They arrived after 2 days to the gates of Sntn's Estate. Andrew couldn't see the perverse opulence of the buildings. He also couldn't hear the loud sex moaning that pervaded the estate. He felt a commanding urge to sit. It wasn't rest. It was forced. The haze he was following got further and further away until it was shrouded in darkness and the teen was left alone, in infinite black silence. He examined Limpy's items in more depth.
Item Name: Cuff of tears
Info: an enchanted cotton cuff that is always damp. It was created in the compact between (Dogma) Rascurian and (Demon) Vrrtn. The cuff will hold a perfume's scent indefinitely. While others smell the intended scent, the wearer can no longer smell anything pleasant. "Why are you crying, my lord? It's a beautiful day and the air smells of sweet flowers."
Item Name: Inscribed Rocks
Info: Magical rocks that equip the quick skill...
Limpy was always granted a pass to rest in the barracks
with the other slaves when he made a kill. He had one of his stone golems throw down the mutilated corpse. It hit the dirt at Limpy's feet like so much waste chicken parts, thrown to yard dogs. The black blood of the demon had long since drained out of the smashed and torn body. Unfortunately because of the state of the corpse, his master would not be able to defile the body and absorb the demon's shame. Limpy unfurled a rope he kept on his belt. It was a rare treat for him to see his sproutlings, he didn't want to get the black muck from the dead demon on his clean blue hands... He didn't know if it would wash off or not. His master wouldn't allow him to fuck a female if he was stained black.
He had been out on the grass plains for a long time. He craved a plump pink female house servant. Limpy tied the rope carefully and dragged the body through the white marble gate, around the statues that peppered the front grounds of the estate. They were all carved by sproutlings out of the white marble his master loved. Limpy's private game was to choose a statue to emulate when he got his female prize. Most of the statues were depictions of his master in some contortionist sexual positions. Some showed the master putting dick into different kinds of women and beasts. Others were of master taking dick in the mouth or other holes. Some of the statues were of the master engaged in incomprehensible copulation with dead things, oozing wounds, and even geometric illusions of the master's dick fucking itself. Limpy made his selection and dragged on toward the side of the master's mansion. He deposited the corpse into a small pile of dead bodies and bones. He knew he should present himself before the master, but truthfully, the master was very lax with the discipline. All of the imps were allowed a simple autonomy because the master was continually gaining energy from a powerful thrall. Limpy went to the barracks. The sproutlings crowded around and greeted him warmly. Little imps, all different shades of green and naked, brought Limpy a rocking chair, asked him questions about his kill and updated him on the gossip of the estate. Because he was a male, he was highly revered by the non-sexed imps which made up a majority of the slaves on the estates. Limpy saw them as his family. He didn't father any of them, all imps grow from seeds planted in hell's soil, but he was bigger and more powerful than most of the other imps so he cared for everyone like an older brother. The 2 other males on the estate were kept inside the mansion to be used in master’s sexual debasement and torture rituals. After resting a while he went to choose a puffy pink mate. If it weren't for the sex, Limpy would have run away long ago. He was mostly on his own at the edge of the territory and his master didn't pay the slaves any attention positive or negative. Master just abused his thrall on the surface world and increased the size of the territory, pushing Limpy further and further away from his slave family and giving the imp a level of independence that imps couldn't fathom since the ancient days of Imp-Terion "The Sword of Hell"
Item Name: Promise of death
Info: After Granting an ancient assassin her wish to bear a child. The goddess of Demons took the oath of the assassin to kill any person, no matter what. The assassin is cursed to fulfill this promise even coming back from peaceful death to do it.
WTF! thought Andrew. This Limpy guy has legit ultra-rare treasures and he's only level 4!
Item Name: Vrtnn's Souls Ruby
Info: The power jewel created by a demon...
*New Party Member* popped up in front of Andrew's third eye.
The plump pink female screamed in frustration.
