Wade watched Bael freeze mid-step, hand extended toward Eri but not quite touching. The demon's expression went through several emotions - shock, confusion, wariness, and something that could have been fear at the situation he was possibly caught in. But mostly sheer, utter confusion.

  Wade's Blessing was doing the heavy lifting here, a Satyr's facial features weren't one-to-one with humanity, so it was a lot harder than spotting Medy's tells. Ears were more a thing, as was the tail moving.

  "Problem?" Wade asked, having a feeling he knew what was going on.

  Medy had run into the same exact issue the moment she'd gotten close to Eri. Mostly the same set of emotions, minus fear. Because Medy was too much Medy to have a healthy fear of the unknown.

  Bael didn't answer immediately after Wade asked. The demon's gaze moved over Eri from skull to boots and back again, then snapped to Wade with sudden intensity.

  Yep. That demon had just about had enough of all this bullshit. "What is this? How did you-" He cut himself off, jaw working like he was chewing through possible explanations and really not liking the taste of any of it.

  Bael knew a few facts thus far: All five of the ancient civilizations attempted to bypass the limits of flesh in different directions. Being able to cast magic without limits or fear of mana necrosis was the holy grail.

  All five went different directions, specializing to the apex limits of that field. There might have been more than five ancient civilizations, but by the dawn of the divine war, only five were left as the strongest in their domains.

  One such civilization had focused on necromancy, refining their undead constructs and shells to near perfect artwork. Despite an entire race dedicated to all things of Death, they still failed.

  They'd tried doing a skeletal body before, and if they'd succeeded at keeping the vessel stable, the divine war wouldn't have ended in a stalemate where all civilizations and gods died off.

  And yet here was Wade. Commanding a living breathing skeleton with a non-feral soul.

  There were only a few options Bael could think of with what he knew on necromancy. It might mean Wade had killed another human moments ago, stripped all of their flesh in the same instant, and then returned them back to life while their soul hadn't gone feral yet.

  Eri clicked his jaw. Happy with his collected gear and Nathir greatsword. Looking like he'd had the time of his life given the emotions radiating subtly off his skeletal body. Emotions didn't lie. Mortals could fool each other, and some could even fool themselves, but no mortal could fool a demon.

  The skeleton was happy with his current unlife. And there wasn't a hint of malice or anger at his master.

  But that wasn't the only hole in this possibility of Wade being a hyper-fast murderer, flesh-stripper, and somehow charismatic enough to convince the dying man's soul this was for the best.

  The very mana inside the bones were layered and fully ossified in ways that only natural mana slowly building up over years could do. The kind of mana buildup that a living body would have naturally purged away. Which meant Eri couldn't have been simply killed and stripped of flesh. It would have had to be decades of time passing for this kind of pattern in the bones.

  And no soul would remain sane that long.

  Bael licked his lips, trying not to bite his tongue as he brainstormed through how in the nine circles of hell this mortal managed to pull this magic trick off.

  The solar empire tools he'd seen Wade use equally didn't give any answers.

  The Sun Elves, despite being the strongest of all five, hadn't managed anything close to this. Their entire technology had been built around the sun and divinity, not death nor undeath.

  There wasn't even records of them using undead minions.

  So it couldn't be some long-lost relic from ancient times powering this skeleton.

  And souls could only inhabit the bones that had spawned them into existence. There wasn't any hot-swapping souls of others every time one went feral.

  Bael stared at the skull leering back, trying to find answers where there was only insanity.

  That skull opened its jaw wide, slightly tilted down, and if it had eyebrows to waggle with, he certainly would have.

  This skeleton wasn't just alive. And Eri was now actively messing around with Bael.

  Intelligence. Emotion. A soul that wasn't going feral.

  "You somehow preserved the original soul from dissolution?" Bael finally asked.

  "Not me exactly, so… half?" Wade turned to Eri. "Half?"

  The skeleton shot him a thumbs up. Half was accurate. Wade had earned the scroll and then used it. The System had done the rest. Eri considered it half the work.

  Another pause. Bael took one step back, then turned to Wade. "What is this exactly?"

  "Why are you asking me? Eri, what do you consider yourself as?"

  The skeleton tapped his sword, then planted it in the ground. Oh, I know exactly what I am boss. Eri all but said, the grin well placed on his skull. He brought both his hands by his chest, and then cupped them into a heart, roguishly tilting his head to the side as if he could give Bael a cheeky wink.

