[1.13] Summons Answered (Part 1)

[Passive Skill: Bind Resistance Lv.1 unlocked]

[Obstinance increased]

[Bind resisted]

[Obstinance notably increased]

Before Angelica stood a young man, roughly about her age, maybe a little younger. And he was looking at her with wide, confused, panicked eyes. “The hell?!” He took a hurried step back and grabbed some sort of magical rod from nearby. It looked a bit like her toy scepter, but far fancier, far more expensive.

Actually, the whole place was pretty lavish, now that she had a second to glance around. It looked like a large study in some swaggy mansion, the kind of home she felt far too poor to even be breathing the air of. “Uhm, hello.” Angelica waved politely at the tense lad whose debonair dress matched the scenery.

“W-what are you?!” he stammered. “Declare yourself, Demon!”

“Uhh…” She pondered on it for a moment and just decided to go with a simple greeting. “I’m Angelica. And you are?” She regretted the words the moment they left her mouth. Normally, that would have been perfectly polite, but she’d just given her name to a Summoner. Couldn’t that potentially be really bad?

“What sort of trickery is this?! Your kind shouldn’t even be able to say that word!” Fortunately, he apparently didn’t believe her. “What’s your rank?! You clearly know Transfiguration. I thought you had to at least be a Gremlin first to get that. But no, you have to be an Imp. This circle can only summon Imps!”

Angelica looked down at the floor. She was indeed standing in a Summoning Circle, but it was nothing compared to the grand and intricate weave of sigils and art she’d covered her own floor with. This was barely a foot or two wide, and it looked more like the kind of thing a gradeschooler would doodle in the corner of their notebook when they were bored of listening to their teacher. The lines were wobbly, there was paint, or whatever the substance was splattered and dotted all around. It looked like it had been created in haste.

To get a better look at it, she stepped off to the side, not realizing that was apparently some terrifying act. “Holy frits, the binding failed?!” The young man panicked even more, hobbling backward behind a desk in the room. “I’m warning you now, this rod is enchanted with a Rune of Piercing Light. Make one move against me, and I’ll blast you full of holy magic!”

“Um, okay, sorry.” Angelica stepped back into the circle since it apparently was so important to him.

“Your Rank, what is it?”

“Sorry, I have no idea.” She was being completely honest.

“Don’t try to fool me, Demon, what does your Scrying Eye say?”

“Erm, my what? Don’t think I have one of those.”

“Impossible, all Demons have Scrying Eye!” he refuted. “Hang on, and don’t move!” The preppy lad rifled through the drawers of the desk. He pulled out a small red jewel and held it up to his face, looking at her through it. “So you really are an Imp… a fresh one, at that. And you’re Bound?! You have a master?!”

“Uhh, yeah, I guess so.” The only master she had was herself, but she wasn’t going to explain that to this stranger who was coming up with his own head canon.

“Poor creature. I almost pity you.” The man lowered his guard entirely. Perhaps he didn’t feel the need to be alarmed around a low-ranking Imp, if that’s what she was. “I think I get the picture. You must have been Summoned and Bound immediately after your creation. How old are you? A few days, I’m guessing?”

“Yeah, about that, I suppose,” she shrugged, trying to remember the exact date. “Maybe a week.”

“Yet you know Transfiguration?” He was still suspicious. “How did you get that?”

“Dunno. I think I’ve always had it.”

“Hmm, perhaps your master forced it upon you somehow.” The Summoner went off into their own thoughts for a bit. “Ah, maybe they gave you an artifact or branded you with a Rune. Yes, that’d make sense. But they’re forcing you to appear as a young human woman?! He must have quite particular tastes.”

“She.” Angelica corrected, regretting it again that she’d given away more information, but doubled down now that she’d spoken it. “The one who Bound me is a woman.”

“Well, explains why you don’t look like most succubi I’ve seen.” His tone shifted further, becoming almost casual. “You’re far too scrawny compared to them.”

That made Angelica really want to lash out, but she bottled it up, still not quite understanding her situation. And this man had been giving her a good sampling of information for questions she’d had, so might as well let him keep talking.