"STOP STOP, It won't bend that way!" Limpy was struggling as hard as he could to push the female imp's legs apart, using his legs, to form a strange shape, while trying to force his pelvis toward the female." After their acrobatic failure and subsequent unenthusiastic consolation rutting, the two imps laid in the absent master's bed. The female perused Limpy's status and inventory. She asked, "Who's Andrew?" He was so used to being alone that Limpy had long since stopped checking his status. He couldn't actually "Own" anything and he hasn't leveled up in years. He saw the name in his party, but didn't know if the name had always been there. He was one of the only males, a de facto leader, he couldn't "Not know" in front of plump pink. "Why don't you go back to work beautiful, I must return to the field." Limpy dropped her from his party. He'd made love to 8 or so different imps. It wouldn't be fair choosing only 2 to remain in his party, and he liked being untethered to the mansion. The silence of the far fields never reminded him that he was a slave. Limpy didn't think about the party member. He called out to it with the third eye, but no response came. He reasoned that the party member was his rock monster pets. They must be in his party so that he could give them commands. Crossing the outer gates, Limpy hops on a rock monster and the other 4 follow him back out to the field.
Item Name: Peering Buckler
Info: "And the hero Astipon took the product of dragons fire. By leaving the gold, Astipon's conscience remained clear as glass." This shield is part of a legendary armor set. It is completely clear and grants immunity to flame while in a blocking stance and if the bearer looks through it with their third eye, it allows them to see behind them and around nearby corners
It was a long walk.
Item Name: Htn's Soul Slicer
Info: a decorative rapier formed by the arch...
Andrew read every item description. And did everything he could possibly do with his third eye while he was stuck in the rock monster. His level was low. It took a long time for things to become clear in his third eye. He couldn't get much information about items and lore. No matter how much he focused his third eye on a specific word or name, no more than the most basic information would come to him. He knew every item should have tangible stats like strength or durability or whatever, but he could only see a name and a brief description, unlike when he first arrived in hell, his access to information seemed almost limitless. He was afraid, but he had no choice. The teen, half-demon, rock monster, couldn't wait 8 months in blindness and darkness. He wanted to prepare so he could escape hell. He had to talk to his party mate Limpy. Andrew had no concept of time anymore, but his third eye saw Limpy's status as "Sleeping." He'd made all the preparation he could. Andrew spoke to Limpy in his mind.
"Umm... Hello" Andrew hesitantly thought out loud.
The imp screamed, utterly confused, "Who's there!"
"My name's Andrew, I come from another world. I am trapped here with you."
Limpy made all the rock monsters stand ready to attack, "I'll kill you! this is Master Sntn's domain!"
"No no no. Limpy, I'm in your party. I am not an enemy."
The blue face wrinkled from every direction. Turning the youthful-looking imp into a confused grandpa, yelling at nothing after having nightmares. "What do you want?" Limpy said anxiously. The two were playing off each other's emotions. "Nothing!.... Wait no I mean, I just want to talk." Andrew so rarely spoke when he was alive, this felt worse than the blindness. He and Limpy unknowingly wanted the exact same thing. Freedom and not having to engage with others. Andrew didn't want to fight with the imp, he knew the other rock monsters would quickly kill him again if h
is plan didn't go right. He tried to avoid a fight by just being honest and explaining how he ended up as the imp's pet. Limpy took the information and thought about it for a while. He knew from the legends of Imp-Terion, "He who walked the mountains and depths in this world and the next." That it may be possible for a nondemon to escape from hell, But only Demons knew the ways in and out, and they never took Imps with them... But this Andrew, was his. Limpy was the party leader. Andrew was HIS rock monster pet... His SLAVE, He could make it take him out of hell. Andrew could "Feel" something. Like a quickened heartbeat or shot of adrenalin. Limpy spoke, "You are my pet. You must do what I say!"
