Self-Summon [Demon Summoning/Evolution LitRPG]

Thankfully, Angelica had spent a good amount of time earlier that day as a quadruped. While most of it was spent napping, it had still given her the general dexterous knowhow and the shock to her motor cortex that told her to use all four limbs to run. What resulted was a very zoomy pup. It honestly felt great, letting her go even faster than ice skating without the need to leave a frosty trail.

[Vigor increased]

Running on four legs was even proving to be great cardio. She’d do it forever if not for three issues. The first was that she could be seen in her dog form. Quite a few heads were turned by the rambunctious canine disturbing the city nightlife. Honestly, it was way more bustling than it should have been this late in the evening. Did people not have work in the morning?

Thankfully, her part of town was nowhere this noisy or populated. But that also added to the second issue. Her master and accompanying troupe were struggling to keep up with her thanks to the more condensed city traffic, and they had even sent Xinder to fly ahead and keep an eye on her apparently.

The final reason was the MP drain. Oh Vissiem, the MP drain, or mana drain as the Summoners would probably call it. Her time as a dog sped through that scuff so quickly. She’d never fully recovered the MP from her cat adventures earlier that day—probably unwise to set off on a hunting expedition without being in top form, but hindsight and all that. Using Frost Touch roughly offset the gain, so she could essentially use that infinitely. But not dog form. It was burning through it twice as fast as when she was a cat, possibly because she was roughly twice the size? Sounded logical.

It was so much that her tank was down to about 50 MP, roughly a fifth of her max at the moment, which was way more than when she started, but she didn’t like running on near-empty. Fortunately, a combination of Malignant Sense, Hunting Nose, and just her general heightened sense of doggy smell, told her that she was damn close, so she pushed through with paw to pavement, seeing herself to the finish line in this form.

The canine Imp rounded the corner into a construction site, easily skirting under the barriers that would hamper her as a human. Sitting on the ground under the framework of a new building was the source of the stench: three more Malignants. Now she had a choice. Wait until her master and companions caught up, maybe recover a bit of MP?

Nah! She could rest when the job was done. Three targets, that was just three more Stabs, and then she could take a well-deserved break. Scrying the closest one just emboldened her even more.

[Malignant Lv.2 | Health: 81%]

Another wimp. It was even pretty close in shape to the blob she’d just killed. Though this one was more pruney, like a big wrinkly sentient raisin. And it was even damaged a bit already! Well, that was probably more akin to how she was rarely at full health due to afflictions that came from her poor life choices, so this thing probably just hadn’t eaten enough. Either way, she should be able to dispatch it quickly.

The hound bolted right toward the squishy-looking Malignant. She could probably use her literal canine teeth to dispatch it, but she honestly didn’t want the thing in her mouth. So instead, she spat up the dagger once more, catching the hilt with her jaw in one fluid motion as she pounced at the creature and stabbed into one of the many grooves. Like the previous one, it exploded into a batch of Essence, making Gelic land with a skid on the other side of its corpse. But she was more prepared this time, nimbly pivoting on her four paws, immediately charging toward the next one.

[Malignant Lv.3 | Health: 68%]

Another level higher, but it was weakened even more. Should be no problem, right? What was a bit of an issue, however, was its natural disposition. This one kind of looked like a legless boar. Which meant it should have minimal mobility, which was good, but it also had big tusks that looked ready to gore its foe if she attacked from the wrong angle. Regrettably, with its comrade defeated, the thing’s full attention was on her, so a sneak attack was out of the question.

That meant she had to quite literally tackle it head on. Sike! Right when the two were about to bash skulls, Gelic juked to the side at the last second and slashed upward with her blade that was doubling as a chew toy.

[Malignant Lv.3 | Health: 46%]

That left a considerable gash, but not enough to kill it, so she swung her neck back down, stabbing the dagger deep into the beast’s hide.

[Might increased]

[Competence increased]

[Malignant Lv.3 defeated. Gained 29 Essence.]

[You have enough Essence to increase your Demon Rank. Would you like to consume 82 Essence to reach Imp Lv.6?]

She did! But not right at that moment. There was still one more foe to take down, and then she could revel in her victory with a level-up and the delightful feeling that came with. As a dog, maybe she’d even have proper tippy-tapping feet from the feeling of elation.

[Malignant Lv.6 | Health: 97%]

A good bit higher than the other two, but Gelic was essentially a Lv.6 herself. That should put her roughly on par with it, right? Granted, this one definitely looked more imposing than the other two. It was a bit hard to describe, a bit humanoid—to the point that it was a bit disconcerting to look at, thinking of how human it was—roughly the size and shape of a toddler, but with beefy legs and long flat feet like a kangaroo. Then on the ends of its arms, there were big round nubs of flesh, almost like boxing gloves, looking ready to pummel her if she were to attack.

So be it. A proper weapon should still beat fists, right? One last takedown and then she could rest a while. All the adrenaline from these back to back kills was keeping her amped, so it was probably for the best that she let it taper off, but it’s what would carry her forward to the end. So for the last time, the armed dog charged at the remaining Malignant. A few feet away, she juked once again, and lunged with blade pointed.

