The Tale of how I Infiltrated Castle Lothrin.

Towyn was as beautiful as ever. Perhaps it was even more so than I last visited. The town hall still stood atop the hill. The cherry tree still glowed as the radiant beams of the midnight moon shined unto it. The town was as lively as ever.

I began walking up the stairs which spanned across the hill to the town hall where I knew my friends were waiting.

Out of nowhere, I felt an explosion of force pushing me to the ground. I looked over my shoulder to see the tree lit aflame with black fire and Towyn in ruins. No matter how much I struggled, I couldn't free myself from my invisible bounds.

The smoke in the sky formed an odd symbol, a huge demon breaking out from metal chains.

Suddenly everything around me changed, I was still in Towyn, but it was no longer under attack.

"Ah, dreams. Normally this is my brother Hypnos' domain but ironic as it is, he's asleep," Thanatos's voice said, echoing in my head. "I've given you this dream for two reasons, I want to make sure you remember what you’re fighting for, and I needed to warn you."

As usual, I was unable to speak, so I just waited until he got bored, impatiently tapping my foot.

The look on his face proved that I irritated a God and was incredibly proud of doing so. "Fine. Be like that. You mortals have such disrespect these days. Just look out for The Chained Demon."

Once again, Thanatos snapped his fingers, and I woke up. "Remember, Tokuma, The Chained Demon."

"The Chained Demon," I exclaimed as I woke from my bed. Gurak was about to wake me up but just stared at me with a confused look.

"Oh, you’re already awake." He said, returning to his cheerful demeanor. "Come on, don't forget your bedroll. I worked for that guld," He ended with a loud laugh.

Just as everyone was preparing to leave, Joric approached Gurak with a large flat top kite shield with various intricate silver runes etched into it. "Now I know I'm no smithy, but I couldn't let ya leave again without a proper shield. Take it."

"Joric, you know that it's not my style," Gurak said before he took the shield anyways upon seeing the worried expression on Joric's face. "But I'll give it a try."

"Good, 'cause it wasn't an offer. Now get out of ma town!"

After getting kicked from Labrec, we continued walking. With almost nothing to talk about, things got boring fast. The rest of our four-to-five-hour trek was not looking exciting, to say the least.

Gurak hurried his pace to walk beside me as once again I was ahead. "Hey Eldin, you wanna see something funny?" Gurak being as crude as he was I wasn't expecting much other than a perverted prank.

"Sure," I replied, bored as could be and willing to participate in basically anything to stave off my boredom.

Upon seeing my cooperation, Gurak nodded and pinched his nose as though he opened a can of year-old fish. "Oh gods, Nyx is that you? When was the last time you bathed?"

"What?" Nyx asked in shock as she sniffed herself, then retracted her head in disgust. "Oh, It definitely is. What do we do?"

Suddenly. Laif was on the ground with his hand laying flat on the forest floor as his face morphed into one of absolute focus. "There's a stream nearby, I could show you. Then you can bathe, don't worry, I'll make sure the pervs don't try to peak."

Laif stood valiantly beside the stream which Nyx was bathing at.

"What now? Don't tell me your gonna-" Before I could answer, I instinctively dodged as Gurak swung his blade, cutting the only strain of hair on my chin.

"What are you doing!?" I shouted as I jumped back, creating distance and allowing myself time to recover.

"Something fun. Come on, let's spar! I don't want to get rusty before we even reach Castle Lothrin," Gurak held his shield with his right hand and his bastard sword in his left. He held his shield up and positioned his sword atop it pointing at me. "I won't kill you. We'll fight till first blood."

Laif was emitting an aura of determination as he remained stiff in his posture, not allowing us even a glance.

"Fine, but don't complain if you get hurt." I taunted.

Before I had a chance to even draw my blade, Gurak lunged at me and shifted his body to his left and trusted his sword at me.

I didn't find it too difficult to deflect his thrust with the palm of my hand thanks to my heroic reflexes, but I couldn't get a strike in myself as he immediately followed with a well-placed kick. Then he turned his back to me, most likely attempting to build momentum for a shield bash, but he was too slow, allowing me to draw my weapon with my right hand and catch his elbow with my left, stopping him mid-rotation.

