into means to achieve their goals. There is no control. Only opportunity.”

  “Alright, and this devil cares about what exactly?” Agnoir asks.

  “I don’t know. It’s not like I met the guy.” Warumasa says.

  “If nothing else, he wrote a long contract and doesn’t like it when people touch it.” Apherward says.

  “Well, that and as the first devil he literally wrote the rules.” Warumasa says. “I’m not a demon of pride, but being the guy to write the rules is something you don’t let lesser beings take away from you.”

  “Wait.” Agnoir pauses for a moment. “This devil wrote the rules. He wrote the laws. He takes no discourse from others. This guy, he’s a king! And I assassinate kings! Or-... or I guess I get new people to stab kings.”

  “Don’t- don’t go there.” Apherward says.

  “Okay, let’s not.” Warumasa says.

  “Oh, it’ll be easy. Just give me this devil’s name.” Agnoir speaks in a sly voice.

  “Nope! No way! I am not going to pit myself against the literal first devil.” Warumasa speaks in a panicked demonic voice.

  “I’d rather not. When I learned the first devil’s name, the speaker spat out a swarm of mosquitos, survived that and then became patient zero for an epidemic all the way to his death. I am not going to speak that name.” Apherward says in a shaking old wizard’s voice.

  “Oh, you’re both a pair of cowards.” Agnoir scoffs.

  “It’s the literal first devil.” Apherward snaps back.

  “Let’s- let’s just focus on this quest.” Warumasa groans.

  “Fine. We just gotta instill a sense of revolution into the girl or something.” Agnoir says.

  “Nah. We just got to make her a bit envious of others.” Warumasa says.

  Ren, Lucia, Feru and the unnamed drake that they adopted look around the city for some time. As newcomers to Longcrest City, Ren and Lucia kind of wander aimlessly. As a local, Feru starts to explain the neighborhood.

  “This is the industrial district of the city.” Feru says. “The city wants all the shops and homes in one place and all the workshops and other fire hazards in another. The city has an old aqueduct, but since more and more people can read books on how to cast magic, the amount of people who can conjure water and fight fires has gone way up.”

  “Cool.” Ren says.

  “So what’s going on here?” Lucia points off in a direction.

  There stands a workshop of some kind. The three step up to it to take a closer look. Through a window, a window is blaring with strange lights. Shortly after, the window the three were looking through suddenly holds back water as the interior of this building is flooded with water in the time it takes any of them to blink. Soon after that, the door to this workshop opens, and water flows out of it for the sewer grates to drain into. Washing out into the street along with the draining interior building flood is a younger human man in dark blue mage robes lying face down in the rapidly draining street.

  “Wow.” Ren says.

  “Do we help him?” Feru asks.

  “Of course.” Lucia says. “We can’t just leave him here.”