Self-Summon [Demon Summoning/Evolution LitRPG]

[Passive Skill: Multi-Bounce Lv.1 unlocked]

[Competence increased]

[Creativity increased]

[Balletic Attunement unlocked]

[Hybrid Skill: Flutter Lv.1 unlocked]

[Creativity increased]

[Balletic Attunement increased]

[Active Skill: Jump Good Lv.1 unlocked]

[Competence increased]

[Balletic Attunement increased]

[Balletic Attunement has improved from Aware to Touched]

[Trait: Punching Bag Lv.1 unlocked]

[Vigor notably increased]

[Suffering Attunement notably increased]

[Suffering Attunement has improved from Aware to Touched]

[Racial bonuses for Puffball Imp have now been distributed. As compensation for the error, you have been granted one additional Growth Point]

Heck yeah, free Growth Point! She almost wanted to request more errors if it meant more GP, but would prefer that they involve less agonizing issues. Gelic was quickly about to run through everything she just gained, but first had a comment she had to get out. Balletic Attunement, like relating to ballet? I get that they must be referring to movement, but Kinetic was right there! She had artistic complaints about some of the naming, but it was hard to be too annoyed about something she’d gotten for free.

Okay, let’s see what all this does.

[Balletic Attunement is the freedom of movement and mastery over the control of one’s body. The more the body is moved in flexible, agile, and creative ways, the more the Attunement will grow]

Okay, well now that it was spelled out, Balletic did actually sound pretty good. Still whimsical, but suitable for the idea they were going for.

[Suffering Attunement is the strength to carry on despite the hardships endured. The more pain afflicted and powered through, the more the Attunement will grow]

Wow, the DGS made it sound way more poetic and noble than it did upon first seeing the name. It invoked a feeling of pride, honestly making her feel like her efforts were being noticed. Whoever came up with the system understood motivation.

[Multi-Bounce Lv.1 | Repeated bouncing jumps will build momentum, increasing height and speed with each one until the chain is broken. Cannot receive gravitational damage during the chain. Height and Speed increased scales with Skill Level and Balletic Attunement. Growth scales with Competence and Creativity. RACE EXCLUSIVE SKILL]

Ooooooo! She had already attempted something similar and gotten rudimentary results, so it would be interesting to see how well it worked when enhanced by the system. Also, Race Exclusive, huh? She had never been more excited about being a Puffball, though it did make her wonder what she could be missing out on if she had been born differently. Oh well, she couldn’t change it, so there was no point worrying about it.

[Flutter Lv.1 | When reaching the crest of a jump or are about to splat from a fall, your body will automatically provide additional lift to either increase/sustain height or prevent damage. Additional MP May be spent to keep fluttering indefinitely. Active Cost: MP Drain. Amount increases exponentially per second of sustained Flutter. Lift power and amount scales with Skill Level, Might, and Balletic Attunement. Growth scales with Competence]

Ah hell yeah. Her stubby little wings were good for something after all! Though, it sounded more like in a metaphorical sense. That begged the question about whether these skills would work outside of Puffball form when she did not have wings or bounciness. Worth testing. Again, she’d sort of done this before, making it feel like these racial bonuses always sort of existed and just hadn’t been incorporated. Also, since Multi-Bounce had specifically mentioned gravitational damage, it sounded like Flutter wouldn’t activate during the chain and ruin the skill.

[Jump Good Lv.1 | Leverage your agility to jump to a specific spot, be it a solid fixture or even the air. Can be activated from the ground to boost basic jumping ability or while airborne to merely change trajectory. Cost: Variable MP depending on distance and power of altered jump. Boosted jumping power scales with Skill Level, Might, and Balletic Attunement. Adjustment proficiency scales with Skill Level, Competence, and Balletic Attunement]

Okay, so it was all tying together. It sounded like it could be incorporated into Multi-Bounce to let her build the chain faster, though that would use MP. What she was far more interested in, however, was the landing aspect. With the other two skills, she could jump high and not meet a swift end from jumping too high, but this would allow her to actually use it effectively.