"You’re better than I thought, Eldin. Not many people can move fast enough to catch that opening," Gurak said in a weirdly excited voice. "But for either of us to learn anything, we need to go all out."

In an instant, Gurak disappeared and reappeared out of my grip. His eyes shut for no longer than the blink of an eye. "Whew, teleportation. Since we're gonna be a team, it's best if we both know each other's abilities. This is my most useful one, teleportation. I can teleport anywhere in sight. However, if I don't close my eyes the moment I reappear, I'll blow chunks. "

"Okay, since we're showing off." Pulling a page from my favorite deity, I snapped my fingers and created an illusionary storm rivalling the one that brought me here. Since my spell levelled up, I was even able to control its sound. "Done yet?"

Gurak continued standing ready to fight with an eager look on his face.

"If you insist." I summoned a horde of duplicates surrounding Gurak. "This is not at all copied from a ninja anime."

Gurak looked around himself cautiously. "You know now that we're sparring I have a question," He shouted through the storm as his eyes darted between my copies. "What do you know about The Chained Demon?"

Nyx, who had just finished getting dressed, and Laif both looked at us with a curious glare.

It had become clear to me what the whole duel was about, I dispelled the storm and my copies so everyone could hear each other easier.

"Not much. I just had a dream. Why, who are they?"

"They're a group of demonic terrorists who kill, steal, and pillage whatever they see fit. They're also to blame for the murder of my parents," Gurak said, clenching his fist around the grip of his sword.

"It doesn't end there either. The Chained Demons were also responsible for the destruction of my village!" Laif added through his gritted teeth.

"They also killed my twin sister." Nyx whimpered as she clutched unto her staff.

"To put it bluntly, The Chained Demons are the reason we're joining the demon slayers. That's why I asked what you knew."

I believed them and all. I knew not every demon was a victim, but something seemed off even if I couldn't wrap my head around it.

Unfortunately nothing came to mind no matter how much thought I it into it. "Sorry, I don't know anything. I wish I could help more."

"It's fine. Let's go. We're almost there," Gurak continued as though nothing happened. "I wonder what kind of women they have there."

We finished the rest of the trip with hardly a word shared between us outside the usual banter.

Finally, we made it. Castle Lothrin was situated atop a steep landmass but mountain was more accurate than hill, which made it impossible to roll any equipment close enough to climb its limestone walls, even if it wasn't though, it would probably take a day to climb it's walls. The only viable way into the castle was through five double-gated gatehouses that twisted up the side of the mountain, doing so would be putting yourself at the mercy of the denizens of archers that would no doubt be waiting on both of the ramparts on either side of the artificial valley the walls created. That's not even mentioning the moat.

Gurak stared with his mouth open in disbelief. "This is beautiful. I've never seen such tall walls, or defences so refined. I'd hate to assault this thing."

"Yeah," I replied, spellbound. Lux warned me, but I couldn't prepare for the sight in front of me.

"Wow, it's so big," Nyx exclaimed.

"Heh, that's what she said."

"Gurak you damn perv!" Laif shouted defensively.

At the first gatehouse was a pair of guardsmen, well-armed with polearms and high-quality armor with a red tabard decorated with the demon slayer's insignia printed on it. They were obviously very interested in the card game they were playing, as they didn't seem to notice us for a while.

"On your feet, we got company." One of the guards said as he immediately shifted his attention to us. After analyzing our party he lowered his guard a little. "You looking to join?" He asked.

"You might wanna turn back, or you'll get assigned guard duty." The other guard complained.

After a quick elbow jab to his co-worker's gut, the first guard continued. "We're always looking for recruits, but we have a waiting period of a week, and then there's the background check and psych evaluation. Finally, there's the training itself, which takes six to eight months depending on what your plans are. After that's done Crann will judge you and then assign you to whichever occupation you’re best suited for or you can retake the test. Any questions?"

I did in fact have several questions. Who is Crann? How does the background check work? What is the extent of the training?

Gurak though had a much more pressing matter to discuss "Where's the brothel?" He asked making Laif slam his palm into his forehead.

"I told you we'd be better recruiters if there were a brothel!"

