The mana flooded the halls; it was so thick that it was visible. Faint flecks of light could be seen through the cavernous tunnels, softly illuminating the environment. Fenrir continued to roam the halls and so did the beetles. He pulled up the observer mirror and began to look through the scry magic on each of the constructs. He had encountered a minor issue; the beetle’s vision was much too small now. When he focused in on Fenrir, the vision around him was much more reasonable, covering the width of the hall. Perhaps the size of the observed rune increased the radius of perception around the construct. Now that mana was coming back to him so quickly, he tried creating an enlarged beetle construct.

  The original model fit upon his fingertip, so how about enlarging it to the size of his hand? A beetle manifested in his hand; he felt the extra pull on his mana pool from the increased mithral amounts but it was overall very easy to summon. He then put a touch of mana within it to jumpstart the magic circles. He pulled a soul from the dungeon core and shoved it into the beetle; it began to wiggle its little legs as he gave it the usual instructions. He set the enlarged Watcher upon the ground and let it wander off. The goblin looked into his observer mirror and saw that the radius around this model was not as large as around the Warbeast but he could see a fair bit more.

  Increasing the size of the beetles beyond this was probably not smart; they lacked the defensive capabilities and at such a large size, they became difficult to manage. Perhaps he was in need of a new construct, but he had a greater priority. He wanted to construct more warbeasts but he wanted to use Hellforged Steel. So he needed to construct a summoning chamber.

  Summoning extradimensional beings required summoning circles, essentially magic circles of high complexity designed to target specific planes of existence. He created a new room and enlarged it; the summoning circle was going to require a large amount of space. Supposedly, according to demonic texts, he was supposed to use fresh blood of something with magic, either a magic beast or, ideally, a wizard of sufficient strength. He just assumed that using mithral would be more than sufficient. Not that many had the extravagance to create a summoning circle made out of pure mithril.

  Even with the huge increase in mana coming in, it took several draining's and refilling's of his mana reserves and many hours of extremely careful carving to create circle. After several days he had finally create it. Now he could finally summon the Demon of Knowledge but it would require a full mana pool to drag the creature from it’s plane to his.

  After another day of rest, food, and reading, he was finally ready to begin the summoning and binding of a familiar. According to Hell's Bells and Whistles, Demon Summoning and Magics, he would need to summon it utilizing the demon's true name. It would then need to present the contract of familiar conduct, an ancient contract created long ago by demonologists. It was basically a no-loophole contract that would enslave the demon to its owner. They would then be given their familiar name, which would finalize the contract.

  These steps were needed to avoid the devil’s inevitable betrayal; after all, the demon would do its best to escape the bindings of the contract. It was finally time so he placed a hand upon the summon circle and channeled his mana into it. Vibrant light flooded the room as the mana raced through the lines until the whole circle vibrated with all the mana within it. Amand finally spoke for the first time in several days, “I call upon thee, He Who Seeks Above All Else Knowledge, appear before me and prepare to receive your contract…”

  The mana began to drain from the circle and within the center a figure began to manifest. It was impossibly tall and impossibly thin, a cloak of black feathers draped over its shoulder and back, for its head was that of an owl, a pair of piercing deep golden eyes locked on him.

  “Greetings, Demon of Knowledge, you have been summoned by your true name and are now bound to me. According to the ancient contract, you cannot unintentionally cause my demise or direct harm to me or anyone else through negligence, malicious intent…” The list was quite extensive and it took him a good hour to recite it all, “... without express permission of me.” He cleared his throat and moved to the final portion: “Now, through your blood, sign the contract.” The demon poked one its thin fingers into its palm and drew a symbol upon his chest that glowed red and then burned away. “I now dub thee, Thoth, familiar to I, Armand the Goblin.” The goblin uttered the last line of the ritual.

  Upon the final utterance, he collapsed to the ground, exhausted magically, physically, and mentally. The demon stood there staring at him, unmoving and unflinching. Its beak-like mouth opened and a voice that sounded like steel being pulled over stone emanated out, “Master, I see you have collapsed; allow me to return you to your bed.” It walked forward, and Armand flinched as the thin arms slid under his body. Thoth’s feathers felt like a million little blades of sharp paper; it walked out and turned down the hall, almost as if it already knew the layout of the dungeon.

  It soon approached the main room; it momentarily stopped by the hearth. He could feel the demons desire to throw him into the flames of the hearth. He felt its muscles tense and grow rigid as the contract prevented such an action. It was only a momentary pause as the demon continued on its way, setting Amand onto the bed.

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  “Is there anything else I can do for you?” the demon asked.