  "You heard the skeleton." Wade said, patting Eri's shoulder. "He's a menace to society, but he's our menace to society."

  Bael did not join in on the bit. Instead he narrowed his eyes in deep suspicion. "This is not possible. Every necromancer who's attempted this has failed."

  Eri, of course, gave the most theatrical bow he could at that.

  Wade could practically see the demon's mind racing even without the Blessing whispering him all the hints. Bael was seriously torn between curiosity and self-preservation instincts that waved every red flag that he'd stumbled into something way above his pay grade.

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  "I'm not asking," Bael said firmly, more to himself than Wade.

  "Well, you did ask 'how' just a moment ago." Wade insisted. "Getting cold feet now? Actually, can hooves even get cold?"

  "They can. There's blood flowing deep within them. And I don't want to know. Whatever contracts you're wrapped up in, whatever powers beyond the ken of gods you've bartered with, I want no part of it." He glanced at Eri again. "No part."

  "Come on, I know you're dying of curiosity on the inside there big guy." Unlike Eri, Wade did have eyebrows to waggle at the demon with.

  He knew the curiosity as a fact too. Market's blessing was translating the side glances, the ear twitches, the minor changes in balance on Bael's hooves - even the tail swishes were tells whispering the demon's inner turbulent thoughts.

  Wade grinned. "Just go on and ask. I'll even make the bargain a cheap one."

  He was already committed to answering Medy who and what Eri was, so he'd be saying it all out loud anyhow. But why not get a little bit more out of Bael for the same service?

  "I sense greed coming from you mortal. I'm not fooled."

  Bael didn't need Market's blessing to have his own unique advantages, and spotting a scheming mortal was well within his abilities.

  Their bickering came to a quick stop however as there was a familiar sound in the air: The sound of a demon being reformed from essence, landing on her hooves, and otherwise making it without stumbling down into the mud.

  She wobbled, arms running circles to balance herself, and then got full control over her landing.

  Medy froze in place, verified she was indeed balanced, then raised both arms up in victory, before looking around herself to see what was going on.

  "Oh! Wade! You managed to survive that th- umph!"

  Bael was already throwing her a shirt into her face before she could flash the mortal. "None of that." He said, happy for the distraction because his curiosity really was going to get him truly screwed out here at this rate.

  She scrambled with the shirt, pulling it off her face, and focused on the basics while Bael made sure he was between her and the mortal, acting like a personal shower curtain.

  Her shape started to reform back to the older one she'd been using, pale blue skin changing to a more human shade, except she decided to go with longer black hair this time, with mild curls. Mostly to practice changing shape and a not-so-insignifiant curiosity to see if their local mortal prefered blond or black hair.

  Bael rolled his eyes at her. She tutted back, still putting on the rest of the shirt over her head, trying to get it past her horns. "Oh shut up, you're standing right in between so you're the one eating my food before it even gets to me. If anything, you should say thank you."

  Wade did try his best to look down and away until Medy was modest again, so other than natural curiosity in the air, there wasn't much more of a meal to be had.

  "Welcome back Medy." Wade said, still looking at the ground. "You.. uh, decent?"

  She gave one last tug at the new shirt, making sure the neckline was settled right. "Yep, all good, the shirt's on now!"

  "She means no." Bael said, grabbing the pants he'd prepared for this and shoved them in her direction. "Forgetting a detail."

  "Oh. Right, sorry… Wait! He can't see my butt and tail from this angle, why's it a problem?"

  "The legs are." Bael huffed.

  "I thought the chest and back were the most important part humans looked for, why are legs part of it? They're legs! How is that even a draw? Everyone has legs!"

  It sounded more like bickering about basic makeup and better ways to glue on fake lashes. As if Bael was rushing Medy to get dressed and out the door while she was upset she hadn't even gotten her socks on yet.

  "Humanoids can find almost everything attractive." Bael snorted. "And why do I know more about your race's preference than you yourself?"

  Was she intentionally acting stupid to get to their mortal somehow? She was at least putting on the pants without further fuss.

  "I'm… well, I'm not really good at any of this." She admitted, putting one hoof through, and then the second before pulling the entire thing up.