Immediately, it was obvious that this weird stagnant mana creature had better awareness and properly knew how to use its body. The Malignant threw a punch, aiming for the pup’s posterior. By the power behind it, such a blow sure looked like it would hurt something awful, maybe even cripple her back legs.

But Gelic was prepared for such a thing, having a plan in mind should something like this happen. Deactivate Transfiguration! The bulbous fist hit nothing but air as the dog behind vanished, morphing into the fluffy rump of the Puffball Imp that was several inches out of range—a complete whiff. Though, the second one wasn’t.

She hadn’t been the only one with contingencies in mind. And Angelica had been so focused on and pleased with her expert evasion that she hadn’t even really seen what else the kangaroo-human thing was doing. Turns out, boxers use both hands, and the other hit her square in the stomach.

[Passive Skill: Wallop Resistance Lv.1 unlocked]

[Vigor increased]

[Suffering Attunement unlocked]

Angelica was hit with immense force, up there in pain along with when she’d been shot. All of her insides felt like they were caving in each other. Her new resistance Skill did scuff all to mitigate the anguish as her body went flying backward. The only reprieve she got was the utter bewilderment from the name. Why was it called Wallop Resistance? She had certainly been walloped, no denying that, but there were so many other words to choose from. The DGS creator must have been feeling whimsical when coming up with that one. Suffering Attunement was spot on, though.

To add to her agony, she slammed into a metal beam and ricocheted off, ping-ponging around the construction site until she skid across the dirt well away from her foe. She glanced over at the Malignant for a second just to confirm that it wasn’t going to try to finish her off. No, it seemed content with its victory, giving itself a little self-cheer by pumping its stubby little arms that didn’t even go above its head.

So she let her gaze slip away as she rolled onto her back. To her surprise, or maybe it should have been expected, she found Xinder soaring around higher up on the building’s framework. Rather than circling around like a usual bird of prey, the Demon was actually engaged with something higher up. It looked like there were more Malignants roosting above that Gelic hadn’t even noticed, so engaged with the enemies in front of her that they might as well not have existed. She really needed to work on her perception and situational awareness.

The weird humanoid she’d been fighting apparently decided to go join them, aiding its fellows, by hopping up the beams toward the flying bird. Sadly, Gelic couldn’t reciprocate, still in way too much pain to be of any use to her hunting party member.

[Health: 21%]

Was the reading she got when she checked herself. Not as bad as the museum, and it hadn’t triggered the low health warning, so the threshold must be 20%, or it could be 15%, or some random ass other number. Who knew with this sketchy ass system.

[Error]

Well, apparently it took offense to her internal comment about its sketchiness, but it only served to prove it further.

[The Demon Growth System has detected an error. More damage was sustained than should have been possible for your body. Recalculating]

Oh great. Was it going to figure out that she was actually a human, strip her powers, or remove the system from her entirely? Maybe she was being a bit paranoid, but all she could besides wallow was come up with crazy scenarios.

Well, maybe she should do something about the anguish. Time to let her Second Stomach + Poison Eater combo put in some work. She just didn’t think it would happen so soon. Hell, she was honestly still pretty full from dinner. Hopefully she could at least stomach a full portion. It would be too much of a logistical pain to tell herself to transfer over any other quantity to her main stomach. But just when she was about to stuff herself silly to activate the regenerative effect, it suddenly became unnecessary.

“Hold on, I’ve got you.” Rastille’s voice shouted in the Imp’s direction after she heard the truck door slam. A moment later, she found herself enveloped in a yellow light, and her body felt better instantly, to the point that she could hop herself back upright, feeling as good as new.

[Health: 70%]

Okay, maybe not new, but around where she normally sat in the overall health department. Her master on the other hand wasn’t looking as peachy, having to keel over after performing whatever sorcery he’d just performed. Gelic was grateful for the aid, making her think that he must be a genuinely good master. She couldn’t imagine many of the other Summoners weakening themselves so freely for a servant. Even Fioso probably wouldn’t compromise himself to such a degree. Lustre had only done it because the Imp had been throwing a damn tantrum.

Paired with a good master, that made the relationship of a Contract and being Bound more of a justifiable one. The Demon does the work, the master provides in Essence and vitality, both for food and Health recovery. Was there a way she could heal herself in the same way Rastille was doing? Convert her MP straight into Health? Probably not, locked out of it the same way that she couldn’t make Essence like every other magus it seemed.

“Try not to get hurt like that again,” the man insisted, acting like a stern parent. “Do you think you can still fight?”

Could she? Physically, probably, but she didn’t know if she’d fare much better. Angelica needed a new tactic. Even getting up to where the fighting was taking place now would be a bit of a chore. She could bounce, but probably not that high, at least not quickly or accurately.

[Error assessment complete. Issue: Racial bonuses for Puffball Imp not obtained. They will now be distributed]