by Neven Iliev
Regret was not tasty. It had wasted more than a few of those life-saving vials during its time, completely oblivious to the fact that it could save them for later. But now that it was aware of it, it made up its mind to keep a ready stock of them inside its Storage. The importance of preparation was yet another lesson it had picked up during this dungeon crawl, among other things. It truly felt a smidgen of gratitude towards the Fleshmaiden for showing it just how conceited it had become.
Ah, but it was getting side-tracked. It still had two new Skills to check up on!
[Crystallize Magic]
Binds magic Spells to a more permanent form, allowing it to be stored for later use
Requirements: Level 15 Caster Job, INT 90, WIS 60
Type: Active
Activation Time: Instant
Cost: 0 MP
Range: Self
[Effects]
The next Area Effect Spell will have its MP Cost increased by 25%.
The next Area Effect Spell will be stored temporarily inside a conjured Spell Crystal.
Shattering a Spell Crystal will unleash the stored Area Effect Spell.
Spell Crystals will last up to 6 minutes per Level of this Skill before disappearing.
Another complicated Skill with a lot of weird restrictions. However, its effects did seem to be worth the trouble. If the Mimic could prepare a bunch of these crystals in advance, it wouldn’t need to chant at all. All it had to do was keep them in its Storage and then throw them out at the right moment. However, that seemed limited to only Area Effect Spells, of which it currently only had two.
[Mass Panic]
Requirements: Level 5 Warlock, INT 15, MNT 15
School: Domination
Type: Area Effect
Cost: 50 MP
Range: 5 Meters
[Effects]
Sends all living things in the immediate area into a magically-induced panic attack.
Has no effect on Undead, Demons and Golems.
Mass Panic had the problem that it only affected the area around the caster. If the enemy was already that close, then there was a good chance they would be able to interrupt the chant. But if that was sealed in a Spell Crystal, it would eliminate that possibility. It should even be possible to throw the crystal and drastically increase the range. The usability of this Spell would go way up!
[Dark Explosion]
Requirements: Level 13 Warlock, INT 60, MNT 40
School: Ruin
Type: Area Effect
Cost: 120 MP
Range: 25 Meters
[Effects]
Causes a violent shock wave of darkness at a target area.
The force of the Spell will forcefully repel all matter within 3 meters of the target area.
Grows in power in dark places or at night, gaining up to 50% additional force depending on the environment.
Dark Explosion on the other hand had a rather lengthy chant that took three or four seconds to complete, significantly longer than something like Ebonfire or Shadowbolt. Therefore, preparing the Spell in advance would allow the Mimic to throw it out instantly at the opportune moment! A strategy that fit in perfectly with its dirty fighting. Would the other Skill be able to compete with that?
[Demonology]
The study of demons and demonic rituals.
Requirements: Level 15 Warlock, Level 3 Summon Familiar, WIS 60, MNT 60
Type: Passive
Activation Time: N/A
Cost: N/A
Range: Self
[Effects]
Increases the Cost of Summon Familiar by 2% per Level of this Skill.
Allows the Warlock to contract and summon 1 additional demon through the Summon Familiar Skill at Level 1 of this Skill.
Allows the Warlock to contract and summon 1 additional demon through the Summon Familiar Skill at Level 7 of this Skill.
That did indeed seem to be the case. The succubus had proved to be extremely useful when it came to infiltration and deception. Her magic was nothing to scoff at either, but she was sorely lacking when it came to close quarters combat. Therefore, if the Mimic had another demon under its command to fill that gap, they would be able to fight far more efficiently as a group. It even had the added boon of allowing it to use more MP during the summoning, meaning its demons would grow steadily more powerful.
There is strength in numbers. This was the simple truth the chest had gleaned from its fights against adventurers. And it had experienced it first hand. It was highly likely that the chest would have perished in the encounter with the Fleshmaiden if Xera wasn’t there. It would be a long time before the Skill reached Level 7, but sometimes the wait made the meal all the more tasty.
Ah, but Crystallize Magic looked tasty as well. But which one was more delicious? Telling just by looking really wasn’t possible, after all. The greedy Mimic wanted both, and that could technically happen once its Warlock Job reached Level 20, but it still had to choose the one it wanted first. This really seemed like a tough decision. Magical grenades or another capable minion? If only there was someone around to give the stumped chest a fresh perspective.
Oh.
“Greetings, Master,” said Xera some ten seconds and a flash of light later. This was immediately followed by “Ughh! What the fuck!”
The dumbfounded succubus grimaced fiercely as she took in the surrounding scenery. The aftermath of two shapeshifters going at each other with bladed weapons was on par with a natural disaster! Dried up blood and dismembered body parts littered the floor, including an out-of-place, half-molten head resting awkwardly in a puddle of something.
The nearby pile of charred meat that used to be the Fleshmaiden was the biggest problem. Not the way it looked, although that was pretty disgusting in and of itself, but rather the horrible stench it gave off. That indescribable scent of burnt flesh seemed to permeate the entire room.
“What in the hell happened here?” she asked with a hand over her mouth and nose. It wasn’t helping though.
