Acceelos

"The greatest, you say. Just who are you exactly?"

"I am but a demon who has lived longer than others. You will know my name soon enough. Anyway, I realise why you could not defeat Behemoth. You are not drawing out the power of ALL."

"Not drawing her power out? What do you mean?"

He searches the ground and picks up a stick. He proceeds to outline two bodies in the soil. "Inside every living being, there is a mana pool. To use magic, mana is drawn from this pool. However, in your body, there are several mana pools."

"Several? Is that even possible?"

"It's possible since you are an artificially created being. You have mana from all six of the True Gods and ALL."

"I see. That would explain why I never run out of mana. But I don't see how I'm not drawing out ALL's mana."

"ALL's mana has been sealed inside your body. This means her power is restrained, which makes you automatically draw power from your other mana pools. And since you only have portions of mana from the True Gods, you cannot perform magic spells to the extent they can. Let's take Trist, for example. You used magic to transport the town to a pocket dimension. That was the power of Saint Alvis Ragnarök: The power to create and manipulate space. If Saint Alvis used the same spell, he could send Leagard into a pocket dimension."

"He's that powerful!?"

"The Saints' powers are many times that than anyone you have ever seen. Even Elisabeth is leagues below them."

"Elisabeth doesn't compare? And I struggled against her. Does that not mean I would never survive a fight against the Saints?"

"As you are now, you would be nothing but a toy they can play with."

His words are harsh, but it's the reality. If the True Gods vote for my execution, I will have no chance against them. "Sir demon, please, if you have anything to teach me, I will accept your lessons with open arms."

"I thought I told you already that I'll train you. But since you are pleading, how about I get something in return?"

"Something in return? What do you want? My soul? My power?"

He bursts into laughter. "No, no, no. I don't want any of that. What I want from you is to court my granddaughter."

"You have a granddaughter?"

"I told you that I have lived longer than most demons. I was at my peak then I fell to being a bottom feeder. I rose like a phoenix, fell in love, had children, lost my only love, and so forth. I experienced everything there is to experience. So, do take my advice to mind."

He is the only person to answer any of my questions. But is he trustworthy?

I rub my head and say, "Aargh!! Fine, I will trust you. What could go wrong?"

"So much could go wrong," he whispers, "however, if you are now trusting me, then no one will rag doll you like Behemoth has."

"What should I do?"

"As I said, you are not tapping into ALL's power. There are two ways you can achieve this. The first option is meditation - the long and arduous road."

"What's the second?"

"You create your very own mana by combining the pools inside you."

"Combine? Is that even possible?"

"It's possible; however, the chances of you dying are very high."

"Dying? Why would I die?"

"Mixing different mana pools is like mixing two food ingredients that bring out the worst in each other. The negative reaction between the pools is poisonous to a living creature."

"I see. But is there any way to decrease the chances of me dying?"

"Humans believe mana to be a reflection of one's personality, so attempting to mix them by their opinion of each other would be favourable."

"How would I know who is more favourable and unfavourable?"

"Mix them in this order. Saint Lucifer, Saint Anpu, Saint Alvis, Saint Sky, Saint Venus, and finally Saint Amey. Lord Lucifer is only favoured by Saint Anpu and Venus - the other Saints do not trust him because of his sinister nature."

"Are you sure this order will not kill me?"

"Yes... I think."

"That doesn't sound too convincing… But it's not like I have any other option. I need to gain power now." I stand in silence, focusing on the magic pools inside my body. One, two, three, four, five, six... and seven. The exact amount I was told I have. I have only met Alvis before, so I know how his magic power feels. The demon will guide me on the magic power of the other five. For Saint Lucifer's magic, I should find the most frightening power. I've got it! Next, for Saint Anpu's magic, I need to locate the magic closest to Lucifer's. After that is Alvis, and the power reminiscent of a calm wind belongs to Saint Sky. Saint Venus has a warm, welcoming magic. Finally, Saint Amey has an intimidatingly large mana pool. Now that I've located them all, I need to combine them. My body starts burning up as the mana pools converge—blood leaks from my nose, eyes, and ears. Then a stinging pain wraps around my body. I fall to the ground gasping for air and reach my hand out to the demon. "What is... happening... to me...?"

"This is a necessary part of the evolution. You were an artificially created being, but now you are becoming something fusing the traits of Humans, Giants, Dragons, Demons, Elves, Dwarves and Gods. A unique being. One of its kind. What will we name this creature born from every major race in each realm? How about Acceelos? What do you think, Haruki Ryu?"

The pain in my body subsides. I get up and stare at the demon. "Acceelos, you say? Sounds perfect."