  "There's no being good or bad at this." Bael said, giving her a look over to make sure she was decent, then stepped out of the way, slapping a spare armor plate into her hands as he passed by her. "It's a simple checklist of what to know about, and not an extensive one either."

  He was going straight for the signpost to check their orientation again, something actually useful.

  They needed to start moving before Blackrot returned, and if Medy was decent enough… "Don't cause trouble, we need to move."

  The longer living beings remained in one place, the more blackrot would congregate. Constant mobility was how to keep the numbers down.

  "I'm not causing trouble!" She said, shooting Wade a look, before catching back up with Bael. All while struggling to get the armor plate onto her. Wade and Eri shared a look between each other, but followed behind. "Really, I didn't know about the leg thing!"

  Bael wouldn't expect Medy to know anything serious about what it took to draw in the gaze of minotaurs or keep their interests. Very few Fiends needed to care about scents beyond keeping something pleasant. Same reason he didn't need to care much about red clothing or fur, but would expect Medy to know much more. Minotaurs didn't see that color range, there was nothing needed in that direction.

  And yet here he was telling her the most basic information about what humans liked.

  The most populated race on the mortal realm. Humans could be found basically under every rock.

  Something was off.

  "She's way out of practice when it comes to all this, ran into a long string of bad luck getting thrown into the wrong situations." Wade said, after Medy outright elbowed him into action, glaring daggers at him. "I talked to her for a while after you were gone."

  That was apparently the wrong thing to say, given her look of pure panic that flashed through her for a moment, but Wade wasn't sure what he'd said that was wrong.

  Bael snorted, still on the warpath for the signpost. "Demons don't get 'out of practice' mortal. Do you forget basic facts over time?"

  "I mean, don't we?" Did demons have photographic memory or something? That seemed like it wouldn't work out well for a race of immortal beings.

  Bael on the other hand snorted again, because the mortal did have a point. The list of things humans were attracted to were still basic facts, and they could technically be forgotten by someone absent-minded enough.

  He looked back over his shoulder at Medy.

  She might be the first demon he'd actually seriously consider this being a problem with.

  What if the mortal was right? She'd acted odd from the start, far less socialized than most demons.

  Another option floated to mind. The other direction: Could she be… young? Was that even possible?

  "How old are you? What's your full name?" He asked, slowing his pace down so the three could catch up behind him.

  "Er, uhm." She flinched, feeling like she was about to get smacked on the head for incompetence again. Bael made no such move however, looking more curious about it than anything else.

  "Full name?" Bael asked again. "Or do I need to pull out the old traditions? I thought we'd left those behind after the invasion."

  "It's Medea'Vee."

  Bael waited for the rest, taking careful steps now. They were outside the range the skeleton minion had cleared. Insects moved fast, and so did poor luck.

  She didn't say another word as the group marched.

  "Wait. That's it? Two names?" Bael asked.

  "Yeah. Sorry, I haven't… been very active about doing more."

  He snorted. "You're either the laziest demoness I've ever met, or you've been Blackrotten for much longer than most of us ever have."

  "What's so wrong with having a simple name?" Wade asked.

  Bael stopped, then turned to him. "Only newborns have the base name like this, and only because they haven't lived long enough to begin earning more. And there aren't any newborn demons anymore. They're all caught in the ninth circle on forming for the first time."

  Right. Wade was still having a hard time wrapping his head around demonic names being being an outright linkedIn resume page/business calling card.

  "I spent a lot of time in the mines." Medy quietly said. "I… didn't really get a chance to learn how to do more, and I'm… not very smart when it comes to doing much of anything at all these days."

  "Ah. My apologies." The 'older' demon said, sounding oddly genuine. "Caught within the mana mines is a vicious cycle to break, not many names to earn there either. Were you spawned right before the blackrot destroyed our people, and caught in a worse contract without knowing better?"

  "No." She weakly said. "I'm probably around your age or older. I'm just… not very good at doing a lot of things and…"

  She gave Wade a look of desperation, hoping the human would say or offer any kind of way out of this interrogation.

  Wade, of course, did exactly that: "Hey Medy, remember how I promised to explain stuff about Eri when Bael's back?"

  She instantly perked up at that, a smile breaking out wide over her features, giddy excitement wiping everything else out of her mind.

  Bael, on the other hand, felt a chill go down his spine.

  And he had a deep sinking feeling that his life was going to dramatically get more complicated once he heard something he couldn't ever unhear.