“I won,” said the Mimic with a hint of pride.
“Yes, I can see that! I mean what’s with this horrible smell?”
“What smell?”
“…”
Right, treasure chests didn’t have noses. The succubus actually envied that lucky bastard of a box right now. Ah, technically speaking, she didn’t really need hers, either. So she took a page out of her master’s book and shapeshifted it shut. Even if the horrible stench didn’t technically cause her any harm, unpleasant things were still unpleasant.
“Is the smell tasty?” probed the Mimic.
“No, Master. It’s extremely disgusting. I would not recommend trying it.”
If it did, it would undoubtedly get pissed off. Which meant snack time until it calmed down. And Xera did not want any more of that. She didn’t, okay?
“Oh. Okay,” it responded dejectedly. Higher mental functions or not, it still felt disappointed when the verdict of this new thing was ‘not tasty.’
The succubus walked over to the former Dungeon Master and gave it a curious look. This was the first time she had seen something burned up so thoroughly before. And yet it still seemed to be… leaking.
“Master, what did you do to this thing?”
“I hit her with a big Spell.”
Xera’s eyes widened in shock. A single Spell? Given how quickly she moved and how she shrugged off having half her torso bitten off, Xera was convinced she must have been at least Level 40. Not to mention she was obviously experienced at fighting Casters. Then again, nobody was really prepared for the ridiculous things this box did. It probably used some underhanded trick to seize a weakness.
She chuckled. What she was most surprised about wasn’t the power it displayed, but the fact it actually remembered to use it. It seemed like the succubus would have to give her master some credit. Just a little, though.
“Alright then, what do you want from me?” she asked in a business-like tone. It was highly unlikely this chest summoned
her for no reason.
“Do you know the Demonology Skill?” it asked.
“Umm…”
The succubus furrowed her brows and dug through her memory, but had trouble recalling anything about that particular Skill. That was to be expected since her knowledge regarding the Warlock Job was quite superficial. She wasn’t one herself, after all - she merely worked with them. Often against them, actually.
That was pretty much her expected behavior, though. Relationships between a Warlock and its familiar were always founded on distrust and deception. And with her being a succubus that thrived on such things, it meant she was trusted even less. Nobody in their right mind would want to listen to her opinions, lest they fall for her schemes and ended up as a dried up corpse in a ditch somewhere.
She really didn’t need to go that far, though. The Warlocks she managed to turn the tables on were complete idiots who practically killed themselves. There was that one guy who stuck his penis in her mouth and gave her some vague command like ‘Make me cum buckets.’ How did he not realize that was an open invitation for her to suck the very life out of his dick?
But her current master was radically different from all of her previous ones. Well, that was to be expected considering it was a monster with no sex drive. It treated her like dirt, constantly ate her flesh and even tortured her psychologically with its inane attitude and brazen shapeshifting habits. And yet, it understood and even encouraged her urges to devour the lives of mortal men. Sure, it was idiotic, merciless and completely devoid of common sense, but this was still the best working relationship Xera had ever had with another person. Well, another mortal at any rate.
Deliberately or not, that chest still did wonders to alleviate her boredom. That was ultimately the most important thing. It had only been a week or so since their contract began, yet she found herself incredibly curious as to how far it would be able to go and what sort of things it would accomplish.
“No, Master. I am not familiar with this Skill,” she answered after putting her thoughts in order.
“What about Crystallize Magic?”
“I don’t know that one either.”
The Mimic proceeded to explain both Skills and how it wasn’t sure which one to pick. Would it go for the nasty crystal surprise or opt for the extra pair of hands to help out in fights? It seems that it had been obsessing over this decision for quite a while. However, Xera almost immediately pointed out something that her master didn’t consider.
“You do realize what would happen if you dropped one of those crystals, right?”
The chesty Warlock thought back on the first time it used Dark Explosion. The Spell had been aimed at a group of seven goblins foraging for food in the forest. Two of them were right at the center of the detonation. They became red mist. Three of the others were closer to the edge of the Spell’s area of effect and were thrown into the air like ragdolls. They crashed into trees and rocks at high speeds, dying instantly from the impact. The last two were outside the blast zone, but still suffered heavy damage from fragmented stones and bones sent flying by the explosion.
Having recalled that rather vivid memory, the Mimic imagined what would happen if it fumbled a Dark Explosion sealed inside a Spell Crystal.
“…”
[Proficiency level increased. Demonology is now Level 1. WIS +2. MNT +2.]
Sometimes it really was best to bounce ideas off other people.
Part Two
Establishing a contract with a demon was generally believed to be a complicated ritual that involves a number of seemingly random ingredients and materials. There were indeed such practices that may be performed, such as the Ritual of Zul’Goroth. That particular ceremony involved butterflies, blood, a fox, a severed head, some cheese and skipping rope with some entrails. The product of this ritual would be the creation of a perfectly ordinary sweetroll that was actually kind of stale. Not the best use of a severed head if a certain Mimic had anything to say about that.
