It was rare for Ezekiel to practice or study magic not inside his training room back home. But he couldn't help himself when Tao said she was going to be teaching Doom for the first time. So here he was, sitting off to the side eating snacks and half reading a book about rune inscription while he watched Doom get a reality check.
Doom showed up with his ego on display like it was Tao's honor to be able to teach him. But that quickly changed when she asked to see his current abilities so she could figure out how to teach him. That only lasted for a couple minutes before Tao said, "I've seen enough, whatever you studied before is pieced together with garbage that will kill you someday if you continue to use it."
"The magic I learned isn't garbage! It was my mother's legacy she left behind!"
"So she was a self taught magic user?" Tao asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Her skills were learned and passed down through our family for generations. Every magic user in the family added to the books she left for me."
Tao shook her head as she said, "That is the exact reason demons come into the world so often. Practicing half finished and patched together magic is the exact thing that will summon a demon and have it steal your soul."
Doom's face paled slightly and his eyes narrowed as a frosty look covered his face. Tao noticed it in an instant and chuckled as she asked, "What? Hit a little too close to home? Well I don't care…"
Tao stepped in front of Doom and looked him in the eyes as she asked, "Do you have any idea how many human lives and souls have been destroyed because of people like you and your family who recklessly practice things they don't fully understand?"
Doom at least had the decency to look away at that comment because he remembered what happened with his mother. Tao watched him for a few moments before she asked, "I doubt you and the rest of your family ever stopped to think where all that scattered knowledge came from. Or maybe you thought it was just your ancestors being geniuses and figuring it out all by themselves..."
Doom turned back to face Tao who shook her head in disappointment as she said, "It was whispered by demons trying to enter this world."
Doom stood completely still, his fists clenched together tightly as he said through gritted teeth, "Then teach me the proper way to use magic."
Tao studied Doom for a few moments before she said in a voice that promised violence, "Don't worry, I will… And I know the best way to teach someone like you. It's the same way I taught Ezekiel."
Ezekiel's back broke out in a cold sweat at Tao's words but Doom didn't seem to care or even know what she meant by that. But Ezekiel was sure he would find out soon enough as Tao said, "Before we start proper lessons, I'm going to show you why the magic you practice needs to be forgotten and the books you have on it destroyed."
Doom frowned and was about to say something when Tao held up her hand and said, "I understand that it is part of your family's legacy, but books filled with patched together magic spells cause too many tragedies."
Tao's eyes narrowed slightly as she stared down Doom and asked, "Even a single page from books like that can cause a disaster… I assume you've at least heard of The Great Chicago fire during the late nineteenth century?"
Doom nodded stiffly before Tao said, "That tragedy was caused by half a page of jumbled together magic someone created. It summoned a greater demon who loved the smell of burning bodies and unfortunately took me over two days to find out about before I was able to stop it."
Tao shook her head remembering back to what happened before she added, "Thankfully it was content with its little slice of hell on Earth it created. Otherwise its death toll would have been in the tens of thousands."
Tao stepped back away from Doom as she said, "The next time you visit, I expect you to bring all those books so I can dispose of them properly. And don't forget to bring all the notes you've taken too, I don't want any of that patched together knowledge getting out."
Doom nodded stiffly before Tao said, "Good… Now with that out of the way we can get to the fun part and the last time you'll use this type of magic."
Tao stepped backwards and once she was at least ten yards away from Doom she said, "Attack me magically with everything you have."
Doom didn't hesitate as he instantly started to weave spells and green spell bolts flew towards Tao. Tao didn't even move as the bolts dissipated against an invisible barrier. Spell after spell was flung at her, but no matter what Doom did, Tao didn't even react. After almost a minute Tao said in a teaching tone, "This is another reason you shouldn't practice half finished magic, it pales in comparison to the real thing."
Doom didn't give up in the face of failure or even at Tao's words and started taking a few seconds to cast larger spells with more power. Again the onslaught of magic did nothing and Tao stood perfectly still as she watched with a bored expression. After another minute Doom started to draw on even more power and spells the size of cars flew towards Tao. But again she made absolutely no move to block or evade the incoming attacks.
Ezekiel, who was off to the side watching, was eating peanut butter filled pretzels when he noticed a disturbance in the area. As Doom used more magic, the immediate area started to twist slightly in certain spots. It probably wasn't noticeable to normal people, but Ezekiel used his sharingan all the time as a form of training. So he quickly noticed the micro disturbances as soon as they started to appear and paid close attention to them.
Doom's assault paused for a few seconds as he gathered even more power together to launch it towards Tao. At the same time a green colored magic flame the size of a double decker bus flew towards Tao. Sharp claws tore open space at the spots Ezekiel noticed earlier and gray sickly looking arms burst out followed by tearing sounds.
Doom didn't seem to notice as he was in the middle of charging up another large spell. But Tao did and she finally moved for the first time to look at Ezekiel and shake her head. Ezekiel who was about to step in and banish the incoming demons just smirked before he tossed another pretzel bite into his mouth.
