Self-Summon [Demon Summoning/Evolution LitRPG]

“Uwah!” Angelica flopped back in surprise when the unknown voice addressed her. She immediately cancelled her running Order and began waddling backward with panic, her eyes darting all around, trying to find whoever had spoken to her.

“Hmm… can you not see me? How interesting.” The slightly aggressive yet somehow calm voice almost sounded amused by her antics. “I’d thought you were just being rude this whole time or attempting to be respectfully avoidant. Your situation continues to confound me. Allow me to assist. Activate your Scrying Eye.”

While Gelic didn’t particularly care for the idea of taking unsolicited advice from strangers in general, it did sound like the most logical choice. Activate Scrying Eye. Immediately, a figure appeared before her, floating a few feet up in the air. It was a man dressed in a well-tailored butler suit. Except they weren't human at all. The shape was the same, but their entire body was covered in smooth charcoal grey scales with jagged hands, and a serrated tail curled around one leg. His face initially looked a bit friendly and disarming, surprisingly soft, but his staggering silver eyes were glaring at her as if they could see her very soul.

Angelica couldn’t deny what he was, finally seeing another besides herself after all this time.

[Demon | Alias: Diamen | Demon Rank: Daemon]

[Lucidity absurdly increased]

[Lucidity has improved from Impaired to Obscured]

[Scrying Eye Lv.4]

[Lucidity increased]

[Lucidity has improved from Obscured to Blurred]

[Gnostic Attunement Increased]

Gelic’s head reeled from what felt like a barrage of information entering her head all at once, as if her eyes were opening for the first time, her mind finally understanding. She turned off Scrying Eye in hopes that would help. It didn’t, but the overflow quickly settled. When she looked back to the same spot, the Demon was still there, floating patiently while standing at attention. Yet now she could see him without the aid of the skill. Just to confirm, she activated it once more, and this time got a bit of additional information.

[Demon | Alias: Diamen | Demon Rank: Daemon | Status: Bound]

Diamen the Daemon Demon. It sounded like a joke. Daemon had to be a decently high rank, though, right? She’d heard of Hellion and Gremlin, but that was assuredly above them. And just who had Bound such a creature? She was able to tell he was strong by just a glance, incomparable to herself. It was probably whoever lived in that mansion. They must be powerful themselves to bind someone like him. And Angelica kept referring to her fellow as a “him” though she had no way of knowing for sure. But by his dress, build, and sound of his voice, it felt fairly certain.

Something else was suddenly visible as well. It was as if there was a shaded shroud entirely encapsulating both the manor and grounds behind the humanoid man. Whatever the dark mist was, it definitely didn’t make Gelic feel invited.

“I was starting to worry a little bit about you, Imp, when you didn’t brazenly wander through our territory yesterday,” Diamen continued. “But I see you’ve finally levelled up a bit, so I suppose your master finally put you to proper work for once.”

“I, erm, I’m sorry if I've been intruding.” She glanced once more at the dark haze and found that it protruded out into the street directly in front of the mansion, so she’d definitely been passing right through it. That explained the weird feeling she’d been getting. Gelic pointed over to the shroud and resumed using her more babyish, ignorant voice, because she really was completely oblivious. “Didn’t know what that was. I’ve just been—”

“Save your excuses, I don’t particularly care,” the Daemon cut her off. “But my master does. After hearing my reports, he has taken an interest in you, and requested when you next came by that I invite you in, should you have the time.”

“Erm, well that’s… I should be…” Gelic tried to stammer an excuse to quickly escape the situation, but didn’t manage to spit out anything worthwhile.

“You do have the time… don’t you?” By his creeping smile and narrowed eyes, it was clear that he wasn’t giving her an actual choice.

“Y-yes.”

“Very good, then follow me.” Diamen turned around, and the gates to the grounds opened on their own.

The little puffball hesitantly followed the Demon butler inside, and before crossing the threshold, she gave herself a standing Order. Angelica, should things go wrong, do whatever it takes to escape alive.

As soon as she passed into the shadowy haze, Gelic immediately noticed that she didn’t have the same irking irritant when she would usually pass through it. Also, despite the dark exterior, the inside was surprisingly bright, basically the same as it was for the rest of the world.

Then to top it all off, the mist actually looked like it was originating from somewhere. High up in the sky above the grounds, there was what looked like a weird letter embedded into the air itself, something Angelica had sort of taken notice of before on her runs, but never to that much detail. The strange shape was exuding power that was feeding the fog.

“Since you are now an invited guest, we are no longer trying to steer you away.” Her host seemed to have noticed her curiosity when he glanced back at her. Despite his stern attitude, he was actually pretty polite and courteous. Another thing she noticed was that he was floating ahead of her at a pretty slow pace, undoubtedly a mere fraction of what he was capable of. But it became quickly obvious that he was not pushing himself past the Imp’s own walking speed. Otherwise, she’d have to bounce to even remotely keep up.

Gelic wondered if she’d ever be able to float like that, or maybe even fly for real. She didn’t have proper wings, but neither did he, or maybe they were invisible. If it was an ability she could get someday, that would definitely be a big plus in the “Progress as a Demon” column when making her decision. Though it might be possible to achieve something similar through Transfiguration, either altering her Demon body or turning into a bird if that were possible, so she still didn’t need to commit to the other path immediately just for the mere chance of flight down the road. And she went ahead and made a mental note that she really needed to fiddle around with the Skill soon.

