[1.21] Toxic Traits (Part 2)

While Angelica focused on the Poison Chef Skill, a new window opened next to the DGS screen. It was… cloudy. She could see writing in the distance, small pockets of clarity amongst the sea of fog. Somehow, she knew which clearing to aim for, and instinctively zoomed into the mist toward the words Poison Chef floating far away.

What the inexperienced Demon found was what she already knew. It was a card hovering in the wispy space with Poison Chef printed at the top with all its details listed below. Useless on its own; however, the card was connected. To either side, there were other cards, partially obscured by the surrounding fog. But when she focused on one, the writing became clearer.

[Active Skill: Toxic Imbuement | Unlock: 3 GP | Any creatures or objects touched are imbued with poison, applying stacks of Toxic. Inanimate objects will dissipate the poison at a fixed rate. Cost: MP Drain. Stacks Applied: 2/second of contact. Max Stacks: 10. Stacks increase with Skill Level and Pestilence Attunement. Growth scales with Might and Malice.]

Well, that wasn’t helpful, at least not for her current situation. The Skill itself wasn’t bad, a more direct way to poison people, one she might even purposefully use in the right situation. It was the kind of poison magic that would have been perfect for her last job. She could have just touched Mart or poisoned one of his existing shakes to finish the Order. Its existence practically made Poison Chef feel useless, but since it was Active while the other was Passive, that was the tradeoff.

Angelica could see more lines leading away from Toxic Imbuement, assumedly to more cards. Yet no matter how hard she focused, they wouldn’t clear into existence. Perhaps she needed to acquire Toxic Imbuement first, or maybe her Pestilence Attunement needed to increase to see more associated skills. But her hope wasn’t gone yet. There was still the card on the other side. Maybe that would be more useful.

Her eyes lit up like she’d found a vault of treasure, the key to solving all of her problems. It wasn’t Poison Resistance. No, it was something far better.

[Passive Skill: Poison Eater | Unlock: 1 GP | Any poisoned or tainted items consumed will restore Health over time instead of inflicting damage. Can be disabled. Amount of Health restored scales with Skill Level, Pestilence Attunement, and toxicity of item. Growth scales with Vigor]

Holy frits! That was it, just what Angelica needed. She wouldn’t have to worry about accidentally poisoning food if she wouldn’t be damaged by it. Of course, if she cooked, she’d have to be wary about serving it to others, but Angelica was basically a loner hermit, anyways. Being healed was a definite bonus on top, but she was far more interested in the immunity aspect. By the sounds of it, this wouldn’t apply to other ways poison could be afflicted, but she’d absolutely take it for now. Then once she had the Skill, knowing she wouldn’t kill herself randomly, she could focus on making sure she wouldn’t harm Cherub accidentally either.

Maybe the more natural way for Demons to unlock it was to get Poison Eater first and then Poison Chef later. She’d just circumvented it because of the Achievement. It felt like an obvious oversight otherwise. Or maybe the Demon Growth System didn’t actually care what happened to those who used it, whether they were hindered or killed by an effect it had. Since it was undoubtedly made by a Demon, she wouldn’t be surprised.

Now that Angelica knew about the Skill, there was a decent chance she could unlock it naturally. She’d prefer that in practically every situation. Why slave away to achieve what she could get for free. But in this case, that was a horrible idea. Undoubtedly, the way to unlock Poison Eater was to eat poison, and that was absolutely a risk she wasn’t going to take.

The much safer, simpler way was to unlock it with Growth Points, and she only needed one! Damn, it felt like a really good value. Toxic Imbuement, which cost three, was likely more useful for most, but still. Who wouldn’t buy Poison Eater, since it only cost a single point?! Those who likely didn’t expect to be eating poison, probably, but to her, it was an unparalleled bargain. So to get the GP, she needed to increase her Demon Rank level. For that, she already had thirteen Essence, and with her recent many Malice increases, the amount needed had dropped from thirty to twenty-eight, so she just needed fifteen more!

But how to get it? A Lv.1 Maligant had given her roughly half of what she needed, so assumedly, killing one or two more of those would be sufficient. Yet she had absolutely no idea how to find them.

That meant she would likely have to gamble with another Summoning. But so be it. Even if she got stuck with something that sucked, it beat the life of dread that lay ahead without getting the Skill. However, it apparently wasn’t so easy. Ever since accepting Garvin’s contract, the voices had ceased entirely. And now, a day later, they were still keeping their mouths shut. Not even a whisper.

Maybe if I just… Angelica sat down, trying to let her mind clear. Summoners, I am looking for work, you may call upon me. She didn’t know if such messages were a two-way street, but maybe opening herself up to the concept would get the words flowing. And it worked surprisingly well.

“Come forth, Demon.” She got a bunch of those pretty quickly. It was probably the standard chant by Summoners.

“Give me your power!” Well, she didn’t really have a lot of power to give, so she was liable to disappoint whoever was at the other end of that call.

“Join me in my conquest!” Erm… that sounds a bit too ambitious for me. Maybe she could try to focus on more meager requests.

“Easy work for Essence.” Now, that sounded more like it! Well, the way it was worded, the call sounded a bit like a scam recruitment ad. But Angelica was definitely willing to take that gamble. It sounded just like the kind of thing an inexperienced Demon like her could use, so hopefully it was something suited for upstarts. Without further thought, she reverted to her puffball form and accepted the summons, dissolving away from her apartment.

[Bind Resistance failed]

[You are Bound. Contract Type: Order Exhaust. No time limit. Orders Remaining: 3]

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Ah, scuff! Apparently the buff from Soulbound wasn’t all powerful, and Angelica found herself practically immobilized. She glanced down at the floor. The Summoning Circle was far more intricate than the one Garvin had used. It still paled in comparison to her Soulbound circle, but it was clearly drawn by a far more experienced hand. Maybe she could try to wriggle out of it. So with all her Might, she started to vibrate on the spot.

[Would you like to break the Bound? Chance: 20% | Cost: 15 MP]

Uhh, sure, why not! The odds were very low, but what did she have to lose? It was a good chunk of MP, but not too bad.

[Active Skill: Bind Break Lv.1 unlocked]

[Obstinance increased.]

[Bind Break failed. You remain Bound]