Did this count as another familiar? Another one he could try raising?
Ruger looked utterly baffled.
He had always been curious about Wizard Zorn's path. When his teacher had appeared beside Kurt's dining table, he had mentioned that Wizard Zorn was a man of the Demon Nest with ideas of his own, forging a path that drew on existing precedents without slavishly following them. His teacher had given that path a measure of approval.
Perhaps the Little Fairy undergoing that distortion had given Lord Zorn some useful inspiration.
As Ruger pondered this, he continued practicing those incantations and casting gestures. They were perfect for a journey: he could fiddle with them as he walked without producing any spell fluctuations.
The bright red carpet gradually took on a different character.
What had felt like a paradise slowly became a road seemingly paved with blood.
Ruger kept looking around as he walked.
Suddenly, the fur on his back stood on end, and he stopped dead. Almost simultaneously, Wizard Zorn swept out a hand. A tumbling sensation carried them away from that spot, after which they resumed their leisurely stroll.
Ruger was still shaken.
Mahama and Varin looked bewildered. All they had noticed was Ruger's sudden change of expression, followed by Wizard Zorn whisking them some distance ahead.
"Just a rather troublesome nightmare demon. I didn't expect those things to be here too. It must have followed the aura of the Nightmare World over when the kingdom shattered..." Zorn said casually, still holding his bottle as he walked.
Mahama looked at Ruger.
"I've never seen a nightmare demon. Are they hard to deal with?" Big Guy asked curiously.
Ruger nodded instinctively.
"Troublesome is the most accurate description. Sometimes, when you encounter one, you have all this strength and nowhere to use it. If