As Doom finished charging his strongest attack yet, six different gray skinned demons ripped through the weakened fabric of reality in the area. Each one utterly disgusting in appearance and different in appearance. When they landed on the ground they all paused for a moment to get their bearings while Doom launched his massive spell towards Tao.
This time Tao's barrier didn't block it because all of the demons jumped towards it in hunger. Doom's eyes widened as he watched his spell disappear into the mouths of the six grotesque creatures that just appeared. Within moments the massive spell was devoured and each of the demons grew the bit bigger and more twisted in nature.
Even though the demons were standing within touching distance of Tao, they completely ignored her. Their complete focus was on Doom who frowned as he started to raise a magical shield around himself. The demons all started to talk in a strange guttural language for a few moments before the largest one snarled and smacked the second largest one which slammed it heavily into the ground.
When none of the other demons protested again, a horrific looking grin spread over its crooked face. It was only around four feet in height but it stalked towards Doom like it towered above him. When the demon reached the glowing green shield Doom erected it finally spoke in an inhuman voice that sounded worse than nails on a chalk board, "Feed me with your power human and I won't devour your soul."
Doom frowned as he glanced towards Tao who smiled while gesturing towards the demons like it wasn't her problem to solve. Doom also glanced towards Ezekiel as he prepared another defensive spell and found him calmly eating from a bag of popcorn with other snacks next to him. Doom's lips pressed together into a thin line as he focused back on the demon who was randomly poking the shield he created.
Doom knew from how they ate his last spell he couldn't throw out his normal magic attacks at them. So instead he started adding more defensive spells as he thought over all the magic spells he knew. As a third green magic barrier formed around Doom, the demon tapped on the first shield one last time before it shattered to pieces. As the pieces fell to the ground, the demon opened its mouth and a wind vortex formed and pulled all the fragments inside of it.
The demon grew another inch before it let out a loud burp and rubbed its belly as it said, "Good, feed me more of your power pitiful human or I'll make you watch as I eat you alive starting with your feet and then devour your soul so I can torture it for all of eternity."
"Fine, you want my power… I'll make you choke on it." Doom said in a serious tone before he conjured a new type of spell. It wasn't fully green but had hints of orange in it as it streaked towards the demon which opened its mouth wide before it devoured the spell with ease.
The demons flashed its crooked ugly grin as it grew a few more inches before it snarled, "That's it, feed me more!"
Doom frowned and threw out a few more different spells but the demon ate them all and now stood almost five feet tall. The other demons cowed by the first, luckily hadn't moved yet as they watched their leader with jealous filled eyes grow even stronger. Seeing that his magic was useless and only made the thing stronger, Doom created another barrier around himself before he moved towards one of the weapon racks.
The demon followed as it taunted, "You can not run or hide human, I know your scent and can follow you anywhere. Now keep feeding me before I grow impatient."
"Doom isn't a coward who needs to run and hide!" Doom yelled as he grabbed a sword from the weapons rack and turned to attack the demon.
The sword was made from special alloys and while not designed specifically to harm demons. It still cut deep into its chest leaving a gash that oozed a sickly, almost pus colored blood. The demon screamed in agony as it clutched its wound before it swiped its free claw towards Doom. The attack landed on his shield and instantly broke it apart before the demon leaped at him. Doom's second and third barriers broke almost as fast and he was forced to roll out of the way to dodge the demon's attack.
Doom had rolled to his feet and landed another deep slash against the demon's back before he started casting a spell with his free hand. The demon swung a wild attack towards Doom as it turned around, but Doom easily side stepped the attack and slashed again. His third attack landed across the demon's face and caused it to howl in pain before it charged at Doom. Doom didn't panic as he swung his sword down into the demon's head before he threw his prepared spell at its legs.
As Doom's sword split the demon's head in half, the green colored fire bolt slammed into its legs. Without the demon directly consuming the spell, it actually hit it for once. The only problem was it did absolutely no damage, but at least the demon collapsed to the ground a moment later since its brain was destroyed. Doom ripped his sword free from the demon's cleaved skull panting slightly as he turned to look at the other demons.
When none of the other demons attempted to move and most even put on mocking smiles, Doom rolled forward just in time to miss getting his head ripped off. The larger demon was there, back on its feet while its head slowly healed back together over its exposed brain. It glared at Doom with hate filled eyes as it snarled, "I'm going to rip you to shreds!"
As the demon rushed towards Doom in a suicide charge, a thin orange wire shot out and wrapped around its body as Tao asked, "I believe you understand why you shouldn't use that magic anymore, correct?"
Doom turned to find all the demons wrapped up in magic while Tao was still standing in the same spot, unmoved besides her head which looked directly towards him. Doom slowly nodded before he said in a slightly reluctant tone, "I understand… Master."
"Good." Tao said as a satisfied smile played across her face.