The Record of Unusual Creature

As Hao Ren heard Y’zaks, something sprang to mind. He looked at the obsidian outcrops around him as asked, “Is it the type where you put a few obsidian in the center and light it up?”

“What are you even on about?” Y’zaks wasa genuinely confused.

Lily headbutted Hao Ren away as she chirped, “Oh ignore him. He’s derping out again. Say, big guy, how are you going to create a portal towards the human realm? Didn’t you say that it’s difficult for demons go into the human domain? There’s like many obstacles and sensors…”

“Humans have set up a very tight network of spatial surveillance as the first line of defence against teleportation magics by the demons. That aside, the demonic plane is also in the deepest depths of the spatial bubble, and made things very difficult for demons to head towards the human realms.” Y’zaks laughed, “But I had visited there long time ago, and have left some ‘pathways’.”

A smirk appeared on his face as he finished, “I’m not just a brute a few hundred years ago. I’m a learned demon after all. Knowledge is power.”

“A venture of hundreds of years, overthrown within ten.” Lily did not mince her words. “Such a pity.”

Y’zaks expression was conflicted and he let out a deep sigh. “Hmmm…. it may be fated. It was going all smoothly for a few hundred years until the last ten years. Not sure how heroes were popping out left right center all over the human realms. Their crusading armies were almost immunerable, and it had reached a point where there was a hero from every village; and they are the type that just won’t die. One of my generals, the Demon Lord of the East was vanquished by a hero hailing from Eastbridge Hovel of the Darian Kingdom…What a way to die…”

Hao Ren tried to put himself in the late demon lord’s shoes and felt that being vanquished so suddenly by a hero from Eastbridge Hovel would have been embarassing…”

Then again, Hao Ren could understand why Y’zaks would have been met by such a torrent of resistance towards the end of his reign. As a demon, he did not understand human nature well enough. He did not notice human’s potentials hidden under their frail disposition. A moral tyrant was still a tyrant; regardless how noble his goals are, it did not resonate with human nature. And when a race is pushed to the edge, a surge of counter-attacking armies would be following. When every person has a death wish, who isn’t a hero?

To be fair, all heroes were created by circumstances as they fought to survive. Even a mere bandit who drew blade against an evil dragon would be called a hero…

Well, that being said, the place sure wasn’t short of obsidian, in fact the damned place was smothered with it. The towering outcrops, some as big as a hill were the world’s purest obsidian ore. The obsidian over here only shares the same name with their Earth counterpart, and it is a type of ore that is native to the demonic plane and it’s surrounding areas. They are formed after the lava underground had seeped through a rich mineral layer before jutting out from the surface. The ores are very tough and has very good magical resonance; thus it was processed to be used as enchanted weapons or armor. They also can act as reagents for rituals or teleportation spells. But the obsidian would require quenching within a special lava type that is unique to the demonic plane to rid it of it’s brittleness, else they are simply a tough yet brittle ore. For that reason, it’s usage within the human realm is limited.

Obsidian products is common place throughout the demonic plane.

Lily was the husky with a penchant for shiny rocks, and she got excited the moment she heard about excavating some of the obsidian. The werehusky ran towards one of the outcrops and started mining. Her tools was naturally Frostmourne, and Flame-effing-joy (The latter was the upgraded Flamejoy quenched in helish lava).

Vivian had already thought of the names for the doggie’s upgraded weapons. If she managed to upgrade them again, one will be called Flame-effing-whut-joy and the other Frostmourne

Hao Ren decided that he could not longer keep up with the two’s nonsense any more.

Lily, in her excitement had dug up at least a few tonnes of obsidian. Y’zaks then threw the whole lot into the nearby lava flow, and used magic to control the obsidian as it quenched within the molten flow.

Under the effects of the demonic runes and the lava’s temperature, the brittle obsidian soon lost their rocky texture and became almost metallic as it started forming into shape under the intense heat.

Lily squatted by the side as she started stuffing remnant of the obsidian that looked nice into her pocket. By the time she was done, both her pockets were choke full of rocks as it rattles when she took a step. “You sure didn’t hold back didn’t you?”

“No insulting my hobby!” Lily jumped as she sneered at Vivian. “Collecting rocks is an elegent hobby! In those days, Wu Peifu…”

Vivian shoved Lily back, “Stop jumping, they’re falling out. And Wu Peifu did not play with rocks, you think you’re the only one who knows him?”

By then Y’zaks had molded the obsidian into a ball of superheated metal and started infusing it with his own demonic energies. The metal ball was then made into a round, altar-like item. A series of green demonic runes danced around the obsidian altar. Hao Ren felt as the runes started forming into words, a mysterious energy started churning the space around the altar. Before him, the ball shaped mirror formed above the altar.

“This teleportation gate is one-use.” Y’zaks said as he set the last few runes around the altar. The magical runes formed into a thirteen rows of runic script that encircled the altar. “The landing point is a cave in Cadeceus. It was a hideout I made during one of my excusions a few hundred years back. No one else knows about it aside from me, so it’s safe.”

Hao Ren pulled the MDT out of his pocket. “Go scout ahead.”

The MDT protested. “Why does a PDA need to….”

Hao Ren did not afford the MDT the chance to finish and lobbed it through the portal.

A few seconds later, the MDT’s voice rang in his head. “It’s safe here. I need to speak to you about the usage of a high-tech product….”

Y’zaks placed a dark red rune around the portal. “It’ll self-destruct after 10 minutes. I hope that the Allied army come looking for this.”

Hao Ren nodded and stepped into the swirling mirror-like portal.

A slight spatial distortion and a minor disorientation later, Hao Ren found himself standing in a very unfamiliar cave.

It was a large cavern, and the air was cool. Not too far away was the light of the exit. Hao Ren took a deep breath, and he took all of the fresh air in. “AHHHH… it’s still more comfortable in human land!”

Wuyue was the last to come out of the portal, having changed back to her human form and changed her clothes. Upon taking in the fresh, damp air, the Siren was excited like a child. “I’m ALIVE!!!!”

Hao Ren wanted to see how the world besides the demonic plane look like. He quickened his steps into a jog towards the exit and the breathtaking scene blasted away the oppressive feeling from the demonic plane!

Before him was a series of verdant mountains and the cave was hidden within the range. Above him was a clear azure sky with thin silky clouds. Almost as if you could touch them. Hao Ren looked towards the yonder and saw between the range a city in the far corner. The city was on the plain beside the mountain. It did seem like a good distance away from where he stood, and from a distance, it was surrounded by mystique.

“WOAH! THIS IS WAY BETTER THAN THE DEMONIC PLANE!” Lily exclaimed as she behold the scene before her.

“It’s mind boggling how the structure of this world work. One place was filled with lava, another verdant rolling hills, almost as if they are on a different planet altogether and are connedcting by teleportation portals,” Vivian too was suprised by the scene that greeted her. After leaving the almost hellish demonic plane, the greenery here felt very out of place. “I take it that you guys never got to the bottom on how this structure was formed?”

“The old man was investigating this, even until his passing he was not able to explain how the dimensional bubble had formed naturally.” Y’zaks shook his head. “Come, we need to head towards the city. This place is much safer than the demonic plane. As long as we are outside town, we can freely use teleportation magics.”