"Shut up, ankle biter." Guard A replied before returning to Gurak. "We don't have a brothel, but we do have an inn. The Salty Hound, you'll never drink a finer pint."

"Yeah, alright." Gurak moped. At that point, I figured I'd get my answers eventually and that asking would be suspicious.

The guard pulled a horn from his belt and blew it. Soon the first gate rose smoothly, and he gestured for us to follow him. This repeated for the other nine gates.

Finally, we entered the castle itself, or at least the first bailey. The place was full of soldiers and warriors, even the elderly were obviously trained and the children were training. Despite this, the place was thriving and in the center was a fountain with a statue of a heroic figure holding a decapitated oni's head. Several cobblestone paths lead to various shops, a barracks, an inn, a few granaries, and finally to another wall which was heavily guarded by even better-armed guards with swords at their hips.

"Those are special forces, don't mess with them unless you have to." The guard escorting us said as though he read my mind. "Um, do you have any guld?"

Gurak began rummaging through his pockets. "Yeah, I still have about a hundred from the brothel."

Once again, Laif facepalmed.

"That should be enough for a week's stay at the inn for you all. Until you’re enlisted, you can't enter the housing district so I guess this is the whole tour. I hope to see you as fellow soldiers soon."

As soon as the guard left Gurak continued his perverted ways. "I hope the barmaid's hot. Only one way to find out."

A welt began to surface on Laif's head as he continuously facepalmed.

"Laif are you alright? Your head's awfully red." Nyx asked. "Now your face is too, did you get sunburned?"

Gurak took this moment to dash into the inn, no doubt to hit on the girls I followed him, mainly because watching Laif wilt away in embarrassment was painful.

Gurak approached a tavern girl with long brown hair from behind. "Whew, I must've taken the wrong turn and ended up in heaven. Where else would I find such an angel?"

The 'girl' turned back with 'her' face covered in poorly shaven stubble and a thick handlebar moustache.

Gurak jumped back. "What the hell!?"

"Hehehe, you’re too kind," 'She' replied, leaving both me and Gurak speechless while ignoring Gurak's abrupt question.

"Eldin, you’re seeing this, right?"

"Unfortunately, yes," I answered as I observed the train wreck.

Gurak swallowed hard. "I was wondering if I could rent four rooms for a week."

"For you darling, anything, that'll be two-hundred guld." The barmaid said sultrily.

"Eldin, huddle up." Gurak called as I obliged "I thought the guard said we could afford it."

"I thought you weren't into dudes," I replied snarkily, knowing full well that Gurak deserved every second of this.

"Shut up! I'm not."

"Money problems? " The barmaid called out. "Tell you what sweatie, I'll cut the price in half for a kiss."

I witnessed Gurak's eyes turn blank as his body went limp. "Deal." He whimpered. "A real man has no problem kissing a dude, as they have complete faith in their masculinity." Despite his speech, Gurak was barely waddling.

"Enough foreplay! Kiss me, you fool."

I witnessed Gurak turn into a changed man as their lips collided with grace. The barmaid leaned into him, and Gurak, being as stubborn as he was, tightly embraced her waist as she did the same. There was no doubt plenty of tongue involved as well. With a sound similar to a suction cup they pulled their mouths apart.

"Damn you," Gurak shouted as tears ran down his face. "You're a hell of a kisser!"

"Hehehe. That was my first kiss. Thanks for the memory!" 'She' continued as she did a little spin.

"Don't mention it. I mean it please don't tell anyone."

"I'll show you your rooms." 'She' said as she led Gurak to the upstairs.

In the corner of the room, I saw a red-cloaked man beckoning me. As it was my goal to obtain information, I sat with him.

"We've been watching you, Cross. Your fight with Gurak was impressive. The demon slayer organization is very interested. We're always looking for more heroes." He said as he looked at me with his crimson eyes similar to a demon’s.

"How'd you know?"

"Shh. Not too loud. What matters is that we do. You have the potential to join a top-secret team of the most elite soldiers Lothrin has to offer. I can't say any more until I'm sure you're ready. But know I'm watching you, so don't disappoint." The man extended his arm to me for a handshake. On his forearm was a tattoo I couldn't believe.

A demon bound in chains. The insignia of The Chained Demon.