[Punching Bag Lv.1 | Take less damage from unarmed attacks or when flung into objects. The greater the damage and amount of chained hits, the more it is reduced. Amount reduced additionally scales with Trait Level, Vigor, and Suffering Attunement. RACE EXCLUSIVE]

Yeah that definitely would have helped immensely from the hit that she just took from the Malignant. It was likely what had triggered the error, since by the sound of it, she should have been very resistant to such an attack. Basically, it boiled down to a more specific version of Wallop Resistance, tailored for puffballs. Angelica didn’t really like the idea of being labelled as a punching bag, but with her overall physique… yeah, made sense. And she really didn’t care, as long as it helped as much as it implied.

“Gelic?” Rastille pierced through her many thoughts. From his perspective, it must have looked like she was staring weirdly at her hand this whole time, like she’d lost her mind, when really she had just been looking at herself with Scrying Eye. Did Summoners understand that, or did they just write it off as Demon weirdness? She still hadn’t responded, and he was undoubtedly looking for an answer to his question.

“Err, yes, I think I can still fight.” Gelic tried to sound confident. She was mentally still a bit rattled, but now she had a whole bunch of new tools in her arsenal. After locating the dagger that had been flung away in the dirt, she went and picked it up, then scouted around for her foe. It was up a few levels, throwing hands at Xinder anytime the gargoylic bird got too close. For the most part, her fellow Demon was ignoring it, just keeping it occasionally engaged while it worked on dispatching the other Malignants that were more vulnerable.

So it would be up to her to dispatch it. Maybe it wasn’t actually her responsibility, but she wanted a rematch. And Angelica had come up with an idea of how to come out victorious this time, having thought a bit more critically about the match up. Attacking it head-on or from any side was just asking for another walloping. While that would hopefully hurt her a lot less now, she’d still prefer not to repeat it. But she had deduced what she believed was a vulnerability. Since it couldn’t raise its hands above its head, that meant an attack from above should lead it wide open.

Now she just had to actually get above it. The thing was a few good stories in the air, probably at least fifty feet up. Now Angelica wouldn’t exactly say she had an irrational fear of heights, more a modest, rational fear. She wouldn’t freak out if looking out a high window, but if there wasn’t glass in that window, or some other sturdy way to keep her safe, it might make her senses squirm a little bit. You can do it, Angelica! She gave herself a little pep-talk. Remember, your body will save you if something goes wrong, and if it doesn’t, you can lodge a formal complaint! There was no actual way she knew how to do that, but the idea of wrathful bureaucracy calmed her a bit.

Initial jump. The Imp barely cleared about a foot off the ground, still a little sore from her punch wound. First bounce, about two feet, more than her height in Demon form. Second bounce, four feet, seemed to be a rough doubling each time. Third bounce, eight feet, now higher than her usual human sightline, a bit disorienting. Fourth bounce, sixteen feet. Okay, if she was still her old human self, she’d be getting sick now.

Fifth bounce, thirty-two feet. Woah, that was actually really high. What must her master think about seeing her bounce up and down like this with crazy speed and height? She still wasn’t as far as she needed, but the next one should do it. You thought you were the only one with ups, Malignant? Well face the power of Multi-Bounce! Six bounty, sixty-four feet, clearing the level where her enemy was stooped, getting her up to the next unbuilt floor.

Now she just had to land it. Activate Jump Good. Her instincts kicked in, guiding her to pick a spot on one of the beams, and her body naturally flew over in that direction during the crest of the bounce, Flutter assisting a bit as well on its own to help maintain the height and gently glide her to the spot, landing with a soft thud. Now she had the high ground, looming above her enemy. Fortunately, it hadn’t seen her, too distracted by the bird occasionally attempting fly-by scratches.