There was also another thing she noticed about her escort now that she could see him from a different angle. He too had two horns, far more in the traditional sense than she did, long and slender, darker than his scales, and slightly twisty like a ram. They started at the temple and ran to the rear of his head, almost like slicked-back hair. There, the curved tips were loosely intertwined, almost as if there’d been an attempt to tie them.

Diamen ushered her inside after opening the front door to the manor and then led her to a room not far off the main hall. “Master, I have brought our guest.” The Demon butler graciously bowed to the man inside the study. He was an older gentleman, maybe fifties, and far more refined than just about any human that Angelica had ever met, except perhaps some that she’d been forced to greet at one of her mother’s work functions. There was just an air about him that demanded respect in a way she had never seen before. Not with Lustre, definitely not with Garvin. Even without using Scrying Eye, Angelica could tell that this man was on another level entirely.

[Human | Alias: Fioso | Summoner Rank: High Summoner | <hidden>]

Of course, Gelic checked him out with the Skill anyway. A High Summoner, that definitely sounded a bit grand. And whatever new aspect she’d unlocked with Lv.4, it was being suppressed, assumedly by some power the man had, some higher level Summoner Skill that Angelica definitely didn’t have.

Also intriguingly, he was sitting at a desk opening letters, definitely something she could picture a wisened High Summoner doing… in a fantasy story. Who the heck sent letters anymore in the modern day? Sure, a holiday card every so often and probably some bills, but he had a massive stack, and they all looked handwritten. While Angelica didn’t have a working phone herself currently—another thing she should get on—she at least did have email and chat clients? Were they all so important that they couldn’t be trusted to digital transmission, or was the man just set in his ways? It made her wonder if he was actually older than he presented himself as.

“You’re… not quite what I expected.” Fioso spoke up as he set down his letter opener and then waved his hand, beckoning her to come closer. His eyes glimmered for a moment, as if they were somehow inspecting her in some mystical way.

“Kind of a cute little thing, aren’t you? Based on what Diamen told me, I was wary to believe it. Since you allegedly know Transfiguration, I half-expected you to be a Gremlin masquerading as an Imp, but no, you’re practically a fresh spawn. And… you do know Transfiguration, don’t you? Or has my servant been lying to me? He says that you’ve been running around as a young blonde woman. May I see it?”

Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. Angelica didn’t verbalize her hesitance, but with the awkward silence that followed undoubtedly expressed it. Sure, she could turn into a human no problem, but the only one she’d tried so far was herself. It didn’t sound too far-fetched that she could alter her appearance like she had with clothes, but Diamen would have seen her as she was, and be able to call her out on it, assuming he didn’t have like “human face blindness” if that was some pretentious Demon thing where they thought all humans looked the same.

Ultimately, she decided it was just best to not try to deceive them. So far they were being friendly, and with how strong she perceived them to be, she would rather keep it that way. So she turned into herself, the fake human formerly known as Angelica, because she’d definitely lie about the name if asked. Not knowing what to wear, she donned her usual running gear, since it’s how the Daemon would have seen her.

“That is impressive indeed.” The High Summoner’s eyes widened a bit, but out of unanticipated approval. He then waved toward the butler, ordering him to bring over a chair so that their guest could have a seat. “Not only are you an Imp who can perform Transfiguration, but you’re extremely proficient, able to make a completely convincing copy, at least when it comes to humans. Or… Is that your master?”

Angelica panicked and was immediately called out for it. “Hmm, you’re not a very deceitful Demon yet, are you?” Fioso chuckled. “Your worry is written all over your face, friend. It was just the logical answer. Since you are very young, she would be the human with whom you have the most familiarity. I doubt you’d be able to create a convincing version of a completely fake individual yet, even if you are naturally talented.

“I had originally thought that you must be imprinted with or wearing a Transfiguration Rune, but Diamen has confirmed that is not the case. And you are only Lv.3, so you wouldn’t possibly have enough Growth Points to purchase it, not to mention needing a required Attunement. A Race Skill, perhaps? But I’ve never heard of anything lower than a Gremlin ever receiving Transfriguation. Can’t say I’ve run into a Puffball Imp before, so it can’t be completely ruled out, but it doesn’t seem the type to receive such a skill.

“So the only conclusion I have left is that your master must have imparted the Skill onto you somehow. I know of a few ways, but I also know fewer Summoners who could perform them. Which is part of why I was interested in meeting you, friend. Ah, and to stop being so rude, may I ask if you have a name? Not your true name of course, but I see you don’t have an alias registered. So do you have something you’ve been going by, or a name your master has given you?”

“...Gelic.” The Imp hesitated at first, not sure if she should even give that out, but then decided the aliases must exist for a reason. While this Summoner could now call upon her directly if he so desired, she could hopefully reject it. And assuming it did get registered at some point, everyone would be able to see the alias regardless, so there was no real point in trying to hide it.

“Nice to meet you, Gelic,” the man continued with his niceties. “As I’m sure you’ve already peeked, I am Fioso. But it is still polite to properly introduce one. Now to ask something that is possibly perceived as impolite. Would you be so kind as to tell me the name of your master?”

Spoiler