Andrew had time to read and plan
for what Limpy might do when he finally made his presence known. But he lived his whole life trying to do the opposite, avoiding drawing the painful attention of his mother, avoiding security cameras when he was stealing food and electronics from stores. Avoiding teachers and police when he would sneak out and into school at times he wasn't supposed to. So he had little experience guessing what people did when confronted, let alone what hell imps did. He hoped that by being honest the imp would help him. He was prepared in case things went the other way and the imp expelled him from the party and tried to kill him again. Andrew didn't foresee the newly discovered power Limpy had over another being would immediately go to the imp's head and he would start forcing Andrew to act as his slave. So it went. Limpy commanded Andrew to dig random holes and perform rounds encompassing the whole of the Sntn's Western territory. Limpy spent 4 days making Andrew do work and forcing him to be silent. Every mental command the imp had, Andrew autonomously followed. It was quickly going to drive Andrew insane. When he was possessing The rock monster and, he reasoned, anything else, he didn't sleep. He didn't get tired or hungry, he never itched, He was basically a conscious coma patient now that Limpy forcing him to work in total silence. Andrew ran out of things to think about. The infinite darkness in the rock monster stretched on infinitely like the hours and days seemed to. Over time Andrew recognized that He wasn't being controlled whenever Limpy went to sleep. He could walk freely overnight, but he was still completely blind, deaf, and unable to feel any sensation except dull vibrations with each of his wobbly rocky steps. He couldn't go anywhere, but after the 4th day of being controlled by the imp, Andrew had figured out how to get free. He had to make a few guesses about the way the world worked, but his experience playing games on earth gave him some logical starting points. He assumed Party members couldn't hurt each other, because in every game your party is your team, you could usually only use healing spells or skill buff potions on them. In games there was always a "Healer" They used positive spells on party members to gain exp the way other characters fight monsters for exp. While Limpy slept and Andrew could take his items, he didn't try while Limpy was awake. Even if he was successful, if there was a notification popup, the imp would most likely command him to return whatever he took and that could leave Andrew with no options at all. The night before he would finally get free of the imp, Andrew prepared by taking the PEERING BUCKLER and the INSCRIBED ROCKS. While Limpy was asleep, Andrew stood a ways away from the imp. Andrew focused on the items and willed himself to "Equip" them. With the rocks, it worked. He instantly gained an extra quick skill slot filled with the skill "Body Gamble." The buckler wouldn't activate though. Andrew was disappointed. Maybe being a rock monster meant he couldn't equip shields, but he thought about it, "A buckler should be attached to my arm, I don't need hands to hold it... !! He had been blind for so long he forgot what he looked like. Before the rock monsters crushed his body and he possessed one to narrowly avoid dying, he saw that they were massive boulders, with two leg-like stumps, and that's it. The legs became arms when the monsters attacked him. They could only do one at a time. It was either walk or strike. Andrew rested his boulder body on the ground and successfully equipped the buckler this time. The item description said it projected the nearby environment onto one's third eye. It totally worked. Andrew could see again. Suddenly in his mind, the Darkness that was shrouding everything was pushed back! Andrew cheered so loud a passerby might've heard a voice in the stone. He quickly noted that hell looked exactly the same. Weird colored ground and dull cloudless sky. Then he cast "Body Gamble" on the sleeping Limpy. There was no indication that anything happened after using the skill. Andrew used it again and watched Limpy's stats. No change. "Damn!" he thought but then looked at his own stats again.
Name: Andrew
Info: -*
HP: 5.000/5.000
Energy: 1/0
level: 1
Exp: 3.146
Faction: Yours
Party: Limpy
Status ailments: silence
Equipment: -*
Quick Skill 1: possession - cooldown 350632.511
Quick Skill 2: charge roll
Skills Info: -*
His status ailments no longer said "Blind" but it still said "Silence." Andrew kicked himself. He really needed to start thinking in video game terms. SILENCE didn't mean, "Can't speak" SILENCE in video game language meant "Can't cast spells." So even though his energy was 1 out of 0, which meant infinite. He couldn't use any spells. Andrew's plan to heal Limpy for unlimited experience was dead in the water.