Now how to actually hit the thing. Would Jump Good work while falling? It said airborne, so maybe, but then would it work with its head as the spot to jump to? Now she wished she had tested it more. Maybe it was best to let good ol’ gravity handle the falling this time at least. Gelic perched directly above the Malignant, waiting for just the right moment, when the kangaroo-thing stepped a bit more to one side or another. There!

The Imp let herself fall, drawing her dagger, pointing it straight down at the round head.

[Active Skill: Plunge Lv.1 unlocked]

[Might increased]

[Creativity increased]

[Destruction Attunement increased]

[Balletic Attunement increased]

Suddenly, her body picked up the pace, falling faster than gravity would allow. Err? What? Okay? She was thrown briefly by the new Skill, but refocused on what she had to do. Stab!

[Stab Lv.2]

[Might increased]

[Destruction Attunement increased]

[Destruction Attunement has improved from Aware to Touched]

Despite the DGS congratulating her on an attack well done, it didn’t go quite as expected. Well, actually, it had gone perfectly. Gelic was currently balancing on one of the Malignant’s shoulders, her dagger buried up to the hilt into the thing’s skull. If it had been a human, or an animal, or any normal basic living thing, it would be dead instantly, dissolving into a pile of Essence for her to absorb and splurge on some lovely little skills for herself.

But, uhh, it didn’t do that. The damn thing didn’t even really flinch or keel over. So far, it didn’t seem to quite have an awareness of what had happened. Its shocked expression knew something had gone wrong, but not quite yet figured out the cause. Gelic took the opportunistic lull to see where the situation stood.

[Malignant Lv.6 | Health: 41%]

Alright, that attack had done more than half of its health, so one more good Stab should do it. She wrenched the dagger from the creature’s head, about to slam it back down, but that action is what finally caught the Malignant’s attention. Gelic winced when she saw the fist coming, unable to jump out of the way in time. The impact, though, was hardly a fraction of what had hit her before.

Once again, she went careening straight into a nearby beam, then bounced off and over the side of the structure. At least this time she managed to hold onto the dagger, but that was a hollow victory in the grand scheme. Down she went, plummeting toward the ground at least fifty feet below. If she were still human, it could be viewed as an unfortunate accident or a suicide attempt, a distance that would kill most people. But she didn’t have to worry. That didn’t stop her from totally worrying, wincing and flinching, slamming her eyes shut the moment she was about to splat into the ground.

The instant before that, however, it was like she was snagged out of the air. Her body lurched up brashly, as if it were caught by a cord, fluttering up just a few inches before she gently landed in the dirt. Best ability ever! It probably wasn’t in the grand scheme of things, but Flutter had just saved her from becoming an exploded puffball, so it was currently at the top of her list. Only maybe Auto-Color after it was purchased could surpass it in how life-changing it was. And this had literally kept her life going, so that was saying a lot about how much she wanted the Skill.

Gelic pulled up Scrying Eye once again to take a look at the Plunge skill, only to be distracted by something else falling toward the ground. She glanced up to where she’d once been, to spot Xinder flying away after having knocked the kangaroo boxer off of its perch. It must have been distracted by the Imp’s terrible fall, leaving an opening for the second Demon to swoop in and give it a good shove.

The Malignant provided the good splat that Angelica had failed to deliver. Yet that didn’t even kill it either, but did bring it down to a feeble 22% Health. Now it really was one-shot from death, even if the next attack wasn’t perfect. But first, Gelic needed to finalize her plan.

[Plunge Lv.1 | Dive down toward a target with increased speed. Can be combined with a direct-attack Skill for additional damage. Cost: 8 MP Initial + MP Drain to sustain. Speed and additional damage scales with Skill Level, Might, Creativity, Destruction Attunement, and Balletic Attunement. Growth scales with Might and Creativity]

Perfect, it was about what she suspected. The boost to Stab and any attacks like it was great, and it explained why her hit had done so much when a literal life-ending fall had done less than half as much damage. Angelica whipped up a quick tactic in her mind. Since she couldn’t get the high ground over it in open space, she’d just have to adapt. It was time to finish this Malignant off for good!

Spoiler