  “Nothing in particular,” the goblin replied. “Would you like anything?”

  “To be free of this servitude,” it flatly replied.

  “Well, the guy who planned this intended to kill both of us; consider it a favor to fall into my hands and not someone else of gullible mind.” Amand then told Thoth of how he had landed in this predicament.

  “I see. In truth, I had no desire for the position of Archdevil but demons are particularly swayed by emotions, much like humans.” The demon calmly said, “While I do despise and hate you for putting me into this position, if I were capable of feeling graciousness, perhaps you would have done so.”

  “Would you like your own room?” The goblin asked of his new companion.

  “That would be tolerable.” The demon replied. So Amand uses a little bit of his mana to summon forth a room with a bed and other things. He made it an offshoot from the main room so Thoth could have quick access to him. He then promptly passed out. Clearly he was too tired to roam in astral form since he only remained in darkness for the whole time while slumbering. He awoke finally; Thoth was staring down at him as he slept.

  “Good morning, I guess.” Armand said as he sat upright.

  “5 days, 21 hours, and 33 seconds.” Thoth said.

  “Excuse me?” Asked the goblin.

  “Your time asleep… Your mana was being constantly drained, and I was beginning to feel hopeful that I would be returned to hell after your demise.” The demon said with sharpness. “My hopes have been sufficiently dashed.”

  “That’s what I get for saving you.” Amand rolled his eyes.

  “Much like a human saving a rabbit from the wolf and keeping it the remainder of its life in a cage. At least the rabbit’s death would have been swifter.”

  “Alright, alright, you have made your point.” The goblin said as he sat upright and set his feet on the ground. He pushed himself upright and stretched the bones throughout his crackling body. “Whatever the case, I’m hungry. Care to join me for breakfast?”

  “Breakfast?” The demon asked, showing some genuine confusion.

  “Generally the first meal of the day.” The goblin explained as he started walking out of the main room.

  “The daily rituals of mortals have never been a topic of major note for us demons.” Thoth replied as if the information had been discarded and deemed useless. They entered the kitchen and the goblin began to cook a breakfast of two kabobs and toasted bread. He really needed to get access to more ingredients, he thought. Having long read many cooking books and only being able to dream of the flavors within. Nonetheless, he plated up for two and set one down on each side of the table. “I have not consumed any flesh for a millennium.” The demon unintentionally let slide a little bit of information; he looked a little excited.

  Taking a bite, the beak tore through both the wood, meat, mushroom, and plants. Clearly enjoying it, Thoth took another huge bite and munched through the first kabob, leaving nothing behind. The remaining kabobs met a similar fate as Armand barely finished his first one. The demon stared at his plate expectantly; the goblin used this as an opportunity and summoned several more skewers of food, which the devil contentedly shoved into its mouth. Leaving the goblin time to finish his breakfast.

  Thoth let out a satisfied burp, and Armand could swear there was a level of contentment across the deadpan owl-like face. The goblin stood upright and headed out into the massively expanded hall. His library had been quite large, taking up a couple rows of shelves, where aisles of books had formed. However he was immensely surprised that it had now become absolute massive. There were shelves as far as his eyes could see. Perhaps this is why he had slept for so long. The obvious reason for the sudden expansion was probably the addition of Thoth.

  “This library is of superior quality to my own.” The demon gave his first hint of praise: “However, its organization, however, is severely lacking.” Immediately running it.

  ‘You are more than welcome to make adjustments as you please then.” The goblin said. He was more than happy if the demon wanted to change things up. He had not expected that demon had come into contact with so many texts but it seemed reasonable considering its long life. The demon reached up and pulled one off the shelf. “This one is identical to one of mine.”

  “It probably is…” the goblin began to explain, “My dungeon has a unique property to copy the books a person had encountered regardless of them being read or not.” The demon got quite a large grin across its face.

  “You’re lucky then, considering I was the Keeper of Hell’s knowledge.”

  “Indeed,” the goblin replied.

  “I am willing to be a dutiful familiar as long as you allow me some concessions.” The demon had come to a decision.

  “I was hoping to make your time here comfortable. What do you have in mind?” The goblin was curious why the originally standoffish demon had become so friendly.

  “I want the freedom to read through these tomes during my times when I am not working. There have been so many ancient tomes that crumbled to pieces when I read them, so many books that were burned before I could collect them and so many books taken from me!” He was breathing heavily; he could feel the cold rage and being slighted by being denied access to knowledge. “And with that knowledge I can finally settle my grievances, kill the loathsome beast who burned down my library and enslaved me to you, and finally put that bastard Mammon’s head on a pike!” He exclaimed as hellfire leaked from his feathers.