The 5th day came,
and Andrew was again forced to be silent and walk around to different command posts that Limpy set up. Except during one move, Limpy was nearby and saw colored, engraved stones on the legs and back of Andrew's rock monster body. The buckler was unequipped automatically when he started walking, but the stones stayed in place. Now Limpy was curious. "What is this?" he wondered aloud. The question acted as a command for Andrew to answer. “It's the item Inscribed Stones” The Imp was impressed! He asked where they came from. Andrew replied "Your inventory." Andrew spoke again "How come you don't use these items?" the imp unashamedly answered that they weren't his. He owned nothing, everything he killed or collected on the master's land, belonged to the master. But this wasn't quite true anymore. The very beginning of that realization started to creep into the imp's subconscious. He cocked his head listening to Andrew's next question. "If your master lets you keep the items, then you should be able to use them right? I mean... You use me all day long!" Suddenly The imp felt deeply conflicted. There was a thought forming in his mind. Andrew leveled up. The notification popped up in front of both Andrew's and Limpy's third eye. "Look at that." Andrew said semi-surprised, "You can become very powerful too if you use these items." Andrew paused for a beat, "But would you be betraying your master if you become stronger than him?" Limpy's Face wrinkled so deep it looked like it was turned inside out. Random thoughts were streaming through the uneducated imp's brain. Wicked thoughts. Thoughts no slave dare think lest he was ready to die. Hope... The most dangerous thing he could own. It was forming in his mind. So many reasons existed to stoke the embers of hope into a flame Limpy wouldn't ever be able to put out. The imps on the estate were constantly afraid. The master used them for sexual orgies and exhibitions. The master made them work without incentive. The master killed them at a whim. The imps on the estate were grown in patches on the estate's massive garden. They never got the opportunity to even fathom another kind of life. Imps have been slaves practically forever, they were bound to their masters, bound to the estates, more, they were bound in hell. There was no exit, from this world ruled by ultra-powerful demons.
As Limpy sat paralyzed in thought, Andrew was leveling up quickly. He had remembered the tiny fact... Demons get exp by absorbing negative emotions. He was half-demon and that opened up all kinds of "Exp farming" possibilities.
Name: Andrew
Info: -*
HP: 5.000/5.000
Energy: 1/0
level:5
Exp: 2044.900
Faction: Yours
Party: Limpy
Status ailments: silence, blind
Equipment: -*
Quick Skill 1: possession - cooldown 339450.400
Quick
Skill 2: charge roll
Quick Skill 3: body gamble
Skills Info: -*
Andrew had no insight into the minds of others, he was never manipulative like Helga. She got them free clothes, food, whatever they needed. They skipped school often, just so she could make her rounds among the different concerned churchwomen, her several boyfriends, and whatever low-lifes she negotiated with, on Andrew's behalf, to fence stolen items. The imp was silent and Andrew's exp gain had slowed down to a trickle. He wanted to hurt the imp more. He concluded that he was giving the slave a view of its bondage and this made it feel hopeless. He started to goad the imp, "You're too worthless to..." Limpy cut the boy off, "Shut up Demon!". Andrew decided to be quiet, he took too long to come up with his manipulation. Limpy had already run through his full range of base emotions. Hopelessness, fear, paranoia, all racked his brain for a while. If he were any other imp on the estate, Andrew could continue with abusive words to farm exp. Limpy was too long independent. Scanning the list of Items in his possession... HIS Items, he noted that the list was so long. Limpy couldn't count past 5 and couldn't read so his third eye information was limited to unique hieroglyphs with vague meanings. Limpy's third eye showed him that Andrew was a Demon, but there was no language for Limpy to "Remember" the information of Andrew's actual name. He was cautious and didn't use any of the items. Every imp knows demonic items are cursed. As Andrew's idea snaked its way to the front of Limpy's mind he was able to quickly come up with all the reasons he had nothing to fear from the Master. I have 1 demon, I can make it take me out of hell. Imp-Terion the hero!
Demon of Dreadnaught Page 4