Fairy Tail: Swallow the Fire

28. Bargaining With Megalomaniacs

A/N: The fight will be in the next chapter.

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Sizzling could be heard from the kitchen as Totomaru cooked breakfast. As the smell of sausage and bacon drafted around the apartment, I sat on the bed with my legs crossed in a meditating position. Two palms were pressed together in front of me with one hand pointing downwards and another pointing to the sky, while another set of hands rested under my diaphragm with the fingers pressed together with the palms raised upwards. A third pair of arms were raised above my head with the fingers pointing skywards in a prayer-like position.

Diamond-like black markings were etched across all six appendages and could even be seen on my bare feet, with the pigment of my skin around those tattoos becoming just a few shades darker than the patterns themselves. Dark-coloured horns rose from my forehead and turned backwards, forming an infernal crown.

Assuming my demonic form, my "natural" form, was something I had become accustomed to doing when I had some privacy. It was the only time I could safely try to focus on taming the little voice in my head that told me to let loose and burn anything that got in my way. And that voice prevented me from using the strength I get while like this, as the adrenaline boosts it exponentially. Losing myself to the thrill of violence gets too tempting while fighting.

It makes me wonder if born demons naturally learn how to suppress their nature at a young age, or if they even have to worry about wanting to destroy something as much as I do. Aetna was the Overlord of war and wrath, two things that are naturally inclined to violence, so if he was the progenitor of fire demons then it would make sense if they were more naturally destructive.

So trying to gain control of my instincts was one thing, but something I also realised was that in this state I could "see" magic better.

The feeling of the flow of ethernano was more profound. If before it seemed like a gentle breeze across my skin, now it was like I was in the middle of a storm. From the faint memories I had while battling Tatsuo, my Overlord form made it feel like I was submerged in water.

The only saving grace I had from my understanding being overloaded was that my comprehension appeared to be selective.

Fire magic, obviously, was as easy for me to understand as breathing. And raw magic even seemed to be easier to comprehend on a deeper level, boosting my strength as an Enchanter to the point I could comfortably call myself a High Enchanter even without my demonic state.

But when I tried to look deeper into the light magic I felt on my skin coming through the window of my room, I couldn't get any further insights into its flow. The same situation occurred when I tried to study the water when I stepped into the shower. On the opposite end, darkness magic or shadow magic felt easier to conceptualize even without a previous understanding of it.

This gave me a pretty decent understanding of my limits and strengths. Demons are creatures of the night, and I myself have become a fire demon. So things like fire and night or darkness-based magic will be easier to learn, and it would be safe to say that unholy magic or black magic would be in the same boat.

So if this pattern continued further, I wouldn't have as much an easier time understanding other elements or light and day magic, with holy and white magic being as difficult for me to learn as it would be for everyone else. Assuming I can even learn it in the first place...

But still, that raised ability to feel the underlying ethernano, the raw magic, would give me some advantage at the very least.

My meditation was cut short when I heard Totomaru entering the living room, stopping briefly before muttering a quiet "I worry for the day I get used to that..." and setting my plate and bowl on the bedside table.