Mulan was not one of the Black Castle's higher-ups, nor could he be bothered to get involved in what came next. After a word with Walton, he returned to his residence. Though the Mud Demon had damaged much of it, the second floor was still mostly intact.
Back home, Mulan changed his clothes, lit a candle in his room, and began leafing through a magic book. In circumstances like these, his thirst for knowledge only grew stronger.
After working through several books, Mulan finally found some of what he was looking for.
A book titled "Origins of Secret Arts" recorded secrets and conjectures concerning a group known as the Warlock of Varata. In ancient times, humans who wielded supernatural power were mostly called warlocks. People believed they possessed wondrous powers, but that those powers were evil, possibly obtained through bargains with fiends. Thus, they were classified as magic.
One passage described the Warlock of Varata as one of the oldest surviving traditions whose members still called themselves warlocks. Some among them commanded terrifying spells, one of the most distinctive being demon summoning.
Frowning, Mulan read on carefully. The words in the book seemed to crawl like twisted worms, even conjuring images that faintly outlined a warlock dressed in black clothes and a black hat.
Unmoved, Mulan continued reading silently.
"But so-called demon summoning is merely a matter of terminology. According to the Warlock of Varata, a demon is a pure existence, a concentration of pure obsession, driven by intense malice and greedy desire. It becomes a terrifying supernatural force, crossing chaos and the Otherworld to descend into reality and fight for its warlock, destroying every opponent within a certain range except the warlock himself..."
Mulan opened another book and read the two side by side, comparing and studying them. Gradually,