Limpy went quickly from depressed to elated. He ordered "Demon, Take me out of hell." Andrew felt the magical "Pull" of the imp's order, it made him stand, then just faded away. He didn't know how to get out. He had no idea, and probably didn't even have the ability, that's why the command didn't just make him autonomously take the imp out of hell like he wants. Limpy yelled at the motionless stone. Andrew responded, "I don't know how. I would take you, but... Do you know how to get out?" Andrew gained a few exp then Limpy said, "No, but I Think I know WHERE to leave." Andrew calculatingly said, " No you don't. You're a worthless idiot." Limpy grunted, hunched his shoulders and they marched toward the estate again, but Andrew, Threw barbed words at Limpy irregularly getting more experience and leveling up during the 2-day march. The party passed under a grove. It was along the worn-in path connecting Sntn's estate to other nearby demon towns. Limpy never used them when he was on watch, Demons were vicious and the rate of being attacked was high on a regular walking road. He was distracted not only by his party member's jibes calling him ugly or weak or a dirty traitor, but he was also envisioning himself as a free imp bedecked in beautiful and powerful weapons. Inside the grove, Limpy walked at the lead of his rock monsters. They lumbered about pushing over trees that were in their way. There was a lot of cracking and loud splintering of wood.
All the commotion blinded Limpy to the threat in the trees.
5 Lamias were set in the grove ready to gang up on and devour an unwitting traveler like Limpy. The half-human half Snake creatures were shaken from the branches where their fluorescent blue and brown stripe coloring camouflaged them perfectly. Hell was a place for unloved animals to gain power after death. If a snake dies it goes to hell to evolve into a lamia, which can further change into a demon. Likewise, vicious living Dogs, get put down and become hellhounds or other monstrous creatures. Limpy didn't even look up. His rocks did all the fighting and killing for him.
Andrew felt a kind of magnetic tug directing him to the objective. After hearing Limpy's order to "Kill them all" Andrew used the tugging feeling to aim his attack. He used his "Charge roll " quick skill" His aim was inaccurate, but his size was massive, so it didn't matter. One of the Lamia was struck by the edge of Andrew's boulder-like form. The rotational friction of stone hit the hit and torso of the lamia and pulled it down and underneath the crushing weight of the rock. All of the lamias’ human-shaped bones were either crushed instantly or they were squeezed out of the snake body portion. Bones and organs bloated the snake tail and ripped it apart from the immense boulder pressure. Shooting and squirting out with an unnatural and sickening wet crunching sound, like toothpaste exploding from the tube when a child smashes its first on the end of the toothpaste tube. Blood and fat-lined muscle stained the ground as Andrew rolled over the lamia and kept rolling, crushing many more trees before he stopped to equip his PEERING BUCKLER. He couldn't move while it was equipped on his left arm/leg but he could use his free right arm/leg to attack anything that came near. These enemies were weak if he could kill them in a single attack. Andrew looked through the clear crystal-like glass shield with his third eye. He could see! the 4 lamias left alive were putting up an effective fight against the rock monsters. They slithered scarily fast surrounding 1 rock monster and hitting it quickly with their sharp claws then retreating far enough out of the rock monsters range that their wide slow swings were ineffective despite the pure strength. Limpy seemed to be paying attention to the action now. The 4 lamias kept up a constant rhythm of attack and retreat focussed on a single rock monster. The 3 other rock monsters attempted to chase the lamia, but this only served as a momentary break in the individual snakes' rhythms. The monster being attacked constantly was stuck standing on its feet basically pivoting in place between north south east and west directions and completely unable to attack, stupidly focusing on each lamia when it got in range and switching focus to the next when inevitably the first lamia clawed the leg of the rock monster and used its other arm in conjunction with a confusing slither motion to perform a quick acrobatic back-flip / reverse tumble move putting instant safe distance between the rock monster and the attacker while the next lamia zipped into range to attack and likewise distract the rock monster. The other rock monsters lumbered about awkwardly. Each attempted to focus on a single lamia, however as each lamia went in for a timed attack, the pursuing rock monster had to stop because of their mass and gait, the rock monsters couldn't or wouldn't get close to each other. The rock monsters would chase a lamia after it did the tumble retreat, but the lamia would pair it with a sideways roll that was impossible for a slow rock monster without eyes was to hit or stomp. The Battle was beginning to become lengthy and worrisome. Andrew might have called out to Limpy and offered his