The Demonology Skill flooded the animate chest’s mind with the knowledge of several dubiously useful rituals like that. But none of those were actually related to establishing a contract with a demonic entity and calling them forth to this world. No, that bit was actually much more straightforward. All the Warlock had to do to get the ball rolling was reach out into the Beyond, a process that boiled down to concentrating a bit and then ‘thinking aloud’ a series of numbers.
1-800-7355-9687-7685
*Beep … Beep … Beep … Bee-*
Click
“Hello,” spoke a voice directly into its mind. It sounded rough and gritty, like someone had been eating gravel for breakfast every day for two decades.
“You have reached Demons ‘R’ Us,” it continued, “my name is Carl and I’ll be your liaison for today.”
“Hey Carl,” responded the Mimic. It seemed it had managed to connect to the same agent it got the first time.
“Ohhh! If it isn’t that amusing little box?! How’ve you been, buddy?”
“Pretty good. Ate some people. Gained some Levels.”
“Hey, that’s super. So, what can I do for you today?”
“I got a new Skill that said I can get another contract.”
“Alright, just a second. Taptaptaptap taptaptaptaptap tap taptaptap Okay, can you forward your Status to me? You DO remember how to do that, right?”
Carl had spent nearly three hours teaching the Mimic how to send its Status over a telepathic link the first time around. It messed up several times and even somehow forwarded it to Carl’s boss by mistake before it could get it just right. Carl caught more than a little flak over that particular event.
“Yes, sending it now,” it replied.
“Okay. I’ve received it. Oh, you got a Rank Up, grats! Ah, Demonology is it? Hold, please.”
There were some more half-tapping half-clacking noises before Carl continued, “Good news, my square friend. Your request for additional demonic support has been approved! Now then, what species are you looking to form a covenant with?”
“Fiend.”
Taptaptaptaptap tap
“Male or female?”
“There’s a difference?”
“Males are generally more intelligent while females are more ferocious.”
“Then female.”
Taptap taptaptaptaptaptap tap
“A tall one or a short one?”
“Tall.”
Tap tap tap
“Do you prefer big or small chests?”
“Big,” answered the Mimic immediately. How was this even a question? Bigger treasure chests had more shiny things inside them and were therefore better without a doubt.
“I know, right? Ah, sorry for asking again, company policy.”
“No problem.”
The question did strike it as a little out of place at first, but it didn’t worry too much about it. Carl himself said it didn’t affect the demon’s performance in any way and was mostly a formality of establishing the contract. He asked it some more questions followed by some more weird mechanical noises. A few minutes later, they got to the last one.
“Any additional requests?”
Last time, the Mimic had said it wanted something that was good at hiding and got a succubus specialized in infiltration and covering her tracks through dream manipulation. That wasn’t quite what it had in mind, but it still worked out so it had no complaints. This time was even simpler - it just needed a vanguard that could take hits in its place. And pretty much any fiend fit that bill. Still, having one with more than a single use would be good.
“It doesn’t matter, as long as it’s handy.”
“Understood. Tap taptaptaptap taptaptap taptap Alright, now all we need to do is wait for-Oh, never mind! Your application got an instant reply! Just gimme a sec here… Taptaptaptap There, done! Your new familiar is all set up and ready to be summoned. Will that be all for today?”
“Yes.”
“Then would you like to fill out a
survey to-”
“No.”
“Understood. Thank you again for contacting Demons ’R’ Us. We hope to hear from you again.”
Click
Well, that was over and done with. It immediately proceeded with the summoning, which caught the attention of Xera. She stopped staring absentmindedly at the dungeon core and went over to see her new co-contractor. Part of her was really looking forward to having someone else be the Snack for once.
Ten seconds and 300 MP later, a new demon appeared in the dungeon. A giant form about two hundred and fifty centimeters in height - almost a full meter taller than Xera - loomed over them. Counting the slightly curved horns that were pointing straight up, it was closer to two hundred and seventy centimeters tall.
The summoned female fiend had bright green hair that went past her shoulders. It was unruly, thick and voluminous, giving her a rather wild appearance. A pair of long, elf-like ears sprouted out from beneath it. Her skin was a bright, eye-catching red that was impossible to conceal. Her eyes were bright green, similar to the hair. They gave off a keen glare that looked for the weakness in others. Her face as a whole didn’t look half-bad. Humans would honestly consider her to be cute or pretty if she stopped scowling and baring her pointed teeth at her surroundings.
Below her chin was a choker with a metal plate in front that seemed to protect her neck. Immediately below that were her breasts. Unlike Xera, they appeared to be more modestly proportioned when compared to the rest of her. Their actual size, however, easily triumphed over the succubus due to the difference in height. They were bound together tightly by a white sports-bra-like chest piece that left her clearly defined abs and well-muscled lower-back exposed.
An extremely tight pair of very short shorts fit snugly around her lower end. The highly muscular and disproportionately massive thighs that were nearly as thick as her relatively narrow waist. They strained against the white hotpants, threatening to rip them apart at any moment. Her legs beneath the knees were encased in metal plate greaves. The outside of her left thigh was covered by interlinking metal plates that went all the way up to her waist, leaving the inner thigh and her entire right upper leg exposed to the air.