New Eden: Live to Play, Play to Live

"Boy, you aren\'t truly here. We are still in your mind, or rather, should I say mine."

"Huh?"

"The ring brought you here. Now that it is yours to control, it can take you out. You can come back here anytime you want, to get some directions from me if you need them. But to leave, you only need will so."

Astaroth closed his eyes, trying to do what Solomon said, and sensing nothing different, he re-opened his eyes. But instead of the cloudy room he had been in, he was back on his back, on a white alabaster floor.

The small platform he was on, still floating in the middle of the gelatinous lake. But something differed from before.

Where the glowing ceiling had been earlier, there was now a much less bright stone ceiling. It looked more like a crystal ceiling than anything else that was reflecting the light from the outside.

\'That would explain why it was so bright earlier. The sun was at its zenith.\'

But this meant that he had a way out if he so wished. He didn\'t know how thick the crystalline wall would be, but he was about to find out.

Melding with Morpheus, Astaroth flew up to the ceiling, pressing his hand against the crystalline surface. Sending mana into it, he could replicate seismic tomography, giving him the approximate thickness and density of the material.

And the results made him grin.

Flying back to the platform, Astaroth crouched down. After focusing all his strength on his legs and wings, he burst upward, using Sky Step to speed up his ascent even more.

Pulling out the Ad Astra, and morphing it into a two-handed hammer, Astaroth swung with all his might and momentum, crashing through the crystal as if it was simple glass.

He beat his wings a few times, taking in the air from the top of the mountain. Even though it was thin in oxygen, the air was crisp and cold, enough to focus his mind.

Astaroth thought of using his Royal Protection skill, and changing his meld to Luna, or Solara in this case, but another idea came to his mind.

Bringing his right hand to his head, he touched the gem on the ring to his forehead. By doing this, he could connect to the souls of the demons locked inside the ring.

"Asmodeus, come out."

In a swirl of Dark Purple energy, a tall and slim man came out in front of him. Asmodeus was wearing a smoking suit with an untied collar.

In his pocket, a dark purple handkerchief. His eyes were black as the night, and, despite his almost human appearance, two black horns grew out of his forehead.

"Master Astaroth."

Calling out the master\'s name, Asmodeus did a small half-bow, bringing one arm to his chest, and the other behind his back.

"I noticed while fighting you that you can teleport. Could you teleport me somewhere precise if I gave you the coordinates?"

Bringing his hand to his clean-shaven chin, Asmodeus looked pensive for a moment.

"I don\'t believe I could teleport you very far, with my current access to your mana supply, Master Astaroth. If you would be so kind as to offer me your mana, then yes."

Astaroth looked at him with mistrust. Even if he was their master in name, he still felt like he didn\'t yet have their respect.

"How much mana are we talking about?"

"Hmm. A paltry sum should do. Fifty thousand mana points."

Astaroth almost choked on his saliva, hearing the demon say that amount was paltry.

"That much is no paltry sum! You are asking for way too much!"

The demon smiled slyly.

"Master Solomon could have given me as much in his sleep. I don\'t think you are ready to use my powers yet, Master Astaroth."

The little edge of distaste that Astaroth caught in his tone irked him. So he tried another method.

"What if I were to merge with you? Would I gain access to your powers, then?"

"Merge with me? Do you mean me possessing your body? I would gladly do that!"

The demon looked excited at the prospect, taking a step toward Astaroth, even though they were high in the air.

Astaroth snickered at him.

"No. Not possession. Melding."

"Melding? I don\'t und—"

*Schluck*

Looking down at his chest, Asmodeus saw Astaroth\'s hand, with a metallic claw covering it, embedded inside his chest, near his heart. He could feel Astaroth\'s hand grabbing at the soul inside his vessel.

Feeling his soul get wrenched from his vessel, and sucked inside Astaroth\'s body, the demon grimaced. His vessel disappeared as soon as the soul was extracted from it, and Astaroth was stuck in the air, his head dropping, as his mind and soul assimilated the demon\'s soul.

Asmodeus felt helpless suddenly, being unable to control what his soul was going through. It was a terrible feeling for him to be helpless.

The proximity of Astaroth\'s soul was so tempting to him, but he couldn\'t do anything to it because of the ring on his hand. Soon enough, the process was done.

Astaroth looked up again, a smile on his lips.

He changed his meld from Morpheus to the new tenant next to his soul. The wings in his back disappeared, but instead of falling to the mountaintop, a platform of purple energy appeared under his feet.

Astaroth had closed his eyes, focusing on the changes in his body, making sure the demon couldn\'t attempt anything dangerous during the melding process. But everything went as normal.

Opening his eyes again, they had become pitch black, and two horns now adorned his forehead. Astaroth looked a lot more savage than the elegant-looking Asmodeus like this.

But he cared little about looks right now. Only five minutes remained before the forced log out.

He could feel the new power coursing through him, but didn\'t have the time to look at his status screen. Only two things mattered to him.

The gained skills, and making it to his starting village.

*Skills acquired from melding: Spatial Magic, Sense Intentions, Ultra-space Vision.*

He didn\'t read through the skills, since he had no time, but he could already understand what two of them did. Focusing his mind on the starting village, his eyes transcended space and he could see the entrance to the village.

And by focusing a bit more, he could feel a connection to the space there. A grin appeared on his face.

He could guess it would take a lot of Mana to teleport there, but at least he could tell it was possible. So with a thought, he did so.

Inside his mind, the demon finally reacted to being stabbed by his big hand.

\'Ow. You could have asked for access to my soul. I can\'t refuse, anyway. But there still exists a concept of consent. I thought you mortals loved that concept…\'

\'We can talk about this later. I have other matters to attend to.\'

And with that thought, he vanished from over the mountain. Just in time to miss the dungeon announcement that resounded.

*Congratulations to player Astaroth for clearing the hidden quest; Legacy of the Great Sage. The quest is now no longer available.*