assistance or advice, but his life on earth was always one of "Don't be seen, don't be heard, and you will be safe" Maybe the imp was waiting on purpose and didn't need him. He saw obvious positions that the rock monsters could take to counter the lamia battle strategy. Andrew thought in video game terms and saw that the rock monsters were some kind of mindless "Pet" or "Golem" they only took the most basic action if they weren't specifically commanded. Andrew received no commands from Limpy except the initial kill order. Surely he must see the damage being done to the rock monster. Andrew had been through all of his stats as a rock monster. He knew they Had what seemed like incredibly high "Armor" stats which makes sense, boulder monsters should be difficult to cut or punch to death; however, Armor effectiveness is greatly reduced by "Piercing" damage. The lamias' long purple nails were piercing chunks of rock away from their targets’ legs. They slithered in either brushing the chips and large stone out of their way in seamless violent efficiency, or they slithered around jagged heaps of stone as smoothly as water on glass. After a few minutes, the Lamia had broken one rock leg to nothing more than a crumbling pillar about to give way. When it happened, Andrew heard the loud gasp Limpy made in surprise. The rock monster made its last pivot to the left to target the wide mouth lamia smiling with its entire face, presenting the sinister glee of thin pointed snake teeth, as it was back-flipping away. The rock monster's leg split quickly and the 100-ton weight of its body instantly pulverized the weakened leg part. It exploded loudly ejecting rocky projectiles from the pressurized crack as the boulder toppled over in a spin it caught the next lamia in the attack pattern, by surprise, and in its backflip reaction to get away from the falling mass it landed just close enough for one of the other rock monsters to crush it with a simple automatic swing of its own massive arm. Limpy was down to 3 rock monsters and 3 enemies. Andrew's exp started to increase.
He could somehow "Feel" Limpy's growing fear.
They were connected. They could share items freely, talk to each other telepathically, but feeling this stranger's emotions somehow felt dirty for Andrew. That was something unique that only he and Helga had. She was recently murdered by one of the fucking demons here in hell. He had no desire to replace her presence in any way. He needed that abysmal emptiness and pain to motivate him to find her killer. Andrew wasn't afraid. He was confident he could easily run over the lamia with his CHARGE ROLL skill. The weakness of the imp imposing its feelings on his private space, Enraged Andrew. The remaining Lamias had repositioned to pick up the same attack pattern as before. Safely away from the immobilized rock monster, still dangerous with its 1 useful arm, the lamias dug out chunks of rock as effectively as if there were 10 miners digging with pick axes. Andrew was never vicious on earth, but now he would relish in the pitiful looking imp's fear. The fear grew, and Andrew knew even though it was wrong, that he grew stronger with each passing moment. He let the Lamias topple the second rock monster. They switched to the next like a feeding frenzy of sharks when there's blood in the water. Maybe they knew the only real threat was from the rock monsters. Limpy was weak especially now that Andrew was feeding on the imp's terror.
Limpy regretted coming down the path. He knew better, but he was distracted by thoughts of being the next imp hero. He never
walked into traps, actually he was always the one to set traps. Even though he was not very strong, his master gave him the rock monster pets to command. Limpy never had trouble in battle like this. He was brave and crafty, he feared that just his treacherous thoughts of cursed "Freedom" had caused his master's protection to leave him. He always knew it was only master that gave him power enough to protect the land. Master gave him pets and put powerful protection magic around Limpy to make sure he was useful... Not to conspire with strange demons to escape. Limpy swung around quickly to find the rock monster with the colored stones inset in the boulder body. His eyes followed the trail of splintered and downed trees and locked on the huge grey mass that used to be just a silent pet he controlled. Now it had equipment and a shield. It stayed away from the fight. It pissed him off! "Hey go and kill those Lamias!" Limpy yelled mentally. The rock monster replied, "Why don't you go do something instead of sitting gap mouthed and drooling? You are really a worthless thing." Limpy wasn't used to being spoken to like this. He was the captain of the guard for his master's estate and grounds. With his master constantly absent and his own multi-day or week-long rounds, Limpy's ego developed the way no other imp in hell's has since their legendary hero and this insolent rock monster was insulting him. The insults hurt because they rang true. The imp was worthless and weak. Andrew watched the imp fall to his ass sullenly. He Decided to go into action. Andrew unequipped the shield and let the magnetic pull from the command guide him. CHARGE ROLL. The