CH.503 What Demons Can Do
CH.503 What Demons Can Do
Now that I had access to a real demon, I wanted to find out some things. So naturally I just summoned Hope for a chat.
I started by getting her some more modest clothes, as her usual succubus outfit was a bit much for casual chats. It just consisted of a simple shirt and skirt combo. I was thinking of a dress at first, but Lua pointed out that Hope’s wings might get in the way of a dress, so the shirt and skirt it was.
… And for no reason in particular, I designed the outfit to look like a Japanese school uniform, or a sailor uniform, as they are also called. And while Hope got dressed up, I had Sheou style her hair into twin-tails. Yes, for no reason in particular.
Now that I had my demon student, though realistically she should be a teacher, since I’ll be asking her the questions, I was ready to … well, ask those questions.
“So, first question. How do demons respond to a demon summoning?” I asked Hope.
“... well, we get this sense of someone wanting us. Then if they want a specific kind of demon, those demons get a stronger sense of being wanted. You didn’t seem to care, so it was around equal for all of us.” Hope began to explain. “Then we see a glimpse of the summoner, and from there, we usually compete for who gets to be summoned. … but in my case, they forced me to respond, because they knew it was you.”
“Care to elaborate?” I asked.
“... we can see what happens with summonings, on the initial call. Contract summonings, like this one, they can’t see, but when done with the summoning circle, they see it all. So they saw what you did to Arzox, so no one wanted to respond, especially with that demon slayer by your side. … so they forced me to go instead. They told me you were a simple human, looking for a simple favor. Something easy for an inexperienced succubus. I didn't have the time to check, and they just pushed me through.”
“So they made you the expendable, because they assumed I’d kill you.” I concluded. “They must have been mad when you returned with the miasma stone.”
“More jealous than mad. Had they done something, the Demon God would punish them. We aren’t allowed to steal each other's contract loot.”
“There is a demon god?”
“Y-Yes? Of course there is. You humans have your Goddess, we have the Demon God!”
“I see… Can he be summoned?”
“... I wouldn’t know. I’ve never met him, I’ve only heard of him.”
“Do you think you could get in contact with him in the demon world?”
“... No? Can you talk to the Goddess?”
“Yes, I can.”
“... I still don’t think I can.”
“That is fine. We can ignore that for now.”
“So, next thing. I’ve heard that demons can give out skills and strength, is that true?” I asked.
“Y-Yes, but I can’t do much. I’m not that strong.” Hope answered. “... and besides, you are already a Cambion. … or at least you were? How did you do that?”
“A skill I have. But it is true. You can give out skills.”
“... Yes.”
“What kind of skills could you give?”
“Not much. A succubus like me would usually respond to a call when someone wants to be pleasured. We don’t take much for the service, so people often agree to it.” Hope said.
“Didn’t answer my question.”
“... A fully developed succubus can give the Sexual Technique and Pleasuring Technique skills. But I can only give the Pleasuring Technique skill.” Hope answered. “And I would need a full miasma stone for that. ... sorry.”
“That’s fine. I can give you another stone.”
“... Do you actually want the skill?” Hope asked.
“Yeah, why not? It doesn’t hurt in any way, right? Not like you steal some of my status points, or something?”
“... usually we would, but since you can pay with a miasma stone, I don’t need to.”
“Then why not?” I said, as I got a card out, activated it, and produced a miasma stone for Hope.
After she granted me the skill, I kept asking her questions about what kinds of skills different demons can give.
War demons can give different kinds of combat skills, like Unarmed Combat Technique and the weapon technique skills. They can also give out the Cambion race, and the skills that come with that race.
Familiar demons, the weakest kind of demons, can give out household skills like Cleaning, Cooking and Service.
Drudes, or nightmare demons, can give the skills Forced Sleep and Induce Nightmare. You can probably guess what those skills do.
And Sabbaths, or mage demons, give our magic based skills. Fast Mana Recovery, Quick Cast, Instant Cast, etc. Like war demons, they can also give out the Cambion race. They can also give the Miasma Control skill, which admittedly I’d like to have, so I may have to negotiate with a Sabbath.
The skill granting by Hope was a bit like an install, in terms of how it felt. There was a rush of power that made me feel … a lot of things at the same time.
Though in terms of how it felt, the time I installed Different Dimension Factory is still the worst. Just … don’t cheat yourself unique skills. Or do. It actually is worth it. At least it was with the Factory.
And admittedly, all unique skills I know are worth the temporary discomfort.
With that being said, I headed out of HomeBase again, back to where I first summoned Hope. I used the same Earth Spirit Magic trick to carve another demon summoning circle, filled it up and hoped I’d get a Sabbath.
And as expected, I did manage to get one.
I then negotiated with the demon about getting the Miasma Control skill, and while at first he was way too greedy, trying to get ten miasma stones for the skill, when he realized he cannot attack me because of the protection from the summoning circle I used, he gave in and agreed to give me the skill for just two miasma stones.
And no, I did not make a further contract than that with the demon.
And since that went so well, I decided to try for another two skills I wanted. Those being Bow Technique and Whip Technique.
I’d probably get both soon anyway, but since there really is no downside in bargaining with demons, as long as I use the miasma stones, I’ll just get both that way.
Sadly the first war demon I summoned couldn’t give out either of the skills I wanted. He wasn’t happy to be summoned and to not get a miasma stone, so he tried to attack me.
… it didn’t end well for him, since the circle protected me, and then I decided to … well, end him, because I don’t want a demon like that being around.
And yes, unlike with summoned monsters who can recover after dying, if a demon dies while summoned, that demon is really dead. Sure I probably could resurrect them, but I won’t be doing so with this demon.
I then summoned a few more. Luckily on the second try I got a demon who gave me the Bow Technique skill, and he only asked for one miasma stone for it, so I made the trade and got the skill.
I then got another dud demon, who couldn’t give me Bow Technique, but he acted nicely, so I just sent him back.
And then I got the demon I needed for Whip Technique. But she was a bit of a special case.
She was a war demon, yes, but she used to be a succubus, so she could also give me the Sexual Technique skill. And she offered both it, and Whip Technique for only 3 miasma stones, so I picked up both.
I even considered making a long term contract with her, but decided against it. I already have one succubus, I don't need another. Even if this one is technically a war demon.
But I have a lot of new skills, so status time.
Now, as you may notice, I have a few skills that I didn’t get from the demons.
Miasma Resistance is because I’ve been handling the miasma stones, and Miasma Vision is because I’ve been using Mana Vision as a way to ‘see’ miasma. You can kind of see it with Mana Vision, but having the actual skill is way better.
And since I have Pleasuring Technique and Sexual Technique skills, I want to test them.
… so you can probably imagine what happened, because I won’t be sharing.