The demon ran through the narrow streets, its footsteps slipping on the dust. Angry and relentless shouts rose from behind. Stones were pelted, then came the sticks and it didn’t take long for blades to come out of their sheaths.

Suddenly the demon stumbled and fell on the ground. It tried to crawl away but the others had already surrounded it.

"Monster,"

"Demon.."

"Kill it... it will eat our babies..."

Along with the words, blows came without pause. Each strike drove it deeper into the ground, its arms raised weakly to shield itself from the onslaught. Against the mob it did not fight back and simply endured.

Blood stained the earth in a crimson hue as its eyes looked at the crowd, not with hatred but pleading.

"Will return... meat... spare."

It pleaded but no one stopped. No one listened. And gradually the light dimmed from its eyes.

The light gradually appeared before its eyes as the demon found itself lying on the ground. Clearing its eyes, it looked ahead and found a figure standing, gazing at it curiously.

It had no idea why, but every moment, whenever it looked at this being, it felt a sense of...

...awe, reverence, and devotion. It was unlike anything it had felt before, and at the same time, it was the most natural thing it could feel as well.

As it was looking at the being, their eyes met. A chill ran down its spine as the little demon quickly bowed, bringing its head close to the floor. There, it looked at its face in the reflection of the shining floor.

Its head was small, and between those black hairs, two very tiny horns were growing out of it.

’Beautiful..’ After admiring its looks for a moment, the little demon gathered some courage and lifted its head slightly.

"Master!?"

It whispered, awaiting an answer.

As the silence crept in, the little demon’s mind couldn’t help but wander. Bowing again, it looked at its reflection and tried to piece together what little it could remember.

Although it was happy with being here, it was still not sure how things had proceeded until now. With how few memory fragments it had left, it could only make sense of these things.

Abandoned... hunted... angry humans... saved... dungeon?..

It was midway in piecing together its findings when the voice reached it, "Master?... Well! I don’t prefer something like that, but I guess this whole thing makes me your creator... so you can call me that..."

Getting the confirmation, the little demon lifted its head. This time, a wide smile was planted on its face. It was about to bow again when a question came flying its way.

"Do you have a name!?"

’Name?... I must have a name...’ The little demon thought, trying to remember its name.

It was on the verge of remembering its name when a thought plagued it, ’That life brought nothing but misery upon me. Why should I taint Master’s mouth with that name...’

Looking at its master, it asked politely, "I don’t remember, Master... If it isn’t too much, can you give me one?"

"Hmm!..." After thinking for a moment, its master looked at it and muttered, "How about Lucian... It means light... And it matches how bright your smile is."

"Lucian..." Repeating the word, it smiled. Looking back, the little demon whispered in joy, "It’s perfect, Master."

"Glad you liked it..."

’Master had bestowed a name upon me... How lucky am I... But I can’t just take it for free... I’ve to do something...’ Trying to find a way to pay what it was owed, the demon looked around.

Looking at its perfect body, the throne, and the beautiful decoration around the room, the little demon couldn’t help but wonder, ’What more could Master want... he seems to have everything.’

After pondering for a while, when Lucian couldn’t think of anything, it looked at its master and asked, "If it isn’t too much, can I ask you something, Master?"

As its master listened to its words, Lucian glanced at its eyes. It could see the same curiosity in them as it had with everything.

Musing, its master replied. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

"Sure... why not?"

"What do you want, Master?" it asked. It could feel that its master was taken aback by the question but decided to remain silent.

This question didn’t just stem from the fact that it thought its master had everything, although that was some of it. No, it was to find its own purpose.

After getting abandoned, there were very few things the demon wished to do. And now that it had found a place to stay and a deeply caring master, there were even fewer things it desired.

From the moment it had awakened, Lucian could feel it was here for a reason, for some purpose; it just didn’t know what it was... just yet. So, if it knew what its master wanted, then a goal could appear in front of it.

’A path to be followed.’

It thought and looked at its master pondering over the question. Only after a minute did its words break the silence.

"Well, I want to go home... but that will have to wait for now. At the moment... I don’t want my existence to get erased so I’ve to evolve. Ahh! Yes... an invasion will come so we have to prepare for it as well."

"...And why are you still kneeling? Stand up, let’s walk around a bit."

Dhruv muttered, gesturing for it to stand up.

’Want to go home? Is Master not originally from here?...’ Analyzing its master’s words, Lucian stood up.

Its master stepped down from the dais and began moving toward the left wall of the room. Looking at its back, it began following as well.

’There is nothing there...’ As it got closer to the wall, Lucian couldn’t see anything of worth there. It was beautiful, no doubt about it, but there didn’t seem to be anything that needed attention.

But before it could say anything, the master touched the wall. The moment it did so, a rectangular section in the shape of a door began to open. Soon, there was a path in front of them — stairs leading to some deep part of the dungeon.

’A hidden room!?’ Remembering the place where it had touched the wall, Lucian followed its master’s footsteps.

After climbing down some stairs, they reached a second door. This time, there was a door slab, but it couldn’t see any knob on it. There wasn’t any keyhole either.

"This is our treasury."

Before it could ponder anything, its master’s voice reached it as Lucian looked at the door with more attention.

"Treasury!? What is that?"

It asked, pondering over it.

"It’s a place to store valuable things."

’Treasury?... A place to store valuables?’ Thinking, it asked a question, "How will you open this, Master? I can’t see any handle."

Placing its hand on the door, its master replied, "Only my own mana or someone I’ve chosen can open the door."

"Only this... is there no other way to enter this place?" it asked curiously.

"Yes... of course there is. You can teleport directly... but there are some protective measures against it. You can break the door or use any other forceful method... but all of those will result in me knowing about it."

’But these measures only work if someone is trying to enter without alerting you... what will happen if you are out of the dungeon?...’ Lucian had begun thinking when it could hear the door opening with a creak.

Soon, it could see everything inside the room clearly.

"Hahaha! Don’t you think it’s a little ironic?"

Chuckling, its master asked, gesturing toward the room in front of it.

"What is it, Master?"

The little demon asked, not fully understanding the meaning behind its words.

"It’s that... we are in a dungeon of greed and there isn’t a single coin to our name."

Dhruv chuckled, showing that the entire treasury was empty.

There was nothing inside of it. Forget about gold or silver, there wasn’t even a cobweb in the room. The last part wasn’t a turn-off, but it still hurt.

"Indeed, Master,"

it replied, chuckling as well. Even though the room was empty, Lucian couldn’t help but fall in love with it. It brought a strange purpose to it.

’Dungeon!... dungeon of greed, my home...’ Looking at the empty room in front of it, it vowed, ’I have to protect it, defend it even if it costs my life.’

"Well, I will fill it one day... let’s not think about that..."

Saying this, its master began moving toward the end of the room.

’Me too, Master... I will help with every last bit of myself.’

At the end of the room, there was a door leading somewhere else. Opening it, both of them entered another room, and similar to the previous room, this one was empty as well, except for one thing.

An item of great value.

"What is that, Master?"

Lucian couldn’t help but ask, looking at the strange object hovering in front of it.

"Well... that is our core... and this is where the magic will begin..."

Dhruv replied, moving toward the core with a smile.