second to last rock monster was being mauled by the 3 lamias. Its leg was halfway chipped to nothing. When Andrew “Charge Rolled” into it, the weakened leg exploded from the force disabling it permanently wobbling on its back as the unthinking thing flailed its 1 remaining arm/leg part in a vain attempt to autonomously carry out its master's order. Andrew, stuck possessing the rock creature was limited in sensation received from the outside world. Even an ultra-powerful collision of his unstoppable force colliding with the immovable object just felt like a dull vibration and a slight rocking motion to Andrew's giant boulder-sized equilibrium. He registered however, the damage he received from the maneuver. His hp went from 5000 to 4750. The damage to the grove and the lamias was significant. Aside from the one he completely crushed by rolling over it, the impact of two boulders colliding created a sonic boom of sound and sent jagged rock shrapnel everywhere. Trees were split and felled by random sharp pieces. The lamia that was behind the rock monster was not quick enough to avoid the hailstorm of pain meteoring directly toward it. That lamia, as well as the nearby trees, were torn to shreds like watermelon smashed with a baseball bat, there were wet bits of green and red splattered everywhere, and in conjunction with the boulder, collapse cratered the earth like a war-zone. The single lamia knew the odds of facing 2 rock monsters alone were nil. It bolted away using quick speed and natural camouflage to swiftly get lost in the grass. This left Andrew, three immobilized rock monsters, the one still able to move was lazily chasing after the escaped lamia until it got too far away and the rock monster began lumbering back, and finally Limpy. Andrew walked his massive imposing rock body, right up to Limpy, as closely as was safe. Then he let loose a string of demeaning terrible insults about everything from the imps miniature size, to smell, from ugly voice and weakness to low intelligence and failure of character. It was disturbingly mean and he felt terrible afterward. He knew his sister would have been disgusted with him. However, it was toward a meaningful purpose. Andrew had been absorbing exp from Limpy whenever he caused the imp to feel negative emotions. Since Andrew was half-demon he had the negative trait of not receiving any exp from his actions. In all of Andrew's experience on earth, including playing video games, when a human trains, or fights, they get experience and eventually get better at whatever skill they were using, but here in hell demons don't learn. Demons cannot practice something to get better at it. Demons cannot read books and get new information from them. It's why the different demon types have such a rigid hierarchy in hell. They are birthed from the suffering of the weeping mother, with all the knowledge they will ever have. They can however, get exp, get more powerful, by absorbing specific types of negative energy. After Andrew figured out that he wasn't getting any exp from killing these lamias, he took what he needed from Limpy and it paid off because as Limpy sat in the wrecked grove, despondent, Andrew leveled up
Name: Andrew
Info: -*
HP: 4.750/5.000
Energy: 1/0
level:43
Exp: 61.347.000
Faction: Yours
Party: Limpy
Status ailments: silence, blind
Equipment: -*
Quick Skill 1: possession - cooldown 180.000
Quick Skill 2: charge roll
Quick Skill 3: body gamble
Skills Info: -*
Andrew was satisfied now. He had reduced his POSSESSION skill cooldown timer from 339450.400 minutes (almost 8 months) to only 3 hours. "How far away is the estate?" he confidently asked the imp as if he hadn't just hurled insults at the poor creature for several minutes straight. "Not far... A half-day of walking." came the meek reply. Perfect they were headed to the estate of a powerful demon. Surely Andrew could find another... Thing, to possess. Something with eyes and a mouth this time. "Wait, Limpy, where's my body?" when Limpy answered, oh If rocks could smile. Andrew declared that they were moving now and Limpy needed to get up, to follow. This was an insult too far for the imp and broke his depression. He yelled furiously, "Who are you demon, to order me?! No! I command you! I am the party leader. You will obey! In fact, I'll drop you from my party and have my other rock monster kill you!" however try as he might, he couldn't kick Andrew from his party. Andrew snorted, " I'm not just in the rock monster, I AM the rock monster, a pet isn't a party member, the only way to get rid of me is to banish the pet permanently. And you cannot do that can you? I've been through your stats, you don't have any skill related to pets or power stones or summoning." Andrew started walking again. Now that his level was higher, his third eye worked better, saw things clearer, and focused on information faster. He could now recall on his map everything that the party leader knew about the area. Andrew was on a bee-line for the estate when he heard Limpy's voice and a strong magnetic pull. Limpy commanded Andrew to stop and come back. Andrew only laughed. He gained another level as he taunted Limpy, "This is Pokemon bitch, Charizard is too powerful for you to control."
Name: Andrew
Info: -*
HP: 5.000/5.000
Energy: 1/0
level:44
Exp: 66.842.000
Faction: Yours
Party: Limpy
Status ailments: silence, blind
Equipment: -*
Quick Skill 1: possession - cooldown 161.447
Quick Skill 2: charge roll
Quick Skill 3: body gamble
Skills Info: -*
They reached the estate without incident. During the walk, Andrew asked what Limpy's plan was for getting out of hell. The imp said that his master had an exit in his chambers, but that was all he knew of it. Limpy was going to command Andrew to take them through the exit up to the living world of Dreadnaught. This was all Andrew needed to know, his third eye was wide open because of his high level. He quickly focused on the word exit to remember the details of exiting hell. All the information came back to him in the form of a memory. He didn't need to "Learn" anything as long as his third eye was clear enough to see information he wanted to recall. The Incubus demon that owned the land had, by chance or design, set up its home in the exact location as a morally and sexually corrupted person on the physical dimension of DREADNAUGHT, which overlaid hell. The depths of this person’s perversity links them to the weeping mother and her vagina is their birth into hell, except that while they are still living, the demons can use these vaginas to access the dreadnaught. Andrew was, of course, an awkward virgin on earth, but he planned to get some pussy today! When they reached the gate of the estate, Limpy put on his best
impression of the confident and respected leader he used to be and told Andrew to wait outside with the other rock monster. Andrew drunk on power was set to walk through the gate and grounds his giant boulder body and all the insane damage he would cause, be damned. He thought better of it though and used the opportunity to plan his actions when Limpy brought his body back. It actually may be too mangled to use, if he remembered the last status he saw before he evacuated. If only he had been nicer to Limpy, he could get him to heal the body fully with some items. As things stood now, Andrew planned to repossess his body and try to use healing items and spells as fast as he could. Limpy would probably instantly drop him from the party and Limpy would return to being in control of 2 nearly invulnerable rock monsters bent on killing him for a second time. His possession skill worked on any soulless object. He could jump into a rock or a tree theoretically, but then he would be stuck for an unknown amount of time. Andrew knew his claustrophobia would kick in if he were stuck blind deaf dumb and paralyzed in a completely stationary and boring tree, for more than a couple seconds. He thought about possessing one of the items he and Limpy shared, but that would simply put him at Limpy's mercy. If Andrew possessed a sword he would need to trust the wielder completely not to melt him down in a furnace, and Limpy would do it gleefully, he knew. No wonder there were so many damned Chuckie movies and horror films with demon-possessed dolls. Everything else was basically an uneven shape or a useless stationary husk. He wondered if the incubus had any marionettes on the property. Limpy navigated the luxurious gardens full of exquisite statues in sexual poses. This time he didn't look up at the statues for inspiration, he held his head down in shame instead. He brushed past the imp sproutlings who were excited to see him again so soon. He walked past the vegetable farm where Hule, one of the few male imps on the estate, was managing. Hule was bigger and more muscular than Limpy, but he lived in a cage of routine and dread. He couldn't develop an ego like Limpy and he deferred to Limpy because of Limpy's presence and confidence alone. There were no challengers to Limpy on the estate. The long walk around the grounds reminded him. He became resolute and decided not to be bullied by the damned demon. Limpy wasn't stupid, just blinded by fear and doubt. He WAS DEFINITELY going to dreadnaught! This damn demon couldn't hurt Limpy... They were in a party together. Limpy Turned right around and marched back to Andrew without fetching the boys crumpled body. Hule was probably taking it to be used as fertilizer for the blood berry crop now anyway. The imp returned defiantly to confront the teen as he walked back through the grounds. He addressed the teen, "I refuse to get your body demon. You forget! I am your party leader. I may not be able to expel you and kill you, but you are also stuck with me. There's no way I'll get you what you want unless you take me out of hell as I commanded!" Andrew was taken aback. He had never been a bully, but after insulting and forcing his will on the imp for a while, he could see how easy it is to forget that the one you are bullying doesn't HAVE to do what you say. The fact was Andrew didn't actually have any power over the imp and his mean words were really only supposed to be for absorbing exp. Now the opportunity far a deal presented itself. Andrew spoke, slipping into his emotionless cadence of simple factual sentences which he had mastered while he was on earth. "Yes Limpy, I am not your enemy. I am trapped here with you. I want to leave just like you. To exit hell I need hands, eyes, and a mouth." "No." was the reply. Limpy explained, "I know your type demon. You have possessed my rock monster and forced yourself into my party. If you go back to your body, you will not be a party member anymore. Party members are bonded the closeness of their connection. I'd kill you now if I could." Andrew pretended to ponder in silence, he had thought of this escape route. His days watching surveillance cameras and dodging loss-prevention staff in super stores prepared him for the eventuality that sometimes to get out empty-handed is your best option. Andrew knew what he could possess to stay bonded to Limpy.
Demon of Dreadnaught Page 5